#geesh that was long

[castkorb]

You said you were playing the first FT game and now im kinda interested in getting it myself (if it goes on sale). Can you give me some thoughts on it when your a decent bit through it? Thanks

Okee~! Long post ahead

I'll be fully bluntly honest the main (and mostly only) reason I bought it was because Sting and Rogue are playable characters lmao

I'm like halfway there, I haven't advanced much into the story after unlocking stingue as I spend more time running around with the sillies instead of actually progresing into the game but alas

Reviewing what I've played: it's a mediocre game, but like I was expecting that already so it didn't come as a surprise

Story-wise you play throughout the games and tartaros arcs, with like half of the scenes missing because not all the characters appearing in the arc have rendered models so they just, skipped their parts. A few exceptions exist only in dialogue–not even voiced dialogue by the way, just the square of text ☠– so yeah don't expect an amazing adaptation of the story

(By the way you know those fully rendered, movie-like cutscenes these games usually have? You would expect important moments in the story to have this style of cutscenes right, such as idk the games finale, or future Rogue's defeat or fuck idk the main character's fights right

Unsurprisingly and kind of funny, only scenes featuring the girls have these type of cutscenes, making sure to have a full shot of their boobs in the process, I love this series !)

What I'm personally enjoying the most: the side quests. All of the playable characters have their own story quests and the progression system involves ranking up the guild by doing comissions in which your team gains friendship points that level up and unlock more side stories between them.

Essentially you have at least 3 side quests with every combination of two characters plus their own separate story quests

This leads to lots of interactions between characters and lots of silly moments that I personally enjoyed a lot, they added good depth to a lot of the relationships and honeslty I'm just a huge fan of little extra bits that exist outside of the main story and characters that usually don't interact doing so. (There's an entire side quest of Rogue being jealous of Sting spending too much time on Fairy Tail fyi, as a bonus <3)

Combat-wise it's cool, if not a little long with attack animations that you can't skip, the mechanic of doing unison raids with any pair of characters you like was dope, lots of other ways of making combined attacks and lots of upgrades available if you like to grind like me

There's also the photo mode, because what is the point of any game if I can't take silly pictures whenever I want. This is the first game I've played that allows you to just, put all the characters in one frame and pose them however you like, usually it's like 4 at most but here you can just pile everyone in there lmao

Idk if you're interested in any DLCs, I know there's a couple that add more playable characters such as Lyon, Levy, Lisanna and idk who else I haven't bought those, I did buy the set of Sting and Rogue's skins, obviously. They're cheap but it's three separate skins per each playable character (I had to buy six in total) whatever you consider worth it ig. There's a free recolor of each characters' regular suits which are cool, but nothing to cry about

Like I said before, I knew this game was overall not good but these two bitches have me in a chokehold and I knew I'd buy it at some point, I was dissapointed by some stuff but meh, I'm used to getting dissapointed by this series anyways

Summarized: Is it a good game? No, am I guiltily enjoying it? Absolutely

[whilstiveputdownthisfic]

Nick had reposted this to his own stories but here's the source

Thursday, May 2nd, 2024; as of 5:54 pm edt

[fairymint]

Places his Mimikyu on the other's head. Might as well be a bit silly on this, a random Sunday.

It's almost on instinct, that his neck 'snaps' in a way much akin to the familiar motion of a Mimikyu. Were he to be around, Vanillabean would be staring with deep, inquisitive eyes, barely holding back a purr. After all, this isn't mean girls, where the 'popular ones' feel need to cruel or outcast. Instead, a bubbly sensation of happiness lingers. Seems that with a pokemon in play, he can't keep up the sense of forlorn longing as per usual. "You found a ghostie...." Said with curiousity, paired coincidentally well for the fake 'injury' to heal itself and be better, suspiciously fast. Just like his eye.

[scribblesofagoonerr]

new year, new chaos | buddy & monkey: double the trouble

summary: it's a brand new year and with it, there's a lot more chaos around the corner.

double the trouble masterlist

"Oh, bollocks..."

You stare at the pregnancy test in your hands, frozen in disbelief. The tiny bathroom suddenly feels too small, too hot, too much.

The newfound nausea that you've been plagued with for weeks? Well, that mystery's solved. But now your stomach churns for a completely different reason-- sheer panic.

"No, no, this cannot be happening. This can't be right, can it?" You mumble, pacing back and forth. The words on the digital test stare back at you, bold and unrelenting.

Pregnant.

"God, it was that damn stupid vodka," You whisper, eyes widening in realisation, "Oh, man. I'm never drinking again. Never. I swear."

A sharp knock on the door interrupts your spiral.

"Monkey?" Keira's voice rings out from the other side, "Is that you in there? What's taking so long? I need the bathroom!"

"Uh, fu... Just a sec!" You scramble, wrapping the test in layers of toilet paper like it's some incriminating piece of evidence and hide it behind your back, "I'm... I'm comin' out now." You yank the door open, flashing an unconvincing smile.

Keira takes one look at your pale, panicked face and frowns, "Geesh, you look a bit worse for wear. Did we party a bit too hard last night, eh?"

You shrug, trying to play it cool, "Uh, maybe, I guess so..."

"Wait a minute," The older girls' eyes narrow as realisation dawns, "You didn't drink last night, you were practically drinking J2O all night... Oh my God, Monkey! Are you--?"

"Shh!" You hiss, grabbing her arm and dragging her into the bathroom before slamming the door shut, "Okay, listen, I need to show-- Actually, no, I need to tell you something."

Keira arches an eyebrow, "Alright, hit me with it. What's going on?"

You sigh, running a hand through your hair, "I'm late."

"Late?" Keira repeats, confused, "Like for something? You should really keep a better track of the time..."

"No, late late. My period," You clarify, cheeks burning.

Keira's eyebrows shoot up, "How late?"

"Like... Four or five days," You admit, scratching the back of your neck with your free hand.

"Oh, that's not too bad. It could be nothing. It could just be stress--"

"It's not," You cut her off, sheepishly pulling the test out from behind her back and unravelling the tissue. The words "4 weeks pregnant" are still there, glaring at both of you.

Keira's jaw drops, "Fuckin' hell-- Are you... Are you serious?" She asks in a hushed tone of voice.

"I mean, unless this test is lying..." You trail off, shoving it back in the bin like you can make it disappear, "I need your help, Auntie Kei. My mums are gonna kill me."

Keira lets out a low whistle, shaking her head, "Wow. Okay. Uh... Right. First of all, breathe. Second, we'll figure this out."

You groan, sinking onto the toilet lid, "I'm so screwed, aren't I?"

"Well..." Keira smirks, "I'm not the one who has to tell Leah Williamson that she's gonna be a Nana before she's 30."

"You're not helping helping!" You snap, burying your face in your hands, "I... I don't know anything about babies! What if I drop it or something? And my career-- God, it's all over!"

Keira crouches in front of you, her tone softening, "Hey, relax, Monkey. It's gonna be okay. You're gonna figure this out, alright? You're not the first footballer to have a baby. Your career isn't over. And as for Leah..." She pauses, her smirk returning, "Well, good luck. But hey, I'm here for moral support."

You groan again, completely muffled behind your hands, "I'm dead. I'm completely dead."

“How did it happen?” Keira asks,  her voice a mixture of concern and curiosity.

You exhale shakily, glancing away for a moment before speaking, “The night we won against Bayern. Me and some of the other girls went out for drinks to celebrate…”

You vividly recall the night – Champions League group stages: Arsenal Vs. Bayern Munich.

“Be sensible, and don’t drink too much!” Leah warned you before you got into the Uber with some of the other girls, all of you heading to the club, “If you need me to pick you up, text me, alright?”

Leah had opted out of joining the team for the night, choosing instead a quiet evening at home with Buddy and the rest of her family. 

But you? You were feeling on top of the world. The win was secure, and the celebrations were already in full swing.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be grand. I’ll see you in a bit!” You waved her off, climbing inside the Uber and flopping down on the seat beside Kyra, “Next top, we’re goin’ the club!”

You, Kyra, Laura, Alessia and Vic ended up staying out long after the others had left the club, swept up in the thrill of victory. You were high on adrenaline, letting loose after weeks of intense training in preparation for the game.

But now it was over, and you could celebrate. 

And damn, did you celebrate that night.

“Monkey!” Kyra’s voice called out from across the bar, “Ere’, go on an have another shot of this!”

You glanced over, shrugging and grabbed the shot. You throw it back in one go, grimacing instantly, “Er, that’s absolutely rank. What is it?” You ask, rubbing your throat.

“Vodka,” Vic grins, slapping you on the back, “Drink up, and I’ll get us another one!”

“Eh, why not?” You laughed, having too much of a great time to really take note of the effect of the alcohol in your system, “Ugh, it burns the back of my throat, but damn, that’s good. Next rounds on me!”

You remember how the drinks flowed freely that night, and laughter filled the air. For the first time in a long while, you felt completely at ease. The pressure of football, the endless expectations – Gone, at least for that night.

You lean back in your seat, remembering, “God, we were all so drunk. I barely even remember what happened after that.”

At some point during the night, you’d found yourself outside, leaning against the wall, drink in one hand, vape in the other. The buzz from the alcohol clouded your judgment.

And then he walked up.

You didn’t even catch his name, and as far as you were concerned, he was just another lad who’d joined the party – A friend smile and flirtatious wink, and before you knew it, you were talking, laughing, and then…

A kiss. Just one. That somehow led to more, a mix of adrenaline, vodka and whatever else that made you lose control.

It wasn’t planned, and it definitely wasn’t intentional. It just… happened.

Now, sitting here with Keira, the panic begins to settle in. All you can think about is that night – The stupid decision, the heat of the moment, how everything can change in an instant.

You grimace, suddenly remembering a faint detail from that night, “You wanna know the worst thing I found out?”

“What’s that?” Keira quirks an eyebrow.

“The lads’ a Spurs fan,” You mutter, pretending to gag at the thought of it, “I don’t know what I was even thinking goin’ there.”

Keira lets out a low chuckle, shaking her head in amusement, “Oh dear. I wish you good luck with that one then,” She teases, her tone light, though there’s an underlying sympathy.

You bury your face in your hands, groaning, “My mum’s gonna kill me alone on that, never mind the fact I’m pregnant.”

“I never realised how quiet it is around the house without the girls being here,” Elle remarks, swirling a glass of wine as she lounges on the sofa with Leah tucked up beside her, while Keira sits nearby, sharing a rare moment of calm.

Keira has decided to extend her visit for a few more days before heading back to Spain, stretches her legs out lazily, and nods in agreement.

“Monkey’s still here though, right?” Elle adds, glancing toward Leah.

Leah hums, sipping her drink, “She’s upstairs.”

“Oh yeah, but she’s watching Marvel. You won’t hear a peep out of her,” Keira chimes in.

“Enjoy the peace while it lasts, babe,” Leah jokes while leaning back into the cushions, knowing it won’t last long in the house.

“Indeed,” Keira chuckles, “It’s a rare thing when the double trouble duo are together” She states with a smirk.

However, the quiet doesn’t last long.

“Mum! Have you seen my iPad charger?” Your voice echoes from upstairs, “I can’t find it, and my iPad’s about to die!”

“And there’s the peace ruined. That was quicker than I anticipated it would be,” Leah groans, reaching for the remote to pause the show just as the doorbell rings, “Oh, and there’s the door– Chinese is here, Monks’!”

You would usually jump at the chance to eat Chinese food, but tonight, the smell wafting from the kitchen hits you wrong. The scent of the egg-fried rice turns to your stomach, making you feel queasy.

“Thanks,” Leah exchanged pleasantries with the takeaway driver, bringing the hot steaming food into the kitchen, “Monks’! Are you coming to eat?”

“She might have her headphones in,” Keira notes, walking into the kitchen.

Leah hums, beginning to open each one of the containers to dish everything up onto the plate, “She’d better hurry downstairs, or it’ll be cold,” She moves to grab the plates out of the cupboard, “Monkey! The Chinese is going to go cold if you don’t hurry up!”

“I’m ere’,” You mumble, the faint whiff of food instantly making your stomach churn, “Um, I’m not feelin’ all that well, I don’t want to eat that much…”

Leah frowns, looking at you suspiciously, “We ordered your favourite. What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t know, I just not feelin’ well I guess,” You admit, shrugging your shoulders as you avoid her look, “I might just skip dinner if that’s alright? I don’t think I can eat much.”

“You do look a bit pale, Monkey,” Elle observes, concern flickering across her face.

“You haven’t eaten much all day,” Leah arches her eyebrow, dishing food onto a plate, “Just try and eat something, and if you can’t stomach it then that’s okay.”

“I don’t know if I can,” You look at the plate in hesitance, “I think I might just be comin’ down with something…” Your words trail off as the overwhelming smell finally sends you rushing to the bin.

“Whoa,” Leah is immediately alerted, abandonding the food and rubbing your back as you retch, “Easy, my girl. Take it easy.”

Keira grabs a glass out of the cupboard and fills up a glass with water “Here, Monkey,” She says, handing it to you, “Just take small sips, okay?”

You do as instructed, taking small sips of water until you start to feel better.

“There we go,” Leah murmurs, continuing to rub your back, “Do you feel better?”

You nod weakly, “I’ll feel better when I’m not near the food. It’s making me worse.”

“Wha… What’s going on?” Leah’s brow furrows, beginning to get suspicious, “You usually love Chinese food, and now all of a sudden it’s making you throw up. What gives?”

“I don’t know,” You mumble, avoiding her gaze, “I think I’m just unwell…” You try and avert out of the kitchen, but Leah’s quick to react and stop you.

“Not so fast,” Leah’s tone sharpens, and she crosses her arms, “Monkey, I know you. You’ve been acting differently lately. Talk to me, what’s going on?”

“Don’t be mad,” You whisper, voice trembling.

Leah furrows her eyebrow, “Monkey…”

“Please, please don’t be mad…” You beg, somewhat fearful about the blonde’s reaction.

“Spit it out, Monkey,” Leah urges, her voice softening, “Whatever it is, we can handle it. You just need to tell me what’s going on.”

You swallow the lump in your throat, hesitant to speak, “I’m… I’m pregnant.”

“What?” Leah stares at you, stunned, “You’re what?”

“I’m pregnant,” You repeat, barely above a whisper.

Leah’s mouth opens and closes as she tries to process, “Wha– How… How did this even happen? I mean, I know how, but… I didn’t even think you had even had your first kiss yet!”

“Mum!” You exclaim, embarrassed, very much aware Elle and Keira are still in the kitchen as well, even if Keira already knew.

“Leah, come on,” Keira interrupts, biting back a laugh, “The kids’ 19, she’s not a nun.”

“Wait,” Leah’s gaze inched in on her best friend, “Did you know about this, and you didn’t tell me?”

Keira holds her hands up in the air, “I only found out this morning, but it wasn’t my place to say anything, Le,” She tells her, “This is Monkey’s news to tell you.”

Leah blinks in disbelief, “I… I can’t believe this–  I thought you were into girls?”

“Yeah, me too,” You retort, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly, “I guess not…”

“Well, clearly not,” Leah mutters, exhaling a sharp sigh, “Is this your idea of experimenting? I mean it’s a little late, isn’t it? You’re not even on anything– You know, you could have talked to me about this, and we could’ve gone to the doctor together–”

“Mum!” Seriously?” You cut her off, tears stinging your eyes, “I’m freakin’ out right now… It’s all over. My career is over. My life is over.”

“Oh, no, my girl,” Leah’s expression softens instantly, stepping forward, wrapping you in a hug and resting her chin on your head, “Your life isn’t over. Sure, things are going to change… You’re going to have a baby, and well, you can kiss goodbye to the next 18 years of sleep, but…”

“You’re not helping me here!” You groan into her shoulder.

Leah chuckles softly, pulling back to meet your eyes, “Don’t worry, my girl. There’s nothing to be scared about. We’ll get this all figured out, alright? You don’t have to do it alone.”

You look at her sceptical, “So… You’re not mad? You’re not going to kick me out?”

“What? Why would I be mad?” Leah shakes her head, “Shocked, yeah. But mad? I could never be mad at you, my girl. Never. I’m here for you. We both are, and you don’t have to worry about ever being kicked out. This house is your home, for you and the baby as long as you want to live here.”

“I still have to tell Mama,” You murmur in realisation, anxiety creeping back in.

Leah hums in agreement, “You do.”

“Can you help me with that one?” You ask, wearly.

“Oh no,” Leah says quickly, holding her hands up, “This one’s all on you. You have to tell her, Monkey.”

Keira grins, “New year, new chaos, huh?”

You shift nervously, one foot to the other, “Alright, uh… I guess I have other news to break as well.”

Leah raises an eyebrow, “What could possibly be worse?”

You wince, preparing to speak again, “The lad I slept with is a Spurs fan,” You blurt out before bolting for the door.

“YOU WHAT?” Leah’s shout reverberates through the kitchen.

“Oh, I think that went well,” Keira snickers in amusement.

“Monkey, you get back ‘ere right now!” Leah yells, “What do you mean he’s a Spurs fan? Are you joking me?” She asks, emphasising the team name for dramatic effect.

Keira shakes her head, still laughing, “You took that worse than the fact you’re gonna be a Nana before you’re 30,” She jokes, “Nana Leah has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

Leah’s eyes widen in horror at the realisation, “No, no, absolutely not! That’s not happenin’!”

You flop back down on your bed, leaving Leah in her mid-panic about the news. Despite her reaction, a weight feels lifted that you don’t have to keep it a secret from her anymore.

Now, you just have to tell Jordan.

“Well, no time like the present,” You mumble to yourself, grabbing your phone from where it’s buried under the covers. Scrolling through your contacts, you tap on Jordan’s name and wait for the call to connect.

“Hiya, little one,” Jordan’s familiar voice greets cheerfully.

“Hi, Mama,” You reply softly, biting your lip. The usual comfort her voice brings feels overshadowed by nerves.

Jordan immediately picks up on your tone, her brow furrowing on the other end, “What’s the matter, little one? Everything okay?”

“Umm…” You hesitate, gripping the phone tighter, “I have something I need to tell you.”

“Oh?” Jordan’s voice is calm but curious.

You take a deep breath, trying to steady yourself, “Uh, are you sitting down?”

“I’m not, but should I be?” Jordan jokes lightly, trying to ease the tension she senses, “What’s going on?”

Your heart pounds as you swallow the lump in your throat, “So, uh… The thing is… I’m pregnant.”

There’s a pause on the line.

“Right,” Jordan finally says, her tone a mix of shock and disbelief, “Are you… Are you sure?”

“Crystal,” You confirm with a weak laugh, “The positive test in the bin confirms it.”

“Wow,” Jordan exhales sharply, her usual composure faltering, “Alright, wow… So, you’re pregnant.”

You nod even though she can’t see you, “Yeah.”

“Have you told Leah?” Jordan questions, curiously.

“I told Mum just before I called you,” You admit.

Jordan hums on the other end of the phone, “And… How’d she take it?”

“Better than I expected, honestly. I mean, she was shocked, but she wasn’t mad. Although…” You trail off, a small smile tugging at your lips.

“Although what?” Jordan prompts, sounding more grounded now.

“I think she took it worse when I told her the lad’s a Spurs fan,” You confess,  bracing yourself for the reaction.

Jordan groans on the other end of the line, “Oh, for God’s sake, Monkey. Could you have not chosen literally anyone else?”

“Apparently not,” You quip, grimacing at the fact that you willingly slept with someone who supports that team, “Trust me, I almost gag at the thought of it. This baby is going to be a Gooner.”

Jordan chuckles in response, “Well I think if Leah has anything to do with it, it definitely will be,” She states, “Other than that, how are you feelin’?”

“I’m… I’m getting there, I think I’m over the shock of it now,” You admit honestly, “I was a bit terrified to tell you both, but now that you both know, I feel better. Less alone.”

“You’re never going to be alone, little one,” Jordan assures you firmly, “We’re always going to be here for you, and for this baby as well. No matter what.”

Her words bring a lump to your throat, but this time, it’s one of gratitude, “Thanks, Mama.”

“Always,” Jordan says softly. Then, with a playful edge, she adds, “But seriously, Monkey. A Spurs fan? What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t,” You reply sheepishly, “I was so drunk… I’m never touching Vodka again.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Jordan laughs in agreement, “Alright, we’ll talk more when I see you, okay? Try to take it easy for now.”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to put the skydiving on hold for now then…” You joke with a laugh, finally feeling a bit lighter, “I can’t believe that I’m going to have a little rugrat of my own.”

© scribblesofagoonerr

[newdruid]

Tl;dr: in which Law ignores reader to a point that Bepo believes them to be fighting and because he is inconsolable, Law has no choice but to reveal his real feelings.

A small, fluffy Law x f!reader. No use of reader or y/n. I may rewrite this into something larger, more detailed later on...

