#i just think eddie looks like a grumpy little cat when he's grumpy

[ladykailitha]

Spellbound Part 1

Normally I would post Caged Bird today, but this has a much larger backlog, sooo! Happy himbo witch time!

Summary: It's a quiet, idyllic life in the town of Hawkins. For everyone but Eddie Munson. You see, his look and cottage scream witch. The long, curly, dark curls, the black clothes, and dark and broody cottage all point to Eddie as a witch. But no. That title belongs to Steve Harrington down the way. In bright and cheery house, dressed in green and a sunny disposition. Things start turn in the town when Chrissy shows up on Eddie's doorstep thinking he's the witch.

~

Eddie Munson was everything one expected a witch to look like. He had long, curly, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He wore dark makeup and painted his nails black. In addition to the only color palette liked was reds and blacks, he wore lots of jewelry, including many things that people associated with witches like pentagrams, animal teeth, and beads.

The house he shared with his Uncle Wayne was light grey, ramshackle, little cottage with black roof, door, and trim. The front of the house was overgrown with vines and wild flowers.

So he really shouldn’t be surprised when people would knock on the door looking for a witch.

He opened the door with a sigh. “Can I help you?” he asked the stranger.

She was pretty thing, a little younger than him. She had bright green eyes and her strawberry blonde hair was neatly arranged on the top of her head. She wasn’t very tall, but her green dress gave her long lines.

“I need a love charm?” she asked with a blush. “I just want to know if the man my father wants me to marry is the right one, you know?” She twisted her handkerchief nervously in her hands.

Eddie sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “The witch lives two houses down and across the street. Great big sign that reads: ‘Harrington Witchery, charms, curses, and wishes performed here’.”

She looked down the way at the bright yellow house surrounded by neat plants and the perfect ray of sunlight on the door and then back at him in confusion. The door opened and the witch stepped out. He had honey colored hair and hazel eyes. He wore bright blue robes today and had the sunniest smile.

Eddie could feel his face flush as the witch waved over at both of them.

“Here he comes,” he said with a pinch of dismay.

“Hi,” the witch said brightly. “Are you looking for the witch?”

The young woman looked back at Eddie and then at the witch. “Yes?”

“Fantastic!” he said beaming at her. “I’m Steve Harrington, witch extraordinaire. Please to meet you!”

“Chrissy Cunningham,” she said shyly. “I was wanting a love charm?”

“I’d be happy to help you with that,” he said putting his arm over her shoulder, “let’s leave the grumpy Gus to his music playing, shall we?”

Eddie huffed. “That’s Mr. Grumpy Gus to you!”

Someone smacked him on the back of the head. “Don’t you go antagonizing the man who makes my arthritis medicine, boy.”

Steve stopped and turned around. “When do you need a top off on that, by the way?”

“I’m running a bit low,” Wayne admitted. “It was bit rougher this week with that huge storm we had.”

Steve nodded. “I’ll be over with the packet after I’m done with Chrissy.”

“I’ll have the tea ready for you,” Wayne said with a fond smile.

~

Chrissy looked around the house as he led her through to the back of the house. It was neat and tidy with every clearly labeled in a neat cursive hand. There was something bubbling on the fire, but from the smell it was probably dinner and not a potion. She could smell the beef and vegetables.

There were two rooms off the one side and the privy to the other. It was everything the opposite you would expect of a witch’s house. The animals on the other hand fit. One was a raven sitting in the windowsill being fed by a beautiful woman dressed in a dark blue gown. The other was a Tortoiseshell cat with bright green eyes, who meowed at her and jumped away.

“Merlin!” Steve admonished. “Be nice.”

The cat stopped in its hasty retreat and meowed back at him.

“Well she can’t help that,” he answered as if he understood what the cat was saying. “Now, run along and actually catch the mouse that has been stealing your food.”

Merlin meowed again and was off.

“He’ll never catch that mouse,” the woman said.

The raven crowed, seemingly in agreement.

“Then you catch it, Circe,” Steve huffed, hands on hips. “I know you can and you complaining about Merlin’s abilities doesn’t catch the mouse any faster.”

The raven crowed and flew off, causing the woman to laugh. “She won’t catch it either.”

“Yes,” Steve agreed, “but with her it’ll be because she doesn’t like being told what to do and not because she can’t.”

Chrissy shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “So about that love charm?” she asked tentatively.

Steve jumped. “Oh! Oh my god! I got so wrapped up in familiar politics I nearly forgot you were there. Here, just let me...” he began gathering supplies.

Some twine, a bit of silk, some herbs and oddly a couple of flowers too. Ivy, lilac and pansy. He swiftly made them into a doll and handed it to her. “A lock of your hair, and snip of your petticoat will finish the job. Then whisper into its ear all the things you want in your true love. Then the next time you touch your betrothed, you will know if he is your true love.”

“That’s all?” Chrissy asked, staring down at the doll, no bigger than her palm.

“Yep!” he said brightly. “Robin will help you with the hair and petticoat. I’ll be in the front room preparing Wayne’s medicine.”

Chrissy blushed and nodded. Robin stood up and wandered over to the desk to grab the scissors.

“Are you a witch, too?” Chrissy asked as she held still for Robin to clip a bit of her petticoat.

Robin stood up with a smile. “Not yet, but I hope to be. Steve is teaching me. I’m still a little clumsy with the potions but I’m good with the herbs. Steve says that I could be a hedge witch!”

“Oh!” Chrissy cried. “I didn’t know there were different kinds of witch. What kind is Steve?”

“The tired kind!” Steve huffed from the front room.

Robin giggled. “Don’t make me laugh when I’m about to cut her hair!” she admonished.

Steve looked over his shoulder and gave her a completely unrepentant grin. Robin huffed and gently took a bit of curl from the base of her head near the neck. She took the doll back from Chrissy and tied both pieces to the doll.

“Now,” she said brightly, “just whisper all your wants and desires for a future soulmate. It’s actually good you’re doing it now. A lot of people do it as kids with childish hopes and dreams which isn’t great for adult relationships.”

Steve came into the room dusting his hands off on a towel. “That’s unfair,” he huffed. “It’s not childish, it’s childlike. And who knows love better than someone who hasn’t been taught to hate yet.”

Chrissy tilted her head to the side. “I think I’m with Steve on that one, Robin.”

“Yeah, well,” Robin said rolling her eyes and stepping back. “Doing it as a child hasn’t done Mr. Witch over here any good. He had his made by his mom when he was seven and fifteen years later, he still hasn’t found his true love.”

Steve threw the towel over one shoulder and put both hands on his hips. “I still maintain that it’s because I’m witch and can’t get out much that’s why I haven’t found them yet.”

“I still thi–” Robin began and then was cut off with a wave Steve hand. She glared at him.

“It won’t last very long,” Steve growled, “but long enough that Miss Cunningham won’t be here for that particular argument.”

“She thinks you’ve already met your true love?” Chrissy surmised.

Robin jumped up and down and nodded with a huge grin.

“Robin is operating under the delusion that the goth down the road is my soulmate,” Steve huffed putting his hands back on his hips. “Never mind, it’s a guy, he absolutely hates me because people keep mistaking my house for his.”

Chrissy blushed a deep red. “Yeah, sorry about that. But it’s the commonly held belief that witches are–”

Steve held up his hand. “I’m going to stop you there. I won’t gag you like I did Robin. But I don’t know where those ‘commonly held beliefs’ come from, but witches have never worn black or had black cats or flew on brooms. Hedge witches in particular favor nature’s colors of blues and greens and browns. But you’re all set to go.”

Chrissy recognized the dismissal that it was and turned to leave. She barely got a single step when she turned around.

“What about payment?” she asked, uncertain. “Surely you need something in payment.”

Steve’s eyes seemed to glow gold for a moment as he spoke. “There is no need to pay for a love charm, there being more love in the world is enough for the spell. And it is only spell that does so.”

“Your other charms and spells have payments?” she asked, now a little nervous.

“Most of them require a trade or a simple favor,” Steve said, seriously, “like running an errand for me. But if you ask for a potent charm, one would almost call a wish, that is all you will get from me. You’ll never be able to find my house ever again. You’ll see me around town and I can visit you. But you require some powerful magic, then that’s it. I will not be used to fix every problem you see fit.”

Chrissy gulped and nodded. She clutched the doll to her chest and ran off.

“Steve...” Robin said, darkly. “There was no need to frighten her.”

Steve leveled her with a glare. She backed off, hands in the air in surrender. He stomped back to his potion, the small cottage darkening with his foul mood. The raven flew into through the window and landed on his shoulder, rubbing her beak on his temple.

“I’m fine, Circe,” Steve mumbled, scratching the raven’s neck. “I think Merlin was right about her. She wasn’t here for a good reason. I think she just wanted to prove to everyone that Master Carver’s son isn’t her soulmate. I don’t think she’s actually interested in finding true love.”

The raven crowed and cawed.

“Of course you caught the mouse,” he huffed, gently shaking his head not to dislodge her from his shoulder. “What did you do with it?”

Circe cawed again and Steve laughed. “Of course you did. Merlin is probably pouting. He’ll play with its corpse once he’s done.”

The raven made a sound suspiciously like laughter and then flew away. Robin came up and put her hand on his shoulder and then pulled him into a hug.

“I heard what you told Circe,” she mumbled into his shoulder. “You’re right of course. Merlin, too. She was trying to hard to believe in your magic. She was just looking for an excuse not to marry dickface.”

“That’s Master Dickface to you,” Steve teased halfheartedly.

Robin snorted. “Yeah well. That’s probably the last we see of her. He’ll turn out to be her soulmate, she’ll be forced to marry him and she’ll live in the ivory tower the rest of her days.”

He let out a shuddering breath. “I’m heading over to visit Wayne to deliver his medicine. I’ll be back later.”

She grinned and jumped up and down. “Maybe the hottie gothy will be there and you’ll finally touch and it’ll be...” she clutched her hands together and batted her eyelashes, “true love!”

He pushed her off of him and wrapped up the blue packets of medicine. He paused for a moment and then took a jar of Mrs. Henderson’s homemade raspberry jam and added it to the basket.

Robin took a loaf of bread from the cooling rack and wrapped it up. “There you go, little yellow riding hood! Of to Wayne’s you go! Don’t let the big bad goth eat you!”

~

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog @sadisticaltarts @dolphincliffs

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @cryptid-system @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @dreamercec @blondie1006

5- @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @genderless-spoon @fearieshadow @thesecondfate

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

[shares-a-vest]

I just think Eddie would add the nickname 'Slugger' to his roster of pet names for Steve when he finds out about the nail bat...

Eddie awakens to a scratching sound at Steve's bedroom window.

He thinks it must be the trees. God knows the isolated Loch Nora has enough of them to make a consistent amount of noise 24/7. But his heart skips a beat when he comes to enough to remember that there is in fact, no tree directly outside Steve's bedroom window.

He flips over to face his boyfriend, sending their blankets flying and starling with enough movement he rattles the set of framed baseball cards Steve has on the shelving of his headboard. But the fanatic himself doesn't move, still fast asleep. Looking all angelic and cute as he steadily breathes in and out with only the faintest hint of a snore.

"Steeeeve," he panics, slapping his shoulder, "Steve, there's something at the window!"

Again, nothing.

He groans and leans forward, pressing his weight on him as he speaks directly in his ear, "Steve, wake up and put your goddamn ears in, I'm scared."

He doesn't care that it all sounds a little dramatic. Steve knows he's a total scaredy cat.

"Eds," Steve murmurs, sounding very grumpy, "What is it?"

"There's something outside."

Steve pushes him off, snapping to and hopping straight out of bed in one swift move. Eddie scrambles, spluttering as he struggles against the, now tangled, bed sheets. He looks up just in time to see Steve duck down and retrieve something from underneath his side of the bed…

It's a baseball bat.

A baseball bat covered in large nails. Nails that have been haphazardly hammered in, sticking out every which way and making it quite the deadly weapon.

He watches as Steve spins it around in his hands before gripping it tight and standing at the ready. Oh.

Steve cocks his head and quirks a brow in the direction of the frightening window in question.

The noise is still there, tap, tap a-tapping on the window.

But Eddie really couldn't give a shit anymore because now he is solely focused on his boyfriend creeping towards the window, waving his bat like he geeing himself up to hit a homer. His hands clench with every step, exposing all the veins on his hands and spider up his forearms. All the while the guy is sporting his impossibly voluminous bed hair and skulking along in his loose and tantalisingly-thin sleep shorts that leave nothing to Eddie's filthy imagination.

Well, maybe he can think of a few things���

"Step back against the wall," Steve commands, not tearing his eyes away from the window.

Eddie nods, backing back and clutching at the wall for support as his heart beats faster as Steve whirls the bat around again. He palms along the wall, feeling around until his shaking hand hits the bed and he stumbles onto it.

But Steve isn't paying attention to his immediate disobedience. He is too busy looking out the window.

"Oh, fuck," he curses before groaning with abject annoyance, "Eds!"

"Huh?" Eddie mumbles, watching Steve's bare shoulders flex and then drop as he allows the nail bat to fall by his side.

"It's a raccoon!" Steve whines, stumping the bat into the carpet with a solid thump to punctuate his frustration.

He whips around and starts off for the bed again, dragging his weapon along behind him. As if in a reverse move, Steve rolls the bat back to its hiding spot and flops onto the bed.

"Eds, I was dead asleep!" he complains, dry-sobbing. He helicopter-kicks his feet in order to propel his legs back onto the bed properly, "Why couldn't you have checked it out first?"

"Excuse me," he protests, raising a hand to his chest in offence, "I was terrified."

"You woke me up!" Steve retorts, pulling the covers about without a great deal of finesse - if anything, his technique makes their bedding situation worse.

"Could'a used that weapon up against a colony of flesh-eating bats, my dear," Eddie grins as he attempts to smooth out the crumpled covers before quickly abandoning the futile task.

"Yeah, no shit," Steve snaps. He really is a bitch when he's sleep-deprived a grouchy, "But I didn't exactly have time to come here and get it. You being a wanted fugitive and all."

"I apologise for the inconvenience," he teases, holding out grabby hands, "Come here, Slugger, and I'll make it up to you."

Steve smirks, thoroughly perking up at the new pet name. And before Eddie knows it, his baseball bat-wielding boyfriend is lunging straight over their mountain of twisted blankets for him.

[babygirl-diaz]

Timeless Chapter 1

This fic is inspired by Taylor Swift’s “Timeless.” 

In which, Buck goes off to fight fires in Austin, leaving Eddie behind this time. He doesn’t know when he will return as the fire is 0% contained. While there, his life takes a turn when he finds a box filled with black and white photos and love letters written between lovers. Taking it upon himself, he tries to find the owner or someone who knows the owner of the box. He uses the only means he has. The internet. But when his Instagram post goes viral, the internet starts to help him find this man. In the meantime, Buck realizes how precious his moments are with Eddie and starts writing letters to him as if they are lovers separated by war in 1944. 

***

Buck hated this. He hated the sad look on Eddie’s face, and he hated that he was the reason for it. “Baby,” Buck whispered, cupping Eddie’s face with both hands and making him lift his head and look at him. Eddie’s wet eyes pulled at Buck’s heartstrings. “I’ll be back soon,” Buck assured Eddie once again. “Promise.” Usually, it was Buck who got left behind, but this time, he was the one leaving the love of his life behind. 

“Why do you have to do this?” Eddie asked, putting his hands on top of Buck’s. 

“You know why, baby,” Buck reminded him. “They need volunteers, and I want to help. I’ll be back as soon as those fires are contained.” He sighed when Eddie sniffled. “I know you wanna come with me, baby, but we can’t uproot Chris’ life.” 

“I know, I know,” Eddie sighed and sniffled again. Then his shoulders started to shake as a laugh slipped past his lips. 

“What?” Buck asked, confused as he looked around. 

Eddie shook his head. “No, this- I- I oddly feel like I am a dame from the 1940s, at the train station, sending the love of her life off to war.” 

“What?” Buck asked and started to laugh, too. 

“Don’t laugh! I’m being serious,” Eddie pouted at him and gently smacked his chest. 

“A dame? Seriously, Eddie?” Buck continued to tease. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I am just going to Austin, not Germany.” 

Eddie rolled his eyes and pushed Buck back, causing him to stumble. 

“Asshole,” Eddie grumbled. 

Buck grinned like an idiot. He was so in love with this man. “You love me regardless,” he told Eddie, pulling his closer by holding his waist. 

Eddie let out a long, put-upon sigh. “Unfortunately.” But then he got sad again and said, “The bus is here.” 

Buck turned around to confirm before turning back to Eddie. “Yep, that’s me,” he said sadly and hugged Eddie, kissing the top of his head. “I love you so much, Eddie. Please take care of… my jeep,” he said teasingly. 

Eddie pulled away from Buck and frowned at him. “Asshole!” Eddie yelled. “I told Father Brian I would be better, but you’re making it really hard.” 

Now, it was Buck’s turn to frown. “Father Brian better keep away from you while I’m gone” 

Eddie smirked at him like a cat with a canary. “Oh yeah? Are you jealous?” 

Buck groaned and rolled his eyes. “No, I just don’t like that priest,” he replied. “You should find yourself an old, grumpy, ugly one.” 

“So you think Father Brian is good-looking? I mean, he is, but-” Eddie started to praise Father Brian, and Buck stopped him. 

“He isn’t good-looking!” Buck huffed and pulled Eddie close, putting a possessive kiss on his lips. 

“Hey, you coming or what?” 

Buck heard someone say and kissed Eddie a few more times before pulling away. “I love you,” he told the other man. “Take care of yourself and Chris for me.” 

Eddie bit his bottom lip and nodded as tears formed in his eyes again. “I love you too,” he said reluctantly, letting go of Buck’s hand. 

Buck got on the Greyhound and kept looking out at Eddie. He sadly waved at his boyfriend, and after the bus pulled away, he took a little box from his jacket pocket and looked at it. He couldn’t gather the courage to do it. And besides, it just didn’t feel like the right moment. He put the ring box back in his pocket and sniffled. 

[becausebuckley]

please write 26 for buddie!

thanks so much anon!! i hope you like how it turned out <3

26. "I just can't believe that you really chose me, that's all." from this list of prompts - i'm still taking prompts!

It’s kind of new, this thing with Eddie.

Well, kind of new, but at the same time, not new at all. If he’s honest with himself – which he tries to be, these days – Buck knows they’ve been heading here for years. He can trace their relationship through shared beers and deep conversations, through sweaters in each other’s closets and quick little looks before rescues. Buck thinks that maybe they’ve been building this since that very first shift, the grenade falling in the box and something in Buck’s heart slotting into place at the same time. 

It’s been a long time coming, and yet, it happened so suddenly Buck never saw it coming at all.

Now, a few weeks into the relationship Buck knows is the best thing that’s ever happened to him, they’re settling in. The honeymoon period isn’t over, not by a long shot – Buck kind of doubts it’ll ever be, that anything will ever feel normal and not sugar coated, rose-coloured lenses, now that he’s with Eddie – but it’s turning into something more steady, less new. Something solid. A foundation for the rest of their lives. This might not be the first time he’s spent the night in Eddie’s bed, but it’s the first time that makes Buck feel like this is it, now. This is their new normal. Their forever.

He’s lying on his back, wearing nothing but his boxers and an old shirt of Eddie’s that stretches over his broad shoulders. Eddie’s arm is slung over his waist, head pillowed on Buck’s chest, and their legs are tangled in the bedsheets. It’s late, or maybe early, Buck doesn’t know, and he suddenly feels so happy he kind of stops breathing a little bit.

Eddie makes a grumpy noise and burrows his head further into Buck. Something Buck has delighted in over these past few weeks is discovering all of Eddie’s cat-like tendencies. At this point, he wouldn’t be surprised if his boyfriend – and oh, the thrill that word brings him – turned out to purr.

“Why aren’t you asleep,” Eddie mumbles into the fabric of Buck’s shirt. 

Buck’s arm tightens around him, thumb rubbing up and down Eddie’s side. His lungs fill with air once more. 

“How did you know I wasn’t sleeping?” He counters, though he probably sounds entirely too awake to sell it. 

Eddie lifts his head at that. His hair is mussed and floppy, his eyes are half-closed, and he still pulls off an incredibly unimpressed eyebrow raise. Buck has never been more in love with him.

“Fair enough,” Buck says. “It’s nothing, really. I was just thinking.”

“Dangerous.” Eddie drops his chin back on Buck’s chest. 

Buck huffs out a half-offended laugh in reply.

“About what, though?” Eddie asks. The skin between his eyebrows creases up, like he’s preparing himself for something serious. Buck can’t blame him, really. These first few weeks, golden as they may have been, have also revealed some insecurities they’d both had hidden away over the years. They’re not without their jagged edges, but as they’ve learned, they’re pretty good at navigating the rough parts together, at knowing when to smooth them over and when to let them be.

This isn’t that, though, and Buck barely resists the urge to take his thumb to Eddie’s brow and rub out the crease. And really, the only reason he resists that urge is that he only has one free hand, and he’s a little busy using it to reach for Eddie’s hand and lace their fingers together.

“Nothing much,” Buck says. He frowns. “No, that’s not true, actually. It’s kind of everything. I just- I just can’t believe you really chose me, that’s all.”

The crease on Eddie’s forehead smoothes out as he tightens his arm on Buck’s waist. 

“Of course I chose you,” he says easily. “Who else would it be?”

And Buck could make a joke there, could point out what a catch Eddie is, how lucky others would be to date him, but he knows that that would be besides the point, so he doesn’t. He just tightens his arm around Eddie, pulls him in even closer. Lifts their intertwined fingers to his mouth and presses a kiss to one of Eddie’s knuckles.

It couldn’t be anybody else. It’s them.

It’s always been them.

[latenightsimping]

Hi! Hope you don’t mind if I ask you some questions about Willow? (If so please feel free to ignore <3)

How would she describe herself? How would she describe Eddie (or Killian)?

How would she define love if asked?

Who does she idolize, if anyone?

Does she like being called pet names? Does she call other people pet names?

Aaaaaaa no thank you for asking it means a lot to be able to waffle about my OC's you're doing the lord's work 🥺

I think Willow doesn't tend to think about herself very much, but if she *really* had to say something, it'd probably be about being a hard worker who's able to roll with the punches and be like well it do be like that tho.

When she thinks about Killian, she'd say his kindness is his biggest strength. Like the way he'll just help someone without even thinking about it too much, especially when it comes to animals. Man's the fuckin' cat whisperer or something.

With Eddie, she notices his creativity the most. He's got a vivid imagination, and is able to make the most epic storylines for his DnD games or draw high fantasy characters without that much effort.

She's kinda hopeless with love (has only had like one boyfriend and that didn't exactly go too well), but she tends to add a lot of romance in the stories she writes. She describes it as a devotion to another person; the ability to see someone's flaws and not care about them too much. About being able to take turns looking after each other, even when you're both tired or grumpy, and be able to communicate honestly how you're feeling without fear of judgement or ridicule.

The person she idolises the most is actually a coworker at the diner. Marge was the one to vouch for her getting a job, and she's one of those middle age cigarette moms with no filter and curses like a sailor. Has two boys, but she practically sees Willow as her third child. Works as many hours as humanly possible to put away a college fund for her kids, and lets Willow have a nap on top of the chest freezers in return for Willow covering for her to have a crafty cig out the back. The diner is actually one of the places Willow knows she won't get teased at by kids from school, considering it happened exactly once and Marge absolutely hit the roof and chewed them out so bad it made a girl cry. She's a real one for sure, even if she'll call you out for dumbass decisions lmao

There's not many people that call her pet names, but she always gets little heart eyes when people do. Marge calls her chickadee and hon a lot, and the boys tend to call her sweetheart. Sometimes Killian calls her cariad offhandedly, and every time she prays to whoever's listening he can't see her cheeks and tips of her ears go bright red.

The only people she tends to use pet names on are the boys, because she thinks if she called them anything other than sweetpea or honey they'd look at her like she just shot someone in front of them (One time she called after Killian by his name and he sulked about it the whole day).

[steddiebang]

The Pizza Box Pact

Author: @pizzaqueen l Artist: @Goingsteddi3 l Artist: @cousin-itt Posting on Sunday, November 5

Eddie and Steve have been living together, working together, and raising their cat together for a few years, now, but they’re not together together. They’re friends—the best of—nothing more, and they’re happy. At least, Eddie is, and he thought Steve was too. But then he finds a pact they made, one drunken night ten years ago, where they pledged to ‘marry’ each other if they were still single by the time they’re thirty, and everything changes. Steve isn’t amused by the reappearance of the pact, seems almost upset by it, and Eddie figures it’s because he’s going to be thirty soon and doesn’t have a girlfriend. So, he does what any best friend would do: pledges to find Steve the perfect woman, setting him up on a series of unsuccessful blind dates. Somewhere along the way, Eddie rediscovers feelings that he thought he’d put aside years ago. He just hopes he hasn’t found them again too late.

Keep reading for a sneak preview!

“Hey, Steve”—Eddie tumbles into the kitchen, waving the piece of cardboard��“check this out!” He thrusts the pact under Steve’s nose, glee bubbling in his veins as he waits for Steve’s reaction.

“Dude.” Steve leans back, setting down his mug of coffee and swiping the cardboard from Eddie. There’s this look of fond annoyance on his face, one that Eddie is more than familiar with, but it slowly fades as he reads the words written in Eddie’s janky hand. He gives the cardboard back to Eddie. “Why do you still have that?”

Eddie folds himself onto the chair across from Steve at the kitchen table. It’s this old chrome-edged formica thing—a little too kitsch for Eddie’s taste, and definitely too kitsch for Steve’s—that was left by the former residents, along with four mismatched chairs and a mug that says ‘stay cool’ with a picture of a big, yellow cat lying on a melting block of ice.

“You don’t get rid of a pact.” Sure, Eddie forgot about it in the ensuing years, but a pact is a pact. And, well, he likes yanking Steve’s chain.

“We were just dumb kids.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re pushing thirty and you’re still single.” