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the-irreverend · 13 days

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The Inferno Theory: The Chara Theory to End All Chara Theories

Here we are! Nine years of Undertale. And seeing how Chara is heavily associated with the number 9 (AND THAT TOBY FOX FINALLY TALKED ABOUT THEM), I can't think of a better way to celebrate the occasion than by dedicating this 5000-word-long theory about them? Y'all remember when people used to make long-ass theories about Chara? Yeah, they're coming back with a vengeance! To say I have a colossal hyperfixation is a massive understatement. No character in all of fiction has had a bigger impact on my life than this little rose-cheeked, cocoa-addicted freak. I’ve been a Chara fan for as long as I’ve been an Undertale fan, and you can bet that my understanding of them has changed a lot since. And now I have the pleasure of sharing said understandings with y’all!

Once upon a time, there was an aroace autistic who, like most of y’all, had a very unhealthy obsession with Undertale. And unlike most of you, he thought the Genocide Route was really fun. Most fans talk about how unhappy they felt killing everyone, but for me, I felt like a polar bear at a baby harp seal convention. I got a disturbing level of happiness out of turning everyone to dust. Hell, the only unhappiness I felt was when I couldn’t turn Monster Kid to dust.

Oh well, at least I got a good consolation prize!

I was one sadistic son of a gun, and so I was even more delighted to find out I had a secret admirer/partner-in-crime and that they joined in on the fun because I was such a goshdarn inspiration to them. Not wishing to disappoint my self-appointed partner, I erased the world without a second thought, eagerly awaiting what we might get to do together.

So you can guess I was pretty taken aback when, instead of a warm welcome, they started lecturing me about how I couldn’t accept the world’s destruction and that I was the one fully responsible for it (even though they were eager to take credit for it earlier). I didn’t think much of it at first. Initially, I just thought that they were just irritated that I was undoing what we had worked so hard to accomplish.

But as this game taught me time after time, you should never trust your first impressions. Those first impressions would crumble to dust when they said this.

To say I was completely baffled is an understatement. Why the hell would this prepubescent genocidal maniac be so obsessed over whether or not I think I’m above consequences? So obsessed to the point they would tell me to go to hell if I told them no? It was at that moment I realized there was something more to this character than meets the eye. But for a long time, I couldn’t seem to figure out what that something was. And it didn’t seem like anyone could figure that out either.

I’m very much a veteran of the fan wars that have emerged surrounding Chara. In fact, one might even say I am a deserter of sorts, as I am a former member of the Chara Defence Squad, Offense Squad, and Neutralist Squad. But I’m not gonna be a stuck-up and say everyone’s a canon-ignoring idiot except for me and that I’m the only one who knows what Toby Fox intended Chara to be. Even though I ended up with a very different take than yours (and will certainly argue why it’s the best), I owe you all your discussions a huge debt, and I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t gotten invested in your interpretations, to begin with. Not to mention that, contrary to what some may argue, you’ve made some valid points to complement them.

And while the debate that resulted from Chara’s ambiguous morality has led to a lot of controversy and even toxicity, it has also been a source of some FANTASTIC CONTENT. Like seriously, would we have gotten those badass renditions of Stronger Than You if no one thought Chara was an awful person? Would we have gotten Man on the Internet’s beautiful rendition of Star if no one thought Chara was a good person (turned awful)?

It would be utter hypocrisy for me to ask of you to approach me and my arguments (or anyone who accepts them) with understanding and good faith only to then not do the same to anyone who doesn’t agree with me. In this theory, I will definitely argue why some points made about Chara are flawed; points that you might hold yourself. But that doesn’t automatically mean that you (or your takes) are intellectually or morally inferior to mine. And besides, I’m not Toby Fox.

So with that said, why did I eventually came to disagree with pretty much everyone about Chara? Because, one way or another, I couldn’t find a take that clicked with me personally as I felt there were various inconsistencies and issues holding them back. I looked at YouTube videos, subreddits, Tumblr essays, Twitter threads, and even forums on the Steam Community. But I couldn’t really find what I thought were satisfactory answers to the questions I had about Chara’s motivations, role in the game, and relationship with the player.

And then, one day, I found those answers. It all happened when I asked myself: “What if Chara didn’t turn against me… because they were always against me from the start?!”

I don’t mean that Chara only saw you as a means to an end. I mean that YOU were the end. What if Chara didn’t use you so they could screw over the monsters but they used the monsters so they could screw over YOU.

You probably think I’m insane, don’t you? And you’re right! I AM INSANE! AND SO IS THIS WHOLE DAMN THEORY!!! But somehow, someway, it just works!! And I’ll show you why and how!!!

What you are about to read is the culmination of six years of reading and critiquing Chara takes and theories of every kind and quality, whether it be Judgement Boy’s Who is the Real Villain of Undertale to Wandydoodles’ Oblivion Theory. Six years of examining the arguments and counterarguments of Chara defenders, offenders, and neutralists alike. Six years of looking in every corner of the UTDR fandom. From the tranquil lands of Quora. To the dark recesses of Reddit. To the intellectual wastelands of Twitter. To the fiery hellsite of Tumblr. So, without further ado, get ready for some of the most pure, unadulterated, high-octane, universe-collapsing neurodivergence you’ve ever seen in your life!!!!!

Part 1: The demonic heritage of the "demon who comes when people call its name".

Have you ever had one of those moments where you’ve asked yourself, “What the actual hell is this guy talking about?” I bet you’re having that moment right now. Everything about their character post-death, including their motives, their methods, and their relationship with you, is perfectly reflected in one of their most famous (or rather infamous) lines:

When most people hear the word demon, the first thing that comes to mind is a being made of pure evil whose only purpose in life is to destroy all things good in the world. Right?

Well, yes, but actually, no. It’s a little more complicated than that. To argue that Chara is a demon because they’re simply “an evil little twerp that enjoys being evil” doesn’t do them or their role in Undertale justice (although that hasn’t stopped people from trying to argue that). To understand why calling themselves a demon is EXTREMELY important, we need to dive into the wonderful (and totally not controversial) world of religious beliefs!

In ancient and modern religions, demons are a little more complex than just ethereal jackasses with a vendetta against virtue and righteousness. Though they vary from faith to faith, most demons have a specific set of qualities and tropes that make them integral to whatever faith they’re in. You also see these demonic qualities in fiction that’s derived or inspired by religions, and since Undertale’s lore and worldbuilding have a heavy emphasis on the spiritual and divine, you can see them in Chara. Since Undertale is a game of “Western” origin, you can definitely see they share qualities that are all too familiar with devils of “Western” religions. In classic devil fashion, they target those with weak integrities or suspect morals; they tempt you with the promise of fulfilling your desires at your and everyone else’s expense; they’re able to control your body as you grow their power through your sins, and hell, they even do the thing where they make a deal for your soul. Also...

But though it's evident that Chara encourages you to do “evil,” THEY THEMSELVES are not responsible for it. Yes, Chara encouraged you to kill, but YOU are the one who acted on those encouragements. In fact, YOU are the one who encouraged THEM to help you out! They walked down the dark path with you, but you didn’t really give them anywhere else they could walk. You had all the power and every chance to turn back and no reason to keep walking. And yet you persisted.

But that does beg the question, why did you walk it at all? What could possibly inspire you to give all of these characters happiness, satisfaction, and peace and then rip it all away? Because you decided that giving everyone the most satisfying ending was not satisfying enough for you. Because there was more that you could experience for yourself, even if it meant making everyone else experience something absolutely horrific. It wasn’t enough for you to fill the glass only halfway. You needed to fill it to the brim. You wanted to reach the absolute. Even if doing the Genocide Run was a bad experience for you, you CANNOT deny it was a fulfilling one. And Chara knows it, too. It ain’t exactly a coincidence that fulfillment and fullness are recurring motifs in Chara’s character.

Like all demons, Chara is able to tempt the wicked and sinful by targeting our greatest weaknesses and deficiencies. It’s no different from how Succubi and Incubi target those who succumb to the sin of lust. That’s why you won’t go after my aroace ass anytime soon. But I digress.

But Chara doesn't just tempt us by exploiting our need to fill the glass to the brim but also because of how they exploit the satisfaction we get from watching it fill up, that is to say, the satisfaction that comes from trying to achieve fulfillment.

We humans are addicted to progression as much as we are to completion, and in an RPG like Undertale, the satisfaction of progression comes in the form of NUMBERS. Not just the numbers that flash on the screen when you battle enemies but also the ones that go up when you finish said enemies off, whether it be your hit points, experience points, and so on. And Undertale isn’t any ordinary RPG; it’s one where its RPG elements are interwoven into the fabric of the game’s universe. Because of that, Chara is able to use these elements in their world to influence those outside of it.

But Chara does not just influence us through the numbers that increase but also the ones that decrease. That’s why the first thing they do when we reach Snowdin is give us a tally.

It’s not just there to measure progress. It’s also there to incentivize us to keep progressing. It gives us a small dose of satisfaction that’s enough to distract us from the mundanity and misery of the murder run, like a loading bar on a loading screen. And just like with loading screens, the farther it progresses, the harder it gets to turn away. Why would you want all the lives you’ve taken and the stats you’ve gained to amount to nothing? Why would you want to hit reset and go through those brutal fights with Sans and Undyne again? You can’t empty out the glass, not when you’re that much closer to filling it to the brim. Speaking of Sans and Undyne, it’s quite interesting that even though they barely know you, they know exactly why you won’t take your foot off the pedal, so to speak.

But that’s not the only thing driving you, isn’t it? Chara knows that there was something else that was spurning you along. Something more powerful and more dangerous than your addiction to progression and completion: PRIDE.

Perhaps the real reason you kept giving in to sin until it was far too late was because you didn’t think it would be too late. You didn’t hold back because you thought you would be able to go back. You thought you could just absolve your sins with the press of a button like you did in countless worlds before. You thought you could dive in, touch the bottom, and come back out of the water. But what were you getting into? How deep would you have gone? And would you have gone in if you knew you couldn’t possibly return? You know you wouldn’t. And Chara knows it, too. That brings us back to the dialogue I showed you at the beginning of this theory. The one said changed everything I knew about this character, and I firmly believe that this is the MOST important line of dialogue in the entire franchise.

PART 2: THE PART WHERE I (PRETEND TO) DESTROY 9 YEARS OF ESTABLISHED FANON!

When I say that that little blurb about being above consequences is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL, I do not say that lightly. It isn’t just important to Chara's character, but the game of Undertale as a whole! Anyone who’s serious about Chara’s character should never take this for granted because Chara sure as hell does not.

It’s not just our refusal to accept the world’s destruction that’s a huge-ass deal to Chara; it’s the arrogance and complacency that accompanies it, rooted in the position and privileges we have as the player. It matters to them so much that they’re willing to completely forgo bartering for our soul (which they say they want) if we don’t admit that we have that belief!

And yet, despite Chara taking this subject so seriously, the people who are analyzing their character ironically don’t. Generally speaking, most people simply brush this line off as nothing more than something they do to help them on their quest to achieve their goals. So, with that said, let’s talk about what those supposed goals actually are.

In all my years of reading and assessing countless Chara theories and interpretations, I’ve discovered that everyone actually agrees on what Chara's goals are. They just can’t agree on why they want them. Said goals are A) reach the absolute, B) max out their numbers/power, C) erase the world, and/or D) eradicate all monsters. But what if it’s actually the other way around? What if those things were the means to an end rather than the ends themselves?

What if the true goal of the “demon who comes when people call its name” was just like that of the demons of old: not to be your partner in crime, but to torment and punish you for your crimes? To make you face CONSEQUENCES!

I’m not making this argument simply because it makes Chara look more badass (though I think it totally does, lol). I firmly believe that Undertale’s post-Genocide content is written so that Chara’s character can only make sense if that was Chara’s goal from start to finish. Because if Chara’s endgame was any of those four I mentioned earlier, their character kinda falls apart because they're awfully inconsistent about fulfilling them. And those inconsistencies are evident in the Second Geno Ending.

Discrepancy 1) They say they will “appear time and time again” to help us “eradicate the enemy and become strong,” and yet they call us perverted for eradicating everyone time and time again.

You can argue that they didn’t want us to recreate the world in the first place and just move on to another world, but if so, why let us come back at all? And if it’s to get our soul, why do they keep around this world after we have it? This leads us to...

Discrepancy 2) They tell us to ERASE the world and move on to the next, and yet they allow us to restore it without a hitch after we give them our SOUL, seeing how there’s no black void when we start the game again.

If Chara was powerless to stop us from coming back, this wouldn’t be such a big deal. But they CLEARLY DEMONSTRATE that they’re able to stop the player from restoring the world, as seen in the first post-genocide ending. And yet they don’t use this power after the first time the world is erased (WHICH YOU WOULD THINK THEY WOULD WANT TO USE SINCE THEY WANT TO ERASE THE WORLD AND MOVE ON TO ANOTHER)! Seeing how the world is back again without us doing anything makes the restoration of the world like something that Chara CHOSE ON THEIR OWN VOLITION. And what makes this all the more damning is...

Discrepancy 3) They tell us they’re down bad for increasing our ATK, DEF, EXP, and LV to the max and erasing the world and everyone in it, and yet they TELL US TO DEVIATE FROM THE ONLY ROUTE THAT ACCOMPLISHES THAT (which, as stated before, they call us perverse for doing it again).

So, let me get something straight. You tell us you want to ”eradicate the enemy” and “ erase this pointless world,” and yet not only are you allowing us to undo all of that, you want us to do something INSTEAD OF THAT??? It’s funny how you lecture us about how we cannot accept the world’s destruction BECAUSE, APPARENTLY, YOU WON’T EITHER!!!!! Also, before I forget...

Discrepancy 4)

WHAT KIND OF MISANTHROPE DEDICATES THEIR WHOLE LIFE TO WIPING OUT HUMANITY, GETS GIFT-WRAPPED A CHANCE TO DO THAT, AND THEN JUST PASSES IT UP?!?!?!

On behalf of misanthropes everywhere, I am DEEPLY disappointed in you!

So it doesn’t matter if you believe Chara is always evil, good, or detached from morality entirely. Because Chara has the same goal across all versions, they all succumb to the same inconsistencies!

Funny how most people see them as this embodiment of the addictive nature of levelling up and consuming everything in a piece of media and all that jazz WHEN THEY SEEM TO CASUALLY GIVE UP ON IT!!!!!!

And if you argue they want a Soulless Pacifist Run when they suggest “another path,” then ask yourself, what does that give them that a Genocide Run doesn’t? Keep in mind, aside from a scribbled-out photograph, we don’t see how many monsters or humans they killed besides the main characters or how much power and stats they gained from it. And it’s not like we see them erase the world afterward since only the genocide run has that infamous wall of red 9s. Not to mention, the genocide run is the most secure way of accomplishing their goals since they have the backing of the player. Not only that, but it’s also the safest and most efficient way to erase everyone and increase stats to the fullest, and we all know how Chara feels about efficiency.

So Chara has no reason to pick the Soulless pacifist ending over the Genocide Run if they want to achieve their end of increasing numbers and consuming the world… unless those things were a means to an end rather than ends themselves.

Indeed it is coming together! That’s the other reason their statement, “You think you’re above consequences,” is so damn important! They’re not telling us why we sinned, but it reveals they intend to make us suffer for those sins, and how.

That’s why Chara is seemingly so inconsistent about erasing the world. Because it was never about the world. It was all about YOU.

[SIDE NOTE: I’m sure many of you will point out that if Chara wanted us to get a Soulless ending in this world, then why would they encourage us to “move on to the next?” I don’t think this is too big an issue for two reasons. First, this line is meant to emphasize that, like all demons, Chara is inescapable and that no matter what world you go to (within their own universe), Chara will always follow you now that you’ve unleashed them. Second, because their goal concerns us and not the world they’re a part of, their character avoids the aforementioned inconsistencies that hamper the other Chara theories much more severely, in my opinion.]

Part 3: Contrapasso

Now I’m sure some of y’all might think that Chara doesn’t need to yearn for our torment to achieve the impact of the Soulless ending and that just because Chara is a demon doesn’t automatically mean they need to screw us over. You are right in that not everyone who makes a Faustian Bargain needs to have malicious intentions toward the people they’re taking advantage of (Kuybey from Madoka Magica is a great example of that). But Chara does need it! Not only does it make their character more narratively cohesive, but also makes their character more thematically impactful. And it’s more in tune with their demonic nature for them to want to torment us.

Because demons represent something more terrifying than evil itself. They represent the terrible price of embracing it, a price that all evildoers fear more than anything, and that all demons want seek to inflict upon us. Like most demons, Chara isn’t encouraging us to sin to fill the emptiness in our soul (or even their own). They did it to perpetuate that torturously empty and unfulfilled state for all eternity, a state which even themselves now endure.

Now, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve talked a lot about the themes of fulfillment and emptiness, and it’s for a good reason since those themes are heavily featured in Undertale. I mean, how could it not? Because concepts of demons, hell, and sins (which are explicitly mentioned in the game) are deeply intertwined with the concept of emptiness. The theologian Thomas Aquinas once defined evil as not a presence but as an absence (of that which is good). Darkness is the absence of light; war is the absence of peace; bigotry is the absence of tolerance; pride is the absence of humility, etc. You see this reflected in not just Christian theology but also fiction as a whole, as a lot of villains are motivated by a desire to obtain something that they believe can’t be without. Whether it be wealth, status, recognition, power, the death of an individual, or even just sadistic pleasure.

Since demons are beings that are inseparable from evil itself, the life of a demon is forever cursed by unceasing and unbearable emptiness. Hell, the word damnation originated from the Latin word damnum, which literally means loss! They’re not exactly partying in hell while your immortal soul is being slow-roasted for eternity. They’re burning in that lake of fire and brimstone along with you! They can’t end their damnation, not because they don’t want to but because they simply can’t. They’re fated to be bereft of the satisfaction or fulfillment found in Heaven or Earth, a fate that is worse than death in every sense of the word, especially since they can’t experience death anymore. Because of that, a demon embodies what is perhaps the most terrifying form of evil of all: not one rooted in a desire to rid the emptiness and unfulfillment within themselves, but a desire to inflict them upon others. Because as a wise philosopher once said:

We see this horrific state of mutually assured suffering everywhere across fiction. From goofy, lighthearted tokusatsu's...

...to nightmarish sci-fi dystopias...

...to a little indie game made 9 years ago.

Oh yeah. Don’t think I was gonna talk about emptiness without mentioning everyone’s favourite homicidal fauna-turned-flora, especially not with lines like this.

Take one to know one! And it can’t be a coincidence that the game emphasizes the theme of emptiness when giving the spotlight to the three characters that have committed the most “evil”: Flowey/Asriel, Chara, and YOU.

Quite the unholy trinity going on here, eh? It truly is fascinating how the emptiness led us to work with each other to exterminate all monsters. And it’s also interesting how the unique kind of emptiness we have eventually led us to work against each other. Whether it be Flowey wishing to preserve his sentimentality for his long-gone sibling, us players wanting to maintain our (perverted) sentimentality for the world of Undertale, or Chara weaponizing these sentimentalities to exact their misanthropic hatred.

Remember how I said that Chara was a lousy misanthrope because they keep letting us bring back the humans they wanted annihilated when they were alive? That does make them a lousy misanthrope… unless their misanthropy found a higher priority target: YOU!!!!! Chara’s desire to torment us didn’t come out of thin air. The same hatred that drove them to wipe out the humans of their world years ago is the same hatred that’s driving them to get at the humans of our world, even if it means destroying those who once embraced them. And now, that hatred is more potent and destructive than ever before, so much so that it’s no wonder Toriel was able to feel it when she endured that fatal blow after the Geno Run began.

Do you think witnessing what soullessness did to sweet little Asriel wasn’t already terrifying and tragic enough? Just try to imagine what it could‘ve done to a vengeful, traumatized, chocolate-addicted problem child so consumed by hatred that they poisoned themselves just for a chance to wipe out their own kind. All of that hatred of humanity is still alive and well, and now it has no humanity to hold it back.

And what could be a more fitting target for a MISANTHROPE that calls themselves a DEMON… than a HUMAN that wants to play GOD?

After all, the only thing demons love more than tormenting mortals is warring with Gods.

Why else do you think that Chara winks right at you if we make Frisk stay with Toriel? Because that’s who the Soulless Ending was meant for. It’s when they’re finally able to unleash all that animosity and hatred that’s been lurking behind that smile ever since we killed everyone in the Ruins. It’s the moment that they’ve been patiently waiting for because they knew that’s when it would hit you the hardest.

And what makes the Soulless Pacifist Ending very special compared to other “bad endings” isn’t simply because they destroy those we pretend to care about (may I remind you that you did do the genocide run, after all). But they destroy something much more valuable to us as the players: OUR OMNIPOTENCE. Chara doesn’t destroy people for the sake of destroying them. But because in doing so they destroy our arrogant belief that nothing could possibly challenge the invisibility and invulnerability we players take for granted.

It's all too human that those with the most power are the least willing to lose it (or even take responsibility for it). And in a world where we should have absolute power, we thought there would be no consequences for abusing it. So what could be a more fitting and frightful punishment than having to actually face them? Missing out on the best ending in a video game is one thing. But to forever lose the power to achieve it ever again?! Now that’s terrifying!

Throughout myth, legend, and religion, sinners are often punished in a way befitting of the sin they’ve committed. In Greek Mythology, Tantalus was damned for trying to feed the Gods the flesh of his murdered son with eternal hunger and thirst despite being within arm’s reach of water and food. In Dante’s Inferno, those who succumb to wrath are forever doomed to fight each other in a river of mud. And since Undertale is no stranger to concepts such as hell, sins, and demons, you can damn well be sure that there’s going to be damnation fitting for the sins that drove you to complete the genocide run.

You completed the Genocide Run because you believed ending their lives would be fulfilling. Now, you can no longer get any fulfillment out of saving their lives.

I mean, where else can you get your precious fulfillment? Those paltry neutral endings? They only offer a fraction of what the pacifist ending offered. And the genocide ending has been drained of its satisfaction like the pacifist! Would you do all that tedious grinding and brutal boss fights just to hear your so-called “partner” lecture you again on perverted sentimentality and say you should choose another path, even though there’s nothing that they could offer? Of course not. In the end, you’re just like poor Tantalus agonizing in the pits of Tartarus, feeling the water vanish from his hands just before it touches his lips.

The ultimate triumph of Chara isn’t making you suffer a total defeat, but perhaps something much worse to you as a gamer: a pyrrhic victory. It’s like having a Twinkie that's been drained of the creamy center. Everything is still there except the thing you treasure most. You’re damned to play a challenge forever deprived of any and all fulfillment you once got from it, a satisfying journey that will always be doomed to reach a dissatisfying destination.

In the end, Chara leaves you with the world exactly as they described it the first time they met you face-to-face: POINTLESS.

You can have the world exactly as it was before (and the people within it). But in the end, Chara will always have the last laugh.

Figuratively and literally.

Welcome to hell!

Part 4: Why Consequences Matter

Woooooo!!! Man, that was quite the read, wasn’t it? And yeah, I wasn't kidding when I said this is going to be autistic as all hell! I don’t doubt you have a lot of thoughts in your mind, and then you’re gonna share them by the time you’re finished reading this post. Some of you might think this is the Chara theory to end Chara theories. Some of you believe that this is the worst thing that has happened to this fandom since Sebastian Wolff. Some of y’all, I’m whitewashing them because I argue they’re driven by a desire to punish the wicked by any means necessary. Some will think I’m demonizing them because I say that they’re, well, a demon.

[SIDE NOTE: Just so I don’t miscommunicate what I believe about Chara’s morality, here are some key points to take away from this theory. A) Chara sought to make you pay for the evil you committed. In fact, the idea that the Soulless Ending is Chara punishing our sins has been around for a while, especially by those who think Chara was “corrupted. B) However, in this theory, Chara's actions are all done with the intent of accomplishing that goal. This means that Chara was aware of what they were doing, they wanted to do it, and that THEY KNEW IT WAS EVIL. C) But you still have to remember that Chara is also A LITERAL CHILD. And D) They’re a child who endured a great deal of hardship (and possibly trauma), which made them so embittered and vengeful. Also, E) Remember that they’re also soulless, just like Asriel when he was Flowey.]

But I think most of you were gonna look at this interpretation of Chara and feel the same thing that I have about most of yours: a take that’s not without issues, but not without a fair bit of interesting points.

But regardless of what you think of this theory overall, there’s one thing I won’t leave up for debate: I deeply treasure Chara’s character. Not just because I think they’re fun, cool, or interesting but also because I firmly believe they’re invaluable Undertale. And yet, at the same time, I think they’re severely undervalued by the fandom. And who can blame them?

The characters of Undertale speak very little of Chara, and Chara speaks for themselves even less. But just like Johan Liebert from the anime Monster, even though they’re not seen too often, they still manage to exert a massive presence and impact within Undertale’s narrative. And that presence is made all the more impactful because they perfectly represent the themes of the narrative: and that theme is CONSEQUENCES, or more accurately, the CONSEQUENCES OF VIOLENCE.

From the violence that drove Chara to climb Mt Ebott to the violence their brother Asriel inflicted in hopes of being with them forever. From something as grand as a war between two civilizations to something as small as dismembering a snowman. Everywhere you look, you will see that violence (and its repercussions) haunts the story and characters of Undertale. But what makes Undertale stand out from other media that tackles this subject is that it’s not just an integral part of its narrative but also its metanarrative. The most ingenious way it does this is by giving meaning to the actions/mechanics that we take for granted, specifically monster encounters.

Our Lord and Saviour Toby Fox said it best:

Because the monsters of Undetale are treated as something more than just enemies to be killed, there are going to be consequences for choosing to kill them away. Some argue that it goes too far in how it admonishes you for killing even a single monster, even to the point of being preachy (I’m looking at you, ScottFalco, but that’s a response for another day).

That argument is deeply flawed because it fails to account for the fact that without these ramifications, the game’s themes would be rendered null and void. The last thing that a game with a narrative centred around the consequences of violence can afford to do is afford you the luxury of avoiding them. And that principle especially applies if you dare to choose nothing BUT violence. //////If you were to bring them all back as if nothing happened, then your decision to commit genocide would be completely meaningless, which would totally disservice Undertale themes regarding violence. There needs to be consequences. LASTING CONSEQUENCES. Undertale can’t drive home its messages and them without lasting consequences. Undertale can’t deliver those consequences without Chara in the driver’s seat. And Chara’s character can only be at their most narratively cohesive and thematically impactful if seeking to make us suffer consequences was their intended destination.

Regardless of whatever detail about Chara you’re discussing or what side of the discussion you’re on, one thing is very clear: they’re absolutely essential to Undertale in the same way that Mephistopheles is essential to Faust, the Cenobites are essential to Hellraiser, and Kuybey is essential to Madoka Magica. And they’re the only ones with the means, motives, and deep-seated misanthropy to hold this whole damn game together.

Sans is right. We deserve to be burning in hell for what we did to those poor monsters. And I can't think of anyone more qualified to have us humans “burning in hell” than a self-proclaimed demon with a seething hatred of humanity.

And how fitting is it that the skeleton who judges our sins is followed by a human child who punishes us for them?

BUT HEY, THAT'S JUST A THEORY!

A CHARA THEORY!

THANKS FOR READING!

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papaya-queen · 3 months

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That’s what family feels like – F1A/F2/F3/F4 Prema grid

Y/n joins Prema’s F1 Academy team and discover what found family feels like.

Yourusername

Yourusername media done ✅ it was amazing meeting all my new teammates! Love you all and see you at the start of the season!

Comments:

User so excited for the Prema media!!!

User she actually seems so nice

Racerbia it was lovely meeting you <3

User The best team ever

Olliebearman Had an amazing filming experience with you! Wishing you the best season!

User Prema is really just a cool camp for racing kid

Arvid.lindblad yeah exactly

Dinobeganovic_ THIS IS REAL

User they’re so funny 😭

Prema_team Welcome to the fam Y/N

F1academy & yourusername

F1academy Y/N Y/L/N wins the first race of the 2024 season!

Comments:

User SO FREAKING HAPPY FOR HER!!!

Prema_team Our girl on fire 🔥🔥

User Is that a hunger games reference?!

User I think they’re referencing her hair color

Kimi.antonelli 👏👏

User they’re so supportive of each other

User Y/N dominance could bore fans

User 4 freaking seconds ahead?! That girl is definitely the next Verstappen

Prema_team

Prema_team All red on the podium for the first weekend! With a win from Ollie in F2, Dino in F3 and both Doriane and Y/N in F1A, podiums for Kimi, Arvid, Paul and Bianca, all our drivers tasted the champagne in Sakhir

Comments:

Racerbia The fire team >>>

User Prema dominance in every category in wild

User Yeahh literally in F2, F3, F1Academy

User Don’t forget the FRECA, Italian F4 and Italian karting

User They’re everywhere I swear 😭

Dinobeganovic_ I could get used to that red on the podium

Kimi.antonelli don’t forget our beautiful Italian anthem

Yourusername yeah, we know Kimi

Kimi.antonelli DID I TELL YOU HOW IT’S THE BEST IN THE WORLD

Paularon_ I swear he’s more patriotic than Americans

User15 The Bear 🐻, The Dinosaur 🦖 and The Fox 🦊

User16 Prema: the racing zoo

Racerbia

Racerbia feeling the weekend

Tagged: Yourusername, Olliebearman, Kimi.antonelli, Paularon_ & 4 others

Comments:

Dorianepin best start of the season ever

User The Prema kids are partying 🔥🎉

User I mean why wouldn’t they when they’re dominating every championship

Olliebearman party like this next weekend?

Kimi.antonelli of course

Yourusername every weekend is even better

User come on, we want to see the wasted pictures

Paularon_ you’re NEVER getting those pictures

Dinobeganovic_ (he’s embarrassed by the things he did while drunk)

Prema_team WHAT DID WE SAY ABOUT THE ALCOLHOL??!

User oooh admin is pissed

Yourusername I swear to you that only the adults drunk

Arvid.lindblad admin she’s lying

Alexpowellracing can confirm

Racerbia thanks idiots, now they’re going to kill us because of you

Prema_team

Prema_team working with teens: a post

Comments:

Dinobeganovic_ we’re not THAT bad …

Prema_team you hacked admins speaker to play despacito during a meeting

Paularon_ don’t give him credits like that, it was me 😁

User no way they really did that

Alexpowellracing as a great would say “I HAVE IT, I HAVE IT PRINTED OUT”

User Alex referencing toto, amazing 😭😭🤣

Racerbia bahahaha Ollie and Y/N sleeping

Yourusername don’t laugh too much

Olliebearman just remember what we have hidden in our phones

User STOP TEASING US LIKE THAT

User I’m begging you admin release more behind the scenes pic

Prema_team I’m doing the best I can (they’re threatening me as I type)

Dion.gowda I won that game actually

Dorianepin of course Dion

Kimi.antonelli We believe you Dion

User they’re just too funny

Prema_team

Prema_team Kings and Queens of the season

F1A championship: Doriane Pin F1Academy champion, Biance P2, Y/N P3

F2 championship: Ollie F2 champion, Kimi P3

F3 championship: Paul F3 champion, Dino P2, Arvid P4

Comments:

User Having all your drivers in each championship top4 is really impressing

Ferraridriveracademy 👏👏

Mercedesamgf1 we have 2 champions and not you 😝

User not the academies fighting 😭

Yourusername don’t forget our amazing babies in F4 that dominated the top 5 of their championship

Dion.gowda stop calling us babies

Kean.nakamura.berta I’m literally a year younger than you

Yourusername don’t care 😙

Alexpowellracing I’ll take the compliment

User Prema dominance could never bore fans

F1 The best team award goes to Prema Racing winning constructor and driver championship in F2, F3, F1 Academy, FRECA and F4.

Comments:

Oscarpiastri Proud to say I was part of this team

Ferrari ♥️♥️

Maxverstappen1 Some bright future ahead for them

Yourusername THE max Verstappen knows my existence and complimented me ?! brb I need to faint

Arvid.lindblad she did faint

User Y/N being real as always

Charles_leclerc proud of my son 🐻

Olliebearman thanks papa :))

Mercedesamgf1 our kiddos are killing it 👏🖤

User I’m gonna tear up, all the teams are so supportive!

Mclaren does anyone likes papaya?

Racerbia 👀

User IS THAT AN ANNONCEMENT?!!

Landonorris you want to replace me admin? 🥺

User not lando getting jealous 😭😭

Landonorris I'm happy for you, muppet kid

yourusername don't make cry old man 😭

Lewishamilton I'm so amazed by my childrens

Dorianepin aww thanks dad

Kimi.antonelli grazie mille

Paularon_ I absolutly don't feel excluded because i don't have a grid dad

Dinobeganovic_ same

georgerusell63 well i'm always available

User When did this post became an adoption center ? 😭

Well, i really hope you liked it ! This was my biggest work ever, all those post were so much work 😭. Likes and reblog are always appreciated. Feel free to leave a comment or to correct any mistakes.

Bye Bye Babes !

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messylustt · 1 year

Note

Hii 👉🏻👈🏻 Could you write an Ethan Landry fic where he tries anything too woo the Reader and get together with her even though she has already a boyfriend. Hope you have an amazing day! 🩵

FRIEND-ZONED roommate!ethan landry

he would hate the readers boyfriend so much, but then the reader would like smile at him and his scowl would be gone

contains: protective ethan; ethan lusting over taken reader

step one step two

“HEY! HOPE YOU DON’T MIND, TOBY IS COMING OVER A LITTLE LATER.” You said as you finished eating your breakfast.

You lived in a dorm with Chad and Ethan. There was a mix up, you were meant to be rooming with some other girl. But you gradually didn’t mind being around the boys, and neither did they mind being around you.

Especially Ethan. Once the first week of you living with them past, Ethan became nearly infatuated. Your joyous personality and bright smiles made Ethan days all the more better.

Chad brushed it off as just a fleeting crush since you were a girl staying in their dorm room. Plus Ethan didn’t exactly get much action. But Ethan gradually grew to realise that it was certainly not fleeting. He liked you, but then he found out about your boyfriend, Toby.

He was unimpressed the first time he came over. You had triple checked with Chad and Ethan that it was okay. Chad of course said yes, while Ethan did also, but he certainly wished he could have said no.

Like a normal boyfriend, Toby would visit. You’d usually just stay in your room majority of the time. And Ethan tried not to listen in, or call for you to help him with something when his jaw tightened too much at the thought of what you were doing in there.

Ethan knew he had no right to feel jealous. Toby was your boyfriend, and he was just your roomie. You had announced him as your friend, which of course felt good, but then he’d catch you introducing Toby to others. ‘This is my boyfriend..’

“Of course!” Called back Chad from his room. “Bring him ‘round, I’ve got this new game I wanna try out.”

Ethan walked into the kitchen, seeing you sitting on a stool, wearing a large top…and nothing else. Of course you weren’t like flashing him or anything, but the effect of your bare legs did all the same.

"Morning, Ethan." You smiled. Ethan easily reciprocated it, loving the way your eyes lit up.

Later that day, when lessons and study had finished, you and the boys settled on the couch. You plopped down beside Ethan, who placed his arm around the back. Close enough without meaning anything more.

"Chad maybe don't hit it, and it might start working." You chuckle, watching as Chad got pissed at the tv. Ethan watched you as you grinned. You looked so pretty.

"Did you style your hair?" Ethan asked, suddenly noticing the way it fell differently today.

You turned your attention to him, touching your hair. "Yeah. I wanted to try out something different."

"It suits you." Ethan smiled, and yours widened.

"Thank you."

"Alright, I give up. y/n, fix it." Chad said, glaring at the tv.

You scoff. "I'm no more 'techy' then you." You cross your arms.

Ethan absentmindedly picks some lint off your sleeve, shifting slightly closer to do that. You turn back to Ethan. "Wait." You say, making Ethan meet your gaze.

You leaned slightly closer, and Ethan could smell your strawberry shampoo. "Hold still." You raised your hand to his hair.

A tiny spider had found its way into his curls. Your breath hits Ethan's face as you focused, picking the spider out. You catch Ethan's confused gaze. "Sorry, there was a spider."

"A spider?!" Chad exclaimed, eyeing you.

"A tiny one. No need to freak out." You scoffed as Chad slightly shuffled away. You teasingly brought the spider closer to Chad you backed up, before placing it on the couch.

Ethan grabbed your wrist pulling your hand back to his hair. "Are you sure thats the only one? What if I have a family growing in my hair?" Ethan just wanted to feel your hand again.

You chuckle and sink your hand back into his curls. You shift closer, tilting his face. You had one hand on his chin, directing his head where you wanted. Ethan tried to hold back a smile, but feeling you touching his face and hair, while your body stayed close, made a grin form.

You drop your hand, slightly knocking his head away. "Don't worry, you don't have a spider family living rent free."

Ethan still had that giddy smile present. "Are you sure? We live in the same dorm. What if some of its babies crawl into your bed?"

You hit his shoulder. "I could have left that spider in there."

"You wouldn't have." Ethan let his arm drop around your shoulder. "Your just too sweet."

You scoff. "You say that like it's a fault." Your brows cutely furrowed as Ethan's gaze darted. That's when a knock resounded on the door. You quickly stood, to Ethan's disappointment. He refrained from grabbing your leaving form, because he knew exactly who was at the door.

You shot Toby a smile once the door was open, and he gave you a hug. Chad was busy setting up the controllers for the game, and Ethan was busy watching you both. His jaw tightened, as he watched Toby peck your lips.

Toby then spotted Ethan. "Hey, man." He darted his gaze to Chad. "Oo, new game?" Toby rushed over, taking your previous seat.

Chad then went to explain what this new game entailed as your boyfriend became invested. "God, the minute he's through the door, your taking him from me, Chad."

You rested your elbows against the back of the couch, right behind Toby. Chad just sneakily grinned as you narrowed your eyes.

Ethan shifted his gaze from the game to you. Your hands were rested against Toby's shoulders as Chad and him began the game.

Ethan couldn't help but poke your side gently, earning you to glance at him. He narrowed his eyes on the hands that had been touching him earlier, now touching your boyfriend.

Ethan tilted his head, asking you to sit beside him. You ruffled your boyfriend's hair, before jumping over the couch to sit beside Ethan. Ethan tried not to scowl at the fact that you had touched Toby's hair and not his. But his smile soon returned when he heard you whisper in his ear.

"Who do you think's gonna be more of a sore loser?" You asked in reference to Toby and Chad. Ethan leaned closer to whisper in your ear, placing his hand behind your back. "My bet's on your boyfriend."

You scoff. "That's just because you don't like him very much."

Ethan turned his head, so that he was facing you. You were close and Ethan hated the way his breath hitched. "Why do you think that?"

You raise your brows. "I've never seen you smile at him once. And you always smile at people you like."

"Do I?" You noticed that?—Ethan thought to himself.

You nod. "Do you have some secret beef with him or something?"

Yes. "No."

You narrowed your eyes. "Yes, you do." Your gaze darted between his eyes and Ethan tried not lean in. Your boyfriend was right there—hellbent way too busy, but still there. "What—he steal your lunch, or something?"

Ethan rolled his eyes. "No, he's just not my type of guy."

"He's literally so similar to Chad."

Yeah, with the games, the frat vibes and loud personality. "Then, you should have dated Chad."

"Ew no." You shake your head. "I mean he's cute, but like very much a friend."

Cute? Did you find all your friends "cute"? More specifically, him? Would you say "ew, no" about him too?

"Well, then let's say your boyfriend wasn't in the picture..."

"Is this a dare or something? To see if I really like Toby?" Your eyes widened. "No—or did Toby put you up to this?"

"No, fuck!" Exclaimed Chad, most likely having either died or went off track.

"Toby? No." Ethan scoffed.

"Then what's got you all weird?" You still spoke so sweetly. Ethan hadn't moved his hand from behind your back, maybe even slid it further around you.

"Humour me. Besides Toby, I don't know the sorta guys you like."

You tilted your head, a small realisation—you thought was true—hitting you. "Oh my god. Do you like someone? Are you trying to see what girls like?"

Yes, Ethan thought to himself, I do like someone. Someone I can't have. You quickly grabbed Ethan's hand, and drag him into the slightly hidden kitchen.

You looked giddy, excited for Ethan. "Why didn't you tell me? I'm happy to help."

Ethan wished you were happy to help him get what he wanted. Still, Ethan went along with this small lie. It had gotten him alone in the kitchen with you.

"I don't know why I didn't. I just..." Ethan shrugged.

"Okay, well, who is she?"

Ethan shook his head. "I can't tell you. If she rejects me, I'll be embarrassed."

"Fine." You say, leaning against the counter. "But different girls like different things."

Ethan nods, stepping closer. "Well, whats a general thing that'll "woo" any girl."

You stayed silent, thinking. Chad and Toby's cries of anger and annoyance could be heard from the lounge, but Ethan was entirely focused on you.

"Attention." You nod. "Anyone loves when someone gives them attention. It also means that she'll most likely notice you more."

Ethan moved slightly closer, resting his own hip against the counter. "So, if I just smiled at her and stuff?"

"That, and maybe if there's a project, ask her to be apart of it. That shows her you want her company too."

Ethan nods, paying close attention to the way your lips moved. "And if she still doesn't notice you. Talk to her, ask her out."

"What if she has boyfriend?" The words slip out extremely fast, and Ethan curses himself for being possibly obvious.

"Oh." You say, slightly deflating. "Then, there's not much you can do, I'm afraid."

"Really? Nothing?"

"I mean," you sigh. "You could still talk to her and get to know her. But if she's a good girlfriend you'll know you've been friend-zoned."

And that's exactly what Ethan knew. You had friend-zoned him straight way, leaving him to just pine after you. "Is there anyway to get out of the friend-zone?"

"If she has a boyfriend, it's hard."

"But possible?" Ethan now stood directly in front of you, trying his best to not lean down and kiss you.

"If I'm being honest. You should just talk to her and try. No harm in getting shut down. You can easily tell if she isn't happy in the relationship. And if she isn't, then of course wait till they've broken up, but their's hope for you." Your trying to be supportive, knowing Ethan can be very shy around girls.

"So, if I just told her how I felt. She might shut me down or..." Ethan lets you fill in. What is he looking for to show him that he has a chance?

"Or stay silent. For a while." You say. "It means she actually had to think about it, or get rid of the butterflies in her stomach."

Noted, Ethan thought.

Soon, Toby had lost the game, agitatedly walking into the kitchen. He reached you, pulling you to his lips. You pushed away from his sloppy kiss, tasting the alcohol on his tongue. "Toby, I'm not kissing you while your tipsy."

Toby scowl but leans back. He finally noticed Ethan, who stared at him with a clench to his jaw. Toby had grown to realise Ethan's little crush on you, you stayed oblivious, but Toby had noticed the lingering glances shot your way.

Chad and him had a few drinks while playing, resulting in him being a bit more brazen than usual. Toby gripped your waist a fraction tighter, keeping you close to him, as Ethan's gaze shot toward the action.

Toby went to kiss you again, this one oozing with possessiveness. "Toby." You say, placing your hands on his chest, growing embarrasses by the PDA in front of your friend. "Not here."

"Then why don't you come back to my place?" He grinned.

"Not while you're drunk." You say pointedly, slightly freeing yourself from is hold. When you step back, Toby tries to grab you again, but Ethan gets there first, pulling you to him, while keeping his gaze on the your tipsy boyfriend.

Ethan had tugged on your shirt, until your back hit his chest, making you sightly jolt. "Your drunk, just go home and sober up."

Toby glares at Ethan. "Why are you touching my girl?"

"Okay, Toby, how many drinks did Chad give you?" You ask stepping away from Ethan as you usher Toby to the door.

My girl. Toby's words circled Ethan's head. He hated them because they were somewhat true, you were his girlfriend, but by all means not his.

When you all reached the door, you opening it for Toby. "Head straight home. Don't do something stupid." You said, hoping your boyfriend wasn't too drunk to walk home.

"Come on, y/n. Just come stay at mine, you can bring all your uni shit with you."

Before you could answer Toby, Ethan spoke. "She's fine."

"Really, Toby. Just head home, and I'l call you, alright?" You kept your tone light, a strange tension filling the room.

"Y/n, just come." Toby goes to pull you through the door, when Ethan wraps his arm around your shoulder, pulling you flush to his side. "She said go home, Toby." And before Toby could speak Ethan shut the door in his face.

"Maybe that was a bit harsh." You say to Ethan, before calling through the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Toby!"

Ethan kept his arm around your shoulder, even when you glanced up at him. You scoff seeing his expression. "I knew you didn't like him, like a lot."

Ethan rolls his eyes, and finally lets you go. Maybe he’d have to execute the plan you had laid out for him on a silver platter.

this may need a part two if I find the time

kisses, holly

🏷️ @jakesully-sbabygirl @emlovesya @netey6m @lullvu @wenvierismycomfort @lilihale23 @urmomlovesliyah @shesoperfectt @dazedmind @ummmmwhatsblog @isabela30 @2683d @kyliemarief @elandrys @aqellano @explosiongamora @jackchampionswife @h-e-y-y @mixed-theater-faisty-tings @imbiafandbored @svmh-1 @moonroamer @wickedmunson @nina357 @h34rtsformilli @pastellixz @bigtittitiffanyy @mistpx @oscarisdaddy69 @dizzyscreams @bungunz @fandom-freak-geek @joemama352 @c78r @igotmajordaddyissues @justanotherkpopstanlol @ily2lia @ethanlandrysgf69 @tesstesla @motusilas @melllinaa @kaamiyato @karslyn @minyiyiii @joce09slay @nooimmaastarr @itlover8000 @imabee-oralizard @petersniya @criesinlies @m-ar-i @radiant-whore @stopnala @babygguk98 @feral4austinbutler @michaelangdonsslut

#ethan landry oneshot #ethan landry x reader #ethan landry x y/n #ethan landry x you #jack champion #jack champion x reader #scream 6 #scream #ethan landry #jack champion x y/n

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buckyownsmylife · 5 months

Text

let the games begin - sebastian stan smut

The one where you ask him to explain the pepsi cup scene to you

Warnings: best friends to lovers, best friend!reader, hopelessly in love!Seb, reader has hair long enough for Seb to “play with” but do with that as you wish, innocent!reader, smut.

WC: 1.8k

A/N: this is just a sweet little smutty one-shot of best friend!Seb realizing you feel the same for him. I didn't delve deep into the smut because to be honest, this has been in my WIP list since the movie came out and I just couldn't be bothered to write more than what's here, yet I hope you'll enjoy it anyway!

Seb’s P.O.V.

“You ready for this? You know we don’t have to watch it, right?” I tried to convince her one more time, and still, she just rolled her eyes and pulled me to the sofa next to her. Oh, how I loved to feel her smaller frame tightly pressed against mine.

“Don’t be silly, of course I want to watch it. I’ve seen everything you’ve ever done, I can’t let one slightly scarring movie keep me away from this long standing tradition.” It warmed my heart to think that she’d been doing this way before we even met.

I kissed her temple before adjusting so her body would rest against my chest, and settled in for the film. I knew it would be an experience, to say the least, watching this with her, so I tried to prepare myself for anything that could happen.

She could end up traumatized and unable to look me in the eye. At the very least, it would certainly serve as ammunition for her to tease me for years to come, and that was one turn of events I could deal with. The first one was my real concern.

So I settled in to watch the movie, because I figured it would be best to be around than to wait for her reactions afterwards. What if she never wanted to see me again? I knew it was just my anxiety coming up with the worst possibilities, but it still scared the crap out of me.

I couldn’t imagine my life without her anymore. And maybe one day I’d grow the courage to tell her about it, but for now, I was perfectly happy just sitting here with her and offering some support when my character started to freak her out.

“Hey, there you are!” She giggled in excitement, pointing at the TV like I wasn’t watching it with her. It made me chuckle, seeing her act like a little kid when it came to me doing my job. God, she was precious.

“Yeah, there I am,” I agreed, leaning over her to deposit a quick kiss against her temple, but much to my surprise all I got was a nudge and a hush. “Are you shushing me?” She finally unglued her eyes from the television to look at me with disappointment all over her features.