You enter Shachi and Penguin's room with a furrowed brow and a tight-lipped frown. Both your crewmates quirked a brow at you.

"What's wrong?" Penguin asked. You look up at him as though you only just realized you had entered their room.

"It's the Captain," you begin, "He and I aren't speaking... he's ignoring me, actually. I think maybe I've... done something wrong."

"Like what?"asks Schachi, shifting himself to face you better and coaxing you to sit on his bunk, you take the offer.

"That's the problem. I don't know." You revert into a dead eyed stare with furrowed brows and that tight-lipped frown. "I've been going over every interaction with him from the past three weeks, and I can't think of anything negative."

There's a collective, thoughtful hum from Schachi and Penguin. They couldn't recall anything bad about your daily interactions either. Infact, they thought you and the Captain were close, as you usually made him smile most.

"You're usually the one who gets him to loosen up..." Penguin pondered aloud.

"Yeah, and you guys are always spending time together because he always takes you with him if he gets off the Sub." Added Schachi.

As they finished speaking, Bepo walked into view of the open door to the boys' room.

"Oh, what are you guys talking about?" The innocent polar bear mink entered the room slowly.

"Captain's been ignoring our girl," Penguin explained. "She thinks she did something to really piss him off."

Bepo lets out a gasp at the idea of his friends fighting. "Oh no! Captain's upset?"

"Yeah, but we dont know why." Shachi interjected. "But he's been ignoring our girl for days."

"Weeks." You corrected, Bepo gasps.

"That's awful!" Bepo's furry paws went up to cup either side of his face in worry. "Captain ignored me once for a day because I accidentally ate his onigiri, did you eat his onigiri too?!"

"No," You answered, shaking your head. Bepo began to word vomit possible answers for why the captain could be ignoring you. You shook your head at all of them.

"Geesh. Maybe he just hates ya or something." Shachi jested after the long list of rejected plausible answers. Bepo gasps, horrified at the implication.

"Don't say that! What if he DOES? What if he's gonna kick her off the crew?!" And suddenly, the polar bear mink became inconsolable at the idea that his friend may be exiled from his crew.

Penguin and Shachi immediately tried to comfort the bear, to no avail, and you sat their on Penguin's bunk, wondering if Law really would kick you off the crew. Maybe you had done something truly wrong.

As Bepo continued to sob and you were lost in thought, The Heart Pirates' Captain came into view of the door frame.

"What's going on here?" The captain looked as though the four of you had roused him from an intense study session in his office. "Bepo, why are you crying?" Law's brow became firmly set in question as he noticed the Polar Bear's upset.

"Because!!" The navigator wailed. "You're upset, and ignoring my crewmate which means you're going to kick her off the ship!" Law's expression quickly turned to bewilderment as he looked at Shachi and Penguin for further explanation.

"Our girl here came in upset first!" Penguin explained, raising his hands in defense. "She said you'd been ignoring her for weeks, and Bepo got upset 'cause you two aren't getting along."

Law's bewilderment shifted to a mix of realisation and surprise. He held his head in his hand, and behind the wall of his palm, you almost swore you saw his cheeks go ruddy.

"I'm not kicking anyone off the crew Bepo." Mumbled the Captain before he raised his head to look at you. "Can you come to my office, please."

Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo went silent as you followed Law out of the boys' room and back to his office. Law held the door open and closed it behind you upon entering his space. You stood in the middle of his office, rocking back and forth on the balls of your feet as Law sighed and leaned against the closed door.

"Im sorry," he began, pulling you out of your anxious trance of swaying. "I wasn't... trying to ignore you. I just... needed to think."

You stared with wide eyes, uncertain of what to do or say. You should have realized your captain was just a busy man, trying to do his best.

"It's okay, I shouldn't have assumed you were ignoring me deliberately-"

"I was." Law cuts you off. "I had to ignore you to figure myself out. Im sorry." You looked at Law with calculatory eyes, and for the first time since you've joined his crusade, he shied away from your gaze. "I... had to figure out what you mean to me. And I couldn't do it with you so close to me because all you do is make me... uneasy."

"Gee, thanks?"

"No - that's not." Law groans at his own verbiage. Suddenly Law's regular confidence is back and he straightens, looking you in the eyes. "The regular resting heart rate for a man my age and stature is 60 to 100 beats per minute... whenever you're in the room, my resting heart rate shoots to 125. I get warm. I can't always focus. I thought you were making me sick."

At this point, you're still confused. No one wants to hear they make their captain nervous, but you can't understand why you would make the Surgeon of Death feel like this. What he says next staples your jaw to the floor.

"I like you." Law declares, "as more than my crewmate."

"What?"

"Please don't make me say it again."

[stevie-petey]

episode two: the mall rats

Steve lazily drapes an arm over you, which Dustin narrows his eyes at. “Yeah, I mean. Sure. It’s not really a good idea for me, though. I gotta keep in shape for the ladies.” “Ugh,” you scoff in disgust at Steve’s words and shrug his arm off of you before scooting away from him. Sometimes you forget how much of an idiot he can be. That he used to wear the crown of King Steve. You turn slightly away from him and finish eating your ice cream, annoyed and slightly hurt, though you know you have no right to be. It’s not like you’re with Steve, anyways.

Summary: dreams are weird, billy is a hitchhiker, and hopper flirts with joyce in front of you (youre not sure which is scarier), somehow robin knows russian and has genius ears, you get caught in an awkward breakup showdown, and you shamefully are shocked when you discover that hawkins is anything but normal. you would think youd be a pro at this already, but at least steve is hot and really good at sneaking through windows.

Rating: general, some swearing

Warnings: swearing, allusions to violence, fem!reader, use of y/n

Words: 13.2k

Before you swing in: hello !!! new chapter, i am so sorry for the wait :/ the end of the semester has been killer and ive been super busy with my lab job (i present at a conference friday ... pray for me). heres chapter 2, she somehow ended up being 13k words but lets ignore that for my own sanity !

-

There are dandelions all around you.

Their puffs of white surround you as the seeds dance in the air and settle atop of your head and tickle your cheek. They’re soft, reminiscent of the snow that encases you every winter in Hawkins and the days you used to chase Jonathan around in his backyard.

You’re barefoot in a field that you can’t quite place. The grass below you skims against your ankles as the dandelion seeds float towards the tops of the green. It’s a familiar landscape, something tells you that you’ve been here before, and the thought is almost reassuring to you.

The sun is warm against you and there’s someone in the distance. You open your mouth to call out to them, they feel as familiar as the landscape before you does, but when you try to speak, the dandelion seeds begin to swarm into your mouth. The puffs of white seem to turn into daggers in your throat as they cut your tongue and slice inside you as you struggle to breathe.

You try to scream, but nothing comes out. The dandelions now draw blood as they continue their malicious attack on you. You claw at your mouth and cower in the field, trying to flee from what’s attacking you, but the dandelions only follow as you try to call after the figure you saw in the distance.

Stumbling blindly through the grass, panic stricken and longing for the person who had once been at the top of the hill, your foot catches on a root and suddenly you’re falling. This time, you do scream, and the dandelion seeds spill from your mouth as you fall into an endless abyss.

“Y/N!” Your eyes fly open and your body shoots from your bed; you almost head butt Dustin in the process. He flinches back, startled by your violent reaction, and he puts his hands up in surrender and backs away. “Geesh, I was just trying to wake you up.”

It takes you a few moments to process that you are, in fact, awake. Your heartbeat is still pounding rapidly in your throat. You can still feel the dandelion seeds on your tongue and the millions of little cuts they left behind.

Dustin stares at you with slight concern in his eyes and you clear your throat, trying to rid the memory of your dream. That’s all it was. A dream.

Clearing your throat again, you try to calm yourself down. “Why are you in my room?”

“Like I said, I was trying to wake you up.” Your brother says as if you’re an idiot.

“But why?”

“Did you bang your head or something last night?” He gives you an odd look and you glare at him. “Cerebro caught a Russian code, remember? You promised we’d see Steve today to talk about it!”

You rub your eyes, exhausted. It’s taking longer than usual for your mind to wake up and process everything. “I know, I know… What time is it?”

“Eight, now get up and go get pretty for Steve so we can discuss how to become American heroes.” Dustin crosses his arms, silently daring you to argue.

“There was so much wrong with that sentence,” you groan, but reluctantly throw your blankets off of you and start pulling out random shorts and a t-shirt to wear. “You’re lucky it’s the weekend and I don’t work today.”

“Blah, blah, blah,” Dustin mocks you, tossing you a white t-shirt and removing the red one from your hands. “Steve likes you in white, now hurry up.”

Your mouth drops in shock, but your brother simply rolls his eyes at you and leaves your room so that you can get dressed.

“How does he even know that?” You whisper to yourself, now alone in your room.

–

Dustin bikes ahead of you as you make your way to Joyce’s store in Downtown Hawkins. He had complained when you told him that you needed to make a pitstop there before going to the mall.

“I haven’t seen Steve in a month!”

“And Mrs. Byers is close to losing her job at Melvald’s, so you can wait the extra five minute detour it takes to deliver her muffins to cheer her up.”

Your brother had tried to argue some more, but you simply shoved a fresh baked muffin in his mouth and began to bike away.

Now, as the two of you head towards Downtown, the early morning air fills your lungs and slowly wakes you up. It’s quiet, Hawkins isn’t quite awake yet in the early hour. Only the bees buzzing past your ear seem to be lively.

You watch Dustin up ahead and briefly marvel at how much bigger he seems to have gotten in the month he was away at camp. He looks older, more mature, no longer the baby brother your mom brought home fourteen years ago.

As you’re lost in your reminiscence, you almost miss the figure that stumbles along the side of the road.

“Dustin!” You yell at the boy, weary of whoever is up ahead. “Stop!”

He hears the fear in your voice and screeches his bike to a halt. Turning around, he checks to make sure you’re okay. “Did something happen?”

You stop next to him and discreetly point at the figure a few yards away. It seems to be a boy, maybe a teen your age, but he’s walking as if he’s in immense pain. “You see that?”

“Yeah,” Dustin squints and also seems unnerved by the person’s appearance. “Think it’s anything dangerous?”

“I don’t know…” Something feels familiar about the person. Their hair, the way it’s styled, reminds you of someone. You squint as well, your eyes catch on the person’s leather jacket and the expensive brand, there’s a faint outline of cigarettes in the pocket, and the sight fills your nose with the smoke that once choked you last winter. “I think it’s Billy.”

“Why is he walking on the side of the road?” Dustin makes a face. “I know he has a car, the bastard almost ran me and the party over on Halloween.”

You tuck a piece of hair behind your ear and try to understand why you feel this tug within you to get closer to the teen. Billy is cruel, he is horrible, and the bruises he left on your neck took weeks to fully fade away. Yet there’s a concern within you as you watch him stumble, as if in some daze, and it's this worry that solidifies your decision. “Stay here.”

“What–” Dustin turns and sees that you’ve gotten back on your bike and are now pedaling towards Billy. “Y/N! Are you insane?”

“Stay here!” You order, not really understanding why you’re doing this either. “Just… Wait for my signal!”

Dustin curses, not at all liking this plan, but he listens. He tightens his grip on his bike’s handlebar and makes sure you never leave his line of sight in case you need him for backup.

As you approach Billy, you make sure to circle widely around him so that he sees you coming, before finally facing in front of him. You brake a few feet away from him, incredibly nervous for how he may react. You haven’t spoken to him since last winter, he had kept his promise to Max to leave you alone.

Billy barely seems to register that you’re in front of him. He stops as if he’s in a trance and blinks slowly at you. You notice the cut on his forehead, how there’s still fresh blood dripping from it, and something within you wants to tend to the wound. Then you notice the grime that covers his face and his jacket, and you begin to worry even more.

As you’re eying his disheveled appearance, Billy opens his mouth, and the action looks as if it takes all the energy within him to do so. “S–sweetheart?”

“Are you okay?” You ignore the nickname he gave you that makes your skin crawl. You’re more worried about his appearance. He’s sweating like crazy, almost as if he’s on drugs, and he’s paler than normal. His California tan is gone, his eyes are glazed over, he looks as if he isn’t really here with you right now.

It scares you. You’ve never seen him like this.

“‘M fine,” Billy slurs. He seems… off. More drawn into himself now, less sure of himself. Scared, even. It’s a strange sight to see: Billy Hargrove, alone and frightened, in the early morning of June. “I… I’m fine.”

His slurred words aren’t reassuring, and a part of you wants to offer him a ride on your bike. You assume he’s heading to the local pool to lifeguard, you know it’s where he spends most of his days, but you have Dustin with you and you’re still nervous around Billy.

The wounds he gave you may have healed, but some nights, when the nightmares are really bad, you wake up to his hands around your throat.

It feels wrong just leaving Billy like this, though. He’s still human, Max has slowly opened up to you about her abusive stepdad and the way he punches her brother. You know that Billy’s actions come from his hurt, but you don’t think you’re ready yet to forgive him. Not now, at least.

Reluctantly, you sigh and wave your hand to indicate to Dustin that he’s fine to start biking over. Billy doesn’t seem like a threat right now in his current state. When you see your brother start to pedal closer, you look back at Billy. “Listen, I know we aren’t… friends.”

Billy stares blankly at you, and you really hope that he can understand what you’re saying right now.

“But if you need anyone to talk to, about anything, come find me, okay?” You tell him, hesitantly placing a hand on his arm as you speak. However, when your skin makes contact with his, you flinch at how cold he is.

Before you can say anything else, Dustin finally catches up and brakes softly next to you. He looks nervously between you and Billy. “So… Uh. Ready to go, Y/N?”

“Yeah…” You pull away from Billy, your fingers almost numb from his cold skin, and spare him one last glance as you start to bike away. “Remember what I said, okay?”

Billy doesn’t say anything.

You and Dustin leave him stranded on the side of the road.

Neither one of you talk about this.

–

As usual, Downtown Hawkins is deserted when you and Dustin arrive at Melvald’s. The only two cars parked in front of the rundown store belong to Joyce and Hopper.

You hop off your bike and park it in the bike rack before carefully untying the container of muffins from the back. Dustin is slumped on top of his bike, silently complaining, and you wave a stern finger at him. “Wait here, okay? This will only take five minutes, I promise.”

“I’m telling Steve that you’re cheating on him with Mrs. Byers.”

“Not cheating if we aren’t together,” you quip, before opening the door to the store.

When you step inside the store, you’re greeted with Hopper obnoxiously yelling and jumping around as Joyce laughs and claps for him. Curious, you carefully side step the grown man and make your way over to the woman.

“Y/N!” Joyce lights up even more when she sees you, and then lets out a small cheer when she sees that you’re holding one of your signature baked goods containers. “Are those for me?”

“Always, Mrs. Byers.” You grin at her and set the container down. “They’re the muffins you really liked last week, thought I’d bake a special batch just for you.”

Hopper now joins you at the store’s counter in front of Joyce. He’s practically vibrating with his excited energy, so much so that he even smiles at you and claps a hand behind your back. “Kid, it’s like you knew we’d be celebrating a monumental occasion today.”

“What, did Jonathan finally wash his bedsheets?”

Joyce shakes her head and Hopper claps again, now grasping your shoulders and shakes you around. “No, even better! I got Mike out of my house!”

Through Joyce, you had learned all about Hopper’s utter disdain of Mike’s relationship with El. He has spent every day at their cabin since getting together, and even you have had to pry the girl away from Mike a few times to hang out with her. It’s hard bonding with El when Mike is breathing down your neck.

You’re all for young love, you think they’re adorable together, but Christ. You understand Hopper’s frustration.

“Actually,” you’re still being shaken by the man. “That does sound better. How’d ya do it?”

Hearing your question, Hopper thankfully stops shaking your shoulders and now happily points at Joyce. “It was all her. I’m the puppet, she’s the master. Joyce gave me a brilliant script to say to the kid.”

“So you remembered everything?” Joyce asks, now unwrapping one of your muffins with glee.

“Yeah… well,” Hopper pauses. “I mean, I had to improvise a little bit, you know?”

You wince. “Oh, that’s never good.”

He glares at you but continues to explain. “It turns out that getting to Mike was the key.”

His words only make you wince again, and you look at Joyce. She meets your eye and the two of you silently agree that something doesn’t sound right here. She questions Hopper further. “And you didn’t yell at him?”

Hopper hesitates, which you expected. “I’ll… tell you everything over dinner.”

“Okay!” You step in between the adults and wave your arms out, preventing whatever else is about to be said. “I’m still here, let’s remember that.”

The chief glares at you again and narrows his eyes. “You’re right, you are still here. Why are you still here?”

“Because Mrs. Byers loves me and I baked her delicious muffins.” You deadpan, which Joyce chuckles at. “And while I’m sure whatever she told you to say to Mike was lovely, I have my doubts that you actually listened.”

“She’s got a point, Hop.” Joyce voices.

Hopper sighs at you both. “Okay, maybe I said some things, haven’t told El the whole truth, but what else was I supposed to do?”

“Not lie to kids?” Crossing your arms, you make a face at the man.

“Easy for you to say, little miss Hawkins’ sweetheart.” Hopper scoffs at you. “Got any better advice?”

You roll your eyes at his words. You understand that the man is still grappling with being a father again, he’s never been one to handle feelings any better, so you spare him some pity and try to be honest with him, say what he needs to hear. “Look, all I’m saying is that the best thing my deadbeat father ever did was teach me kindness, and it broke my heart when he was dishonest in the end. Just, don’t be that way with El, okay?”

Hopper is quiet as your words hang in the air.

Joyce is quiet as well, looking between you and the chief with a fondness in her eyes. It’s not often she sees someone render Hopper speechless, and she knows that it’s one of the many things she loves the most about your relationship with him. Though she would never tell you this, she thinks that Hopper secretly has his own fondness for you as well.

When the silence stretches for an uncomfortably long amount of time, you clear your throat and change the subject. “Well! This was fun, happy we did this.”

Hopper snorts, relieved you’re moving on as well. “Get lost, kid.”

“Gladly.” You turn back to Joyce and press a swift kiss to her cheek. “I’ll see you later, Mrs. Byers!”

Joyce says goodbye as well, and when you’ve left the store, she faces Hopper with a slight smirk. “She’s a good kid, Hop.”

“She is,” he agrees, looking down at his shoes. He will never admit this to anyone else, but to Joyce he knows his words are safe. “She’s the best of ‘em.”

–

When you finally get to the mall, Dustin basically dumps his bike in a spot next to a disgruntled older couple and runs before you can even slow down. He’s so lost in his excitement to see Steve as he runs towards Scoops and leaves you to deal with his bike and the couple alone, which you groan at.

“He acts like it’s been a year,” you grumble, finally hopping off your own bike to grab Dustin’s and secure them both to a nearby rack. After mumbling a quick apology to the couple your brother practically threw a bike at, you run after him inside.

By the time you catch up, Dustin has just entered Scoops and is talking to Robin. You approach, curious to see how this event will unfold. Robin hasn’t met your brother yet, and you have a feeling that his abrasive nature will either make her his biggest fan or absolutely hate him.

It’s the Henderson charm, really.

“I’m Dustin,” your brother introduces himself as you come to stand next to him. When he notices your arrival, he motions towards you and winks at Robin. “I’m sure Y/N has told you all about me.”

Robin raises her eyebrows at the kid, and you try to cover a giggle with a cough. “I’m Robin. I’m sure Y/N has told you a lot about me.”

“I probably have,” shrug, knowing you always talk about the people you love. When Robin and Dustin both look at you with confused faces, you quickly clarify, “I’ve talked about you both, I mean.”

“Can we cut the chit chat?” Dustin asks, now annoyed by how long this conversation is taking. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Robin, but uh. Is he here?”

“Is who here?” Robin looks over at you for help, but before you can prepare her for the inevitable storm of Steve’s bizarre and endearing friendship with Dustin, the older teen’s body comes crashing through the backdoor and his sneakers squeak loudly against the tile.

“Hendersons!” Steve raises his arms in the air in greeting, an ecstatic smile on his face when he sees both you and Dustin standing in Scoops Ahoy. You and your brother start to laugh as Steve now dances around, cheering and gleeful. “You’re both here! Little Henderson is back!”

“I’m back!” Dustin cheers. “And you got the job!”

Steve is beaming and his smile is probably one of the happiest you’ve seen cross his pretty face. He had complained about missing Dustin the entire month he had been gone, moaning and groaning about how he was bored at your house now that he didn’t have Dustin to shoo away.

“I got the job!” Steve mimes playing the trumpet before he starts his intricate and dumb handshake with Dustin.

It’s a complicated process, with fist bumps and pretend lightsaber death. They had come up with it during a particularly boring snow day at your house. You watched as they thought up the handshake while you made cocoa for everyone, heart swelling as Steve was so patient with your brother and encouraged his nerdy little habits.

