#don't worry Caleb made it up to him

[ariadne-mouse]

For anyone needing a laugh, here's a doodle from last year that never made it to a post.

truly Essek is doing great, it's just, Caleb has been obsessively looking for that particular scarf all day

[ara-the-great]

One call away

Tw: slight reference to lores, slight gore (if you squint) fever and delirium, abandonment issues

(here is the request I got for Zayne and Sylus angst. I didn't know what to write so I added my own trauma. I HAVE NOT PROOF READ THIS)

You don't remember most of your childhood. Not that you cared much. The oldest thing in your memory that you could find was screams, the screams staying with your Grandma and Caleb but that too was well into your mid or late teens.

Even then you didn't have many friends, actually you had no one except Caleb. All of them either bullied you or abandoned you, they didn't care about you . You were desperate for any sort of connection as a child and as a adult.

Your dating scene was similar. Though you only had one relationship before you joined the hunters association. Even that was far from a good one. And now when you look back at it you couldn't remember much there either, you had cried so much, so damn much but still he left.

It's only after joining the association that your life started to look up. It was a new start for you. A new environment, new friends do you think they like you? and new opportunities.

You always kept your problems to yourself. You didn't want to make others worry for nothing. It's not like anyone was close enough to tell these problems anyway.

When this mysterious fever started developing you thought you could ignored it, just power though it, right? Wrong.

You could barely stand up. Slipping in and out of consciousness. Your body felt like it was being baked from the inside out. Yet it felt like your limbs were freezing off. You needed help to at least get to the hospital.

Even thinking of the hospital made you feel worse. You could practically smell the antiseptic scent of the sterile rooms. What if something is really wrong with you and you need surgery? Under the harsh flood lights and white coats and screams and they'll kill you this time. They'll hurt you. They will cut you open with a knife.

Sylus

You jolted awake shaking, you can't stop shaking. No one can save you this time. For all you know that kind-hearted boy who helped you is dead. For all you knew his body was stained as red as his eyes.

He answered "look who it is, I didn't think I'd be fortunate enough to get your call today kitten". You weren't sure when you had called Sylus but you already had. You didn't know what to say let alone why you called him. Could he even help? Suddenly you remembered the aether core. Maybe this fever was related to this. Maybe-

"kitten are you alright?" His voice sounded gruff but gave you so much comfort. But you wouldn't want to disturb him. He probably would hate you for it.

"I'm sorry i- I mistakenly called you" you managed to rasp out. Still shaking

"you don't sound well. Are you sick? Where are you?" He spoke cautiously. You weren't sure how he knew. Not sure that you cared because before you could answer a calm swept you into unconsciousness.

You woke up to someone opening your door. Shit shit shit shit shit shit . Someone was here. An intruder was here. You could barely get up and out of bed before stumbling onto the ground, your gun was nowhere to be seen. You kept trying to think where you kept it but you came up blank. You rummaged through your bedside table trying to find something to defend yourself with but your cold shaky hands weren't making it easier. The person outside had started to open your bedroom door when you found a blunt craft scissor which you held up towards whoever was inside. Your sight was blurry and your heart was beating in your ears like a war drum but you could recognize a tall figure approaching. You weren't going to let them take you back. you have to fight. You have to

"DONT COME ANY CLOSER! GET OUT IM NOT GOING BACK I WONT HESITATE TO KILL YOU DON'T YOU DARE TAKE ANOTHER STEP!" You screamed as loud as you possibly could. Tears ran down your face as you shook with what can be only described as pure terror. Scenes from the past kept flashing in your head. You could practically feel every damn cut they cut into you as a child.

You were sobbing and shaking curled up in a corner from fear and yet you kept the knife held up. It tore Sylus's heart apart to see you like this again. In the blink of an eye he was kneeling in front of you cowering form trying to reach out.

"Sweetie, Y/N please it's me. Calm down it's ok you are safe. Look at me. Shh look it's me Sylus. Its ok I won't take you anywhere, I won't hurt you." He held you in his arms even though you were wildly trying to stab him for a second. His normally smooth voice wavered and cracked.

"S-sylus? I- someone is in the house!" You deliriously mumbled from the high fever.

"kitten it was me. I came over because I was worried when you stopped talking over the phone. It seems like I was right to worry. You are burning up what happened?"

"I think I have a fever. It's ok though, I'll be ok" you said calming down. You leaned into his touch as he held you against his chest. His heartbeat was almost as rapid as yours.

"my love, I don't think you will be fine your fever feels well over 105. Why aren't you at a hospital? Why didn't you call anyone? Why didn't you call me sooner?"

"i didn't think you would come"

"all you need to do is say my name and I'll be there for you. Now come, let's get you to the clinic"

You shook your head trying to insist you were fine but the worry in his eyes only made you reconsider your choice

"Can you tell me why you don't want to go?" His eyes and his voice were lulling you to sleep again

"scared" your voice was barely a whisper. You could feel yourself slip into unconsciousness yet again.

When you came to you weren't in your house. Just before you could panic you felt sylus talk. His arms still around you like a shield from everything you were afraid of.

"it's ok you are with me. I'm here. I bought you to the N109 zone. You needed to see a doctor so I called one to my house. So no hospital, don't worry." Sylus explained without you even asking.

"thank you" you said quietly, feeling ashamed of the scene you caused earlier.

"For?" He asked with a brow quirked up.

"For not asking what all that was, and for bringing me here and also for taking care of me."

He laughed softly "You don't need to thank me for taking care of you. I always take care of what's mine." His eyes were ever so soft as he brushed away your hair from your face. "Now sleep. You are still sick"

"but I feel a bit bet-"

"Sleep kitten. I'll take care of everything else" he said softly kissing your forehead.

Zayne

You stared at your phone contemplating whether or not you should call Zayne. Though you were in a relationship you couldn't just disturb him. He was a busy guy. He had surgeries and more serious patients to take care of.

Your phone began ringing. Speak of the devil.

"Y/N? This is zayne. Are you alright? This is the second time you missed your appointment this week." His cool voice sounded across the phone.

"zayne, ah I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just have a bit of a fever."

" A fever? That gives you more reasons to come over to the clinic does it not? Do not worry about the appointments. I'm coming to pick you up. Are you at your apartment?"

"Zayne its truly not necessary I don't want to burden yo-"

"Rubbish, I was already headed out. So do not worry about burdening me. Worry about taking care of yourself" he cut the call before you could try to persuade him that you were fine. You were just grateful that someone was there. Even though zayne had abandoned you before. He didn't care about you. It was his job as a doctor to care for his patients.

You didn't realise when you had slipped into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness.

But by the time you had woken up your skin felt like it was burning from the fever. This wasn't normal. Glancing over at the clock you saw it was around 1 am. Zayne wasn't here yet. Why did you expect he would be here? You knew not to trust in what people say so why was your eyes tearing up?

As your fever kept increasing it became harder and harder to move around, it was painful to even sit up. He had abandoned you again. Your ex was right. You were annoying and in the end everyone would leave you. Nobody could ever love you.

The memory of zayne flashed across your mind. He had promised to always look after you. To be there for you.

You gritted your teeth kept mumbling "it's ok. I'll be ok" to yourself like a mantra as you somehow got a coat on your back to head to the hospital. You weren't sure how you'd reach there but the first step was to get out. Every promise that has been made to me has been a lie why would this one not be?

Just as you were about to get out of your room, your door softly swung open, revealing Zayne with an apron and a tray of soup in his hands. He seemed taken abac. But perhaps not as much as you.

"And where are you going? You shouldn't be up with such a high fever." He said as he kept the soup on the table. His cold eyes were filled with worry. Even seeing him had you breaking down into tears.

He scrambled to hold you as you collapsed on the floor crying. "What happened, where does it hurt?" He hurriedly measured your pulse and fever trying to find any sort of answer from your incoherent sobbing.

"Wh-when, when did you get here" you managed to croak out once you had calmed down a bit

"I got here long ago but since you were sleeping I didn't want to wake you. I was in the kitchen making soup for the fever, knowing you, your stomach is empty." He said as he slowly settled you into your bed.

As he turned around to bring the soup he meticulously made for you, you grabbed the back of his finely pressed shirt, "don't leave. Please don't leave, please stay. Please. I would die if you left me." you kept begged in your fever induced delirium. It broke Zaynes once frozen heart to see such fear and pain in your eyes.

He slowly leaned over to kiss you on the forehead "I won't. I'm just getting your soup. You need to eat something if you want to get better. You can't have medicine on an empty stomach"

Throughout the rest of the night Zayne diligently fed you and took care of you. And when you found it hard to sleep he would cradle you in his arms and read out his medical papers to distract you from your thoughts.

"I'm here, I'm here sweetheart, it will be ok. I'm not going to leave even if the gods demand me to" he comforted you every time you jolted awake. He would be whispering words of comfort to you till you fell asleep again and continue telling you how much he would give up for you. This treatment would go on for days, till you recovered. And even though you didn't remember how you begged him to stay, he would reassure you that he'd be there for you whenever he could.

[seoliee]

Married with the LaD Men

Yeah I can't think of a title for this one.

These are just my headcanons on what they would be like as a partner for life. Enjoy!

Oh and no Caleb in this one. Sorry :<

Have you ever wondered what it's like being married to them?

Word Count: 1.5k words

— XAVIER : Adorably Clumsy

• Xavier just got back from a 3 day mission when he was stopped by Captain Jenna herself. At first he thought that perhaps she's about to give him another mission and was ready to decline it, but the thought was quickly demolished when she informed him that you had gotten sick and ordered to stay at home since a day ago.

• Xavier who accidentally slams the bedroom door open and woken you up from your peaceful slumber. You wanted to smack him, but was unable to do so as your body was still far too weak.

• Xavier who gazed down at you with worry, placing a kiss on your forehead and head out of the room.

• Xavier came back holding a tray in his hands. "I made you something." His words were more than enough to send a chill down your spine and force you awake once again.

• Xavier who helped you sit up and sets down a steaming bowl of porridge with chopped chives on top. You looked down on the seemingly normal looking food then went up to look at his innocent and angelic face that waits for you to take a bite. It almost felt like a criminal offense to decline his goodwill.

• Xavier who's face turns into worry as your face almost went stone like after taking one spoonful of the porridge he made. "It's not good... isn't it?" He asks, almost deflated. You on the other hand, shook your head for a 'no' as you felt guilty seeing that he went through the effort of cooking despite not even being out of his hunter uniform yet. So you tried your best to swallow it down despite the salty taste. You were about to take another bite when he took the spoon and bowl away from you. "You don't have to force yourself, Love. You might get even more sick."

• Xavier sets down a plate with four no crusts sandwiches, replacing the salty concoction he made. "I made custard cream sandwiches. Hope you like them more." He sees the twinkle in your eyes upon seeing the sandwiches and watched with great adoration as you gobbled up one piece in no time. It's great to know you have an appetite.

• Xavier who's face becomes mildly pale when you asked about the state of the kitchen. "I'll.. clean it afterwards..." That was all the answer you needed to know. Confirming your hunches that the kitchen is in ruins.

— ZAYNE : Signs

• Zayne although, not an expert in the field, have seen certain signs that peaked his attention. Recently, you've been asking him to buy certain types of sour and sweet treats. You, having a sweet tooth is not new to him, but having a particular taste for sour treats is one.

• Zayne who watches you combine a kiwi fruit with a slab of peanut butter on top and ate it with a delightful expression. He continues to watch as you repeat the process and practically devour half of the kiwi pack and empty the peanut butter jar in half. You finally noticed him, and offer one which he merely shook his head for a no and continues to read his book, still giving you side glances from time to time.

• Zayne who noticed you were beginning to become quite sluggish. Often, refusing to get up from the bed to declining his proposals of going out on a date during his time off. It was all too strange to him as you would usually be always on your feet and is the one who always bugs him to go out despite his busy work schedule.

• Zayne while even at work, his thoughts were filled of you and your strange behavior. A nurse came in to deliver the documents of his patients for the day, and did some small talk with him while gathering the results he have finished to make. He doesn't usually entertain such things in a workspace, but the topic of a fellow nurse's pregnancy caught his attention.

• Zayne asked the nurse about certain signs, but not disclosing it was from you. A flicker of emotion appears in his eyes before returning back to normal as the nurse confirmed that it might be a sign of pregnancy, but added that it would be wiser to take a test.

• Zayne admits to himself that he has hunches that your strange behaviors might be exhibiting signs that you are indeed pregnant. Considering that after being married, the two of you were rather active. He merely needed one more confirmation from a second party about the signs before proceeding to visit a pharmacy on the way back from his lunch break to buy a test.

• Zayne who had come home after a busy day of work. He sees you slouched down on the couch, eating a tub of ice cream. You looked up at him, holding a spoon on your mouth and greeted him with a smile. "Welcome home, honey~"

• Zayne sets down the paper bag with a thud on top of the coffee table and sat down beside her. He places a hand on the exposed part of your thigh and looks at you with the most serious face he ever shown you. You were confused and already forgotten about the ice cream, asking him if something is wrong. After quite some time, he finally told you. "I think you're pregnant." He hands you a pregnancy test box, you took it despite being dumbfounded.

• Zayne who's eyes were slightly wide open upon hearing your next words. "But.. I just got my period..." His lips were parted, now the one who looks so puzzled. He brings up your strange behaviors in which you replied with a laugh. "Oh I see. Sometimes I become like that whenever my period is near."

• Zayne who somewhat felt down and didn't noticed that you reached out to the paper bag and took out its contents. Your eyes softened upon seeing books about pregnancy, taking care of a baby, and parenting. The books were then snatched from you, switching your attention back to him who tried his best to hide his flustered expression with a cough. You thought that he must've felt excited about you being pregnant and had bought these despite not being confirmed yet. You felt bad, and leaned closer to him. "You know that we have all the time in world to try again, right?" Your voice and words was enough to soothe his initial disappointment as a smile finally curls up to his lips. "You're right."

"You know! I heard that doing it while on period has the highest ch—"

"Don't even continue it."

— RAFAYEL : Serene Canvas

• Rafayel who proposed the idea of them spending their valuable time off in doing some painting. Saying that being productive is better than lounging around. You, on the other hand, had no qualms about painting, but not exactly confident with it either.

• Rafayel who already painted a beautiful scenery as the background of his painting while you, have just finished painting the sky and a little bit of nick nacks on the bottom.

• Rafayel who peaked at your painting, and proceeds to say. "Amazing, Amore. Those clouds look like soft marshmallows and the trees are.. um.. uniquely abstract." You, looked at him with the most blank face you could muster and say. "Those trees are supposed to be people..."

• Rafayel who's face goes blank, looking back at the painting, analyzing the 'trees' once more. He could've sworn those looked more like what he described. He looked back at you, taking in the way your hair cascaded your face and looking upset despite trying hard not to.

• Rafayel comes up with a solution and says. "Anyways.. you're doing an amazing job, Amore. Who knew you'd have an artistic side." You, only scowled at him, and out of spite points the red dipped bristles of the paintbrush on his cheek and made a one clean stroke.

• Rafayel blinks in bewilderment, feeling the wet bristles brush against his skin and the red paint trickling down. Soon, you snorted, soon a wholehearted laugh came. The initial annoyance you felt dissipated.

• Rafayel who cannot help, but share a warm chuckle as he gazes down at you with the most softened eyes ever. Though, the little bit of mischief in them is visible. He dipped his paintbrush, and then proceeds to make a clean stroke of blue on your cheek, making you yelp in surprise at the cold sensation. His thin lips curled into a mischievous smirk. "Now, we're even."

• Rafayel who laughs wholeheartedly as both of you take playful jabs of paintbrush towards each other, and practically covering yourselves in paint. While you were trying to reach your paintbrush at him, the stool you've been sitting on went out balance and knock yourself off of it, dragging him with you down on the floor.

• Rafayel who still laughs despite the mess that both of you made on his study. His tall and broad frame hovers above you, gazing at you with love filled eyes. He intertwines his hand with yours, a teasing smirk curls up to his lips. "I think that's enough painting for now..."

"I'd like to explore the canvas underneath me more."

[chaos-in-deepspace]

Driving With The LADS | Crack

So for some unknown reason, people are terrified of being in the same car as me when I'm driving. It's an enigma since I'm an amazing driver. With that being said, I decided to write this with some of my favorite (and common) driving maneuvers alongside how the LADs react to it. These are all taking place in a four person car (because I can't drive a motorcycle...yet).

Disclaimer: This is an original fan work for “Love and Deepspace”. Do not repost on other platforms or plagiarize. All characters shown in this fic is 18+. Warnings: Bad Driving (Apparently)

Blog Information | Masterlist

Xavier

It wasn't often that you and Xavier were in the same car together. Normally you guys would just be walking everywhere, or take a taxi. In certain circumstances, he would just teleport the two of you. So this was a bit of a treat. Xavier had readily allowed you to drive the two of you around so he could possibly take a nap on the way to your destination.

It had been a straight shot for literal miles as you relaxed in the driver's seat, one hand on the steering wheel and the other fumbling with the music. It wasn't very busy at the moment on the road, so you weren't paying a crazy amount of attention; the car was even on cruise control.