“Seb, I love you, but if you keep interrupting the movie, I’m gonna kick you out and there’s nothing you can do about that.” I wanted to point out that if she did, she’d have to watch it by herself and there was no way she’d be able to sleep, but I didn’t want to risk her fury. So I just sat back and pulled her with me, playing with her hair as I watched the story unfold before my eyes.

For whatever reason, I seemed to forget that I looked a bit… different in my role at some point, and as I gained weight before our eyes, she turned around to look at me with a look I couldn’t figure out. It made me nervous.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I had to ask, but she didn’t immediately answer me. I felt embarrassed, it was almost like she was comparing me to the man on the screen, and I didn’t know which one she preferred.

Could it be that now that she’d seen me like that, she couldn’t unsee it?

“I’ve always thought you looked better when Don wasn’t trying to make you look like some sort of bodybuilder, but this role just confirmed it to me. You’re even sexier with some weight on your body.”

My cheeks burned, and I didn’t know what to say. So I just cuddled her to me once more, focusing on the screen as I tried to work through my emotions - and there were many. Desire, barely concealed lust, something the hardening member inside my jeans wouldn’t let me forget - but also something warm and comfortable, settling deep inside my chest.

I didn’t want to give it a name. So I just pulled her to me yet again, kissed her temple and pretended to go back to watching the movie, while I waited for her attention to be redirected to it once more. When I was sure she wasn’t noticing me anymore, I got back to analyzing her reactions, chuckling under my breath at the way hers hitched at every little thing, and how she squeezed my thigh when she thought something scary would happen.

And then the car scene started. My muscles immediately froze underneath her, having completely forgotten about this particular part of the movie.

“What’s going on?” She asked, first surprised and then confused. “Is everything okay?” I couldn’t answer her. I couldn’t even look away from the screen, flinching as it developed right before my eyes. It was like my own self-made train wreck: unavoidable and paralyzing.

“Seb…” She reached out for my hand, asking for my attention, and I licked my lips and took a deep breath before turning to give it to her.

“I don’t get it, what’s going on?” I was about to tell her that I was just embarrassed, but the confusion in her eyes as they darted from the TV to my embarrassed self suddenly made sense to me.

“Wait,” I started, holding her jaw so she’d fix her eyes on mine and forget about the movie for a second. “You don’t understand the scene?” She hesitated for a second before nodding, biting her lower lip in that way she did when she was nervous.

It made the warmth inside my chest expand and take over my entire body, shooting straight to my lower belly, where it began to burn.

Fuck. Who would have thought that she was so innocent?

“Do you want me to tell you?” The question left my lips before I could ponder if my concern came from a valid place - my desire to help her, always.

But maybe things happened for a reason - maybe it was some sort of ungodly gift the idea of watching this movie together, because as I watched her glance over at the screen again and then lay her eyes on me, I saw it with perfect clarity:

She was aroused by it.

“Or would you like me to show you?” Another question that slipped from my lips unintentionally, another sentence I didn’t regret speaking. This… tension, it had always been here, between the both of us. I’d been too much of a coward to act on it before so if the ball was on my court now, it was time to let it roll.

“’Cause I’d be more than happy to.” With my last reassurance, the thread between us broke, and in a second, we were kissing. Who made the first move, I’d never know. All I cared about was her taste, how sweet she was, and the tiny little whimpers I could hear escaping her when I had to pull back to take a breath.

My body still acting of its own accord, I got up from the couch to take my pants off, hand immediately going to my hardness to release some of the frustration she was causing me. Thankfully, she didn’t seem scared - just hungry, looking at me with doe eyes and biting down on her lower lip before I pulled her closer so that her hand rested over mine.

“Fuck…” I whispered against her neck at the first contact of her hand on my naked dick, but for some reason that was all it took for the spell to break.

“Seb, I can’t…” She pulled away from me, chest still heaving from desire, but I felt so damn guilty I couldn’t even feel good about it. “I can’t do this and then pretend that it didn’t happen.”

Y/N’s P.O.V.

His face softened up instead of becoming angry, like I expected it would. “Come.” He got up from the couch, offering me his hand, which I took without second-guessing myself.

His eyes told me everything I needed to know.

He took me to his bed, where he kissed me deeply once again. “Don’t worry, I’ll be patient.” How could I say that I’d let him do anything to me?

Within seconds, I was naked. It was unlike any other similar experience I’d ever lived, and the way he stared at me only had me falling deeper into the cloud of comfort that only Seb could provide me.

“Spread your legs for me, honey.” I did so instinctively, also closing my eyes in nervousness at what was happening.

“Keep looking at me,” he asked, and so I reopened my eyes, finding him staring at my most private spot with hunger in his. “Fuck, you’re soaked.”

Before I could comprehend what was happening, he’d yanked me to the edge of the bed and proceeded to kneel down before me, lips kissing my inner thighs and navel while I panted softly.

“Fuck, I can’t believe that I get to taste you,” he uttered before his tongue stuck out and he did just that… He tasted me, and nothing had ever felt quite as great as that simple gesture.

“How does it feel, sweetheart?” He asked in the midst of attacking my clit with his tongue and lips, the hot muscle swirling over it and making my head spin. “Do you like this?”

“Yes, yes!” I nodded, hand flying down to hold him by the hair and keep him attached to me. “More, I want more.”

“What?” He teased me, the devious thing. “You want what?”

“More,” I insisted, pushing him down so his face would connect with my pussy once more. He didn’t keep up with his pretense and kept on licking me until I saw stars behind my closed eyelids, screaming his name for dear life.

“Kiss me,” I begged breathlessly once I was able to speak again, and he leaned over me to grant me my wish, allowing me to taste myself for the first time in my life.

“You know…” I struggled to find the courage to say what I wanted, but I knew I could trust Sebastian. “When we actually do it, you don’t need to be so gentle…”

He bit my shoulder in response, shaking his head at my antics. I thought I was dreaming, being naked in his bed, having just had the best orgasm of my life.

I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.

“I don’t want to go to sleep tonight,” I confessed, watching as the most beautiful smile opened up in my best friend’s face.

“Lucky for you, there are a ton of things we can do to pass the time.”

#my fics #sebastian stan smut #sebastian stan #smut #rpf #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan reader smut

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hitomisuzuya · 1 year

Text

Part 3 of ? Gamer! Scaramouche x fem!reader. Smut. Cunilligus. Pussy drunk Scara. Some humor. Childe is in this to.

As promised. Everyone, I am sorry about my mini freak out. You all have been so wonderful and supportive. I feel a lot better, and will respond to comments when I finish typing this.

It had taken a lot of coaxing, and a lot of bribing with sweet purrs and even sweeter sweets, but you finally relented to Scaramouche. It was you in the driver's seat tonight, live streaming playing Five Nights at Freddy's instead of him.

You gave polite thank yous to the ones watching when they saw certain things on the cameras, and navigated your way through the first 2 nights without much incident.

Without much incident that anyone knew of anyways. Because what everyone didn't know is that Scaramouche was underneath his computer desk, completely hidden from view with his tongue lapping at your cunt.

His eyes were intently focused on your face, his eyes narrowed into a glare of concentration. No matter how hard he'd fucked you the last time, you just didn't mess up no matter what.

As hot as it was, it also frustrated him. You usually liked watching, and he could show off for you. Yet, whenever you yourself played, you found some way to do better than he did.

It was quite remarkable actually. And it made him feel proud, honestly. Scaramouche was always an interesting mix of emotions. An absolute powder keg.

He brushed his fingers teasingly on your inner thighs. It was getting harder and harder for you to hold back any noises of pleasure. He swirled his tongue around your clit, smirking when you had to clamp a hand over your mouth, trying to play it off as fright because it was a horror game.

Your cheeks were starting to flush. Scaramouche swept his tongue inside of you, his eyes rolling into the back of his head from how good you tasted. He muffled a groan into your cunt, his breath shaky as it vibrated over your clit.

You covered up your moan with a cough behind your hand. The hand that had been in your lap found the back of his head, pressing his mouth into your cunt, fidgeting as you tried to roll your hips up into his mouth without seeming out of the ordinary.

He held your cunt against his mouth, latching his lips around your clit. The tip of his tongue worked ruthlessly over the throbbing bud as he sucked. Your thighs trembled in pleasure. "H-Holy fuck," You suddenly stammered, closing your thighs against the sides of his head.

Someone must've said something about the game, Scaramouche heard you press a key, enjoying your slightly delayed reaction when he swept his tongue inside of you.

"Th-thank you, Childe. I see Foxy now," Scaramouche rolled his eyes, prodding the tip of his tongue against your clit, snickering into your cunt when you squeaked in pleasure. Of course Childe would be watching, that ginger shithead seemed awfully comfortable being so chatty with you.

Night 3 stretched into Night 5

Scaramouche could feel from the way your walls were clamping consistently around his tongue that you were close to cumming. This boy was a master of building up toe curling slow orgasms.

Now he was wishing your mic was muted, because it was getting harder for him to hold back his moans. You tasted fucking incredible. He swirled and lapped his tongue between your walls, gliding his tongue back up to kitten lick your clit.

Your fingernails dug into his scalp, your eyes darting around on the screen, struggling to hold back tears of pleasure welling into your eyes. Your excuses for why you were suddenly acting out of ordinary were sounding dumber and dumber. Scaramouche appreciated how fast you came up with them though.

His favorite was you thought you had a fever. He actually snorted when he heard that one. Yeah, a fever of his warm spit and tongue between your legs.

You grit your teeth. You didn't see Freddy in usual place anymore. This was the critical part of the game. One you just couldn't do right now. Scaramouche was being absolutely ruthless with his tongue.

"I-I'm sorry, everyone. I need to step.." You took a breath, feeling Scaramouche tap your hips impatiently. You hadn't messed up, but this outcome was also desirable. "..away from the stream for a few moments," Childe having to see you lose your composure because you needed him to cum so badly made you taste even sweeter somehow. (Impossible)

You paused the stream, and the game. Muting his mic and turning the camera off, you tossed his headset onto his desk. "Ah God, I can't do it anymore. Make me cum Scara, please!" You pleaded, rolling your hips needily into his mouth.

"That's my good slut," Scaramouche groaned in bliss, his cock throbbing and straining hard in his jeans. "Needing to stop the stream to beg me to cum, what a desperate whore," You cried out loudly, your clit throbbing as his tongue ruthlessly lapped at it.

It took a few firm sucks to your clit before you squirted onto his tongue. He soaked in every last shameless moan. It was intoxicating to him to taste you while he watched you come undone.

Twitching, you collapsed back into his chair, panting while he lapped up your release. When he was satisfied, Scaramouche pushed his computer chair back and slid out from underneath the table.

He curled his fingers underneath your chin, capturing your lips in a heated, passionate kiss as he turned the webcam back on. Feast your eyes on that, Childe! You even moaned loudly into his mouth when he unmuted the mic.

Scaramouche had waited on purpose to wipe his mouth after he pulled away. He looked right at the camera and said, "Sorry everyone, I'll be cumming inside of her now. I dunno if she will be able to make it back for the rest of the stream."

He cut the stream off entirely right in the middle of Childe asking if he could watch.

#genshin impact #genshin smut #fem!reader #genshin imagines #modern au #scaramouche #scaramouche smut #scaramouche x y/n #scaramouche x you #scaramouche x reader

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milaisreading · 9 months

Note

Helloo~ i just wanna lyk that im so freaking obsessed with your blue locks fics specially sae x isagi’s sister y/n. If you don’t mind can you please do a sae x isagi sis reader where oliver wants to get back together with the reader only to find out that shes already in a relationship. Sae got jealous and publics their relationship slsksksk i dont even know if i make sense but i live for possessive sae ❤️‍🩹🔫

🌱🩷: I hope u like what I wrote! Thanks for reading and the request 🫶🏻

Warnings l: Reader uses she/her. Requests are open

⚽️Blue Lock belongs to Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura ⚽️

Sae Itoshi wasn't a particularly jealous person, he never had much of a reason to be jealous. He had the talent it takes to become a football player, the looks, and for the most part important connections in the football world. He was never much of affectionate person either, if you ignore the brotherly love he used to give to Rin. But that pretty much changed when he agreed to the request of playing at a match between the Blue Lock team and Japan's U-20 national team. As Sae expected Rin was there and he wasn't surprised by the progress Rin made. What did surprise him were 3 things: 1. how well the opposing team was keeping up, 2. the ace of Blue Lock, a no name to Sae, leaving most of the team in the dust with his tactics, and the 3rd thing was a certain yell he heard in the middle of the match...

Sae hid his surprise as he heard the girl from the spectators spot yell at the ace, which shocked his team as well. Sae stared at the girl, trying to make out her features as he heard Oliver sigh.

"What's up with you?" The rehead asked.

'Can this guy think of anything else?' Sae wondered, already suspecting what Oliver might say.

"Isn't she just beautiful? God, she used to yell at me like that at times." Oliver smiled warmly, something that surprised Sae. He never looked fondly at anyone.

"You know her or?"

"We used to date a while back... I really messed that one up."

Sae kept quiet as Oliver spoke and shortly after left as his coach called him over. The redhead couldn't wrap his head around that one.

'Oliver used to be in a real relationship? And he was still hung over about it? Weird...' The redhead thought, glancing between Oliver and the girl.

"Sae!! What are you thinking about?" The redhead shook himself out of the memory and looked over at (Y/n), giving her a small smile.

"Nothing, I was just remembering the time I first saw you."

"Oh? That time I walked into you, yeah. That was embarrassing." (Y/n) laughed with a flustered face as Sae stared at her with the same smile.

"Yeah, but you were really cute with that surprised expression. Your clumsiness didn't change much since that night either." Sae chuckled, grabbing her hand as they made their way out of the stadium.

"Hey, it did get better. Don't be mean." She scolded him back. Sae stared at her for a moment, running his eyes over her frown.

'Adorable!' He thought as he poked her cheeks.

"Hey!" (Y/n) protested, getting more embarrassed but didn't remove his hands from her face.

"Anyway, how was your practice today? Yoichi said Luna-san is getting a lot more stricter with the team." She commented as Sae took her hand again. The redhead stayed quiet for a moment, observing the night sky before looking back at her.

"Yeah, he is a lot more on edge, but it's mainly because we have that upcoming game with Ubers."

"That's right, Yoichi did mention that last night to me. But, I am sure you will do great like always." Sae's face grew red at the flattering words and cleared his throat.

"Of course. You know me." The rehead said back, his voice much more cheerful than the usual one. This, a much softer side was something he only reserved for (Y/n) to see. He just wished they could stop hiding this relationship, wearing a mask during summer and in Madrid wasn't the best thing. But, to stay with (Y/n) he would do it.

'Besides...' Sae thought as he looked back at (Y/n), who was lost in her own thoughts at the moment.

'This side of her, the embarrassed, funny, and loving version of her is something only I want to see for now. This side only belongs to me.'

Sae was never more greatful for the mask that hid his red face.

Later that night, Sae was at (Y/n)'s apartment and waiting for her to join him to sleep. He was mindlessly scrolling through his phone when (Y/n)'s phone beeped, signaling that a message arrived. Now, the older Itoshi wasn't someone to pry on other people's phones, especially of his girlfriend so he just ignored it.

'If it is important, she will tell me.' Sae thought to himself. After about 5 minutes, another message arrived and (Y/n) entered the room again.

"I am so tired." Sae glanced at her as she yawned a little.

"Cute." He smiled to himself as he watched (Y/n) grab her phone only to see her frown in confusion.

"What happened?" Sae asked, growing a little worried from her reaction.

"Ah... it's just that Oliver texted me, weird." She mumbled, laying on the bed next Sae. The said boy grew annoyed at those words, he was aware of their history and he didn't enjoy the idea of them being so close. But, it's not like he can tell her who to speak to.

"What does he want?" Sae tried to sound disinterest as he pulled her into a hug, smiling as he felt her relax in it.

"Just said he will arrive in Madrid in 2 days for the match and that we should meet again." She said, reading through his messages. Sae's eyes narrowed a little and his hug tightened as (Y/n) wrote something back, then put her phone away.

"I won't go. Besides, I like spending that time more with you." She answered honestly and kissed Sae's cheek, which caused him to blush a little, kissing the top of her head in return.

"Good. I love spending that time more around you, too."

'I need to do something about Aiku. I know very well that he still has some feelings for (Y/n), and while she will reject him, Aiku isn't one to give up.' Sae kept thinking as he watched (Y/n) slowly fall asleep.

'Should I finally announce the relationship? I like it like this, tho... What to do?' The redhead sighed, burying his face into her hair.

"Hmmm..."

The day of the match had finally come and both Re Al and Ubers were doing good so far. It was half time break right now and the status was 2-1 in Re Al's favor, and bot scored by Sae with Isagi and Luna's help. The team wasn't sure what was going on with Sae, but they weren't complaining. Now, the older Itoshi did plan on scoring when the chance was given to him, but what made his determination skyrocket was what Isagi told him earlier on.

Prior to the game...

"Hmm? I see Aiku still didn't give up." Sae looked over at Isagi as he finished his warm-ups.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean Aiku is still trying to win big sis back. I thought he gave up 2 years ago." Alarmed by those words, Sae looked over to where Oliver was, and sure enough he was talking to (Y/n) about something.

"He wants her back?" Sae asked, his eyes narrowing as (Y/n) moved away from Oliver a little.

"Yeah, he still likes her a lot. He told me earlier when they arrived here that he plans on asking her on a date later on. I told you to come clean with this relationship earlier." Isagi sent Sae a look before going to where his sister was.

'Aiku wants her back? No way will I let that happen.' Sae thought to himself, finally making up his mind over everything.

'I will defeat Aiku, then show him and the whole world to stay away from her.'

And true to Sae's promise, Re Al ended up winning the game, with the redhead surprising everyone with his performance today. And while Luna and the rest of the team were flocking him with praises, Isagi and (Y/n) were standing to the side on the field as the cameras and press walked over to Sae, probably excited for some answers. (Y/n) smiled the whole time at Sae, happy to see him get all the compliments.

'Proud of you.' She thought as someone tapped her shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, Oliver! Great game there! You did great today." (Y/n) said as she saw the taller standing behind her.

"Ahh~ wish we won, though. But, I am happy you liked it. You look quite good today, but I would like it more if you wore my jersey than your brother's."

"Well, I like Yoichi's more!" (Y/n) said back, a little nervous by his words.

Isagi, who was standing close by moved over to where they stood.

"Aiku, don't you have a team to go after?" He asked, a little irritated and worried. Sae was already pissed at Oliver for wanting to win his sister over, if he heard of this now...

And, as if luck wasn't on Isagi's side today, Sae saw the interaction and it was his final straw. He quickly pushed his way past his teammates and press, ignoring the shouts as he walked closer to the trio.

"I am so tired of this." Sae narrowed his eyes as he gently grabbed (Y/n) and turned her to face him.

"Huh? Sae?" She wondered in surprise as a blush covered her face.

'He was never like this in public! Weren't we supposed to be lowkey?' She thought as Sae grabbed her face and moving her closer to him.

"Let's make this official now." He smiled softly, pulling her into a kiss. And, while she did hear the people's gasps, Oliver's shocked yell, and Isagi saying 'finally', she didn't feel as embarrassed as one would expect. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Sae enjoyed this reaction, and he will enjoy this even more when he sees Oliver's defeated expression.

'She is mine. He better back off...'

#bllk #blue lock anime #blue lock manga #blue lock x reader #bllk x reader #blue lock scenarios #isagi's sister #blue lock requests #sae itoshi #bllk sae #blue lock sae #sae itoshi x reader #sae itoshi x y/n

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crow-hoards-things · 5 months

Text

The Bad Batch Series Finale

FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a vent post. I’m angry and hurt. After I get this out of my system I’ll be more open to discussing the positives of the episode.

Warnings: Ranting, Spoilers

Hooo boy. Okay. I am… less than satisfied?

Quick rundown since I haven’t posted much of anything Bad Batch related: Tech is my favorite Batch member, immediately followed by Crosshair. I’m also a HUGE Republic Commando Nerd (read all the books, played the game, despised Bad Batch as a whole initially because I felt the commandos were being unfairly ignored, can sing + translate Vode An, etc.) and Scorch was my favorite Delta. The Bad Batch grew on me shortly after Season 1 finished up, and I immediately latched onto Tech when I began watching. He’s the reason I watched the first two seasons. (Crosshair + delusions about Tech were the combined force behind watching the final season)

NOW, onto my actual thoughts on the episode, in no semblance of order because my brain is still trying to process, Ft. Cry count:

• Wish Tech was here. He would’ve loved the Zillo being freed.

• “‘Cause I’d do the same thing” no you wouldn’t. Fives would’ve. The you I fell in love with would’ve yelled at Fives about it being a terrible idea and then promptly gone along with it anyway. That said it was a really cute moment and I loved his nonchalant little “come on” afterwards.

• C: “Echo or Omega?” W&H: “Omega” THEY KNOW THEIR GIRL SO WELL

• When Hemlock went to get the operatives I got excited thinking maybe, just maybe we’d get Tech back.

• CROSSHAIR LOST HIS FREAKING HAND!?!? WHAT THE HECK!?! I will never stop being salty about this. He’s been through enough. [Near Tears]

• Rampart sucks

• Nala Se got to blow stuff up and I appreciate that even if I don’t really like her

• I’m glad Wrecker’s okay. He had me scared for a bit. Hunter, conversely, never really did? He’s Omega’s Dad, he had to survive.

• Did anybody else see that one operative whose helmet seemingly had goggles built into it? We had a lingering shot on his helmet for a few seconds and they looked like a red version of Tech’s goggles.

• SCORCH IS DEAD AND YOU’D BETTER BELIEVE I’M MAD ABOUT IT! [First shedding of tears]

• HECK YEAH, HEMLOCK IS DEAD!!! [Tears of relief combined with grief over Scorch]

• I’m so glad Omega hugged Crosshair first. I fully expected her to just run to Hunter, and Crosshair needed that hug.

• Echo’s goodbye was disrespectful. 0/10. He’s family and they don’t even care that he’s leaving???

• SOMEONE IS MISSING FROM OUR NICE LITTLE GROUP SHOT!

• I never really got super invested in the dynamic between Omega and Hunter, but the ending between them was cute I guess.

• We were robbed. We could’ve gotten Crosshair and Wrecker as old men and we were robbed.

• Tech is dead. Like, seriously, really and truly, dead. As a delusional “Tech’s alive guys, trust me” fan, it feels like he just died all over again. I’ll talk more about this later because I’m not over it. [Que sob-fest]

alright, circling back around to my main gripes, in order of appearance:

#1. Scorch.

I hate how they handled him. At first when he showed up I got super excited. That was my boy! In the Bad Batch show!! He’s making an appearance!!! Maybe they’ll do something with the Delta boys!!

Even as the episodes went on and I started to suspect where his path was leading, I consistently would go “Scorch!!! <3” every episode, because that is my boy and I love him dearly.

The levels of offended I am on Scorch’s behalf are not within my ability to express with words. The complete and utter disrespect he was shown over his time on the show is appalling. Why bring him in if you’re going to drain him of all his personality, make him have zero plot relevance, and then murder him?! They could easily have made a new clone for that, as seen by the number of operatives who exist and got 0.5 minutes of screen time.

But no. They brought in a beloved character with 10 seconds of canonical screen time prior, stripped him of everything that made him lovable, didn’t even have him DO ANYTHING, and then murdered him. It feels like a spit in the face and a kick to the gut all at once.

I will mourn. I’ve already cried and I’ll probably cry again. But right now I’m angry and I think Scorch deserves to have people be angry about how he was treated.

#2. Tech

Yes. I admit to having been a “trust me guys, Tech’s alive” person. I will also admit that at the end of episode 13 I wanted him to stay dead because I had zero faith they could satisfactorily bring him back.

My gripe is not with him staying dead. Yes, it feels like losing him all over again. Yes, I will mourn him again. Yes. That sucks. It’s not what’s making me mad.

What makes me mad is how his death was handled.