It had taken them almost the entire day to create what they deemed “the perfect handshake”, and as they go through it once more in Scoops Ahoy, you feel the same swelling in your chest as you did the very first time you saw them come up with the handshake.

While you gaze fondly at Dustin and Steve, Robin stands next to you and watches in horror. As Steve pretends to spew his guts everywhere, the girl leans over to you and says, “Is this what you deal with every day?”

“Yeah,” you can’t help but smile softly at the two boys. You missed seeing them together, more than you thought you had.

Robin sees the dreamy look in your eyes as you stare at Steve and she gags. Unhappy with how this day is looking, she turns to him. “How many children are you friends with?”

Steve’s smile falls and he sighs in defeat. Wordlessly he points at Robin as he looks at Dustin and raises his eyebrows in an exasperated manner. He’s had to deal with Robin’s teasing all summer, and Dustin seems to catch onto what he’s trying to tell him, so he quickly changes the subject. “Sorry we got here so late, man. Y/N insisted on gossiping with Mrs. Byers before coming here.”

“I spoke with her for five minutes.” You roll your eyes at him.

“Yeah, five minutes too long.”

“Your breath reeks.”

“You have a pimple on your chin.”

You gasp and quickly cover your face. “I do not–”

“This is fascinating,” Robin whispers as she looks between you and Dustin. “It’s like there’s two Y/Ns.”

Steve, having heard Robin, laughs. His smile had returned to his face as he watched you interact with your brother. “They’re reunited for one day and are already at each other’s throats.”

“Got a month of insults to catch up on,” you flick Steve, who winces and rubs his nose, offended.

Dustin suddenly straightens up. “Speaking of catching up…” He looks at you and tries to subtly motion over at Steve, mouthing “Russians!”, and being everything but discrete.

Steve frowns, unsure what’s happening, but you’re too busy worrying about revealing anything to Robin; she’s scarily good at reading people. Looking wearily at her, you clear your throat and tug at Dustin’s shirt. “C’mon, why don’t we get some ice cream and tell Steve about what you built at camp?”

Again Steve frowns. He had been hoping to share a sundae with you, not talk about boring science stuff with your brother. “Why do I wanna hear about some weird nerd tech–”

“Because you promised me free ice cream last night, when we called.” You interrupt, silently pleading with him to catch onto what you’re saying. “Remember?”

Something shifts within Steve’s eyes and his carefree expression now darkens. He remembers the fear in your voice last night over the phone, how you had asked him to tell you stories to fall asleep to. Clearing his throat, Steve nods and plays along. “Oh, how could I forget? Take Dustin to your booth and I’ll whip up some sundaes.”

You smile at him, thankful as always for how attuned to you he is, before you say a quick goodbye to Robin and tug your brother over to where you normally sit. Once you’re sure Robin isn’t listening, you yank at the boy. “Real subtle back there, doofus.”

“Oh, like Robin would know what Russians could mean.” Dustin grumbles as he slides into your designated booth. His hand catches on something in the seat and he tugs at it, pulling out an old Captain America comic. Holding it up, he narrows his eyes at you. “You really made a home here, huh?”

“Sure did,” you prop your feet up and dig out the Spider-Man comic you had been reading a few days ago. “The ice cream is surprisingly good here.”

“Yeah, I’m sure the ice cream is the reason you’re always here.” Dustin doesn’t even want to imagine how many hours you’ve spent in this cheesy ice cream parlor ogling over Steve. Maybe it’s a good thing he was gone most of the summer.

You flip to the last page you left off on and ignore Dustin’s insinuation. “Hey, free ice cream is free ice cream.”

“Can’t argue with you there.” Steve arrives and places down two giant sundaes onto the table. He slides next to you into the booth with a grand flourish. “Tada!”

Dustin wastes no time digging into his ice cream, making obnoxious noises as he shoves the food into his mouth. You cringe, disgusted that you’re related to him, but Steve kisses your cheek when the kid isn’t looking, and you can’t help but smile. Sneaking your own kiss to his cheek, you thank him. “You’re getting really good at whipping up sundaes, Steve.”

He preens at your praise. “It’s all in the forearms, ya know?” He makes a show out of rolling up his sleeves to show off his arms, which you giggle at with a slight flush on your face. Despite working inside all day, Steve has a nice sun kissed tan, which compliments how long his hair has gotten this summer.

Between his short Scoops Ahoy shorts and his hair streaked with sunlight, summer looks good on Steve.

In between bites of his ice cream, Dustin lifts his head up. “Quit talking about Steve’s arms and flirting in front of me, it’s gross.”

You fling a banana peel at him. “You’re the one too busy devouring his food to talk about anything else.”

“So you admit you’re flirting with me.” Steve teases, winking at you.

Dustin covers his eyes in disgust, forgetting about his ice cream entirely. “Seriously, stop it! You’re my sister, how would you feel if I flirted with Suzie in front of you?”

“I would–” You try to think of a response, but ultimately you deflate, unable to come up with anything. Frustratingly, you realize that the kid has a point; you’d be incredibly grossed out as well. “I would hate it.” You sigh, accepting defeat.

“Who’s Suzie?” Steve asks.

“Dustin’s girlfriend.” You say, popping a cherry into your mouth as you eagerly await the teen’s reaction to the girlfriend news.

As expected, Steve’s jaw drops and turns to your brother. No way the little twerp got a girlfriend before him this summer. “Girlfriend? Since when?”

“Met her at camp,” Dustin smirks at him, proud he’s surprised Steve. “She’s super hot, too. Hotter than Phoebe Cates.”

You roll your eyes at his insistence of referencing Suzie’s appearance, but Steve seems interested, although in disbelief as well. “No, no way. Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No.”

“Why is Phoebe Cates the gold standard?” You ask, unsure when she became everyone’s dream woman. All things considered, she’s incredibly attractive, but it’s weird that every boy you’ve spoken to about this universally finds her attractive. Steve finds her attractive, which you’re choosing not to think about because you don’t look anything like her.

Steve hears the slight bitterness in your tone and shuffles closer to you in the booth. Meanwhile, Dustin takes another bite out of his sundae and nods at him. “Mhm, she’s brilliant, too. She doesn’t even care that my real pearls are still coming in.”

“That’s great, Dustin!” You say, happy that your brother has found a girl who accepts him as he is. It’s sweet, really.

“I know, right?” He sits up straighter in the booth and smiles even wider. “She says kissing is better without teeth.”

You and Steve share a horrified look. Neither of you can believe what you’ve just heard, and you think a part of you died inside. Suddenly, the delicious sundae you’d been eating now turns to cement in your stomach at the thought of your little brother kissing a girl who enjoys his lack of teeth. “Oh, that’s… Yeah.”

“Wow!” Steve tries to mask his own horror and disgust, leaning even closer to you now to try and ground you as well. “Yeah, that’s… That’s great! Proud of you, man. That’s–That’s kinda romantic?”

Dustin basks in Steve’s praise and your disgust slowly melts away. Your brother genuinely seems happy to be with Suzie and even happier to tell Steve about it all. He won’t admit it, but you know he idolizes the teen. Steve’s word is like an oath to him, not even you have this much influence over the boy. If it were anyone else, you’d be offended and hurt, but seeing Steve flash Dustin a wink, you couldn’t have chosen anyone better for your brother to admire.

“So do you really just get to eat as much of this as you want?” Dustin motions towards his half-eaten sundae before turning to you. “How much ice cream have you had this summer?”

“A lot,” you shrug, taking another bite of your own sundae.

Steve lazily drapes an arm over you, which Dustin narrows his eyes at. “Yeah, I mean. Sure. It’s not really a good idea for me, though. I gotta keep in shape for the ladies.”

“Ugh,” you scoff in disgust at Steve’s words and shrug his arm off of you before scooting away from him. Sometimes you forget how much of an idiot he can be. That he used to wear the crown of King Steve. You turn slightly away from him and finish eating your ice cream, annoyed and slightly hurt, though you know you have no right to be.

It’s not like you’re with Steve, anyways.

Robin, from across the parlor, sees your sudden annoyance at Steve and calls out to him, “Yeah, and how’s that working out for you?”

“Ignore her,” Steve groans, not having the energy to deal with Robin’s quips and your anger being directed at him. He turns to you and lowers his voice. “I was kidding, Y/N. You know that–”

“Robin seems cool,” Dustin interrupts, not at all wanting to witness a lover’s feud between you and Steve. He left you two alone for a month, he thought he’d come back to you guys being an old married couple. Instead, he still has to suffer through your weird in between chaos.

You jump at the chance to gush about Robin, all while avoiding Steve’s pleading eyes. “She’s amazing. Genuinely one of the coolest people I know.”

“She’s not.” Steve corrects you, shaking his head. You roll your eyes at him and flick his ear, but as your hand lowers, he catches it with his and intertwines your fingers with a practiced ease. The action makes you blush and look away, still not ready to forgive him just yet. Steve sees the blush and feels your fingers tighten around his and he feels as if he can breathe again. There’s hope, at least. “So, where are the other knuckleheads?”

Dustin sighs. “They ditched me yesterday.”

“No,” Steve can’t believe what he’s hearing. “Y/N, did they really?”

“They… Kinda did.” You wince, absentmindedly placing your other hand on top of the one Steve is holding. He smiles softly at the action, momentarily forgetting about what you've just told him.

“My first day back! Can you believe that shit?” Dustin’s hurt from last night returns, which only makes you feel worse.

Steve leans forward now, invested and equally as offended as the boy. “Seriously?”

“I swear to god,” Dustin pauses to take another bite of ice cream. “They’re gonna regret it, though, big time, when they don’t get to share in my glory.”

You drop your head onto the table and groan. “Is this really how you’re going to segue into the Russian thing?”

“You’re my sister. Why would you expect anything less of me?”

“Touché.” You lift your head back up and continue eating your ice cream. It’s the only thing keeping you going right now. Steve has learned how to make your sundaes perfect, adding the peach ice cream you adore with just the right amount of whipped cream.

Meanwhile, Steve has a confused look on his face as he looks between you and Dustin. “Glory? Russians? Did I miss something?”

Dustin smiles mischievously and lowers his voice as he slides closer to the teen. You roll your eyes at his antics, knowing that the conversation that’s about to unfold will only give you another headache. You missed Steve and Dustin being together, but you didn’t miss the way they seemed to double in stupidity when together.

Looking around to make sure he won’t be heard, Dustin begins to explain. “So, last night, as Y/N and I were trying to get in contact with Suzie…” He pauses, sees that Scoops Ahoy is now filling with more customers, and lowers his voice even more to an almost inaudible whisper and covers his mouth.

You and Steve both lean forward, unable to hear him. The teen asks Dustin to repeat himself while you sit there with slight amazement. You know what Dustin is trying to say, you’re more just surprised the kid can be so quiet. It’s a goddamn miracle, honestly.

Dustin inhales deeply and again tries to discreetly inform Steve of the Russian code, but his whispers are still too low to hear. Taking a final bite of your ice cream, you click your tongue at your brother. “You’re really killing it there, buddy.”

“Dude, just speak louder.” Steve’s curious interest is now more of an annoyance.

“I intercepted a secret Russian communication!” Dustin all but shouts, which causes you to practically throw yourself over the table to cover his mouth.

“Jesus fuck!” You look around and see everyone’s eyes on you, and with your hand still clamped firmly over your brother’s mouth, you clear your throat and laugh nervously. “I mean, haha. Pardon me.” The customers give you a weird look but turn away, though Robin continues to stare at you.

Steve gently removes your hand from Dustin’s mouth and once again intertwines his fingers with yours. “Jeez, okay. Yeah. That’s what I thought you said.”

“Did you have to yell?” You sneer at Dustin, still looking around nervously to make sure no one is paying too much attention to the three of you. While Hawkins Lab was overrun by Demodogs and every scientist within it died, you’re still terrified that they still have allies watching your every move.

Not that you think the Lab is responsible for Russians, but… Better safe than sorry.

Dustin rolls his eyes at you. “Your boyfriend is the one who couldn’t hear me.”

You’re about to correct him when Steve waves the boy off and goes back to the main topic. “What does any of that mean, though? The Russian code and whatever.”

“It means that we can never catch a break–”

“It means, Steve,” Dustin sends you a dirty look. “That we could be heroes. True American heroes.”

Steve seems into the idea and you want to scream. You hate the way Dustin is explaining all of this. “This could mean danger, guys.”

Dustin rolls his eyes at you and Steve smiles wearily. “I don’t know, Y/N. It doesn’t seem so bad, ya know? We’ve fought Demodogs, how bad could some Russians be?”

You cross your arms and narrow your eyes. “The Demodogs were created by shifty government facilities. Why are we assuming Russia doesn’t have their own?”

“But… American heroes.” Steve looks heartbreakingly pathetic as he says this, and you realize now that his fixation on being seen as some hero stems from the hurt he still feels over his father. He hadn’t turned into who had expected to become, something that you know his father reminds him of every time he comes back from some business trip. You wish you could convince Steve that he’s more than what his father could ever expect him to be, but you know he wouldn’t listen.

With Steve’s pleading eyes looking at you, lost and hopeless, you can’t argue with him. Sighing, you accept that this is something he has to take part in, if only to rebuild his crumbling confidence. “Tell him what you’re thinking, Dustin.”

“Gladly.” Your brother wastes no time diving in, once more eager and excited to have the attention on him, and it’s only now that you realize he’s doing this for the same reason Steve is: they both feel abandoned and hurt. “We need your help.”

“With what?”

Dustin digs through his backpack and takes out the Russian dictionary he made you steal from work. He holds it up and shows it to Steve. “Translation.”

Steve’s eyes widen and he grabs the book to inspect it. There’s a new spark in his eyes, one that died the day his father told him he wouldn’t attend his graduation. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah,” you exhale and slump in your seat. There’s no going back now. “I just want you both to know that I hate this plan and your excitement over it, but if I don’t help then you guys will somehow end up in a Russian gulag, and that would just be on me.”

Steve shares a look with Dustin, whose sigh reflects your own. “Glad you have faith in us, Y/N.”

–

It’s Steve's idea to work on the translation in the backroom of Scoops Ahoy, and neither you or Dustin argue. Technically, he’s the only one who has any real responsibilities today with work and all, so it makes sense to stay at Scoops and hide out there.

Dustin sits at the table next to you as he replays the tape recording over and over again. Steve paces the room and eats a banana, claiming he needed “brain food” to focus on the complex Russian language. You sit with your head in your hands, trying desperately to hold onto the bizarre language that floats around the room.

After his tenth time replaying the code, Dustin pauses the recording and looks at you and Steve. “So, what do you guys think?”

“It sounded familiar.” Steve shoves a piece of banana into his mouth. You cringe at the obscene amount of food he tries to chew at once. Seeing your disgust, Steve waves the banana in your face and asks with a mouthful of food, “Wan sum?”

“It’s like you want me to hate you today,” you slap the banana away, which he chuckles at.

Dustin gets both of your attention again with slight annoyance. He didn’t miss the weird flirting between the two of you at all. “Guys, focus. What do you mean the recording sounds familiar?”

“The music,” Steve still speaks with his mouth full. “The music right there at the end.”

“Why are you listening to the music, Steve?” Dustin exclaims, exasperated.

As your brother berates Steve for his lack of Russian translating, you sit up in your seat processing what he’s just previously said. While you hadn’t thought much of it before, now that Steve has pointed it out, the music does sound familiar. You swear you’ve heard it somewhere before, but you can’t remember where or when. It’s a hazy memory, distant in your mind, yet right in front of you. It’s incredibly frustrating.

“I think Steve is onto something,” you say, but the two boys are too busy fighting to hear you.

“I’m trying to listen to the Russian but there’s music–”

Suddenly the back door swings open and Robin appears. She looks agitated after having to man the cash register all by herself while Steve hides out in the breakroom. “Alright, babysitting time is over. You need to get in there.” When she sees that you’ve erased her whiteboard and replaced her “you suck” columns with the Russian alphabet, her agitation only increases. “Hey, my board! That was important data, shitbirds.”

You get up from the table and walk up to the girl, feeling bad. While you aren’t sure what exactly her “you suck” column and tallies were for, it had been her creation that you had erased without thinking to ask. Plus, you really don’t want her seeing the Russian dictionary on the table. “I’m sorry, Robin–”

“Not you, Y/N. You’re not a shitbird,” she points over to Steve and Dustin. “Those two are shitbirds.”

“I guarantee you, what we’re doing is way more important than your data.” Dustin interjects, a smug look on his face that makes you want to scream. He isn’t at all helping the situation.

Robin begins to walk over to the boys and you reluctantly follow. “Yeah? And how do you know these Russians are up to no good anyways?”

Dustin’s jaw drops and Steve almost chokes on his banana. Seeing their stunned reactions of Robin having figured out what you’ve been doing, you sigh in disappointment. They’re such idiots sometimes. They wrote Russian on the whiteboard, out in the open, and have been playing the recording out loud, full volume, on repeat.

Of course Robin caught onto what you were doing.

Which only makes your nervous body tense up even more. You hate that you have to lie to her, you’ve become really close with her during your visits to Scoops, but you don’t want to drag her into anything dangerous. You’re not sure what exactly any of this Russian code means, but Robin has been nothing but kind to you this summer, you truly care about her, and it would kill you if something were to happen because of you.

So, despite knowing how smart Robin is, you try to think of a cover story. “We were just interested in the language. Ya know, a summer hobby.”

“I can hear everything, Y/N.” Robin sees right through your lies. “Your idiotic brother and boyfriend are both extremely loud.”

“Steve isn’t my boyfriend–”

“You three think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape and you’re trying to translate, but haven’t figured out a word because you didn’t realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet than we do.”

You, Steve, and Dustin all look at one another in varying degrees of awe and despair.

Robin, seeing your stunned faces, smiles. “Sound about right?”

“How could you not know about the Russian alphabet, Y/N?” Dustin angrily whispers at you as if somehow it’s your responsibility to know the ins-and-outs of the language.

“Why would I–you know what, no.” You ignore your brother and turn to Robin, trying to alleviate the situation and prevent her from finding out anything else. She’s too fucking smart, it’s both admirable and aggravating. “Look, whatever you think you heard–”

Suddenly Robin lunges for the Russian dictionary on the table, but Steve’s quick reflexes enable him to grab the book before she can. “Woah! What do you think you’re doing?”

“I wanna hear it.” She juts her chin out in defiance, though you see the slightly hurt expression she tries to mask. She hates that you’re purposely excluding her and taking Steve’s side in this.

You wish you could tell her the truth.

“Why?” You ask in unison alongside Steve and Dustin.

“Because maybe I can help. I’m fluent in four languages, ya know.”

Dustin perks up, now more open to the idea of Robin’s involvement. “Russian?”

“Ou-yay are-yay umb-day.”

Steve and Dustin gasp, believing that they’ve just heard Robin say something in Russian, but you know better. One summer, when the party had been especially nosy and insisted on following you and Jonathan around, the two of you had learned pig latin in order to communicate without the twerps eavesdropping.

Learning against the table, you smirk at Robin. “Osay ouyay owknay igpay atinlay.”

“Holy shit!” Dustin gasps and Steve almost falls over with how quickly he looks at you in shock. Both boys stare at you in awe and you almost feel bad for their tiny little brains.

Robin can’t help but smile at you, you somehow always manage to surprise her. “Impressive, Y/N. Didn’t think you knew pig latin either.”

“That was pig latin?” Steve scrunches his face and hits your brother with his banana peel. “Idiot.”

“Steve, please don’t hit my brother with banana peels,” you pinch the bridge of your nose. It’s only noon and you’re already exhausted from today’s events. “But yes, that was pig latin.”

Dustin shoves Steve away from him and focuses on you again. “When did you learn pig latin?”

“The summer you and the party decided to stalk me and Jonathan.” You shrug, though you smile fondly at the memory. It had been a good summer, just the two of you holed up in your room as you quizzed each other on the bizarre language.

Steve, seeing your fondness at the memory, frowns. He doesn’t like the uncomfortable heat that he feels ignite within his stomach at the thought of you still being so fond over Jonathan. He trusts you, he trusts what you have, but he will never feel equal to him.

Robin notices Steve’s brewing insecurity and quickly changes the subject. She doesn’t have time for the usual hormonal drama between the two of you. All she wants right now is to decipher the Russian so that she can catch a break from Erica and her demanding need to try every free sample ever. “Back to the main point: I can speak Spanish and French and Italian, and I’ve been in band for twelve years. My ears are little geniuses, trust me.”

You bite your lip. Truthfully, Robin has the highest chance of unraveling whatever the hell is in the recording. You’re horrible with languages, high school Spanish had nearly killed you, and Steve and Dustin stand no better chance. “Robin…”

“Come on,” she begs. “It’s Steve's turn to sling ice cream and my turn to translate.”

Steve and Dustin turn to you, unanimously agreeing that you’re the leader in this situation; whatever call you make, they’ll listen. Robin sees the conflict on your face and tries one last time. “I don’t even want credit. I’m just bored and wanna hang out with you.”

Your head spins. Robin’s pleading eyes are hard to fight against and you realize that she already knows more than you’d want her to; she’s already a part of it all, whether you like it or not. Sighing, you give in. “Fine, but only if you promise not to ask any questions about whatever we may find.”

“What would I even question?” She asks, unsure why your tone is more foreboding than accepting.

You share a look with Steve and Dustin. The three of you know just how quickly something simple can spiral into chaos in Hawkins. “Just… promise me, okay?”

Robin extends her hand, just happy to finally have something better to do. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

After you shake her hand, she tosses her ice cream scoop to Steve and he hands her the Russian dictionary. Seeing the exchange sends a slight shiver down your spine. You don’t like how much it feels like you’ve just signed Robin’s life away.

–

True to her word, Robin’s ears are little geniuses.

With her helping, you and Dustin are able to speed through the translating as Steve works the register. You’re tasked with writing down the letters that Dustin calls from the whiteboard as Robin listens to the tape over and over again.

“Weird ‘r’ with a hook!” Your brother declares for the last letter.

You write it down and can’t help but frown at the message you’ve seemingly deciphered. Showing the writing to Robin, you ask what she thinks. “Are you sure it was that weird ‘r’ sound?”

“I’m positive,” she says. “C’mon, let’s go tell Steve.”

“Are we sure–” You try to ask her again, but Robin has already made her way to the sliding window and gets Steve’s attention.

“We’ve got our first sentence!”

You make your way over and lean against the window as well. Steve, holding two ice cream cones, seems excited by the news. “Oh, seriously?”

“It’s a hesitant first sentence.” You butt in, still unsure if it’s even correct.

Robin rolls her eyes at you. “Ignore her, I’m right.” Then, clearing her throat, she does an impressive Russian accent. “‘The week is long’.”

Steve’s shoulders slump, clearly having expected something better. “Well that’s thrilling.”

“Told you it was a hesitant first sentence.” Then you turn to Robin. “Nice accent, by the way.”

“Why thank you,” she tips her hat at you before focusing back on Steve. “And I know it isn’t thrilling, but it’s progress!”

And with that, Robin spins around and goes back to the table in the breakroom, eager to decipher more of the code. You’re about to kiss Steve’s cheek and say goodbye, but then your eyes land on a familiar red-haired girl and her friend standing in front of the register. You look down at the ice cream in Steve’s hands and note the familiar order you’ve come to memorize since the mall opened.

“Max? El?” You lean further out the window, pleasantly surprised to see them. “What are you guys doing here? Where’s the rest of the party?”

The girls wave at you and giggle, and you realize now that you’ve never actually seen them alone together before. Normally they’re with Lucas or Mike, so it’s a bit jarring to see them getting along so well without the boys. Jarring, but also very lovely.

“We don’t need those idiots.” Max responds, which makes El giggle even more.

Steve whistles, impressed by Max’s bluntness, and hands them their ice cream. They begin to eat the treat before a thought occurs to him. “Wait a second, are you even allowed to be here?”

You walk through the breakroom and come out the main doors to join Steve at the register. While you’re happy to see Max and El getting along, Steve has a point. Why is El here in such a public space? When you had asked Hopper last month if you could take El to Steve’s graduation, it had taken a whole debate and a fresh batch of cookies in order to convince the old man to let her come.

El is still technically forbidden from being seen in public, and yet here she is: running around Starcourt with Max.

You put your hands on the counter and lean towards the girls. They take a few steps back, now knowing that you’re onto them. “Max, El, what are you up to?”

Their eyes widen while you narrow yours, daring them to lie. Then, quickly glancing at one another, they turn around and run out of Scoops Ahoy, leaving you alone with Steve. You both stand there, dumbfounded.

“I thought I only ever had to worry about the boys.” You whisper, horrified. “The girls were supposed to be the ones I could trust.”

Steve rubs your shoulders and kisses your cheek. “You’re gonna go after them, aren’t you?”

You drop your head and sigh. “Yeah, I am.”

“I’ll tell Robin you had a babysitting emergency.” He presses a kiss to your neck now, which you shiver at, before gently shoving you out from behind the counter. “Good luck, angel.”

Steve’s kisses give you the energy you need to run after Max and El. They’re surprisingly fast as they giggle and trade ice cream cones to share. You call after them as you dodge random people in the mall, but your calls are in vain. They ignore you and continue to skip happily away from you.

“Guys!” When you finally catch up to them, they’re outside standing in front of the bike rack. “Why are you in front of the bikes–oh.”

You see Mike, Lucas, and Will unlocking their bikes from the rack as they bicker over something. Faintly you hear Mike and Lucas arguing about splitting money while Will is silent.

There’s a tension between the girls and boys that you now take note of. Normally El would have already been wrapped around Mike’s arms, but she remains by your side as Max approaches the boys. “Well, isn’t this a nice surprise?”

When Mike sees El, he drops his bike in shock. “What are you doing here?”

“Shopping.” El says as she glares at the boy.

You’ve never seen her so cold towards someone. It’s kind of frightening, honestly. “Oh, Wheeler, what did you do?”

“What did I do? No, what did you do? You’re the one who is letting her walk around Starcourt where everyone can see her!” Mike shrieks, always finding ways to blame you for his own problems.

You scoff. “Hey, I’ve only known about this for like, a second longer than you have.”

“Sure, likely story.”

“Have you ever considered not pissing off your girlfriend?”

“Have you ever considered getting a better boyfriend than Harrington?”

“Okay–”

Max steps in between you and Mike, annoyed. “Both of you shut up!” She waves her hand over El’s outfit and tries to turn the conversation around. “This is El’s new style. What do you think?”

“I think she looks nice–”

Mike cuts you off. “What’s wrong with you? You know she’s not allowed to be here.”

“What is she, your little pet?”

El clenches her jaw. “Yeah. Am I your pet?”

“What? No!” Mike denies, equally as confused as you are.

You’re not quite sure how you ended up in this situation.

“Then why do you treat me like garbage?” El questions the boy.

You frown at this and subtly step towards Lucas, desperately hoping for some clarification. “Did I miss something?”

“It’s a long story.” He sighs, and you now realize that Max must be angry with him, too.

El continues to interrogate Mike, and you almost feel bad for the boy. “You said Nana was sick.”

“She is! She is sick.” Mike lies through his teeth. You think about what Hopper told you earlier, how he had said some things to get Mike away from El, and you suppose now that it had involved some type of lie about the kid’s grandma.

Then Mike shoves at Lucas to get him to play along as well. Reluctantly he echoes his friend, though you know he’s aware that he’s only making this worse for himself. “She’s super sick, that’s why we’re here, actually.”

Mike is quick to follow along. “Yeah, we’re shopping! Not for us, but for her, for Nana.”

You catch Will’s eyes, who has remained silent this entire time, and he shakes his head at you in disappointment. You look back at Mike and Lucas now, unamused. “Nana isn’t sick, is she?”

“She is! But…” Mike fumbles over his words now. “We’re also here to get a gift for El. We just–we couldn’t find anything that suited her and I only have like, $3.50, so it’s hard.”

“It’s expensive… Had we known you were at the mall we would’ve asked you for money.” Lucas mumbles, which you flick his forehead at. “Ow, Y/N!”

El looks between Lucas and Mike, her eyes showing her hurt. “You lie.” When neither boy says anything, her hurt only grows and her voice wavers with tears. “Why do you lie?”

Again, El’s words are met with silence. Mike looks down, too ashamed to meet her eyes, and you shift uncomfortably, feeling even worse for the kid. You hadn’t expected to witness an awkward relationship feud today, and it wasn’t all entirely his fault. You know that Hopper played a role in this.

Later, when you have the time, you’re definitely going to yell at the police chief about this.

As the silence drags on, the local bus that drives everyone in Hawkins to Starcourt now arrives in the parking lot. Hearing its brakes hiss, El looks behind her and seems to make up her mind about something. Her face is stony as she approaches Mike and her words are laced with venom. “I dump your ass.”

You and Max gasp, though yours is more from shock and Max is more from being impressed.

Mike’s face falls and El whips around and begins walking towards the bus. Max follows, waving goodbye to you, and you’re left to deal with the unfortunate outcome of this bizarre situation.

Laughing nervously, you awkwardly pat Mike’s back. “You’ll… Uh, fix this, right?”

Mike slaps your hand away and marches back towards his bike. His shoulders droop and he looks tired from all he’s had to deal with today. Lucas doesn’t look any better and silently follows after his friend. Will is the only one who remains, and he drops his head to your chest and groans. “I just wanted to play DnD today.”

“I know, little bee.” You scratch his head and try to console him. “But sometimes life gets in the way. Right now Mike and Lucas need you, do you think you could help them?”

Will looks up at you. “I don’t know… Maybe, I guess.”

“Do what you can,” you kiss his forehead, wishing you could do more for him. All he’s wanted to do all summer is be a kid again, but his peers are growing older and leaving him behind. It isn’t anyone’s fault. “I gotta go, buddy. But I promise you and I will do something this week, just the two of us, okay?”

He nods, content with this, and you ruffle his hair before heading back inside to Scoops.

–

Hours later, you, Steve, Dustin, and Robin all uncover the rest of the Russian code.

You stand with your back against Steve’s chest as he has his arms draped loosely over you. Robin and Dustin stand to your left as you all face the whiteboard that has the message written on it, reading it out loud.

“‘The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west’.”

There’s a pause as you all take in the bizarre message. You’re extremely doubtful that it’s right. The order of the words is too abstract to possibly be purposeful. It just doesn’t make any sense.

“Are we sure this is right?” You ask the group, knowing no one else will utter the doubt that settles over the room. Steve tightens his arms around you and shrugs.

“It has to be.” Dustin mumbles, though even he looks unsure.

Robin sighs. “Well, whether or not we’re right, dingus and I have to close up shop.”

Steve groans but reluctantly lets go of you so that he can help Robin with closing. While the two teens wash the ice cream scoopers and put away the remaining ice cream, you sit with Dustin at one of the booths.

“Maybe it’s a code?”

“Dustin, we just translated a foreign language. Thinking it’s a code seems like a cop-out, honestly.” You rest your head in your hands and watch Steve count the money in the register. Feeling your eyes on him, he looks up and winks at you. Blushing, you look back at your brother. “We probably just translated it wrong.”

“My ears are right! We didn’t translate anything wrong!” Robin shouts from across the store.

Dustin perks up. “See? We have to assume we’re onto something.”

You bite your lip, still unsure, but leave the topic alone for now. There’s no point arguing with Dustin and Robin because it’s not like any of you can just ask a native Russian speaker who is correct. If it somehow ends up being a hidden code, then you’ll apologize to Robin’s ears later.

It’s quiet in the parlor after that, but when Steve and Robin have finished closing and he pulls the gate down to lock up the store before you all go home, Steve can’t help but bring the subject up again. “I mean–it’s just, it can’t be right.”

“It’s right.” Robin affirms once more, and Dustin nods at her appreciatively.

“Honesty, I think it’s great news.”

Steve walks next to you as the four of you slowly head towards the mall’s exit. It’s late, you’re tired from your long day of translating the Russian language, and you’re ready to go to bed. Then, as if somehow knowing the exhaustion that weighs upon you, you feel Steve slip his hand into yours. His fingers are warm and the touch soothes you as he gently guides the two of you.

“How is this great news?” Steve asks your brother. “I mean, so much for being American heroes. It’s total nonsense.”

“The goal isn’t to be American heroes, dummy.” You chide, tugging at your hands to make sure he looks at you and listens. “We aren’t still going to follow this, are we?”

Dustin rolls his eyes at you both. “It’s not nonsense, it’s too specific and obviously a code. And yes we’re going to keep following this. We’re onto something, I can feel it!”

“All I feel right now is a crippling migraine forming,” you groan, rubbing at your temples.

Steve kisses your head in concern, feeling bad that he’s kept you out so late. However, he also really, really would love to become someone important. Someone worthy of his dad’s favor, so he follows after Dustin, curious despite it all. “What do you mean a code?”

“Like a super secret spy code.”

“That’s a total stretch.”

You snort. “That’s what I said, but no. Why should we ever listen to Y/N? It’s not like she’s always right in the end.”

Robin winces, afraid to annoy you further, but she can’t help but agree with Dustin. “I don’t know, is it really a stretch?”

“No, please don’t tell me you believe my brother.” You’re betrayed, hurt even, that Robin would succumb to Dustin’s fantasies.

Normally you’re all for believing your brother, but Russians in Hawkins leaving a hidden code in a radio frequency that can be accessed by the public? You may have fought alternate dimension monsters and you may know a girl with mind control powers, but even this feels far fetched.

“Listen, just for kicks, let’s entertain the possibility that it is a secret Russian transmission. What’d you think they were gonna say, ‘fire the warhead at noon’?” Robin raises her eyebrows at you.

“Well… no.” You slump your shoulders, knowing that she has a point. “But–”

“Just admit we’re right, Y/N.” Dustin says, annoyed.

Robin turns to you and almost groans when she sees your hand intertwined with Steve’s. Her voice falters for a moment at the sight, but she clears her throat and carries on with the conversation. “And my translation is correct. I know that for sure, so… ‘the silver cat feeds’. Why would anyone talk like that unless they’re trying to mask the meaning of their message?”

Dustin is next to her now, hanging onto her every word as you and Steve lag behind. “Exactly!”

“It is a weird phrase,” you mumble under your breath, and Steve can’t help but chuckle at how endearing you are when you try to play the reasonable role. It’s never any use, you’re everything that hope and optimism embodies; it’s adorable.

Robin sees that you’re close to giving in and begins to ramble now. “Why would anyone mask the true meaning of their message unless the message was somehow sensitive?” Again Dustin agrees with everything she says and Steve shrugs his shoulders while all you do is sigh in defeat. Looking at your brother, Robin concludes, “Guess that confirms your suspicions.”

“Evil Russians.”

“Okay, no.” You step between them now. “What if they’re just, like, really shy Russians who want some privacy? Why do we always jump to the evil conclusion?”

Dustin shoulders you to get you to shut up, and you shove him back, starting a small spat between the two of you. He hits your shoulder, you hit his stomach, and Steve watches with amusement while Robin stares in horror.

“Do we stop them?” She asks the teen.

Steve shakes his head. “I’ve learned that it’s best to just let them fight it out. It’s been a month, they’re behind on their fist fighting schedule.”

“I heard that!” You quickly say to him before yanking Dustin’s shirt to get him off of your back.

Seeing your struggle, Robin forces your brother off of you and holds him by his arms so that he doesn’t jump on you again. Dustin complains, but quickly shuts up at what Robin says. “Focus! I’m trying to tell you that I agree with you, this is totally evil Russians.”

Dustin stops struggling against her, now elated at the idea of defeating evil foreigners. “So how do we crack it?”

You were scared that Robin and Dustin wouldn’t get along, but as you watch them bounce schemes off of one another and plan an evil Russian take down, you’re now terrified of the friendship brewing between them. It’s worse than Steve with Dustin; Robin is just as cunning as your brother is.

She thinks for a moment. “I guess we translate the rest and hopefully a pattern emerges.”

“Have we ever considered a game plan for after poking our noses where they don’t belong?” Dustin and Robin both glare at you and you hold your hands up in surrender. “Hey, I’m just saying.”

“Ignore her, Robin. She likes to pretend she’s the rational one in these types of situations.” Dustin whispers to her, which you roll your eyes at. Steve kisses your cheek as a way to console you as your brother continues to speak. “Anyways, maybe the ‘silver cat’ is a meeting place?”

“Or a person.” Robin theorizes.

“Or a weapon.”

As the two of them come up with insane theories about what the code could mean, you notice that Steve is no longer by your side. Turning around, you find him stopped at one of the carousel horses meant for little kids. He’s bent over it, examining it. You frown, unsure what he’s doing, and walk over to him.

Resting a hand against his back, you lean down next to him. “Can I ask what we’re looking at here, honey?” He’s mumbling under his breath and digging through his pockets for something. Now you’re starting to get concerned. “Steve?”

“I need–do you have a quarter?”

“No?” You’re even more concerned now. Placing the back of your hand against his forehead, you check his temperature. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Sure you’re tall enough for that ride?” Robin quips as she and Dustin now join.

“Quarter!” Steve demands, nearly falling over as he tries to catch the one that she tosses him. When he catches it he quickly pushes the coin into the machine’s slot, bringing it to life. Music begins to play as the horse moves back and forth. It’s ominous, almost, in the mall’s dim lighting with no one else around.

Steve listens intently to the music, his face concentrated as if trying to understand something. As the music continues to play, you can’t help but feel that it sounds familiar. It reminds you of something, maybe a distant memory that you can’t quite recall. Wanting to understand more, you lean in close to the machine as well and mirror Steve’s actions. “The music…”

“They’ve both lost it,” Dustin mumbles when he sees that you’re also now analyzing a stupid carousel horse.

“Y/N, you helping little Stevie up onto the ride?” Robin laughs at her own joke, but you swat at her to shush her.

As the song plays once more, it finally clicks. Your mind flashes back to your conversation with him earlier in the break room as you kept replaying the Russian recording over and over again. It’s the same song. With a gasp, you throw your arms around Steve’s neck and begin kissing his face over and over again. “You’re a genius!”

Steve leans into your kisses and smiles at the praise, relieved that you don’t think he’s some idiot. Though his heart is beating wildly, he clears his throat and shrugs as if it isn’t a big deal. “I have my moments.”

“Care to share with the class, dinguses?”

Robin’s voice startles you, having momentarily forgotten where you were. Blushing, you pull away from Steve and clear your throat as well and act as if you weren’t just drowning the boy in kisses. “Listen to the song, guys.”

The seriousness of your tone causes Dustin to finally listen to the music as well. It only takes him a few seconds to piece together what you and Steve already have. “Holy shit. The music.”

“The music.” You confirm with pride, still incredibly amazed that Steve managed to remember such a small yet crucial detail. Since coming to befriend him, you’ve come to admire just how perceptive he is. Sure, he may not be a math whiz, but his emotional and creative intelligence leaves you in awe every time you see it. He’s smarter than anyone gives him credit for.

You wish his father saw this intelligence within him. Honestly, you wish more people did.

Dustin yanks his backpack off of his shoulder and starts rustling through it as he searches for something. When he finds his tape recorder, he starts to play the Russian transmission again. Hearing the audio and carousel play simultaneously side by side, it only confirms what Steve has long since figured out: it’s the same song.

Not being able to help yourself, you again kiss Steve’s cheek, giddy and proud of him. “You’re brilliant.”

He preens while Robin scrunches her nose, unsure why you’re all over the guy because of some song. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s the exact same song on the recording.” Dustin explains to her.

“Maybe they have horses like this in Russia?”

You nod at her. “Maybe? We should look into who produces these machines, it could be our new lead.”

Steve shakes his head. “‘Indiana Flyer’? I don’t… I don’t think so.”

Something seems to shift within his voice and his face now twists with slight fear. He looks as if he’s realized something awful, and you feel your own joy from earlier vanish. A chill runs through you, the same awful feeling of dread that once overwhelmed you when Will originally disappeared now courses through you again.

“What is it?” You softly ask Steve, already bracing yourself for the worst.

He frowns at the apprehension in your voice and the worried crease between his brows makes you want to smooth away the concern. You know he doesn’t want to scare you, that he’s always trying to make things easier for you, so you tilt your head at him and nod slightly; you want him to tell you. Seeing your unspoken permission, he sighs. “This code, it… didn’t come from Russia. It came from here.”

You, Robin, and Dustin all look at one another. Fear settles over the group, you can feel its heavy weight like an old, familiar friend.

“Why does everything happen in Hawkins?” You say to no one in particular, still trying to process what this all means.

Dustin sighs and Steve drops his head.

Somehow, you always end up here.

–

Steve offers to drive you and Dustin home after seeing how shaken up you are by the latest Russian revelation. Tired and exhausted and terrified as usual, you accept.

It takes some trial and error, but eventually he and your brother manage to fit your bikes in the back of the BMW.

The drive to your house is filled with awkward banter between Steve and Dustin. You sit quietly in the passenger seat as the two boys try to make light of the situation, but not even their jokes can lessen the fear that creeps into the car; none of you are sure what to make of all of this.

When Steve pulls up to your house, all that you’ve managed to do the entire car ride is make a mental note to call Jonathan about everything later. It’s not your best plan, you wish that there was more you could do, but at the very least you know that he and Nancy can help.

Dustin scrambles out of the car, desperate to escape the tension within it. “See you tomorrow, Steve!” He calls behind him before slamming the car door shut.

You snort softly at your brother, finally moving to unbuckle your own seatbelt, before Steve places his hand on yours and stops you. He’s noticed how quiet you’ve been the entire car ride and the way your eyes have clouded over with fear. He hates it. “Do me a favor?”

“Yes?” You blink at him, unsure what he could want at this hour. It’s late and your mom expects you home soon.

“Leave your window unlocked for me.” He winks at you, trying to play coy, but you see the genuine concern for you hidden beneath his actions.

You can’t help but smile; it feels as if you can breathe again. “Steve Harrington, why should I leave my window unlocked for you?”

Your smile sends a warmth through Steve’s chest as relief washes over him. He’s doing something right. He’s gotten you to smile. “Because I’m planning on sneaking in after I park my car a few blocks down so your mom won’t see me.”

Though you know what he had been implying, hearing him say the words out loud causes a wild blush to burn across your cheeks and your stomach to swoop. Steve has never done this before, sneaking into your room like some lovestruck teenager late at night, it’s been the one boundary neither of you have crossed before.

“I suppose I can do that.” You say with an air of indifference, which Steve rolls his eyes at. “Strictly friendly, of course.”

“Oh, of course.”

You giggle, finally unbuckling your seatbelt, and you exit the car after kissing the boy’s cheek. His face is warm against your lips and you’re coming to memorize the way your nose presses against the indent of his cheek bones.

When you get inside, your mom is knitting on the couch while Tews sits in her lap. She greets you with a smile and you compliment the scarf she’s making. “I’m sure it’ll be perfect for this winter, mom.”

She thanks you and wishes you a good night, noticing the bags underneath your eyes with slight concern. Inside your room, you quickly clear away the scattered pieces of paper on your desk and arrange your bedding so that it isn't strewn across the room. Steve has been in your room a million times now, and yet you can’t help but feel like tonight is different for some reason.

True to his word, within ten minutes Steve is knocking on your window. Hearing the quiet way his knuckles rap against the glass makes your heart jump in your stomach. Your body practically buzzes as you go to open the window, eager to have him close to you.

“Took you long enough,” you tease, opening the window wide enough for him to crawl through.

Steve pulls himself up with ease, his biceps strain against his Scoops Ahoy uniform, and you’ve never been more thankful for corporate policy. “Sorry, angel. Came here as fast as I could.”

You tug at his shirt and the two of you are falling into your bed. He lands on you with a soft thud and your body has long since become accustomed to his weight. As his body settles upon yours, it feels like coming home. You exhale deeply, wrapping your arms around his body, and Steve nuzzles his face into your neck and presses a gentle kiss there.

Everything swirling violently within your head now stills. The constant onslaught of worries and doubts finally quiets, and you know that despite it all, at least you have Steve.

“We’ll figure it out, ya know.” Steve’s lips move against the skin of your neck as he speaks, making you shiver slightly at the sensation.

“I know,” you start to play with his hair, needing something to do with your hands as you speak. “But… How many times are we going to keep doing this? Be the only people in Hawkins aware of what’s going on?”

Steve is silent for a few moments, allowing your words to sink in. He rolls them around in his head, he knows that the question isn’t one that comes from doubt of what he and the others are capable of. You don’t lack faith, you lack the willingness to constantly place the ones you love at risk. It just isn’t in your nature.

“As many times as needed.” He pauses again, unsure how to express to you his certainty that you’re capable of so much with all the love within you. If there’s anyone in this shitty town who is a real American hero, it’s you. “I mean, after everything we’ve been through these last two years, measly Russians are no big deal. We’ve fought worse monsters than Communism.”

You laugh, he always somehow gets you to laugh, and the sound is as angelic to Steve as your eyes are to him. He tightens his arms around you and relishes in the way your body presses against his, how he can feel your body move with every inhale of your laugh.

Then, slowly, your laughter dies down. Reality settles upon you once more and you want to believe Steve, you do, and you try to reassure yourself that he’s right… but something feels off about this. You can’t exactly articulate what it is, but there's this haze of uncertainty that you’ve never quite felt before; a vulnerability that leaves you feeling cold in his arms.

Sensing your fear rising up again, Steve tries to distract you by changing the subject. “Speaking of monsters, I recruited the little heathens to help with your birthday gift.”

The change of subject works. You raise your head and look at the teen. “You mean the party? You got them to help with a gift for me?”

“Don’t sound so surprised, Y/N.” Steve butts his head against your chin playfull. “I can make them listen to me… sometimes.”

You stare at him, knowing he’s full of shit. “Go on, tell me all about how you got them to listen to you.”

He tries to hold your gaze, refusing to back down, but he cracks after only a few seconds. “Okay, fine. It took a lot of pleading and I now owe a bunch of pre-teens money.”

A loud, full body laugh escapes your lips, and Steve laughs with you. The two of you hold one another and feel each other laugh, chests rising with glee. For a moment you feel okay again, forgetting everything else for now. You’re carefree in this moment, feeling like a little kid again, something only Steve can do to you.

When your laughs die down, you and Steve quietly lay together. No other words manage to find their way in the dark of your room, all that needs to be said has been laid to rest. His warm breaths hit the base of your neck as your nails scratch against his scalp. While you feel safe in his arms, there’s still so much that needs to be said.

Staring at the ceiling of your room, you see faint threads and strings and lines that you thought you put to rest that night in Jonathan’s room this winter. Now, they’re back again, only this time it’s a different boy within your arms. Something akin to doubt creeps in.

Steve already has all of you, you told him you’d wait, but what if you’ve missed your chance again with him like you did with Jonathan? When June began, Steve promised that you had all summer together. He calls you angel and tells you stories to fall asleep to on the phone, and yet the threads that glow above you taunt you.

You love him, you do, but you’re terrified that whatever the two of you uncover with the Russians will somehow pry you apart.

Just like Will’s disappearance had pried Jonathan away from you two years ago.

July looms over you and summer is going by faster than you thought it would. The promise of summer, one that usually leaves the nostalgic taste of honey on your tongue, now threatens to choke you.

As if having a mind of their own, your arms tighten even more around Steve, almost as if somehow you can shield what the two of you have from the dangers within Hawkins.

You hope it’s enough.

-

⌑ series masterlist

⌑ if youd like to buy me a coffee ☕︎

⌑ thank you for reading ! feel free to like, comment, reblog, or send in an ask so we can chat <3

[coraline-jones353]

I would like a x reader oneshot request on Ray Manchester/Captain Man ❤️ from Henry Danger !

The true parents meeting

Heyy y'all quick thing please I beg you all, add some information with your request 😭. It's hard enough to find time to write but finding time to brain storm an idea?? Crazy long.

Also oh my goodness this is I think my first request?!??

Ray x Reader

Warnings: Cussing, hating on Henry's parents (ngl they sucked and that's a hill I'll die on)

Summary: At Henry's graduation party Y/n, his god mom comes to his party from out of town. Henry comes in late to his party and ofc his parents aren't worried, but Ray and Y/n are. Henry seizes the moment to get his actual parents off his back and to make them both happy, together.

Y/n is Henry's god mom, she attends everything and I mean everything, his kindergarten graduation? She's there. Birthdays? There. Christmas? There

She's good friends with Henry's mother. When her friend broke down crying saying she doesn't want a baby Y/n even offered to adopt the kid after she had given birth. That obviously didn't happen but she did get offered the position of God mother, meaning if something were to happen to her friend and husband then she would take care of Henry and Piper.

I had flown in for Henry's graduation party and of course to watch him graduate. I had just flown in from California on a business trip. I am absolutely exhausted and need a ride to the Hart's house where I will be staying for a week to catch up with them.

Of course the Hart's were busy so I took an Uber to their house. I arrive in about 10 minutes and am so excited to see my kids.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I open the door expecting Piper and Henry to be on the other side but I am met with an empty house. I look around before deciding to just call Henry and see where he is.

"Hey Hen, where are you guys? I made it to your house but none of you are here." I say into my phone, rather annoyed. "Oh shoot, I forgot you were coming today, I'm at work right now and Piper is spending the day with one of her friends at the mall. I bet you're tired from your plane ride so just take a nap and I'll be home in 3 hours or so, ok?" Henry says at a pretty fast pace sounding almost out of breath. "Well ok I'll see you then kiddo." I say hanging up the phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After his graduation me, him, and piper had tons of bonding time. I took them to the movies, zoo, aquarium, I even took them out to eat multiple times. I told them about my adventures I've had since last year and asked about their life. Separately I asked Henry about his superhero life, he couldn't hide that from me after my second visit after he became a hero.

This time though it wouldn't just be a visit, Henry decided to give up being a superhero for a while and live with me and travel when needed. He had gotten a job at the same company I work at so this worked out great.

The parties in 1 hour and I'm helping with the decorations and getting Henry ready for his big night.

Just then this absolutely dazzling man walks into the venue. " Uh, excuse me sir, I just have to check if you're invited. The party doesn't even start for about an hour." I say looking at the clock. "Ray Manchester, at your service darling. I'm here to help set up for the party I'm Henry's boss." He says with the brightest and flashiest smile.

I feel my insides melt, that wonderful smile. I gotta ask him what toothpaste he uses geesh. "I'm Y/n Henry's god mom." I say shaking his hand and pointing him over to the streamers that need to be put up.

Later in the night people start arriving but we're just missing one person. Where the fuck is Henry?!?

Just as my phone goes to his voicemail he walks into the venue. I storm over to him getting ready to blow up but Ray is over there before I even took two steps.

"Where were you Henry" Ray said with a stern expression as I stood next to him cornering Henry. "Jasper had this bucket he wanted to get at the medieval fair and he didn't wanna go alone." Henry says seemingly out of breath. "That is no excuse you could have been in danger and we wouldn't have known!" I yell at him.

After scolding Henry he asked me and Ray to be in charge of the Chinese auction. Throughout the party Henry had been doing little things to get Ray and Y/n to talk. First asking if I want punch and telling Ray to get me and him a cup. Then saying that were so alike and asking Ray to show off his muscles to me, which he did happily. Then at the end of the party he asked us both to help clean up.

"This was a great party, thanks guys." Henry says pulling us on for a group hug. He then asks to talk to Ray alone pulling him into a corner.

"Dude, ask her out." he says as he pushes Ray's arm teasingly. "But she lives outta town and I can't leave." "Then have a long distance relationship but you won't know if you don't try." Henry pleads.

"Hey Y/n, do you think I could take you out on a date?" Ray says suddenly losing all confidence. I look at him to see if he is sincere as he stares at the floor. "Yes Ray I will go out with you."

And yes I did ask for his toothpaste he uses Crest.

[fallen-abel]

uhhhh someone should go check on Abel. I don’t think he’s doing well.

After not hearing from Abel in a day and hearing a bunch of sad songs from his room, Lucifer goes to check on his eldest son.

Lucifer: *knocks, holding a plate of pancakes* Abel? Are you okay in there? Are you awake?

Abel: *covers himself with the blanket more* Go away please. I’m fine.

Lucifer: *not liking that answer* I made you breakfast! Pancakes! I’m trying a new recipe for extra fluffiness!

Abel: *speaking up a little louder* GO AWAY! I’m not hungry.

Lucifer: *looks uncomfortable but knows he can’t force Abel to talk to him* Geesh. It’s like Charlie’s high school years all over again. Okay Abel! I’ll just leave these out here for you. Just eat them before they get cold. And I wanted to remind you that you have a doctor’s appointment today.

Abel: *sits up and shouts* CANCEL IT! I’M NOT GOING!

Lucifer: *pauses, stunned by Abel's outburst. He frowns, placing the plate of pancakes on the floor outside the door.* Alright, that's it. I'm coming in.

Abel: *groans, pulling the blanket over his head as the door creaks open.* I said go away.

Lucifer: *steps inside, crossing his arms.* And I said I'm coming in. What’s going on, Abel? This isn’t like you.

Abel: *his voice muffled under the blanket* Nothing's going on. I’m just tired.

Lucifer: *sits at the edge of the bed, keeping his tone gentle.* Tired? Or heartbroken?

Abel: *freezes, the lump under the blanket shrinking slightly as he curls in on himself.* ...How did you know?

Lucifer: *sighs, placing a hand over where he assumes Abel’s shoulder is.* I’ve been around long enough to recognize the sound of a broken heart. Plus, I heard you playing every sad ballad Earth ever created.

Abel: *peeks out from under the blanket, his eyes red and puffy.* I messed everything up. I told Peter how I felt, and for a second, I thought he felt the same. But then he... he said it didn’t happen. Like I’m not worth it.

Lucifer: *his jaw tightens, a flash of anger crossing his face.* Peter said what to you?

Abel: *looks down, fiddling with the edge of the blanket.* He said... ‘This never happened’. I thought... I thought we had something, but I was wrong.

Lucifer: *takes a deep breath, trying to reign in his temper.* "Abel, listen to me. That has nothing to do with your worth. Nothing. Peter’s actions reflect his cowardice, not anything lacking in you."

Abel: *tears begin welling up again.* But it still hurts, Dad. I can’t even look at myself without feeling like an idiot.

Lucifer: *cups Abel’s face gently, forcing him to look up.* You’re not an idiot. You’re brave. You opened your heart to someone, and that takes courage. Peter’s the one who’s a fool for not appreciating you. And I promise, this pain? It won’t last forever.

Abel: *sniffs, leaning into his father’s hand.* It feels like it will.

Lucifer: *smiles softly.* It feels that way now, but trust me. I’ve had my heart broken too, more than once, and yet here I am. You’ll heal, Abel. And when you do, you’ll see that you deserve so much better than someone who can’t even admit how he feels.

Abel: *nods slowly, though his tears don’t stop.* Thanks, Dad.

Lucifer: *pulls him into a hug, stroking his hair.* That’s what I’m here for. Now, you don’t have to go to the doctor’s appointment if you’re not ready, but you do have to eat something. I made those pancakes with love, you know.

Abel: *smiles faintly through the tears.* Fine. I’ll eat.

Lucifer: *grins, standing up.* Good. Because I’d hate for them to go to waste. And Abel? You’ll get through this. I promise.

Abel: *watches his father leave, feeling a small, comforting warmth despite the ache in his chest.* I hope so.

[hey-august]

Dadbod Buggy is so good and my personal hc (because how on earth would he pull off a sixpack? I’m not even calling him weak or unfit I just really feel a pirate that’s a tad more on the lazy side and has an affinity for food and drinks would at least not have a SIXPACK I don’t CARE what canon says) so please imagine with me:

Dadbod Buggy wearing something like a a girdle or other shapewear to keep his outline a tad smoother. He feels he looks more respectable with it and it also helps him get back into place correctly after using his powers and HES NOT SELF CONCIOUS ABOUT YET ANOTHER THING ABOUT HIMSELF SHUT UP!!

Imagine him getting someone into bed and being nervous because for all his showboating and boisterous behavior he didn’t think about what to do when the clothes would finally have to come OFF. Tries to dim the lights and hope he can maybe suck it in for long enough but of course his bedfellow notices and… are just completly smitten? Swooning even? It’s not a turn off at all? What- OH OKAY SLOW DOWN SLOW DOWN THERES ENOUGH OF HIM TO LAST THE WHOLE NIGHT GEESH!! Bedmate is in heaven. Actual pirate heaven, where god has blessed them with a man with long hair and thick lashes and even thicker tights, paired with a belly that has just the right amount of jiggle when you ride him like a rodeobull.

Also now got blessed with the mental image of Buggy’s stomach resting slightly on someone’s ass while he fumbles with his belt so he can take of his pants and rail them from behind. hmmmmm fat men ❤️

ANON. ANON HOW COULD YOU. Let me tell you how I needed DAYS to recover from reading this. The way I had to put my phone down while reading this the first time. KICKING MY LEGS AND GIGGLING each time I re-read it!! so blessed 😩🫠❤️❤️❤️

BIG YES to dadbod buggy. To chubby squishy clown man. To rolls I want to smother in butter.

He absolutely would try to hide his insecurities wear functionable accessories. The leather belt corset-looking thing he wears in OPLA seems like the exact thing he’d wear to keep shape. This also works with his whole flashy outfit. Anything to distract from…whatever. Let’s not talk about it. It’s not a big deal.

Until it is a big deal and he has to be vulnerable. Ew. Awful. But you’re right, this is not a turn off. Buggy’s not sure how things turned out the way they did, but the absolute mind-blowing enthusiasm from his partner seems way too sincere and real. They can’t keep their hands (and mouth) off of him. 

He didn't expect all the attention - hands running everywhere on his body, squeezing his thighs, groping his ass and trying to get the biggest handfuls of that sweet sweet plumpness, kisses squished into every soft mound - but his partner is loving it. They’re absolutely feral.

They’re begging to suck him off and be smothered between his legs. For real. Seriously. Buggy better wrap his legs around their head. Push them so far down that their face is pressed against his stomach. They want to feel him everywhere. How dare Buggy try and deny them this pleasure????

Buggy still feels unsure the next day. The horniness is gone and so is the attraction, right? NOPE. TIME FOR SQUISHY CUDDLES. BIG BEAR HUGS. The attraction is NOT GONE. They want to rest their head on his stomach. Not his chest, not his shoulder, but his goddamn stomach. It’s the best pillow and they drift off into twilight so fast.

The hugs. Buggy didn’t get it at first...he still doesn’t, actually, but he’ll put up with it. It makes his heart pitter patter when they come up and wrap their arms around him from behind, squeezing into his rotund tum until he grunts and groans from how tight the hug his. Sometimes they sneak a handful and a jiggle of his tits pecs. His pecs.

Finally, slowly, he starts to accept this about himself a little more. It started with wearing pants and no shirt around his partner, despite his stomach hanging over the waistband. Any time Buggy was unsure about how he looked, his partner would be so supportive. They’d hear him out and give Buggy whatever he needed, which was usually a mountain of compliments that quickly turned into flirting and dirty raunchy sex.

Now listen. Imagine with me...convincing Buggs to have a little beach day. No swimming, obviously. But to hang out under the palm trees and soak in the sun. And this motherfucker shows up like a hotshot. Blue hair in a ponytail. Sunglasses. And he’s in shorts. They show so much of his goddamn thighs. You're looking so respectfully. How could you not?? He’s also wearing an unbuttoned shirt. And holy shit, the way it flutters in the breeze. You can see the chest hair on his beautiful pecs and dusting down his tummy. That gorgeous squishy body.

Fucking beach day.

[mullet-stan101]

Werewolf Stan x Reader

Chapter 4, tw: some mentions of body transformation

Ford huffs and shakes his head, despite his annoyance he doesn’t want to leave her alone with Stan. He settles into the armchair next to the couch and scribbles in his journal as y/n aimlessly pets the big wolf. Eventually all three of them drift off, the only sound being the steady breathing of the big beast. The next morning Stan wakes up in a groggy haze, completely unaware of his surroundings…and the fact that he still has his head in y/n’s lap. He blinks and sits up quickly, blushing deep red despite her still being asleep. He groans as the motion causes his head to spin and he goes to get up but his eyes widen seeing that he’s naked under the blankets.

“Aw geesh-”

Y/n blinks slowly as he speaks and rubs her eyes as she’d fallen asleep sitting upright. She looks over, and seeing Stan that way embarrasses her just as much, flushing red.

“Oh- uh…”

Stan wraps the blanket around his waist with shaky hands as he stands, holding the blanket tight. 

“I-uh…I’m gonna change…”

A few minutes later he comes back in a t-shirt and jeans, obviously a little shaken up as he glances over to Ford.

“He drug me or something? I don’t remember anything…I didn’t hurt you did I?”

Y/n shakes her head as she stretches, her back popping as she’d been sleeping in a weird position. Despite knowing that Stan is nervous she can’t help but smile a little.

“No and no…I don’t think you’d hurt a fly.”

Stan frowns in confusion and chuckles dryly.

“Uh…you’re joking right?”

“Nope. You were a big baby.”

Stan flushes at this and despite being grateful he didn’t hurt you…his ego is bruised a little as he sits back down.

“I don’t believe you.”

Y/n laughs softly.

“You scared me at first, but once you realized Ford and I wouldn’t hurt you, you were a big sweetheart. You laid right here in my lap all night while I pet you.”

Stan rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment but his eyes soften as he hears how you comforted him.

“You did, huh? Takin’ care of the overgrown dog. You shoulda been a little more cautious.”

“Oh I was terrified at first, but it was like…you recognized Ford and I…you got my scent and it was like the flip of a switch.”

Stan smiles softly at this, breathing a sigh of relief as well.

“Well uh- thanks for not shootin’ me with a silver bullet. Lord knows Ford would…”

He trails off at this as he looks over at his twin sleeping in the corner, and y/n can see the pain in his eyes despite his nonchalant tone.

“What…what happened between you two…?” 

Stan sighs softly as he didn’t realize you could see the way he was feeling.

“It’s a long story…”

“I’ve got time…” 

An hour later the two of them sit over coffee as Stan tells his story, Ford continuing to sleep as he definitely needs it. Y/n sighs deeply as she didn’t realize the full extent of Stan’s hurt. 