Then you had to make a turn up ahead. Xavier had been dozing off in the passenger seat next to you, occasionally his eyes fluttering open when he heard you cursing under your breath about the bad drivers around you.

He was pretty relaxed with you around the wheel...until that first turn. You were going about 70mph and slowed down only a little bit as you made the sharp turn. Xavier's entire body went flying for a moment from how harsh it was. He gripped onto the handle above his chair and looked at you.

"What was that, did something happen?" The blonde was now fully awake as he asked this.

"Oh don't worry, I just made a turn." You said as you approached the next turn, doing the same thing. Xavier was thankfully still grasping the safety handle so he didn't go flying into you this time. He still looked terrified.

"Don't you think we should slow down for those turns?" He asked, swallowing the lump of anxiety in his throat. How had he never noticed how terrifying you were when driving? Your completely relaxed demeanor was simply a lie as the demon in you surfaced.

You turned over and gave him a confused look, "Why should I? I'm saving on gas." You pointed out. Xavier's jaw dropped a bit as he slowly regained himself.

"Saving...gas?"

"Ya, if you don't stop that much, you don't have to accelerate as much. You save on gas. It's simple." You said, making another sharp turn and Xavier had to bite his tongue to not make a noise.

"Hey, perhaps I should drive us the rest of the way." He finally offered, wondering when you could pull over.

"Nah, I'm good. You go back to sleep."

"I insist."

Zayne

Zayne was used to driving you around, it was one of his favorite things actually. Knowing you were safe in the passenger's seat and he could make sure you arrived at your destination without a hitch. He did have another motivation for being the driver, however.

It was the fact that Caleb ratted you out about being a bad driver.

It had been a conversation in passing. Caleb and Zayne didn't talk as often as they did as children, but on occasion they'd meet up. When you got your driver's license, Caleb had been with you. He told Zayne about your...terrifying antics on the road. Zayne knew it had been years since that, and you surly had gotten better from a new, teenaged driver. He still didn't want to press his luck.

That was until you forced him to let you drive. You two were going on a small road trip and Zayne ended up staying at the hospital all night and barely had gotten to the apartment when it was time to leave. You told him he just needed to sleep and you'd drive the first leg of the journey.

He was far too tired at that point to even argue, allowing you to take the keys to his car. It wasn't until two hours later that he woke up to your grumbling. A car behind you was trying to get around you, even driving right on your ass and pissing you off.

You, being petty, decided to drive your car at the same exact speed as two semi trucks on either side of you, keeping pace so the fucker behind you couldn't get around. You were grumbling the entire time about how he was an impatient fucker and Zayne sighed.

"You know it's not worth it, just let him get around you and we won't have to worry about seeing him again." He tried convincing you, but you were too far gone.

"Absolutely not. This is a battle of persistence, and I will prevail. Fucker isn't getting around me. I was literally already speeding." You said, as you continued at your relaxed pace. The car behind you was still on your ass, and you briefly saw them flipping you off.

"Oh this fucker did not just flip me off." You gasped, looking in the rear view mirror.

Zayne called your name out in warning, seeing the feral look in your eyes.

"Imma break check this whore." You finally said, making Zayne jolt up.

"Don't." Not only was Zayne worried about his car, but at the speed and how you were sandwiched between two semis...it wouldn't end well.

"He flipped me off, Zayne."

"Which isn't worth dying over."

"Mhm debatable."

Zayne just sighed and you watched the car get behind one of the semis now and you chuckled. That semi was passing you up slowly so you decided to continue keeping pace with it. Zayne sighed, looking at your antics. If he had known you'd spend the next two hours fighting another car, he wouldn't just sucked it up and drove.

At least you guys didn't die by the time the other car got off on an exit.

Rafayel

Rafayel was more than happy to be the passenger princess at first. He had nice cars and you had begged him to let you drive since normally he was the one behind the wheel. He was surprised, thinking about how a lot of people hated driving, which is why he defaulted to doing so with you.

So he happily sat down in the passenger seat of his nice sports car while you got in the driver's seat. Rafayel was planning on just scrolling through his phone to find things to do with you the entire drive. You had planned on visiting the next town over so it was a three hour drive, just so you could try a new seafood place. Surly there were more things there than just food though.

The large screen of his car showed a map as the GPS directed you to where you needed to go. You lazily drove, your eyes glancing around and checking your speed. The car could go fast and you fully intended on testing it out later, whether Raf liked it or not.

You turned the music up a bit, enjoying the tunes as you continued down the road. The scenery was beautiful as you took the route that went right past the ocean. You were enjoying it so much that you had spaced out just a bit during the drive.

Rafayel glanced over at the GPS, watching as it was telling you to turn in a few feet. He cleared his throat, getting your attention.

"Yes, baby girl?" You asked and he flushed at the nickname before speaking up.

"You realize we're supposed to be turning right here." Rafayel said as he pointed to the road. "If i had known you'd be so spacy while driving I might've reconsidered your offer." He teased.

You snorted as you saw the turn, "We can still make it." You said with a large grin on your face.

Rafayel didn't know why his blood suddenly ran a bit cold at that announcement, "Wha-AAAAH!" Rafayel's hand went to grasp the "Oh shit" bar as you slammed on the breaks and made the turn. The screeching of the tires was alarming and you could hear a car horn blaring behind you from the angry driver you had unintentionally break checked.

Rafayel had screamed as you made the turn in one piece, the car shifting back as you began driving like you didn't just do that. His heart was pounding in his chest as he turned to you.

"What was that?" He asked frantically, "Are you trying to kill me? I know I ate the last of the seaweed snacks, but this is uncalled for!"

"You did what?" You said and turned to him. Rafayel sucked his lips together, his mouth forming a perfect line as he realized his accidental confession.

"Mister, you're buying me more when we get to the town."

"If we make it there alive..."

"What was that?

"Nothing!"

If anyone was curious, yes these are all things I have literally done while driving...more than once. But I swear I'm safe about it. You can trust me to drive you. Just don't listen to my best friend. She once had a heart attack on the Highway as I literally did what I wrote in Zayne's. Two hours. Two hours of making sure that bitch couldn't pass me. The power I had then...I miss it.

[deadbydangit]

Recently got into Dbd x Reader fics and loving all of the ones you have made so far!

An idea I had is The Unknown attacking the S/O of one of the killers as they are heading to meet up with them (Huntress, Deathslinger, Trickster) and how the Killer would go about saving/protecting S/O from The Unknown.

Thanks for doing what you do!

I believe I can do that. I might switch it up to just their significant other getting attacked. Please enjoy.

Protecting the Reader: Huntress, Deathslinger, Trickster

Huntress

It would take an absolute idiot to hurt Anna.

It would take an absolute moron to hurt someone on a cares about.

She's already lost someone important in her life.

And she couldn't do anything about it.

But now she can.

And she will.

They won't even get a warning.

They hurt you?

Hatchet to the face.

Was it an accident?

Hatchet to the face.

It does not matter.

Anna can get a little too protective at times.

She's always super worried about you.

So much so that it might be hard to make other friends outside of her.

You might need to get her to tone it down a bit.

You just have to understand that she's not willing to lose another important person in her life.

Another thing she'll do is throw herself in the way of harm.

Just so you don't get hurt.

She knows she's tough and can handle it.

Although, she's not invincible and you'll have to remind her of that.

Sometimes, it's minor dumb things.

Like standing in the way of a snowball or something little.

It can be ridiculous at times. Just know it's her way of showing her love.

Deathslinger

Caleb is a little more reasonable.

On one hand, he'll protect you.

On the other hand, he doesn't want you to become too dependent on him.

If you're in danger, he'll come to help you.

But he will stand back and see if you can handle it on your own first.

That's not to say he'll let you get hurt.

He just doesn't want you to become lazy and depend on him too much.

He'll probably teach you how to shoot a gun.

Something he's made especially for you to defend yourself in case of an emergency.

Though it is something smaller and simpler than the Redeemer.

He'll put you through lessons before he lets you even touch it.

You'll have to learn all the parts and how to put it together before your even allowed to shoot anything.

And, being able to defend yourself is good for your confidence.

He couldn't handle a scaredy cat significant other.

If it's something that you can't handle, or you've tried your best and are still In harm's way, you best believe he'll be right there protecting you.

He'll beat the perpetrator to a bloody pulp, and then some.

He'll keep going until you stop him, and you'll have to stop him.

He's trying to make an example out of this person.

"Anyone messes with you, they mess with me."

He's not always the best at showing affection, this is just his way of showing he cares about you.

Trickster

Ji-Woon has more of a hands-off approach.

He's probably going to leave you on your own.

He really isn't much of a fighter aside from throwing knives and swinging a bat around.

If he entered the fray, it would only make things worse.

And it might damage is beautiful face.

He can't have that!

However, he'll leave you with a small supply of knives in case of an emergency.

He isn't the best teacher, and throwing knives can be very difficult.

Instead, he'll show you how to stab people with them just in your hand and all the vital places that would help you defeat your opponent faster and easier.

Now if somebody insults you or is mean to you?

"Bitch, I know you didn't just say what I think you said?"

If you think the person verbally attacking you can talk smack, he can double it.

Easily.

He's amazing at picking out every little flaw that a person has.

And exploiting it.

Drastically.

He's actually trying to make the other person cry.

And he has.

He thrives on that type of stuff.

"Don't worry. As long as I'm around, no one will dare insult you my pretty little s/o."

[retrotrait]

Ep 19

[transcript]

[loud music and chatter] Lizzie: wow literally everyone from our grade is here Lin: Yeah, especially after we win, it gets crowded Lizzie: [whispers] I wonder if Caleb is here Lin: ew, why would you summon that demon Lizzie: he's not always so bad Lin: like when he's sleeping? Lizzie: [chuckles] Liam: hey, you made it! Lin: Holy shit, Liam Marzden is coming towards us Lizzie: real subtle Lin: I love a man in leggings Lizzie: congratulations! you were really good Lin: yeah, you were badass, that lass pass was insane Liam: heh, thank you. Did you have fun? Lizzie: yeah, it was a lot of fun! Liam: good good Random: Yo Lin! Lin: Hey! Be right back Liz Liam: you look cute, I miss the pigtails though Lizzie: do you? I think that's called a fetish Liam: Maybe, but can you blame me? you pull them off so well Lizzie: You don't think they are a bit.... childish? Liam: Not at all! They're adorable Liam: Come with me, I got a spot for us Liam: I still can't believe that was your first football game...you are a senior, right? Lizzie: [laughing] yes, I am! and I don't know, I didn't really have time for football games last year, and the ones before I was too worried about my GPA to think of anything else Liam: hmm, I see. Are you not much of a drinker either? Lizzie: I can't hang, and my mom will kill me if I show up drunk again Liam: again? I missed a good time? Lizzie: yeah actually, I don't think I saw you at Calebs party Liam: oh Caleb...yeah, he's not my biggest fan Lizzie: really? how come, you seem like such a cool guy Liam: umm...I think it's because I dated his ex-girlfriend after him. I'm pretty sure he's just holding a grudge Lizzie: [snorts] oh well, I'd hate you too if you dated my ex Liam: I don't think you could hate anyone pigtails [LOUD SINGING] Liam: is that? Lizzie: Caleb? Lizzie: oh god, he's wasted Liam: how embarrassing from him Lizzie: I-I need to help him before he falls on that glass Liam: what?? Lizzie: CALEB!! [rushes] Lizzie: Caleb can you hear me? Caleb: ish soh col Lizzie: gosh why are you so heavy Caleb: Ryyy an? Lizzie: I'm calling us an uber and taking you home Caleb: sa-and in mouf Lizzie: there, lean on that...better? the uber's on the way Caleb: mmm, [inhales] yew shmel like vanil-a Lizzie: [laughs] okay Caleb: yew sho pwety Lizzie: you're gonna hate yourself for saying that tomorrow...if you remember it' Caleb: [smiles] i zon- izon car, jus dis once [Caleb kissed Lizzie]

Creator note: slow burn not that slow anymore 😉

[mareastrorum]

if essek did it, why do you think he did? i'm at a loss as to how it would benefit him to give her a shiv. (hope my tone doesn't read hostile, i'm genuinely confused)

I haven't taken any of the asks as hostile, so no worries!

The short answer is that Essek would have benefited whether the Scourger succeeded in killing Caleb or not. Longer answer:

To begin with, let's set the stage. In episode 56, the Nein had handed over the beacon, and in 57, the Bright Queen awarded them with emblems that represented their status as heroes of the Dynasty. It was only after the Bright Queen elevated their status in front of the entire court that she assigned Essek (without asking first) to be their "steward" for the time being, including the responsibility of seeing as to their lodgings.

The Bright Queen is clever. She certainly considered that maybe this was a ploy from the Empire to insert spies into her midst, especially because only one of two beacons was returned. From her perspective, assigning her most trusted spymaster to keep an eye on these idiots is exactly what she should do. If they're plants, Essek would sort it out. If not, they were highly valuable assets that could be used against the Empire or as liaisons.

So, let's orient this from Essek's POV. This bunch of chucklefucks that don't know court decorum came into the queen's throne room, intending to ask a favor in exchange for ridding Asarius of a demon infestation. Then a rival noble calls them out for attacking him and other Kryn outside of Asarius. Just before they're arrested, the human (ginger with blue eyes, a Zemnian) pulls out a beacon of the Luxon, announces that he and his friends are not friends of the Empire, and then offers it to the Bright Queen. Now they're the queen's favored, and out of all the people at court that day, she chose Essek Thelyss, the Shadowhand, in charge of the Dungeon of Penance, to keep an eye on them.

But Essek is the one that stole the beacons. He realizes the same possibilities (spies or well-intentioned rubes), but if anyone in the Dynasty knew about the Volstrucker, it'd be Essek. There is no reason whatsoever for Essek to trust the Nein because those beacons were supposed to stay in the Empire. The reason he handed them over in the first place was that he was supposed to share in the research done by incredibly powerful wizards who did not care about the religious significance. Whether Essek knew or not that one had been lost by the Assembly, the Nein's act of returning one negatively impacted the deal he made. There's the possibilities that Ikithon and the other Assembly members betrayed Essek by lying or hiding information, or perhaps they sent the Nein to expose Essek as the traitor to remove a loose end, or perhaps the Nein really are ignorant and they could gum everything up. Regardless of which situation this is, the best outcome for Essek would be neutralizing the interlopers before they come upon, intentionally or not, his involvement in the theft of the beacons.

The problem, of course, is that the Nein are Heroes of the Dynasty, and since Essek is responsible for their care in the Dynasty, failure to safeguard them would also reflect badly upon him. That could also sabotage his position and ability to do the research he pleases. So he can't just kill them. He has to get them killed in a way that would not make him look bad, preferably in a way that scapegoats someone else for the inevitable blame at failing to protect them.

The condemned Scourger attacked Caleb in episode 77. None of the events between Essek's introduction and that point provide a reason for Essek to trust the Nein regarding his personal risk as a traitor to the Dynasty. Here are his subsequent appearances and what happened:

Episode 57: Essek lets Yeza out of his prison after the interrogation yields information on DeRogna's research of the beacons (the potions Yeza made) and that she took the beacon back two days before the attack, which was shortly before the Nein arrived in Felderwin and began heading to the Dynasty. Because of the timeline of events, Essek realizes that must be the second beacon, so now both are accounted for. This also lets him know what sort of research they did with that beacon, and since Yeza only saw one, the one the Nein returned must have been used for something else. This is great intel for Essek, but not a reason to trust the Nein--only to find them useful.

Episode 61: After the Nein report back to Professor Waccoh of their completion of her mission, Essek arrives at the Inn where he lodged the Nein and escorts them to the Thelyss estate that his den has secured for them. Notably, the work they did was not for Essek; they worked for Waccoh and were paid for the trouble. That just proved they're capable mercenaries.

Episode 62: Essek visits the Xhorhaus after the Nein have settled a bit. He's rather cold: declines offer to join for dinner, declines a drink, has to be persuaded to answer why he isn't familiar with the neighborhood, doesn't want to say where he lives, repeatedly says he wants to get back to his research, etc. It's only once Caleb starts discussing magic and how he wants to learn that Essek starts the game they play about trying to get info from the other without divulging anything useful. Essek requests something impressive for the chance he might teach Caleb something. He then asks questions when Caleb shows off his familiar and giant earthen cat paw:

Essek was flat out rude to Beau, and this was before the whole "White Xhorhasian" drink faux pas. But even with an unimpressive persuasion roll, he offers Caleb a choice of the types of spells he could learn and even lets Caleb handle and read the book himself. Again, Essek has no reason to trust the Nein at this point. This wasn't because he believed or trusted Caleb--Caleb didn't persuade Essek of shit. Essek was fishing for information. He was already going to teach Caleb something, and the persuasion roll was probably to see how many spell levels he'd get. What spells does this Zemnian that stole a beacon from the Empire want to know? Would he give into the temptation to read elsewhere in the book? Caleb chose "the bending of fate, destiny" and learned Fortune's Favor and Gift of Alaracity. Essek is slightly less rude to the Nein as he leaves, probably pleased that he learned something useful in exchange for low-level dunamancy spells, plus now Caleb owes him a favor. Favors are a great way to set up the Nein for whatever scheme he intends later.

Episode 63: Essek is present in the Bright Queen's throne room when the Nein report their findings from the Overcrow Apothecary to her. During this conversation, Caleb admits to the Bright Queen that he had received some training to become a Scourger, though he did not complete it. When Essek is asked if he believes them about the cult of the Angel of Irons, he says he does, and even says he trusts them, though he declines to join them on this quest. Essek has not had any reason to trust the Nein by this point. He flat out lied. Even Fjord commented "'Cause he's been checking on that shit," because he and the others felt Essek was likely keeping an eye on them via Scrying (since they discovered hovering orbs in the Xhorhaus). Maybe their strangeness and civility (even if a little racist) made them endearing, but that's a different issue from trust. Essek wants them to chase down this cult precisely because it is dangerous and could get them killed. All the better that they die in service of the Dynasty, because then he won't be blamed for something sanctioned by the Bright Queen herself.

Episode 65: Jester sends to Essek asking about the Arbor Exemplar in the Barbed Fields, and while she asked for more, he only provides the name, notes it's dangerous terrain, and says they're doing him proud.

Episode 70: When the Nein return to Rosohna and report to the Bright Queen, Essek is again in the throne room. Before Essek is singled out, Caleb requests from the Bright Queen more training from Essek and info on the newly captured Scourger (which they just learned about, and Caleb suspects is Astrid). The Bright Queen says that the Nein haven't quite earned that much trust yet. Once Caduceus explains that the Nein want to fast and safe travel to the Flotket Alps, Essek makes himself known and offers to take them there, again declining to do more than transport them. Essek does not accompany the Nein to see the Scourger, but considering it's his dungeon and he is a spymaster, he was probably Scrying or otherwise tracking what transpired. Of course, it turns out that she isn't Astrid. Later, Caleb returns to the Lucid Bastion and waits to speak to Essek. Caleb confirms he was not actually a Scourger, but knows some about them. Caleb also requests a chance to speak to the Scourger again, even if Essek is there, and that they not accelerate the execution. (He didn't even ask for a delay.) Essek says he'll see and leaves.

Sidebar: Essek absolutely wants intel from this Scourger. He would know they report to the Assembly, and he would not know whether they are aware of his deal with the Assembly. As a condemned captive, her word against his isn't going to mean anything anyway, so the potential of the Scourger outing Essek is practically nil. Thus, there isn't any real risk at letting the Scourger say whatever she wants to say to Caleb. If anything, observing undetected meant better intel.

Episode 71: Jester sends to Essek, who arrives with an armed guard (weird) to teleport the Nein to the Flotket Alps. Before they go, the Nein left ball bearings on the ground to see if Essek floats (he does) and then pretend to berate Dairon, their "housekeeper", for leaving them out. Essek seems to find the whole thing amusing, then teleports them. They got a mishap because of the roll, but then arrive in the mountains. Again, stuff that could be endearing, but why did Essek have an armed guard...? That's so weird.

Episode 72: The Nein poke a little fun at Essek for the mishap, but he leaves via a Teleportation Circle.

Episode 73: Caleb asks Jester to Send to Essek to ask about the status of the Scourger's execution date, but Jester instead requests a delay. Remember how Caleb didn't request a delay before? Now he's requesting a delay indirectly; he didn't even ask Essek himself. (Man, that would seem rude from Essek's POV.) Essek responds that he'll try, but notes his den has no further interest in keeping the Scourger alive. When Caleb asks Jester to pass on that he might be able to help because of his history, Essek responds the same, but cracks a joke since Jester ended with "You pooping?" Essek's trying to endear himself to Jester, but we can't conclude whether it's sincere or subterfuge. After all, if she told anyone he joked, he could easily deny it. That was specifically for her.

Episode 74: The Nein send to Essek and ask him to come to the Xhorhaus so he can teleport them and meet someone. They briefly discuss the Scourger, and while Essek managed to get an extension of 2 weeks on the execution, he needs more of a heads up for Caleb to visit the Scourger again. Caleb then says here is a formal request, and Essek says he'll deal with that arrangement then. They introduce him to Reani, he dispels an enchantment on a paper hiding some items, then he teleports them to Mythburrow. At the end of the episode, Matt notes they're racking up quite a debt to Essek.

Let's pause there.

Each prior time the Nein went to the Dungeon of Penance, it was impromptu. They had just been announced as Heroes of the Dynasty when Essek personally took them to the dungeon to see Yeza as their first stop. The Nein were permitted to visit the Scourger unescorted as soon as they learned about her. Now there needs to be notice? It couldn't be because of the execution because the Bright Queen mentioned to begin with that the Scourger would be executed. There was no change of plan other than the extension that the Nein requested only a day prior. Why would Essek need to give anyone notice about someone visiting a condemned prisoner held in the prison that he manages?

Probably to make sure that Scourger has a fucking shiv.

Episode 75: At the beginning of the episode, before returning to Rosohna, Essek notes the Nein are ridiculous, tells them to have fun, and even calls them "friends." Again, that makes him seem endearing and less formal, but it's done out in the boonies. If any of them tried to tell someone from the Dynasty that he had done any of those things, he could probably deny it. So his reputation is safe, and it makes it seem like he likes them.

That's twice now he's been nice without any reason to trust them. Hmmm, sure seems like building some plausible deniability to me.

Episode 77: Jester summons Essek to the Xhorhaus. They discuss that the Bright Queen would like the Nein to find where the remaining beacon is in the Empire. Caleb attempts to fish for whether any particular Assembly members come to mind that Essek wants investigated, but he replies that he could list all of them if Caleb likes. Beau's insight check to see if Essek is sincere about ending the conflict fails. Caleb attempts to fish for a last known location of the beacon, and Essek gives an unhelpful answer that it must certainly be moved frequently. That's Essek being rude; they already know the beacon was last seen in Felderwin because Yeza said DeRogna took it from there 2 days before his capture by the Kryn. Essek is being intentionally and obviously obtuse. Fjord asks if others are on this quest, and Essek answers yes, but declines to give the Nein a way to identify them. Then they bring up the condemned Scourger, and Essek only recommends speaking to her soon; no specified date. Caleb asks if that day works, then Essek assents and offers to escort him.

That sure is a suspicious moment to suddenly decide to be helpful, isn't it? Sure is weird that he went back to being rude after being openly amiable and even joking with them, isn't it?

Then, when they arrive at the prison:

That is a really weird thing to say after the Nein were permitted to visit this same prisoner unescorted without notice as soon as they learned about her. Of course, then the attack happens. Matt doesn't mention whether Essek entered the cell before, during, or after Caleb starts talking to the Scourger, but Essek kills the Scourger after the attack.

Looking back at all the events that occurred leading to this point, Essek has not had any reason not to think that the Nein are somehow working for the Assembly or otherwise would expose him to the Bright Queen if they discovered what he had done. The key issue is that if the Nein placed their loyalties to either the Empire or the Dynasty over their loyalty to him, they could ruin him. That circumstance hasn't changed by this point, so the only reason to keep any of them alive is that they're cute. There's his entire life in the balance if he keeps letting them run around, especially if they search for the other beacon.

With that in mind, setting up the Scourger to be able to attack Caleb only puts his reputation at risk, and Essek has already taken steps to minimize that problem. Caleb was the one that requested a delay. Caleb was the one that wanted to speak to the Scourger. Caleb was the one that volunteered he had been training to be one. Caleb was the one that offered to fish for information useful to the Dynasty. Each was a push on the Dynasty's normal procedure and/or a personal risk to himself.

And what does Essek have to gain? It would be easy for Essek to frame this as the Assembly's pet Zemnians putting themselves at risk for small gains, and they're so devious even the best prison in the Dynasty was not enough to secure them perfectly. All the more reason to demonize the Empire and the Scourgers. It wouldn't matter if Caleb died or not; the attack was simply fuel for propaganda. Remember, Essek did not want peace. He wanted war. That bolstered his position as a spymaster, distracted the Dynasty from anything he was up to, and provided cover for the Assembly's research. In the long-term, it would just be one more incident to point to if Essek ever needed to sow dissent about Caleb's mental or emotional stability or the risk posed to the Dynasty by the Assembly.

And if Caleb died? One less member of the Nein to worry about. They'd gotten Essek some decent intel about the beacons, about DeRogna's research, and about the Scourgers. But that's it. They've done him no favors, they aren't directly useful for his research, and they're a massive liability.

Either of those outcomes specifically required violence. It wouldn't be enough for the Scourger to just rage in her chains. She needed to somehow get loose and have a weapon. Spells wouldn't have been a sufficient/sensible threat; she wouldn't have possibly been able to prepare spells from a book, and cantrips wouldn't have done much on their own against someone as strong as Caleb. But getting the Empire-trained assassin a shiv sure would have been a threat to a wizard made of soggy paper, and no matter how it played out, it only made the Empire look more monstrous.

So, yeah, I absolutely believe Essek went out of his way to make sure the Scourger would have an opportunity and weapon to attack Caleb. Risking some human's life for one more justification to prolong a war he started? That's the sort of shit I would expect from a neutral evil Shadowhand.

[xmasterofmunsonx]

Got Your Number

Summary: You’re Steve Harrington’s older sister and after a rough and tumultuous breakup, you’re back in Hawkins, Indiana. 🌶️

Pairing: Harrington!reader x Eddie Munson

Author’s notes: I REALLY tried hard to make this one into two, but it just started flowing and I felt like it made more sense like this. I know it’s a lot going on but I don’t know I couldn’t stop. Hope y’all like it ❤️

Warnings: 18+ (Minors DNI!!), language, drinking, smoking, smut, etc., anxious feelings talked about a lot

Word count: 9.5k and I am not sorry LOL

VI.

The shrill sound of the phone in your bedroom woke you up the next morning. You groaned as the light peeked through the pink curtains that had hung over the same windows for most of your life. You let it ring, and ring, and ring. Finally it stopped. Then it started again. Everyone must be gone for the day.

“Harrington residence?” You asked, sleep thick in your voice. You drank a sip of water as you waited for the caller to finally reveal themselves.

“Hey.” It was Eddie, and he sounded rough. “Good morning, I mean. Or, whatever time it is.” He chuckled, but you didn’t return the laughter.

“‘Morning.” You said, as you plopped back onto your bed, twirling the cord around your finger.

“I’m really sorry about last night. Like, incredibly sorry. Your brother laid into me last night and Hopper has already called me this morning too.”

“Oh, so you wouldn’t have apologized if Steve and Hopper wouldn’t have made you?” Your attitude was strong this morning, and you already knew you’d regret being this bitchy to him as soon as you asked the question.

“They didn’t make me, Jesus. I’m just admitting I know I was an asshole to you, I got way too drunk last night, and I can’t believe I did that instead of worrying about where you were and what was going on with you and Caleb out there. M’sorry. I really am.”

“It’s not okay, Eddie. If that’s what you want me to say.” He sighed at the same time you did. “I don't think you get how scary last night was for me. Having not only Charlie there, but all of his friends too? They could’ve all easily taken me off and something would’ve happened.”

“I said I was sorry.” He said, his voice was quick.

“And I’m saying okay, I hear you, but I don’t know what you want me to say back, Eddie. I’m pissed off that you were so irresponsible.”

“Thanks for the congratulations on being asked to sign to a label.” He scoffed out after a few moments of silence.

“Fuck, what has gotten into you? Where is this attitude coming from?” You snapped at him as you sat up in your bed. “Did you just call me to see how mad you could make me again today? This is not what I signed up for, Eddie.”

“What do you think you signed up for, then?”

“A nice boyfriend for one. One that was my best friend, and he was never mean to me, or-”

“What about all of those times in high school-”

“FUCK, Eddie. It’s too early for this bullshit. I’m hanging up, and whenever you can figure out what the hell crawled up your ass, then we can talk. Bye.”

Fuck, you didn’t know what had gotten into him. A few seconds after you hung up the phone, it rang again.

“What?!?” You answered.

“You are just like your brother with the attitude, damn.” It was Dustin, you could tell by the slight lisp in his voice.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Eddie just called me and he was… he was being a jerk, so I thought it was him calling me back yet again.”

“No, it’s just me. I was calling you because I think we figured something out with him.”

“Is he gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. We actually called the lab, or what’s left, and told them what was going on. He just needs to go and uh, talk to them about it. El said she can’t see where anything is like…” he laughed to himself before continuing on, “I sound crazy saying this, but there’s nothing in his head that we should worry about. Like before, Vecna kinda got in peoples heads before he’d kill them or something but she can’t see him in Eddie’s, so he’s really dead. She said she used her powers last night, and she can kind of… eavesdrop in on dreams or something basically, and she was there in his last night to check on him and uh, it was pretty fucked up.”

You stayed silent for a few moments, “so the scars hurting don’t mean anything?”

“No, they’re probably just healing still, and the dreams are so intense he’s probably re-feeling it all again too.”

Shit. You kinda, actually sorta felt really bad for him now. He was probably worked up this morning more from his dreams than anything else, and you didn’t even think about that, but he still didn’t need to be an asshole to you.

“Hey Dustin, I need to go. Thanks for calling, I’m sure I’ll see you soon!” You hung up before you had a chance to hear him get out the last few words. You dialed Eddie’s number, and he picked up on the second ring, sounding much calmer.

“Hello? Munson here.”

“Hey.” You said quietly.

“Hey.” He matched your tone of voice.

“Sorry, I forgot how bad mornings can be for you and I’m sure-”

“No, you don’t have to apologize. Please don’t. I was an asshole right after I told you I wasn’t like him. I did have a bad night but I shouldn’t have taken that out on you. Sometimes I wake up from a nightmare and because of the panic I can act completely differently. I’m sorry if that scared you.” He sounded a little somber. “I understand if you’re mad at me.”

“I’ll get over it.” You laid back on the pillows of your bed again, and stared up at the popcorn ceiling of your room, trying to count the dots. “Wanna tell me about it as practice before you go talk to them?”

“So Dustin already called you too?”

“Mhm. I think you should go.”

“I’m going to when I have the time. I’m not up for talking about it right now.”

You respected his decision but you knew he had to talk about it eventually. “Alright. So tell me about this record deal?”

He went on and on for god knows how long about everything that had transpired the previous night, about their first album being recorded in the city, about a first tour as an opening band, and about how long the contract would last for- and what quota they had to fulfill in those years.

“You know, I did do some law stuff in college, only majored in it, and I’m being forced to work at my dad’s law office starting tomorrow, right? I wouldn’t mind combing through the contract for any small print you might have missed or been upset with. Even my dad or one of his coworkers could look it over.”

“See, I was drunk last night but I wasn’t that drunk. I did remember that, and none of us technically signed anything, I told him to come back in a few weeks. So I wasn’t completely blitzed out of my mind, we didn’t really sign anything but we were likely going to.” A deep chuckle came through the phone and you felt a swirl in your belly at the noise. “So, you gonna come with me?”

“Come with you… where?”

“To the city, on tour- everywhere. I don’t wanna leave you behind.” He was as serious as a heart attack and you knew it.

“Don’t you think this might be a little soon?” Everything seemed to be going fast paced in the last week, when you were the one who wanted to take things slow to not fuck it up. “I don’t know if I can go back to the city, Eddie. It’s too much for me. I could see him anywhere-”

“Baby, it’s Indianapolis, not Chicago.”

Oh, fuck. What would you do, surely you’d get cut off from your parents. There’s absolutely no way they’d be ok with this, tarnishing the Harrington name after you already fucked it up by breaking things off with Charlie. They’d surely disown you.

“You there?” Eddie sounded concerned.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m here. I’m just, it’s a lot to ask, Eddie. I’m going to have to think about it.”

“Well, I’ve gotta run this contract over to you today so you can take it to work tomorrow, or I could pick you up in the morning and take you to work?” He had a glimmer of hope in his voice. “This kinda thing usually takes a few months he said, so it’s not like I’m going anywhere soon.”

“How about you come pick me up today, and take me to work in the morning?”

He excitedly answered, smiling through the phone “Really? You don’t hate me?”

“No I don’t, but I do want to see you before I start this boring desk 9-5 job.”

“See you in an hour?”

“See you then.” You both hung up the phone, and you made your way downstairs where there were Sunday breakfast leftovers on the counter left for you. Your parents had left a note, “running errands for the day, be back tonight.” You rolled your eyes at their absence, yet again. You knew your dad had a business trip again next week, so that’s probably why he wanted you to start this week to get trained.

“You look rough.” Steve shocked you as he came up behind you, his bed head was more wild than you’d ever seen.

“Same goes for you. Why didn’t you answer the phone ringing earlier? Thought I was home alone.”

“Not so lucky. I unplug mine when I’m sleeping, so I didn’t even hear it. Your elephant stomping down the stairs woke me up more than anything.”

You rolled your eyes as you bit into a piece of crispy bacon.

“Eddie called and apologized this morning. Said he’d come over here soon to get me and I’m gonna stay with him tonight, then he’ll take me to work in the morning.”

Steve raised his eyebrows, “Listen, I know you’re my older sister, and I know you two have been, or were friends forever, but do you think this is going too fast? Don’t you need, need some time maybe?”

You furrowed your brows at your brother, “I think that’s none of your business, but thank you for the concern. We’re just spending time together.”

“Yeah, I know. But you’re over there all the time already and it’s barely been any time at all.”

“And? You can go around on dates every weekend and sleep with a different girl and no one bats an eye? Where’s this coming from? I’m the one on my period right now, I didn’t know you and Eddie had synced up too.”

“I’m sorry. Just trying to look out for both of you.” You both picked at the breakfast quietly, avoiding each other's glares. “Gonna go shower and get ready before he gets here.”

“Mhm.” Steve said with his mouth full of pancakes.

-

“So Stevie thinks we’re going too fast?” Eddie asked in a taunting voice as he handed you the joint as you swung together on the back porch swing.

“Guess so. Because he knows so much about successful relationships.”

“You think so too though, because you said you wouldn’t-”

You playfully put your hand on his mouth to shut him up, “Please. We’re having a good afternoon. I don’t wanna talk about this yet.” He watched you through squinted eyes as you took a hit off the joint and held it in your lungs for an impressive amount of time, then passed it back to him.

“So what do you wanna talk about?” Eddie leaned in closer to your side and slipped his arm around your shoulders, and you felt cozy enough to lean into him.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? There you go again with that cute little, ‘nothing.’” He mocked your tone with a high pitched voice, which earned him a light slap on the chest. “Hey, watch it. I’m healing wounds under here- don’t make them bleed again.”

“Eddie, they’re scars, not scabs.” You rolled your eyes as he held the joint up to your lips again, and you took another hit, doing the same as you did earlier. “I’m good after that one.”

“Yeah? You feeling good?” His voice was warm in your ear, and you could feel the heat radiating from his body.

“Mhm.” You answered and closed your eyes, tilting your head back to rest on his shoulder. “Really good.”

“Really wanna make you feel good again, baby.” He was rubbing his other hand on your thigh, and with each up and down motion he was getting closer and closer to your heat.

“Eddie, I-”

“There’s other things we can do.”

“What? I’ll make a mess.”

“I don’t mind a mess, but I have an idea.” He said with a smirk in his voice. You opened your eyes and looked at him, he was already looking down at you, his hand had stopped moving and was now resting high up on your thigh. It crept to the inside, and you felt yourself squeezing your legs together to keep him from feeling anything more. “Relax.” He smashed out the joint and stood up, offering you his hand. “C’mon. My room.”

“Nu-uh.” You shook your head, and crossed your arms over your chest.

He leaned down to meet your face, his eyes were a little bloodshot from the extra hits he’d taken between your few, his tolerance being higher than yours. “Wanna be my good girl?” You felt your stomach drop, and your body turning to complete goo at his words. “Or am I gonna have to pick you up and carry you? ‘Cause I’m gonna get you there one way or another, baby.”

You took his extended hand and pulled yourself up as best as you could, your knees already feeling weak at just his words.

You’d never been much of a girl for dirty talk in the bedroom, or at all. But your experience was limited, and it was a little intimidating that Eddie was clearly somehow more experienced in this department than you. He knew the words to say, and how to say them, and it made you wonder who, how, and-

“Hey, pretty girl. Get out of that head of yours. I can hear you thinking. Anything you don’t wanna do, just say it and we’ll stop.” You’d made it to his bedroom now, and he had his hands resting gently on your shoulders.

“Okay.” You said quietly.

“Now, I asked you out there-” He took a step closer to you, and put his heavy pointer finger under your chin and lifted your gaze to meet his, “are you gonna be my good girl?” You nodded, actually stunned at the effect that his words had on you. He slung his jacket off his shoulders, and pulled his shirt off. You quietly gasped at seeing the scars all over his muscular back, shoulders, his chest and stomach as he turned around to meet you. Your fingers reached out to trace the pink lines mapped out over his abdomen, and he reached up to pull your hand away.

“Eddie, I’m sorry-”

“I figured you gotta see them soon enough. We’ll work our way there. Take off your top, baby.” His fingers danced at the hem of your ribbed black t-shirt. He slowly teased his way up your body with the shirt until he pulled it up and over your head. “No bra? Not what I expected from you, Harrington.” He started kissing your neck with excitement as his cold hands were snaking their way up your sides, and he paused, “you sure you’re okay? I know you said you hadn’t done much with him, or anyone else. Just please stop me-”

“Eddie, just shut the fuck up and kiss me.” You lunged at him, wrapping your arms around his neck and he pulled your body close to his. Your bare skin colliding with his felt so good, but it was so different than what you were used to. You felt your nipples harden at the arousal that was pooling in your belly again, and it peaked again when Eddie was already moaning into your kisses. One of his hands slid up your side, to the front of your ribcage where he finally cupped your breast in his hand.

You both moaned at the feeling, “fuck, your tits feel so good.” He kneaded at it with fervor, and moved on to pinching your nipple. You moaned out again, breaking the kiss. “You like that, baby?”

All you could get out was a nod, you’d never had your tits played with before now by someone else. “Get on the bed, and get those jeans off- just the jeans.” You scooted out of your jeans, and sat on his bed, watching him slowly prowl over to you. “Lay back.” You scooted back and rested your head on his pillows as you anxiously watched him crawl over you to meet you, he leaned in and kissed you again, this time it was hungrier, sloppier, and his hand was more rough as it groped your chest. He broke the kiss to attack your neck, then your collarbones, and then he finally put his mouth on one of your nipples. He sucked it into his warm, heated mouth and you felt his tongue rolling around your nipple, causing your back to arch. He pulled off with a smile on his face, then blew air into the wet tit and you watched as your nipple became more hard.

“Fuck, that feels good.” You moaned out softly, and you watched as he went down on the other one, still playing with the first so it wasn’t ignored. You watched him go back and forth between the two for a few minutes, and clearly Eddie could’ve spent half the day with your tits in his mouth but you were growing anxious to get off. You tugged his hair to get him to meet your face, pushing up off the pillows to kiss him deeply again.

“Want you to try something new for me, ‘kay? Since you’re on the rag and all. I’d fuck you right now no problem, but I know you’re a little shy about it, aren’t you?”

You blushed and nodded, “yeah, I’ll try something new.”

“M’gonna sit on the edge of the bed and want you to straddle my thigh. Just one.” And he scooted down to the foot of the bed, and helped you climb onto his thigh- he was still in his black jeans. “Sit down harder, baby. Remember you’re gonna be my good girl, right? Want you to use me. Use my thigh to get yourself off.”

“H-how?” You asked, feeling silly for being in your underwear, straddling your boyfriends leg.

“Shit, you never done this before? Not even with a pillow?” You shook your head, and Eddie placed his hands on your hips. “Just grind on me baby. Back and forth. Whatever feels good, I got you.”

You nodded and started moving against his thigh, feeling the thick fabric rub your cunt in the right ways.

“Fuck, why have I never done this before?” You rolled your head back with your eyes as you rode Eddie’s thigh, stabilizing yourself on his shoulders. His mouth was roaming your upper body, likely leaving hickies everywhere. Your high was making this feel so much better, and you could already feel yourself close to the edge.

“Feel good?” Eddie asked, his lips still moving over your body, kissing and tasting anywhere he could get his mouth on. You nodded and moaned, unable to say anything. “That's my good girl, use my leg to make yourself cum, baby.” You ground yourself harder against the rough fabric and squeezed your thighs closer to his leg to chase your orgasm.

“Fuck!” You yelled as you came undone on his leg, your chest heaving, and your head tucked into the side crook of his neck, where his curls were tickling your face. “How do you know so much?”

“I’ve seen a lotta porn, babe. Your brother works at-”

“Christ, Eddie. I don’t need to know that you rent porn from my brother. Why the fuck does family video have an adult only section?” You earned a chuckle from Eddie as you absentmindedly twirled your fingers through his hair. “I feel so silly about anything like this because everything I’ve ever done before was just… for him. Never about me, never what I wanted, when I wanted, and-”

“And, that’s fucking pathetic. You should have been treated better than that. Your body? I wanna worship every inch of it, your skin is so soft, you’re so beautiful, and I want you to know that.” You were blushing as his hands were still roaming your body.

“Do you want me to, you know, help you?”

“Nah, you don’t have to. I don’t ever expect anything from you.” He smiled and you could feel it as he kissed the top of your shoulder.

-

A few hours later you found yourself sitting at the Munson kitchen table, reading over the rough draft of a contract Eddie had remembered to grab and put in his pocket from the show, while he was down the hall practicing guitar. You took another sip of the cold coffee as you read through the extensive stipulations.

“Hey, Eddie?” You called out. “Eddie?” You said a little louder, and he must have heard you. He came around the corner in his holey jeans, and a loose Iron Maiden t-shirt that had seen better days.

“Yeah?” The look on his face only made you realize how hard it was going to be to break the news.

“I uh, do you mind if I take this with me tomorrow? There’s a few things that I want to get checked out by one of dad’s guys. I just don’t understand this level of l legal talk, and I don’t want you signing something away that you don’t want to.”

You watched his face fall slowly. “Yeah, I think that’s probably for the best. Does it look good to you?”

“Some of it does, but I’m not sure about some of it. You have to be really careful with these lengthy contracts. Sometimes they can really screw you over, and it seems like some statements are negating other things.”

He nodded slowly, scratching at his chin. “You don’t think we should sign it, do you?”

“I’m not saying that exactly, I’m just saying I think it needs to be read through by someone smarter than me who knows more about how this works.” You gestured to the papers in front of you. “I mean, really, this guy just came out of nowhere to find you guys. He could be a total fraud.”

“What do we have to lose though?” He walked closer, leaning against the kitchen counter closest to you.

“A lot. I mean, it says if you don’t fulfill a certain amount of record sales- which, I fully believe you’re capable of- you could owe them a lot of money. Or if you don’t sell a percentage of tickets, they can break the contract. But here, it says-”

“Okay, okay. I get it.” He put his chin in his hand and rested it there, his dark eyes looking at you. “I’m glad you’re smarter than me.”

“I’m not, I just spent years of my life studying this and figuring out how people word these to trick people who haven’t spent years of their life studying.”

“You’ve always been the smart one. Top of the class, you’re the real nerd.” He smiled, slowly walking towards you. “Your campaigns always, always were better than mine.”

“I mean, absolutely they were. But I don’t know about now.”

“Hold on.” Eddie held up a finger and ran out of the kitchen, down the hallway. You heard some rustling and pushed the contract out of your way, your eyes hurting from the small print. “Here.” He said as he plopped the book down on the table.

Your book. Your book from middle school, at that.

“Eddie, how- how do you have this? Did it not get ruined when you lost yours and Wayne’s house?” You ran your fingers over the cover, before you opened it up, immediately recognizing your own handwriting, paired with Eddie’s chicken scratch of notes. “And wait- did you use some of my campaigns?”

“Just a few. Just the good ones, I saved the best ones for when you came back.”

“What if I never did?” You looked up at him as he was beaming a smile at you.

“Somehow I always knew you would.”

-

“Scott, would you mind looking over a few things on this for me?” You walked into your dad’s employee’s office. He was always your favorite of your dad’s friends, he’d seen you and Steve grow up. Scott didn’t have a family of his own at all, so he was present at a lot of your family’s parties and events. He was like a second dad, but a cooler one.

“Sure thing, just shut the door and have a seat. I could use a break from the woes of the Hawkins community. What do we have?”

“So, Eddie, my boyfriend, has been playing in his band for a while-”

“Wait, like, Eddie Munson? Like, devil worshipping, town killer, etc?”

“Yes, that one.” This was not what you expected, or wanted when you came into his office today.

“Oh God, I know your mom loves this. I always told your dad the two of you were gonna be somethin’ one day.”

You blushed, but continued on, “So, at their show the other night this guy approached them with his record label from Chicago. He had a contract ready to go and I’ve looked over it, and some things just don’t seem right. I highlighted everything I questioned but there may be more, and I just needed another opinion about it.”

“Let me see here.” He sat back in his leather desk chair and put his glasses on. You noticed the way his hair had grayed since you’d last seen him, the way his eyes and mouth had crinkled more from the smiling faces you remember him always making. “Your brother doing good?”

“Yeah, he’s doing alright.”

“Glad to be back here?” He asked as he kept reading over the papers.

“Could be worse.”

“I hear ya.” He nodded, reading through the pages. You sat at his desk, fiddling with the hem of your skirt. “Can you give me the rest of the afternoon for this? I have the time, just don’t want you sittin’ here doing nothing. If you want, there’s some paperwork in the basement that we moved from your office down there that needs to be put into the empty file cabinets. Doris has the keys, if you just ask her for them. Your dad left a note of things for you to do today and that was one of them. By the time you get everything filed away, I should be done.”

“Yeah, I can do that. Thanks, Scott.”

“Anytime, sweetheart.” You smiled at the endearing name, coming from anyone else his age it would be creepy but you knew he didn’t mean it that way.

Doris was quite the character. She’d worked as the front desk secretary for the entire time your dad’s firm had been opened. She took her job way too seriously, and she didn’t like many people. But you and your brother just so happened to be two of her favorite people.

“Oh sure, here’s the keys! I’m just so glad you’ll be working with us. Your dad is so proud of you for coming home and working under the family name, you know that?” You shrugged and held back an eye roll. “You remember what door it is, right?”

“Of course. Thanks, Mrs. Doris.” You grabbed the keys from her and rolled your eyes as you walked away, remembering how she used to gloat over your brother anytime she got the chance to, and now she was doing it to you.

You turned the key to the door and went down the stairs, into the well lit basement. It smelled the same from when you were a kid- sometimes you’d have to come up here after school, and your dad had a desk down here for you and Steve to do homework, or color when you two were younger. It would be creepy to some, but you both loved it. You didn’t have to hear your dads boring conference meetings, or him yelling at employees. It was your hiding spot and you felt safe down here.

You easily found the piles of files that were meant to be organized by you- they were stacked on your old desk and disheveled from being moved so hastily down here. You opened up the top drawer to an empty cabinet, and you got to organizing the files alphabetically. These were all of this years cases the office had dealt with, from the beginning of the year to now, and you knew they just wanted them organized by the last name.

You recognized a few of the last names, and being nosy, of course you had to browse through some. You scoffed at the DUIs, and other small “crimes” the office either handled or probably hid from the public eye, until you saw a last name that was all too familiar.

“Munson, Edward - ‘86”

Shit. Shit! What do you do? It was one of the thickest folders you’d picked up in the last hour. You knew what you should do, what was the right thing. But what had Eddie done this year that your dads lawyers would’ve been responsible for defending him for?

You carefully opened the Manila folder, and read the first line.

“Hawkins Lab (plaintiff) vs Edward Munson (defendant) 1986”

“Holy fuck.” You whispered to yourself, carefully turning the next page. “Why would they file a lawsuit against Eddie?” You whispered out loud to no one, as you continued to get through the pages. You heard the door open up the stairs, and you shoved the folder underneath the others, not wanting to put it in a cabinet yet.

“You still busy down here?” Doris asked from the third step. “It’s lunch time and you got someone askin’ to take you out to lunch.”

“What?”

“Some guy with curly hair and a jacket on. Is he trouble? Do I need to get him out of here? Is he the one your dad told me to kick out if we saw him?”

“No, no. Doris, that's Eddie, my boyfriend. Charlie’s the one we want to kick out. I’ll be right up, let me finish tidying these.”

“Oh no, you go on up there and take your lunch. You’ve been down here for about two hours already. The mess can wait.”

“I really don’t mind tidying up a bit before I go.” You told her, trying to delay her and finding a quick, more hidden spot for the files.

“Alright, I’ll tell him you’ll be up in a minute. Don’t take a minute longer!”

“Yeah, sure.” You pretended to rummage around, then grabbed the Munson file and hid it in another file cabinet that was collecting dust. Surely no one would suspect you putting it there.

You walked up the basement stairs, shutting and locking the door behind you, as you shoved the basement key into your pocket. You felt your mind spinning as you walked towards the front, unsure of whether to bring up what you found or not.

“Hey beautiful.” Eddie greeted you with a hug, kiss on the cheek, and a small bouquet of flowers in a small vase in his hand.

“Hey.” You said, giving him a quick peck on the lips. “C’mon, I’ll put these on my desk and we can go to lunch.” You pulled on his hand to tug him with you to your minimally decorated office space that screamed “temporary”.

“Oh hey, I was just looking for you!” Scott said as he walked around a corner. “And you!” He pointed at Eddie, who then pointed at himself. “You have a free minute?”

“We were about to go to lunch.” You said as you set your flowers down on your desk and picked up your purse. “Eddie, this is Scott- he’s worked with dad for forever, and I had him read over the contract from the label for you this morning. Scott, this is Eddie.” You observed the two exchanging glances at each other, then they introduced themselves. You could tell by Eddie’s faltering voice he was putting on a front- they had definitely met before. Maybe it had been a long time ago that they’d crossed paths, but you had a feeling you needed to get to that file.

“Won’t take but a minute. Have a seat.” He gestured towards the seats in your office, and you took a seat behind your desk, wanting to be able to watch the two interact.

“So uh, seems here we’ve got an entirely too controlling contract. I’ve gone through everything Harrington already combed through, added more comments, and even found a few more things. It seems to me like this guys label is pretty scummy, I don’t know that I’d take them up on this one.” You watched Eddie’s shoulders deflate as the contract was placed into his hands. “The choice is ultimately yours, but once you read through you’ll see what I’m talking about. I don’t think it’s the right one, I don’t trust that they’re not trying to take everything you guys have.” Scott eyed Eddie, waiting for him to look up at him from the paperwork.

“Well, I appreciate the time you took going through it. I’ll take it to the guys at practice tonight and we’ll talk it over to see how everyone’s feeling.”

“I think that’s a good idea.” Scott stood up and patted Eddie on the shoulder, “Good to see you.”

“Yeah, nice to meet you too!” Eddie yelled back as Scott exited your office. “Pizza for lunch?”

“Sounds delicious to me.” You followed Eddie out of the office and to his van. He chucked the contract into the back of it, and you watched it fall to the floor.

“Hey, you okay?” You asked, patting his shoulder.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” He backed out of his parking spot and started to drive away. “How’s your first day?” Here’s your chance. Perfect time to bring it up.

“Pretty… boring.” You can’t do it. “Scott and Doris had me in the basement organizing some things that were in my office that hastily got thrown down there at some point to make my office look unoccupied. He’s got a whole list of things for me to do if I’m bored. Seems like I’m going to be doing busy work and getting paid for it.”

“That’s some shit. You’re smarter than that.” He said, resting his elbow on the window sill of his door.

“Yeah, I mean I’m sure it’ll get more interesting later. I didn’t expect to get put on any actual cases or anything, but I did expect to be doing more than coffee runs or something like that.”

“They have you running coffee?”

“Absolutely not. It’s just my first day, so I’m not really expecting much. Dad said he’d be in tomorrow morning to get me set up. I think today is just a day of busy work since I wasn’t expected to start working so soon. Or at all, even.”

“I’ve got an appointment after lunch.” Eddie blurted out.

“Yeah? Where?” You looked over at him, and he looked nervous as he bit his nails.

“You know where.”

“Oh. You’re actually going? Do you need me to go with you?”

“Steve is. He’s meeting us at lunch.” He quickly replied.

“Oh.” You said as you looked out the window. Eddie was clearly a nervous wreck, and there wasn’t much you had to say to the dull conversation. You two pulled up at the pizza place beside Steve’s car, and he hopped out at the same time you did. A fourth car door shut on the other side of you, and you were met with Jim Hopper.

“What’s going on?” You asked, suddenly confused about this lunch meeting.

“He’s coming too.” Steve spoke up, placing a comforting hand on Eddie’s shoulder as you guys walked into the restaurant.

The four of you sat down at a back booth, you sat across from your brother and Hopper, and Eddie sat beside you.

“So is this like, an intervention? What’s going on?” You felt even more clueless.

“They need to speak to Eddie and have questions about you, so they need you too.” Hopper said.

“What?” You said bluntly as the waitress came up to take your orders- you added on a beer to yours for your nerves.

“Yeah, apparently you’re going to have to answer a few questions since you’ve observed Eddie’s behavior with the nightmares. I’ve gotta go since he’s always calling me, and-”

“How do they know?” You interrupted your brother.

“I told them, when I called to ask them what I needed to do. Then they gave me 20 questions and I panic answered them, not knowing they’d drag you into it. Hopper is going just to make sure no funny business happens. I’m really sorry.” Eddie looked at you with puppy dog eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay. I wanted to go with you if you needed me anyway. You need to talk to someone about this. Maybe they can help you.”

Hopper scoffed. “He needs a real therapist. I’m afraid this is just going to stir some more shit up. I don’t trust these guys, even though the lab is gone. How did just enough of them just survive to stick around to make sure you kids didn’t need anything?”

You four all looked at each other, you being the most clueless of all.

“I suggest being brief. Don’t tell them anymore than they ask. Don’t tell them who you hang out with, who you see, or where you work. Especially you, Harrington.” Hopper pointed at me. “They already know your family, but they’re gonna be hounding you for all they can.”

“Why me? Why not Steve? He’s the one who went down there into their whole, alternate universe world… thing.”

“Because of your j-” Hopper started.

“Because they didn’t know he had a sister, and they thought it was weird you came back to Hawkins. They want to know what you know about it all.” Eddie cut Hopper off immediately, and you didn’t miss the look on Steve’s face. He knew something too.

You looked at Eddie, who was trying so hard to lie to you.

“Would it have to do with the huge file at my dad’s law firm labeled Hawkins Lab vs Munson? The one from, I dunno- 1986?” You shrugged, looking at the men at the table.

“Fuck, we don’t have enough time for this.” Steve ran his hands through his hair.

“So you were just going to casually leave out that dad fucking defended Eddie against the LAB?! What were they trying to say happened? Both of you- you both lied to me!” You tried not to raise your voice, and thankfully the kitchen sounds were loud enough as the lunch crowd picked up. “You could’ve told me that when you dropped the whole Hawkins-has-a-creepy-second-life-going-on-underneath-it bomb, and it would’ve been fine? But now I’m working there and these scary lab people are going to ask about it?”

“See, you don’t work there. You work at Family Video with Steve.” Hopper corrected you.

“That would’ve been nice to know!” You raised your voice again. “So what case did they bring out against Eddie?”

“I told you, I almost died down there. I did. But I came back through, and no one that ever died down there came back up to Hawkins and they created this huge case trying to make it look like I was the one who created the gates- because of the whole town freak thing, right? Believable.” He took a deep sigh, “Scott defended me. Your dad couldn’t, because it was considered a conflict of interest because they knew we used to be friends.”

“What, how did they know that?”

“They know everything. Well, they used to, they’d been watching our town and listening to everything for years before we discovered what they were really doing with their experiments. With a lot less people they’ve become a small organization, and they’re basically sticking around to see if any other activity starts to happen, and observe and be ‘helpful’ if anyone affected by the ‘earthquake’ needs help.” Steve answered.

“How can you trust them?” You asked.

“Your dad’s firm won against them in Eddie’s favor, so they’re at the mercy of him.” Jim spoke, and you looked between the three guys again, completely baffled, yet again, at how much had happened in the short time of you being back.

“I need to get some fresh air.” You pushed your way out of the booth and fled outside, forgetting your jacket at the booth. You felt yourself warming up out of rage as you walked over to the alley beside the restaurant. You grounded yourself against the cold brick wall and closed your eyes, taking a few deep breaths to avoid an anxiety attack.

“You good?” Eddie appeared out of nowhere and you jumped out of your skin.

“No, I’m not good.” You answered him as you opened your eyes. “Eddie, what the fuck?!”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Sorry for leaving out a huge, major detail, and everyone’s just been pretending since I’ve been home?! This is not okay. This is not why I came home. I came home for some normalcy, for LESS drama than I had in the city. And it’s been non-fucking-stop since I got back. I don’t know that I even had this much happen in high school.” You ran a hand through your hair nervously, “what am I supposed to do?! I can’t keep finding things out, Eddie. I can’t do this. I can’t keep on walking around on eggshells whether is your short temper, or my parents, or avoiding running into anyone from high school, or the fucking upside down bullshit!? Why is all of this happening as soon as I come home?!” You cried out to him as he stared at you with a blank face and no answers. You put your hands on his shoulders and felt yourself pushing against him. “Someone give me some fucking answers!” Eddie grabbed your hands, and you felt your body freeze. What was he about to do? He placed them gently around his neck, before he wrapped one arm, then another, around your body and slowly pulled you into him, hugging your shaking form.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, baby. I should’ve died down there. I didn’t want you dragged into this, but I let it slip on the phone this morning when I called them because I thought it was the right thing to do to get help. If I call a normal shrink, they’re gonna commit me for thinking I’m fucking insane for what I’d tell them. I can’t call anyone else. Only your family, the kids, Robin, and a few others really know what happened during the so-called earthquake, okay? We have to be so careful about this. I’m sorry.” He hugged you as he let out a cry.

“Don’t you ever say you should’ve died down there.” You muttered into his chest.

“No, I should have. I quite frankly should not have made it. They thought I was dead for the longest time, til we all started having nightmares. Then when they realized I was alive, their case was brought against me, in case the truth got out, they thought that their asses would be covered by shifting the blame to me.”

You paused. Eddie had been carrying this around too, and it didn’t excuse his actions but you could see why he’d been a little more quick tempered and anxious than usual.

“After today, can we just start over and see if things can be normal? I’m really fucking tired.”

“I’d love nothing more than that.” You wiped your tears at his response, and hugged him tighter to you. “We better get in there and eat, they’re expecting us at 1:30.” You nodded as you broke your embrace and followed him back into the restaurant.

-

Another surprise, Scott was at the Hawkins Lab offices. He gave you a sympathetic smile as your eyes met, and you all walked in together to the meeting. Turns out that it wasn’t quite as scary looking as you expected it to be inside, it looked like a normal, plain office space.

“Munson, Harrington?” A lady’s voice called from the desk. “Separate rooms, 103, 104-”

“No, they're all going to be interviewed together in the same room. I’m their lawyer, and I have to be present as well.” Scott slammed his business card down on the desk and slid it towards the lady. She eyed it, and put it back down.

“Follow me.” Okay, maybe it was a little scary. You felt a timid, clammy hand grab yours, and you looked at it to see it was your brother beside you.

“You’re good, okay?” He whispered, knowing you were the anxious one of the two of you. “Let Scott do most of the talking, only answer if you absolutely have to. If you don’t know if you should, just look at him and he’ll give you the go ahead or not.” Clearly your brother had been there before, and knew what to do with these guys.

You nodded and squeezed his hand back before dropping it to your side.

You all entered what looked like a conference room, and took your seats at a long table. Paperwork was everywhere, and you tried to see what some of it was as you walked to your seat beside Eddie, but you couldn’t make anything out.

“They’ll be in shortly.” The lady said before she walked out.

Eddie leaned in and whispered, “the whole room is mic’d up, and security cameras in every corner. Stay quiet.” You nodded and looked at him, his eyes were wide with a look in them you had never seen before.

“Hi, I’m sorry it took us a minute to get back here. I hear you’re having some nightmares, Mr. Munson?” The man quickly shut the door and sat down across the table from you.

“Yeah, they’re back.”

“Would you say they ever went away with the medications, or did they just lessen?” He flipped through some papers before looking up at Eddie.

“They never went away.” His leg was practically jumping up and down as he answered this man in a white coat.

“You didn’t check in with us for the last few months, so we’d assumed your medication dose didn’t need adjusting. You are the only one of the group who uh, experienced what you did in the lab, but we really thought the dose you were prescribed would be enough. Now, you also said you’d noticed some personality changes?”

“Yeah.” He answered, looking straight at the man.

“Like, what?”

“Been gettin’ madder a lot quicker lately. But I’d assume that’s from the lack of sleep and the dreams. Anytime I fall asleep, I get the dreams.”

“So, on average how many hours of sleep are you getting each night? Because that could greatly impact the effectiveness of the program we have you on too.”

“N-not many. Maybe four?” You looked at Eddie again, you’d been sleeping over with him a lot and never realized that he wasn’t getting a full night's rest.

“We’ll have to change those meds for you then, how does that sound?”

“Not like I’m gonna take ‘em.” He muttered.

“Oh, you haven’t been taking them?” The doctor put the files down. “And this is, your girlfriend?”

Eddie nodded, and sat up straighter. “Have you noticed a change in him?”

You went to open your mouth, but Scott spoke up.

“She’s the one who’s been around him with the nightmares. She says he wakes up unsettled, upset.”

“Mr. Munson, are you experiencing any physical pain from these dreams?”

He looked at Scott, who gave him a small nod.

“Sometimes my scars hurt after I’ve had a bad dream. Like, they feel fresh again.”

“But no pain during the day, when you’re awake?” Eddie shook his head no as the doctor sighed and shuffled through some papers. “I honestly think it’s fine. We know that everything is closed off, there should be zero chance of this happening again.”

“I just wanna get some sleep.” Eddie said as he yawned.

“Then take the meds.” The doctor slid over a handwritten prescription for what looked like 3 different medications. “It’s helped everyone you know, and it’s not a permanent thing. You just experienced major trauma.” The doctor had a seat, making him look a little less scary. “Is there a reason you’re so against this?”

You watched as Eddie visibly squirmed in his seat. You reached out a hand and held his, squeezing it lightly.

“My dad had a substance problem. Pills, alcohol, anything he could get his hands on. I’m afraid I’ll turn into that.” He wouldn’t look anywhere but the doctor as he spoke.

“All of these are controlled, and you are only allowed a certain number a month. If you’d prefer you could ask the pharmacy to dispense it to you weekly, or have a friend keep hold of them just in case. One is for sleep, one is for any panic attacks, and another is a daily medication to keep your mood more at ease.” He looked more kind than he did before, and everyone was glancing at Eddie to respond, but he just had a deer in the headlights look on his face.

“Hey, Harrington- let’s give him some privacy.” Hopper nodded at you, and you squeezed Eddie’s hand again, but he quickly withdrew it from your grip. You swallowed hard as you walked out behind Jim, feeling a lump in your throat form.

The second you reached outside of the office space, and the wind caught your breath, you felt the tears stream down your face. Everything had felt like so much for the past few weeks since you’d been back in Hawkins, but you had no idea the extent of what Eddie had been dealing with. You felt a hand rubbing your shoulder, and Jim guided you back to his vehicle where you climbed into the passenger seat, still crying.

“I shouldn’t have come back here. I should’ve just gone somewhere else.” You said as you wiped your eyes.

“God, Harrington, you’re so dramatic. Don’t go saying that. I think he needs you here.”

“Bullshit, Hopper. Why did he pull away from me when I just tried to hold his hand?!”

He slowly looked at you before speaking calmly. “I mean this in the nicest way possible, okay? You can’t get mad at me.” He paused, “Alright?”

“Yeah. I won’t.” You sniffled and dried your eyes.

“The people closest to you in your life- your brother, Eddie, me, Joyce, Robin, all those kids. All of us have experienced some of the absolute worst things you could imagine seeing. None of it was fake, it’s been hell here for years. We saw people we loved die, Dustin held Eddie as he died and somehow he managed to escape and live to tell the story, except we were all told we can’t tell it to anyone. I know the trauma you had back in the city was bad too, I’m not saying it wasn’t, but this was a different type of haunting experience for us all involved. We’ve all had to seek help to stay here and attempt to heal, everyone except Eddie. And until you got here, he wouldn’t talk to anyone about going to get help. That, in there, was actually the best he’s ever reacted to the doctor giving him advice. And the only thing that has changed at all, is you being by his side. I knew his dad, I know his uncle. That boy has nothing but stubborn Munson blood running through his veins. But he’s got his moms heart, and you bring that out in him. He’s gonna get help, you just gotta be patient with him and let him know you’re gonna be with him. He’s terrified to lose anyone.” You watched as Hopper smoothed his hand over his mouth, “So I need you to do something that you Harrington’s have a real hard time doing- I need you to get that stick out of your ass that you all have, and you can’t react to his feelings this way, don’t make this about you right now. I’m telling you, you don’t want to know what we saw. Did they tell you I was in a Russian prison being held captive? I got tortured, could’ve and almost died, but I couldn’t give up. Those kids and this town were depending on me. I couldn’t lose El, and she couldn’t lose me.”

You took a deep breath in and out, taking in all of Hopper’s words as he put his hand on top of yours.

“You need to be here for him, he needs you. You can’t give up on him.”

“I do kinda have a stick up my ass sometimes, don’t I?” You joked, making light of the situation.

“All you Harrington’s do. You’re born with it. But you’ve all got good hair, so I guess that’s the trade off.”

“Any hair is good compared to yours.” You quipped at him as he lit a cigarette and rolled his window down. You reached for one and he handed you his lighter.

“Didn't know you smoked?”

“Not usually this, but after that conversation I’ll take anything.” You scoffed.

“Something else is you two siblings can be really dumb. You do realize you’re in a cop’s car right now, don’t you?”

“And you do realize who my boyfriend is, don’t you?”

“Touché.” Jim said to you as you both took a drag of your cigarette and waited for the other three to come out.

About fifteen minutes later, and two more cigarettes each, you saw Steve and Eddie walk out behind Scott, Steve’s arm was around Eddie’s shoulder. You didn’t know if you should get out of the truck, or if you should wait to approach them.

“Go hug ‘em.” Hopper hit the unlock button as if he read your mind, and you jumped out and quickly approached both boys. You first hugged Steve, who had dropped his arm quickly to return the hug to you.

“Thanks.” He muttered in your ear. “I’ll see you later.” You told him bye as you watched him walk to his car.

You turned to Eddie who was standing there, watching Steve drive away, avoiding eye contact.

“Hey, I’m proud of you.” You broke the silence, and tested the waters as you gently placed your hand on his arm.

“Thanks for being there with me.” He wrapped his arms around you slowly, and pulled you into his body. “I should’ve told you about everything, but I didn’t know how you’d react. Everything’s out now. I promise.”

“I believe you. I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through and I just walked in expecting that you owed me a thorough explanation reliving your trauma when it’s still probably too fresh for you to even process. I’m really fucking proud of you for going today, Eddie.” You pulled back and kissed him on the cheek. Hopper honked his horn, and put his car in reverse as you and Eddie both shot him the bird at the same time, causing you both to giggle.

“I think that was enough for you today, Harrington. I’ll clock you out at 5, and tell Doris you had some offsite work to get done with me so you’ll be in the clear.” You thought about giving him the basement key in your pocket, but something told you not to.

“Thanks, Scott.” You told him with a smile, and watched as Eddie gave him a hug too before he walked off to his car.

“So, you think you could ride with me to get these filled, or-” Eddie nervously asked you, “I can go later if you just wanna go home, I can take you.”

“No, I’ll go with you. And if you need me to like, I dunno, keep you accountable for anything I can. Or if you don’t want me to, just say that.”

“Steve’s gonna do that for me, but I appreciate the offer. For now, I just want you to be my girl.”

Your heart swooned at the use of the phrase, as he kissed you on the side of your head.

“I can do that.” You smiled at him before heading to his van.

[hockybish]

Reveal

l family is everything au l quinn x mom l masterlist l

October 29, 2024

With Jack and Luke in town for the Hughes Bowl, it was the perfect excuse to have the family over for dinner and a gender reveal. It was going to be just a little party with yummy food, a cake, and maybe some board games.

Neither you nor Quinn cared if the baby was going to be a boy or girl. Hattie may have had a prefference if she wanted a little brother or a baby sister. But as long as the baby was healthy that is all the mattered.

The reveal was just a fun thing to do while the family was together.

"Ready?"

You nodded towards your husband/boyfriend/fiance/baby daddy thing, to get a move one and cut into the cake to reveal if it's blue or pink inside.

"Okay. One, two, three!" Quinn made one angled cut and then another. He then slid the pie server under the slice and slowly lifted to cake to reveal the blue sponge inside.

"It's a boy!" You squeel clapping your hands together excitedly, while the rest of the family cheered. Quinn quickly put the cake on a plate, so he could wrap his arms around you and kiss you.

"A boy" Quinn smiled. He couldn't stopp kissing you. He was happy, you were happy, everyone was happy.

Once the family had there fill of cake, a couple of presents were brought out for the unborn child. Both Jack and Luke got the baby new Devils jerseys, one had "Uncle Jack" on the namplate and another had "Uncle Luke." And from Ellen and Jim the baby got a blanket and little outfit that had Fin on it.

Hattie thought the new blanky was for her. She took if immediately and started snuggling with it. You didn't want her to throw a fit tonight, so you let her have it for now.

"You guys have any ideas on names yet?" Ellen asked when the night was winding down.

"I don't know. We had talked about maybe Caleb or Asher for a boy. I don't know yet." You rubbed your belly answering the question.

"Don't worry about it honey. There's still plenty of time. And it's not like Quinn made a bet with Jack again for naming rights." Ellen patted your leg. There was a little bit of an awkward laughter amoungst the group.

"Actually, about that" Quinn grimisced. He actually did it again. He didn't make a bet with either of his brothers but he may have made a drunken promise to name his first born son after two of his teammate buddies.

"No, not again." You groaned. You scowl at the Jack and Luke who were playing with their niece on floor. They both threw up their hands in innocence

"Sorry?" He leaned over to give you another hug, you shoved him away.

[anarcoqueer1994]

It was supposed to be fun. Joyce and Hopper were going to be out for the night, trusting Jonathan and Arglye(mostly Jonathan) to hold down the fort. They were all going to be hanging out at the Byers' place. Eddie and the rest of Hellfire(which now included Will) were going to play, while El, Max, and the rest of the older teens hung out with them.

Except things didn't go as planned. Robin and Steve had gotten there first. Jonathan had told them to go on in, that he, Argyle, and Will were taking the van to get the other kids and they will be right back. He had said Corroded Coffin boys and Nancy should be there soon and to let them in.

Robin and Steve had been hanging out, killing time until everyone got back, when they had spotted a tray of brownies in the Byers' kitchen. They of course each opted to grab one. But unfortunately, Argyle had made these brownies and they had a very fun secret ingredient.

Needless to say by the time Nancy got there, they were found laying on the floor in a giggling fit. They probably should have split a brownie with their potency. She let herself in when no one answered the door. Now she was standing over them. She could tell they weren't sober.

"How high are you two?" She asks looking down at them.

They both laugh with Robin reaching up to grab Nancy’s hand. Luckily for Nancy, she was too stoned to notice the blush on her face. "Nance, your the one who is high. Look how far up you are!" She says as they both laugh harder. Robin gently tugs on Nancy’s arm and continues. "Come on, get down here. Please? I want you to pet my hair."

Steve sits up. "You can lay in my lap, and I'll pet your hair, Robs."

She sits up, too, leaning close to Steve. She tries to whisper. "Shhh, Steve. I'm trying to flirt with Nancy." He smiles. And by the flustered look on Nancy’s face, she definitely did not succeed in whispering.

Steve giggles again. "You heard the girl, Nance." He winks.

"Shut up, Stevie!" She says, hitting his shoulder. "Or I'm going to tell her how Eddie's your stupid boyfriend and that you guys are gross and love dovey."

Steve hides his face in his hands, laughing in the process. "Oh my God! You just told her!" They both burst out laughing again.

Nancy has been watching this unfold. She has a lot to unpack here. But right now, these two idiots were too high to talk about anything. So she takes the simplest route. She walks to the kitchen, and gets her own brownie. If you can't beat them join them.

When Jonathan and Argyle get back with the kids, Eddie and the Corroded Coffin boys still aren't there. But they do walk in on a very high trio, with Robin laying in Nancy’s lap as she cards her fingers through her hair. They are all laughing hysterically as the group finds them. Argyle and Jonathan know right away they are stoned, and just shrug their shoulders. The kids poke fun at them, but it's okay. They are all still having fun. Honestly, it was funny to watch as Max explained to El what was going on.

Minutes later, though, Eddie, Gareth, Jeff, and Caleb walk in, and that's when all hell breaks loose. As soon as Eddie walks in, Steve blurts out. "Eddie, sunshine! Come here, I want you to hold me..." He makes grabby hands at him.

Immediately, everyone except Robin and Nancy stare between Eddie and Steve in confusion. Eddie goes bright red, realizing his beautiful,perfect, dumbass boyfriend just outed them both. He doesn't mind but is worried sober Steve will.

"Stevie, let's maybe talk about this later, huh?" He says gently.

But then Steve, honest to god, pouts. "Whhhyy?" He whines."Do you not like me anymore, Eds?"

"Oh my god." Eddie says in exacerbation. Jeff, Gareth, and Caleb are snickering behind him, as are Jonathan and Argyle, everyone catching on. The kids, who are also catching on decide to be little shits.

"That's fucked up, Eddie." Dustin laughs. "Don't you like Steve anymore?"

"Yea, what's your problem, Eds." Max adds pointedly.

Everyone is snickering now except for the high trio on the living floor, watching Eddie expectantly. Steve is still pouting, but now has crossed his arms, looking like he is going to throw a tantrum.

Eddie can't help but smile to himself. Usually Steve is not this openly needy even around Robin and Gareth who already knew. So he decides to have some fun, and enjoy this. The cat is already out of the bag. He walks forward, sitting next to Steve, throwing his arms around Steve, until Steve is practically cuddling in his lap. "Better, princess?"

The name gets a few snickers, namely from Dustin, Max and Mike, but Steve doesn't mind. He is too high to care. So he just nods his head.

And that night, Jonathan captured a few pictures of everyone, including both Steve and Eddie AND Robin and Nancy cuddling. And that's how everyone found out Steve and Eddie were dating, as well as how Robin and Nancy first got together.

[kiarastromboli]

𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧:

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨 𝐱 𝐲/𝐧

⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱

⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱

𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘: jealous!reader, stalker!Matt, just a bit suggestive 🤏🏼

𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪: Y/N will meet Sarah, who doesn't seem to particularly please her, and after spending the morning waiting for him, our two main characters will finally be able to enjoy their dates together.

ℕ𝕠𝕥𝕖: I know the really spicy part takes time to arrive, but don't worry, it's coming soon.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐.

⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝟑:

Here we are, Saturday.

This morning when I woke up, I was in high spirits. I was going to spend my day with her, well, at least half of my day, given that I still had to work this morning.

Last night, I had a lot of trouble falling asleep; I couldn't stop thinking about today and how it would go. I was apprehensive, expecting both the best and the worst, but I really didn't know what to expect. Even though she had made advances, Caleb, her so-called friend, had clearly hinted that he also wanted the place I coveted.

So naturally, I spent my night on social media trying to find Caleb's accounts to learn more about him. And to be honest, it wasn't very difficult to find.

"Caleb_the.1, seriously?" I thought when I found his Instagram account. This guy was so self-centered it almost made me want to vomit.

His bio consisted of bro-ish phrases to show that he was an alpha athlete above the others, it was ridiculous to the point of being laughable. How can you hang out with this kind of guy, y/n? Seriously, aren't you ashamed?

Scrolling through his profile, I found about fifteen shirtless photos of him, of course, it goes without saying. And honestly, it's not very prudent of him to expose his life so much on social media. In less than five minutes, I knew which gyms he frequented, his favorite restaurants, and all the places he liked to go daily, giving me the opportunity to learn a little more about him.

But for now, he'll have to wait. My priority is y/n, and I'll deal with his case after our appointment.

"You're late!" Sarah said to me when I arrived at the bookstore.

"Sorry, traffic was jammed this morning," I lied. I didn't have an excuse; I was late only because I spent an extra 20 minutes scrolling through Caleb's profile this morning to learn more.

"Matt, since when does traffic matter to you when you're on your bike??" she said, confused.

"It's none of your business, Sarah, stop asking me questions," I said, shaking my head.

"Yeah, you're lucky I'm your friend; otherwise, I would've fired you!" she said before turning around and going back to her tasks.

It's true; I'm lucky to have a friend like Sarah. I probably don't think enough about thanking her.

I went back to my post and continued my morning, chatting a bit with her; there weren't many customers today.

"Matt, you're lying; you're not going to tell me you've never thought about that before!" Sarah said, shocked that I've never had any weird fantasies about a celebrity.

"No, never, and I find it weird that you were obsessed with Zac Efron until the end of high school!" I said, laughing.

"First of all, I wasn't obsessed! I just had a little crush on him, and secondly, everyone had a crush on that guy back then!" she said, justifying herself.

Meanwhile, I hadn't noticed, but someone had entered the shop at that moment.

"Yeah, in middle school, Sarah, not in high school!" I replied, laughing.

"Screw you, Matty!" she said, chuckling and giving me a light push.

We were interrupted by the voice of a newcomer behind us.

"Hey," she said, her voice a bit sharp.

I immediately turned around, recognizing y/n's voice.

But something was different; her voice wasn't as gentle as usual, and I couldn't see her usual smile.

"Oh, hi, y/n," I replied, smiling.

"Um, this is Sarah, my colleague. I didn't know you'd come so soon," I said, scratching my neck.

"Hi," Sarah said, smiling and extending her hand.

"I've got my hands full, sorry," y/n said to Sarah, giving her some sort of fake smile.

"Yeah, I thought I'd come a little earlier to bring you some coffee," y/n said, turning to me.

"Oh, um, thanks, you didn't have to," I said timidly.

"No, of course, I insist. It's the least I can do after you gave me a ride home last time!" she said, casting a fleeting glance at Sarah.

I'm not sure what game she's playing, but I don't get the feeling she likes Sarah too much.

"Yeah, well, I'll leave you guys. I still have a lot of work. Matt, don't linger too long; we still have to do inventory," Sarah said before leaving us.

A brief silence ensued before I decided to speak.

"It's really nice of you to get the coffee, y/n," I said, smiling.

"It's nothing, I got you a decaf," she said, handing me my coffee.

"Wow, wait, this is my favorite. How did you know—" I started to say before she cut me off.

"Just lucky, I guess," she said, smiling.

Maybe this girl knows me a little better than I thought. I thought I was harder to read than that.

"Well, thank you very much. I finish in 2 hours. If you want, you can browse the bookstore while you wait for me," I said.

"That works out perfectly; I was in the mood to read today," she said, smiling before heading off to explore the bookstore.

It was nice working with her around. We exchanged little glances, and most of the time, she would smile at me.

Honestly, I could get used to working under these conditions.

"Matt, focus. I don't mind you having your friends over here, but I can't handle the customers and inventory all by myself!" Sarah said, getting annoyed, interrupting yet another exchange of glances with y/n.

"Sorry, if you want, I'll take care of the inventory and close the shop today," I said, trying to make amends.

"Okay, but hurry up. We have 45 minutes left before closing, and there's still a stack of books in the back room," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, ma'am," I said, smiling, and she couldn't help but smile back before I went to do what I needed to do in the back room.

POV of Sarah:

I watched Matt walk into the back room, smiling and shaking my head. How could I stay mad at him after all?

Anyway, I headed back to the counter to tidy up the things lying around when I noticed Matt's friend heading towards the back room.

"Hey, sorry, but you can't go in there," I said, stopping her in her tracks and pointing to the sign on the door that specified "Employees Only."

She stopped and turned to face me.

"Sasha, right?" she said, crossing her arms.

"It's Sarah," I replied.

"Yeah, whatever, Sarah. Have you had feelings for Matt for a long time?" she asked, catching me off guard.

"W-what?" I said, furrowing my brows.

"Let's not play this little game, please. It's not going to work with me. You and I both know you have a huge crush on him, and frankly, it's pathetic. You can see he's not interested in you, so I suggest you keep your distance and let those who actually have a chance take theirs," she said, staring me in the eyes.

I didn't even know how to respond. I couldn't deny it; everything she had just said was true. But there were much better ways to say it.

There was something off about this girl. She had this threatening air about her towards me when I hadn't done anything to her.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go join Matt," she said, before striding off and pushing through the door without giving me a chance to say anything.

Back to Matt's POV:

I heard the door open, thinking it was Sarah coming to say goodbye.

"What, already? It's closing time, and I haven't finished the inventory yet!" I said before seeing y/n appear.

"Oh, it's you," I said, a bit surprised because she had no reason to be here.

"Yeah, I asked Sarah if I could come give you a hand," she said, smiling.

"And she said yes?" I asked, surprised because Sarah is usually strict about the rules, so it would have been strange for her to let y/n in without any objections.

She paused for a moment as if she was taking time to think before answering me.

"No," she said, chuckling, "I waited for her to turn her back before sneaking in here," she confessed, and I laughed.

"I feel like you're going to get me into trouble," I said, smiling.

"Come on, it's not like I'm going to steal any books. Plus, I think it's stupid to restrict access; it's just a back room," she said, rolling her eyes.

"And honestly, I find your colleague rather annoying," she said before covering her mouth.

"Sorry, I spoke before thinking," she said, embarrassed, and I chuckled at her action.

I couldn't help but find it cute.

"Firstly, access is restricted because there are some pretty old books here, the kind that should absolutely not be touched unless you're a professional," I began to explain.

"And secondly, yes, Sarah can be annoying, I'll give you that, but she can also be really nice. I'm sure you'd get along great with her," I said, continuing to do the inventory.

"We'll see about that later. For now, let me help you with all this so we can finally go for a ride on the bike," she said, chuckling before coming to help me.

With y/n's help, I managed to finish the inventory just in time for closing.

As we were about to leave the back room, Sarah shot me a look and nodded towards a section of the bookstore, indicating she wanted to talk to me privately.

"I'm going to do one last round in the aisles just to make sure everything's in order before closing. Wait for me here," I said to y/n, realizing Sarah wanted to talk to me alone.

I walked over, and she pulled me a bit further into the bookstore to ensure y/n couldn't overhear us.

"Hey, what's going on?" I said, chuckling.

"Listen, Matt, I'm your friend, and as such, I can't keep this to myself, you understand?" she began, confusing me.

"Your friend y/n, or whatever she is to you, I don't trust her. You shouldn't hang out with her; that girl is really weird," she said.

Here we go.

Seriously, Sarah, instead of being happy for me, you're having a jealousy fit?

"Okay, I don't know where you're going with this, Sarah, but y/n is a great person, and I won't let you badmouth her just because you're jealous," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Jealous? Matt, she threatened me earlier, specifically telling me to stay away from you! I'm not jealous!" she said, getting annoyed.

My y/n do something like that?

It's not possible; she's way too kind and gentle to threaten someone. I knew Sarah had a crush on me, but I didn't think it was to the point where she'd throw a jealousy fit as soon as I was with another woman.

It disappoints me to see her acting this way; I thought we were past that.

"Whatever you say. I'm done with this," I said, rolling my eyes before turning to leave, but she grabbed my arm.

"If you don't want to believe me, that's your problem, but I'm telling you, Matthew, there's something strange about that girl. You should stay on your guard," she said before letting go of my arm and going to collect her things to leave the bookstore.

I stood there for a moment, feeling confused, before joining y/n.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, smiling.

"Yeah, ready to go?" I asked her, returning her smile, and she nodded.

Once the bookstore was closed, y/n and I hit the road before stopping at Central Park.

"Central Park, you couldn't have found a more cliché place," she said, chuckling once she removed her helmet.

"I thought it was the company that mattered, not the place," I said, pretending to be offended.

"Okay, don't start, Matt!" she said, pointing her finger at me, and I smiled.

"You know what, there's a pretty nice museum nearby. Let's go there," she suggested.

"So, no stroll in the park," I said, putting on a falsely sad face.

"We'll do that after your park stroll, idiot. Come on, follow me," she said, rolling her eyes.

We walked for a few minutes before finding ourselves in front of the museum she mentioned.

We entered and strolled around, observing the artworks. It was at this moment that I learned something new about y/n—she's been passionate about photography since she was a child.

We spent a good two hours in the museum, chatting about everything and anything. We almost forgot that lunchtime had long passed.

"Oh my God, it's 1:30 in the afternoon, and we still haven't eaten," she said, chuckling when she checked the time on her phone after leaving the museum.

"Really?" I asked, surprised, and she nodded.

"That's your fault; you talk way too much," I said, chuckling.

"Yeah, like you don't love that," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Are you hungry?" I asked her, smiling.

"A little, and you?" she said, looking me in the eyes.

"A bit," I replied, shrugging.

"Hmm..." she hummed thoughtfully, scanning the surroundings.

"Look, a hot dog stand!" she said excitedly, pointing at the stand before grabbing me by the arm and running towards it.

"And you thought strolling in Central Park was cliché, huh?" I teased once we arrived at the stand.

"Shut up," she said, smiling, before turning to the vendor.

"Two hot dogs, please!" she said cheerfully to the vendor.

"So, I don't even get to choose my meal?" I frowned.

"No, just be quiet and take what I give you!" she said with a smirk, and I chuckled.

"No ketchup!" she added to the vendor as he reached for the sauce compartment.

I hate ketchup, but I don't think I've ever told her that.

She grabbed the hot dogs and paid before I could say anything.

"Ugh, sorry, I hate ketchup, I didn't think to ask if you wanted any," she said, handing me my hot dog.

So it was just a coincidence? You and I probably have much more in common than I could have imagined...

The more time I spend with you, the harder it is for me to believe that you're not the literal definition of perfection, y/n.

"It's okay; I don't like ketchup either anyway," I said, smiling.

"Really??" she said, surprised.

"Yeah, I can't stand it," I said, chuckling.

"Or maybe you're just trying to copy me, huh? I see what you're trying to do, Matty!" she said, narrowing her eyes before taking a bite of her hot dog.

Matty, so we're already at the nickname stage?

"Yeah, that must be it. Keep dreaming," I said, shaking my head and taking a bite of my hot dog.

We continued our little walk to the park.

"Can I be honest with you?" she said, turning to me.

"Go ahead, I'm listening," I replied.

"These hot dogs are really terrible," she said, grimacing, and I laughed.

"I agree," I replied, and she laughed too.

"But I really want to finish them; I hate wasting food!" she said, pouting like a little girl.

Y/n, if only you knew how much you softened my heart.

"It's alright, sweetheart; I'll finish it for you if you can't," I said, smiling.

"Matt, you're so cute, bro," she said, blushing before turning her head.

"Bro?" I chuckled. "That hurts."

"What were you hoping for?" she said, rolling her eyes. "That I'd call you baby?" she said, smiling.

"Okay, go ahead, mock me some more," I said.

"With pleasure, baby," she said with a smirk.

"You're not funny, y/n," I said, finishing my hot dog.

"Maybe, but you adore me anyway," she shrugged, offering me her hot dog for me to eat as agreed.

"I can't deny that," I replied, taking her hot dog.

We continued our walk, chatting about everything and nothing.

I wasn't usually talkative, but with her, everything was so effortless. I loved listening to her; she always had something interesting to say.

She was full of surprises, always having a different opinion or perspective on the world, which made me feel less alone.

"Oh, Matt, look, an ice cream stand!" she said, hopping.

"You're such a child, y/n, you know that?" I chuckled.

"Yeah, I love life, sue me for it," she said, raising her hands sarcastically.

I shook my head before following her to the ice cream stand.

"Oh my god, they have rose-flavored ice cream, it's my favorite scent; you absolutely have to try it!" she said excitedly.

"I don't really feel like ice cream," I started to say before she cut me off to talk to the vendor.

"Two rose-flavored ice creams, please," she said, turning to me with a big smile.

I looked at her bewildered before bursting into laughter; she's completely insane, but I love it.

"Here you go," she said, handing me my ice cream before happily continuing to walk in the park.

How can she have so much energy and smile so much?

It's true; this girl was like a sun; she lit up every place she went.

And me, on the contrary, I felt like I was the moon next to her.

"So, how is it?" she said, smiling, referring to my ice cream.

"Delicious," I replied.

"See, I knew you'd like it," she said proudly.

"Oh, wait, you have some ice cream right there," she said, chuckling before approaching me.

Standing on tiptoes, she placed her hand on my cheek and used the finger of her other hand to wipe the ice cream from the corner of my mouth.

"Here," she said, looking into my eyes and offering me her finger with the ice cream to lick.

Her gaze and expression changed at that moment.

What are you playing at, y/n? Is this your way of making suggestive gestures towards me? If so, you have absolutely no idea the effect you're having on me right now.

I took her finger into my mouth without breaking eye contact, and she bit her lip.

I can't be imagining things; she's not as innocent as she pretends to be.

She then returned to standing normally on both feet before taking a bite of her ice cream, still looking me straight in the eyes.

Fuck, does it really take so little to get me hard?

"Mmmh, my favorite," she said, closing her eyes before turning around and starting to walk again as if nothing had happened.

Is that all? Are you going to leave me hanging like this?

If you only knew how much I dreamed of being in your ice cream's place right now, y/n...

From that moment on, it was difficult for me to focus on what she was saying. My mind was filled with ideas... of all kinds.

But regardless, we resumed our conversation, stopping on a bench to finish our ice creams.

"Fuck," she said, taking her phone to check the notification she had just received in the middle of our conversation.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"It's my dad, he needs me for his charity gala next weekend," she said with a sigh.

"His charity gala?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's something my dad organizes every year. It's a big event where he invites his most influential friends to raise funds for cancer research," she replied.

"Oh, um, do you want me to drop you off?" I offered.

"I'm really sorry to cut our outing short like this," she said with a sad look.

"Hey, it's okay, don't worry about it. We can hang out again this week," I said, putting my hand on her back and smiling.

"You're the best," she said, hugging me, and we headed back towards my bike this time.

"Where do you want me to drop you?" I asked as I put on my helmet.

"Take me home, I need to pick up some stuff anyway," she said, putting on her helmet as well.

We got on my bike, and I started driving towards her place.

This time, she seemed to hold on to me a little tighter, as if she didn't want this moment to end.

Oh, so you'd do anything to not have to leave either?

Once we arrived at her apartment complex, I parked, and she got off, taking off her helmet.

"I really hate that I have to go. I wish I could stay with you," she said, looking down at the ground.

I took off my helmet before responding.

"Y/n, you have important things to do, and I'm not going anywhere. You'll come back to me when you have time," I said, placing my hands on her cheeks without thinking.

She looked up at me, and damn, how badly I wanted to kiss her.

Is that what I should do? She's not saying anything anymore, maybe that's what she's waiting for from me?

"Thank you, Matt," she said softly, smiling after several seconds of staring into each other's eyes without saying anything before stepping back and turning to go inside her place.

And I missed my chance again, what an idiot.

Next time, I promise you, y/n, I won't let my chance slip away.

⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱✮♱⋆♱

Taglist: @mayhem-72 @tillies33ssss @junnniiieee07 @bernardenjoyer @whicked-hazlatwhore @nicksmainbitch @vickyzloserz @stingerayyy2

[enchantedchocolatebars]

Fic Request: Kid Philip is sick from the mold, so Caleb, Evelyn and her parents are taking care of him. Maybe add a moment of Kid Philip not wanting to take the medicine.

Common Mold Medicine

Summary: Kid Philip won't take his common mold medicine unless...

Ao3 version

Thank you for the help, @talisman975!

Enjoy!

"Little sips, Philip," Mrs. Clawthorne gently instructed the unwell boy as the mother held a straw to his lips.

He was currently dealing with a case of common mold while laying down on the guest room bed inside the Clawthorne household.

After sipping his water, he murmured a soft thank you when Mr. Clawthorne wiped his chin with the corner of his blanket.

After slipping a bowl of pre-cut flesh and blood fruit into Philip's hands, which the sugars in the sweet, exotic fruit would help his human immune system out, Evelyn changed the damp washcloth on his forehead.

Philip closed his eyes and snuggled into his blanket once his brother finished fluffing his pillow, and he felt the elder's hand gently pat his head.

"Don't worry, Philip," Caleb whispered with the softest of reassurance.

"I know things seem to be unpleasant now, but you're going to be okay. This illness is something you can overcome."

Everyone was making every effort to lower Philip's fever.

...

Philip turned his head away from the spoonful of cloudy brown-colored medicine being held to his lips.

"I don't want to take it," a stubborn and stuffy-nosed Philip pouted as he crossed his arms in defiance.

"It smells icky," he huffed.

"But, Philip, it's crucial that you take this," Mr. Clawthorne said calmly and carefully as he pulled the spoon back, not wanting to rile up the brunette.

"It will aid in your recovery," Mrs. Clawthorne tried to persuade with a sweet smile.

However, Philip frowned and shook his head.

"Caleb...," Evelyn whispered as she and her parents looked to the blonde in hopes that he could convince Philip to take his medicine.

"Oh, Philip, won't you please take your medicine?" Caleb asked with a small smile as he took a seat on the side of the bed, his tone lively.

At first, Philip wouldn't budge, but then Caleb proceeded to bring out the overly pleading puppy dog eyes.

"Pleaaaase? For me? For your big brwother?" he implored in a sticky-sweet voice, his eyes big and full of sparkles.

After some silence, Philip finally sighed.

"... Fine," he agreed with another huff, frowning about the fact that he had given in so easily as Caleb and the Clawthornes released breaths of relief and smiled at each other.

"But," he continued, developing a giant smirk on his face as he was about to make a deal, pointing a finger at everyone.

"You all have to take it with me."

Those certainly weren't words that Caleb, Evelyn, and Mr. and Mrs. Clawthorne were expecting to hear.

"But, Philip, we're not sick," Mr. Clawthorne gently stated with a tender yet visibly nervous smile, which only made Philip return to crossing his arms.

"I won't take that medicine unless everyone else takes it with me!" he declares assertively and adorably, causing everyone to sigh.

It looks like they didn't have a choice.

...

"... Mmm!" Philip hummed in delight as he sucked up and swallowed all of his medicine, removing his spoon from his mouth.

"Wow, that actually tasted really good!"

The medicine possessed both a sharp burst of tartness and a sweet, apple-like flavor.

"More, please!" Philip politely requested as he held his spoon out, smiling an innocent, closed-eyed smile at everyone with cheery, flushed cheeks.

Meanwhile, Caleb and the Clawthornes had extremely exaggerated puckered faces as a result of taking the medicine while healthy.

They appeared as though they had all sucked on the sourest lemon ever for a considerable amount of time.

[critcallyobsessed]

Mollymauk Tealeaf is the reason Caleb Widowgast forgave himself and you cannot convince me otherwise.

When Caleb first met the Nien he was so afraid they would clock his criminal past he intentionally self issolated. And if Mollymauk hadn't been such a cocky ass, and literally forced him to open up about his issues he would have abandoned the Nien.

Yeah, they beefed, but you have to think about the weight of the guilt Caleb was carrying around versus Molly’s ‘dont worry be happy’ lifestyle it's honestly impressive they didn't PVP.

Molly comforts Caleb in one of his darkest moments and I believe it is bc Molly has at least a few of Luican’s memories and he can see Caleb’s pain and just cannot let him suffer alone.

But, most importantly, Mollymuck dies. And that really changes Caleb he realizes just how finite life is and I think he's kind of forced to keep Molly’s memory alive. Like, Caleb before Glory Run Road would have wasted 0 time going after Jester, Fjord, and Yasha. But watching Molly fall he is forced to forgive himself in order to “Leave the world better than he left it”.

He and Beau become besties because they're both left to face the reality that the only kindness they had ever known in their life was a conman teifling.

It really pisses me off that Molly died bc I really and truly believe that he and Caleb would have fallen in love.

CALEB MADE A TRANSMUTER STONE WITH THE PLAN TO RESURRECT MOLLY. GUYS! He carried the fucking stone around for at least 80 eps. He was the only one to mention the possibility of Molly being alive he never gave up on them.

I think Fjord saw it… ya know Molly and fjord were rommies and surly they talked bc when Caleb is using The Stone and that crazy spell (I can't recall the name) and it didn't work he comforted Essek. I think he was comforting Essek not bc Caleb wanted Molly back but bc Essek was morning for Caleb like without it having to say it out loud Fjord saw Calebs heartbreak and knew that Essek needed someone to check in.

Like please don't lie to me, Essek Molly and Caleb would have been world shattering

[bloopitynoot]

3 Shadowgast fics that made me ugly cry

Okay so I read a LOT of shadowgast fanfics and I wanted to share some of the ones that made me absolutely weep. (I was going to wait until tomorrow but I got too excited to share).

All of these have some intense emotional distress, but I promise you all they may be angsty but they absolutely have happy endings.

They are all set in very different AU's, are hefty completed fics, and have similar feels!

1. the breathe before the phrase

(171513 words) by @kmackatie Chapters: 20/20 Rating: Explicit Summary: The ringing note of a concert A is played by the oboe, echoing on its own in the space. It’s picked up by the wind section, followed rapidly by the brass, and the familiar feeling of an orchestra calibrating takes over Caleb. The tonal adjustments as each person brings their instrument into alignment sinks into him and something inside Caleb shifts in recognition as Essek leads the strings into their own tuning. It’s like something is waking up, like something unfurling and firing across long-unused paths of memory. His hands shake slightly, as he raises his bow and joins them, fingers fumbling against the pegs and fine tuners that give him control over his instrument. ---- Essek Thelyss is a leading violinist, his spot as Shadowhand of the Rosohna Philharmonic Orchestra has been uncontested for over a decade. Caleb Widogast is a recent arrival to the city, convinced by his friends to audition for one of the vacant violinist positions. After starting off on the wrong foot, Caleb and Essek get to slowly know each other, discover what brings them joy, create while defying expectations, and find out that what they can produce together may just be better than anything they can do separately.

Why I cried: The amount of pressure put on Essek made my heart absolutely shatter. That plus the pinning between Caleb and Essek had me weeping. The hurt/comfort energy. The bad parent Dierta and of course past Caleb Ickythong trauma healing. Other than the story itself Katie has put so much energy into explaining the music, the playlist is stunning, and the inspiration for the played pieces in the fic are grounded in actual compositions. No spoilers, but the ending is gorgeous <3

2.Till Human Voices Wake us

(66080 words) by @ariadne-mouse Chapters: 23/23 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Additional Tags: Merman!Caleb, no Mighty Nein but otherwise canon setting/events, Neutral evil Essek, Essek-typical anxiety and fatalism, Loneliness, Hurt/Comfort, spooky gothic vibes, some horror and disturbing imagery, the ocean as a threat/love language, Illustrations, drowning themes Summary: Essek Thelyss, lonely and ambitious prodigy, comes to Nicodranas to make a risky gamble with the Assembly. At the water’s edge, he finds himself swept up in another dangerous entanglement he can't seem to escape — and as time goes on, he's less and less sure he wants to. Will his treasonous alliance or the sea itself devour him first? (Or, the one where Caleb is a merman.)

Why I cried: okay so look, this story was so fucking sad I can't even begin to describe it. The love and longing between the two, the tragic backstory for Caleb. Treason = death for Essek (it's a happy ending though so do not worry, but I definitely worried so you don't have to LOL). It also has some stunning art in it!!!

3. what luminous worlds await

what luminous worlds await (178674 words) by @essektheylyss Rating: Mature Additional Tags: Champion of the Luxon AU, Alternate Universe - Future, Space Opera, Religious Conflict, religious trauma, Violence, Minor Character Death, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Dreams vs. Reality, Demisexual Essek Thelyss, Past Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Angst, Fictional Religion & Theology, Implied/Referenced Sex, Mention of Using Sex as Self-Harm, several immortals grapple with loss while trying to save the world, so so many liberties taken with consecution, this wouldn't be a problem if you'd EXPLAIN matthew mercer, and/or if a certain drow would give literally any straight answers, (I mean he can't give straight answers when he's not straight), Background Fjorester (Past), Post-Canon, …very post-canon Summary: “You seek my nature. It is a lonely endeavor. Would you like to join me on this path?” “Yes.” — After a thousand years, a divine champion awakes in a lightless cave above Port Damali with little memory to speak of and a beacon in his hands. Even as he struggles to piece the past together and process what he has lost while he slept, the future demands he answer for the crimes of his elders. It offers little in return, but perhaps there are fragments of possibility awaiting him.

Why I cried: Omg oh boy, this one made me BIG cry- honestly one of my favourite fics I have read so far. A true space opera, a story of love, in many forms, over time, space, and multiple lives. I sobbed from chapter one literally until the end. Though I think you will need an A03 account to read this one, but it is worth the wait to set one up. My partner watched me cry so much while I read this. I totally did download and save this fic to send to pals so they can cry with me. It is worth the agony for this happy ending. I might still be crying LOL

[plussizefantasia]

Good Punkins

Flufftober Day 21: Pumpkin Patch

Steve Rogers x f!mom!reader

Word Count: 2.7k (actually the longest fic I've written to date)

Warnings: reader is a mom in this one, she is referred to as Mamma several times so if that's not your jam don't read this.

AN: Holy crap this went way beyond my original plan but I just love Steve and little man so much now. This story does have a part two coming later (on day 30). Feedback and reblogs are always encouraged! Thank you for reading.

divider credit @royallaesthetics

Steve was an amazing husband. The two of you were married six years ago and within a year you were expecting. Nine months later, Caleb James Rogers was born and you realized something amazing. Steve was an amazing husband, but he was an even better father.

Little Caleb wanted for nothing, but he wasn’t spoiled. He was adventurous and kind and everything that you could ever want in a child. Even as a baby, he wasn’t very fussy. When he was all it took was Steve lifting him into his large arms and cooing at the infant to get him to calm down. At first, you were a little jealous that Steve seemed to have the golden tough when it came to your son, but you couldn’t help the overwhelming feelings of adoration for your husband every time you saw the two of them together.

Caleb was an extremely curious child, he also didn’t like being left out. When you had driven the two of you home last week after picking him up from and he had seen the new decorations your neighbors had put out for Halloween it was no surprise when he asked, “Mamma, why dey have punkins?” You dread the day when he’s able to say the word pumpkin.

“Why do you think they have pumpkins, baby?” You returned.

“Dunno Mamma, but they gots faces in them.” 

“Some of them do yeah,” you opened the door to your house and watched as Caleb climbed up the singular step that led up to your door. You don’t know who designed it, but your little tyke has tripped on it more than once and you’ve made sure to be very watchful every time he tries again.

At the sound of the front door opening, Steve made his way towards the entryway of your home. He looked soft, as he usually did nowadays and you couldn’t love it more. Steve had hung up the shield when Caleb was born and since then he let his hair grow out, and bought a few more pairs of sweats and at your insistence shirts that fit him. He didn’t have abs anymore but that didn’t mean the strength had gone away, just that he was more worried about his family and being there for every moment than staying in peak shape.

“Buddy! How was school?” Steve got down on one knee in order to intercept the charging little boy.

“It was so funs Daddy! I got to play on the park and Mrs. Hilly gave me two gold stars today.” Steve lifted Caleb off the ground and cradled him against his hip. He began walking the two of them towards the kitchen.

“Two stars? That’s great bud.”

“Yeah and on da way home I saw punkins on the ground. Mamma says some of them face faces.”

“Yeah, it’s October buddy, that means some people have started decorating.”

“Decorating for what Daddy?”

“Decorating for Halloween.”

“Can we decorate for Halloween?”

“I don’t see why not, do you want to get a pumpkin and put a face on it with me?” Steve smiled at his son and shifted his eyes towards yours.

“Yes! Can we go gets one now Daddy?”

“Not now baby, we can go this weekend though.” You interrupted, noticing the look on Steve's face. He had a hard time saying no to Caleb and you knew that he was about to go put his shoes on and drive thirty minutes away to the nearest pumpkin patch just to see his little boy smile.

‘But I wants to go now, Mamma.” Your little boy whined.

‘I know baby, but if we go now we won’t have enough time to do all the fun things there. Don’t you want to be able to do all of the things they have?”

“What else do the punkin people have?”

“Um, well they usually have a corn maze and tractor rides. They might have a big ol’ room of corn that you can play in as you do at the park. And they might even have animals you can pet.” You said, thinking back to your childhood memories of going to pumpkin patches with your family.

“They have all of that?” His eyes had gotten wide.

“Yeah baby, they have tons of stuff but if we go tonight we won’t have time to do any of it. But if we wait until Saturday we’ll be able to spend the whole day there.”

‘I want to spend forever there!” 

“I don’t know about forever buddy, you still have to go to school but we can spend the whole day on Saturday how does that sound?” Steve asked the little boy.

“Sounds good Daddy.”

And so, three days later your little family of three loaded into the SUV all bundled up for a cool day at the pumpkin patch, and made your way further out of town and towards the fall-themed activity.

Your little boy was in the backseat singing along to the songs on the radio and occasionally asking nonsensical questions to either you or Steve. And both of you tried your best to answer them as seriously as you could.

Half an hour later you pulled into the farm and Steve rolled around the dirt parking lot looking for an open spot. It wasn’t too busy which you were grateful for, Steve may not exactly be Captain America anymore but that didn’t mean that he doesn’t still get recognized.

Steve parked the car and jumped out before you could start unbuckling Caleb. You rounded your way to the trunk to grab the backpack you had packed full of some extra snacks, a light blanket in case anyone got cold, and a hat and scarf for Caleb in case he needed it. Your husband and son joined you a moment later, Caleb holding onto Steve’s hand and practically bouncing in place.

“Alright baby, we need to go get our tickets to get inside and then we can do whatever you want.”

“Otay Mamma.” 

You passed through the ticket line with ease and without much time passing at all, you were inside. You checked your phone for the time, 10:30. 

“Alright baby, what do you want to do first?” You asked, looking towards your son and patiently waiting for him to make his decision. Caleb scanned his surroundings taking in all there was to do and weighing his options carefully. His eyes landed a little ways away at a large pile of hay that several other children were climbing on top of and running up the side.

“Look, Daddy! A mountain of straw!”

“I see buddy, you wanna go play?” Caleb screamed his assent and grabbed his father’s hand pulling him towards the miniature mountain. You followed behind them and took a seat on a nearby bench to watch your boys have their fun.

Steve would lift Caleb into the sky so he could get to the top and then the little boy would count down and push himself down the hill like a slide. Several times, he would just run straight at the pile and bury himself in the looser straw on the surface. At one point Caleb, convinced Steve to climb to the top of the pile and all at once all of the children playing tried to push him off. You laughed loudly and took pictures the entire time.

Eventually, though your baby boy got a little tired and made his way towards you. He was breathing heavily and his entire body was covered in straw. You pulled a few stray pieces from his hair and offered him one of the juice boxes you had packed.

Steve too came towards your sitting place, also covered head to toe in straw. When you arched a single eyebrow at him and looked him up and down, a small plush, and sheepish expression crossed his face and he looked down at his shoes.

When Caleb’s breathing returned to normal you asked him what he wanted to do next and he immediately perked up.

“You said there would be animals to pet Mamma?” 

“Yeah, baby I think they have some goats if you wanna pet those.”

The rest of the day followed similarly. Caleb running from activity to activity. Sometimes you joined in, sometimes Steve, sometimes both of you. He was having a blast and you were so happy he was getting to make these fun memories like you had. 

Caleb played in the corn pit for a little while, he fed the goats and took a ride on the mini-tractor coaster for the kids. He also had his face painted and the three of you had your photo taken next to the sixteen-foot-tall scarecrow. You all had hotdogs and apple cider for lunch and Caleb insisted that he wanted to go play on the hay pile again.

“When can we get out punkin Mamma?” Caleb said after his third yawn of the last hour. Your little man was fading and fast.

“Right now Baby, let's go get in line for the tractor ride and then we can go out and get our pumpkins. Caleb turned towards Steve and lifted his arms at his father, asking without words to be picked up.

Steve hoisted your son into his arms and the three of you made your way to the actual line to go into the patch. It was nearing time for dinner and you wanted to be able to get your pumpkins and go home before Caleb completely conked out.

One short tractor ride later and the three of you were immersed in the sea of orange gourds. Caleb seemed to perk up when he saw all of the pumpkins and began excitedly running from row to row inspecting them.

Steve and you strolled hand in hand along with him, both of you with soft smiles on your faces as you watched the little man you created having a wonderful day.

“Thank you.” Steve had said, breaking the comfortable silence between the two of you.

“For what?” You laughed.

‘For this” He gestured towards Caleb, also lifting your intertwined hands and placing a kiss on the back of yours, “I never thought I’d get this, so thank you.” You leaned in and softly kissed him, taking your time to let him know through your affection that you’d do just about anything for him. 

“Well then, Thank you too.” You said as you pulled back. 

“Mamma! Daddy! Come on, come look!” Your attention was drawn to your son, jumping up and down next to a couple of pumpkins he seemed to have lined up.

“What did you find bud?” Steve asked when the two of you got close enough.

“Good punkins, we can put faces on dem.” he pointed at the three pumpkins he had lined up. You had to admit, it seemed like Caleb had a knack for picking pumpkins. The ones he had grabbed were practically perfect, with only one of two spots on them.

“Good job, baby these are great ones.” You ruffled his hair. “Alright, we gotta bring them back to the tractor so we can take 'em home. You wanna grab one?” He just nodded and went to grab the biggest of the three.

“How ‘bout Daddy take this one and you can take that one,” Steve said pointing toward the other pumpkin on the ground.

“Otay Daddy, but if you need help let me know.” You both softly laughed at how sweet your little boy was.

“Sure thing, buddy.” Steve hiked the largest pumpkin onto one shoulder and went to grab the stem of the one in his arms.

“What are you doing?” You asked him as he lifted the pumpkin from your hands.

“What was the point of marrying a super soldier if you don’t take advantage of the strength.”

“I didn’t marry you for your strength, I married you for your rugged good looks.”  You responded and he let out a large guffaw followed by a smaller stream of laughter laughter.

Without your arms full you were free to take pictures of the father-son duo carrying their pumpkins side by side toward the tractor. You helped Caleb load his pumpkin up into the wagon that the passengers rode in and watched as he climbed up the steps into the wooden structure. Steve followed after you and the three of you in the corner with the pumpkins at your feet.

When the wagon started moving it began sort of rocking side to side, lulling your little boy closer and closer to sleep. You were sort of impressed that he had lasted that long and pulled him into your lap so that he could be more comfortable. Not even five minutes later he was asleep with his head rested against your shoulder and his arms around your neck.

The tractor pulled back into the main area of the farm and you had to disembark and grab your pumpkins so that other people could have their turn.

Before you could even start to get up with your sleeping son in your arms, Steve had taken him and lifted him onto his shoulders. He had one of Caleb’s legs on either side of his head and the torso of the little boy was leaning on his head, his little hand resting on Steve’s forehead. 

Since he had taken the boy you went to go grab one of the pumpkins but Steve had beaten you to that too. In some miracle, Steve had managed to hold onto not only the sleeping little boy, but all three pumpkins and get off the wagon without jostling any of them too much.

“Steven Grant, let me carry a damn pumpkin.” You chased after your husband, attempting to relieve him of at least one of the decently sized pumpkins. 

“Let me think about that.” He kept walking.

“Steve seriously, I look so mean making you carry everything.”

“You’re not making me do anything Honey, I’m doing this of my own free will.”

“Well, will your free will at least let me grab Caleb.”

“He’s comfy up there”

“Yeah mamma, comfy” a little sleep-riddled voice replied from your husband’s shoulders. And Steve let a smirk of victory cross his face.

“Whatever.” You huffed. Following next to your husband and hoping that nobody else thought you were some kind of nightmare woman who made your husband carry everything.

It was a short trek after that to the car and you began to increase your pace so that you’d be able to open the door for Steve to be able to transfer Caleb back into his car seat, but Steve matched your pace easily and you watching as his smirk continued to grow.

He got to the car first and instead of depositing the pumpkins in the trunk, or going to put Caleb in his seat, Steve opened the passenger door for you and gestured for you to get it.

“You’re kidding.” You deadpanned.

“I got this Honey, just get in the car.”. You didn’t argue just shook your head with exasperation and climbed into the car. Turning the heat on and getting the directions home pulled up on your phone.

Meanwhile, Steve, who you’re now convinced was a juggler in a previous life is opening the hatch of the trunk and placing all three pumpkins plus your backpack that you didn’t even realize he had into the space. He pulled Caleb down from his shoulders and placed a kiss on his head. Closing the trunk, he made his way around to Caleb’s door and opened it without moving the sleeping boy an inch. Steve flawlessly deposited him into this seat and buckled him up with astonishing speed and you had to admit to yourself that watching Steve do all of this was turning you on more than you thought it would.

Finally, Steve opened his door and climbed into the car, starting the engine and looking to you for the go-ahead to leave.

You just leaned across the consul and placed a large kiss on his cheek. Making him smile like a schoolboy.

“I love you.” You had said.

“I love you too.” He had replied before shifting the car into reverse and beginning the half-hour drive home.

You looked into the back seat at the tuckered-out boy in his car seat and thanked the universe and Steve all over again for giving you such an amazing little gift.

[moonmeg]

I have a headcannon which is that cat sometimes has nightmares where Philip catches Robyn and ends up doing the same thing to him that he did to Caleb 😭

A tug on his hair disrupted his peaceful sleep. The chirp of a cardinal getting ever more frequent and louder until Robyn couldn't ignore it anymore. He groaned, grimacing while turning the other way and gently swatting his palisman away but the white cardinal didn't surrender. She kept tugging on the loose strand of his brown hair desperately.

"Snowball, seriously, knock it off.", the boy groaned again. He opened his eyes a little and rose to sit when the bird still didn't stop trying to wake him.

"What is it?"

He rubbed his eyes while Snowball told him to listen closely. There's sounds coming from outside the room. They were dimmed but they were audible. He recognized it was his mother who was the source of those sounds.

"Ma?"

He froze for a second. It was crying he heard. Sobs in between exclamations to "Stop".

"Ma!"

Robyn leapt out of bed, tore the door open and made Snowball turn into her staff form. He was powerless on his own but through Snowball he was able to do minor spells still. It wasn't on par with his abilities before he lost his power but it was better than being empty handed.

He raced to his mother's room.

"Who's there?" he swung the door open, staff firmly in hand, ready to fight. Only there was no one in the room but his mother.

"Leave him alone! Don't hurt him!", Catherine yelled her head turning left and right on the pillow as if she was in pain. A nightmare, Robyn figured.

He let Snowball turn back to her normal form and ran to Catherine with a repeated "Mama" to wake her.

She was too deep in the nightmare however to take notice he was there. Instead her exclaims got louder and more desperate the more Robyn used "Mama". Genuinely scared and worried for her, he began shaking her.

"Mama!! Wake up! Ma-"

"NO!", she screamed and finally woke from the shock of the image her nightmare had given her.

Her scream frightened Robyn from its mere loudness and pain it carried. It was a cry of desperation more than a scream.

"Mama, shh! Shh, it's alright-"

"Caleb-"

"It was a nightmare. Just a nightmare. Deep breaths."

He ran his hands up and down her upper arm in attempt to comfort her. His expression softened into one of pity. She still dreamed of Caleb and his cruel fate. It never let her go and Robyn was well aware of that.

Catherine reached for her son and cupped his face in her palms, a sob escaping her chest.

"Robyn! Oh, my baby!"

"I'm here.", he confirmed. "Shhh. I'm here. I'm here. You only had a bad dream."

"He took you from me!", Catherine continued, checking every inch of her son's face with her palms. He was alright. No scars, no blood on the corners of his mouth, nothing indicating the reality of her gruesomely vivid dreams he was alright, "First Caleb and then you! I was too weak to save you- oh, Titan, forgive me! Forgive me, Robyn!"

She let out another sob as she buried her face in his shoulder. Her nails were digging into his arm, clinging to her baby. Gratitude wasn't fit enough of a word to describe what she felt as she realized it was only a nightmare and that her little sprout was right there. Alive. Breathing into her hair. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

Robyn slowly began to piece together what her nightmare tortured her with. She not only relived her husband's death but was forced to watch her son - her only son - meet the same or a similar fate.

"I have nothing to forgive you for. It's alright, Mama. I promise.", he said softly.

"I keep failing to protect you. I keep failing...", Catherine hicced.

Robyn held his breath for a second.

"This wasn't the first time you dreamed that?"

"No...", she took a heavy breath.

Her quiet sobs were the only sound in the room. Her forehead on his shoulder, she thought about whether or not to tell him more. She didn't want Robyn to see her like that or even less worry him. But he wasn't a little child anymore either and it would be a delusion to think he never noticed her heartache.

"I've been having this nightmare since you were an infant. Just shortly after your birth."

"Mama...", Robyn tightened his embrace as he whispered the words, "I'm so sorry."

None of them said anything more. None of them expected more to be said. They just sat there. Mother and son holding each other. One in relief, the other in comfort.

As for the moment the mutual embrace was enough.

And what else could they do but that?