• It served ZERO purpose narratively other than to up the stakes and make us worry about whether anyone else would die (Spoiler alert: They didn’t. Tech was the only one who died) • Nobody mourned him. No one seemed affected by his death at all. No one cared. I don’t care what anyone says, that will NEVER be okay. • The first actual mention of Tech *dying* was in the finale. Sure, we’ve had name drops and goggle appearances, but actually talking about what happened? One line. One. Freaking. Line.

I feel like I’ve been slapped in the face, you know? He deserved better and so did we. He was a part of that family and they couldn’t even be bothered to address the responses to his death. He was beloved by many of us and they couldn’t even respect him or his fans enough to treat his death like something to be mourned.

That’s wrong, no matter how you look at it.

#Crow’s cawing #star wars the bad batch #the bad batch #star wars tbb #Star Wars The Bad Batch Tech #tbb tech #star wars republic commando #republic commando #tbb scorch #clone commando #clone commando scorch #tbb spoilers #Star Wars The Bad Batch spoilers #spoilers

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ador3him · 11 days

Note

Sooo if I just start dumping brain rots here, I hope you don't mind. I need a distraction from worrying over work and losing sleep. And I figured why not share the thoughts so you can feel free to elaborate!

I loved when ppl would do the dad!dream team head cannons. But here's me with my insanely dirty mind going, yeah all 3 of these boys def have breeding kinks. But I feel like it would manifest in different ways based off their personalities.

Dream:

- I feel like he is the type of bf to absolutely spoil tf outta his partner. He just wants to keep you happy and support you in achieving your dreams. He's so thankful to have you, constantly worrying he'll lose you. Definitely gives me the vibes he would propose quickly, like 3 yrs max into your relationship, bc of it. He KNEW you were HIS! Like possessive but in a good way (but more on that in a few)

- Definitely teases you every time you need to refill your birth control... Like you complain about having to call and refill the prescription and he just goes "Or you could just not😏" "Oh you wish," you roll your eyes in response.

- or if you have an IUD or implant and you need to get it replaced and you're freaking out about the pain. Of course he wouldn't want you to endure that! Luckily, he has a better alternative idea!

- dream is the type to absolutely go feral on your wedding night. Officially having you as HIS! Yes, youve been intimate before, but this is where his breeding kink really comes into play. Definitely makes it a point call you by his last name at every opportunity.

- SIZE KINK! That man is so tall 🤤 And if it wasn't apparent by him having a series called "manhunt," he loves that he can easily over power you.

- your place is seated on his lap cockwarming him while he works

- I could see dream wanting a bigger family (3-4 kids) He's so close to his parents and siblings. Plus he has such a big heart. Having his own kids with you is a dream come true.

- they say that animals can tell when you're expecting. So of course, Miss Patches is the first to know about her new sibling. She's actually how you found out! One morning, you wake up to Patches laying on your stomach purring. She proceeds to follow you around the house, never leaving your side. She's lovey, but usually never this clingy. When you proceed to get sick later on bc of a bad taste or smell, you and Dream start to put the pieces together. Your suspicions come true when you both are starring down at the positive test in your hands.

- patches is your best buddy throughout your pregnancy. You can expected once the baby is born she'd sleep at the foot of the crib.

- OMG all the crazy baby shower ideas he'd have. He's just crazy excited to share the news with everyone.

- dream would cater to your every demand. He's just so appreciative that you're carrying your baby. He's definitely the type to hold your baby belly to give your back a break. He also low key grateful your sex drive hasnt decreased too much. You'd have to keep him at bay during the last month of your pregnancy if you don't want the baby coming out early 🤣

- singing to your baby bump and his heart exploding every time he feels the baby kick

- he holds your hand the entire time you're in the hospital. He's so scared for you. He won't leave your side, constantly making sure u have whatever you need, even if it requires bribing the nurses /j

- he's SO SO proud of you! The sight of his partner and baby melts his heart! Omfg definitely has a little striped (blue or pink) cat beanie for the hospital.

- he is the type to take you and the kids on different family trips like to see football games and the beach.

Sapnap:

- he's definitely more the reserved type. Doesn't want to rush into things you arent ready for. But don't let him deceive you, he fantasizes about you pregnant in a sundress, with your swollen belly and tits, regularly.

- once you both decide it's the right time, there is no stopping the beast. It's his fucking mission to breed you multiple times a day

- that being said, he downloaded a app to track your ovulation cycle. Whenever he gets a notification, he immediately drops what he's doing and is on you in an instant

- sure Sap is on the shorter side, but he is still taller than you. And sure as heck broader. Again is the type to love that he can easily manhandle you

- again Milo and Naomi are the first to know and are your cuddle buddies

-also gives the vibe of wanting a bigger family (3-5). Also googled what a group of pandas is called, an embarrassment, a cupboard, or a bamboo.

-will also spoil the crap out of you and the baby.

-he gives the vibes of construction dad. Like already putting up the fence and swing set in the yard and the kid isn't even born yet. But this is very useful during your nesting phase, so your house gets a make over

-loves setting up the nursery with you and picking out baby clothes and stuffed animals

-he gives the vibes that he would enjoy going to like those couples birthing exercise classes with you. Like you both get a little workout and get to socialize with other couples (That's so random but it makes sense to my brain)

-scared asf when you go into labor. Panic mode activated! He gives the vibes where you wouldn't know if the doctor is giving breathing instructions to you or him. He would fight anyone who pissed you off tho. Full papa bear mode, just wanting to protect you. But it's all worth it when you and the baby turn out fine!

-Will definitely ask the doctor when you can get pregnant again

-Dad bod.... Yup, no explanation needed.

-he would be the coach of his kids sports teams. You will be the mini van parent. He's constantly playing with them outside. Definitely a road trip dad.

-would love doing his little girl's hair.

George:

-breeding kink goes brrrr. He would be such a dilf omfg 🤤

-even more reserved relationship wise. Doesn't want to rush anything. Just wants to appreciate your relationship. Not showy of your relationship either.

-you wait to have kids for a while after being married. You have to figure out if you'll live in the US or UK.

-that doesn't mean however that your sex life is boring. If anything it's polar opposite and you're surprised you didn't end up accidentally having kids sooner. Especially with George loving to mark you as his

-whether it's constantly having his hand on you whenever your out, the constant array of hickeys on the two of you, or the fact his cum is almost always buried in you. There is no doubt in your mind that your only HIS.

-george gives cuddle sex vibes. Like cock warming and somnophilia are 2 things up his alley.

-im tired of the George is short slander! That boy is lanky! And he can definitely put you in your place! He loves that if you're on the smaller side he can encompass you. And if you're taller, he loves that you submit to him.

-He gives me the vibes that one day he will just decide to wisk you away somewhere for a month long vacation and you aren't coming back without a baby in you.

-He gives me the vibes of being a dad of twins. Will tease you that you're such a fertile couple he put 2 kids in you, and that you'd have to be careful not to have more.

-As soon as he finds out you're expecting, he goes into research mode. Definitely reading books on what is best for you to eat to avoid nausea and he cooks for you. Just wants to make sure you are taken care of.

- Definitely tries all your weird pregnancy cravings with you

- cuddles constantly. He would love talking to your belly and would rub your back and feet for you. He holds your hair back and rubs your back when you're sick. The pure joy on his face when he feels the baby kicks. So protective of you too! No one is coming near you. Him and you keep your relationship private and your pregnancy a secret til the babies are born.

- OBSESSED with your pregnant body. Worships it. Like if you're ever insecure, he can't fathom it. Makes his point to prove just how much he loves it😉

- side bar, man definitely has a lactation kink

- he doesn't want you to be worried at all and you both do a lot of research. So when you go into labor, George is your number one supporter. Gets you all your favorite foods so you aren't hungry when u can't eat. Holds your hand during your entire C-section, kissing all over your face and constantly telling you how much he loves you.

- when both babies arrive, you both are holding them, cuddled up on the hospital bed. He feels like his life purpose is complete. He is in awe of your strength and how tiny the babies are. Will make sure to count all their fingers and toes and fuss over every little hair on their heads.

- when it's just the two of you in the room, you cuddle and take a well needed food break and fall asleep together.

- he would be the one to check on the kids at night to let you sleep

- he's so smart so he'd be the best to help with homework. And you bet the kids are carbon copies of him!

Okay that's my rant.... I have to try and sleep now bc work 😴 have a good day!

omg I'm obsessed with this. little points I wanna expand on.

SAPNAPS DAD BOD IS SO REAL HE WOULD OMG. AND THE CONSTRUCTION THING!!! he would totally build a tree house or clubhouse for your kids.

GEORGE AND YOUR KIDS WOULD BE HIM. His brown, thick hair would be the main thing they got along with his pale ass skin. And the way he would be so protective of you and your kids. He would def not show you or your kids until it was like really serious and your kids are born. He would blur out your kids faces though and only refer to the kids as nicknames not their real name.

Dream would be obsessed with breeding, on your wedding night he could barely make it to your hotel room. He'd def research beforehand to know the best positions for impregnating you. And he for sure have mini cat hats ready for your baby when they're born with their name embroidered into it.

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eddiessluttywaist · 1 year

Text

desiderium

an eddie munson series

AGELESS/BLANK/UNDER 18 BLOGS ARE NOT WELCOME TO INTERACT. PLEASE RESPECT MY RULES AND BOUNDARIES.

summary: eddie’s odd, forgotten childhood friend seeks him out when he needs her more than he realizes.

pairing: bsf!mechanic!bartender!eddie x eccentric!bsf!fem!reader

word count: 7,488 words

content/warnings: eventual smut so MDNI, fluff, swearing, blood (accidental cut), mentions of bullying, low self esteem, anxiety, mentions of embarrassment and shame, mentions of a history of bad relationships, smoking, car trouble (sorry if any of the car stuff isn’t accurate lmao). i think that’s it!

a/n: sorry for taking so long to update! i've been very busy. i hope you enjoy the new chapter! creds to whoever owns and posted those ^ photos! they’re not mine, i just made the collage!

part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5

“You what?” The man on the other line cackled in Eddie’s ear. “Ro- Robin! No, you gotta come here! Eddie called some chick a ‘good girl’. He totally scared her off, it’s hilarious.”

“Thank you, Harrington, you’re really helping me in my time of need,” Eddie seethed as he laid in bed. He heard some shuffling and then a familiar feminine voice sounded from the telephone.

“‘Good girl’? What is she? A dog?”

Eddie ran his hands over his face, jostling his bangs away from his forehead before suddenly jerking them away in gestures they couldn’t even see as he let out a bitter laugh.

“Why did I even call you two? I’m regretting so many choices today.”

“So, she didn’t like it?” Steve asked as Robin complained about him crowding the phone.

“Go use the one in the living room— no— stop-”

“This is my room. You go use the living room phone.”

“Ugh, you’re breathing on me, dingus!”

Eddie rolled his eyes over the typical bickering, choosing to focus on the question that actually had to do with their conversation.

“Uh — well — she got all freaked out and everything was awkward. When she was leaving, I was going to open the door for her and she thought I was going to hug her— I-I, ugh, it was horrible. So uhh… yeah, I’d say no. She didn’t like it… at… all.”

“You have zero game, man,” Steve chided after a beat of silence that had forced Eddie to sit with his shame.

“And neither do you.” Robin argued, finally waving him out of his own room. “Don’t listen to him, Eddie, he’s an idiot.”

“Thanks, Robin…,” he muttered even if it didn’t make him feel much better.

“You’re an idiot too, just so we’re clear,” she added, and he nodded despite the fact that — once again — she couldn’t even see him. “I can’t believe you called her a good girl.”

“Okay, how many times are we going to repeat it before I blow my brains out?” Eddie deflated with a distressed laugh, clasping his hands together. He heard another line pick up.

“What’d I miss?”

“Eddie wants to die.”

“I do not blame you, man. You know it’s never too late to come here in Indianapolis. Maybe even change your identity,” Steve suggested as he leaned up against the wall by his other phone, which he had nestled between his ear and his shoulder just like Eddie did.

“Yeah, cause I could afford living in the city,” he snickered mostly to himself before sighing as he ran his hands over his face again.

“Who is she anyway?” Robin wondered.

“She’s his weird, secret friend he’s kept from us,” Steve replied in a mutter.

“No, I- she’s not a secret and she’s not weird,” Eddie huffs. “She’s just… she hasn’t been around in a while. She’s a friend from before I moved in with Wayne.”

“Oh… oh,” Robin’s interest piqued again. “So, she’s like… a best-best friend?”

“He totally wants to nail her,” Steve tacked on, and Eddie found himself groaning as he sunk further into his bed, wishing it would swallow him whole.

“I don’t wan — will you quit it? Yes, we were very close.”

“And she just happened to show up out of nowhere. I’m telling you, Ed, she wants you. You should go for it. You haven’t been laid since Chrissy…,” Steve muttered that last comment, and Robin squeezed her eyes shut as she facepalmed.

“Or she could just need a friend��?” Robin countered, her voice weakly lilting upwards as she corrected him. She just hoped the Chrissy comment wouldn’t be enough to make Eddie draw back into himself.

“She knew you when you were kids. I’m sure you were just as weird as a little child Eddie, so I doubt she was all that fazed by you calling her uh… the thing you called her.”

“Maybe…,” Eddie muttered, picking at his nails and biting at them.

He was tired. That tea really did help, even if his exhaustion was put on hold by an absurd amount of embarrassment and anxiety. He could feel himself settling again, his eyelids getting heavier.

“I should go.”

Robin squeezed her eyes shut again and mentally chastised Steve for bringing up Chrissy so carelessly.

“Call us again. Okay, weirdo? To update us?” Robin urged, feeling a surge of protective instinct.

He was never around anymore, never called; and there was always this anxiety in the back of her mind that he wasn’t letting them know if things were getting too hard for him. Neither Steve nor she could figure out when they could check in on him because he never bothered to share his schedule with them. And when they did call it was incredibly rare for him to pick up. She couldn’t blame him for wanting to shut everyone out, but it only made her worry about what was going on with him.

“I don’t wanna bother you guys. I know you’re busy with city life,” Eddie teased with a playful theatricality to his tone, but his voice was soft with that creeping exhaustion.

“Nah, you know you can call whenever,” Steve replied, taking a break from his incessant joking to let some of his sincerity come through. “Plus, I gotta hear more about this secret girl.”

“Not a secret,” Eddie corrected, his eyes closing to soothe his urge to drift off, one brow raising lazily with his words.

“Just call, okay? Or we’ll keep bugging you until you update us,” Robin urged, a sing-song tone coming to her voice.

“Fine,” Eddie snickered, and this time he was actually able to get a goodbye in and sloppily slam his phone back down before knocking out.

There was only crackling now on the line between the two roommates.

“I worry about him,” Robin spoke up suddenly, just loud enough for Steve to catch her concerned voice.

“I know,” Steve sighed, placing the phone back onto the wall. “I do too.”

You had no intentions of ignoring Eddie after that night in his trailer, not explicitly anyways. You were still thinking about him constantly, but any pleasant thoughts were immediately invaded by embarrassment. It felt like you were experiencing it all over again and the accompanying swirl to your gut was overwhelming.

The reality of the next couple of Eddie-less days was that you were too engrossed in the aftereffects of that awkward exchange to reach out first, not to mention most of your attention going to your first job here in Hawkins. Despite your nerves, you did surprisingly well on Thursday and Friday night. Enough to get a small smile to bristle Ron’s bearded face and a mutter about maybe needing to get a new name tag ready. You were unbelievably cheery over the praise and acceptance, but you still had one more test to pass: weekend shifts. Those were their busiest, especially Saturday nights. If you make it from 4 o’clock to midnight with no major screw ups then you had the job. He promised.

So yes, you were actively avoiding being the first one to call, but to be fair you were also trying to attend to other aspects of your new life in Hawkins. Your focus was being diverted to getting this job, and spending time with Martha. You were distracted by moments of promising renewal in anticipation of the growing presence of Autumn — despite the crushing embarrassment of the other night.

That didn’t mean you weren’t thinking of him, though. If you weren’t shaking off the recent memory of Wednesday night, then you were indulging in the recent memory of Wednesday night. Him having you over; you making him tea; feeling close to him again as you exchanged stories — laughing together and smiling so hard the muscles in your cheeks hurt a little. The kind of pure smile you only got when you were with Eddie.

You thought about him as you styled your hair in a manner that helped to boost your confidence but wouldn’t get in your way during your shift. You couldn’t believe he had his own place, no matter how “shitty” he said it was. You couldn’t believe he was a tattooed mechanic and had hair. That was the real kicker for you. He didn’t have it shaved so close that he felt like a peach when you patted at the top of his head just to get on his nerves.

He had those long spirals that you wanted to reach across his small kitchen counter and swirl around your finger. Those curls inspired a habit of tilting his head to let his big brown eyes hide under his messy bangs; or sometimes he toyed with his curls to pull a chunk of it in front of his face. It was fascinating to see the way his features and behaviors have adapted to adulthood. Back home he was harassed daily for his “feminine” features, so the fluttery lashes and full lips were nothing new. But now he had grown into his generous mouth and his doe eyes, and so much of his youthful softness had made way for sharp definition — particularly in his jawline and cheekbones. He’s actually grown into the kind of person that intimidated you even if he was just Eddie. He made your palms sweat and had you thinking over every little thing you said. Y’know, things like Loo-ddie. You tried to reassure yourself that you only had nerves because you wanted to have him as a best friend again so badly, but some self-aware part of you knew the signs of an impending crush. Why couldn’t you have some self-control? Why did you have to gush over just about every man who showed you an ounce of kindness?

You wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but you even had brief heart eyes for Ron after seeing how sweet he was with Sandy. It made you yearn for what they had, and you recognized it was more about wanting such a wholesome relationship of your own than wanting someone twice your age, but you still felt ashamed about it. What’s wrong with you? You needed to let bosses stay bosses, and you needed to let best friends stay best friends. You needed Eddie to be a friend, you needed to keep those boundaries in place so you couldn’t ruin everything like always. He’s special, and you can’t just throw yourself at him and offer to give him whatever he wants just so you could feel like his everything — even if it’s only for a few minutes.

You glance at your hands now and fight the urge to chip away at your freshly painted nails to appease your low spirits. You sit with these thoughts for a moment, swallowing moisture back into your throat that felt too tight; then you forced yourself away from the cramped motel bathroom to finish getting ready for your shift. You couldn’t let yourself slip up and distract yourself with your own misery — it was Saturday, and this was your final step towards success. A measly success of a server job at a small-town bar, but you had to put a positive spin on it.

You couldn’t focus on self-loathing, and you couldn’t focus on Eddie.

“A new girl?” Eddie groaned as he rolled his sleeves up to the bends of his elbows. “The last time we had a new person I had to watch him every fucking second cause he had no clue what he was doing — shit, he even stole from you, didn’t he?”

“Yes,” Ron muttered bitterly, never happy about the reminder that someone had been sneaking cash out from under his nose. “She’s pretty good though. Real sweet and does her job.”

“I dunno… do we really need the help?”

“Kevin is back at school. We really need the help,” Ron chuckled, but felt a pang of sadness right to his chest knowing his youngest was back at college — or even in college in the first place — all the same. “Don’t be so sour. She’s a good kid.”

Eddie grumbled irritably but didn’t pester him any further. It was no use anyways. If Ron set his mind on something, then he wasn’t letting up. Sure, it made sense considering it’s his business, but he’s also stubborn as a bull and that quality had a history of surpassing logic sometimes.

About a quarter to four, Eddie was in the back when the bell rang.

“Well look at you, all nice and early again. You suckin’ up?” he heard Ron asking playfully, and Eddie rolled his eyes.

Great. A suck-up.

Just what he needed. Some goody two-shoes setting a new standard that he wouldn’t meet. He was lucky if he was on time in the first place with how much he slept in on the weekends, but Ron was always cutting him slack. Jus’ a small-town bar he’d say whenever Eddie scrambled into the building with an apology already slipping out at an incoherent pace.

He couldn’t hear the new girl’s reply, assuming it had been a nonverbal one rather than one so delicate and quiet that even Ron barely heard it before the novice made her way to the back.

“Hi, I don’t think we’ve worked together yet and I just… wanted… to… Loogie…?”

At the sound of your voice, Eddie was already turning around from where he was opening the recent delivery. His perception of the moment seemed to have been placed in slow motion and suddenly he was heating up with flashbacks of Wednesday night. Called her a good girl, no joke, called her a good girl his mind droned on repeat just to torture him.

“Wha — hey,” he laughed casually and thankfully avoided choking on his own spit. He swallowed thickly and his brow furrowed as his voice came out painfully hoarse. “You’re the new girl?”

“Guess so. If I do well tonight,” you murmured with a small smile, toying with your hands.

You had painted your fingernails a rich burgundy, and his eyes zeroed in on the small strokes of color before looking up at you again.

“I’m sure you’ll be okay, Ron seems really impressed with you…” Eddie offered with a light laugh after clearing his throat, suddenly feeling sheepish around you again.

“Don’t go tellin’ her that! I don’t want her thinking she doesn’t have to work hard tonight!” Ron shouted from the front, pulling a snicker out of you.

You swiftly place your purse on a hook before continuing the conversation. Even if it wasn’t the end of the world if Ron heard your conversation, you took a few steps closer to Eddie and lowered your voice a touch.

“So… did the tea help at all…?” you ask, risking a mention of Wednesday night. You lifted one sneakered foot up onto your toes and shifted nervously before settling it back down as you waited on his reply.

Eddie’s lips pushed out in thought as he brought his attention back to the delivery of nuts and pretzels (really, he was looking for an excuse to not have to look at you as he thought of that night).

“Oh, uh, yeah. Thanks — really helped,” he offered a partial smile as his eyes flitted over to you before turning down again just a fast.

You press your lips together in a weak smile of your own and nod but fall silent. Instead of giving into your urge to pick at your polish, you run the pads of your fingers over the smooth surface of your nails instead.

“‘m sorry for that hug,” you finally blurt out with an uneasy laugh. “I just- I really thought that was why you were reaching over, and I didn’t want to be rude so-”

Eddie’s eyes widened and finally removed himself from his suddenly oh-so-interesting task.

“No no no, you don’t have to apologize,” he promised as he stretched back to his full height. “I should’ve been offering anyw- ah, shit.”

Eddie hissed as he glanced down at his hand. While replying with a fervent need to reassure you, he had thoughtlessly grabbed at the wrong end of the box cutter and sliced the pad of his thumb.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” you rush over to him, instinctively cradling his hand with your own.

“Just a surface cut. Really.” Eddie chuckled. He really needed to go run it under cool water and bandage it, but he wasn’t ready to separate from you.

“What’s going on back there?” Ron questioned from the bar.

“Eddie cut his finger!” you replied as Eddie insisted “Nothing!” simultaneously.

Ron grumbled on his way to his back room that he had turned into a part kitchen, part break room, part delivery storage room. Surely there was some kind of code being broken there, but who cared? Clearly no one around Hawkins.

He eyed the way you two were situated but didn’t think much of it since you were probably just having a natural reaction to someone getting hurt.

“I swear…” he grumbled under his breath on his way over.

“You need to pay attention before you really hurt yourself one of these days,” Ron muttered, and grabbed Eddie’s wrist far harsher than when you reached out for him. “Aren’t you a mechanic? Don’t you know to watch where your hands are, kid?”

You cringed when he wiped at the spot with a rough napkin that sounded like it might as well have been sandpaper against the cut, then grunted.

“It’s fine. Just a bleeder,” he states with all the confidence of a certified physician and ruggedness of an old trucker before tugging up his jeans further into his partial beer gut and walking back out. “You know where the first aid kit is!”

“More than anyone,” Eddie added with a half grin to compliment his self-deprecation as he tilted his head, breathing out a soft laugh.

“Still accident prone, huh?” you ask with a slight scrunch to your nose and a lift to the corners of your lips, watching him head farther back in the multi-faceted room to the employee bathroom.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” He tilted back out of the room to offer you a cheeky grin, his hair jostling with the motion and then again when he flicked his head to get it out of his face.

“Oh, I dunno… Coulda learned your lesson after face planting into gravel,” you offer with an innocent tone, taking a moment to clock in before sauntering over.

“Well considering that happened several times, you should know better than to assume I’d ever learn,” he whispered playfully, grinning over at you.