“I’m really sorry you’ve had to go through all that…”

He scoffs and waves a hand dismissively as he sips his coffee.

“Ah don’t mention it, the past ten years have really been my fault. I’ve been too focused on proving myself to my pa…that I haven’t just focused on supporting myself. I’ve given up on bein’ a millionaire now…I just don’t wanna die alone in ditch.”

She nods softly and looks down at the cup in her hands. 

“Y’know…I was the same way. When Ford and I were in college we both dreamed of making a name for ourselves, famous scientists and the discovery of a lifetime. But now that I see how much Ford’s work consumes him…I just wanna be happy.” 

Stan’s eyes soften in concern. 

“Why don’t you tell him…? Why don’t you leave?” 

“Because I hoped for something…I hoped that we could just be normal…”

She trails off as she glances over at Ford sleeping, not really wanting to expose her original feelings for him. Stan of course can already tell, and he feels bad for her  and his brother…he didn’t used to be this way. He taps his fingers anxiously as he doesn’t want to steal her from Ford, but from what she’s said whatever affection she had for him is fading. Stan loves his brother, but he can’t help but be drawn to the bright girl that he’s ignoring. 

“So uh…I’ve told you my whole life story…tell me about yours.” 

She raises an eyebrow but smiles a little, despite all of the stuff he’s dealing with right now he still cares. So she tells him all about herself, the two of them talking and joking for a while until Ford wakes and shuffles back down into his lab. Stan chuckles softly as she goes into full detail about how he acted last night.

“Well I’m both embarrassed and relieved…you don’t mind dealin’ with me like that huh?”

She smiles softly as she meets his gaze.

“I don’t mind dealing with you at all…” 

Stan blushes as she meets his gaze and he feels hope blossoming in his heart. 

"You're real sweet, y'know that? You don't mind having a homeless werewolf living with you?"

She laughs softly. 

"Not when he actually talks to me...I like him a lot."

Stan smiles at this as he sips his coffee, oh he likes her an awful lot. He talks to her for a while and despite enjoying what she says he begins to zone out a bit as the words "I like him a lot" repeat over and over in his brain. A pretty girl actually likes him, better yet just someone actually likes him...And somehow these horrible circumstances have becomes better, despite his insecurities about his new condition he's slowly getting cocky. He forgets his situation and just grins at her, he's falling for this girl.

Stan finishes his conversation with y/n reluctantly as she has research to do. As Ford finally wakes up he watches as he goes into his study, following him quietly. Ford glances back with a frown as he goes to his bookcase, but stops as he doesn’t want to reveal what’s behind it.

“What do you want?

Stan frowns back, rolling his eyes. 

“Geesh you act like you’re hidin’ a dead body or something. I know you’ve got some secret lab down there, I was just wondering what you were doing.”

Ford sighs and he steps back from the bookcase.

“Stanley…this is serious research, I just don’t think you could handle it.”

Stan barks out a laugh.

“You forget that I spent last night as an overgrown dog. I’m pretty much part of your “serious supernatural research” now. Are you really just going to hide from both of us?”

Ford huffs and closes his journal roughly.

“Both of us? That early, huh? You’ve been conscious for two days, Stanley.” 

Stan raises an eyebrow, looking confused as to why that phrase made Ford upset. 

“Uh…I’m lost…what’s the problem?”

Ford chuckles dryly as he sits down.

“Don’t pull the naive card, Stanley…you think you know y/n better than me but you don’t…”

Stan rolls his eyes at this, knowing he struck a nerve, and he can already feel the jealousy in the air. 

“Oh that’s the problem. Well I’m sorry that I acknowledge there’s a second person in the house, it’s kinda hard to deal with turning into a little movie monster on your own…”

Ford sighs and he adjusts his glasses, sitting upright.

“I’m sorry…it’s just- I don’t know what I’ve done wrong to have her hate me so much…”

“She don’t hate you…”

Ford shrugs a little. 

“Maybe not…as long as she doesn’t hate me enough to leave, that’s alright.”

Stan frowns slightly at this, not liking how Ford only sees y/n as a colleague rather than a friend. But he doesn’t say anything because he can’t help but feel a little excited at this…this kind of leaves the door open for him.

“So- uh…how’d you two meet anyways?”

Ford glances up as he didn’t expect Stan to be this curious.

“We- uh…we met in college. I helped her with chemistry and she helped me with my biology courses. I suppose we were good friends at one point…”

He trails off a little as he says this and sighs.

“She’s a nice girl…you like her don’t you?”

Stan blinks in surprise, attempting to hide his blush. 

“Yeah- um…she’s pretty nice. Even if she took care of me like a pet…”

Ford chuckles softly, his mood lightening a little.

“Yes, she’s always been fond of animals, and speaking of which- do you think I could run some tests? I’d like to get some samples tonight.”

Stan shrugs as he plops down next to him.

“Yeah I guess so, as long as you don’t prick me and all that junk.”

An hour later Ford has taken some hair and DNA samples, restraining from getting Stanley’s blood at this point, even though it’s vital. He decides to try and get some tonight as well as some of the wolf’s fur. Stan isn’t fond of changing again and he can’t help but think of y/n, wondering if she’ll care for him like the night before. He doesn’t want to force her too, but it feels pretty nice to be taken care of for once, even if he can’t remember a thing.

“Hey, Stanford…? You think you got anything- for the pain?”

Ford frowns softly as he thinks, flipping through his journal.

“I don’t know…I have tranquilizers but I don’t really know if they’d work. But I don’t exactly want to use silver either. If I get some more DNA samples I might be able to see what reacts to it.”

Stan sighs in defeat. 

“So I gotta go through it cold turkey until then, huh?”

“Unfortunately yes.” 

That evening Stan sits anxiously tapping his fingers on the couch armrest. He glances over to y/n as she reads next to him, but she notices how anxious he is without looking up.

“You alright?”

Stan stiffens as he didn’t know she noticed.

“No…the suspense sucks.”

She nods and closes the book she was reading and looks at him. 

“I know…does it hurt?”

He hesitates as he tries to remember, but then the memory of body contorting and changing comes back.

“Yeah, but it’s like a crazy dream at the same time. One second I feel all of it, I can look down and see all the freaky crap that’s happening to my body, and the next- it’s like I’ve been asleep the whole time.”

“So you don’t remember anything after you’ve changed?”

“Nope, it’s like I’m knocked out.”

She frowns a little in thought, obviously wondering what part of him is conscious when he’s changed. It’s obviously a more childlike part of himself. They’re both quiet for a few moments and she glances out the window before looking back at him.

“You can stay out here with me if you’d like…”

He looks up, his eyes a little hopeful. She can’t take away the pain but he’d sure as hell feel a lot better, she cares about him more than anyone ever has.

“That’d be nice, even if it’s kinda freaky.”

She chuckles softly.

“I’ve seen walking trees, wendigos, zombies and a ton of other freaky stuff, I’ll be ok.” 

He smiles softly.

“Ok, well…thanks-” 

He abruptly stops as his hands start to shake, and he shoves them under his thighs.

“Well I guess speak of the devil…” 

Y/n frowns in concern as he starts to shake.

“Hey…hey…just relax, ok?” 

He nods quickly and grits his teeth, his eyes as fearful as they are soft.

“C-can I sit closer…?”

Her eyes soften and she nods, within a moment he scoots close. She rubs his arm a little as he takes deep breaths, and she doesn’t shy away as he groans, his body making a strange sound as he begins to grow. But her eyes widen as she looks down at his hand gripping her, already large enough as it is, it grows enormous and claws form. Fur starts to grow all over his arms and his clothes stretch and tear. He groans and shakes, his body burning as he tries to stop it even though it’s no use.

“M’sorry…it hurts…”

She doesn’t hesitate to pull him close, his head buried against her neck as he growls in pain. She rubs his back even as it grows big and covered in fur, speaking to him quietly even as a muzzle starts to press against her shoulder. 

“It’s ok, Stanley…I’m right here.”

Minutes later his body stops shaking, the enormous wolf still holding her tight, her smaller body pressed against his bulk and nuzzles her cheek with a quiet rumble, as if to say ‘thank you.’ Y/n chuckles softly as his cold nose touches her cheek and she reaches up to rub his ears. 

“You’re welcome.” 

He pulls away from her, smiling in its own way as its big brown eyes have a child-like innocence in them. He looks around the living room, empty except for y/n, and she chuckles again as she knows he’s looking for Ford. 

“He should be done with his work soon…”

A few minutes later Ford trudges up the stairs from his lab and enters the living room. Immediately Stan's ears stand up and his tail wags quickly, excited to see his brother. Ford raises an eyebrow as he stops, still surprised to see him there again. His eyes widen as without hesitation, the wolf stands on two feet and pads over to him. 

“W-when did he learn how to do that???”

Y/n laughs as Stan towers over Ford and squeezes him up in a hug. Ford stiffens as he’s pulled up off his feet, his glasses askew as he’s picked up like a ragdoll.

“What the-? Y/n help me out here!”

She takes a minute to contain herself and grins. 

“Bring him over here big boy.”

Stan grins and carries him over, plopping down next to y/n with his brother in his lap, excited like he’s his new toy. He sniffs at Ford’s glasses and coat to which his twin huffs and pushes his snout away.

“Aw, Ford be nice…he’s just curious.”

“Curious, my behind! I don’t like being squeezed like a toy!” 

Y/n smiles softly as Stan holds his brother tightly, as if afraid to let him go. Despite the innocent look in his brown eyes, it’s obvious that he wants to protect his brother. Ford sighs as he eventually loosens his hold, and he gets up to sit on the chair, Stan of course watching to make sure he stays close. With Ford out of his grasp he smiles at y/n and reaches a paw over to tug her close. She chuckles and sits close to him, his head immediately going back into her lap as it’s obvious that’s his spot now. Once Ford is settled he pulls out his journal and starts writing fervently.

“It seems he’s biped and quadruped…though I can’t tell if he has a preference yet.”

Y/n lifts up one of Stan’s paws and looks at it closely, rubbing the soft pads. Despite the claws and usual black pads of a wolf or dog they’re on his palm as well as one on the bottom of each of his fingers.

“Huh… he has five fingers too…I didn’t notice that last night.”

Ford nods and writes this down as well, Stan just smiling blissfully as he’s happy to be touched and cared for, even if he has no clue what they’re talking about. 

[nattinatalia]

Urban Wyatt x Sister Harlow : We Did Something

A/N : A concept request from my buttercup @harlowcomehome turned out to this so thank her for it lol 😝

“Urban, do you take Y/N to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to love and cherish her, in good times and in bad, in sickness and health, for richer for poor, for better for worse, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only to her, for so long as you both shall live?”

Urban smiles and winks at you, “I do.”

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You can kiss the bride now.”

“Say less” he smiles cheekily, reaching for your waist. “Come here baby.” He pulls you in and kisses you deeply.

***************

“So I know we brought you all out here, out of nowhere and we gave you no explanations as to why.” You start your speech.

You were standing in the middle of the hall you and Urban rented out for the night, looking at all the familiar faces.

Urban grabs a hold of your hand, giving you a squeeze. Catching on to your nerves, he takes over. “What we have to share is something we’ve been keeping to ourselves for a while now.”

“Oh great.” Jack mumbles from his seat at the table.

“Jackman.” Maggie warns, staring at him sternly.

You smile at your mom as she throws a wink your way.

“Some have their assumptions.” Urban continues, “I hope you all don’t hate us for the way we did things. But we wanted it to do it for us, for ourselves and have our moment.”

“Just say it already, because I hope you’re not pregnant.” Jack mumbles, sounding annoyed but deep down he’s hoping all the comments he’s been reading online are true.

“Dude, would you shut up?” Urban snaps.

Sunni, Clay and Copelan start laughing but shut up once Maggie throws them a glare.

You start getting annoyed at your brother now. “We got married.” You yell into the microphone. “We’re married. There we said it.”

Everyone gasps and claps, getting out of their seats they all start surrounding you both and congratulating you.

Jack is the last to come up to you both, giving a glare.

You sigh, “I know, we hid the fact that we were dating and you got mad. I did promise no more secrets but this was really a special moment. I know deep down you don’t believe that Urban and I will make it work. But I can’t li-“

Jack smiles and hugs you, giving the top of your head a kiss. “I’m happy for you both.”

You turn your head towards Urban in confusion.

“Well don’t look so shocked.” Jack laughs, giving Urban a bro hug. “I had to learn the hard way that you two will stay together no matter what.”

“Geesh, thanks.” Urban mumbles out.

Jack rolls his eyes, “What I mean is that, I’m starting to accept the fact that you two are meant to be and nothing is more important than seeing you both happy, and if being with one another makes you happy, then who am I to hate that?”

You smile at your big brother, “Aww thank you-“

“Don’t get too excited, I don’t want to witness y’all kissing each other or anything nasty.”

You and Urban share a look and laugh.

“Come.” Urban pulls you away from the crowd.

“Babe, we cannot have a quickie while everyone is out there.”

“I do love some public sex, but it’s not for that.” He pulls you into another room. “We talked about this when we were kids.”

You look at him, then to the set up and start getting emotional. “Matching tattoos?”

He nods, “Cope found a good artist, and it’s the sketch we did when we were kids, obviously it’ll be better done but the concept is the same we came up with.”

You pull him down towards you by tugging on his bow tie. “I love you husband.” You peck his lips.

“I love you, wife.” He smiles at you, “So what do you say? Want to get something else that’ll bond us for life?”

“With you?” You take in a deep breath, “I’ll do anything if it means I get to do it by your side.”

“To the world and back?” He asks, saying the words you two one shared and made up when you were kids running around, hiding from your brothers.

“And beyond that.” You finish the phrase.

You can’t help but fall in love even more.

Once upon a time, you didn’t believe in love.

You didn’t want marriage.

You didn’t want kids.

You didn’t want the white picket fence.

You didn’t want any of that if it wasn’t with the one person your heart would beat for.

You didn’t want any of that if you couldn’t have it with Urban.

••••••••••

TAG LIST

@heavyhitterheaux @harlowsbby @arination99 @cmalass @jackharloww @minkookie95 @deannaard @jacksmoviestar @harlowcomehome @fdl305 @httpkoylinnn @xoxokiaraaxoxo @hoodharlow @automaticpeachsong @amethyst09 @aliciacat20 @allyson15 @gabbylovesreading @stefansalvatoresgf @violetdreamsworld @carma-fanficaddict @jasminxts @itsaaliyah2 @itsyagirljaz @harrycanyonmoonn @neon-lights-and-glitter @awhore4moree @toocriticalharlow @thefemalestorywriter @lightsoutstyles @violetslays818 @fantasywritersstuff @vanwritesfan-fiction

[mistresslrigtar]

Okay, unsolicited ask because you said it's okay: where did the idea for Captain Link Araki come from? What inspired your characterization for Link? Zelda?

Thank you so much for the ask about Captain Link Araki, my beloved pirate captain. He’s a wonderful mess of a man 🤣🤣

Wind Waker was the third LoZ game I played and it’s so different from all the rest. First, pirates! Second, WW Link (aside from SS) is one of the most expressive. He’s so goofy and earnest sailing around the Great Sea in his rinky-dink ship, King of the Red Lions.

But a pirate captain needs a first mate.

I really love Link’s and Groose’s relationship in Skyward Sword. I wanted to expand on that with the idea - what if they were pirates and best friends? Level-headed Groose became reckless Link’s voice of reason.

Link is a mash-up of three characters - Han Solo/Luke Skywalker (Star Wars) and Faceman (A-Team)

Zelda is the perfect foil to him (a la Princess Leia) a tough, strong-willed woman who is more than capable of taking care of herself and isn’t going to be easily won over by a pretty face and smooth words.

(Who am I kidding? Star Wars had a major influence on this story. There are a ton of references scattered throughout.)

Captain Araki began as a short scene I imagined of Link and Groose scoping out a tower to rescue Zelda per her long-lost father’s request.

Below the cut is the first draft of the scene that was the catalyst for Captain Link Araki and the Harbinger of Destiny

Link casually leans against a nearby wall, shielded from view by a cherry tree’s drooping branches, heavy with pink blossoms. In the distance, he spots an ivy-covered tower with a red and gold flag.

Groose finds Link and hands him a skewer with juicy, tender grilled meat. “This the place?”

“Maybe.” They eat silently, and Link continues observing the tower's ground level. Movement on the balcony catches his eye, and he nearly chokes on a large hunk of meat when the appearance of a beautiful, golden-haired woman sets his heart racing.

“You okay, boss?” Groose slaps Link on the back a few times.

“Yeah, yeah, cut it out!” Link swats Groose’s hand away. “Geesh!”

Returning his gaze to the woman, who may or may not be the princess, Link can’t take his eyes off her. Despite the downcast look of her eyes, she’s breathtakingly gorgeous.

“That has got to be the princess, and the old-timer failed to mention his daughter is beautiful.”

“Well, she was just a baby the last time he saw her.” Groose points out, not sounding as enthusiastic as Link feels. Are they looking at the same woman?

“Semantics.” Link waves his stick toward the balcony. “Beautiful baby equals a beautiful woman. Things just became a lot more interesting. Rescue her and find a priceless treasure? It’s a win-win, Groose.”

The first twelve chapters of Captain Araki and the Harbinger of Destiny are available to read on AO3.

[vellichorbindery]

Finished this little one-shot bc I listened to the song Dress by Charlotte Sands which inspired me to write Sirius in a red dress. Also saw @industrations Remus in a silk dress sketch and then read @kaaaaaaarf soft like silk chiffon which was chef’s kiss and I wanted to explore a bit of wolfstar sm*t.

First time writing from Remus’ pov pls be kind this is also not beta’d yet but it was fun!

Dress read full thing on ao3!

Wolfstar. 2k. One shot. Sirius in a red dress and boots AND pigtails geesh (thanks @waxingrunes for basically giving me all the ideas with your art 🫶🏼) nsfw. EXPLICIT. Don’t read if you’re not comfy.

***

Remus thinks he might just explode in his pants if he takes another glance at Sirius dancing in that dress. A slinky little number that hits him at midthigh, deep red, with dainty straps made of lace and a sweetheart neckline. His long pale legs are adorned in knee-high, red-heeled boots. The man looks completely edible. Fuckable. Sirius moves to the beat of the music as if his body was created with this specific tune in mind. He’s all grace and elegance, his hips swaying as the dress rides up, up up. He throws his head back, pigtails held back with red ribbon, swaying as he moves, his mouth open in a wide, devilish smirk. He’s got so many eyes on him from all sides of the crowded room, but he’s only looking in one direction.

Remus sits at the bar, elbow bent, his hand supporting his head while he takes a break from dancing, with Regulus sitting next to him. He’s gritting his teeth, jaw clenched, as Sirius raises a perfect eyebrow at him and licks the pouty upper lip with a tongue that Remus is very familiar with. He watches as his boyfriend runs his hands down his body, slowly, all the while holding his gaze. Remus is gripping onto his drink so tight; that he thinks it might shatter in his hands. He’s completely hypnotized as Sirius takes a black polished finger and pulls at his bottom lip. He can barely make out the tattoo there from his spot, but he knows what the ink on his inner lip reads. He’s sucked on that specific spot too many times to count. Tattooed in a traditional style font. The word Daddy. He swallows heavily as his cock twitches in his trousers, and he shifts in his seat.

[mj-iza-writer]

Pet whump... can't stop myself 👀

Whumpee lowered themselves closer to the floor to be able to drink from their water dish. Whumper walked by as they lapped up the drink.

"Such a good pet", Whumper smiled and patted their head.

Whumpee smiled weakly. They had finally given in to this role that Whumper wanted. It had taken a long time, but Whumper patiently worked through everything Whumpee had done to get out of it, some of it more painful than others.

They stretched out their knees, crawling around was becoming more painful. As they wandered around the home, having some freedom now they realized Whumper had left the front door open. They glanced outside, not having seen outside in forever. Glancing back, they realized Whumper wasn't in sight.

"I wonder", they whispered to themselves. In a second of bravery, they crashed out of the door and started to run, they didn't know where too, there was nothing out here.

Suddenly, they heard a beeping noise, and a shock wave went through their body, sending them to the ground. It stopped. They looked back at the house, Whumper was in the door way smiling.

"How about you come back here", Whumper yelled to them, "I'm not coming to get you."

Whumpee stayed on the ground. They were shaking, not sure if it was anger or the shock waves, but they didn't want to move.

"I'll shock you again if you don't get over here", Whumper yelled from the porch. They pressed the button for a warning beep.

"Fuck, I'm coming, geesh", Whumpee shot their head up and yelled.

"Hurry up", Whumper beeped the collar again.

When Whumpee made it to the porch, Whumper shook their head, "I didn't know dogs could walk on two feet, I suggest you get on all fours."

