#but upside I get to take them for free so hopefully that gets me back on track to an industry job

[foldingfittedsheets]

There is truly no better way to ensure I have a busy sales day than coming in with the intention of sitting at my laptop alone and uninterrupted.

[aziraphales-library]

HI THERE! You do such amazing work, thank you so much!

I was just wondering if there were any chef aus out there? Any tags/rating! Thanks!

Hello, here are some chef fics...

Sometimes it's cosmic, sometimes it's cocktail weiners by myladyclegane (M)

All executive chef Anthony J Crowley wanted was a cider and some time with the girls(of the Golden variety) after his double shift, what he gets is playing savior when his best friend and next door neighbor (and desperate crush) has to unexpectedly host a last minute game night for his awful co-workers.

As Sweet As This by vantablck (G)

One moment, Crowley had a high position at a top Michelin rated restaurant. The next, her career was taking a metaphorical million light-year dive into a lake of boiling sulfur and she was moving back into her small childhood town. Cue Aziraphale, the childhood best friend she’s been pining over since time immemorial. Cue Crowley’s oh so brilliant idea of co-owning a restaurant with her.

Hell's kitchen, heaven's chef by Sani86 (T)

Crowley is a high-strung chef - one of London's best - but his boss Beez is fed up with his tricks. So they hire a mild-mannered blonde chef to keep him in line. Crowley hates the guy. Except that he doesn't, not even a little. --- Human AU, in which they are chefs and idiots.

Trivia Night: A Love Story by MissUnderstoodLyrics (E)

No angst, all fluff and fluffy smut! Crowley just moved to the States and has already been roped into the pub trivia competition for all of the King Street businesses, which they take very seriously. He just wants to work and go home to his cat and his plants, but the promise of free drinks lures him to the first game, where he meets a gorgeous, witty, mischievous angel, and suddenly trivia night doesn't seem quite so bad. A Good Omens Human AU

Recipe For Romance by ranguvar82 (M)

Anthony Crowley would love nothing more than to enjoy a good meal once in a while. Unfortunately, when you're an agoraphobic with severe food allergies, your choices are limited to private chefs. Too bad Crowley's fired every single one. Enter Aziraphale Fell, known for being able to create gourmet meals for even the most discerning palate. Crowley's expecting him to be like every other chef. He's not expecting an angel that will turn his world upside down. Aziraphale has a recipe for everything. Even, maybe, for romance.

Till I Saw You by curiouswriterkr (E)

Crowley is a burned out chef recovering from adrenal fatigue in Tadfield. Aziraphale, a gifted musician with a big, soft heart, happens to be performing one evening at an open mic. Their eyes collide and inevitably, so do their lives, helping each other step into healing, truth and more joy.

Style and Substance by Cabernet_Woebegone (E)

“But y’know, if my boss finds out I’m helping you even a little, they’re gonna throw me out on my ass.” “Yes, I understand it is a bit of a conflict of interest for you… Is there something I can offer you in return? Something you would like?” Aziraphale questioned hopefully. You, Crowley thought loudly as he took a second sip. I want to know if you moan when you kiss the same way you do when you try something delicious. I want to know if your lips taste like Zinfandel. “Yes, actually.” Aziraphale is having difficulty running his restaurant, and it isn't helping that he believes the place across the street is trying to sabotage him. To his surprise, chef Crowley comes to him on friendly terms. Together they come up with an arrangement that could benefit them both. (Explicit rating for chapters 10 , 14 & 17, see tags for description. Please do not record this as a podfic or repost this fic anywhere! Thank you!)

- Mod D

[harrywritingsbyme]

I Just Called To Say I Love You

Prompt: You don’t like talking on the phone, but Harry always calls you instead of texting. Harry later admits it’s because he just wants to hear your voice.

A/N: I may be a lil rusty so don’t judge me…I just wanted to write a cute ’n cliche lil something to post on here…I’m in my soft girlie era. Hopefully, there’s more to come soon. Hope u enjoy, love y’all🫶🏾

You hated talking on the phone. Anytime you had to take a phone call, whether it be in your personal life or at work, you had to give yourself a mini pep-talk to make it through. Of all methods of communication, you highly preferred to send an email or text message as opposed to taking phone calls. Phone calls that at times, could be long and drawn out. In your eyes, the only upside to talking on the phone was that you could visibly express your disinterest as opposed to talking to someone in person and keeping your disinterest internal.

However, while you hated talking on the phone, there was a small handful of people who had a free pass to call. You even went as far as to make a separate ringtone for them so that you could differentiate their welcome call from the unwelcome ones. 

One of the people you designated as a welcomed caller was your boyfriend Harry. And boy did he take his phone call free-pass seriously.

Because his work at times took him away from home and you, Harry was diligent at calling you up when he couldn’t be with you physically. But even when he wasn’t away for work he always made it a point to call you and just check in. And Harry wasn’t overbearing with it and just dialed your number at any chance. It was almost as if he could sense when a conversation with you was needed. Whether it be because you were on the verge of losing it and not feeling the greatest, or because you were feeling great and needed to share that great energy with someone else. And it worked the same way with you. When he needed to vent or share some of the good vibes in his life you were more than willing to call or pick up.

Sometimes though, the calls would have no rhyme or reason to them. Like today, you weren’t having the best day, but you weren’t having the worst day either. You were just getting through the day until it was time to drop everything and go home. Towards the middle of the day, your phone lights up with Harry’s photo and sounds off with the ringtone you’d set just for him. Instead of mentally preparing yourself for the phone conversation ahead, you readily put in your earbuds and pick up the call.

“Helloooo” Harry sings, dragging out the ‘o’ for as long as he possibly could.

“Helloooo to you too” You quietly laugh, mimicking his greeting. “How can I be of assistance to you today?”

“No assistance needed, I just wanted to hear your voice.” Harry sappily replies. You could practically hear his dopey smile through the phone as he spoke. But at the end of the day, that’s all Harry wanted whenever he picked up the phone to call you. He just wanted to hear your voice.

“Well, I hope I don’t disappoint.” You whisper, the seemingly permanent smile that had been on your face since picking up the phone only widened.

“You could never disappoint me, love.” Harry definitively responds. Which only made you smile even harder and solidify an ache in your cheeks in a little while.

For the next 15 or so minutes you and Harry manage to cover a range of topics that somehow come together to form a coherent and flowing conversation. In this time, not only were you fighting to hold your giggles in you were also playing the role of lookout just in case your boss decided to randomly appear when you were supposed to be working. It was a common pattern for your happiness to summon him and ruin everything. But that was a conversation for another time.

Unfortunately for you though, you had to get back to work. Which meant that the little happiness bubble that you were in with Harry had to be popped.

“Well, I’m gonna let you go now, don’t wanna keep you from your work” Harry states when you two have a lull in the conversation, not wanting to steal any more of your time.

“No, keep me from it! Please?!” You jokingly plead, not wanting your happiness bubble to pop quite yet. 

“How about this, you make it through the last couple of hours there and then come over to my place and I’ll cook you some of the best dinner you’ve ever had.” Harry barters.

“You may just have yourself a deal, Mr.Styles.” You agree, looking forward to the end of the workday even more now that you had plans with your boyfriend.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it.” He hums, already thinking up a menu just for you. “Oh! Also, guess what.” Harry adds.

“What?” You curiously ask, wanting to hear the news.

“I love you.” He simply replies with the utmost sincerity. “That’s the main reason why I called you. To hear your voice, and to tell you that I love you.”

“I love you too. And I’ll see you later.” By the time you hung up, you were a smiling maniac and a complete puddle of yourself at your desk. But on the plus side, you were ready to power through the next couple of hours at your desk.

While you weren’t big on phone calls if there was one that you were always going to answer. It was Harry’s.

Masterlist

[wolfjackle-creates]

WIP Wednesday

Enjoy another snippet of the fic about ghost Robin haunting Jason! I really need to think up a title. Maybe I'll brainstorm some ideas and put out a poll to see what everyone likes.

Part 1 is here

And onto part 2 (1.2k words)!

-----

Looks like he was breaking his promise to Jazz to not do any ghostly business tonight. Of course Jazz’s boyfriend would be haunted by a ghost that needed help. Why was he even surprised? He adjusted the strap of his backpack to hold it more firmly. Hopefully something he’d brought would be enough and it’d be just a matter of getting Robin alone for a few minutes.

Jazz let go of Danny’s hand to take Jason’s as he led them down a hallway. Robin tightened his grip on Alfred before letting go and giving Danny a sad smile. Both Jason and Robin would point to objects and rooms as they passed. Danny paid extra attention to the items Robin pointed out that Jason ignored: a crack in the wall, a mark that had never been painted over, the chandelier he decided to hang from for a few seconds.

Voices echoed out of one of the upcoming rooms, and Jason slowed. Jazz leaned over to whisper something in his ear. Robin had the opposite reaction and shot a grin at Danny and flew to the doorway, waving him to come inside.

Danny couldn’t help but smile back at his obvious excitement. Jazz caught his expression and narrowed her eyes at him. Oh, she was not going to let this go.

With a deep breath, Jason entered the room, Jazz and Danny right behind him. “Hey everyone, this is Jazz’s brother Danny.”

Inside, too many people were gathered on a collection of chairs and couches. One man was sitting upside down on a chair, his feet on the back cushion and head inches from the ground. He grinned at them and did a flip that somehow ended with him on his feet and halfway across the room in the space of a breath. Robin cartwheeled to him.

“Hey, Danny, I’m Jason’s older brother Dick! Glad you could make it. Jazz says you’re always busy.” He held out his hand to shake, unknowingly passing it right through Robin.

Danny couldn’t help but look at where the arm passed through the ghost, but did have the wherewithal to shake Dick’s hand.

“Dick? You really use that by choice?” The words were out of his mouth before he could think. Embarrassed, he slapped his other hand over his mouth at the same time Jazz hissed a warning at him. “Shit! I mean—”

Only to be cut off by everyone laughing. Dick waved off his apology. “My parents were immigrants and it’s what they called me. After they died, I decided to stick with it. Don’t worry, I’ve heard all the jokes.”

“He’s made most of them, too,” added another black-haired boy. This one looked to be close to Danny’s age. “I’m Tim. We’re glad you could make it. Jazz mentioned you’re usually busy with work?”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah. But I spent the last few weeks making sure I could get tonight free with minimal chance of interruption.” Not that it worked, his eyes flicked to Robin who was now hugging Bruce Wayne, the only person of the bunch he recognized on sight. And, what was that feeling radiating off Bruce Wayne? It was like liminality, but not quite. Had he died?

“Welcome to my home, Danny,” Bruce Wayne stood and came over to shake his hand with a wide grin on his face. “I’m Bruce and these are my kids.”

“Oi! Don’t call me your kid!” protested a blonde girl. “Hey there, I’m Steph and I’m just here for the food and to give Jason a hard time.” She also felt strange. Not a ghost, but the touch of death lingered. What sort of family had Jazz gotten involved in?

The rest of the group introduced themselves. Both Damian and Cass were liminal as well. So, out of the ten people he’d met tonight, three of them had died and two were as liminal as Sam, Tucker, and Jazz.

Completely ignoring the fact that Danny was trying to come to terms with all the death in what was supposed to be a normal rich family, Robin was doing even more antics to get his attention. He greeted Dick just as warmly as he had Bruce and Alfred. Cass, Tim, and Damian were the other three he seemed to like the most, though they didn’t get hugs. He didn’t react at all to Steph or Duke. He sat on Barbara’s lap for a minute, too, before returning to Dick’s side.

No one noticed the ghost desperate for their attention. Not even Jazz.

Barbara took the time to point out where the drinks were located and Danny looked over the selection of pop before grabbing a coke. He closed his eyes at the satisfying sound of the tab opening and sighed at the first taste.

One of the boys laughed and said, “You’re acting like you haven’t had a coke before.”

“Nope. I’m acting like I love coke and haven’t had any pop at all in ages.” He plopped down on a couch next to Jazz who ruffled his hair.

“Have you been traveling that long?”

Danny shrugged. “How long ago was our last phone call?”

“You don’t remember? Last week.”

“Grandpa had me doing favors for him. He dropped me off this morning.”

Jazz huffed in the way that indicated she was very annoyed. But it’s not like Danny could just not do the things Clockwork asked of him. Besides, his most recent trip was fun. He’d gone to another planet! He couldn’t wait until he could tell Jazz all about it.

Jason looked at them curiously. “You’ve never mentioned a grandfather before, Jazz.”

“Oh, he’s not really our grandfather. Just someone who helped Danny out once and decided to stick around. They’ve gotten close over the past few years. He’s fond of me, too, but we don’t have the same relationship.”

“Grandpa’s great. If infuriating at times. But favors for him are always interesting.”

“Next time feel free to invite him,” offered Bruce.

The image of Clockwork in Wayne Manor caused Danny to snort into his coke. “I don’t think he’d fit in here,” was all he said. Though maybe Robin would appreciate another ghostly visitor.

Dick did a cartwheel and landed upside down on an armchair. “What, too uptight for the likes of us?”

The last prank he and Clockwork had played on the Observants played in his mind and he smiled wider. “Not at all. You just come from different worlds.”

“I’ll have you know I grew up on the streets in Crime Alley.”

“I was a circus performer.”

“I was raised a rich kid through and through, but I hardly spend times in the upper echelons of society.”

“My dad’s in prison.”

“I’m a librarian.”

“I’m a foster kid.”

Danny held a hand up and laughed. They were still from different worlds, but he couldn’t explain he meant Earth versus the Infinite Realms. “I get it, I get it. I’ll let him know next time.”

“If he’s still in the area, you should invite him,” said Dick. “Alfred’s food is to die for.” Robin was hanging upside down next to Dick nodding solemnly.

Danny tried to stop himself, he really did. He even managed to keep from saying he’d been there done that, but he couldn’t keep from laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe.

-----

Part 3

And for the tag list!

@addie-lover-of-stories, @justwannabecat, @gin2212, @amercurio, @regonold, @overtherose, @readerzj, @sjrose1216, @echoednonny, @deeterzz, @blu-lilac, @number-one-jew

[fluffytriceratops]

→ryūnosuke tanaka - just friends←

notes: HAHAHAHAHA PAIN- [pre time skip]. This was a request by one of my lovely friends @shrimpppy . I hope you guys enjoy it! This imagine has been in the works for a while and I have more on the back burner waiting to be finished as well.

(If you want me to tag you in my future haikyuu x reader stuff, feel free to lemme know and I’ll tag you!)

I hope you all have a lovely day/night!!

.⋅ ۵♡۵ ⋅.

She took in a wobbly breath, her bottom lip quivering as she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. Trying her hardest to slow her tears.

She hated love. Absolutely loathed it.

All it brought along was pain and misery. There was no such thing as a fairytale romance. No such thing as love at first sight. No such thing as soulmates. It was just an aching, sinking feeling in her chest. A black hole swallowing her completely.

Love was chaos.

And she never wanted to feel it again.

—

"What are you doing?" He asked in confusion, staring down at the girl in front of him.

Y/n was hanging upside down off her couch, lips pursed in a pout and eyebrows drawn together. "Looking for a new perspective." She hummed simply.

Tanaka bobbed his head with a nod, as if he understood what she was talking about. "Ahh, I see. Yeah that makes perfect sense."

Y/n snorted at his mocking tone, "If you're going to be snippy about it, you can leave."

Ryū huffed, "You're the one who invited me, dumbass." He took a spot on the couch next to her, putting his legs up on the back of it and hanging down much like she was.

She simply responded by sticking her tongue out at him. Tanaka copied her.

"What exactly are you trying to gain a new perspective of?"

Y/n's head turned towards him and she stared at him for a moment. Taking in the sight of her best friend. Ryū was beautiful. At least, she thought so. For a bald headed weirdo. Yes, he would argue that he was not bald and in fact buzzed, but she'd simply shrug and say they were the same thing - if only to mess with him further.

His eyes were mesmerizing. Dark and stormy. Reminding her of the sea. She could hear the waves crashing against the shore. His hands, large and calloused, yet warm. Strong. Comforting. His smile, toothy and wide. As bright as the sun. How she adored his smile.

As she gazed at him, she pondered whether or not she should be honest with him.

"Just..." she started, getting lost in his eyes as he watched her. Waiting patiently for a reply. "Life."

And there it was. That smile. Taking up half of his face as he let out a boisterous and contagious laugh.

"You're such a dork, y'know that?"

Y/n's heart squeezed at the sight before her and she let out a chuckle of her own. Reaching over to shove at Ryūnosuke playfully. "Shut up, jack ass."

—

Y/n had been best friends with Ryūnosuke for as long as she could remember. They were neighbors and his older sister often babysat her as a kid. Of course, Ryū would tag along on occasion, as they were around the same age. (She was 9 months younger, but she didn't count that-)

They didn't hit it off instantly. In fact, Y/n thought Ryū to be an impulsive and pigheaded oaf half the time. And Ryū thought her to be a conceded and pristine little brat. But over time they started to like each other more and more.

Now they were practically inseparable.

Tanaka's parents weren't around much, and so he came over a lot. All the time, actually. And because his sister worked as hard as she did, it was usually just him and Y/n. And her parents both worked too, so they weren't always home either.

Not that they minded. They liked it being just the two of them. And had developed a close bond because of that. They even had their own traditions. No one else was apart of it, it was just them. Always had been and hopefully always would be.

It wasn't until semi-recently that Y/n had discovered her feelings for Tanaka.

Truth be told, she kind of always knew. But she ignored them. Pretended they were something else. Forced herself to believe otherwise.

It was fear that kept those feelings at bay. Hidden deep within herself. But over time, the things you bottle up have to come out eventually. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't bottle up her feelings forever.

Sooner or later they were bound to erupt.

—

Y/n's hands clutched at her notebook, crinkling some of the paper from the force. Her heart was beating so fast she was sure it was going to explode. Her palms became clammy and she bit down on her lip to stop it from quivering.

She had come to see Tanaka's practice, like she usually did whenever she had the time.

However, this was not what she came here to see. Ryūnosuke fawning all over Kiyoko. It wasn't the first time she had witnessed it, but each time felt like a stab to the chest.

She hated seeing him get so excited over a girl.

A girl that wasn't her.

Envy ran through her veins and no matter how hard she tried to force the nauseating feeling to go away, it never did. Y/n felt stupid. Getting so overworked, so upset, over a guy.

But this wasn't just any guy. It was Ryū.

The same boy who shoved her childhood bullies off the swing sets when they made her cry. The same boy who would carry spiders outside for her, because while she was scared of them she didn't want them to die. The same boy who snuck through her window every time she had a nightmare. The same boy who gave her his umbrella because she didn't have one, and walked home in the rain instead. The same boy who gave her flowers every year on her birthday, her favorite kind too. The same boy who brought her boiled potatoes every day for a week straight because she was sick and wouldn't eat anything else.

This was Ryūnosuke Tanaka, her greatest and grandest friend.

And he was in love with Kiyoko. Not her.

Y/n waited for Tanaka outside the gym like she usually did. They always walked home together.

However, Tanaka was no where in sight.

Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, she chose to wait for him. She busied herself with reading, Y/n always kept a book on her. She had an earbud in as well, playing one of her many playlists in an attempt to further help pass time.

It wasn't until about 45 minutes later that Tanaka actually showed. She snapped her book shut, slipping it away into her bag and doing her best not to show her irritation.

"Hey," she glanced up at him and nodded in greeting. "Hey."

"Sorry I'm a bit late."

She shrugged as if it was nothing. "It's fine. I used the time to catch up on my reading."

"Well at least you got to do that." He teased as the two of them began walking. Y/n rolled her eyes, chancing a glance in his direction. Ryū had his eyes on the sky, his hands were shoved into the pockets of the gray hoodie he was wearing. He hadn't realized she was looking at him, thankfully. He always walked on the side closest to the road, wanting to protect his friends.

They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Simply enjoying the sights and each other's company. Like they usually did. Y/n couldn't help but think of earlier. Of the way Ryū's eyes lit up at the sight of Kiyoko. Of how he showed off for her during practice. How his smile, the one that was as bright as the sun, was directed towards her. Was she the reason he was late?

"So," she breathed out, tearing her gaze away from him just as he glanced in her direction. "Is Kiyoko the reason why you were late?" Her tone was teasing, and she grinned at him as if she truly believed there was no way that could be true. As if it was just a joke between two friends.

Tanaka's cheeks warmed at the accusation and he cleared his throat, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Yeah, actually.."

Her smile instantly fell.

"What?"

"We were just talking and I lost track of time. I didn't mean to make you wait so long. But uh, I've been thinking of asking her out."

Y/n blinked, trying her best to wrap her head around this. "Ask her out?" Her chest tightened and her stomach dropped. Ryū had once again returned his gaze to the sky, so he had yet to notice her rigid posture and the frown pulling at her soft lips.

"Yeah. I've had a thing for her for a long time now, and I think.. I think she might like me too. At least, that's what Noya said." He turned to flash a grin in her direction, but it faltered at the broken expression she wore.

"Y/n? Hey, are you okay?"

She felt like a hot iron rod had been shoved down her throat. She nodded, a bit too quickly and did her best to force a smile on her face. "What? Yeah, of course. I'm fine. Just thinking is all... I'm really happy for you, Ryū." Her voice wobbled as she spoke his name and she bit down on her tongue. Praying he wouldn't notice.

Ryūnosuke didn't look convinced, but luckily, he decided against saying anything. At least, for now. "Thanks, Y/n. So uh.. I was hoping you'd help me with something?"

She couldn't speak, tongue thick and heavy. So she only nodded, being unable to do anything else.

"Do you think you could help me ask her out? I mean- I just- want to say all the right stuff, ya know?" His cheeks were pink, pinker than they were before. And he wouldn't meet her gaze. She was thankful for that, at least.

Her eyes stung with tears and at the sight of her house she began to pick up the pace. Tanaka seemed to notice this, and he arched a thick brow in confusion. "Y/n?"

"Yes." She choked out, quickly making her way to the door and keeping her back to him. Throat tight as she fumbled with her keys. "Y-Yeah, I'll help you. Sorry I just uh, I gotta pee so- I'll- I'll see you later-" she didn't give him a chance to respond as she opened the door and quickly shut it behind her.

Y/n's back hit the door and she stood there. Unable to move. Unable to breathe. Slowly her tears began to slip down her cheeks and then she found herself sliding down the door. Hand coming up to press against her mouth, to muffle her cries.

This was silly.

This was stupid.

She couldn't possibly be crying over a boy.

But no matter how hard she willed herself to stop, to force her tears to stop flowing. They only came faster, blurring her vision and restricting her air flow. Her breaths came out in short bursts, gasping as she wailed.

She pulled her knees to her chest, cradling herself in an attempt to give herself some small form of comfort. As she predicted, it didn't really work.

—

Y/n didn't respond to any of his texts that night. Instead replying in the morning and making an excuse of getting distracted by homework.

Tanaka either bought it, or decided against saying anything.

The next few days were filled with her giving her advice on how to ask Kiyoko out. She decided to bite the bullet and just get it done and over with. She was his best friend, after all. This is what a best friend does. She wanted Tanaka to be happy. And if that meant helping him get together with some other girl, then so be it.

Besides, their special tradition was coming up. And at least she got to look forward to that.

Every year, on the anniversary of their friendship, Ryūnosuke and Y/n would get together on her rooftop and watch the sunrise. No matter what day it was, how tired they got, if they had school the next day. It didn't matter. Because this was for them. Just them. It was a special moment for the both of them and they looked forward to it each year.

That wasn't all they did. They'd usually decorate the roof together, make a little area with pillows and blankets where they could sit comfortably. They'd hang a sheet from a wire connecting to some trees for a makeshift screen and use her small projector to watch some of their favorite movies. They'd make snacks together, which usually would end up in a food fight. They'd snuggle up under a blanket and watch the stars, laughing at inside jokes and reminiscing on memories. Tanaka would pretend he knew constellations and would make up random names for them, pointing to bunches of stars as if they were the real deal.

Sure, it wasn't a grand affair but it was fun. And it was special. It was tradition.

Wednesday, 4:37 PM.

ryū <3

hey, i'm gonna be a bit late

i promised kiyoko i'd

take her home

y/n

hey, that's okay thanks

for letting me know

want me wait for you to set

up and make the snacks?

ryū <3

nah thats okay

you can start without me

—

Y/n bit down on her lip in frustration, staring down at her phone in her hand. He didn't want to help set up? He didn't want to help with the snacks?

They've always set up together.

They've always made the snacks together.

It was tradition. It was part of the fun.

Maybe he'd make it in time to still help out a bit?

Y/n stashed her cell away in her pocket before setting off to work. She placed down a blanket on top of the roof and grabbed a few folded ones for them to use when they were up there. She put up some of her fairy lights and then set up some lanterns. The sheet was next, coupled by her laptop and projector. She tossed up some extra pillows for more comfort before getting started on the food.

Cookies, they were a must. They had them every year. Chocolate chip and gingerbread. Hot cocoa was also a must. She prepared an array of different snacks, some which she had gotten earlier in the week for this very night. She had to travel all the way to Tokyo for a few of them. Their favorite bakery was there and held some fan favorites they had each year. The owners knew them by name. They knew exactly what they came for when they came in around this time of year.

This time, Y/n ended up coming alone. It did not go unnoticed. She claimed Tanaka was busy, which he was, trying to seduce Kiyoko. But that didn't make it any harder.

Everything was ready. An hour and a half had passed and Ryū still hadn't shown.

Y/n was just about to call him when she heard a knock on her door. Strange, Ryū never knocked he always just came in but she didn't think much of it and moved to answer the door.

"Well it's about damn time. What took you so long anyway-" she yanked the door open and stopped in her tracks.

Ryū beamed up at her sheepishly, apologetically, and next to him stood Kiyoko.

"Hey, sorry we're late. We got to talking and time just flew by!"

Y/n blinked, hand still on the doorknob, half tempted to slam the door in their faces. "It's.. fine.."

"Did you get everything done in time?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Oh great! Think we can come in? It's fucking freezing out here."

Y/n was silent for a moment, staring at his arm which was thrown over Kiyoko's shoulders.

"Earth to Y/n?"

The door flung open. "Yeah, yeah, come in." She turned her back to them, eyes stinging as she padded her way to the kitchen.

This had to be some fucking joke, right?

He was messing with her, wasn't he?

"Sorry for coming without warning, Tanaka ensured me it was okay." Kiyoko spoke from behind her and Y/n took in a quiet breath before responding.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." She flashed a small smile towards her from over her shoulder, trying to remain polite and civil.

Kiyoko sent a small smile back.

"The food looks great!" Ryū hummed, observing the array set out on the kitchen island. "You outdid yourself this time, Y/n."

Said female could only smile. Not knowing what to say. Part of her still couldn't believe this was real.

The three of them helped bring some of the snacks up to the roof, they had to get there via Y/n's bedroom window. Which she found a bit awkward. Kiyoko had never been to her house before. They weren't very close and while she was a nice girl it just felt strange having her in her room.

Perhaps this was Tanaka's way of getting them to become closer? The girl he liked and his best friend. But if that was the case, why did he have to pick tonight of all times? It was their special night. Their tradition. No one else had ever been involved, had ever been allowed to be involved.

Y/n had just finished grabbing the container of cookies as she made her way to the window. Ryū and Kiyoko were already settled on the rooftop. They had a blanket draped over their shoulders and their hands were connected. She did her best not to stare. They were talking to each other, she had no idea what the conversation was about and honestly she didn't care.

She didn't want to sit next to them while they were cuddling, but she didn't have much of a choice. She did her best not to seem stiff and awkward, but she failed miserably.

They had barley been here five minutes and she already felt like a third wheel.

Y/n decided to start one of the movies, as Tanaka and Kiyoko had been talking for the past several minutes while she just sat there. At least this way she might be able to distract herself from this horrendous night. And perhaps they'd shut the fuck up.

The talking did calm down a little, but Ryū was still very much all over Kiyoko. The sight alone was enough to make Y/n's blood boil. She felt so uncomfortable. And she was angry that he brought her here in the first place. This was their thing. Their special night. Their tradition. Sure, it might not have been very flashy. All they did was sit at home and hang out. But it was their thing. They did it every year. They had never brought along other friends before.

And he hadn't even asked if it was okay first.

Y/n was torn between just letting it go and trying to have a good time, or allowing herself to be mad about it. She wouldn't say anything in front of Kiyoko. That wasn't fair to her. It wasn't like she asked to be here, Tanaka was the one who brought her along and said it was okay. But even then, she didn't want to make him feel bad either. Maybe she was just being stupid.

She was torn from her thoughts at the sound of Kiyoko giggling at something Ryū had said. Y/n glanced over in their direction, being unable to stop herself. He had his arm around her shoulders and was feeding her something. She laughed as she took it from him, shaking her head to herself. Their cheeks were flushed and Y/n felt her stomach drop. She started to stand up and make her way towards her bedroom window.

"I'm just gonna go to the bathroom real quick," she mumbled out the excuse, and Tanaka nodded in acknowledgment.

Y/n climbed through the window, being careful not to trip as she made her way inside. Like she had said, she went to her bathroom which was connected to her room.

After closing and locking the door behind her, Y/n turned to face her relfection in the mirror. Her eyes were glazed with tears, but she refused to let them fall. She sucked in a shaky breath and turned on the cold water, splashing her face with it.

Why was this so complicated? She should just suck it up and be happy for him.

There was nothing she could do about it now. Her feelings would have to be bottled up and forgotten.

No matter how hard it may be.

Y/n let out a sigh and dabbed her face dry with a towel. "I can't wait for this shit to be over..."

As she made her way back into her room, she paused in front of her window. Freezing in place at the sight before her.

Her hands latched onto each other. Gripping so tightly they shook. Her eyes were wide and glossy, and she bit down on her lip to stop it from trembling.

Kiyoko and Tanaka were kissing. One of his massive paws was cupping the side of her face and the other sat on her waist. One of her hands cupped the back of his neck while the other sat atop his shoulder.

That was the final straw.

Y/n yanked the window open, causing Kiyoko to jump and pull away from Tanaka at the sound. She closed the laptop and started tossing things inside her room.

"Y/n, what-"

"You guys have to leave."

Ryū arched a brow in confusion. "What, why?"

She shook her head, claiming she'd get the rest later and threw their jackets at them. Tanaka caught them easily. "Don't worry about cleaning up, I can do it." Y/n said, waving Kiyoko off as she reached to help with a food platter.

The two shared a look before following Y/n inside. She started carrying the food in, quickly putting them on the kitchen island. Before she could slip past them to grab the rest, Tanaka reached over and grabbed her arm. Holding her firmly in place. "Y/n, stop. What's goin' on?"

Y/n looked up at him, biting the inside of her cheek to contain herself. "It's nothing-"

"Well, clearly it isn't. We've barley been here an hour-"

"My cat is sick!" She blurted. Being unable to come up with a better excuse.

Ryū's eyebrows furrowed. "Toji? He looked fine earlier-"

"He's sick. He was throwing up when I came in." She sputtered, sticking to it and hoping Toji was hiding somewhere- that was until she saw Toji brushing up against Tanaka's leg. He sent her a look.

"He seems fine to me."

Kiyoko bent down and gave him a scritch, the feline let out a little mew. Purring as she pet him.

Y/n's face paled and she quickly yanked herself out of Tanaka's grip and reached down to grab her cat. Cradling him in her chest. "No, I think he ate a toxic plant - I thought I saw him eating something and I wasn't sure before but-but now I am! So you guys need to go."

She ushered them towards the door, Ryūnosuke nearly tripping over his own two feet as she did so. "Y/n-"

"I'll call you later. Promise." She sent him a tight lipped smile and made no hesitation to quickly slam the door shut once they were outside.

Toji wriggled in her grasp, but she didn't let him go. Not until a few minutes had passed and she was sure they were gone. The fat cat jumped from her arms and went to go munch on some leftover kibble in his dish. Y/n watched him with a teary gaze. Silent and still. She sniffled, reaching up to wipe at her eyes harshly.

This was shit.

This whole evening sucked shit.

Their tradition felt lame. It felt like he didn't even care about it anymore.

She was done with it. She didn't want to deal with these stupid feelings anymore.

"Stupid Ryū.." she cried, shuffling over towards the island and snatching up a cookie. She practically shoved the entire thing in her mouth, muffling her cries.

"Fuck.." She sniffed, "I hate men."

—

A week went by and Y/n did her best to avoid Kiyoko and Tanaka. She barley responded to his texts and definitely didn't answer his calls. Y/n felt it was best to take herself out of the equation. It was too hard to be around the two of them. Especially right now. Maybe once her feelings for him faded a bit?

She dodged him as best as possible, saying she was keeping a close eye on Toji and she had lots of homework to do anyway.

But keeping away from him provided to be more difficult that she originally thought. He was a persistent mother fucker. He obviously knew something was wrong, or off, but no matter what he did or how hard he tried, Y/n wouldn't tell him what. She'd just brush him off and tell him she had something to do. Then she would leave. She hadn't been to any of his practises either.

Ryūnosuke didn't know what was going on, but he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Y/n opened her locker to get a textbook she needed for her final class. She was listening to music in a poor attempt to drown out her sorrows. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, the female jumped and whipped around. Hand coming up on instinct and slapping the person's face. Her mouth droppen open and she yanked out an ear bud. "Ryū! What the hell! You scared the crap out of me!"

Tanaka cradled his face, eyes wide in surprise before he let out a burst of chuckles. "Damn, Y/n. You're stronger than you look."

Said girl scowled. "Yeah.." she mumbled, not sure what else to say. She turned back towards her locker and started putting away a few things. "Did you need something?" Y/n was trying her hardest not to get upset. But it felt like someone had shoved cotton down her throat and she really wasn't ready to be this close to Ryū yet. She just needed some time...

"Actually, I did want to talk to you about something." He leaned against the lockers next to hers, sliding his hands into his pockets.

She let out a sigh. "I really don't have time right now, I need to get to my next class-"

"It'll only take a sec." He reasoned, taking her silence as a 'go ahead'.

"Look, I know you've been avoiding me lately and I just want to know why-"

Y/n scoffed, shaking her head to herself bitterly. Tanaka's eyebrows furrowed as he studied the sour expression on her face. "What?"

"It's nothing." She snipped, struggling to put her textbook into her bag. Fumbling with the opening as she tried to get herself to calm down.

"Well clearly it's something."

"Just drop it, Ryūnosuke." Y/n spat, shooting him a glare in frustration. Her chest was growing tight and it was starting to feel all stuffy in here. She finally got her textbook into her bag and slammed her locker shut.

Tanaka watched her in surprise, she never called him by his name. It was almost always Ryū. "No, I'm not gonna just drop it." He kicked himself off the lockers and moved in front of her, blocking her path.

"Move."

"No."

Her shoulders sunk. "Get out of the way."

He rose his brows, staring at her challengingly. "Not until to tell me what's going on."

Y/n ran her tongue along her teeth, once again shaking her head. "I'm not dealing with you right now." She moved to step past him but he grabbed her, stopping her from going anywhere.

"Y/n, I'm bein' serious. Tell me what's wrong." He pleaded, stormy eyes searching her own relentlessly.

"So am I. Now let me go." She demanded, trying and failing to get away from him. Her eyes were starting to sting and she knew she had to get out of there fast. Lest she break into tears in front of him.

"I will if you just tell me-"

"I don't want to do our tradition anymore!" She snapped, hands balling into fists, nails puncturing her skin.

Ryū's eyes widened and he took a moment to take what she said in. "What?"

"It's stupid, and it clearly doesn't matter to you anyways, so I'm done. I don't want to do it anymore." Y/n's voice cracked and she bit down on her lip to stop herself from saying anything more than that.

"What are you on about? Of course it matters to me." He huffed, completely taken aback by her words.

"Well clearly, it doesn't." She argued pathetically.

"Is.. is this because I brought Kiyoko over?"

Y/n let out a dry chuckle, lowering her head and blinking furiously to try and stop her tears. Just hearing it stung. It felt like a slap in the face. A bitter reminder of that horrid night. "It's our thing, Ryūnosuke. Ours. Not anyone elses. You should have called me, you should have asked first before just bringing her over."

"You're right. I'm sorry I didn't check with you first. But I didn't think it was a big deal. It's not like it's a super important tradition or anything."

Her gaze snapped up to his. "Not important?" She asked, ripping herself away from him.

"Y/n, I didn't mean- hold on a sec-" she tried to get past him again but he grabbed her once more, directing her back in front of him.

"It is important just not like... super important, y'know? It's just some silly thing we started doin' as kids. I thought it would be fun to bring other's into it." Tanaka reasoned, but Y/n shook her head.

"Well, it doesn't matter now. Because it's done. I don't want to do it anymore."

"Y/n, come on, you're seriously going to stop doing the tradition over something this stupid-"

"Yeah. I am."

Ryū's eyebrows came together in frustration and he clicked his tongue. "What is the matter with you? You haven't been acting like yourself."

Y/n rolled her eyes, fed up with his pestering. She just wanted to leave. It was too soon. He should have just let her go. "You're the one who isn't acting like themselves. Kiyoko this, Kiyoko that, fucking bullshit." She hissed, yanking a hand through her hair in agitation. She hadn't meant to let that slip out but she couldn't help herself. He had her cornered and she needed to get the hell out of there.

Ryūnosuke stared at her in shock, but before he could get another word out, Y/n removed herself from his grasp and stormed into the girl's bathroom. Slamming the door behind her.

It was too late to stop her tears now. Y/n cursed under her breath, glad no one else was in here. She started to fan at her face, hoping it would help. It was a futile attempt.

"Y/n, wait. Come back!" She heard Ryū's voice through the door and she puffed out her cheeks in agitation.

"Go away!" She choked out.

"Y/n, c'mon. I wanna talk about this." He leaned his head against the door, hitting the wood with a small thud.

"What did you mean by all that?"

She snorted at that, scrubbing at her eyes, thankful that she wasn't wearing any makeup or mascara to smudge.

"Y/n, don't make me come in there. You know I will." Ryūnosuke huffed, cringing as some passerbys sent him strange looks.

She shook her head, even though she knew he couldn't see her. She quickly slipped into one of the stalls, closing the lid and sitting down on the toilet. She buried her face in her hands and pray that he wouldn't come in or hear her crying.

Tanaka let out a sigh before pushing the door open and storming inside. He couldn't see Y/n anywhere but there was only one stall closed so he walked over to it and kicked the door open. Spotting his best friend sniffling into her hands, whilst sitting on the lid of the toilet.

He crouched down and placed a hands atop her knees. Giving them a gentle squeeze.

"I could have been peeing." She grumbles out angrilly and he cracks a small grin. "Y/n.. Talk to me. Please."

Y/n lets out a puff of air, peeking at him with red puffy eyes through her fingers. Ryū sends her an ecouraging smile, thumbs brushing against her legs softly. She wets her lips with her tongue nervously. "I'm happy for you, Ryūnosuke-"

"Stop calling me that."

She sends him a look.

"It's Ryū."

She snorts at this, rolling her eyes before continuing. "I'm happy for you, Ryū. I truly a-am. I don't want you to th-think that I'm not. I'm your best friend and if you're happy, I'm h-happy. But I can't help the aching feeling in my chest. I'm s-so scared of losing you. I don't w-wanna lose y-you. I just... I just need time. I dunno."

His eyebrows come together again as he processes this. "Is this about Kiyoko?"

Y/n deadpans. "No, it's about Nishi, you dumb fuck."

Her chest tightens with the realization that she's already said too much. And with the soft look on his face, she feels her heart stutter within her chest. Suddenly she's very aware of where his hands are. And she starts to shake her head. Trying to stand up and push Tanaka off of her.

"J-Just forget it, f-forget I said a-anything." She started, wishing this conversastion had never happened in the first place.

Ryū stumbled a bit, catching himself on the edge of the door before he could fall. He quickly stood up and grabbed Y/n by her arms, stopping her from going anywhere. He pinned her against the wall of the stall. "Y/n, stop! You can't just say all that stuff and then dip!"

"Yes, I can. I j-just did! Now let me go, Ryū!" She tried to get out of his hold again, but this time he wasn't letting her go anywhere. Not without a proper answer.

"I'm not letting you go anywhere! I don't understand, I know I can be a bit dense about this kinda stuff so I need ya to tell me straight up!"

"Ryū stop!" She wailed, pathetically trying to push him off of her.

"No! Tell me what's wrong! Tell me what's going on inside that thick head of yours! Tell me how I can fix this!" He begged, not meaning to yell at her but being unable to help himself.

"I like you, asshole!"

Ryūnosuke's eyes widen and in his moment of surprise, he losens his grip a little. Before he realizes, Y/n manages to shove him off of her. She pushed past him, a heap of tears, and runs out the bathroom.

Leaving Tanaka standing there dumbfounded. Eyes wide and breath hitched in his throat.

Man, he's really fucked up now...

[louloulemons-posts]

can you do a eddie fic where gets cursed by vecna or whatever and eddie is the only one with reader if you already havent? its alright if not though

Heaven

Eddie X Reader

Word Count : 0.6k

Warnings : Not proofread, 4am writing (she’s back 👹) vecna, billy, reader feels guilt, fluffy ending, like minor angst, petnames.

A/N : i’m so sorry this took so long! I’ve had the worst writers block, but hopefully i’m back now with many fics to come. Enjoy!

- Lou 🫶🏻

1K Celebration Found Here

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

It couldn't end like this, you refused to let it end like this. Your head had been pounding for days, your nose running regularly, the inability to sleep had become a regular. It was just like Chrissy.

Vecna had targeted you, taking you back to the horrific things you'd experienced because of the upside down before. The demogorgons, demodogs, the night at the mall you so wished you could forget.

Your vision has gone fuzzy. Where were you?

The mall?

No that wasn't possible.

"Hello?" you called out.

There was no answer, nothing at all.

"Hello?"

"Y/N."

Jumping and turning quickly you saw, well you could only assume it was Vecna. The monster walked towards you.

"Please," you said softly.

"It's time. I can take it all away. How you left Max without a brother, the guilt you feel for him pushing you out of the way. Poor poor Billy," he taunted, his voice deep and vile.

Your skin was full of goosebumps, as you stepped back and hit something. Turning, you saw a familiar face.

"Billy?"

His big blue eyes were glossy, his skin covered in sickly black veins, covered in a thick layer of sweat.

“Billy I-“

“You did this,” he said, voice angry but face so numb of emotion.

“I didn’t mean to, I’m so sorry,” your eyes filled with tears, you didn’t want him to die for you.

“You just wanted Max for yourself, you’d always wanted a sister. So why not take mine right!” he shouted, pushing you back towards Vecna.

“No! No I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!” you cried.

“Liar!” he shoved you down on to the floor, the skinless beast grinned from above you.

“It’s time.”

His long fingers came towards you, grabbing hold of your face. “No!” you screamed kicking your legs to get away.

He was too strong. “No please! Please! Someone help!” you sobbed.

“Nobody can save you now Y/N, nobody but me. You let out a cry, this was how it was going to end. This was it.

You didn’t even get to say goodbye. To your friends. Your family. Eddie. Oh Eddie. Your sweet boy.

“Goodbye Y/N.”

Oh thinkin’ about all our younger years

There was only you and me

We were young and wild and free

What was that?

You began to struggle again, wriggling your wrists against the vines that had appeared around them.

Vecnas eyes had rolled to the back of his head, meaning he didn’t notice when yours came swinging forward, headbutting him away.

The shock knocked him back, giving you time to wiggle out of the vines. Ripping them off you, you were up and sprinting towards an opening.

It looked like Eddies trailer. “Eddie!” You called out, seeing the familiar brown curls.

Baby your all that I want now

When you’re lyin’ here in my arms

I’m finding it hard to believe

We’re in heaven

You ran and ran, feeling the ground shake beneath you and heard a violent scream from the monster behind.

Large rocks began falling in your path and the ground began to crumble beneath your feet.

You had to make it, had to get back to him.

Now are dreams are comin’ true

Through the good times and the bad

Yeah I’ll be standin’ there by you, oh!

A large rock lifted behind you and before you’d even thought about it you were launching yourself over it and through to the trailer. To the boy you loved.

With a loud gasp of breath your body fell into Eddies arms. His huge frame wrapping around you, holding you to his chest.

“Thank god you’re okay,” he spoke into your hair, leaving a kiss there. He pulled back holding your face in his hands.

“I know I spoke badly about Bryan Adams, but he’s now my favourite artist ever.”

“Even more than Metallica?”

He let out a laugh, “Baby he saved your life.”

“No, Edward Munson, you did.” Standing on your tip toes you pressed a gentle kiss to his mouth.

“I love you.”

“I love you too Baby.”

You’re all that I want

You’re all that I need

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Thank you so much for reading!

Please leave any requests 🤍

[dreamlessimp]

— procrastinate

summary: you sleep over at isagi’s after long procrastinating an assignment, there he makes a decision

warnings: isagi yoichi x gn reader, reader goes to isagi’s high school, blue lock not mentioned, 2.4k wc, reader sleeps over at isagi’s house, they do not share a bed, please don’t read this i’m begging

“did you read yesterday’s chapter?” isagi whispered to you, on the topic of a new manga you both enjoyed.

you looked around the classroom before whispering back. “not yet. i think i’m falling behind.”

“that’s fine. i won’t spoil it.”

you smiled, you knew the two of you would likely fall into an hours long conversation after you read it.

the two of you were sitting next to each other in class, clearly a mistake by the teacher. she didn’t seem to notice though, as she announced the pairings for a project she’d given many warnings about.

“isagi and…” she began, before looking around the room. “y/n.”

that caught your attention. she likely hadn’t seen you in conversation, so you gave an awkward nod as if your neck hadn’t just snapped up at your name.

“cool. what’s the project again?” isagi looked just as confused as you were, neither of you having been listening.

“i dunno. i think she’ll explain again later though. hopefully.” you said. 

after that, you turned your attention back to the teacher, and explain she did.

“your assignment is to create a poster about our school. you are to draw your favorite part of our school and attach an essay referring to the drawing. if you have any questions, approach me during class tomorrow.”

with that, the bell rang and you moved on to your next class without your friend.

you and isagi shared many classes, the last class of your day—a free period—being one of them. when it ended, the two of you began for the library, already falling behind on homework.

the two of you walked next to each other, brushing shoulders every other step. neither of you had much to say so you walked in a comfortable silence occasionally pointing out a pretty flower in a yard, or a squirrel running along a fence.

once there, he led you to a small table in the back of the building. you dropped your backpack onto the floor as he turned his own upside-down and emptied it out onto the table.

“what did we have in math again?” he asked, sorting through his messy notebook.

you wracked your brain for a moment before responding, “worksheet. i didn’t finish it but i did the first bit.” 

“uh huh. can i copy off you? please.” he gave a bright, guilty smile that you couldn’t say no to, even if you’d hadn’t already been about to hand it to him.

“yeah. i’ll work on those science questions. it’s only like 5 right?”

he had just pulled out his own, blank assignment before raising his head to meet your gaze. “oh, i did that. do you want mine?”

you did in fact want his, but you shook your head anyway. “no, he’ll probably recognize your answers. plus, this lesson isn’t that bad,”

he gave a serious nod. “okay.”

studying with isagi was a normal thing for the two of you. both of you would swear you worked better together, and no one could disagree because you each worked almost exclusively with each other. 

he made studying worth it, especially considering that he’d usually walk you home afterwards even if his home was in another direction.

after nearly an hour of homework, isagi remembered that he had promised his dad he’d be home to make dinner early that day.

“sorry, my mom is out of town and my dad’ll probably burn the house down.” his explanation was clearly true, considering that you had seen his dad try to cook before. “i guess he’s too fancy for take-out so the responsibility has fallen onto me.”

you nodded in understanding. “okay, you should get home.”

he began packing up his backpack. “come on. i’ll walk you home, i’m not supposed to be back for half an hour anyways.”

you smiled, amused at the sight of him cramming his many books into an already-overstuffed bag, the sight never getting old.

the two of you walked out of the library for your house. it wasn’t late, so the sun hadn’t yet begun to set, and the weather had improved from earlier that day.

as you walked, you and isagi both had a thought at the same time.

he stopped walking. “wait.” he said, trying to think.

you paused next to him. “weren’t we going to do something?”

it came to him. “yeah. the poster thing.”

“oh right.” you said, remembering. “we can do it tomorrow?” 

he nodded. “okay. it shouldn’t be that bad. when’s it due again?”

you shrugged. “i’m not sure. we can ask her tomorrow during class.”

“no point in panicking, then.” he said with a smile, before continuing walking. “are you going to read the chapter when you get home?”

“oh yeah. i’ll text you when i’m done? we can talk after you make dinner.”

“great, it’s a really good chapter. i don’t want to spoil it but a certain character comes back at the end!”

“i have no idea who you’re talking about.” you said with a small laugh, evident in your voice. 

your home was close to the library, so your talk was cut short when you rounded the corner and saw your house. you didn’t want to hold isagi for too long, so after you saw it you waved him an exaggeration goodbye and walked off, telling him to get home early.

after your talk with isagi about working on your project the following day, you both were fully ready to begin.

but, you didn’t. 

the next day you had a large test in a class. the day after he had a test in one of his.

eventually, it had been days since you’d last spoken about the poster you had agreed to work together on.

your teacher gave reminders nearly every class period, but she gave no time to work on it during school.

soon, even with the constant reminders, all thoughts of the impending assignment had left the minds of both you and isagi.

that was, until late at night on the thursday before it was due the next day.

it took isagi calling you, obviously in a panic, for your memory to be jogged.

“y/n!!” he yelled through the phone, clearly in a state of mid-panic.

“what happened?” you spoke back, concerned for both the safety of your friend and yourself.

“the project. it’s due in two days!” he said, still panicking. “the one we didn’t do!”

“oh.” you said, freezing. “oops.”

“uh…” he began muttering under his breath about something you couldn’t hear.

“you should come over to my house tomorrow. it’s too late to do anything today.” he paused. “you should sleepover.”

you felt your heart leap, although it was already racing from isagi’s panicked voice.

of course you had been to his house before, but you’d never slept over at his house. even if it was because of a forgotten assignment, it was better then nothing.

plenty of people would have accepted the late, but isagi wasn’t like that. he obviously wasn’t the best with schoolwork, but he was smart.

and, of course, their was his determination that he showed on the soccer field that tended to shine through in everything he did.

you didn’t realize you had forgotten to speak until you hear his calmer voice from the other end of your phone. “hello? are you there?”

“oh, sorry isagi.” you clear your throat and rock back and forth on your heels. “i’ll be there, can i come at 19:00?”

you hear the smile in his voice. “yeah, of course.” he pauses for a moment. “by the way, my mom will be back by then.”

“okay, thanks. good night!” you say, finally realizing how late it was.

“night, y/n. see you in school tomorrow.” there was a second of silence before he ended the call.

a smile appeared on your face. even if you had left it for so long, there was no way the poster would take all night. if you worked quickly, you could probably finish in time to actually hang out with him.

you rapped your knuckles on the door three times. with no answer, you repeated the process.

this time, isagi arrived at the door as you finished and pulled it open for you.

you quickly took off your shoes and followed isagi into the kitchen, where you met his mom.

“hello mrs. isagi.” you said quietly, only having spoken to your friend’s mom on a few occasions.

“hello y/n, i hear you are here for a sleepover?” isagi’s mom asked, enjoying the sight of her son awkwardly shifting from side-to-side behind you.

“yeah.” you said. “we’re working on a- “

“ -movie. that i’ve been wanting to watch. isagi quickly cut you off.

you quickly figured that he hadn’t told his parents about your procrastination, which you silently thanked him for. it would have been awkward to explain that you were only there to panic and finish a project.

he turned to you. “we should go now. we have a lot of plans for this.”

“yeah.” you said. “thank you.” you addressed his mom with a bow of your head, before moving to follow isagi up the stairs to his room.

once behind his closed door, he collapsed against it.

“thanks for not saying anything. i promised my mom i’d stay on top of everything, and clearly i have not.” 

“oh, that makes sense. i’m glad too, it would have been awkward to explain to her why we procrastinated for so long.”

“well, we should probably start now.” isagi said, ending a short silence.

“yeah. i’ll do the essay if you do the drawings?”

“okay.” he gave a nod without meeting your eyes, and pulled out blank poster paper from his backpack.

although you did it to yourselves, neither you nor isagi particularly enjoyed rushing your assignment.

still, within a couple hours, you had each nearly finished and decided to switch places so you could touch up isagi’s drawing and he could proof-read your work.

while working, isagi decided to end the comfortable silence that had long reached its peak.

“what do you want to do? like after this?”

you looked up from the poster. “what?”

“we’re almost done, and you’re spending the night.” he smiled with a raise of an eyebrow. “what do you want to do afterwards?”

“oh, i…” you paused. “ -didn’t think that far ahead. i guess whatever you want?”

his face contorted into something obviously belonging to someone deep in thought. “we could play video games?”

“hah. okay.” you looked down at your lap and remembered what you were meant to be doing. “after we finish though.”

he shot finger guns in your general direction. “right, yeah.”

in a flurry of typing keys and light erase marks, you each finished half an hour later within 10 minutes of each other.

you stood back to appreciate your efforts. 

isagi looked over at the clock next to him. it wasn’t that late, but you had been working for hours. “i think my parents are asleep.”

“should we be too, though?. you asked jokingly, knowing the answer would be something along a the lines of ‘probably not’.

he shook his head and led you down the stairs of his house into what was likely his living-room.

“here.” he smiled. “we can play whatever game you want.”

you quickly noted with a snicker that the boy who claimed to not often play video games, appeared to have a solid dozen soccer games.

“how about something not soccer related?” you proposed, already sorting through his games for something you could both enjoy.

you settled on a basic fighting game where you’d be pit against enemies, on the same team. as long as neither of you were charged with friendly-fire, it would be calm.

after an hour of play, isagi abruptly stood up and shut down his gaming system. unfortunately, this left the room in an eerie dark that you were more then keen to get out of.

from the darkness, isagi began to speak. “we have school tomorrow, so we should probably get to bed.”

you let out a muffled laugh, and followed the sound of his voice to return to his room from the unfamiliar area. “yeah, it won’t help to pull any all-nighters on week days i guess.”

you, again, followed him up his stairs into his room. he gestured at a futon on the ground and spoke. “i’ll sleep on the futon, you sleep on the bed.”

you smiled. he could be ridiculously sweet sometimes, not even leaving you room for refusal. 

“fine. if you wake up with back-pain in your own room, it’s on you,”

he, again, smiled. “deal.”

he turned his lights off and moved his door to be mostly closed, leaving the door slightly ajar.

the two of you quickly settled in, and a light silence took over the room as you both drifted off to sleep, in different beds.

except, isagi couldn’t sleep. for a long while, he tossed and turned on the futon, plagued with the feeling of something being wrong.

it wasn’t you, the fact that you were in his room. it was, that he was so far from you.

he vowed to himself, that in the morning, he would change that.

you woke up easily, and early. for this, you blamed isagi’s alarm clock. 

getting ready for school was a bit disjointed due to your and isagi’s conflicting morning routines, but you both tried your best. in the end, you both were ready for school, on time.

walking to school together with isagi certainly wasn’t rare for you, but you could have sworn he was going the wrong direction.

still, you chose to say nothing considering how little he was ever late. that, and the determination in his eyes was evident from a mile away. you didn’t doubt him.

in isagi’s mind though, he was starting to regret his split-second decision. he trusted himself though, and continued on.

finally, he stopped. you were confused at this and stopped as well. “are you ok- “

“i like you.” red erupted on his cheeks at his statement, as your eyes widened and cheeks burned as well.

in your state of shock, you responded breathlessly. “i like you too.”

he moved closer to you and tentatively took your hand in his. without words, a soft grin took over his gestures and he led you to school, where you arrived just on time, as a new couple.

[duck-in-a-thrift-store]

Prologue? Pilot? IDK Man I Just Work Here

part 1.1

{hello and welcome to the very first chapter of the full house au. i know @moreover-clover and @redley-of-many-noodles offered to beta this fic for me; i appreciate that and i may very well take you up on it for later chapters, but tbh i have homework that really needs to get done and i will not be able to focus on anything else until i get this out of the way, so... hopefully its not terrible i guess. that said, i did initially start writing this in past tense and then decided to do it in present instead, so if anyone notices a typo/tense error, feel free to point it out so i can fix it lol

trigger warning for mentions of injuries and death

now without further ado...}

~~~

Stumbling past the automatic glass doors, covered in blood- but is it his own? Or does it belong to the barely conscious man he’s dragging along beside him?

Probably both.

The bright white lights overhead burn his eyes and the sharp sterile scent of chemicals does the same to his nose- this is not a pleasant place to be, but it’s the only place to be right now. It’s their only hope of not losing yet another person to this alternate dimension shit that’s been plaguing their lives for three years.

Seeing Eddie’s crumpled, torn-apart body in the Upside Down, watching Dustin sob over him- that had been bad enough. They may have had almost matching wounds, but Eddie’s were deeper, and there were twice as many of them, and, god, that could have been him, it should have been him.

Dustin’s devastated and the world is ending and we’ve lost someone else and dammit didn’t I tell him not to be a hero?

But then he’d found a pulse. The faintest flutter, but it was there, and it spurred him right back into action, adrenaline pumping overtime through his veins even as he was ready to collapse. Both of them might well be on death’s door, but they had hope.

And then, just as they made it back through the gate, they had gotten the call over the walkie about Max.

The panic and despair threatened to settle back over him, driving him into the ground with its weight. He had been trying so hard to keep her safe since they realized she was Vecna’s next target, and now…

They were supposed to meet up at the hospital, so that’s where he went. He has to see the kids and he has to keep Eddie breathing and maybe just maybe he’ll get a chance to get his own wounds looked at, if there’s time. Robin will never forgive him if he lets rabies take him out.

So he and Dustin have Eddie slung between them, barreling clumsily through the Hawkins ER like a lopsided bull in a proverbial china shop while everyone else stares on in confusion and horror at the state they’re in. If anyone recognizes the fallen king or the target of the ongoing manhunt, they don’t say anything, and for that one tiny thing in the long and awful list of what’s happened today, he’s grateful.

There are, however, voices aimed in his direction, lilted up at the end in interrogation, but he can’t afford to think right now; he can only keep moving forward, giving weakly shouted answers to questions that go in one ear and out the other. His mind is clouded with fear and the desperation to get all his important people back together in one room so he can see that they’re all still alive. If they aren’t, if someone is missing, if Max doesn’t make it, if no one will treat Eddie-

He’s vaguely aware that he’s begging at this point, but he doesn’t care. His brain is too busy listing.

Robin, Nancy, Erica, Lucas- they’re together, they’re with Max. The Byers are all the way in California; Mike is probably on his way back right now- what a mess to come home to. Dustin- he’s with me. Safe. Eddie- also with me, not safe, probably dying.

They may not have known each other long, but he does feel tears prick his eyes at the thought- they had literally marched into hell together, after all. A nurse offers him a tissue- when did they get here? When did he sit down? And why is the room spinning like the Starcourt ceiling last July?

He doesn’t get an answer to any of his questions, doesn’t even get to voice them, before the room is going dark and Dustin’s frantic voice at his side is sounding further and further away, until everything goes quiet.

~~~

The silence is broken by a harsh ringing noise, followed by muffled voices, the latter growing clearer as the former slowly fades out. He knows those voices.

He jolts upright, sending a sharp trail of pain through his lacerated torso, but is momentarily distracted by the fact that he had somehow wound up in a hospital bed between blacking out and waking up. As soon as his mind catches up to speed on his new whereabouts, he looks wildly around the room- not exactly a typical hospital room, but that hasn’t registered yet- taking stock of every face he can see, every voice he can hear.

To his immense relief- and also confusion- he sees Max in a bed just like his right across from him, Lucas and El at her side. She’s in bad shape, but she appears to be alive, at least.

Thank god. Wait- El? What is she doing here?

The next thing he sees is the entire Byers family- plus two extra guys, one of whom looks familiar but way paler and thinner and more beaten up than Steve remembers- squeezed onto a couch at the far end of the room.

Weren’t they in California? And- hold on- is that Hopper? Isn’t he dead?

Wait.

Am I dead?

Before he can have an existential crisis, though, something snaps him out of it. A hand on his shoulder, rougher than he would have liked, to be honest, but grounding. Dustin- who he realizes must have been sleeping in the chair between him and the next bed over- has just woken up in time to catch him doing the same, and the kid looks thrilled. Exhausted, emotionally drained, but thrilled.

“Steve! Guys, he’s awake!”

All eyes turn his way, just about everyone accounted for, it seems, and somewhere in the back of his mind he wonders how Robin and all the kids got here with their usual chauffer currently out of action. But then he notices something else. Something that honestly shouldn’t be as startling as it is, considering everything else going on.

All the parents are here too. And they look… well, about how they can be expected to look, given the circumstances.

“Good, I’m glad you’re alright,” says Karen Wheeler, arms crossed over her chest, menacing gaze sweeping the room. “Because my son came home in the back of a pizza van, begging us to take him to the hospital, where apparently you and two of his other friends have been half-dead all night in the middle of these so-called ‘earthquakes,’ and I’d really like an explanation. From all of you.”

~~~

The room was dead silent, the parents staring in wide-eyed shock as the long-winded, traumatic narrative drew to a close.

“So… I guess you guys need some time to process all that, huh?”

Dustin’s question was met with a sudden cacophony of returning inquiries, sharp and frantic and tinged with bewilderment, overlapping one another in their haste. It was hard to tell who said what through the haze of whatever painkillers they put in his IV.

“How the hell did we not know about any of this?”

“Hawkins is cursed?”

“Why didn’t any of you say anything?”

“All this has been going on under our noses for years?”

He had been expecting disbelief, accusations of letting their imaginations run away from them, but… their tale connects a few too many dots, makes a little too much sense, considering how strange and malevolent life has become in their formerly sleepy little town.

“Are- are you guys- mad?” Will asks, even though he, out of all of them, has the least to worry about.

Before any of them could answer, Mike jumps in, “Because, if you are, that’s really not fair, we’ve sorta been through a lot as it is-”

“And that’s exactly why we’re mad- no- furious. Our kids have been going through hell right in front of us and we had no idea! Of course we’re going to be upset about it! You guys could have died, and we would have had no idea what happened!”

“Well, yeah, I guess, but- we didn’t. We’re fine, mom…”

“You are absolutely not fine. After everything you just told us about? There’s no way you could possibly be fine. This whole thing is so far outside the realm of fine.”

There’s a heavy pause after that; it’s not like anyone can disagree with her. When no response comes, she turns her fierce, teary eyes on the older teens.

“What about you guys? You- Steve, Jonathan, Nancy- you’ve known about all this the whole time! Why didn’t you tell us? Why didn’t you come to us for help?” It sounds like an accusation, and yet… there’s more pain in her voice than anything. Her targets wince, crumple, while Robin and Argyle- whoever that is- just sort of awkwardly shuffle about off to the side, none of them meeting Mrs. Wheeler’s gaze.

It's Joyce who ends up breaking the tense silence.

“In their defense, Karen, Hop and I knew about all this too. The thing is- we weren’t allowed to tell anyone.”

Having become one of her anger’s new targets, Hopper quickly explains, “The Hawkins lab freaks made us sign a bunch of NDAs, take a vow of silence on the whole matter, basically. It was the only way to get them to cooperate. If we had gone around telling people, we could’ve put everyone in even more danger. And besides, before now, would you have even believed us? If we had told you there were monsters like something out of a sci-fi movie hunting folks down, taking over minds, opening portals to another dimension- right in the middle of Hawkins?”

“Would you have believed your kids?” Joyce adds softly, addressing all her fellow moms in the room.

At that, Karen deflates. She exchanges a look with Sue and Claudia, and speaks for all of them when she says, “I… I guess not. I want to say I would have, but… it’s all too crazy. If we hadn’t seen what we saw today, and if you all didn’t have each other backing up your story, well… honestly, I would have thought you were making it up.” Apparently the Wheelers had almost driven right into one of the rifts- one of the very obviously otherworldly rifts- on their way here. Well, they had to find out somehow.

“And that’s another reason we couldn’t tell you. We didn’t want you to think we were crazy,” Nancy explains.

Lucas tacks on, “We also didn’t want you to send El back to the lab, or to any other messed up place that would lock her up and hurt her.”

El nods seriously, a fearful expression flashing across her face as she takes a step back, bumping into Max's bed. Lucas places a reassuring hand- the one not occupied with holding Max's- on her shoulder.

“Oh- honey, no, we would never do that. Don’t worry. We actually owe you a lot, it sounds like; I can’t thank you enough for saving my children’s lives. You’ll always be safe with us, as far as I’m concerned.”

“But that’s the thing,” Susan interjects, not taking her watery eyes off her comatose daughter. “They’re not safe, none of them are, not here. And they haven’t been for a long time, it seems. I don’t know when they will be safe. I hate to say it, but I don’t think our kids should stay in Hawkins.”

This triggers a rush of protests from the kids, voices once again blending in a way that’s difficult for Steve to keep up with.

“But- but Hawkins needs us! Now more than ever!”

“Yeah! We have to stay and fight!”

“We can’t just let Vecna have our town!”

Hopper motions for everyone to settle down. “Listen, kids. I know you want to help, but you’ve been fighting this battle for too long as it is. You all never should have been involved in something so dangerous in the first place.”

“Right, what he said. I mean, you’re just kids, for god’s sake!” Claudia adds in, although she still looks mostly stunned by everything she’s just found out about.

“This is not your responsibility. We’ll stay here and fight, and you all will get somewhere safe, somewhere far away from all this.”

This does indeed sound like a direct order from their returned-from-the-dead resident chief of police. What comes next, though, is much gentler, fatherly, and he’s definitely looking right at El when he says it.

“Let us take it from here, okay?”

~~~

{i decided to break this up into 2 parts; idk when ill post the second half but it should be fairly soon. also dont know when ill put it up on ao3 as i dont currently have an account there, but im definitely planning to bc with as much as i have planned for this au so far its going to be a pain in the ass to read it all here lmao

edit: its going to be 3 parts instead of 2

Link to part 1.2 here}

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Aston Villa 0-0 Manchester United

Conflicted feelings.

On the one hand, it's Villa. We should be putting these gobby Brummies away and thanks for the three points. That being said, we're United. Our expectations are to put everybody away and win everything and be the best thing since the discovery of fire. It doesn't quite work like that.

The reality is that Emery's Villa are a bloody good side and in the Champions League, and just beat Bayern 1-0 in the week thanks to another Jhon Duran beamer.

I said to friends before the game I'd take a draw, and 0-0 is boring as fuck but it's a clean sheet away and a point against a top 6 rival. Defensively we were disciplined (mostly) and it paid dividends. Maguire and Evans as a central pairing was particularly inspired. They were excellent.

Maguire's injury was unfortunate and hopefully isn't too long term, and I'm also curious/concerned about Mazraoui going off for Lindelof. He has been our best signing in the past three years. We need him fit.

Villa were for the taking though. They'll probably say the same about United, but they really did look flat and average. The problem is, so do we. Hojlund and Zirkzee did not a lot. Bruno was better than Porto but did not a lot. Rashford looked sharp but also in danger of getting sent off after his yellow. Garnacho is still too, too greedy.

I can only presume it was as frustrating for the players as it was the fans seeing Villa get away with all manner of shenanigans at home. Eriksen, Maguire, Rashford... all fair yellows. Mainoo? A great tackle and he's booked for what? Similarly, who the fuck from Villa got booked? They just got free tackle after free tackle and it was shit.

I'm not saying it changed the entire game, but a few yellows in the mix and they would have stepped off a little. All it can take sometimes is that half a second or half a yard and a goal can happen. Small margins.

The big question for me after the game is why no Amad? I get there's rotation but he's SO creative for us. We need that. Everyone else does better when he plays. Hell, there's talk that Antony might prefer the CAM spot than RW. Cool, try him there late on for Bruno and get Amad back on the right. Mix it up, but don't deprive a team lacking goals of someone who's a great creator and instigator of attacking football. RW Garnacho isn't bad but it's also not good.

The talk was that Erik Ten Hag had the Porto and Villa games to save his tenure at United. Today's line-up featured so few of his new signings and older personnel like Evans and Eriksen that you wondered if there was issues with attitudes or confidence.

Many of the club's senior staff were in attendance at Villa Park, though it's believed there was a board meeting scheduled routinely for today too, so it could be something, it could be nothing.

The problem is that it's like what we said about Bruno's sendings off. Don't give them the excuse. Ten Hag's results - see below - are giving these execs the excuse to bin him off. And while I like the big bald bastard... I'm not happy with our football. We have no LB and Dalot inverting and fucking it all up. Martinez and De Ligt look lost at sea re-learning their defensive duties in this system when Dalot abandons LB and goes to left CDM and then jogs back to help defend.

Apparently Malacia and Shaw are both back after the international break now. Days away. So maybe we'll see them back and suddenly everything clicks and we go OH SHIT. It's entirely believable and would be true United banter. But I just don't know. I have so little confidence in things these days, which is the same way I felt every time the previous managers went. I wasn't certain they should stay or go, I was just indifferent. Ominous times.

We conclude with the most important point:

Anyway, enjoy the highlights of this dull, dull game. The upside is there's not much to watch.

[koolkat9]

Count Your Blessing

Rating: T

Relationship: England + Canada

Word Count: 833

Read on AO3

Chapter 3

It had been a little over a week, and somehow, Arthur easily slipped back into his role as father. Get up. Get Matthew up. Get breakfast (cereal, or, if he was feeling bold, toast because he didn’t need a burnt kitchen on top of everything else). Get cleaned up and dressed. Then see where the rest of the day led them.

It was rather…calming. Which was surprising since the last time he had taken care of Matthew at this age, it was anything but. Though perhaps Arthur finally had the experience he needed.

But there was still one issue.

His phone had been ringing non-stop. Matthew’s bosses most likely trying to inquire where he was and if Arthur knew anything.

Matthew crawled onto the couch beside him. “Why does your phone keep ringing Daddy?”

“Nothing you have to worry about my boy.”

“But you should answer. Maybe they’ll stop then.”

Arthur let out a long sigh. Unfortunately, the kid was right. “Fine, but I’ll need some privacy.”

“Okay…” Matthew moaned.

Arthur smiled lightly, ruffling Matthew’s curls. “Stay here. I’ll just be in the hall.”

With one final pat on the head, Arthur headed out of the living room and picked up his phone. “Yes, yes, hello,” he huffed.

“You’re a hard man to get a hold of Mr. England.”

“Yes. I’m a very busy man, so make it quick.”

“We haven’t heard from Canada. The last thing he said was that he was going to visit you.”

Arthur’s grip tightened. He peeked into the living room. Matthew was laying upside down on the couch, his little legs resting against the backrest, feet rocking back and forth.

“He’s…” Arthur drew out. “He’s with me. Um…You know how he can get, I'm sure. Bit burnt out and tired. I thought it may be a good idea to keep him here so I can keep an eye on him.”

There was a pause on the other end, a chair creaking in the background. “I guess it’s better than him wandering off to the woods.”

Arthur gave a tight hum, nodding along. “Yes. So no need to worry. I’ll take care of everything, and he should be home in…no time…”

“Thank you, Mr. England. Well, that’s all we needed. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

“Thank you. Good day.”

Arthur let out a collected sigh. Hopefully, Matthew really would be home in no time.

He popped his head back into the living room. “Are you up for some lunch Matthew?”

“Yes please!” Matthew cheered, rushing to Arthur’s side.

Arthur took Matthew’s hand and led him to the kitchen. “So what kind of sandwiches should we have today?”

“Hmmm…Cucumber?”

“Really?”

“Yes please.”

He was going to have to figure out something else for lunch going forward. He couldn’t keep giving Matthew sandwiches every day. But…Matthew seemed to enjoy it so far. And it wasn’t as though Arthur was a wizard in the kitchen.

As Arthur cut off the crust, his gaze drifted back over to Matthew. Feet dangling from the chair, cheek rested in his hand, the boy stared out the window.

“Would you like to go outside and eat, Matthew?”

“C-Can we?”

“Of course. Just let me get some containers and the picnic basket. Could you get us something to drink?”

“Mhm.”

With the addition of some cut-up fruit and the containers, the food was loaded into the basket, and they were off. Now just to find the perfect spot. “Where do you want to sit Matthew?”

Matthew looked around, a serious look on his face as if this was the most important decision ever. Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle.

“The pond,” Matthew finally answered, “We can watch the fish!”

“What a brilliant idea.” Arthur stretched out his free hand. “Shall we?”

Matthew took it. “Let’s go!”

Matthew, being the little helper he was, helped Arthur lay out the blanket right next to the fish pond. It was the perfect afternoon. A slight breeze kept the heat away, the small waterfall Alastair installed a few years ago trickled in the background, and the sandwiches, though simple, were the perfect lunch for such a nice summer day.

“It’s almost like the picnics we’d have near the creek at the cabin…” Matthew thought aloud. “We should do that again someday.”

Arthur froze. “Matthew…you…”

Matthew turned to Arthur, bright blue eyes blinking up at him innocently. “I-I’m sorry. We don’t have to. Just an idea…”

“No, no.” Arthur wrapped an arm around Matthew’s shoulder. “I…I’d love that. But we’ll have to wait until this spell reverses first. Okay?”

Matthew beamed. “Okay!”

So Matthew still had his memories. Or at the very least some of them. Arthur ran a hand through Matthew’s curls, the boy munching away on his sandwich. His stomach knotted at the idea that this little boy possibly remembered all that pain and violence. Yet, he was sitting there without a care in the world. Well, if Matthew didn’t seem worried, perhaps Arthur could relax a little too.

[the-widow-sisters]

“Whatever you’re going to ask, the answer is no.” with Yelena and Kate.

A/N: Thank you for the request!

Yelena and Kate are always an interesting pair to write for, and I try to achieve the proper balance of playfulness, softness, and teasing between them, lol 😂💗 Also, this one was a lot based on a previous fic, so while it's not required to understand this one, if y'all want some context, feel free to click here.

I hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 2.7k+

   Yelena let out a contented groan, resting her hand on her stomach as she looked toward the television at the movie that she currently had playing.

   She and Natasha had come to the compound for Natasha to work on something. After offering her help and Natasha sweetly telling her that she could just hang back and relax, Yelena had very happily settled down on the couch to look at the recorded movies and put something on for her to enjoy.

   “Yelena! Just the person I wanted to see,” Kate’s voice spoke up.

   Well, so much for relaxing in peace…

   Yelena furrowed her brow, moving her head back as she looked at Kate upside down from where she was approaching not too far away. Yelena groaned, moving her head back upright as she waited for Kate to approach more closely.

   Kate moved so that she was in front of the couch and conveniently between Yelena and her line of sight toward the television. Yelena looked at her, taking in the sight of the kid before her.

   As soon as she looked at her, she realized that Kate was standing there far too hopefully. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she looked slightly out of breath as if she had been in a hurry.

   Yelena instantly knew that Kate absolutely had to be wanting something from her. However, Yelena was in a terribly lazy sort of mood, and she was most certainly not loving the notion of getting up unless it was for the sake of food or Natasha.

  “Whatever you’re going to ask, the answer is no,” Yelena headed her off.

   Instantly, Kate lost her hopeful look and had something that was a bit more pleading in her eyes. Kate just sighed, shaking her head as she tried to convince Yelena of something that she had not even introduced the idea of.

   “Look, hear me out, okay? I need a ride,” Kate expressed, and Yelena groaned languidly.

   “And? Why don’t you ask Natasha?” Yelena questioned, and Kate shrugged with a bit of a frown on her face.

   “I would, but she’s busy doing something with D,” Kate explained carefully.

   “Lewis?” Yelena thought that over, surprised at Kate’s statement.

   Natasha said she had something to do, but Yelena had not exactly expected her to go and work in the lab. That was not what Natasha commonly helped with, and it left Yelena less than perfectly pleased simply because it meant that Natasha was most certainly indefinitely preoccupied.

   Worst of all, in that one statement, Yelena got her answer to her next question about Darcy’s availability. She could not even tell Kate to ask Carol because Carol was off in space to help someone or another who had gotten in contact with her. She had to speed away so that she could take care of the emergency.

   So that successfully limited Kate’s options to Yelena unfortunately.

   “Look, I also… I kind of wanted the chance to spend some time together. Y’know… Just me and you,” Kate confessed, her eyes softening into something almost resembling some manner of admiration that Yelena was beginning to realize only came from Kate when she was looking at Natasha or Yelena.

   Yelena instantly looked at her skeptically, trying to fight her urge to give in despite the fact that she already knew she had lost the battle this time around.

   Yelena did not particularly mind spending time with Kate despite her halfhearted complaints, but she usually wanted to do it on her own terms because while Kate was always in the mood to do stuff, Yelena was a lot of times not necessarily in the mood to do the admittedly insane and energetic things that Kate wanted to do.

   Granted, when it was Yelena’s own idea to do said insane and energetic things, it was a different story, but as it was, Yelena had certainly not thought of this idea and actually had a much less crazy idea in mind for right now.

   Yelena was currently very comfortable situated on the couch and watching a movie. If Kate wanted to join her doing that, she would not have an issue at all— of course, she would tease her and playfully complain—but Kate had some kind of idea that involved moving their rear ends farther than just to the kitchen for snacks.

   However, something in her tugged just a bit at Kate’s admission of wanting to spend time with her, and Yelena immediately berated herself for going soft. She had not used to be quite that sympathetic when it came to Kate, and she could not believe herself for having sunk this far deep.

   Yelena shook her head, just now noticing the duffel bag in Kate’s hands. She cast Kate a suspicious glance, trying to figure out what exactly was going to entail needing a duffel bag. Yelena even noticed a bow-like shape showing through the loose material of the bag, which only served to confuse her further.

   “Where do you want to go exactly?”

   “Go suit up in your White Widow mission stuff and you’ll see,” Kate grinned, and Yelena squinted a little, not really impressed with Kate’s mysteriousness.

   Yelena was quickly beginning to regret her own lack of formidability.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

   “Everyone, say hello to Hawkeye and the White Widow,” the librarian introduced, and all of the children wasted no time in excitedly welcoming the two. The chorus of mismatched voices and imperfectly timed words sounded off around the room. Kate wasted no time in happily waving in reply as she offered a wide, toothy grin.

   Of all the things that Kate could have dragged her into, Yelena had never expected a conference room area in a library with a bunch of children around the age of eight.

   She had quickly figured out what the duffel bag was for. It had been full of Kate’s things with her superhero outfit and her bow and quiver. She had not brought any arrows, but other than that, she was completely decked out.

   Yelena herself had gotten dressed and had brought her guns, knives, and even her widow’s bites. For all she knew, they were going on a mission, but as soon as Kate had told her in the car that they were not going to need to kill people, Yelena realized that she had slightly overdressed.

   Therefore, she hid the guns in the car and shut the widow’s bites off so that they would not have any potential accidental firing incidents on their hands.

   However, as soon as they had gotten in here with a bunch of kids, Yelena was more afraid than she had ever felt around any enemies. Children were way scarier than bad guys because they were completely the opposite of anything Yelena had really faced.

   Kate, however, seemed remarkably at ease and even excited about this whole thing, and Yelena made a mental note to ask her how exactly that Kate had gotten herself volunteered for this job. She was surprised that they would not want one of the original six to talk there, but she supposed that they were probably willing to take what they could get.

   “Today, they’re going to tell us a bit about their superhero adventures together and for the creative writing contest, you guys are going to submit something related to superheroes. It can have your favorite real superhero or one that you make up,” the librarian explained to the children, and they all nodded excitedly, their eyes mostly trained on Kate and Yelena.

   Yelena had seen the signs when she had come in, and to her shock, Kate’s name had been plastered all over the flyers with the name “Hawkeye” accompanying it and the creative writing contest in question in large lettering.

   “Now, let’s hear what our heroes here have to say,” the librarian turned over the floor to the both of them and Yelena suddenly felt an inexplicable nervousness gripping at her stomach and chest as she stared at the group of children.

   While Yelena would ordinarily take the lead in things, Yelena truly had no idea how to handle this and she was not sure how to even start. She had no real experience with dealing with younger children of this age.

   To her shock, however, Kate suddenly stepped forward, looking at the group of kids with a smile as she stood before them confidently.

   “Hey, guys! It’s so great to be here today, and I am so excited to have the opportunity to talk to you all and tell you a story! I’m going to be sticking around afterward for any questions if you guys have some, so you just remember all of them in your noggins,” Kate told them, starting off as she moved right into things. The kids laughed a little as Kate made a goofy face and pointed to her head as she accentuated her words.

   “So for our story today, I was thinking that I could tell you guys about the time that me, the White Widow here, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, and several other heroes teamed up at Iron Man’s party and fought a bunch of evil aliens,” Kate explained to them, beginning her story as she stuck to the more popular superhero names instead of their true identities.

   Yelena knew the story that Kate was referencing. It was the day of the gala that was held in Darcy’s honor after she had discovered her meteor. Carol had been acting as her bodyguard because she knew that the Kree were likely going to invade and try to take the meteor or kidnap Darcy to force her to take them to it since it held a valuable metal within it.

   “It all started when a genius scientist named Darcy found a meteor. But not just any meteor. This meteor had a special metal inside of it. But this metal was super important to a bunch of aliens called the Kree, and they were very mean people, so our friend Captain Marvel decided to protect Darcy so none of the Kree would try to capture her,” Kate kept her words mostly simple so that the kids could understand, and Yelena just watched her wordlessly, unsure of what to even try to say as she awkwardly stood behind Kate a little.

   “We were all friends with the scientist Darcy, and Iron Man threw a party for her celebrating her big discovery,” Kate moved her hands animatedly, telling her story as she smiled happily. There was genuine adoration in her voice as she doubtlessly thought of Darcy.

   “But that night, when the party started, the Kree came and they crashed in, looking for Darcy and the meteor,” Kate started into the beginnings of the action. The kids all gasped as Kate fully captivated them with her storytelling, and Yelena just watched her carefully, her hands behind her back as she stood there quietly.

   The truth was that Yelena could hardly think of anything to add to the story as Kate went along.

   She honestly could not get past the fact that the girl was doing this so eloquently. Kate could be so awkward in so many ways and Yelena so often had to take charge of situations when it was just her and Kate. But Kate was in her element here and she seemed to be thriving even with a whole crowd of kids staring her down.

   It truly brought a different side of Kate to light that Yelena was not entirely sure that she had ever seen before.

   “Captain Marvel used to know the Kree and she knew their leader,” Kate simplified, and Yelena raised her eyebrows just a little. To say that Carol knew the Kree was just a little bit of an understatement.

   “The Kree came in with super armor that made a forcefield around them. When I tried to shoot my arrows, they just bounced off, and when White Widow here tried to hit them, their forcefield threw her back,” Kate accentuated her words with a movement of her hands, grabbing Yelena’s shoulders as she pushed her back just a little.

   At that moment, Yelena shot Kate a slightly unhappy look before choosing to finally speak up with her own additions.

   “But I was not hurt, and I practically landed on my feet,” Yelena added, and all of the children’s eyes were instantly on her. She felt slightly uncomfortable, and she shifted a bit. Kate flashed her an excited grin, but at Yelena’s slight discomfort, Kate seemed to understand that Yelena wanted the attention shifted back to Kate at least for the moment.

   Kate leaned forward conspiratorially, and she stage-whispered to the kids.

   “She landed on her butt,” Kate informed them, and they all laughed mostly because of Kate’s word choice.

   Yelena rolled her eyes, but she could not help a slight smile at the fact that she had somehow helped to contribute to the kids getting a laugh even if she was the literal butt of the joke.

   “So we weren’t able to break their defenses, and it looked like things were hopeless. But that was when Captain Marvel charged in with her electric superpowers, blasting them back and saving Darcy,” Kate explained to the kids.

   “She defeated all of the enemies and we captured their leader, and in the end, all was well, and we all ended up safe,” Kate finished, looking at the group.

   However, before the librarian could step up to cue the children to applaud Kate and her story, Yelena spoke up.

   “You forgot the coolest part,” Yelena interjected as she stopped Kate, and the kids instantly looked at her along with Kate. Yelena swallowed back the slight nervousness and spoke up.