“Guess so,” you snort, leaning into the doorframe.

“Had to rough this face up, y’know? Really dedicate myself to becoming a man,” Eddie used a deeper, rougher tone of voice and puffed his chest out as he held a paper towel to his thumb.

“It’s a shame it didn’t work,” you pouted before laughing at the hurt look he donned.

“You wound me, truly,” he moved his good hand to his chest.

“Not as often as you do, apparently,”

“Touché, touché,” he sighed, unclasping the first aid kit and flipping it open. “You’re still a lil shit, y’know that?”

“Can’t help it. Haven’t had anyone to banter with in years,” your head settled against the wood of the doorframe and his own tilted to the side as he regarded you. That smirk of his toyed on his lips as he considered your words.

He’s about to reply — surely with some cheeky remark about you needing him — but Ron was calling before he got the chance.

“Make sure you’re wearing gloves today,” Ron muttered to Eddie without lifting his attention from whatever he was writing down.

“You never wear gloves,” Eddie countered with a childish huff. “Only rich-ass bars in the city give a shit about that crap.”

“Yeah, well I ain’t a health hazard,” he snickered, finally raising his gaze to point his pencil at Eddie’s bandaged finger. “Gloves. Now.”

Eddie rolled his eyes but pulled gloves from the box under the countertop anyways. You’re on the other side of the bar, sitting on a stool and a smile pulling at your lips. Elbows on the countertop and chin balancing on your fists, you watch him intently with little giggles sneaking out.

“Don’t encourage him,” Ron pleads gruffly at the sound of you laughing over Eddie making a big show of pulling out the gloves and slipping them onto his hands.

Once he let each glove snap into place at his wrists, Eddie outstretched his arms and displayed his new accessory.

“Eh? Nice, right? Definitely won’t make everything I touch taste like latex,” Eddie nudged his boss who gave him a less than pleased look, but you were sure he was muffling his own amusement.

“Wanna learn how to bartend?” Ron asks you now. “I think there’ll be an opening soon.”

At that, Eddie leans back with a belly laugh, his dimples sinking into his cheeks.

You had unfortunately started your shift with the assumption that they had been messing with you when Ron and Sandy warned you about Saturday nights. When you arrived just before 4 o’clock there was nearly no one there besides the occasional regular; then twenty minutes past 5 o’clock came along and you were blasted back to Sunday mornings at the diner. The place was packed full of people all chummy with one another, which was charming until they were several drinks in and decided they knew you just as well.

Not all of them, but enough of them were flirting with you at every opportunity; and you were forced to use your customer service manners to deal with them. So many fake smiles were starting to make your cheeks ache.

Returning to the back with an empty tray, you rub at the muscles in one cheek with your free hand. You almost forgot how much service work meant forcing a pleasant attitude and dealing with aching feet. God, that was killing you more than anything. When you were leaving the motel, your trusty sneakers were like walking on clouds. Now, you were certain you had been stomping around on needles.

The music didn’t exactly help with your shift either while trying to hear requests and reply, especially since you weren’t one to use a loud tone. Ron insisted on live music whenever he could get it and you understood the appeal, but the band playing tonight apparently didn’t know how to have a respectable volume set for performing indoors.

You could handle it and you knew you’d form a routine with the locals that rushed in on the weekends and you’d learn how to cope with deafening musicians — you just needed to adjust to your new job.

What you couldn’t handle, as you were quickly learning, was seeing Eddie bartend. It was such a simple act, and yet it left you slack jawed while trying to stay focused on dishing out the drinks he prepared to the right people.

Something about the gloved hands and the rolled-up sleeves as he moved around the bar with such ease left you in the shadow of a crush looming overhead again. His chain bracelet and that familiar beaded bracelet were stacked on one wrist; he even had a few faded tattoos you caught glimpses of in the dim lighting. Not to mention the moving musculature in his strong forearms as he poured and served and wiped with a sort of sloppy expertise. You noticed there wasn’t a lot of mixing around here just like back home. Just a whole lot of small-town people looking for simple alcohol. The older ones seemed partial to a basic glass of whiskey or beer; and the younger ones all hopped up on the fact that they could finally drink legally were requesting shots.

Eddie had tied his hair back in a low bun with the occasional curl rebelling and framing his face that seemed to only be smiling or thinly veiling irritation whenever a mean drunk bitched about him not pouring enough. Either way it truly was something to behold.

As much as his looks should’ve been a passing thought, considering your place as an old friend, they insisted on lingering. You were still adjusting to knowing him this way and the odd disposition between knowing him like no one else and not knowing him at all continued to present a disorienting mix of feelings. The possibility of such complications never occurred to you when you became dead set on coming here, and you hated that you didn’t see it coming or brace yourself for it. Now you were stumbling through moving here for a childhood best friend and winding up finding a man in his place.

Then, of course, your thoughts circled back to your history with men. Don’t go there, don’t go there.

You let out a small sigh and checked the clock. 11:11. So close. So, so close. Before you knew it, it would be time to leave. Glancing at your notepad, you go over what that guy in the sweat stained sports tee asked for his cheap nachos. Extra jalapeños. He insisted on extra jalapeños and went into way too much detail of how “he’d be paying for it in the morning, but they’re just so damn good.”

“Having fun?” Eddie asked after his plodding jog to the back.

“Oh, you bet. An absolute blast,” you laughed, pouring the molten cheese over the thin tortilla chips. “Whatcha doing here?”

“Break,” Eddie answered simply as he flopped down in a chair in the small corner of the space dedicated to the employees. “Ron and Sandy got the bar for now.”

“Ahh,” you hum, spooning the jalapeños on top of the mountain of ingredients.

“Y’know, you’re pretty good at the whole bartending thing. It’s actually kinda cool,” you admitted, glancing over your shoulder to smile over at him.

“I just pour alcohol for the local drunks, but thanks,” Eddie laughed diffidently over the compliment, sliding his metal lunch box closer to get to his baggie of pretzels.

“Is that your dinner?” You ask now, fighting to keep the conversation alive. You’d take talking about pretzels over a lull in conversation.

“Oh uh--” he glanced down at the bag. “I might make something when I get home if I have enough energy.”

“You better. Or I’ll be forced to come over again. Pretzels aren’t dinner.”

“Oh, I see,” Eddie grinned. “Then you can come over and I can make a fool of myself again.”

“It’s okay, I’ll do it too. It’ll balance everything out,” you offered, placing the hot plate on your tray.

“Oh, well there we go. Long as we’re both fools, then it should be okay,” he agreed with feigned seriousness to your proposal then let his smile curl up his lips again.

“Of course,” you matched his endearing expression. “We’re always fools.”

“Always fools…” he tested aloud while leaning back to teeter the metal foldout chair back and forth.

“I concur, Critter.”

“They’re awfully chummy, hm?” Sandy whispered to Ron as she watched you two interact while cleaning up for the night.

“Yeah. I hate it,” Ron grumbled out, scrubbing at a stain. “He better not scare her off. She’s a good waitress.”

“Don’t be like that,” Sandy sighed, nudging her hip into his. “I think it’s sweet. And he’s a good kid, I don’t see him hurting her — let alone enough to cost us an employee.”

“So, we’re definitely keeping her ‘round?”

“Yes, we settled on that this morning — would you quit avoiding the topic?” She urged and Ron groaned as he stretched his back.

“It’s alright, I guess. Jus’ don’t want any drama around here. Too old for it.”

“So, I didn’t scare you off?” Eddie asked as you cleaned off tables together.

“Scare me off?” you repeated, glancing over at him. “Why’d you say that?”

Eddie eyed you through his lashes then looked back down at the same spot he’s wiped down probably six times now.

“Well, you brought up coming over again,” he let out a soft chuckle. “So, I’m guessing I wasn’t that much of an idiot on Wednesday?”

“Oh psh — please,” you laughed it off, standing up straighter after swiping the rag over the tabletop one more time. “If anything, I was being stupid.”

“Oh, I wasn’t saying you weren’t being stupid,” Eddie joked with that obnoxiously gorgeous grin, finally separating from that same table he kept cleaning. He sauntered over to you, his amusement and proximity warming you as he looked down at you. “Just that I was also stupid.”

“I’d say you were especially stupid, but I was trying to be nice,” you shot back in a dulcet tone, grinning up at him.

“Be nice?” Eddie repeated with a huff of disbelief, grinning when that earned him a jab to his side. “Gone soft on me, Critter? Not the same girl that’ll throw a remote at my head?”

“I only did that if you were particularly annoying while I was trying to watch TV,” you laughed, nudging his chest to just barely make him stumble back. Not that it discouraged that man who only smiled brighter.

“Well then, I guess I have an excuse for being such an idiot all the time. You really knocked something loose all those times you hit me with that remote.”

“Sure, it was me that knocked something loose,” you teased in a giggle, making your way over to the last couple of tables. Your laughter only builds up at the face he gives you — both playfully hurt and encouraged to get you back.

Within seconds you noticed the way he started to twist up his rag, and you were squealing and rushing away from him. Eddie chased after you and whipped at you with the towel whenever he got the chance, occasionally jamming his hip into a table or a chair with a breathy “Oof.” Amongst your squeaks of empty fear, you were still cackling and tried to get him back with your own towel.

“Children!” Ron suddenly announced, and you two slowed down to a stop — still breathless and giggly. “I’m old and would like to go to sleep. Maybe finish cleaning before flirting?”

Sandy gave him a look that could kill for that, then followed Eddie’s example and whipped at his behind with a rag.

Both of your faces flushed at the accusation, but thankfully weren’t forced to sit with the embarrassment of being called out by Ron. Instead, all your attention went to cackling over Ron’s tired reaction to his wife snapping a towel at his ass.

He looked genuinely angry for a moment, and then he was clearing his throat and wiping the bar cleaner off his hands and twisting up his own towel.

“Nope — no — Ron,” Sandy started with a warning tone, but she was already laughing, slowly backing away.

“Gotta play fair,” Ron pointed out and whipped at her thigh. That was enough to send Sandy squealing and Ron chased after her to the back room while the two of you leaned into your laughter.

You’d do anything for a love like that.

“Still not a fan of pretzels for dinner?” Eddie chanced a glance over at you with a lazy, half grin as he toyed with his keys and walked you over to your car.

“Definitely not a fan of pretzels for dinner,” you answered, laughing under your breath and nudging his hip with your own.

“It’s a shame cause y’know,” Eddie yawned dramatically as he stretched out his arms and then flopped into the side of your car. “I’m real tired. If someone doesn’t follow through with their offer, that’s for sure all I’ll be having.”

You tilted your head, feeling that post-customer service ache to your cheeks as you fought the urge to smile at this absolute idiot leaning against your car. His elbow was propped up on the roof, his fist supporting his head and squishing his cheek.

“I don’t know if I have the energy to cook right now,” you sighed, doing your best to match his drama. “But you know what?”

“What, Critter?” He hummed, shoving himself away from the car to move a few stray hairs from your face and in that moment, you might as well have melted into the cracked and sun-bleached pavement. “I’m invested. Do go on.”

“I can buy us fast food,” you whispered to provide a surreptitious air to burgers and fries. Screw it. You’ve been good about eating real food. Maybe it was time to associate these meals with something positive for once. Whatever excused your addiction to excessive oil and salt.

“Ah, much better than pretzels,” he laughed, shoving one of his hands into his jacket pocket. “I’d be honored.”

“Just like old times,” him being closer to you to move some hair out of your face encouraged you to toy with one of the pins on his coat. A soft breeze swirled through the parking lot, and you were both reminded of how stuffy and smoke-filled work had been as you breathed the fresh air in. You caught the scent of a distant bonfire, but it was nothing like the cloud of tobacco back in The Hideout. The chill of the air combined with the musk of a faraway fire spoke of Fall, sweetening your already pleasant mood.

“Remember that time we got large pizzas for both of us on movie night?”

“Yeah,” Eddie let out a soft laugh. “You threw up on the carpet.”

“Yeah, and you got in trouble for using your dad’s credit card,” you add a small giggle of your own, just for your heart to sink at the shift in his expression. You shuffled in your spot.

“Sorry… I probably shouldn’t… I shouldn’t keep bringing him up,” you muttered, dropping your hand away from his W.A.S.P. pin.

“No — no, no it’s okay really,” Eddie was quick to reassure you, but your mood was still steadily spoiling and dragging the pit of your stomach down with it at even a glimpse of him being bothered by you. Upset, angry, annoyed, fed up — whatever it was. You were certainly paying the cost of your penchant for nostalgia, and even the aroma of an early October night couldn’t save you.

“I like talking about when we were kids,” he added in a hushed tone that eased your spiral a touch. You glanced up at him through your lashes. “Really. I do. Makes me feel… ah, I don’t know.”

He admitted that last comment with a huff. It was filtered through amusement over his inability to speak before he rolled his lower lip inward in thought. Both of his hands were shoved in his pockets now and he swayed in his spot while kicking a piece of gravel forward. He finally released his lower lip again which was left with a slight sheen to it now, and he settled on a shrug of defeat. He couldn’t think of what he wanted to say.

You stared at him, this impromptu moment of softness burning through you in a way you weren’t expecting. Just as he couldn’t understand exactly why he enjoyed discussing his childhood as long as it was with you — you couldn’t understand the sudden pang of nausea that came from hanging onto his words and just to drop down over a noncommittal shrug. Your anxiety barreled into you in a sudden flash, leaving you somewhere in between the pain and the comfort of clinging to the past with him.

“Makes me feel cared about, I guess. Especially since we haven’t been friends in a while,” he finally concluded. “You don’t have to remember any of that stuff, but you do… it’s nice.”

“We’re always friends,” you insisted with a small smile, doing your best to not let everything fall apart over that once brief change of expression especially since things were looking up again.

“Yeahhh, you’re alright…,” Eddie murmured. “I guess I’ll keep you.”

“Oh, how generous of you,” you snort, attempting to move him to the side so you can get to your car, just for him to reach out a hand to settle on your upper arm. He gently urged you to turn around as he pushed himself off your car again.

“C’mon, I’ll drive. I don’t trust that thing,” Eddie insisted as he kept a careful hold on your elbow while guiding you towards his van.

“What?” you question, looking back at your lonely car. “I’ve had her forever, she’s perfectly safe… I can’t just leave her here.”

“Your brake pads are shit.”

“What?” you ask again with a slight pout and furrowed brows.

“When you visited me the other day,” he started with a light laugh to buffer his confession. “Your car sounded like it was screaming when you were parking.”

You reached his van that had aged gracefully over the years with a mechanic at its beck and call. Eddie unlocked the passenger side door and held it open for you, but you couldn’t stop looking at your car.

“She’s just tired s’all,” you frown, feeling guilty over abandoning an inanimate object no matter how silly it felt.

“She’s just gonna kill you if you don’t replace your brake pads s’all,” Eddie leaned into you with his mocking whisper. Your sad glance up at him is enough to make his playful expression falter. His heavy and dramatic exhale already pulls a smile back onto your face, knowing he was caving in some way or another.

“I’ll bring ‘er to Thach’s and replace them for you,”

“Thank you, Loogie,” you swooned, and he rolled his eyes over your excessively cooing tone.

You were lucky to have favoritism on your side.

“Give it to me straight, doc. Will she make it?”

Eddie glanced over at you with a faux glare.

“How many times are you going to ask me that?”

“I dunno, how many times are you going to squint at me instead of answering?”

“You know I’m doing this for free right? After hours? After already working my second job all night?”

“Ooo, you sound like such an adult,” you squeeze your shoulders up to your ears with a grin, a brown bag stocked with artery-clogging goodness on your lap. He shook his head at you, looking away again to hide his poorly masked amusement. He could say all he wanted about doing this for free, but you could still give him a hard time. He was getting paid whether he wanted it or not. Even if he didn't accept it from you personally, you'd at least leave cash at the front desk and ask the nice receptionist to give it to him.

“Alright, c’mere,” he waved you over eventually. You perked up, moving out of the hard plastic chair in the garage where you left the fast food in your place. “And can you bring that display over? On the table?”

Nodding, you snatched it on your way over to Eddie and kneel beside him.

“Okay so,” he started off with a sigh. Not a great sign.

“Best case scenario, your brake pads look like this,” a greasy index finger points to one of the pads on display before moving to the one next to it. “This is how they’d look with a more moderate amount of wear to them – not great and you'll want to replace them, and then this is how they look when you need to get them replaced ASAP.”

“And this is your brain on drugs,” you chimed in with the theme, before shrinking under the look he gave you.

“Sorry,” you murmured, even though he broke and smiled over your bad joke.

You returned to observing the gradual decline in buffers on the display and shrug a bit.

“Okay, so what about Sherry?”

Eddie groaned as he leaned back to grab the discarded piece of metal and held it up to show you. It looked like a flat, grimy cracker in comparison to the examples on the display.

“They’re practically just the backing plates at this point, I don’t know how you’re not dead,” the piece clinked against the cement floor when he dropped it back down. “How long have they been squealing?”

Eddie’s brow furrowed and he became visibly pained by the way you had to think about it. It wasn’t coming from a patronizing, “how can you be so dumb” kind of place, but rather it stemmed from the anxiety of knowing you were driving around like this.

“I dunno… I noticed a while ago, so I just played my music louder,” you shrugged, and Eddie snorted amidst his distress. He sat up more to lean his back on Sherry. “But then I had to start stomping on the brakes way before I usually would to stop in time.”

“Yeah, that’s generally not a great sign,” he snickered as you started to.

“I’m so sorry, Sherry…” you frowned despite your previous giggling, raising a hand to caress one of her doors. Eddie lifted himself up off the ground with a grunt, heading over to a sink to wash his hands. You crane your neck to follow him, dropping your hand down from your car and start playing with the creeper, rolling it back and forth.

“So, she’ll get some new brake pads and she’ll be as good as new?”

“Well, I don’t want to just replace those, I’ll check out the whole braking system,” Eddie turned to face you completely, wiping the remaining water and suds off his hands. He grabbed the bag you left on the seat and made his way back to you.

“How’d you learn all this stuff?” you asked, thanking him as he handed you your burger before taking a monstrous bite out of his own.

“Uh, my uncle taught me,” he said around his food, sucking a bit of ketchup off the side of his thumb. You noticed the sad glance down to the floor, so you backed off. You didn’t need another moment like earlier when you brought up his dad again.

“I just can’t get over the fact that you’re a grown up…” you murmured to yourself, looking down at your meal. Eddie eyed you as he kept chomping away at his food. The horrid sound that you’ve always despised motivated you to look up at him again, and laughter bloomed from your chest at the sight of the mess around his mouth. His chewing slowed as he blinked his big eyes at you. Gulp.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“You still eat like an obnoxious kid,” you teased, kicking a foot out to nudge him and pull multiple napkins out of the bag for him.

He simply shrugged in response with a cheeky grin, accepting the napkins that he unceremoniously smeared over his lips.

“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to be here,” he raised his hands up in defense now, chuckling to himself.

“Yeah, I am…” you murmured, leaning your head back against Sherry as a fond smile formed on your lips while you watched him start to dig through the bag for any stray fries to add to his container. He shoved most of them right into his mouth before glancing at you again.

“What?”

“Nothing… just happy to have my best friend back,” you murmured, and he silently melted at the sincerity. God, did he feel lucky for once.

You take a beat before outstretching your arm to present him with your downturned hand with just your pinky out. Eddie recognized the old gesture and wiped his hand on his pants, despite the napkins at his disposal, before reaching his own hand out. Interlocking pinkies was of course typical of some childish pact which the two of you did plenty of times as kids, but sometimes you sought this out simply for a moment of comfort. It made you feel held and even as kids, Eddie had the emotional maturity to understand how lonely you felt because of your family. So, when you needed someone to hold your pinky, he was there. The only difference was now his pinky was closer to the width of your thumb and nearly swallowed your pinky whole when he wrapped it around yours. Just another adjustment to Eddie being an adult, which left an unlaughed snicker in your chest at the realization, but it comforted you all the same.

And this night in a dingy old garage after a long shift was easily the best night you’d had in years.

taglist: @mystars123 @h-ness1944 @ohmeg @milkymil-k @eddiesprincess86 @stopbeingcurious @corrodedcoffincumslut @sidthedollface2 @spoonflix @madaboutjoe @fckyeahlames @corrcdedcoffin @damon-loves-pie @bebe07011 @eponaartemisa @aysheashea

#eddie munson #eddie munson x you #eddie stranger things #eddie x reader #eddie munson smut #eddie munson series #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson imagine #mechanic!eddie munson #mechanic!eddie #bartender!eddie munson #bartender!eddie #slow burn eddie munson #eddie munson slow burn #eddie munson x reader #bsf!eddie munson #eddie munson x fem reader #desiderium series #desiderium eddiessluttywaist

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starsandgutters · 14 days

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Kevaaron Mind meld/telepathy/mind reading sounds very intriguing if I can request one still? Hope you’re having an amazing day!! 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

—💖💖

Hello I’m still chipping through requests just 🥲 y’know 🥲 actual job and half marathon training eating my time, how DARE ! 😤

4. Mind meld/telepathy/mind reading [read on ao3]

I made this a Misfits AU so I didn’t have to come up with any logical or scientific reasoning for the telepathy hehe (if you’re unfamiliar with Misfits it’s a show where a load of young offenders get superpowers from a freak storm and each week get into Some Shenanigans involving said powers - also the power you get is based on a regret or character flaw. Like the guy who gets invisibility feels really overlooked and left out, or the guy who has the power to go back in time was a really promising athlete who made a career destroying mistake and wishes he could undo it. You don’t really need any previous knowledge for this - that’s just some fun bonus context!)

Due to the nature of this AU the content warnings are a bit mad this time lmao

CWs: Discussion of food/eating habits/implied disordered eating/food criticism Okay this one is WILD as a CW because it is not explicitly what it says but I HAVE to warn anyway - Implied non-consent, including between family members (this is only in one brief flashback of Nicky’s power, and it is stopped before anything happens. Nicky is also unknowing and unwilling as he wasn’t yet aware of his power) (hopefully if you read my writing you trust me enough to know I’m not throwing in a Macauley twins style twist) Brief mention digit loss (non permanent) References to violence in the Nest (waterboarding, SA, Nathan, Riko breaking a Kevin’s hand) References to Aaron’s trauma (child abuse, drug use, bathroom rehab, Thanksgiving) Non explicit sexual content

“Can you stop talking to me about exy right now? Practice is over. I no longer care.”

“I need you to care. We have a game this week-”

“And so I will care on Friday.”

“Aaron!”

“I have an important assignment due before then. Do you care about that?”

“It’s different.”

“Right, yeah. Different. As long as it’s only important to you.”

“No. Exy and school are separate. I do far more training than you and still get better grades.”

“You do a humanities subject,” Aaron hisses, turning sharply on his heel and poking Kevin in the chest. It always irritates him when Kevin mentions his better grades. “It is easier to get better grades in, and you’re just barely doing better than me.”

“Excuses, excuses.” Kevin gives Aaron a shove in the chest to send him back. Aaron glares at him.

“Watch me try even less in exy,” he says, and Kevin lurches after him. Aaron reaches up to grab his hands before he can shove him again, and they’re so busy tussling they walk right into someone. Aaron jolts as he gets a static shock. From the way Kevin leaps back, Aaron guesses he also felt it.

“Oh.” The girl stumbles back, looking up at them with big dark eyes widened in surprise. Her water bottle has fallen from her hand.

“Why on this whole path were you right in front of us?” Kevin snaps in the few seconds it takes him to remember he is Kevin Day. Aaron is already ducking down to grab her water bottle for her.

“He means sorry,” Aaron says, glowering over his shoulder at Kevin. His face softens fractionally when he looks back to the girl. “We weren’t paying attention.”

He hands her bottle back to her and she gives him a timid smile.

“That’s okay,” she says. “Easily done.”

She glances between the two of them, and her smile grows. It makes the skin on the back of Aaron’s neck tighten. He wonders if she’s recognising who they are, but she just side steps out of their way.

“Have a fun night.” She walks off swiftly, giggling to herself.

Have a ‘fun’ night? Fuckin’ weird choice of words, but okay. Can’t believe this asshole couldn’t even get an apology out before she left.

“You already apologised! Why would I have to do it too?”

“What?”

Aaron winces as he feels something in his head. Like a pulsing shape of irritation. A cloudy, dark area of his brain taken over by it before it melds back into what feels like the normal shape.

“You said I didn’t even get an apology out.”

“No I didn’t.”

Does he think I’m stupid? I just heard him.

Aaron can hear Kevin’s words, but his mouth is not moving. He blinks, then narrows his eyes, staring hard at him. What the fuck?

“What?”

“I didn’t say anything!”

Oh for fuck sake, I don’t have time for-

“Stop playing.”

“Kevin!” Aaron reaches up and grabs Kevin’s face in his hands. Kevin tries to pull away, but Aaron holds tighter.

His hands are always so cold what is he doing now what is-

Kevin. Look at me. Do you see my mouth moving?

What is he talking about?

“No. So what, this a new trick of your power or something?”

Is that music? Why can I hear music? Where is that coming from?

The music is coming from Aaron, who never manages to hold just one thought at a time. Even as he is trying to think direct messages at Kevin, there’s a background list of everything he needs to get done tonight before he goes to bed, an absent pondering about what he’s going to eat when he gets back to the dorm, and whatever song is currently stuck in his head playing random fragments on loop.

Kevin. Focus. You’re hearing the music from me.

“I didn’t say-”

Anything. You didn’t say anything, you thought it. As I am thinking this. (Fuck his jawline is so sharp I swear I could cut my palms on it) That’s what I’m trying to get across.

Wait. Stop. Slow down.

“Seriously? You’re hearing my thoughts right now?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

How?!

I don’t know man probably more of this weird storm shit. It’s always powers (power, power, I still need to get a better grasp on mine before the next game or I’m going to-) when something starts acting up isn’t it?

“Why are yours so fast?”

I don’t know that’s just how I think (fuck was I supposed to email that back today I think so did I actually do it wait yes I did it before-) it doesn’t feel fast to me

“Can you stop jumping around?”

“What are you talking about?”

“When you’re thinking? It’s like multiple voices at once.”

“Yeah, but I just focus on the main one, the others are background noise most of the time. Like thoughts I think without really focusing on them.”

He’s insane.

I’m not insane! It’s not my fault you’re too stupid (his eyes are so fucking green in this lighting) to keep up

“Why are you thinking about my eyes?”

“What?” Aaron feels himself immediately flush.

There it is. The Aaron Minyard blush. Adorable.

“Shut up! I’m not adorable.”

“I wasn’t- Aaron, you can’t just hide when you don’t want to have a conversation.”

Aaron looks down at his hand, but all he sees is the ground. Fuck. His power kicking in without his control again. He looks up at Kevin, who is glaring above his head. Heh. Go invisible and he suddenly thinks I’m taller. (God please let this be only a Kevin thing if I have to hear what Andrew thinks about Josten I’m going to kill myself, and I don’t even want to think what Nicky-)

“I can still hear your thoughts, Aaron. You can’t really hide.” Seconded on Nicky. Maybe we should stick to this so people don’t think I’m a weirdo talking to myself.

I don’t want to (he didn’t mean it like that he was being a dick obviously get over yourself) talk to you anyway

Aaron takes off at a swift stride back towards the dorm. He’s happy to find that just as if Kevin were calling after him, the voice in his head gets quieter the further away he moves.

Don’t be childish. Aaron? Aaron! Have you left-

Realising this, Aaron tightens his grip on his bag and starts to jog. His body is already aching from practice, but the desire to escape Kevin Day is a great driving motivator. He runs until the only voice he can hear in his head anymore is his, and as he slows down to catch his breath, his body flickers back into visibility.

Kevin makes his way back to the dorms in a mood. Thankfully, he does not hear the thoughts of anyone he passes on his way there. Which means either this only works for people he knows, or it is tied specifically to Aaron. Aaron who he just thought was adorable. Kevin needs to try and keep a lid on thoughts like those if Aaron can now tune into his frequency. Thankfully Aaron took it as an insult and did his little invisibility bit. Kevin’s not sure what he would have said if Aaron had confronted him about it. How can you lie when someone’s in your head?

As per evidence found in (god I’m so tired I wish I could go to bed my body actually hurts with it) we can draw the conclusion that (and my eyes are burning wait shit I forgot to eat when I came in okay no don’t stop stopping is the enemy just try and get three more paragraphs finished food can be your reward) these findings suggest (that’s a waste of words you already implied that)

Kevin hears Aaron’s running internal dialogue as he makes his way up the stairs in Fox Tower, growing louder the closer he gets to their dorm. Of course Aaron was so focused on getting to his work he forgot to eat. If only he applied that focus to exy.

Get out of my head Kevin.

Get out of mine.

He hears some mental grumbling from Aaron as he tries to pull his attention back to task, but there’s a background insecurity running beneath his thoughts now of Kevin might still be listening don’t think anything weird don’t think that either he’ll be wondering what weird things you think about oh my god stop. Kevin has to really focus to pick it up beneath the chaotic mess of Aaron’s other thoughts. He doesn’t understand how he can exist with so much going on in his head, but slowly Kevin is learning that if he does just focus in on the main thought, the others sink more into background noise.

For his part, Kevin is thinking about this week's game as he goes about the kitchen making himself dinner. He’s pulling up stats in his head, marking weaknesses, implementing potential strategies. He’s already got notes on it all, but he’ll run through it countless times mentally before they actually have the game. As he makes himself up a salad, he pulls out a second plate and makes Aaron a sandwich, using some of his salad for the filling and then adding cheese and meat from the fridge.

“Are you trying to keep me out of your thoughts or do you really just think about exy nonstop?” If so that is so sad.

“Shut up.” I made you a sandwich.

You made me a sandwich?

Yes. You forgot to eat. Now you can keep working on your assignment.

“Oh.” That’s uncharacteristically nice of him (does he want something is this a bribe-)

“It’s not a bribe. I just think you should eat, especially after training.” To aid recovery.

“Thanks.” You know if you want to aid recovery (he never eats enough) you really need protein and some carbs (I don’t know how he keeps going) to replace what you burned (I wish he’d take better care of himself)

“I take care of myself.” Take better care of myself than you do. I eat healthy

Healthy food is only one part of diet you still need to eat enough

I don’t remember asking for your commentary on my diet

Yeah I’m not giving it (I’m just worried about you idiot) you’re just listening to my thoughts

You don’t have to worry about me

“I don’t.” I can’t help it

“The stoic act doesn’t really work when I can hear what you’re thinking.” I like that he worries about me oh he’s blushing again

“Fuck off.” FUCK OFF! Aaron turns bright pink and then disappears. He reaches out and lifts the plate, taking his sandwich and walking back to the bedroom. The plate appears to float from Kevin’s perspective. Aaron slams the door behind him. Stupid annoying Kevin let him starve for all I care (he made you a sandwich) I can’t deal with this (he wanted you to eat too) this is supposed to be the one place that is mine and now I can’t even have my own brain (it sounds nice when you hear his thoughts all low and close and intimate-) Stop.

Kevin feels a shiver of heat in his stomach. A sudden flush of arousal from nowhere, like hot wax dripping down over him. He shifts his shoulders as if he can shrug it off, shaking his head and sitting with his salad at the island. He’s trying to focus back in on exy but all he can think about now is Aaron, and the flush running down his neck, and how he wants Kevin to take care of himself, and how apparently he likes hearing my thoughts.

Get. Out. Of. My. HEAD!

Kevin winces at the sudden volume blast, but it doesn’t stop his train of thoughts. Thinking of how this would be so good if they were together. How Kevin would be able to get immediate feedback on Aaron’s response to his touches. He really should not be going down this track, since Aaron can hear his thoughts, but the more Kevin tries to think of something else the more he thinks about Aaron beneath him, his mouth to Aaron’s throat, his fingers-

The door to the bedroom slams against the wall with the force it is swung open. Kevin jolts. The doorway is empty, but he can almost see the ominous aura coming from around Aaron’s invisible form. Or maybe he can just sense the irritation in his thoughts so clearly it seems like that.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He hears the words twice, spoken and thought, and Kevin panics. Shit shit shit he knew Aaron wouldn’t appreciate it if he knew Kevin was harbouring those kinds of thoughts about him, but he never thought Aaron would actually know. “Kevin.”

Air catches in Kevin’s chest. Everything constricts. The panic of his anxiety a sharp, tight sensation, except then there is a drop in his stomach, and oh. Not just anxiety. His power kicking into play. Kevin feels himself fall backwards. When he lands in time again, he’s back on his feet, and Aaron’s sandwich is floating away from him. The bedroom door slams. (it sounds nice when you hear his thoughts all low and close and intimate-) Stop.

Kevin feels the same warmth drip over him, but this time he immediately brings up an old game on his laptop and puts on his headphones. It doesn’t fully silence Aaron out, he still catches snippets of his essay here and there, and the other random seemingly disconnected thoughts he bounces between, but it’s easier to make it background noise when Kevin has his own attention focused on something else.

When Nicky comes back and starts moving around the kitchen, Kevin slides one earphone off and listens to him chatter. He looks at Nicky’s face. His mouth is definitely moving. Those are the only words Kevin is hearing.

Seems to be just Aaron. Then Kevin tries to aim his thoughts towards the bedroom. He has no idea if this actually works, but he visualises it anyway. Can you hear Nicky?

Just you. Distracting me. Again.

So you don’t want me to tell you he brought pastries that you both should absolutely not be eating at this time of the night.

The door to the bedroom opens. Aaron is visible once more and has changed into his pyjamas. His hair is a ruffled mess from where he’s been running his hands through it in stress, a gesture Kevin has seen him do countless times, and he’s wearing his glasses. He looks soft and ruffled and painfully adorable. Aaron flips him off, ears turning pink again.

“Aaron! I got apple turnovers,” Nicky says, and Aaron beelines around the counter, nudging Kevin with his elbow on his way past. Aaron holds his hands out demandingly. Nicky sets the box on the counter and carefully slides it across to him to avoid making any contact, as Nicky’s power is touch activated, and absolutely not the kind of touch he wants to use on his cousins. There had been a whole thing before he realised what it was, involving Andrew attacking him when he accidentally touched Neil, which had turned to…

Well. Considering Andrew’s power is also touch activated, it had not been good. Neil had been dazed when he broke free from Nicky’s power, and Kevin had been stunned by the whole turn of events. Only Aaron, overlooked and invisible in the background, the first to realise there was something up with them, had been able to use his invisibility to his benefit and break them apart before anything went further. Nicky had cried, and Andrew had disappeared for a full night and most of the following day with Neil. Nicky had tried to apologise on their return, but Andrew shut him down and refused to talk about it.

“Do not use that on anyone else,” he had seethed, teeth bared, and Nicky tried his best not to. An accidental brush of skin was usually recoverable, people would just glance his way with interest, but if Nicky got a hold of someone or vice versa on bare skin…

Kevin doesn’t really know what the official name for Nicky’s power would be, but basically whoever is in his thrall becomes very determined to fuck him. Whether Nicky wants them to or not. His power does not come with an off switch.

After Andrew stormed off and Nicky hid himself in his room confused and upset, Aaron had reappeared with considerable frostbite on his hand. Aaron blinking into existence weirdly seemed like the least upsetting part of the evening, but it had taken too long with everything else happening, and he ended up losing two fingers to the frost damage.

Which activated Kevin’s power. So the next time it happened - and really, Kevin could have lived with only going through that night once, thanks - he was able to draw attention to Aaron before Andrew left. This meant Andrew could drop them at Abby’s on the way to wherever he was going. He did not speak, and he did not apologise for almost freezing Aaron’s hand off, but the fact he took them when he clearly just wanted to get as far away from everyone as possible immediately said enough.

Shouldn’t be eating those, Kevin thinks chidingly, but he keeps his mouth shut. Aaron glares at him as he bites the corner of his.

Mind your business (oh god that’s good)

Kevin is the one to flush this time. He feels his cheeks heat, though his skin tone hides any outward sign of it, at least. Nicky is saying something to Aaron but Kevin isn’t paying attention past Aaron’s fucking mental foodgasm, apparently. For someone so stoic, Kevin would not have guessed there is so much going on under the surface.

You know what they say about assume. Aaron glances sideways at Kevin as he licks cream from the centre of his apple turnover. Kevin’s gaze locks onto the flash of pink tongue as it pushes between the layers of flaky pastry. The hint of green from his tongue stud. There’s sugar crystals on Aaron’s top lip. He drags his tongue out, cream on the tip of it, and Kevin’s mind of course leaps to various other scenarios. Aaron abruptly lowers the pastry, looking at Kevin with an appalled expression.

What the fuck-

Jolt in his stomach. Feeling of falling. Still in the kitchen with Nicky and Aaron, but a handful of seconds back.

Oh god that’s good

Kevin turns away from Aaron before he starts licking cream this time, closing up his laptop and gathering his things, done for the night.

“Do you want one, Kevin?” Nicky shakes the box at him. Kevin shakes his head.

Coward

How am I a coward for not wanting to eat that sugary abomination?

You just are (worry about how bad his eating is going to get when he’s alone)

There’s nothing wrong with my eating and I’ll have a meal plan when I go pro anyway

Whatever (will anyone actually check if he follows it)

Kevin flicks Aaron in the forehead as he walks past him. Aaron ducks away, then bats at Kevin’s hand, too slow.

You are so annoying

Kevin ignores Aaron and goes to get ready for bed. He’s already tucked in by the time Aaron and Nicky come through. Nicky collapses into his bed and crashes out fairly quickly. Kevin’s usually the same, but tonight he has to deal with Aaron’s constantly overlapping trains of thoughts.

Did I pack for the right classes tomorrow? (Will Katelyn want to go to the library between classes?) Pretty sure I checked (wait what day is tomorrow) maybe I should go for a run in the morning (calves kind of aching after practice, might help) Hope my stupid power doesn’t activate during this week's game (what am I supposed to do if it does) ugh wait tomorrow is Wednesday session day (wonder if Andrew will even look at me this week)

Can you shut up?

Not talking

Is this why you’re always up so late? How do you ever sleep when it’s all so constant

Usually just hit the point of exhaustion and pass out

That can’t be healthy

You’re one to talk

I sleep!

So go to sleep now and leave me alone (should try and sleep eyes are burning was so tired earlier why can I never shut off when I want)

Aaron.

It’s weird when you do that

What?

Think my name right in my head. Weird.

How is it weird?

Just feels weird. Kevin.

Yes okay I understand.

Kevin Kevin Keviiin (kind of weird that we just make noises and those are our names and we respond to our unique set of noises)(and that there are so many dialects and languages and how they developed so differently)

It’s interesting

Yes (can you imagine if everyone had telepathy)

That sounds like a nightmare

Absolutely

This is unideal but out of everyone on the team I think having this with you is probably the best scenario. It would be helpful to have this kind of communication with Neil on the court but otherwise I would hate to know what’s going on in his head

Oh yeah god no. I do NOT need to know what that freak is thinking about

Especially since a lot of it would probably be about Andrew-

Stop. (might be interesting to know what Andrew is thinking but if I had to hear about Josten-) Shut up. (wonder what he thinks about me) Shhh shh shh. (probably don’t want to know)

I don’t think Andrew would think anything bad about you

Go to bed (probably doesn’t think about me at all)

I’m in bed

Then go to sleep

I would if you’d stop thinking so loud

Can’t help it

Yeah. I know.

Kevin rolls over to face the room. He can’t see Aaron in the dark, but he hears the shift of Aaron’s bed, imagines them rolling to face each other. He closes his eyes and lets the cotton warmth of sleep start to descend over him. It takes longer than usual, Aaron’s constant stream of thought an irritating background radio frequency, but Kevin tries to extend out the tired feeling in his head until eventually he drops off.

Weird images are flashing across Aaron’s mind. He’s somewhere dark, and there’s a glow of red lights which makes it look even darker. He doesn’t like that. He’s following long corridors, trying to find his way out, feeling like he is trapped in a labyrinth. Every time he opens a different door, he sees something he doesn’t want to.

He opens one door. It’s a bathroom. Jean Moreau is under a flow of water. Riko is holding his hair to keep him in place. He puts a cloth over Jean’s face and Jean’s body convulses as he tries to breathe. Aaron staggers back out of the room. He races down the corridor to the next room. He can’t see in this one, but there are hands on him. He does not want them to touch him, but he has the knowledge that he has to let it happen whether he wants to or not. Aaron fights his way through to another door and stumbles into the corridor again.

Neil Josten is in the third room. That is what Aaron thinks at first glance. An older version of him. But then he realises that there is a younger version of Neil standing beside him, along with a younger version of Riko. So the man currently slicing someone up must be his father.

“Keep watching, Kevin. No looking away,” a voice says, and Aaron’s head snaps back to face what is happening. He wants to cry but he knows if he does he will be punished, so he has to fight it back until later. He can cry when he is alone. That is what he is supposed to do, but there are tears on his cheeks as he backs up towards the door. He doesn’t make it this time. His foot catches on something and he falls backwards, and then Riko is coming towards him, Riko is standing over him, Riko is slamming his foot down on Aaron’s hand and the pain explodes through him, but worse, worse is the knowledge that he is losing everything.

Aaron gasps awake trembling, sweat sticking his shirt to his back. He’s breathing hard like he really has been running. Dim morning light leaks into the room. Nicky is sleeping soundly beneath him, but across the room Kevin’s usual heavy breathing has been replaced with soft sounds of distress.

Kevin. Kevin. Kevin!

Aaron hears Kevin jolt, the start of his own gasp before he muffles it off with his hand to his mouth. Aaron’s limbs are still shaky, but he’s starting to feel steadier now in the knowledge it wasn’t his dream. He’s just getting secondhand effects. Kevin must be feeling much worse.

Riko-

Riko’s gone. You’re safe. You’re at Palmetto. Jean is safe. He got out, he’s with the Trojans. Everything is okay now.

The blood my hand-

Your hand is better now. You’ve trained back the strength in it. You can play with it again. You won your first championship with the Foxes playing with it, remember? You scored the winning goal

Yes

Yeah (that was horrible does he still have nightmares like that often no wonder he’s so anxious)

Not that often anymore

Thank you

It’s okay (was all of that real)

Yes

Even the bit with Josten’s dad?

Yes

That’s fucked up

Yes

Try and get more sleep

Don’t know if I can. Do you want to go for a run?

(not really) Okay

You don’t have to

Let’s go (needs the distraction want to make sure he’s okay tired but always tired anyway)

Aaron drops down out of bed. He has so much to do today. He tries to build a mental to do list as he staggers sleepily around the room, pulling on his running gear. Kevin is still shaken from his nightmare. Aaron keeps getting brief flashes of his thoughts, more images and feelings than words this morning. He bumps his arm against Kevin’s as they head out, letting Kevin set the pace and falling into place beside him.

Always starts off too hard he’ll lose his breathing

Shut up. Kevin is in fact wheezing already. One handy thing about this new connection is they can easily pass thoughts back and forth without having to slow their pace.

Why don’t you go back and stop him? You can do that now you could save your hand

I can’t choose. Can’t control it. I don’t know if I can go back that far, but I also don’t think I want to

No?

If it didn’t happen would I still be stuck there? Would Neil have died if he hadn’t joined the Foxes? Would I spend my whole life stuck in Riko’s shadow?

Seth would have lived

Kevin stumbles. Aaron catches his elbow, steadies him. Kevin jerks away.

That wasn’t targeted at you it was just an automatic thought (don’t be mad) I know Seth wasn’t your fault (don’t yell at me) if anything it was Josten who aggravated Riko but it’s all on him Kevin not you

I know. I wonder sometimes if I could go back and stop that but then would anything play out like it did? How much more do I fuck with the further back I go?

Do you wish you had a different power?

Sometimes

Which?

Something useful like super speed could be good. Would make me better on the court

Oh my god Kevin we’re talking about superpowers and you’re thinking about exy (of course he is)

What about you?

Shapeshifting.

Why?

Taller (so I could be my own person) (and who doesn’t want to look better) (I mean the height wouldn’t hurt) (would Andrew be offended if I changed the way I look) (maybe people would like me better maybe you-)

Right. Of course.

Invisibility is okay (if I could control it) I mean it’s an A list power (people don’t really see me anyway) could be worse (at least it’s not Nicky’s)

Yes I definitely would not want Nicky’s

I think it would be the worst (do most people not want to fuck you anyway)

Not that I’m aware of

That you’re aware of. Aaron gives Kevin a wry side glance. He’s Kevin Day. Of course most people are tripping over themselves for him. Kevin just socialises within a distinct circle that keeps him separate from most of that. Free of anyone who wants him that way. (almost free)

What does that mean?

Nothing sometimes my brain just thinks random words get over it (fuckfuckfuck) I didn’t realise

What?

The extent of the Nest. I knew it was bad but I guess there is no way to describe that kind of thing in a way that catches how it actually feels

Those were only snapshots

I know

I wish you hadn’t seen that

Didn’t mean to (would I want anyone to see-) Aaron’s own memories flash across his mind without permission. His mother lashing out at him, throwing things at him, a bottle shattering against him, a knife sticking in a wall, his tiny child body being shoved so hard into a glass table it breaks beneath him, the pain of his sliced back. Swallowing pills until he felt so sick he was convinced he was going to die. Holding his own over earnest letter with FUCK OFF scrawled over it, returned from Andrew. That first meeting under the too stark fluorescent lights of the detention facility visitor room, Aaron’s fingers picked bloody, Andrew’s narrowed eyes, him reaching across to grip Aaron’s already aching wrist as he asked about the bruises Aaron had failed to cover well enough. Puking his guts up while trapped in the bathroom, sprawled on the ground trembling, curled tight into himself in the tub once again thinking it was over. Walking into that room on Thanksgiving. Alone in the back of a cop car not knowing if Andrew was alright or what was going to happen to him. On the stand, facing a crowd of unfamiliar faces. Stop stop stop stop stop.

Aaron

Don’t look!

Aaron you’re thinking about them I can’t help it

I’m not thinking about them (not on purpose) I don’t want to think about them (stopstopstop) you don’t need to see this (he’s already been through enough with his own)

“Hey.” Kevin stops running. He catches Aaron’s arm. Aaron yanks away from him, but realises that he’s breathing harder than usual. He doesn’t know if he’s sharing Kevin’s anxiety or if his own flashbacks have caused his chest to tighten.

What?

“It’s okay.” You don’t always have to worry about me.

“I’m not.” Can’t help it (breathe just breathe you’re embarrassing yourself)

“Aaron.” It’s okay

“You’re shit at the comforting thing.” So am I

I think you’re quite good at it

“You don’t have to be fake nice.” Stop thinking about it stop thinking about it stop. “Come on. We should finish this run.”

“Aaron.” Are you okay to run?

Yeah I’m fine (you can’t say “jar” I didn’t say it out loud)

Loopholes

Exactly loopholes (breathe just breathe focus on it count your steps breathe out when the left one hits the ground)

Thank you for coming running with me

??? it’s okay (is he feeling better?)

Yes. I am. Thank you.

Good (can I get him to eat this morning)

You concern yourself far too much with my eating habits

No I don’t (if you only knew how much I concern myself with- stop)

Aaron starts thinking about the lyrics of a song. He focuses on it as hard as he can, repeating it over and over again. Bad enough Kevin knows he worries about him not eating enough, he doesn’t need Kevin to know just how far Aaron is concerned with him. He tries not to have any other thoughts as they make their way back, but his brain has never been good at sticking to one thing.

Still need to ask Kate about the library (if I can get five hundred words minimum done today) I need to do laundry (it would be great if I could get to one thousand but how likely is that really) awh shit session day (not likely at all then I cannot be assed with Dobson today) are we going to Columbia this weekend (god I want a hit so bad all this powers shit has me fucked up) really hope I don’t turn invisible during our game (or during class) probably the only time anyone would notice (fuck hope it doesn’t happen at Dobson’s office) my lips are dry I wonder where I put my chapstick

Is he going to relapse?

“What? Of course I’m not.”

“You were just thinking-”

“I think a lot of things. Do you control every thought you have? I don’t act on it. That’s what counts.”

“Okay.”

Should I tell Andrew-

“Do not tell Andrew. What is wrong with you?” Aaron abruptly stops running to glare at Kevin. Well that’s too long to get into, really, isn’t it, Kevin?

“Don’t be a dick.”

“Do you realise the fucking argument you would start over a stray thought. How about I police every stray thought you have?” Aaron steps closer and shoves Kevin hard in the chest, his whole body flush hot with rage. Kevin catches Aaron’s wrist before he can move away, holding him in place as he leans his sweaty face in close to him.

“I wasn’t actually going to do it. That was just a stray thought on my side.” His eyes are always the nicest in the sunshine. Liquid gold.

Aaron goes slack in Kevin’s hold, blinking at him. His mouth works uselessly.

What.

Lips don’t look dry to me. They look soft and pink

Aaron automatically licks his lips.

Fuck. One more time.

Then Kevin is kissing him, and the world feels like it has tilted sideways.

Said I’d stop doing this.

Aaron’s free hand fists in Kevin’s shirt. His brain is still a loud neon scream of ??? and yet he’s not pushing Kevin away.

Is he kissing back?

No. He’s definitely not doing that. Aaron finally shoves Kevin, stepping back from him. What is he doing (is this a joke) why is he doing it (I don’t understand) what does he gain from this (what the fuck) Despite the frantic, frightened tone of Aaron’s thoughts, his expression is furious

“What are you-”

“I think a lot of things. Do you control every thought you have? I don’t act on it. That’s what counts.”

I have to stop doing that.

“Okay.”

Doing what?

“Thinking stupid things,” Kevin says. Aaron’s mouth twitches, the knife edge of a smile that doesn’t quite make it over the precipice. Kevin focuses very hard on not thinking of anything even in the vicinity of the topic of kissing.

So, here’s the thing. It’s not that he intends to keep kissing Aaron and then reversing time so he forgets. Rather the opposite. Kevin has told himself he will absolutely not kiss Aaron ever again, as he never reacts well, and yet every time they get riled up, or in each other’s space, or Aaron looks at him all sleepy and soft, or anything that happened during any of the seven previous occurrences, Kevin finds himself leaning in. He feels like he’s going a bit insane, because sometimes he’s convinced Aaron is looking at his mouth, or he’s the one leaning in first, and on at least four of those occasions Kevin swears Aaron kissed him back, but then he always draws back with his flushed cheeks, narrowed eyes, angry eyebrows, and Kevin stumbles back in time before he even has the chance to hear what Aaron is going to say.

He’s not running on purpose. At this point he’d kind of like to have it over with and out of the way so he stops ending up in situations where it happens again. Surely if Aaron gets really, truly angry at him once, then there will be a safe boundary between them going forward. Unless Aaron hates him for it, and stops talking to him, and this is exactly the line of thought that keeps triggering Kevin’s power.

He’s thinking about it now that he’s alone in the dorm, everyone else out at afternoon classes. Aaron currently too far away to be prying into his thoughts. Except it’s a depressing line of thought, and his brain doesn’t want that, so it starts thinking about what would happen if Aaron did kiss him back. If Aaron kept kissing him, hands in Kevin’s hair, body pressed forward against Kevin’s hips - Kevin initially thinks of their hips pressed together but logistically this would not work with Aaron’s vertical challenges, so he shifts them to a seat where Aaron can straddle Kevin - strong thighs squeezing around Kevin’s legs, breath warm in Kevin’s mouth.

Kevin checks the time. He should have at least a good hour before anyone gets back. He moves to the bathroom just in case, pushing his sweats down low over his hips. He leans back against the wall, thinking of Aaron again, lost in the fantasy. He’s thinking of how their telepathy would add to it. How Aaron gives so little away outwardly, but now Kevin has this secret window, he can see exactly how good he makes him feel. Because Kevin would, of course. It’s his fantasy. He can be the queen of exy AND sex if he wants to be. Then he’s thinking about Aaron’s power - anything Aaron has on disappears with him, but if he lifts something new it doesn’t - and wondering if he would be able to see himself if Aaron were blowing him. He’d be in the hot warmth of his mouth, but would it just look like bucking against air? As much as Kevin would absolutely rather see Aaron, it’s kind of a turn on to think about. He thinks about using his own power to go back and watch Aaron orgasm over and over again, luxuriating in the fact Kevin brought him that pleasure. Though Aaron wouldn’t really benefit, as he wouldn’t remember-

What the fuck are you thinking about?

Kevin freezes.

How can you hear me from class

Professor cancelled. There’s a bang as the front door slams closed. Kevin frantically pulls his trousers back on, even though it’s not like Aaron can see.

Fuck fuck fuck

Aaron feels ablaze. It had confused him why, as he got closer to the Tower, as he trudged his way up the stairs to the dorm, there was a building sense of arousal curling in his low stomach. Considering his only thoughts - beyond being fucking annoyed the professor couldn’t give them a heads up before he walked all the way across campus to his stupid class - before were that at least he’d have an extra hour to work on his assignment. He’s hoping to finish it up tonight. Except then there had been images of Kevin, and Aaron thought they were absent background thoughts at first. Irritating, but not entirely unusual. He has, unfortunately, been thinking about Kevin in that kind of way as of late.

Except it felt weirdly like he was in Kevin’s place in the thoughts. Rather than his own. Looking at a vision of himself that Aaron did not entirely recognise. His hair definitely doesn’t fall as neatly as that, or look as golden in colour, and he doesn’t have as many freckles sprinkled across his nose. His shoulders are not that broad, and there’s an awkward blockiness to his sides, not the softness of the version he was seeing in his head. Which is when it occurred to him that it was not, in fact, his own weird thoughts.

Can’t just hide in the bathroom forever… can I? He’ll get bored eventually.

Kevin. Aaron thinks it because he does not trust himself to say it right now. His face is burning up. He presses a hand over it. This can’t be happening (oh my god) I can’t deal with this right now (and we have training in like three fucking hours) why was he (doesn’t mean anything) I don’t understand (can’t wouldn’t obviously) I just (why was it kind of) how the fuck am I supposed to (hot)

Aaron bangs his fist against the door.

Go away

Open up

No. Go away.

Kevin. Aaron bangs the door again, trying the handle. It opens. Kevin forgot to lock it in his… ponderings.

“What are you-”

Kevin’s just sliding his sweatpants down when he jolts back in time. He pulls them firmly up again, splashes cold water on his face, and runs to be sitting in a normal position by the time Aaron reaches the dorm.

“Why are you just sitting in here in silence?” Did he have another panic attack after yesterday

“Just tired. We need to do something about this.”

“About what?”

This. It’s not good.

Obviously

We have to work out what happened and how to stop it

“You’re very insistent all of a sudden.” There is something rotten (you want it gone too) at your very core (this is a good thing) and everyone senses it eventually (obviously why would you want to keep this) and no one wants to know you when they see the rot (think what happened before this started) and no one will ever stick around if they see the real you (we were leaving practice-)

“Aaron.”

“What?”

That’s not true

“What’s not true?” We were leaving practice, and we were arguing.

“You’re not- There’s not-” There’s nothing wrong with you.

How about you mind my own business and we don’t talk about things you hear in my head (and then there was the girl) WAIT !

THE GIRL !

Woah, that was weird

We haven’t thought the same thing at the same time before

“She must have done something.” Felt like static when I touched her

Same

“How do we find her?” I don’t even remember what she looked like

Of course you don’t. I do we’ll just have to look around campus (really need to finish that assignment)

“Can you picture her in your head? As clear as you can remember.”

“Uh. Sure.” Aaron scrunches up his nose, and Kevin sees a girl take form. Her face shifts and melts and morphs as Aaron changes his mind about details. She has dark hair cut into a shag and big, dark brown eyes that are the central feature of her face. Narrow nose, thin lips, smudge of mascara under one eye. Kevin wonders if Aaron actually remembers this clearly or if he’s invented some of it.

“Okay. You work on your assignment, I’ll go…” walk around and see if I can find her I guess

Is he the best one to handle this after being so rude to her

“Hey!”

“Well you were.” Didn’t even apologise (probably why she did this)

“That’s victim blaming, Aaron.” Maybe she shouldn’t have been right in our way. It was a big path

“Whatever. Are you sure you’ll be alright on your own?” He gets so anxious

“Yes.” Maybe

Ugh I have time (a bit) I can probably leave my assignment to later (just stay up tonight) could look until practice

“No. I’ve got this.” Trust me with something

“Okay.” Call if you need anything

“Telephone or tele-pathy.”

“That was terrible.” At least he makes jokes now (his stupid dorky smile is so cu-) APPLE BOTTOM JEANS BOOTS WITH THE FUR (WITH THE FUR)

Ugh.

“Right. See you in a bit.” Kevin winces as Aaron continues to blast the song in his head, making his way towards the door. He jogs towards the main campus building and stalks his way through halls, glancing in the windows of classes, doing a lap of the library. He doesn’t even know what year the girl is or what she’s studying, so he has no idea of where to look for her. Over an hour later he gives up and heads dejectedly back towards the dorm.

No luck

Fuck (what if we’re stuck like this) it’s okay (I guess it won’t matter after he graduates) we’ll likely see her again at some point (but that’s a long time to have someone in my head)

Worry about it later. Get ready for practice now.

Oh fuck off

Their newfound connection, Kevin discovers, really serves them on the court.

Behind you left shoulder

Aaron turns just in time to block Neil coming up from his blind spot. Kevin can feel the wordless burst of his delighted pride, and it makes his own chest swell, because Aaron is enjoying exy! He can’t hide. Kevin is there in his head, and he can’t lie about hating it all the time anymore.

Yeah yeah. Quick turn quarter clockwise

Kevin turns and catches one of the freshmen trying to pass around him. He flicks his racquet against theirs with enough force to knock it unsteady in their hands. The ball falls loose and Kevin catches it in his net. He fights down a smile as his and Aaron’s thoughts overlap.

It’s like being able to see all around

It’s like having eyes in the back of your head

Think you can catch this?

No way you can send it that far

Go to your right I’m going to change angle last second

As several of the younger Foxes scramble to Kevin’s right, thinking his left hand will send the ball that way, he swaps hands last second and fires it down the court towards the corner that is left for him, but to Aaron’s right. Aaron’s moving before Kevin even passes, which gives him time to gauge the position of the ball and get himself in place.

YES! Square your shoulders more before you pass again. Just like that. Yes

Stop mentally coaching me

But look how much better you’re doing

Kevin (why is it kind of nice when) stop it (don’t go there)

Kevin doesn’t stop, because his tips actually are improving Aaron’s game. In real time! He can deal with Aaron’s annoyed mental missiles if they are the price to pay. Aaron flips him off down the court. Kevin can’t see Andrew’s expression, but his head moves between them.

Kevin makes sure he’s on the far side of the changing room to Aaron after practice, because if he’s too close he might steal glances, and if he starts stealing glances he is going to start having thoughts. Which Aaron can hear now. So Kevin decides the safest route is avoiding temptation. They elect to walk back after practice, ignoring the questioning way Andrew narrows his eyes, combing over the campus for the girl.

Really need to finish that (so tired) am going to have to stay up (this has taken longer than expected) ugh morning class tomorrow should I skip that (no don’t want to lose participation mark)

Their fingers brush between them as they walk. Aaron yanks his hands back. Kevin looks down at him, Aaron looks back, his eyes shadowed underneath. He really looks exhausted. Kevin has always brushed Aaron’s bad sleep pattern off as a lack of discipline. He always thought he sacrificed rest to do his own unimportant nonsense, but he’s realising that Aaron holds himself to high standards in a different way from Kevin. That while he seems largely laid back about things on the surface, he’s a tycoon underneath, and that his brain never seems to stop.

Why is he looking at me (and what does that expression mean) what-

Kevin reaches up and touches Aaron’s cheekbone. He smooths his thumb along one of the dark marks beneath his eyes. He scrunches up his nose, trying to force his power into action, but he can never make it work when he wants to.

He looks so exhausted if only I could give him time back

What is he doing what the fuck

Kevin slides his hand down and grips Aaron’s chin. He told himself he wasn’t going to do this again, but it is the only thing he knows activates his power everytime. This is a much more gentle kiss than the previous eight. Usually when Kevin kisses Aaron it is an impulsive, passion driven action, but this he does with purpose, slotting their lips together. It is a good kiss, even if it is much more chaste than a lot of their kisses.

Would have been a good first kiss

What the fuck (what does that mean) why is he (have you done this before) has he been turning back time

Aaron pulls back sharply from Kevin, and there is the familiar rage on his face. Kevin sighs through his nose as Aaron opens his mouth, but before he speaks, Kevin feels the familiar tug of his power.

His lips are still tingling as he lands back at the court. Aaron is just about to turn down Andrew’s ride back to the dorms.

“Yeah, we’re coming.” Kevin speaks over him. We didn’t find her. Waste of time. You should work on your assignment.

Did you come back?

Yes

So you used your power on purpose?

No it just happened

If she wasn’t where we checked we can look elsewhere (assignment can wait a bit I’ll just-)

No. We checked all over and you just got more stressed about your assignment, so take the time back and go work on it

Okay

“Thanks.” That’s nice of him (why is he being nice what does he want) Aaron takes the steaming mug from Kevin, eying it suspiciously. It’s an old mug, chipped at the rim, the colourful print on it faded but still bearing the title of Scorpio with a scorpion and some traits listed beneath it. Nicky had gifted Aaron and Andrew them not long after he came back to the US, making a joke about how they were twins and yet he was the only Gemini. They had not laughed. Aaron doesn’t believe in starsign bullshit, but it’s one of the first things Nicky ever gave him. He hasn’t grown out of it like clothes or shoes. He always brings it when they move back to the dorms.

“I can be nice.” Know you’re stressed just want to make it easier

“Rarely.” I know you can.

“Almost there?” Heard you thinking about a conclusion

“Yeah.” Just need to read over it but should have it submitted tonight (hope it’s good enough)

I’m sure it is. Almost understand some of that when I hear it from your thoughts. Almost

Yeah well I’m writing with the assumption my audience already knows the basic terms so it’s not aimed at an introductory level (it’s okay if you don’t get it you don’t study this)

No, but I like hearing about what you study sometimes

I like when you talk to me about something other than exy

I like that you listen when I talk about anything other than exy

Yeah well there’s a brain in there somewhere

That gets better grades than you.

“Out.”

Kevin laughs as he leaves the room. Aaron cradles the mug to his chest, warming his hands from the heat of it. He breathes in the steam spirals, inhaling the scent of peppermint. Aaron blows on the surface, takes a sip, and then sets the cup down to type more. The warmth doesn’t leave him though, spreading out through his body, more than just his hands.

He feels less fondly for Kevin when Friday night comes. Weirdly, he also feels a bit high, a rush of adrenaline and excitement that is not his own coursing through him in the few hours before the game.

How do you still get worked up (passionate) after all this time (like that) it’s not even a big game

Every game should be treated like a big game, Aaron.

Aaron rolls his eyes, but once he’s on court, he does apply himself. Kevin has done small things to help him with assignment - giving him time back, bringing him tea - and so in return Aaron tries his best during their game. As annoying as Kevin’s barked commands in his head are, he follows them, and he acts as Kevin’s eyes on the far end of the court. Even though their positions mean they rarely interact on the court, it’s beneficial. Having someone with eyes on the action Aaron can’t always see. And when he is sitting out for a quarter, he is able to warn Kevin of movement on the court before it reaches him. There’s still an undercurrent of concern running through Aaron, a constant chant of don’t turn invisible don’t turn invisible don’t turn invisible. It’s a relief when the final buzzer blares out, the Foxes three points ahead.

Kevin slaps Neil on the shoulder but ignores everyone else as he jogs down the length of the court. Ugh tired now (do I want to go to Eden’s tonight) wonder if we’re getting food on the way (probably feel better by the time we get there) we should I don’t want to cook (what if I think something stupid with drinking) maybe pizza (would like to blow some steam off though). Aaron assumes Kevin is running to Andrew, so it surprises him when Kevin charges into Aaron, tackling him into a hug. Aaron staggers under the force (ugh ow) before steadying himself (can’t really feel through my gear but how does he still smell so good even after-).

That was amazing! Think of all the possibilities of this, the kind of plays we could come up with-

We’re trying to get rid of it remember?

Yes but if we don’t.

Kevin, we have to. Aaron feels a wave of disappointment that baffles him. Surely he doesn’t want to be stuck with me in his thoughts forever

“Come on, we should go get cleaned up.” You’re right.

Of course Aaron is. No one would want to be stuck with him, especially not when he can’t hide, when they can see right into his damaged centre. He tries to shrug those thoughts off as Nicky claps him on the shoulder. He’s always more affectionate with Aaron when they’re in their gear now, since it’s the only time it is safe for him to make contact. Aaron leans into him just for a second, knowing how much Nicky must miss affection. Nicky beams through his helmet grate.

They do get pizza in Columbia. Kevin’s in too good of a mood to argue. Aaron gets a vegetarian pizza so they can share it, and a warm glow of happiness radiates from Kevin through to him. It’s funny, because Kevin’s scowling face would suggest anything but. Aaron supposes they both are often hiding their true feelings from the world, intentional or not.

Despite his concerns, when Nicky pours pre-drinks, Aaron joins in. He’s buzzed by the time they hit Eden’s, and has another couple of drinks before disappearing onto the floor. Nicky goes off somewhere by himself, dressed in far too many layers to be clubbing in, probably, keeping his skin covered so he doesn’t touch anyone. Lost in the press of bodies and loud roar of the music and flashing lights, Aaron’s brain actually stops whirring as much for once. He closes his eyes, tips his head back, and bounces along to the beat. He catches snippets of Kevin’s thoughts, but it’s hard to fully focus on them with the volume of the music.

So good… the way the lights… bicep muscles… peek of his stomach… hair sticking to his forehead with sweat… wish I could go dance with him… hands on his hips… mouth to his throat… pull him back against…

Aaron shakes his head and tries to focus on something else, an aching twinge in his chest. Stupid. He shouldn’t care about whoever Kevin is thinking about.

I can’t… know exactly how it’ll end… said I wouldn’t… can’t do it a tenth time.

Aaron’s ears are ringing. His limbs are pleasantly achy and his skin is slick with sweat by the time they pile into the Mas. He’s in the back, Kevin relegated to the middle despite his long legs to act as a dividing wall between Aaron and Josten. Nicky gets front seat privileges due to his power now. A precaution.

Who caught your eye tonight?

What?

Heard you thinking about someone

Doesn’t matter. Why do you care?

I don’t. Just curious (curious curious curious sure)

Nothing is going to come of it.

Something could (who wouldn’t want you)

Just drop it, Aaron.

Aaron arches a brow, not appreciating that tone at all, especially inside his head. He’s too tired to poke at Kevin further though, shifting in his seat to try and get comfortable until Kevin thinks just lie against me and stop moving. Aaron rests his head back against Kevin’s shoulder, eyelids heavy, lulled by the gentle movement of the car. Still smells good.

THE GIRL I SEE HER (he can’t even hear you) SHE’S IN MY SIGHTS

I JUST GOT OUT OF CLASS WHERE ARE YOU?

COMING FROM THE SCIENCE BUILDING TOWARDS THE QUAD

I WILL MEET YOU THERE FOLLOW HER

Kevin picks up his pace, putting his long legs to good use as he starts a swift stride, weaving his way through other students.

SHE’S SEEN ME SHE IS WALKING QUICKER

DON’T LET HER GET AWAY!

CALLING OUT BUT SHE IS IGNORING ME

ALMOST THERE

As Kevin finally makes it to the quad he whips his head around, eyes narrowed. He spots Aaron first - he feels like he will always spot Aaron first in a crowd - and follows his gaze. The girl is striding swiftly towards Kevin, but she hasn’t seen him. She’s looking over her shoulder at Aaron, who has broken into a jog. She turns forward, her expression panicked, and almost walks right into Kevin.

“You really have to start watching where you’re going,” he says. The girl shrinks back, clutching her bag. Aaron arrives a second later, breathing heavy.

“We need to talk to you.”

Her name is Kiera. Aaron asks. Kevin would not even have thought that important enough information to ask.

“What did you do to us?” He folds his arms, towering over her. Aaron glares at him. If we want her to help we should probably not snap at her.

I don’t have to play nice. She used her power on me!

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You bumped into us, and now we can hear each other’s thoughts. So you must have used your power on us,” Aaron says. Kiera’s gaze brightens.

“You know about powers? Do you have them?”

Don’t give her information.

Shut up

“You’re changing the subject. Can you undo your power?”

“No.”

“So you’re saying we’re stuck like this.” Kevin’s voice has a sharp edge to it. Kiera flinches back from him. Aaron doesn’t scold Kevin this time, evidently also annoyed by this information.

“It’s not forever! It goes away after… after…”

“After what?”

“Okay, it makes more sense if I explain my power. So, I’ve always been good at spotting which characters have good chemistry in stories. I always know who should get together. Then after the storm, I started seeing people who would be good together, and when I touch them, something happens that helps with whatever is stopping them from being together.”

“Telepathy,” Aaron says. What does she mean (she’s wrong) who would be good together (Kevin would never)

“Not necessarily. Like once it was that someone was too immature, and my power made him a lot older, which changed his perspective. Then when they got together he changed back. Or I had someone who was too scared, and my power made them really brave. It’s just whatever is blocking it from happening.”

“How does us being in each other’s heads help? Not that we’re-” Aaron isn’t, anyway.

What do you mean? I’m not what?

“Maybe you just need to understand each other’s perspectives. I don’t know.”

“You can’t just go around trying to manipulate people into relationships, it’s not your place to interfere just because you think something is going on.” This is so awkward (he would never) how the fuck are we supposed to navigate this (not Kevin Day) we’re going to be stuck with it (not with me)

I mean, if she’s wrong about anyone here it’s you

“I don’t just think! I can see. I told you. I literally see chemistry, it’s part of my power, and it is pouring off of you two. So when you were fighting I knew I had to-” Kiera cuts off, but it is too late. Kevin and Aaron’s attention focuses in on her, both of their faces tight with anger.

“You did this on purpose,” Kevin says.

“I just wanted to help!”

“Well, you didn’t,” Aaron says.

“You’ll be happy in the long run.” Keira’s back is to the wall, but she sidesteps, starting to slide away from them. “You’ll see.”

She takes off. Kevin starts to step after her, but Aaron puts a hand on his arm to stop him. Let her go. We got the information. She can’t help anymore.

She might be lying.

I don’t think she is. Let’s go back to the dorms (we probably need to talk about this) (fuck)

Aaron-

No. Dorms first (what did he mean I’m the one she’s wrong about)

Obviously we’re both going to be thinking about this on the way back

Well she got it wrong, right? (Did she though Aaron) so there has to be some other way to undo this (she got it half right didn’t she)

That’s what I mean. She got it half right.

Did you (does he know) ?

There’s a hopeful flutter in Kevin’s chest, followed by an aching pining sensation. He looks at Aaron. Aaron looks back, then blushes and looks away.

Don’t be stupid (he would never) don’t even think (he can hear you) how embarrassing (to think he would ever) shut up

“Aaron.” Could he…

“What?” Stop thinking

Can’t do this again if you’re not sure. You said you wouldn’t. Nine times is enough.

What did you do nine times?

Kevin thinks of every time he’s ever kissed Aaron. Aaron goes still. Kevin is so lost in his memories that it takes him a few steps to realise. He pauses and looks back at Aaron. Aaron’s expression gives little away, but Kevin can feel the resounding echo of his utter shock. The slight twinge of betrayal. The heat of underlying anger.

“You’ve kissed me and rewound time so I wouldn’t remember?”

“Not on purpose!” I can’t control it. I never mean to go back.

Nine times?! How can you make the same mistake nine times?

You know the powers are unpredictable.

I wasn’t talking about your power (I meant me in the mistake obviously)

Kissing you was never a mistake.

But you-

You always got angry at me. I panicked and accidentally went back. I don’t want you to hate me.

Kevin (I don’t understand) I don’t (why would I be angry) why would you (probably didn’t believe it)

What are you not understanding?

Why would you kiss me?

Why does anyone kiss anyone?

Kevin (why me what am I compared to Kevin Day I’m just-)

“Stop.” Kevin closes the space back to Aaron, taking his face in his hands. Aaron’s cheeks are warm beneath his palms. He gazes up at Kevin, his eyes wide. Stop thinking like that. “I’m not Kevin Day. Not with you.” I can just be Kevin with you. I like being Kevin with you. I like you.

He doesn’t mean that-

“Meant it enough to have nine first kisses with you.”

That’s so annoying I don’t remember any of our first kisses

Well it’s not you it’s the variants of you in different timelines

Still me!

There’s a timeline where you have two fingers frozen off, but here you are, all digits accounted for. It’s not you. It’s a different timeline version of you. I haven’t kissed this you.

Kevin starts to lean down. Aaron puts a hand to his chest.

“This is your tenth kiss with me, but it’s my first kiss with you. So I’m going to kiss you, and you’re going to let me do it my way. But we are going back to the dorms first.”

“Okay.”

The whole way back Kevin’s mind is flicking through memories of his kisses with Aaron at other points in time, wondering if this one is going to be similar to any of them. Aaron is also imagining their kiss, though he keeps trying to shut that thought down, not wanting Kevin to know how it’s going to happen before he decides. He’s also wondering if this will actually work.

Once they’re back in the dorm and the door shuts behind them, a silence lingers heavy in the air. Not just their words, but even their thoughts still in anticipation.

Here goes nothing (make this good)

Aaron steps closer. He reaches up and cups Kevin’s cheek with surprising confidence. Kevin leans down so it is easier for Aaron to reach. His other hand slides to the back of Kevin’s neck, encouraging him closer. Their noses brush together, breath mingling between them.

Tenth time is the charm.

Aaron presses up towards Kevin and firmly slots their lips together. It is nothing like any of their previous kisses. There is so much more purpose and intent behind this kiss, Aaron slotting his lips against Kevin’s, pressing firm but gentle. Even though it’s a chaste kiss, liquid heat cascades through Kevin. He feels like there is an electric current running beneath his skin.

Can I touch him?

Yes (please do)

Kevin wraps his arms around Aaron and pulls him close. Aaron exhales heavily through his nose. He slides his tongue along Kevin’s lower lip and Kevin opens to him immediately. Aaron’s hand moves up to his hair, gripping, using his hold to angle Kevin’s head to his liking as he brushes their tongues together.

He’s so good at this. Kevin grips Aaron’s hips, grounding himself as much as he’s holding Aaron. This is the best kiss we’ve had.

Fuck. Can’t believe-

Aaron. Wanted for so long-

“What?” Aaron draws back just enough to speak. His nose is still against Kevin’s, lips brushing Kevin’s mouth with his words.

“Hm?” Kevin tilts his head, catching Aaron’s mouth in their first second kiss. Aaron huffs, then turns his head away.

“What have you wanted?”

To kiss you.

Kevin moves forward again, but Aaron leans back.

“Kevin.”

“I told you.”

“You didn’t.”

“I- Oh. Has it worked? Can you not hear my thoughts anymore?”

“No. Can you hear mine?”

Kevin shakes his head. Aaron trails his fingertips over Kevin’s lips, causing tingles to burst through him. He’s slightly disappointed. He’d have liked to explore their telepathy in the bedroom, but on the flip side, if Aaron had thought something even slightly less than positive about Kevin, it probably would have sent him spiralling.

“Wanted to do this,” Kevin murmurs, taking hold of Aaron’s jaw. He presses their third kiss to Aaron’s mouth, and thinks I hope that number just keeps going up.

#kevaaron #fox fics

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dudadragneel · 8 months

Text

Help again!

Here it is! Sorry for the delay. My sorry ass is addicted in that freaking otome game and I forgot about this one 😅

This one is a request from 🦄!

🦄

Okay so I thought of hyunjin who drinks coffee on an empty stomach (aka a death wish lol) and has to suffer to consequences of a really bad tummy ache that’s hurting him so bad you suggest he just lets himself throw up and get it over with. And do he does get sick…all over The sidewalk while you’re waiting with him in the car to feel better. So you just take him home instead the poor baby 😭

BAD DECISION

An early morning schedule was something normal yet not very much liked by idols. Today, they had a pre-recording for a music show, then a fan sign and then they'd probably go back to the company and then home. Just like sometimes, you could join them today so you met them at the dorms so everyone could go together.

Hyunjin woke up feeling a bit anxious, which was normal from time to time, after all, he was just human and this idol life could be too much sometimes. Just because they've been doing this for years, doesn't mean they don't feel nervous.

He was anxious to the point where he didn't want to eat, he had no appetite and he thought of eating later after he finished recording. But he needed to boost his energy so he decided to just drink some coffee, and that was the biggest mistake he made that day.

- Are you sure about this, Hyune?

- I need some energy or I won't be able to dance.

- I don't think this is gonna work but you do you.

You said defeated, since he was anxious you didn't want to bother him further.

By the time you left the dorms, the effects of drinking that coffee on an empty stomach were starting to show. He felt his stomach start to burn and revolt, and it was as if he regretted every life decision till now.

- Babe...my stomach hurts...

- See? I told you. Drinking coffee on an empty stomach is not good.

- But I've done it before and I was fine...

He said pouting and resting his head on your shoulder.

- Our bodies work in mysterious ways honey, don't trust it that much. Take an antacid, it might help. At least until you can eat a little.

- Okay.

You helped him put on his jacket after he took the medication and then left. Before leaving you talked to Chan while Hyunjin was distracted.

- Chan, keep an eye on Hyune. He said his stomach doesn't feel good.

- Because of the coffee right?

- Yeah...

- Okay.

You went on your car, just to be safe, something deep inside you said that things might go south.

The ride in the van had Hyunjin complaining every now and then that his stomach was churning and he kept drinking water in attempts to ease it.

By the time they arrived at the recording, he felt really bad, his stomach was churning as if someone had lit it on fire and the nausea at the pit wasn't helping.

- Hyung...my stomach doesn't feel good...

- Do you want to wait in the car for a while? Maybe going inside, plus the cameras will make you feel more anxious.

- Can I?

- Sure.

- Can you call y/n to come stay with me?

- Yeah.

You had parked away from where they were for safety reasons and would go inside the building from the back. Then you got a call from Chan.

- Y/n, are you here yet?

- Yes. I'm at the back.

- Can you stay with Hyunjin for a while in the car? He is not feeling well.

- It's his stomach again, right?

- yeah. I'll tell the manager to get close to where you are.

- All right.

The van pulled up next to a sidewalk, further from the reporters and cameras and you got into the car and sat by his side.

- Oh baby.

- Babe, it hurts...it's churning...

- Did you drink water?

- A whole bottle...I feel nauseous too...

- Oh Hyune...don't do that again okay. No coffee on an empty stomach.

- Understood.

He just sank into the seat, closed his eyes, and started to take deep breaths. He rested a hand on his stomach and kept whimpering all the time.

- babe, why don't you throw up? If it's making you feel that miserable?

- I don't want to...I don't like it...

- I know that but maybe it'll help.

- Can you help me? I feel nauseous but not to the point of throwing up. Like, I can feel something in the pit of my stomach.

- Yeah.

He sunk into the seat again and you placed a hand on his tummy. You began rubbing it in circles at first, providing some comfort but earning a few whimpers and grunts from him.

You then changed the approach and moved to the pit of his stomach and gently pressed down.

- Ugh...

He grunted, shifting his position and squeezing his eyes.

- I'm sorry...hang on just a little more

You continued to press down on his stomach and both of you could feel it revolting. His mouth started watering with a foul taste mixed, so he started swallowing convulsively until his mouth became numb and clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.

- Hyune...don't fight it. It's best to let it out.

He just nodded a no and squeezed his eyes again. You insisted on your approach, knowing it probably would be better if he got it out of his system.

His mouth started watering again, he could feel something rushing up his chest and a foul taste in his mouth. He gagged wetly into his hand.

- I'm gonna throw up

He said turning to his side, quickly opening the door, and bending over as a stream of pale brown liquid gushed out of his mouth onto the sidewalk. You got out of the car, went to his side to hold his hair, and rubbed his back as he threw up one more time.

- There you go. Get it all out.

He was sitting on the edge of the van, head ducked, you holding his hair. He had a string of saliva hanging from his mouth which he spat out and then took deep breaths. He gagged unproductively a few times before you decided to move your hands to his stomach again and press it and it helped. He burped wetly and another wave came out mixing with the putrid mess on the sidewalk. He choked and coughed a few times, triggering another harsh wave that arched his back painfully and made him go red from effort.

- Oh my god, Baby...

You said patting his back to help him get everything out which triggered another wave. After that, he was dry heaving and spitting out thick saliva.

- Here, rinse your mouth.

You said handing him a water bottle. He spat out and gave it back to you and then leaned on your leg.

- I really don't feel good...

- Want me to call Chan?

- Yeah...I think I'll throw up again...I just wanna go home...

- Okay, baby.

You said stroking his head while he still leaned on you and then grabbed your phone.

- Hey, Chan?

- Oh, y/n. How's it going there?

- Yeah, so...he threw up a few times.

- Really!? How's he feeling now?

- He said he really doesn't feel well. I think I'll take him home for the day. He can't perform like this, he can end up vomiting on stage.

- Okay. I'll tell the boys and the manager. We'll release a statement later.

- Okay. Bye.

- Bye-bye.

You turned your attention back to Hyunjin.

- Let's go home. I'll take you to mine, okay?

- Okay.

- Can you stand?

- if you help me...

You wrapped your arms around him, carefully helped him up, and waited a few seconds until he was steady and guided him to your car.

You settled him, buckled his seatbelt grabbed a plastic bag you had in your glove box a handed it to him.

The drive home had him throw up two times but thankfully you didn't have to pull over. Getting home, he took a bath and then lay down on your lap on the couch, a blanket covering him while you stroked his hair and left a bucket nearby just in case.

You decided to break the ice and joke a little bit and it worked.

- Babe?

- Hm?

- Want some coffee?

You said laughing.

- NO!

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ellynightray · 5 months

Text

Okay. So.

Since we're heading into the finale I decided to just put it out there. I haven't exactly been that much into the whole CX-2 discussion and I honestly don't know if they're going to address that or not but since everyone has been making predictions and we have so many theories... I really wish (if he's addressed at all in the finale) that CX-2 turns out to be Cody.

It simply just makes sense from a narrative standpoint and I had a whole discussion about it with my bestie and it just would make sense and bring just the right amount of drama and angst to the finale of The Bad Batch + it could be an amazing plot point of a future clone series if they decide to go with that.

Cody is not only a person known by the members of the bad batch but he also has a connection to Rampart (who's with them on Tantiss for the finale. I just can't imagine him being there for no reason, that would just be so random??) and Rex (if he somehow appears in the finale). There's a storyline there, spanning from the previous season with Crosshair asking about Cody and Rampart telling him that Cody's gone awol, there's Echo who would probably be deeply hurt and confused if it was Cody who was on the other side, actively targeting them and there's even the fact that Cody is pretty freaking tough to beat and so is CX-2 from what we've seen. If Rex somehow gets to Tantiss, then there's of course that as well, but even if he doesn't there's enough reasons. Cody knows them personally and they know him, some of them have a history with him (Crosshair, Echo) and I just can't get it out of my head that Rampart is there and he was the last one to know sth or say sth about Cody, like I'm sorry but it would simply make sense. Plus knowing what CX-2 did on Teth, it just adds more pain to this.

And him being CX-2 doesn't take away from any of the future projects because this here, now, this is the beginning of the fight with the empire. If they can save him (in a future series focused on Rex, Gregor, Wolffe and co. for example) then that leaves the door open for any of our aus and for the producers to do whatever they want with him in future projects (including the scrapped tatooine husbands). Him being CX-2 not only doesn't take away from anything but it also adds some beautiful drama, angst, pain, suffering, whatever you want to call it and it could make the reveal so much more interesting and compelling!!

Of course I know people want it to be Tech but... As much as I miss him and love him and I would want nothing more but for him to be there with them, I don't want him to be CX-2. It would be, for the lack of a better word, too obvious and too boring. Plus I don't want that for him. I also think it's just too late for him to be revealed as CX-2, that kind of thing should have been done earlier, not in the finale, especially when we have so many other loose ends we need to tie in. I just think, as much as I hate it, that his death was meaningful and brining him back to life would take away from the finale of the 2nd season and from the journey the others are on, ever since his sacrifice.

So yeah. Whatever happens in the finale, I enjoyed the ride and our little game of 'guess who' with CX-2~~

—————————————————————

Edit:

Well shit.

#star wars #tbb #the bad batch #tbb spoilers #the bad batch spoilers #tbb cx 2

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ravs6709 · 19 days

Text

Brilliant Muse- Yoohankim

Word count: 2.1k words

or: read on ao3 here!

For @orv-gotcha-for-gaza!!! Prompt was yhk high school au, and I couldn't help but think of @/jomeimei421's yhk post so i couldn't not write it. Lemme be real i'm a vv tame person (unlike these fucking freaks) and so it's a little hard for me to write them but like. it's also so fun??? ty @sarcasticmirage for providing the prompt!!

its mostly pre-relationship but i did add a post getting together snippet for funsies <3, its a 3+1 (+1) style fic, lots of sillies

God I wish I knew more webnovel tropes. But so far orv is my first and only webnovel so cant say tm about leaning into clichés...

Warnings: swearing, minors making jokes about sex

•~•~•~•~•~•

“Han Sooyoung,” Kim Dokja said, placing his phone down on his desk. “What is wrong with you?”

“What the fuck did I do???” she asked, teeth already bared at him.

He sighed, resting his elbow on the desk and placing his chin into his palm. “Yoo Joonghyuk would not say that.”

“Who the fuck told you this was Yoo Joonghyuk, stop fantasizing about him you freak—”

“His name is Yoo Joonhyun, you are so uncreative—”

“Say that again, I dare you—”

He didn’t even have time to respond before she reached across the desk, hands grabbing at collar. When he pried one of her hands off, she scratched at his hands. What was the need for nails that long in the first place? Kim Dokja was convinced she grew them out with the express purpose of torturing him. It wasn’t like she ever let her nails stay long for an extended period of time, so clearly it wasn’t for some aesthetic purpose.

“We’re in a library,” he reminded her.

Her grip loosened on his collar, pulling them away with a sigh. “Fine, we’re leaving. My place. And I’ll buy us snacks.” She reached into her backpack and fished out a whole stack of bills.

“How gracious of you to spend your hard-earned money on me,” he said, picking up his backpack. “Always humbled to be in your rich presence.”

“I could always just buy for myself.”

“Do it, then.”

About half an hour later, they arrived in her room, tossed the bag of snacks they’d bought off to the side of the bed and sat down.

“Why are you writing Yoo Joonghyuk fanfiction?” Kim Dokja asked, getting straight to the point.

Her cheeks puffed and her jaw clenched. “His name is Yoo Joonhyun.”

“Still too close.”

“Whatever. You keep talking about him every day, so I’m writing out the fantasies I know you’ve been having about him.”

He gagged. He never once thought of Yoo Joonghyuk like that.

“Yeah, I’d gag too. The fuck is your deal with him anyway, huh? You’ve got his name haunting my nightmares and shit. Be grateful I’m catering to your dogshit taste. Nobody else would ever write your Yoo Joonghyuk fanfiction."

He raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were insisting that it wasn’t?”

He instinctively raised his arms to block an impending lunge but to his surprise, she didn’t charge at him like a wild animal.

“This shit is specialized for you, you better appreciate it well, you asshole.”

He opened up his phone again, looking back at the first chapter draft that she’d sent him. It wasn’t nearly as polished as all of her other stories she’d written and posted were, but…

“Are you going to continue writing it?” he asked.

After a few seconds, she crossed her arms. “I’m sure I can find time for at least a chapter a week. You know, ‘cause I’m a genius writer.”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

~•~•~•~•~•

⸢Yoo Joonhyun faced the constellations and smirked. “If you want to play games, then fine. I’ll play your games, hahaha.”

He was the <Ruler of Amusement> after all, there was no game that Supreme King would ever lose.⸥

“Hey, why’d you stop scrolling?” Han Sooyoung asked, frowning at him.

He frowned back. “Why is he laughing?”

She sighed. “Of course you wouldn’t understand. Don’t you get it? No, of course he would never normally laugh like that. But do you ever think about how Yoo Joonghyuk would feel throughout his lives? Gaming is his comfort, given that he always wins.”

He ignored how she didn’t even call her character by the proper name. ‘His name is Yoo Joonhyun’, what a joke. “I still don’t think he would laugh like that.”

“You’ve seriously got no sense of a character’s emotions, you know that? I’m a writer, I know full well.”

“I’m a reader.”

She scoffed. “Yeah yeah, I know that. Ugh. Whatever, I’ll maybe see to reword the scene, though I make no promises.”

He hummed, reading it over and now further on. The more he read on, the more he imagined being Yoo Joonghyuk, the more he could almost see her vision. Almost. At the very least, he could see where she was coming from. Han Sooyoung said nothing else, and he could feel her gaze heavy on him as he continued to leave comment after comment on the document.

Once he was done, she nodded, seemingly satisfied.

~•~•~•~•~•

As she figured, from the smug, cackling guys exiting the alleyway—the cackling pissed her off, so she beat them up—Han Sooyoung found Kim Dokja on the ground in said area. She stood a few metres from him as he composed himself, brushing off a few loose pebbles from his jacket.

Ugh. Annoying. Did he think being blank faced made him look cool or something? He looked pitiful, if anything. Every day she questioned why she hung around with a loser like him.

“Quit trying to act like Yoo Joonghyuk,” she said, turning out the alley.

“I'm not him,” he scoffed, “why would I ever want to act like that bastard?”

Despite his words, Han Sooyoung knew what he was probably thinking. He very much wanted to be Yoo Joonghyuk—pretty faced, strong muscles, whatever things men were aspiring to have and all that. But more importantly, to be untouchable. Nobody messed with Yoo Joonghyuk.

Probably because he's too much of an asshole for people to want to bother with, she thought.

“Ugh, speaking of him,” she said, walking on. “He’s been getting more fangirls lately. I've been seeing more people talk about him, and follow him around.”

“I know. People have been learning about his gaming and tournaments.”

“Right. You'd know, you're his number one fangirl.”

“I'm not a fangirl.”

“Sorry, number one stalker.”

“I don't stalk him.”

She rolled her eyes, even though she knew he wouldn't be able to see it. “Where's his place, from here?”

She turned to him. Obviously he wouldn't answer it, so it was up to staring at his dumb face in order to read him. Which didn't really say much, but she figured that he did know anyway.

“Whatever. I'm turning him into an animal for a few chapters, got suggestions?”

He hummed. “A wolf, maybe?”

She turned to him, disgusted. “I'm not fueling your omegaverse fantasies. I don't need your sex dreams, don't even tell me which you want him to—”

“Han Sooyoung, why was your first thought omegaverse?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Don't make him a cat, I can already tell you were going to project—”

“If I was a furry, I wouldn't be a cat, I'd be a dragon, excuse you. But I guess a wolf would fit Yoo Joonghyuk.”

~•~•~•~•~•

Han Sooyoung had just recently finished her next chapter—a more action-packed one. Honestly? Not her greatest stuff, but Kim Dokja seemed to be eating it up.

Of course, even a good author needed to make use of scenes with less emotional value or common tropes. It was about tying it all together, relating to the themes of the story. And Han Sooyoung was a genius of an author, so naturally Kim Dokja would enjoy what she wrote. She'd have to kill him if he didn't, given she put too much effort into writing it.

“Why Yoo Joonghyuk, specifically?” she asked.

He glanced up at her briefly, then went back to his little fanfiction.

“There's plenty of strong guys in the school. Or girls. Like Jung Heewon or whatever,” she continued.

He still didn't bother looking up at her. “Don't involve Heewon-ssi in your writing, she doesn't deserve that kind of treatment.”

Annoying.

“I bet I could take Yoo Joonghyuk on.”

“He goes to the gym, three times a week, and practices kendo with Heewon-ssi. The most I ever see you do is an occasional jog.”

“First off, fuck you. Second, you know I can fight, I beat up people all the time.” Beat up the people who bully you, went unsaid. “Yeah, he has size, and knows kendo, but this is a fistfight, and I will bite him."

“Gross. Don't tell me about your biting kink—”

She shoved her chair back and dove at him, hands grabbing at his collar. “Wanna die??? Want me to prove how strong I am?”

“Han—”

In the blink of an eye, her hands were pried away. She was spun around, hands now grabbing at her collar, lifting up with a stupid amount of ease.

“The hell are—”

Her eyes flitted up to see a face she hated. Stupid pretty face belonging to an asshole.

“Are you Han Sooyoung.”

She flailed, clawing at his arm, but he didn't even flinch. Bastard. What the hell was his arm made out of, metal?

“I assume you are,” Yoo Joonghyuk continued.

He turned to look at the side, and she followed his gaze, realizing that there were many pairs of eyes on them. From Kim Dokja on the floor staring up with pathetic, awestruck eyes, to Yoo Joonghyuk holding her in the air, they were drawing too much attention.

He seemed to think the same thing, leaving the library, still carrying her. What the fuck, why was he acting like she was just a bag of rice? He full on walked outside of the school, pushing her against a wall.

“I have questions,” he said.

She couldn’t even move her body enough to bite his fingers off, damn it. She gave up, looking up at his eyes. “Fine. Go on. Ask.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Why are you stalking and spreading information about me.”

“Huh? I’m not spreading anything about you—”

“Someone leaked the fact that I’m going into gaming.”

You weren’t exactly keeping it that much of a secret, she wanted to say, but held in her tongue. Kim Dokja barely had to do anything to find that out. “Your name would spread eventually the more you play. And that wasn’t me—”

He leaned closer, hands gripping tighter. “I know it was you. I have asked many people, and it all eventually leads to you.”

She sighed. “I’m not stalking you, and I don’t have a need to know whatever bullshit you do in your spare time, leave me alone.”

A second. Two. “You’re ly—”

Kim Dokja ran into the area, panting. And he had the nerve to insult her physical capabilities.

“Why are you here.”

Kim Dokja’s stupid wide eyes finally shone more normal. “What?”

“Wasn’t she bullying you. Why are you back. Leave. I have business with her.”

“Kim Dokja, fuck off,” she said. She was definitely gonna fight this guy, but she didn’t need Kim Dokja to see the possibility of her losing.

Yoo Joonghyuk turned back to her. “Because of you, people think that I am… a furry. They will not leave me alone.”

She blinked, twice, three times. “Pft. Don’t be rude to the furry community.” She knew full well how this whole thing was going. “Wolf? Be grateful you’re not something worse—” wait, shit, “not that it’s my fault.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t know shit about you, leave me alone.”

He glared, then lowered her down. “I am going to keep a close eye on you. Both of you.” He added, glancing at the silent Kim Dokja, then turned around and dramatically left. She could imagine an imaginary cape or trenchcoat swishing.

Ugh. She needed to avoid him at all costs.

~•~•~•~•~•

(He stuck annoyingly close. Closer than he ever had the right to be.)

~•~•~•~•~•

(Han Sooyoung opened her laptop, loading up one of her older documents. She pinched Kim Dokja’s side, trying to get his attention. As always, he was on his phone. She pinched him again, then turned her screen to face him better. “Should I rewrite this? Yoo Joonghyuk is too lame to say things like I wrote.”

“Didn’t I tell you he would not say that?”

“I’m talking about the shit you did approve of.” She huffed, leaning in to bite the exposed skin at his side.

He shoved her off of his lap. “Don’t bite me.”

“Too bad. As I was saying, I need to rewrite Yoo Joonhyun’s—”

“Are you two still writing that bullshit.”

She looked up, saw him towering over them. “What, you think I stopped just because you found out about it? A certain reader here is still desperate.”

“Don’t blame me for what you write.”

Yoo Joonghyuk turned to Kim Dokja. He bent down. “I am right here.”

Han Sooyoung watched as he placed a firm kiss to his lips, the resulting noise muffled. “Gross. Keep that to yourselves.”

He turned to look at her again, then walked away. He didn’t even kiss her. Bastard.)

•~•~•~•~•~•

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