Whumpee mumbled under their breath but got down.

"You failed your test", Whumper frowned, "did you really think it was going to be that easy to escape? Plus, where were you going? We are quite literally in the middle of nowhere."

"I had to try", Whumpee whispered, fighting back tears.

"Well, you bought yourself a punishment. Go to your cage, I'll be there shortly", Whumper held the door open and watched them disappear down the hall.

The rest of the day, into the next morning, Whumpee stayed locked in that cage. They had received a whipping, and was put in there right after.

Whumper came in, and unlatched the cage. "Come out, we'll try this again. Your breakfast is already served, get cleaned up, then eat."

"Yes sir, thankyou sir."

"Yep"

After breakfast, Whumpee saw the door was opened again, Whumper was outside drinking their coffee.

They sat at the door, honestly just wishing to be outside. They hadn't been out in months. They couldn't believe they used to hate being outside, it's all they wanted right now.

They pressed their luck and tapped on the glass to get Whumper's attention.

Whumper came to the door and opened it, "are you okay?"

"May I, may I come outside, just to sit either on the porch or in the grass, I don't care which, please can I just come outside", a tear streamed down their face, "I won't run."

"Yes, you can come out", Whumper stood aside, and let them come out. "You can stay on the porch, but if you want to be in the grass you can, you're not allowed to go past my truck though."

"Yes sir, thankyou sir", Whumpee looked around and started to crawl towards the grass.

"You're welcome", Whumper went back to their coffee. They grinned when they saw Whumpee flop into the grass.

Whumpee rolled over to look up at the sky, "oh yeah, the sky is blue", they whispered. They rolled back over, and noticed some flowers, "I haven't smelt flowers in a long time either."

They crawled to the flowers. Catching Whumper's eyes, and looked away quickly. This still felt embarrassing to them and they didn't want to be watched so closely.

Whumper grinned. They knew they still had a lot of work, but they were making some headway.

[thewalkingwillowtree]

His Fierce Flower

Series Part Listing Found Here

BF2L, Slow Burn - Neteyam x Original Na'vi Female Character

Summery: Neteyam and Enyu, childhood best friends are both obliviously in love with each other. This is their story.

Important to note before reading:

Some characters have been aged up. Neteyam is 22.

En'yuna or Enyu for short (pronounced as N Yunna or N U), is my own creation.

Full recognition, rights and credit is given to the owners of Avatar.

Warning: This Part Contains Angst

~

PART 5 - Green Eyed Na’vi

Enyu was late. She was never late. This was new and Neteyam didn’t like it one bit. 

Is this how she always felt whenever he went on a mission? Eywa, it sucked.

“Maybe she forgot?” Neteyam, for the third time, asked his grandmother and sister who were seated at table, fiddling with medicinal ingredients. 

“Who forgot what?” asked Lo’ak, walking into the Tsahìk’s tent with a bowl in his hand, Spider on his tail. “Grandmother, mom sent these for you,” he said, giving the bowl to Mo’at, who murmured her thanks. 

“Enyu,” Kiri answered him. “She said she’d be sitting in on my training this afternoon but she never showed up, and of course, our dear older brother here is having an aneurysm,” she finished sarcastically. 

“I’m not…. but we did agree that I’d meet her here an hour ago and she's still not here so…” Tail swishing impatiently and knee bobbing up and down, Neyetam stared at the tent’s entrance so intensely, it was as if he was mentally trying to summon the girl to instantly appear.

Mo’at raised an amused brow at her grandson before returning to her task. 

Lo’ak and Spider glanced at each other uncomfortably and exchanged a somewhat, non verbal disagreement which went immediately noticed by Neteyam. “What is it?” 

“Well-” 

“Umm-” 

“You see-”

“The thing is-” They both stammered pathetically.

Kiri scoffed exasperatedly. “Sentences, boys. Sentences!” 

“We just saw Enyu… in the Ëldën Forest,” Lo’ak finally got out. 

“The Ëldën Forest? What? No way, it's past harvest time. All the groups would have been back by now.”

Lo'ak and Spider shared that same uncomfortable expression again before the latter finally fessed up. “Well- that’s just it… She wasn’t- she wasn’t with… her group...” Spider said, spluttering over his words, his tail jerking nervously. 

“You mean she’s out there… ALONE? And you two shitheads left her there?” Neteyam had already gotten to his feet and was halfway across the tent, heading for the exit.

The two men stepped back at the sight of his fury and Lo’ak raised his hands in surrender, trying to calm his brother. “Woah! Bro! Calm down, alright? Look, she wasn’t...alone alone…”

“For Eywa sake would you two skxawngs stop yammering for a second and just tell it to us straight. Is she okay?” Kiri asked, getting to her own feet in worry. 

“She’s fine! Geesh! We… we just saw her in the forest with Yaćksön, is all,” Lo’ak finally admitted, tensing for his brother’s reaction. Usually he and Spider could give two shits about Neteyam’s big brother, golden boy, next in line tendencies, but when it came to Enyu, they all knew it was better to be far from the beast he could become.  

The tent grew uncomfortably quiet for a long suffering minute. The sounds of ikrans screeching in their enclosures rang through the air as well as the clinking and tinkering of Mo’at still fiddling with her ingredients.

Everyone stared at Neteyam who frowned as if he hadn’t heard right. “Yaćksön…” he repeated blankly. “From my patrol team?” Spider and Lo’ak nodded. “Why?” he asked them but they both muttered I don’t knows. “Well, what were they doing?” he asked, eerily calm, his ears being the only tell that he was upset, even his tail had gone rigid. 

The boys shifted under his interrogation, subtly trying to step back. “Talking, I guess? We didn’t exactly stick around,” Spider said, glancing at Kiri as if asking her to come help. 

Neteyam’s clenched jaw tightened. He was about to say something when-

“-m so sorry I’m late. You’ll never believe what I- oh!” Enyu had stumbled in mid sentence and immediately tossed her satchel by the side of the entrance. “Hi everyone!” she chirped brightly, looking a little bit flushed and completely oblivious to the tension in the tent

Lo’ak, Spider and Kiri and all gaped at her, then simultaneously glanced at Neteyam with various expressions of guilt, nervousness and worry. The Tsahìk however- well the usual stony faced grandmother looked down right delighted at the sight of the Na’vi. 

Enyu looked behind her wondering what they were all staring at. 

Not wanting to stick around, Neteyam grabbed her wrist and hauled her out of the tent before anyone could say anything. Enyu, being much shorter than him, had a hard time keeping up with his pace and stumbled over her footing.

“Neteyam, wait! You’re going too fast. What’s wrong?”

Apparently she was moving too slow for his liking because the next thing she knew she was hauled up in his arms, stomach pressing into his shoulder, knocking air out of her lungs.

“Neteyam!” she gasped but he ignored her, striding through the camp, brushing past people. Her face burned with embarrassment as she withered about trying to break his hold but all he did was wrap his tail around her wrists to keep her from clawing at his back and held her squirming thighs a bit firmer. 

A few clan members looked their way- some peeking out of their tents at the commotion, watching on with various expressions of concern or amusement or simply uninterested by their antics.

Tuk came running towards them from her little gaggle of friends, thinking they were playing a game. “Me next! Me next! Puh-leeese, ‘Teyam!” she exclaimed, while running alongside them.

“Not now Tuk!” Neteyam didn’t not even glance at his baby sister.

“T-uk! Tuk! H-elp m-me! Your br-other has ki-dnapped me! Get hel-mfff!” She was jostled again and shrieked when she felt her body drop and pulled to Neteyam's front this time.

Their chests pressed together as his palm covered her mouth, while the other arm anchored around her waist. “Tuktirey, I said not now!” he growled, still stalking forward. 

“I’m telling, mom!” she yelled back at him, sticking her tongue out for good measure, but Neteyam was too far gone to notice. 

He walked them to a deserted and partly hidden alcove on the outer edge of the cave where there was a patch of lush grass surrounded by rocks and boulders of different sizes.

As soon as he gently set her down, she pounced. She shoved his chest and hissed curses at him, fangs extracting but he didn’t even budge. 

“Great Mother, give me strength not to kill him this day,” she prayed angrily. “What was that about Neteyam?” She pushed her dishevelled hair back violently, glaring venomously at him. 

“Where have you been?” he asked quietly. 

“What?” she implored through her teeth. 

“I was waiting for you at grandmother's tent, like we agreed. And you weren’t there. You never showed up for Kiri's lesson. So. Where. Were. You?”

She was raging from the scene he’d caused and did not like his tone, so she hissed at him spitefully. “You are not my keeper!” 

“And you are very wrong about that!” he hissed back, his own fangs extracting. “Don’t make me repeat myself again, En’yuna,” he said darkly, towering over her.

Something was deeply wrong, she realized. He was actually seriously angry with her. He never called her by her first name like that and she’d never seen him like this before. Not even when he’d taken on her and Lo’ak’s bullies when they were children. She knew he could be intense and serious at times- but right now he was downright feral. 

“I was in the Ëldën Forest,” she replied, folding her arms, trying to figure out what was happening here.  

“Doing what?” 

“Nothing, I was just with a new trainee actually. I told your grandmother to tell you I’d be late.”

‘Oh, so she decided to lie then,’ he thought bitterly. 

“Who were you with? Last I checked the harvesters returned three hours ago.”

She froze. “Is that what all this is about? Really Neteyam? I’m sorry I was late, okay! I really thought Tsahìk would have told you. She knew where I was!” 

“Who were you with, En’yuna? Or would you like me to go and ask Spider and Lo’ak for the truth?” he pressed again.

She swallowed and looked away guiltily. She murmured something under her breath, not meeting his eyes.

“What was that?”

“I said I was with Yaćksön!” she shouted- thoroughly fed up. 

Neteyam clenched his jaw and nodded. He needed to put some space between them. His temper seemed tenfold at the sound of the male’s name coming from her lips. He asked for it, didn't he? 

Back turned, he made his way over and sat down on a large boulder, legs splayed and fists gripped tight upon his thighs. His heart was pounding fast and his tail was swinging irritably. His chest felt tight. ‘What was wrong with him? It’s like he had no control of himself.’

Yaćksön. His mind spat the name like a poison. The man in question had completed his iknimaya the same time Neteyam did. At that time and because of the war, he and many others- Neteyam included had not chosen courting partners after the ceremony. 

They trained and fought together for many years- from since adolescence, he was even on Neteyam’s patrol team now, transferred over two years ago to be exact. The strange thing though, was that for the past while Yaćksön seemed to have been MIA- citing he was ill, with the purple fever… And now he showed up out of the blue again, in The Ëldën Forest with his best friend? It made no fucking sense. Right?

It was no secret that Yaćksön was a flirt and well liked by the unmated females. However, there was talk a few months ago that he was ready to choose a mate and settle down. Nothing was ever really a secret when you were on a patrol together and Neteyam's team seemed to gossip worse than a gaggle of teenage giggling Na’vi. 

Yaćksön was a strong and handsome Na’vi. A skilled flyer and fine fighter- he even beat Lo’ak once in hand to hand combat. He would make any female happy…. He could make Eynu happy… ‘NO!’ He did not want to think about that. Neteyam didn’t even know that she knew who Yaćksön was. 

He felt like he couldn’t breathe all of a sudden. He started thinking about the many patrols he had with the fool. Most nights were usually quiet and he’d usually talk with his men while on watch. Neteyam was so stupid to have told him about Enyu. He rubbed his chest as if trying to ease the ache there.

All the while, Enyu stared at her best friend, who looked like he was on the verge of having a panic attack. Unfortunately, she was familiar with this look. So biting back her annoyance with him, she stepped into his space. With him sitting on the rock they were eye to eye now, yet he refused to look at her.

“Neteyam,” she tried softly while shaking his shoulders a little. She cupped his neck and rubbed soothing circles with her thumbs along his jaw. With a sigh she brushed her palm up to his ears then back down his neck and across his shoulders over and over, until he seemed a bit more calm. She’d done this many times before. During his trainee days he would get extremely stressed while working too hard to impress his father and trainers- and this seemed to help some.

Eventually, he pulled her wrists down and face bearing a pained expression, he finally spoke. “You said you were with a trainee though. He is not a trainee. So why were you really alone with him?”

“It’s nothing. Why are you so upset about that? I don’t understand. I thought you would be happy for me.”

“Happy?” he choked out, eyes tracing her features to make sure he was hearing right. He scoffed. “Well if it’s nothing, you’ll have no problem telling me what it is, right?” he questioned bitterly. 

“We were just talking about- about things,�� she finished pathetically. 

“You lie.” 

Enyu shook her head. “I can’t say, ‘Tey.” She guessed that was the wrong thing to say because he growled and tried to move away from her. Refusing to back down, she held his shoulders tighter and moved closer between his thighs to keep him there. “Just wait-”

“Since when did we start keeping secrets from each other, En’yuna? You’ve lied to me three times now!” he hissed hurtfully. 

She bit her lip guiltily, he was right about that. 

“Oh Eywa, give me strength,” she prayed under her breath. “Look. Look at me, okay? You’re right, we don’t keep secrets from each other. So I won’t start now.” She grasped his face with her fingers. “But you can’t tell anyone. Okay? Not even your father! Not yet… promise me!” She shook him a little again and he frowned but nodded mutely. 

Satisfied with his response she stepped back needing some space away from him and he felt cold at the loss.

“This is really not my secret to tell, Yaćksön doesn’t even know that I know but- do you remember that raid you and Lo’ak went on a while back? The one when you got hurt?” He nodded. “Well you weren’t the only two stupid skxawngs out there that day. Yaćksön was there too but he wasn’t supposed to be. He was rostered for patrol duty back here but he left his post to join the raid without permission.” 

Neteyam’s brows furrowed deeper. Now he was just confused.

“He was injured. Badly. An RDA bullet exploded in his shoulder- and he’s been hiding it because he knew questions would be asked. He would be in so much trouble if anyone knew he left part of the clan unguarded- especially during a mission when most of the warriors would be gone.

“But the injury got worse. He couldn’t do his job. His brother’s a trainee healer and he’d been stealing supplies to help him but your grandmother found out- and she eventually got involved. That’s how I know all this- from her.” She looked at him sadly. “Tsahìk said that the wound was so severe that he’d no longer be able to fly his ikran, nor wield his bow or any weapon for that matter.” 

A Na’vi that cannot wield a weapon or fly then that would mean-

“Yes. So he would need to find a new position in the clan. Permanently,” she said as if reading his mind. 

No wonder he had not been seen for some time. Neteyam suddenly felt a bit sorry for the fool. To lose such an esteemed position within the clan- he’d seen it happen to many others over the years. 

He shook his head confused. “Okay. But what does any of this have to do with you?”

Enyu shrugged “It doesn’t. Not really. Tsahìk has been the one helping him. Your grandmother said he’s already incapacitated- a punishment of his own actions. She’s just trying to find him a potential new placement within the clan before he confesses to the council and your father. He's going to have to face his removal from the guard. Tsahìk asked me not to say anything as yet and to take him out last week to show him the basics of my role. He seemed interested and asked to go again today. I was just trying to help. I was excited to finally have a trainee.” 

“Oh,” Neteyam said quietly, the ache in his chest easing slightly. “I’m such an idiot.” He cursed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

She rounded on him again, anger flaring wildly. “Yes! You are an idiot!” Enyu marched up to him, poking him in the chest. “Your behaviour was totally uncalled for! You embarrassed me in front of the entire clan for Eywa sake! I probably looked like a naughty child about to get punished. And to think I was so excited to come tell you that I’d finally gotten a chance to officially teach- I mean, seriously Neteyam? What exactly did you think was happening? You can’t ju-” 

“I thought he wanted to mate you, okay?!” he shouted over her rant. Enyu stilled and stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “Well I- I mean I thought- I dunno. I thought he wanted to court you. I know what he’s like and I just- I guess I got caught up in my overprotectiveness.” He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “I’m sorry Enyu. I’ve been a right fool today. I’m so so sorry.” 

She blinked at him in disbelief, then placed a hand on his forehead, palms brushing down his cheeks and neck. “No fever,” she mumbled. She grabbed his tail- ignoring his squawk at her touch, checking the end for the telltale sign, like Mo’at had taught her, but there was nothing there. 

He was antsy now and peered at her in confusion, mingled with something else she couldn’t discern. 

Unable to bear the feeling of her palm wrapped around his tail, he snatched it out of her hand and willed his mind to think of ugly, disgusting things, since his body seemed to have been betraying him with its…reaction.  “I’m not sick, Enyu.” 

“No? Then why else would you think something so stupid?” 

“Well what else was I supposed to think? You were alone together! In the Ëldën Forest with him. Everyone knows that's where new courting couples go.” 

“Ahaha- What? No. Everyone knows that’s where you take new harvest trainees. The terrain there is easier to navigate and there are many different plants to explore all in one place. Did Tuk not tell you her class had a field trip there just last week?” 

His ears turned downward guiltily. 

Exhausted with all the fighting, she chuckled at the sudden ridiculousness of the entire situation. She couldn’t find the energy to continue being mad at her best friend anymore. He was acting like a child that didn’t want to share their toy and she kind of felt terrible for liking it a little. His jealousy was honestly cute. It was normal of him to not want to share her with others but this was the most extreme reaction she'd ever seen from him. 

Her chuckle turned into a full bellied laugh now. She hunched over breathlessly, wiping tears from her eyes as she hiccupped between breaths. He scowled at her but felt lighter at her ridiculous reaction and eventually not being able to help himself, he smiled. 

Sobering up a little now and feeling wicked she said, “You know what? I think you’re right though. I never thought about Yaćksön like that before, but now that you’ve mentioned it, I think we did have a connection in the two times we met. I never noticed that he was quite so… handsome… Charming… Strong. And then he’s got this really cute smi-” 

Having enough of her teasing, he tackled her to the ground, his fingers quickly attacking her sides as she giggled uncontrollably.

“You think that’s funny?” he laughed, rolling on top of her fully, fitting- almost too perfectly, between her legs. He tickled her even more, when she tried telling him to stop. “That was not funny, not nice at all. Say you’re sorry…. Say it!”

He snickered at her as she tossed her head back and roared louder with laughter- tears now leaking down her temples. Taking advantage, he blew a raspberry into her exposed neck, nipping her flesh slightly and her fingers bit into his biceps in response, her voice hitching at the sensation rippling through her.

“Ahem.” 

They froze at the sound of someone clearing their throat loudly, then immediately scrambled to get up when they saw Jake Sully standing before them with his hands on his hips. 

Enyu was wide-eyed while she frantically straightened her hair, top and loincloth. She hastily wiped away the remnants of her tears and felt her face burn with embarrassment for the second time that day. But see, this was worse, far worse. 

He gave them each a long assessing look before addressing Enyu with a nod. “Hi, kid.”

She swallowed nervously. “Hi, Sir.”

“Sir, we were ju-” 

“You don’t look very kidnapped to me, Enyu,” Jake said seriously, cutting off his son’s explanation. “I’ll admit I didn’t believe Tuk at first when she said you were kidnapped by Neteyam,” he frowned at his son, “until I overheard a couple people talking about your little scene back there... My daughter seemed worried, so-” he shrugged, “figured I’d just drop by and check myself.” 

Enyu opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out, so she glanced at her best friend for help. This was mortifying, she could only imagine how purple her face was right now. Here was the Olo'eyktan of the clan before her, thinking that his son had actually kidnapped her because of her own big fat mouth- she accused him of kidnapping her for Eywa sake! And yes it was true but how did one explain that? She wished the ground would swallow her whole right now.  

“We had a little… misunderstanding is all, Sir. We’re fine now. All cleared up. Right, Flower? And there was no kidnapping,” he shot her a dirty look, “I was just… borrowing her to have a conversation.” 

Jake chuckled. “Borrowing her to have a conversation… Is that what they’re calling it these days?” 

The glint in his father’s eyes had Neteyam tensing for what was going to come out of the man’s mouth next. His parents were forever known to embarrass him in front of Eynu for some odd reason. 

“Do I need to have the talk with you again, son? I know you were nine back then, but maybe you need a refresher?” 

There it was.

Neteyam choked and sputtered, shaking his head profusely, looking a little nauseated and purple himself now. He remembered it like yesterday, having to sit before his parents to be given the “birds and the bees”- as his father called it, talk. That talk was the most uncomfortable and embarrassing experience of his life! 

“What talk?'' asked Enyu curiously, she even patted him on the back when he choked again. 

Ignoring her and still shaking his head, he said, “No! No, Sir. Dad that’s not- we aren't- Just no, okay? Please.” 

Jake laughed loudly at his stuttering son. “Alright, alright. Let’s go, you two. Back to camp before people come looking. And for God sake, please, no more kidnapping. I have enough to worry about as is.” 

“Yes, Sir,” they responded simultaneously. 