   “Y’know, the part where Captain Marvel punched the leader guy so hard that he flew through the air like Team Rocket on the Pokémon show,” Yelena explained, and the kids all laughed at the sound of her deadpan voice coupled with the inflections of her words. Yelena could not help a slight grin.

   “And you forgot the important part where you were almost hit in the head by your own—”

   “Okay, let’s stick with the appropriate parts of the story,” Kate told her, grinning nervously as she tried to avoid the more violent parts of the story. Yelena scoffed in reply.

   “Why must you be so boring, Katie-Bear?” Yelena questioned, and the kids laughed as they listened to her voice.

   Yelena could not help a bit of a laugh of her own.

   “Don’t call me Katie,” Kate grumbled under her breath. She then sighed as she offered the librarian a look to try to convince her to go ahead and wrap things up.

   “Okay, children, let’s thank Hawkeye and White Widow,” the woman told them.

   All of the kids suddenly sounded off, thanking Kate and Yelena enthusiastically. Kate grinned widely as she shrugged in reply, eating up the attention and enjoying every minute of it. Yelena could not help a bit of a smile herself as she eyed them all.

   “Feel free to come and ask questions if you want, and then our heroes will have to head home for the day. They’re very busy,” the librarian explained, and the kids wasted no time in hurrying up toward the both of them.

   Kate instantly knelt down to their level so that she could speak to them better, and Yelena hesitantly kneeled next to her, not sure how to do this but figuring she would do her best.

   “So what’s our first question?” Kate asked, and one little girl quickly spoke up.

   “What almost hit you in the head, Katie-Bear?” the kid asked, and Kate froze, not impressed with the nickname at all.

   Yelena just laughed heartily as she enjoyed Kate’s obvious unhappiness with the nickname.

   Strangely, at the end of it all, Yelena found that she did not regret getting off of the couch and stopping her movie at all. She actually felt an odd sense of accomplishment and warmth in her chest. Even more weirdly, she felt the oddest sense of pride rising within her at Kate’s eloquence at working with the kids, and it made her wonder if that was how Natasha felt when she saw her and Kate doing things.

   And truthfully, the pride she felt for her was the most insane part of the whole experience.

[spicysix]

you know what is something that i always fail to remember and that honestly i've seen very little posts here and even fics talk about when it comes to the mess our beloved characters have to face in s5?

the government

i mean, we all talk about how they'll defeat vecna, and how they'll wake max from the coma, and in the fix-it fics we're always talking about how to save eddie and clean his name but. what about the government?

like, what about owens? last time we saw him he was handcuffed and found by sullivan and the 'mean' government side that's trying to kill eleven. stinson tells hopper that owen's unavailable or something, but does she know about what happened at Nina or is she just thinking that he's busy working with brenner and eleven? did sullivan and his agents take owens after they find him or did they set him free? if it's the latter, does owens finds stinson?

and if my memory doesn't fail me, eleven blows up the helicopter, brenner dies (supposedly) and then the cali gang leaves nina. and when sullivan gets out from inside nina he just finds dead agents, dead doctor and fire from the explosion. don't they try to follow the van? i assume they assume eleven will head straight to hawkins, so do they go to hawkins? do they just let it go?

when the cali gang gets to hawkins after the two days timeskip, the town is already under some type of containment, cops or government are keeping the town organized around the gates' destructions. many families are leaving, but no one thinks to check who's arriving? shouldn't sullivan put some people on watch to see if and when eleven arrives? shoudn't he put some people on watch over max, the one survivor of whatever killed the other three teenagers - he thinks eleven did it, doesn't he think she'll come back to finish the job?

during the last season, as they prepare to go to battle against vecna for hopefully the final time, shouldn't they worry about the government side that is technically still trying to kill their main force against the evil dark lord of the upside down? at the very least, shouldn't that government side still try to find her, to capture her? will they? will that be shown?

i mean it's kinda the duffers fault because they don't acknowledge owens or sullivan and his agents after the cali gang leaves nina, but like. am i the only one who keeps forgetting about them? how will our Party fight vecna if our superhero is being hunted by more than one side? how will they deal with that???

[a-drabble-a-dray]

Veilsmoke, Case 1: The Rogue Poisoner. Part 4

Scarlet’s hand was warm, Lake realized. For all her strength, she did manage to be gentle as she pulled them slowly through the threshold. She was, notably, progressively less gentle as she went, the last tug feeling like it almost ripped Lake’s arm out of its socket.

That was, quickly, the least of their worries.

Beyond the red moon lies howling.

The heart below rings out hollow.

The streets slither past. The city is alive. They forgot.

The dark was always there. Something stirs under the harbor. They forgot.

One has no name, and one has no light, and the shadows aren’t from the sun, and they forgot.

There is something wrong. They forgot.

They… Forgot.

Why did they forget?!

Lake cried out in pain, clutching at their throat, barely even noticing they were already on the floor.

The thoughts ran free through their mind, every doubt and uncertainty dragging them into the dark.

So much had occurred. So much was deeply wrong. Lake felt the terror give way to horror; to the realization they were, somehow, blocked from even realizing what the world around them even was.

They were summarily slapped in the face.

“Lake!” Scarlet demanded, knelt down beside them.

“I-I…” They stuttered out, eyes darting around.

“Look at me!” She ordered, glaring down at them.

Lake could barely respond, instead focusing their gaze to meet Scarlet’s. Her eyes, they noticed, seemed to have a color they could not name under the dark brown.

“Don’t look away.” She continued. “Count to ten.”

“O-Okay, I…” Lake mouthed the numbers, breathless. 

Scarlet simply stared back, nodding along with the count.

The thoughts seemed… More distant with time. Not unreachable anymore, but… Contained.

“...Ten.” Scarlet completed, finally breaking eye contact.

“I…” Lake sat up, taking a few deep breaths. “T-Thanks.”

“Hopefully, that’s the worst of it.” She muttered, offering a hand.

Lake hesitated, eventually accepting it– With the arm that wasn’t still hurting. To Scarlet’s credit, she had a little more moderation this time, though otherwise it was possible she’d launch them into the ceiling.

“Steady now?” She asked, nudging them into the catwalk’s railing for support.

“A-A little, yeah.” Lake nodded. “W-What was that?”

“A veil.” Scarlet responded, curtly. “You can listen while you walk– Volk’s already down there.”

Lake looked over the railing. Sure enough, Volk was walking past the overgrown factory floor, away from a nearby set of stairs– One which connected up to the walkway after a strangely twisted path.

Scarlet simply vaulted over the railing, causing Volk to flinch back as she landed. All the while, her trenchcoat flowed along like a cape, accentuating her motion in a way Lake could only describe as “overdramatic”.

“Your turn.” She called out from below, looking up at the catwalk.

“Wh-What?!” Lake protested. “N-No! I’d break my legs!”

“With what weight?” Volk crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.

“Just–” Scarlet groaned, at both her coworkers. “Jump, I’ll catch you if you’re gonna get hurt.” She declared, clearly fed up.

“I-I…” Lake hesitated, measuring the distance from the catwalk to the ground. It definitely felt much longer than the distance from the ground outside to the roof.

“Pussy.” Volk smirked.

“F-Fine!” They grit their teeth, putting one foot on top of the railing and pushing themself off.

Their other foot getting caught and sending them into a flip, however, was not part of the plan.

Lake’s head narrowly avoided smacking into the catwalk, but it did send the world into a spin.

For a second, all they could see was the blur of greenery, broken sunlight, and the steel labyrinth of the factory.

And then the world stopped, upside-down.

Ahead, the path of steel and rust stretched out, flanked by intruding plants.

Behind, Scarlet held them up by the ankle, doing her best not to look disappointed.

“...Why are there plants here?”

“Surprised you’re not puking your guts out.” Scarlet commented, doing her best to not drop them on their head as she put them down.

“Me too. B-But, I didn’t see any plants from outside, and the place is full of them.” Lake explained, climbing back up to their feet.

“Hm. Why would that be.” Scarlet raised an eyebrow, deadpan.

“Why, indeed.” Volk shrugged, a hint of a smile on his lips.

“A-Are we… Somewhere else?” Lake offered, looking around, noticing the windows didn’t quite match up. “The door… Maybe it was some kind of portal.”

“Do you feel like you’re somewhere else?” Scarlet asked, arms crossed.

“W-Well… No.” Lake admitted, however unsure they were of what it would actually feel like. “W-Where are we, then?”

“Maybe we’re nowhere.” Volk suggested.

“We…” Lake paused. “A-Are we on the right track, at least?”

“If we aren’t,” Scarlet stepped forward and deeper into the factory, “I know whose fault it is.”

“We are, okay?” Volk sighed, following along.

Lake paused. The two figures in front of them seemed to bicker along as they went, and yet their steps were as steady as they could be along the unknown path. By the time Lake realized the smile on their own lips, the other two were already telling them to hurry along.

—

“O-Okay, but…” Lake began, carefully stepping over the rubble occupying that specific part of the factory. “Where are we, really?”

“Nowhere.” Volk repeated, this time with a little less joke in his tone.

“Just… Nowhere?” They cocked their head to the side.

“Nowhere on a map. Nowhere that exists.” Scarlet explained. “Regular directions get complicated across the veil.”

“The veil…?” Lake blinked. “You mentioned it earlier.”

“It’s…”

“The wrong side of reality.” Volk interrupted.

“Okay, that’s…” Scarlet grimaced. “It’s not wrong, but it’s not correct.”

“S-So… We’re still in the factory, it’s just not the same…?” Lake hazarded a guess.

“That’s…” Scarlet sighed. “As close as we’re getting, yes.”

“Oh, okay.” They nodded. “...I-Is that why we needed to find a door to get in?”

“...Hm. Yeah, actually.” Scarlet nodded. “Breaking in would take us into the factory itself.”

“Wow.” Volk smirked. “You’re smarter than you look.”

“O-Oh, I…” Lake blinked, responding only with a huff once they noticed the insult.

“...A fork.” Scarlet stopped in her tracks, this time followed by Lake braking along in time.

A side path stretched out. Unlike the overgrown, sun-dappled factory floor that continued ahead lined with unidentifiably rusty machinery, a thick layer of pipes choked out the metal walkway, leaving only a tenth of the sunlight coming down through the broken ceilings.

 Lake grimaced. Please don’t be there.

“...Mhm.” Volk swayed slightly from side to side as he thought, turning towards the darkened hallway. “It’s definitely probably that way.”

God dammit. Lake winced. “H-How can you tell?”

“Because I have a sixth sense for these things… And so does the person we’re looking for.” Volk narrowed his eyes. “Unless they’ve got some intense paranoia, they’ll be holing up wherever the Pulse is stronger.”

“And they don’t,” Scarlet added, “because these people tend to be idiots.”

“...O-Oh.” Lake nodded. “These people b-being, uh… Wizards?”

“Yup.” Scarlet nodded with confidence. “Wizards are all idiots.”

“Aren’t you having fun.” Volk scoffed.

“Care to prove me wrong?” Scarlet raised an eyebrow.

Volk withheld his response for a moment, before simply electing to walk off into the dark.

“…Heh.” Scarlet followed along, a couple steps behind and a couple notches smugger.

The group’s footsteps rang out, echoing on the walkway– The path suspended over the darkness below, even though it was level with the ground they were on a moment before.

“W-We…” Lake began. “...T-This place isn’t really… Euclidean, is it?”

“That’s not what that word means.” Volk responded.

“Volk.” Scarlet chastised the pedantry. “No– Being nowhere means space isn’t a concern.”

“Well, yes.” Volk reluctantly explained. “We’re less inside an abandoned factory, and more inside ‘Abandoned Factory’.”

“...W-What?” Lake furrowed their brow.

“The word.” Scarlet added. “...That’s a terrible explanation.”

“Care to do better, Scarlet?” Volk taunted.

She offered no response.

“S-So, have you been here before, or…?” Lake wondered out loud.

“Not here.” Scarlet quickly followed up after the broken silence. “Similar places, though.”

“Or non-places, as it were?” Volk shrugged.

“...We haven’t been here before.” Scarlet repeated.

“We haven’t.” Volk confirmed, raising an eyebrow.

“These factories closed a couple decades ago.” She added.

“Which explains the overall dilapidation.” He nodded. “There’s probably a connection to the regular, active Cogheart somewhere, though.”

“What’s a–”

“Oh, god.” Scarlet’s eyes widened, interrupting Lake. “I didn’t research what they made here.”

“Not much nowadays, I’d hazard.” Volk shrugged nonchalantly, before his eyes went nearly as wide as he mouthed the last word once more. “...Hazard.”

“Haz– Oh.” Lake was the last to realize. “L-Like, lead or mercury…?” They glanced at the pipes around with newfound intimidation.

“Or uranium glass, or radium watches.” Scarlet continued. 

“Th-There isn’t asbestos here or anything, righ–”

“God’s sake, calm down.” Volk sighed.

“Over the lead poisoning?” Lake countered.

“I’ve got something for that.” He explained, curtly.

“...Oh, right.” Scarlet nodded, not quite hiding her relieved exhale.

“Y-You do? …Lead poisoning and everything?” Lake blinked.

“Somebody had to work out antidotes or my entire line of work would’ve died out.” Volk explained, gesticulating with one hand. “...Still don’t understand the mercury fetish, but what can you do?”

“...Wizards have a mercury fetish?” Lake’s face went from worry to bewilderment.

“Wizards have all kinds of bad habits.” Volk nodded, leading the party out into an open cylindrical room, from where several tunnels, similar to the one they came in from, spread out. “Gambling, theft, unpaid overtime…” 

He paused, counting the vices on his fingers, before silently trailing off, staring up at the ceiling.

His hand balled up into a fist, eyes narrowing. “...Eavesdropping.”

A thump from above– Or maybe one of the lower tunnels. The echoing made the source of the noise hard to track, but the retreating sound of footsteps, rushed and chaotic, was unmistakable.

“Scarlet.” Volk commanded, in a low growl. “Shield the kid.”

As he flicked his lighter on, the flame went from the normal orange, to blue, straight to black. There was no count– Scarlet stepped in front of Lake immediately, and a second later a flicker of flame flew through the air, towards one of the upper tunnels.

It bloomed into a fireball. The rest of the tunnels were consumed by frost.

Lake felt the rush of wind from the drastic pressure change, coupled with the roar of flame fading into metallic reverb down the path.

When Scarlet stepped away– Picking ice off her coat–, Volk stood at the center of the mantle of rime blanketing the room. His breaths were ragged, misting up in the lingering cold, and his eyes carried the same quiet rage from when he discovered the corpse. 

As Lake began to open their mouth, still unsure what to say, Volk interrupted them with a raised hand without bothering to look. A long, uneasy silence blanketed the room for a minute, as if waiting for something.

…Coughing.

The coughs, sickly, echoed down the tunnels, soon accompanied by increasingly disoriented footsteps.

Volk’s expression softened. The tension on his shoulders relaxed a little. He finally faced the other two.

His gaze was met with Scarlet’s fist.

It was not quite enough to make him fall– Instead, the ice finished the job. Volk slipped on the frosted metal, pratfalling loudly onto the grate.

“...The hell was that?” Scarlet accused, voice chilling the room further as she cracked her knuckles.

Volk’s gaze met hers– Which instantly had him slumping down and glancing away.

“Do I still have to babysit you?” She glared, stepping forwards to encourage a response.

“...I thought–” He sighed, rubbing his not-quite-bruised cheek. “Something like this would… Stun them.”

“Let me guess–” She crossed her arms. “You didn’t think.”

Lake couldn’t exactly guess what kind of face they were making as it set in that Volk almost incinerated a person. His look of surprise as he glanced over, however, likely placed it somewhere around ‘disgust’.

“I trusted you.” She sighed. “So did Lake.”

“...I know.” He muttered, voice small.

“Then…” She stepped into one of the tunnels behind him. “Don’t fuck up again.”

Lake hurried along behind her, careful about the ice. A moment later, they heard Volk’s footsteps following.

“...Lake?” Volk began, softly. 

Lake turned around, only to be met with Volk handing over his lighter. 

“You… It’s best if you hang onto this, huh?” He forced a smile.

“I…” Lake raised a hand to take it, before looking up at him instead. “I-I can’t use this, Volk.”

“Well, yes, but–”

“B-But you can.” They clenched their fists, obviously hesitating. “Y-You… Can keep it under check this time. R-Right?”

“I…” Volk blinked, caught off-guard, hesitating long enough for Lake to notice Scarlet had stopped walking. “Maybe.”

“...Just maybe?” Scarlet pushed, apparently having been listening to the exchange.

“Fine, I…” He sighed. “I’ll try. Okay?” He raised the lighter, clenching it against his chest. The smile on his lips was considerably more sheepish– And visibly more natural.

“Good enough.” Scarlet sighed, though Lake couldn’t help but notice the newly relieved tension in her posture as well. “Alright, this way.”

“Um…” Lake followed along. “H-How do you know the way?”

“Because I paid attention.” She countered.

Scarlet tapped her knuckles against the pipes as she led the group. Soon enough, the walkway itself was swallowed up in pipes, leaving the three squeezing through a narrow tunnel made entirely of the things.

By the time Lake began wondering if the tunnel was narrowing further as they went along, Scarlet stepped out, stretching.

The pipes converged there. More tunnels ended in the large space they’d found themselves into. Below, depths unseen despite this being the most well-lit area in a while. Each pipe seemed to find its destination in the factory floor ahead, where it served as a feeding line for the machinery, just as incomprehensible as the rest, only melted instead of rusted.

Lake’s footsteps gave them pause. The hollow steel pipes were loud, ringing out to accentuate how the group had no support but the thick, unbraced tubes.

Scarlet stopped in her tracks, exhaling slowly. Looking above the factory floor, an office sat, pristine, overlooking the nonsensical machinery.

“That looks, um…” Lake began, noticing the first unbroken windows they’d seen in a while.

“...Inhabited.” Scarlet grimaced.

Before Lake could ask for a plan, she’d already begun striding forward, one hand reaching cautiously into the inside of her trenchcoat.

By the time Lake even saw a glint from behind one of the machines, Scarlet already tossed her weight to the side. A vial filled with dark, brackish liquid flew right where her head would be, as she dodged effortlessly.

Lake followed the container’s trajectory as it shattered on the pipes behind them– And the fluid inside easily corroded through the metal.

“...You’ll have to try harder than that.” Scarlet taunted, stepping forward onto the concrete floor before the severed pipe buckled under her weight.

“What do you cretins want?!” A voice, raggedy and high-pitched, called out, its owner darting between the empty vats and machines.

“What do we want?” Volk scoffed. “To mop up the Ark’s trash, before it causes any more damage.”

“Don’t even start!” The voice scolded. “Your idiotic little stunt back there means it’s only a matter of time until they track me! And you, too!”

“You think they can catch me?” He scoffed. “I’m an independent wi–”

“You say ‘wizard’ again, and I kill you right now.”

“W-Wait.” Lake blinked. “You’re, um… Not wizards?”

“No!!” The voice shrieked. From behind one of the more corroded machines, a woman stepped forth, seeming to share Volk’s age and posh accent, but nothing else: Pale, raggedy, and thin, she had a bandolier of vials hanging off her shoulder. “We’re alchemists!”

Slipping out one of the long glass containers and aiming for a split second, she flicked a flask at Lake– Only for Volk to shove them off into the cover of one of the machines, before stepping away from the targeted spot. As the blue-filled glass shattered, a patch of ice formed wherever it splattered– Flash-freezing the metal quickly enough to almost break it.

“Matter of perspective, don’t you think?” Volk stepped forward, with Scarlet backing away in the seemingly questionable act of letting him take the lead.

“...Shut up.” The alchemist growled. “I’m not going back to Ark Paracelsus until I’ve gotten what I came here for.”

“...Rubedo?” Volk’s voice grew cold for a second. “Are you really that stupid?”

“Of course you wouldn’t understand–”

“I understand well, thank you very much.” He imposed, fists clenched as he stepped forward towards her.

Scarlet, prudently, made sure to follow a couple steps behind him. Lake did the same, slipping from machine to machine, not quite having the reflexes to step into the line of fire like the others.

“Then you understand why.” She scowled.

“I do.” Volk approached further, reaching for his lighter just as she went for another vial– A red one, this time– from the bandolier.

She flicked the vial up, forcing Volk and Scarlet to follow it with their eyes. Lake was the first to notice the other red vial she immediately drew.

…For a direct, point-blank throw.

Oh no.

Oh no, oh no, oh no.

By the time Lake realized they had begun to move without thinking, Volk was barely a foot away, and they were about to collide with him. The impact sent both to the floor– But not before the alchemist had time to adjust her angle.

Lake hit the concrete floor, trying to shield Volk, only to feel one of the glass vials hit the back of their head.

And, a second later, clatter intact to the floor.

“...Huh?” Lake blinked, almost forgetting the situation they were in for a second– Not that the alchemist seemed any less stunned.

“...Huh.” Volk echoed the sentiment, seemingly fully disoriented.

Lake jumped for a second, remembering the other vial, and looking up to see it falling down–

Harmlessly, onto Volk’s head.

Volk visibly tensed up from the impact, before opening his eyes to see himself still alive.

The vial bounced onto Lake’s head a second after, eliciting little more than an “Ow!” before falling down next to the other container.

“...Huh?” The alchemist was the first one to react, while Scarlet still seemed to be stuck in astounded silence. “B-But… How?!”

“Hmm…” Volk pulled himself to his feet, brushing Lake aside. “Perhaps, you’re just terrible at this?”

“Go to hell.” She scowled, taking a step back as her voice became increasingly loud and frantic. “I-I’ve tested these, how could you possibly…”

“U-Um…” Lake stood up. “...M-Maybe you should, um, calm down when you’ve got dangerous chemicals strapped to–”

“Shut up!” She grit her teeth, pulling out another blue vial from the bandolier. The three stepped back– Granting her a clear shot at the two duds on the floor.

The three vials burst, blue liquid loudly sizzling on contact with the thicker red fluid as it combusted as soon at it was exposed to air.

Oh, hey, it actually was fire! Lake blinked, before immediately ducking down to avoid the explosive cloud of steam.

A pillar of flame erupted above– Though the fire seemed contained by the blue concoction, instead spreading a thick cloud of steam-like smoke. Luckily, the bulk of the heat shot upwards, leaving Lake only coughing through the improvised smokescreen.

A metallic groan came from above– And Lake’s eyes shot up just in time to see a support beam overhead glow red-hot before the smoke spread further. 

Unluckily, the bulk of the heat shot upwards.

“...Goddammit.” Scarlet growled, a mix of footsteps sounding out, slowly being drowned out by the sound of the half-molten metal bending further and further. “Get clear!”

Lake blinked, seeing nothing through the eye-watering smoke. With the noise coming from straight overhead, they simply picked a direction they guessed wouldn’t lead off a ledge, and ran as fast as possible.

Lake frantically dodged the machinery dotted around the path, only to dive behind a metal vat the moment they heard the loud snap of the steel above. Clutching their head and bracing themself, they felt the rush of air as the metal crashed down, clearing the vision-obstructing smoke, and replacing it with a rapidly-settling cloud of dust.

By the time Lake risked slipping out of their cover, their ears were still ringing. The factory floor was split down the middle by a landslide of incandescent metal– And they were alone.

“...Lake! Lake!” Scarlet’s voice called out, a slight crack in her tone as her volume increased.

“I-I’m here!” They called back, voice as shaky as their hands.

“...God.” Scarlet groaned from the other side of the rubble. “Why are you so hard to keep track of?”

“S-Sorry…?” Lake hesitated. “I-I didn’t think she would…”

“Neither did I.” Volk added, seemingly stuck on the same side as Scarlet. “...But the tantrums are in character for the Ark.”

“Listen–” Scarlet cut in. “Do you see a way out?”

“Oh, um…” Lake looked around, past the destroyed stairs to the office above, before finally noticing a nondescript door blending in with the far wall. “Y-Yeah, I think!”

“Just go there.” She instructed. “This place is pretty much a corridor, so we should meet back up.”

“R-Right!” Lake nodded vigorously, before realizing nobody would see.

“But…” Scarlet sighed. “Be careful. Your luck must’ve run out for life after this.”

“I-I…” Lake paused, beginning to feel the scale of the peril they were in, before clenching their fist and forcing the thought from their mind. “O-Okay!”

Scarlet and Volk’s footsteps were faintly audible, moving away from the barricade. Lake followed suit, making their way to the door, unmarked and unremarkable, in the same gray as the wall it was attached to.

It made the breeze when it opened far more surprising.

The walkway on the other side of the door was more of a fire escape. There was no ceiling, exposing the bright morning sky. Lake couldn’t help but be sure it wasn’t morning by now, nor that the sky ever had so little blue in it. Oddly angular clouds drifted by, however, and Lake simply accepted the quiet moment to take a breath of fresh air, away from the stagnant depths of the complex. 

Other large buildings boxed in the small outdoors area, leaving the smallest sliver of a view– One which showed an endless expanse of broken rooftops. Looking down– And down, and down– Lake came to the realization that the unseen depths from inside the factory somehow still extended to the brightly lit outside, the world below the metal stairwell being swallowed up in concrete and fading out into a colorless blue.

Trying to keep their focus out of the rapidly mounting implications of their surroundings, Lake’s eyes scanned the walkway, seeing it extend further into another exit far below. Well-practiced in moving with wobbly legs by now, they made their way down the stairs. Even as the precariously attached stairway wobbled, Lake had acquired a strange confidence in the structural integrity of the buildings. The fact their weight was seemingly negligible certainly helped.

Another door, rusted over this time, met them at the end of the walkway. It opened surprisingly easily, leading out into a sawmill. 

Lake blinked. Upon closer inspection, there was little to offer any indication of actual practical use for the facilities inside– The vaguely circular saws attached to the machinery simply seemed to evoke the idea of a sawmill. Large cranes hung overhead, each shaped differently, all inscrutable in what they would pick up. 

Rusted scratches along the floor, walls, and the few remaining windows seemed to indicate some use, perhaps involving the vaguely circular maybe-saws. The large workshop seemed split in a loft, leading Lake to wander along a set of scratches across the floor that led off past the railing on the ledge.

They peeked over carefully, seeing the same streak of inexplicable scratches continuing down its winding path onto the lower floor of the factory, twisting between the machinery– And, towards its end, the alchemist performed her own inspection of the trail.

Oh. Lake winced. Shit.

[arthurcxllahan]

hiccuphaddockswifeparttwo​:

Helena had been backstage as she fixed herself for the next dance number she was set to be in, wiping herself free of sweat as she sighed before taking a swig of whiskey. Her face recoiled, she hated the stuff but that’s all they would give, especially since the other girls preferred such. Personally she would have taken a nice glass of wine before every having to taste such foul stuff. Helena sighed as she continued to quickly throw some makeup on her face before smiling widely.

The girls had to wait near the stage for the next number but she’d been pulled out to help a stage hand when a curtain seemed to be stuck in place. The two yanked the fabric until it felt like it would fly off the track before pushing it to the side as another stage hand went to the rafters to investigate the rack from above.

“Hey Helena, Wayne just sent some wine to your room! He said it’s from the man with the neck scarf.” One of the other man called back to her as she continued to help.

“What?” She asked confused.

She heard of other girls getting presents in their rooms but it was never a thing like wine, and especially not without asking for it. Looking out into the crowd she saw the man she had just teased in her song before laughing as she saw one of the stagehands flung back after the curtain finally gave way.

Harshly laughing she covered her mouth erupting in giggles as she looked to the man before waving to him carefully. Hopefully he didn’t think this meant she’d be giving him something because he’d done that. She’d more than eagerly hit him upside the head before doing such.

She was still pure since her stepmother had been put in charge of her future and the wicked bitch thought she’d be thrilled with marrying an old baron who publicly declared he had beaten his last wife.

Helena went backstage once again, the rest of the night of dancing had went quickly and soon she sat in her room, sipping on the wine as she cleansed her face free of makeup before humming happily.

The sweet yet bitter taste hit her tongue and reminded her of her old life, the silk linens, fancy glasses, expensive dresses. The beautiful things that were meant to keep her happy, and instead they were suffocating her.

They had been a beautiful prison.

By the time she had finished half of the bottle she was combing her hair while sitting in the last thing she owned from her previous life. A silken baby blue house robe.

Once Arthur knew the girl had got the wine and she had waved in gratitude at him, he left the bar. Lurking around wouldn’t help him get what he wanted. And he still needed to return to camp to tell them his plan. Having everyone else’s insight would help make this thing go smoothly. He was no Williamson but wasn’t as clever as Hosea or Dutch, either. 

Mounting up, he lit another cigarette and looked around the town. This place had plenty of opportunities to pluck the young woman from the street. He eyed the sheriff’s office. That was too close to the bar. 

Everyone was asleep when he returned to camp shortly before dawn. Grimshaw was already nursing a coffee by the fire and eyed Arthur. ‘Where’ve you been?’ 

‘Blackjack table in town.’ Arthur poured her a refill. ‘Can you wake me when Dutch is up?’ 

‘Got a lead?’

‘I think so.’ 

‘You boys never tell me the plans anymore. There was a time when I was in the thick of it, too. Until you lot picked up those lazy, no-good girls you have me babying.’ 

Arthur huffed a chuckle. ‘You could help with this plan if you’re not too busy with the girls.’ 

Grimshaw laughed and waved his offer off. ‘I’m too old for that shit, now. I might complain, but I like not worrying about getting shot every day.’ 

Arthur slept for hours until Dutch shook him awake. ‘Miss Grimshaw told me you have a lead?’ Dutch leaned against the table by Arthur’s cot, puffing on a cigar. 

‘Sure.’ Arthur sat up, grimacing at the sun. ‘There’s a girl in town,’ he said through a yawn. ‘Her daddy’s got money. Lots of it.’ 

‘And she’s in town, you say?’

‘She’s dancing at the bar.’ 

Dutch let out a hearty laugh and shook his head. ‘You’ve been listening to rumours, son? First thing you learn is that you never target bar dancers. At best, they’re liars. At worst, they’re hard-working young ladies like Karen who don’t need us ruining their lives.’ 

Arthur sighed and rubbed his face. ‘I just think we should do a little digging.’

Dutch fell into a contemplative silence. Arthur knew what that meant. Moments later, it was confirmed. ‘You do the digging. Do not do anything yet. Just investigate, then tell me anything you find.’ He flicked his ash and pushed from the table. ‘I want to be sure her daddy’s gonna pay for his little girl’s safety. We’re not robbing the poor.’ 

It was all the go-ahead Arthur needed. Once ready for the day and finished with his tasks, Arthur returned to the bar to ‘play blackjack.’

[kiss-inthekitchen]

make it better | steve harrington

summary: that scene from the upside down where Nancy is patching up Steve except i replaced Nancy with reader bc that’s my schtick. didn’t see enough Steve fic so i’m writing my own <3

wc: 560~

warnings: horniness at inappropriate times, mentions of injury

a/n: posting this from my phone so hopefully the formatting isn’t shit!! tried to just have fun with this one i hope ya dig it!

Steve leans up on his knees, bringing his body closer to yours as you rip a piece of cloth free from the remainder of your skirt.

“You ready?” you ask, holding the fabric out in front of you.

“Yeah,” he grits out, his arms coming up and out of your way. “Just do it.”

At the first press of fabric into his torn skin he groans, and you really shouldn’t notice it, shouldn’t be able to even register it in the situation you’re currently in. But you do, leaning in even closer to him as you wrap the makeshift bandage around his back, bringing the two ends forward again and pulling them tight.

Steve groans again, and you look up just in time to see him drop his head back, both hands running over his forehead and through his hair.

You freeze, your fingers poised to finish the knot but you can’t bring yourself to move. You want to tell yourself that you’re just giving Steve a breather, checking in on him before you put even more pressure over his wound. But when your focus zeroes in on his flexed biceps, you know that’s not the truth.

Can anyone really blame you for being distracted? It’s not like this is the first time you’ve had Steve in a position like this, it’s not your fault his half naked body is directly in front of you, muscles tensed as his head tilts back, his eyes squeezed shut. Obviously it was bringing other thoughts to the forefront of your mind. It was just, like… muscle memory. Or whatever.

You’ve been staring a fraction too long, causing Steve to open his eyes and look down at you in confusion. You feel a flash of guilt for the inappropriate thoughts you’d been thinking, and at the absolute most inappropriate time. Even in the darkness of the upside down, you can’t hide from Steve’s inquisitive gaze. He reads your expression instantly.

“Seriously?” he says quietly, so the others won’t hear. “Right now? Jeez, keep it in your pants, Y/N. I could be dying, you know.”

Aaand the guilt is gone. Yeah, he’s fucking fine. Sarcasm still intact, that’s a good sign, you echo Robin’s earlier statement in your mind.

You scoff, finally unfreezing, your fingers remembering how to tie a knot right over his deepest mark. He exhales shakily as you tighten it, and you have to fight yourself not to get carried away again. “You’re not bleeding that much.”

“Only I would get attacked by a bunch of freak-bats in hell and not even get to be a little dramatic about it,” he pouts.

You step away from him, face burning just a bit still at having been caught, and reach out to help him up.

He quirks an eyebrow up at you before allowing you to wrap your arm around him, leaning his body into yours. And if your very shirtless and not-so-mortally wounded boyfriend just had to press his body right up against yours, well, who were you to complain about that?

“Don’t worry,” he starts as the two of you make your way back over to where Robin and Eddie are waiting. “Once we get out of here, I’ll let you take care of me all you want.”

You huff out a laugh. “And you can be as dramatic about that as you’d like.”

[bettysupremacy]

I gotchu bb.

Can we get a Robin x Byers!Reader (I love this dynamic) where reader is real withdrawn, but has been secretly pining for Robin, and maybe they get paired up for a project? (Another trope I love)

Thanks! Love your writing so much!

Robin Buckley x Fem! Byers! Reader

Warnings: angst, HAPPY ENDING (I’m incapable of sad ones), fluff, food is mentioned. Tell me if there’s more.

thx for the request and thx Lynn for helping me at 2:40 in the morning<3 @simpingrat

3.4K words

Robin missed her best friend. She missed the sleepovers and movie nights. She missed sneaking free ice cream to her, behind Steve’s back. She missed the popsicles that Joyce would make, every summer, out of orange juice and lemonade. She missed summer 8, when all they did was ride their bikes and swim. She missed the way Y/N would only let Robin stick colorful bandaids on her knee when she fell off her bike. She missed it all.

It wasn’t that she was physically gone, Y/N was sitting three feet In front of her, behind a crooked desk. It was gut wrenching missing someone who never left. Missing someone who was there for all your memories.

Robin tried to excuse Y/N slowly withdrawing from her. Her whole family had just moved across the country without her, including her twin brother. She didn’t want to start senior year at a completely different school. Jonathan didn’t mind, but she did.

She tried to excuse it with the fact that the closest father figure she’s had, since her shitty biological father, had just died. And the fact that she’s experienced 3 years of upside down trauma, when Robin had only experienced 1.

She tried to excuse it in so many ways. She’d bend backwards, forwards, and around, just to defend her. But, the sad truth was, she knew this friendship, that she was holding like water in her hands, was slipping through her fingers.

Robin stares at Y/N in, hopefully, not a creepy way. The Sun from the windows is beaming on her, casting a halo effect around her resting head. Her back is hunched over in what looks to be an uncomfortable position. If they were still close, Robin would throw a piece of paper at her head, telling her to fix her posture.

“Robin? Robin!” Their teachers voice comes from the front of the classroom. She’s startled, did anyone see her looking at Y/N like that?

“I’m assigning partners for the project.” Mr. Smiths voice is gentler now, and he doesn’t mention how she was staring at Y/N. Robin thinks this is her favorite teacher, “I’m sticking you with Y/N.”

Is there a smile on his face when he says that?

Robin nods, more attentive. Turning towards Y/N with a grin. She expects to be met with her eyes, maybe a smile back, but she’s not even looking at Robin. Y/N’s still got her arms folded on her desk, head resting on top of them.

She try’s not to take it personally. She’s got a lot going on. It still doesn’t feel good though.

She was there when Lucas confided in Steve. She heard the way Lucas said Max’s mental health was declining, the way she was withdrawn, the way Max broke up with him, and the way she closed herself off from her friends. Robin couldn’t help but relate to their situation. Y/N’s not your girlfriend, she had to remind herself, it’s not the same.

After that conversation, she noticed how much time Max and Y/N were spending together. It worried her. They both withdrew from their family and friends, and now they were only hanging out with each other? What if Y/N broke off their friendship the way Max broke up with Lucas?

She looks back over at Y/N to see her eyes dash away from Robin’s. Was her mind playing tricks on her? Was she really looking at Robin for what felt like the first time in years?

When class ends, Robin walks over to Y/N’s desk. She hasn’t been this nervous to talk to her since she realized she had a crush on her, in sophomore year. She stands there silently for a moment. What is she supposed to say?

“Hey uh-“ Y/N flinches, “Woah. I’m sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I was just wondering.. wondering what we’re going to do about the project? Cause like, I don’t know what I’m doing in this class, and you’ve always been really good at it. Do you wanna go to my house? Or we can go to your-“ her rambling is cut off when she sees Y/N staring at her with a smile. Her smile is so pretty.

“You’re rambling.”

She didn’t realize that. “I know.”

Jesus Christ, is there any AC in this school? Robin is sweating buckets.

Y/N stuffs her school supplies and paper into her bag messily and Robin scrunches her nose. She always kept her bag so organized, what’s happened to her?

She looks up from where she’s cleaning off her desk, “We can go to mine, I don’t mind. Steve won’t either.”

Oh right. She won’t be going to Y/N’s cozy childhood home, she won’t get greeted by Joyce at the door, and she won’t be invited to stay for dinner. She’ll be going to Steve’s house, because Y/N is staying there now.

Steve doesn’t even know how he convinced his mother and father to let his younger friend move into their house. But maybe something about the fact that they’re never there swayed them.

Robin’s trying to be better, but she can’t help that this makes her a little jealous. Steve gets Y/N all the time. He gets to talk to her and soothe her when she comes into his room because of nightmares. Robin misses that. She misses when Y/N would even tell her about nightmares. The only reason she knows that’s been happening, is because she pried it out of Steve at work.

“O-ok!” She wasn’t expecting her to act like nothing ever happened. “Um, cool! I’ll come over at 6:30?”

Her best friend nods, “I’ll tell Steve that you’ll be over. We can order a pizza.”

Robin’s head is fuzzy from excitement. She hasn’t hung out with her in forever. Even if this is for a school project.

When the fog of excitement disperses from her brain, she realizes that Y/N has already left the room.

Nothing matters anymore. It doesn’t matter that she knows her crush is one sided. It doesn’t matter that she won’t be in Y/N’s childhood bedroom, that she liked more then her own. Hell, it doesn’t even matter that she has to put up with Steve on her day off.

She gets to hang out with Y/N tonight, and that’s all that matters to her in this moment. Just like old times, she thinks.

What Robin didn’t know was that her best friend missed her as well. She missed the sleepovers and movie nights. She missed getting free scoops ahoy, behind Steve’s back. She missed her moms popsicles, orange juice for Robin and lemonade for her. She missed summer 9, when they both hyper fixated on board games, and Joyce bought them enough to last the whole summer. And she missed the way that Robin would play doctor on her knees when she would fall off her bike.

She knew she was withdrawing from Robin, and she felt devastatingly guilty about it. She was going through a lot, she’d tried to reason with herself. It never worked. Maybe this was for the best. Robin didn’t deserve a friend that was actively trying to find her way through a maze.

She didn’t know what to do when Mr. Smith partnered them together. She thought about asking him to change partners, until she saw the way Robin was giddily distracted by something outside the classroom window. She couldn’t do that to her after ditching her for so long- her eyes flit away when she notices Robin turning towards her. Did Robin see that?

Back at the house she greets Steve, who’s on the couch watching Scooby-Doo reruns. He had offered his house to her immediately after he’d learned about her family moving.

She’s upside down to him, because of the way his head is laying against the arm rest. He watches her take her shoes off by the door, and run upstairs to deposit her backpack on her bed, before running back downstairs and flopping next to him on the couch.

“Who are they fighting now?”

He looks over at her, but only briefly, before his eyes are back on the tv. “They’re on a cruise, but they’ve just changed course to the Bermuda Triangle, and the rest of the people on board are ghosts.”

Y/N’s socked feet settle in Steve’s lap. “Sounds scary.”

“We’ve been through worse.” He says dryly, proud when he sees that he’s cracked a grin out of her.

“Robin’s coming over tonight.”

He looks surprised, but she doesn’t have it in her to be offended. “She is? Oh, that’s good. I’ve been telling you how to need to get back out there.”

“It’s only for a school project.”

“Still,” he sits up so he can lean over and ruffle her hair. “I’m proud.”

Those two words weaken her. Steve always makes sure to tell her. She finished her math homework? He’s proud. She managed to drive past the ruins of the mall with him? he so proud of her. She comes into his room, to lay in the bed with him, after a nightmare? He’s proud she’s getting better at being vulnerable.

But every time he says it she feels this warm, gooey, feeling in her chest. Maybe that’s why he does it.

“She’s coming over around 6:30.”

“We can order a pizza.”

“That’s exactly what I said, Steve Harrington.”

Someone knocks on the door while they’re watching their 5th.. 6th?? Episode of Scooby-doo.

Y/N and Steve look up at each other confused. Who could it be? Nobody ever knocks at their door.

“Did you already order the pizza, Steve?”

He shakes his head.

Russians coming back to finish what they started? Steve did give him his address in the bunker.

He can see her thoughts spiraling into something close to dangerous. “Hey,” he whispers, “It’s not them, it’s probably like the.. mailman, or something.” He checks his watch and his face scrunches up.

“What?”

“It’s also 6:20, so there’s also a very real possibility that it’s Robin.”

Shit. She forgot. She flops back down on the couch and covers her eyes with her hands.

The knocking comes again.

“Do you want me to open the door?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Go upstairs before I do.”

She’d always be grateful to Steve for this. He always tried his best to make things easier for her. When school was starting up and she told him it was the last place she wanted to be, he promised to drive her to and from school, so she didn’t have to take the bus. When she was too scared to be home alone, he’d let her come to work with him and sit behind the desk with a book.

And now, he’s giving her the chance to go upstairs and prepare herself for the first interaction with Robin in months.

Y/N hates that it’s come to this. Having to prepare herself to hang out with someone who’s supposed to be her best friend. What if she takes one look at Robins pretty face and spills all her deepest darkest secrets? What if Robin gives her that laugh. The one reserved for Y/N, that makes her chest feel tight in adoration? What if-

There’s a knock on the door, and Y/N knows it’s Robin. It’s the same knock that Robin has used on her bedroom door since they were 6.

Robins head peaks through the door, “Hey, Bug.”

That damn nickname. It catches her so off guard she breaks into a startled smile. When was the last time Robin called her that?

“Hi, Robs.”

A smile grows on Robins face from her own nickname. Robs.

“Hi.” She repeats before walking into the room.

Robin expected it to be the same, bare, guest bedroom she had seen when Y/N had moved in, but it’s decorated. There are posters on every wall, the bed has a big purple comforter on it, and theres a stack of comics and cassettes on a dresser.

It smells like Y/N’s favorite perfume in here, Robin notices. There’s a couple of shirts on the ground, next to an overly full hamper. This room looks so lived in, Robin would never guess she moved in mere months ago.

Y/N catches her taking in the room. “Oh,” she says sheepishly, when she sees Robin staring at the Madonna poster, “Steve did this for me.”

“He did?” Robin feels a swell of pride for Steve.

Y/N walks over to the window that’s blowing in frosty night air, and closes it. Once closed, her curtains slowly fall down to rest besides the wall.

“Yeah. Oh, well, he surprised me with the posters. He dragged me to Linen ‘n Things so I could pick out the bedding.”

A laugh bubbles out of Robin, of course he did. She’s so grateful for Steve in this moment, it’s overwhelming.

Oh god. There’s that laugh. Y/N’s lightheaded from holding in her breath at the sound, eyes crinkling from a smile that fights its way onto her face.

When Robin turns back to her, Y/N is distracted, and Robin can see the smile on her face. She doesn’t know what she did to make her smile, but she hopes she does it again.

She watches Y/N drop down onto the bedroom floor and sits down next to her. Their knees touch when Y/N leans over to grab her backpack.

Robin forces herself to focus on something else, “So, how are we doing this?”

Y/N giggles. Why did she giggle? Robin looks up at her confused.

“I have no idea.”

A giggle is startled out of Robin as well.

Looking back on this, the two girls really do feel blind. Their time doing this project is filled with touches that linger a little too long, drifting eyes, from both the girls, over nose curves, cheek bones, and smile lines. The nervous giggles they let out are uncontrollable.

Steve can hear them from downstairs, feeling guilty at the thought of interrupting them for pizza. Both girls could smell the pizza wafting up into Y/N’s room, but silently ignored it, not realizing the other was ignoring it too.

He was so proud of Y/N coming out of her shell for the first time in months, though, Steve couldn’t help but mettle a little.

“Are you spending the night Robs?” Steve had asked her, picking pepperoni off of his pizza, feigning nonchalance.

Robin brain short circuited. Did Y/N want her to? She certainly wanted to.

She missed the silent conversation Steve and Y/N had with their eyes.

He looks over and can see Robin short circuiting.

“What? It’s a Friday night after all.” He shrugs.

“I- I didn’t bring any pajamas.”

“You can wear some of mine.. If you want.”

So now they’re in her room, under Y/N’s thick purple comforter, laying less then a foot away from each other. The box fan blowing in the background is loud, in comparison to their silence.

Robin is wearing a large marching band tee, that she could’ve sworn she lost in middle school, and cotton shorts.

She rolls around, surprised when she sees Y/N already facing her. Their thighs brush and Robin prays, to whatever god is out there, that Y/N can’t see the way her face flushes from the skin to skin contact.

She’s cant even pretend to be asleep, because Y/N’s eyes are already open, blinking slowly back at her. They lay there silently, staring at each other.

Robin takes in Y/N’s eyelashes, the way they kiss her eyelids, their curve when she closes them. She takes in the way her hair falls over her shoulders, and the way she seems to shrink in embarrassment at Robins gaze.

“I missed you.” Robin murmurs.

“I’m sorry.”

She blinks in confusion. “What’re you sorry for?”

“For distancing myself.”

“You think I’m mad about that?” Robin feels her heart shatter, and wonders if Y/N could hear it.

“You aren’t?”

“No.” Robin whispers, “No, not at all.”

It’s silent now. Robin can hear Y/N’s large breath of relief.

Y/N rolls onto her back with a huff. Her thoughts are going a million miles an hour and she doesn’t know how to stop them. Robin just watches her stare at the ceiling, admiring her side profile.

The next words look like they’re struggling to leave Y/N’s mouth, like she hasn’t made up her mind on wether or not she’s gonna say them. “I need to tell you something.”

Robin sits up on her elbow and can hear the crinkling of fresh sheets under her, “What is it?”

More silence. Y/N sits up, crossing her legs under her as she looks down at Robin, still resting on her elbows. She’s struggling so much to get these words out.

Robin sits up as well. Crossing her legs under her, like Y/N, so that both their knee caps are touching. She watches Y/N’s eyes fixate on where their skin is touching.

“Are you okay?” Robin searches for her eyes.

That was a dumb question, Robin thinks, is she okay from what?

“Yeah- no, I’m fine. I just-“ She looks Robin in the eyes for a mere 3 seconds before covering them with her palms. “I like girls.”

Robin stops breathing. Did Y/N really think Robin would judge her for that? Robin came out to her in junior year.

She softly grabs Y/N’s wrists gently and peels her hands away from her eyes.

“Did you really think I’d judge you for that?”

Y/N shakes her head profusely, frightened that she offended Robin.

“No!”

Robin nods slowly, Y/N still looks like she’s going to burst into tears, and Robin wants anything but that to happen. She doesn’t know how to comfort crying people very well.

Robin smoothes her hand over Y/N’s hairline, “Is there more, bug?”

She hates herself for getting hopeful.

“I also like-“

“Hm?”

“I also like you.” Her voice breaks.

Robin pulls her hand back. Her whole world stops. Is she kidding? She doesn’t even know how to respond.

Y/N takes Robin’s silence as fear, disgust.

“And, I- I know that just because you’re a lesbian, doesn’t mean you like every girl you know. I know that! And you don’t have to like me back. Truly, you don’t have to-“

Her words are cut off as Robin flings her arms around her. There’s so much momentum that Y/N has to brace her hands behind her, so that she doesn’t fall backwards.

She doesn’t know what to do. Slowly, and confusedly, she wraps her arms around Robin’s stomach.

“Why are you hugging me?” Comes out muffled, from her face being mushed into Robin’s sleep shirt.

Robin shakes her head in the crook of her neck.

When they pull back both girls are in tears. Taking one look at their glossy eyes, they both break into wet giggles.

“Why are you crying?” Robin teases, searching for Y/N’s eyes again. “I’m the one that just got love professed to her.”

Y/N shakes her head “Why am I crying? I’m the one that just came out to you.”

“I’ll let you have it.”

She scoffs amusedly, “She’ll let me have it.”

Robin grins, so brightly, so full of pride, Y/N has no choice but to smile back. Two lovesick fools sit, staring at each other.

There’s a brief moment where Robin glances down at Y/N’s lips. Their faces are so close. How didn’t they notice that?

“Can I-?” Robin is looking down at her lips unashamedly now.

She nods. They both lean in, unsure of how this’ll effect their friendship. What if one likes it and the other doesn’t? What if they both don’t like it? Is that years of friendship down the drain? They both flinch a little at the same time. Smiling at each other, they go for it again.

Y/N has never kissed a boy before, or anyone for that matter, but this feels right. This feels perfect.

Robin grabs her face and Y/N has to clutch her arms for support.

The sound of a loud gasp breaks them apart.

They turn around, horrified, to see Steve standing there. He’s covering up his excitement poorly, bouncing from foot to foot.

“I was just coming to see if you too wanted to watch a movie with me but if you’re too busy-“ he smiles cheekily.

“Harrington.“

“I’ve got Indiana Jones, but if you’re-“

“Harrington!”

He gives Y/N a giddy smile. “Yes?”

“We’ll down in a moment.”

“Okay.” He winks at her before closing the door.

The bed sheets shuffle as Y/N turns towards Robin again.

“Girlfriend.” Y/N test’s slowly.

Robin tucks some hair behind the girls ear, and then cups her face, so she can lean forward and kiss the edge of her mouth.

“Girlfriend.”