~

As they walked back- Jake leading upfront, Enyu asked her friend quietly. “There’s something I don’t understand though, you said your grandmother never told you I’d be late? Or with a new trainee?” 

He shook his head. “No, and I got there early too. We were chatting for a while so she had every opportunity to tell me- especially when I started to worry.”

“Hmm… well maybe she just forgot then,” she said with a shrug.

Neteyam frowned at this, thinking. His grandmother might be old but she was no “elder”. She had all her wits about her and she especially never forgot anything. He’d never question her though, having learnt that lesson the hard way when he was younger.

But he couldn’t help but wonder, what was she playing at?

~

Well! That escalated quickly. Hehe. Sorreh!

As always:

I'm sorry if there were any errors.

Please reblog, like and let me know if you enjoyed it in the comments :)

Take care for now.

@love13tter

[janicho88]

When It All Falls Apart- Chapter 3

Pairing- Jensen x Padalecki Reader

Word count- 4,222

Warnings-Pregnancy talk (Will last a good chunk of the story) But it's not the reader. Some language. Jensen isn't the best boyfriend. If I missed something let me know!

A/N-A little off canon, SPN ended after 10 years. We still got all the characters in during that time though. Thank you to @writercole and @leigh70 for your help with this. You two are amazing!!

Summary-Y/N Padalecki loved acting on Supernatural.  Working alongside your older brother and your boyfriend, but after ten seasons the guys have chosen to hang up the guns.  Now the three of you are moving on to other projects, but that’s all that needs to change right?  While you have moved to Austin to be closer to your family and boyfriend, Jensen is working elsewhere.  Distance is only the start of your troubles.

Series Masterlist

Your alarm starts blaring at 6:30 and you roll over and hit the snooze, you must have dozed back off because next thing you know it’s going off again ten minutes later.  Dragging yourself out of bed, you make your way to the bathroom.  Hopefully a shower will wake you up.  Once you are dressed, and have your hair and makeup done you head downstairs to the kitchen. 

Pouring a glass of orange juice, you grab a protein bar to stick in your bag for later.  You jump when you hear a voice behind you.

“You ready to head out?” your brother asks with a yawn.

“Geesh Jare, you scared the crap out of me.  What are you doing up? It’s barely  7.”

“Giving you a ride to the airport.  Doesn't make much sense having two cars there.”

“You don’t have…”

“I know I don’t have to.  I want to.”

You know he wants to talk about last weekend, Gen has done a good job of keeping him off that topic so far, but she is currently still in bed. It was going to be a long thirty minute drive.  “Okay, thanks.”

He grabs your suitcase after you finish your juice, you pick up your other bags and follow him out to his truck. After setting your stuff in the back, you hop in front with him.

“So how are things going?”

“Fine.  It will be nice to have a little free time for a few weeks now that the show wrapped.”

“That wasn’t really what I meant.”

“I know, but it’s what you’re getting.”

“Y/N, I just want to help.”

“I know you do.  But he is also your best friend.  I promised you my relationship with him wouldn’t change that before we started dating.  This weekend together, even if it’s for a convention, might be just what we need.   Let us deal with it, okay?”

He stares at you from the corner of his eye before agreeing. 

It’s quarter to eight when Jared is pulling up to the departure drop off area, and letting you out.

“Thanks Jare, enjoy the rest of your day, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“No problem, have a safe flight.”

Once he’s gone you enter the building and find your way to check in.  Your suitcase just barely passes as a carry-on, but it will work.  Security is next, it takes a half an hour before you are clear of that.  You now have about twenty minutes to quickly get to your gate before your plane starts to board.  The airport is busier than you were expecting for this time of day, should have known better.

Grabbing a roll from a little cafe you pass, you arrive at the right gate just as they are opening it up to begin boarding.  When your section is called you head over to line, wait your turn and then make your way to your seat in first class.  It’s fairly empty and you have the row to yourself. After the plane takes off and you are allowed to turn on your laptop, you start a movie which helps the almost three hour flight go by quicker. 

Getting off the plane in Chicago, you follow the crowd toward the baggage claim area.  Looking around you see a familiar face from the convention team.  The driver, Mike, greets you with a smile and grabs your suitcase from you.  He’s picked you up from other conventions before and once out of the building you chat quietly.  The ride to the hotel is a quick one. You aren’t staying at the fan designated hotel, attached to the convention center, but the Hilton at the other end of the convention center.  

Mike takes you over to a side entrance at the convention hall, he checked before he came to get you, but your room isn't ready yet.  Taking your bags to the green room, you find a few of your friends back there.  Felicia runs over to give you a hug, and Bri and Kim follow.  You thank Mike for his help before turning all your attention to your girls.   It isn’t long before Felicia has to leave for photos and Bri, her meet and greet (M&G). Kim and you are both free for a little bit longer.  David and Adam come back from their VIP M&G. You listen to some of the on stage action, they are currently doing a Yes/No trivia game.   Jason makes an appearance before he goes on stage, and you head down for pictures with Kim.

When you arrive back at the green room, someone comes up to your handler, Chelsea.  She comes back over to you when the other person leaves.

“Your room is all set if you want to take your things over now before you have the VIP meet and greet, then your panel.”  She holds out two room keys for you.

“I’ll just take one, I’ll leave the other for Clif to give to Jensen tomorrow,” you tell her.  The two of you have been sharing a room on these weekends for awhile now. You’re usually busy when he flies in, this way he can go to the room without having to track you down.

“He called last week to make sure he had his own room,” Victoria, his handler, snottily tells you.

You don’t reply, just take both cards from Chelsea.  Victoria isn’t one of your favorite people of the weekend.  You didn't have a problem with her before you and Jensen started dating.  You are pretty sure she has a thing for him, and doesn’t like you because you’re with him.  Walking over to the skywalk, which will take you to your hotel, you don’t pay as much attention to her, as the fact Jensen asked for his own room.  The man isn’t even here yet, and things are starting off poorly for you.

With your things in the room and you freshened up, you make your way back to the convention center.  Chelsea, is waiting for you near the entrance.  She wants to give you space, but be there if you need her.  Back in the green room, you turn on your computer to take a look at upcoming flights.  Pulling up your calendar on your phone you check the dates you would be available to go up to Toronto to stay with your boyfriend.  You want to have it figured out before you bring it up to him.

Your VIP M&G, goes smoothly and you are due up on stage after.  The forty five minute panel goes by quickly.  There are a few questions about what you are doing now that SPN has finished, some about Jensen, others about your brother, and a few about things you enjoy.  When that ends you are back to the picture room.

That evening you go out with the gang for dinner.  After dinner it's a quick stop in the hotel room to change for Karaoke.  The alcohol is flowing before people head out for their turn on stage.  When it’s time for you all to go out on stage, Bri has already plied you, Kim and Felicia with three margaritas, three strong ones.  You are definitely able to let loose on stage tonight.  Adam is in a little better shape than the four of you and is running all over the place.  Gil is somewhere in the middle. 

When the show is over, the cast party backstage is a little slower to end.  With the persuasion of your handlers, you all make your way over to the hotel.  Hopefully, you won’t regret this too much in the morning. 

The ringing of your phone rudely wakes you up Saturday morning, “‘ello,” you groggily answer.

“Are you still in bed?” your brother asks in lue of a greeting.

“Yeah,” you groan, “why are you calling this early?”

“Don’t you have a panel at 10?”

“Yeah,” you don’t even try to hide the yawn from him.

“It’s quarter after 9.”

“Son of a…” Well that statement from him woke you up.  “I gotta get ready.”

“Guess that means you had a good night.  I’m at the airport, flights in an hour.  See you later.  Good luck, sis.”

“Thanks for the wake up call, bye Jare, have a safe flight.”

Hanging up from him, you dig through your bag for some tylenol before hopping in the shower.  Quickly going through your bathroom routine, you are out in the bedroom grabbing your clothes for the day.  At 9:40, Chelsea is knocking at your door.  Thankfully, she has your favorite Starbucks drink with her.

You wear your sunglasses through the brightly lit hotel and skywalk over to the convention center.  Backstage you grab a breakfast roll and collapse next to Bri on the couch.

“Are you in as gooda shape as I am?” the blonde asks quietly.

“Probably, if it wasn’t for Jared calling I might have slept through the panel.”

She snorts at that.

It isn’t long before the two of you along with Kim, Felicia and Ruth are being announced on stage.  Four of you might not be in the best of shape after last night, but you all have fun.  You all start to leave the stage an hour later as Matt, Rich and Rob come on.  

“Wait a minute,” Rich calls out.

“You aren’t getting away that easy little Padalecki,” Rob tells you.

Looking over at the curtain you see Adam and David coming out with a cake.  Your friends and the audience all start singing ‘Happy Birthday.’  You blow out the lone candle on top and thank them all.

“Happy early birthday, Y/N.  Now you can go,” Rich tells you.

“Thank you everyone!” You call out waving to the crowd and the guys on stage.

There is about forty minutes until the Ladies of SPN photo, so you are once again in the green room.  Someone from Creation comes over and cuts up the cake for everyone.  Felicia leaves for autos, but will see you in the photo room.  

“Any big birthday plans next weekend?” Kim wants to know.

“Not yet.  I might fly up to see Jay.”

Chelsea comes to walk you down to the photo room.  When the group photo is over, you hang out downstairs, because you're scheduled for a solo round in thirty minutes. Done with photos you follow Chelsea back to the green room to grab lunch.  Your brother is up there when you arrive.  He noisily makes his way over and gives you a tight hug.  You know he is being a little over the top because of your earlier hangover.

“Hello.”

“How’s my favorite sister doing?”

“You mean only sister?”

He just shrugs.

“Fine.  What’s on your schedule?”

“M&G at 3, VIP M&G at 3:45, then photos start at 4, I think we have a duo at 4:30, according to the list.”

“You’re probably right, I think my M&G is at 5.”

“Ackles here yet?” he asks, looking around.

“I haven’t seen him,” you answer.

“He’ll be here about 2:30, his photo ops start at 3.” Victoria calls out.  You just roll your eyes.

“I’m done for a bit, I’m going back to my room.  See you later, Jare,” you tell your brother before exiting.

Back in your room, you enjoy the quiet and take a chance to regroup before you have to go back down to the convention.  An hour long nap helps clear your head, you spend some time on the computer, before fixing yourself up for the next round of photo ops.  You always have fun when you’re paired with your brother.  Afterward, you quickly follow Chelsea to the M&G room you are in.  You see Jensen ahead of you, Victoria is leading him into the room next door.  When you walk out thirty minutes later Jensen steps out of his room right in front of you.

“Hey Sweetheart,” he engulfs you in a hug before giving you a quick kiss as you both fall into step down the hallway.

“Hi Jens,” you answer him.

He puts his arm around you pulling you to him.  “What do you have next?”

“I’m done until the concert. You?”

“We’re heading up to the green room, I have autos at 6.  Then I promised Karl we’ll find a good steak house.”  When he points behind him as he says the name you turn around.

“Hello,” you greet the man behind you in surprise.

Jensen stops, “Y/N this is Karl Urban, Karl this is Y/N Padalecki.”

“Nice to meet you.” You hold out your hand to shake his, still trying to hide your shock.

“Lovely to meet you pretty lady,” he returns.

“You’re nicer than your character.”

He just laughs at that.

“He wanted to come experience a Supernatural convention.  I thought I’d introduce him to the gang,” you boyfriend tells you as you all start walking again. 

“That’s nice.”

When you reach the green room, Jensen pulls you in with him.  Some of the other cast is already there. Bri hurries over and gives him a big hug, Felicia is next.  He introduces them to Karl, and David soon joins them in conversation. You are standing by yourself for a few minutes before you feel an arm go around your shoulder.  Looking up you see your brother watching you.

“Everything alright?” he carefully questions.

“Yeah, I’m going back to my room.  I’ll see you later.”

Quicky exiting the room you head for the skywalk to the hotel.  Great, he brought a friend.  So much for trying to see if you could have a chance to talk things out this weekend.  You didn’t really want an audience. Back in your room you are lost in thought laying on your bed when your cell rings.

“Hello,” you answer without looking at the ID.

“Hey, watcha doing?” Bri asks on the other end.

“Laying on my bed.”

“Kim, Ruth, Rich, Rob, Matt and I are going to grab dinner.  Do you want to join us?”

You check your watch, somehow  it’s after 7, “I’ll wait, I think I’m going to join Jared and Jens.”

“They left a few minutes ago,” she tells you.

“Oh, I’m good then.  You all have fun, I’ll see you at the concert.”

Hanging up with your friend, you notice a text from your brother. ‘We’re going out to dinner, do you want to come join?’   Apparently you never heard it come in, and they didn’t wait. At least your brother asked, unlike Jensen.

You aren’t really feeling up to eating now.  You leave your room and walk around the hotel, finding your way to the pool where you sit beside it with your feet in the water.  There’s no one else around right now.  Maybe you should have just stayed in the green room, you wouldn’t have been left behind that way.  Or maybe your company wasn’t really wanted tonight.  Jensen didn’t try, and Jared didn’t try very hard. 

You lose track of how long you sit there, until your phone dings.  It’s a text from Kim telling you they are on their way back to get ready for the concert.  With a sigh you pull yourself up and go back to the room to get yourself ready.

Over in the green room you find the members of Louden Swain, going over last minute notes, Rob looks up and sees you.

“Glad to see you Y/N, I was afraid you weren’t going to come back either.”

“Who isn’t coming?”

“Your brother and boyfriend.”

“Oh.  I didn’t know that.  Sorry.”

“It’s fine, personally, we’d rather have you.”

“Thanks, but we all know that’s not true of the fans.”

The concert is always a good time, you enjoy listening to Rob’s band and you have fun with your former castmates on stage.  It’s after 11 when everything winds down and you make your way back to the room.  You consider texting Jared or Jensen, goodnight, but no one has reached back out to you, so why bother?

The next morning, you manage to sleep in until a little after 9. You pack up your luggage after getting yourself ready and take everything with you when you leave.  You turn in your room key before making your way over to the green room, you run into Chelsea on your way.  She hands you a coffee and walks with you.  

Jensen and Jared are in the room just about to go on stage, they notice you walk in just as their names are called.  With a wave they run out.  Karl, is sitting on one of the couches and you wave as you set your stuff down in the corner.

“Morning. I’m going to go watch with Clif from the side, if you’d like to join,” you invite him along.

“Ah, why not.” Getting up he follows you back out.  

The two overgrown children have fun on stage, you and Karl laugh right along with the crowd. Those two are right back into their usual banter.  

Karl looks back at you and asks, “are they always like this?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

He just shakes his head.  The gold panel is over before you know it.  Leading Karl back out, you head to the green room.  Victoria is trying to usher Jensen right back out of the room.  Looking around he sees the two of you walk in.

“Hey, I’ve got a good hour and a half of photo ops, then a short break before more.  Do you want to come down or stay here,” he asks Karl.

“I’m good here, mate.”

“I don’t have to go down yet, I’d like to hear some more stories from the set with Ackles out of the way,” Jared says.

Jensen leaves shaking his head.  You sit down near the guys.  It’s mostly the two of them talking before Jared has to go join Jensen.  It leaves just you and Karl in the room.

“So you and Jay have gotten to know each other pretty well huh?” you ask.

“Yeah, he’s a good guy.  We try and golf any chance we get, Chase joins when he can.”

“What’s your filming schedule like?”

“A little crazy.  You might film 3, 4 days in a row, then off for 4.  There are some fight choreography days thrown in there too.  Just depends on whose needed for what scenes.”

“Are there busy weeks coming up?”

“Don’t think it’s anything too bad.” He watches you for a moment, “you look like you’re thinkin hard over there.”

“Things have been crazy the last few months.  Jay and I have been apart for most of it, I just thought before I started filming Walker, I would come up for a week or so.”

“You are the girlfriend then.  I thought so, with the way Jensen greeted you yesterday.  Wasn’t a hundred percent everyone seems really close here.”

“Guess he doesn’t talk about me much.”

“He doesn’t share much of his personal life.  There is the career talk, and everyday crap.  He keeps the personal stuff close.  He does mention his girl from time to time.  I’ve learned more about him here the last day than the last month on set.”

You aren’t sure that does much to reassure you. 

Jensen is walking back in before you can reply, with Jared right behind him.  

“Back so soon boys?” Karl asks.

“Short break before we need to go back down,” Jensen answers as he walks over to grab some food that has just been set out.

 Both men join you with plates of food, and Karl gets up to get himself something.  Jensen sits down next to you and looks up at you after taking a bite.

“Haven’t seen you much this weekend.”

“You’ve been busy, plus that happens when someone requests their own room.”

“Yeah that surprised me, why did you do that?.”

“What are you talking about?” you ask him confused.

“I was surprised when I arrived to find we weren’t sharing a room,” he tells you.

“So was I, when I tried to leave the second card for Clif, and was told by Victoria you called and requested your own room this trip.”

“I called and added a room for Karl, I didn’t expect to be sharing it with him.”

“You could have said something yesterday, or asked Clif to grab the other key from me or Chelsea.”

“I figured you wanted space, you weren’t exactly social yesterday,”

“I was thinking the same thing about you.”

“I was around yesterday.”

“You could have called and asked me to join you guys for dinner, or given me a few minutes to answer, but you all just left.  Really made me feel that you wanted me there.  Plus I was under the impression you wanted space with your own room.”

Neither of you notice Jared and Karl quietly moving to seats further away.

“But I didn’t want my own room!  Why didn’t you stay down here and wait?”

“Jensen, Jared, we need you both back for photo ops,” Jared’s handler calls out.

“I don’t want to fight with you, let’s just enjoy the rest of the time we have today,” you say before he gets up.

Jared walks over to you before leaving.  “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just some misunderstanding.”

“I think that’s all that is really going on.  You two are perfect for each other.  He’s nuts about you.”

“Hopefully.  Smile pretty Jare.”

You are once again left with Karl, things are quieter this time around.  Chelsea comes to get you for your second round of photos with Jared, then a few with Jensen, the boys afternoon panel takes place right after.  They have auction items to sign, and some things to take care of for the convention before they go back out for their last autograph session.   

It’s almost six when Jensen finally finishes for the day.  You and Karl walked around the vendors area, and the ballroom where they are signing before going back to the green room.  Jensen and his bodyguard Matt, come back in the side door.

“I’ll be ready to go in just a minute, Karl,” Jensen announces walking in.

“Are you guys leaving already?” you ask.

“Yeah, we’ve got a 7:20 flight back.  You know how busy O’Hare can get. We don't want to wait too late,” your boyfriend tells you.

“Oh.”  You follow him over to where he is checking everything in his bag.  “With the Netflix show wrapped, I was thinking maybe I could come up and spend some time with you before filming on Walker starts.”

“I’m not sure how much free time I’ll have.”

“A little time is better than what we’ve had lately.”

“I’ll be back in Texas for a bit in a little over a month.” 

“For a bit?  What does that mean?  How about I come up to Toronto next weekend?”

“I won’t be there, I’ll be back in Texas.”

“Really?” you ask, trying to contain your excitement.  “Big plans?”

“Kind of.  We really need to go, I’ll talk to you later babe.”  He kisses you quickly before following Karl out of the room.

Knowing he was going to be home next weekend definitely puts you in a better mood.  You wonder what he is planning that he didn’t want to tell you about.

It isn’t long before Jared and Clif appear back in the green room.

“All done?” you question, looking up from your computer.

“Yep, all set.  Our flight isn’t until 10.  Clif and I were talking about going downtown and grabbing dinner to kill a few hours.  What do you say?”

“Drop me off at the Disney store and I will work my way down the Magnificent Mile while you eat,” you counter.

“I don’t know about letting you go off by yourself.”

“I’ll be thirty one next weekend, dad.  I promise I’ll check both ways before I cross the street.  I’ll be fine.  Isn’t the steakhouse you like, just down the road from it?”

While the two of you are talking, Clif is on his phone and he turns it to you.

“Sorry kiddo, looks like it closed last fall,” he tells you.

“NO!!” you shout louder than you meant to as Ruth and Rob walk in.

“Everything okay dearie?” Ruth asks in concern.

“She just found out the Disney store here is closed.”

“Ah, bummer,” Rob says before heading to his bag.  

“So dinner then?  I’ll walk around a few shops with you after,” your brother compromises.  “Do you two want to join us?”

“Thanks for the offer, but our flight is at 8, we’re going to head over to the airport.”

After saying your goodbyes, your trio heads down to the car with the rest of the luggage that didn’t get loaded earlier.  True to his word, Jared follows you into a few stores after dinner before you need to get to the airport.

It was a late enough flight that you managed to fall asleep shortly after takeoff.  After you land in Austin, Clif drops you both off at Jared’s before heading home.  Feeling better about your relationship with Jensen coming home for the upcoming weekend you easily fall back to sleep.

Thank you for reading!

Chapter 4

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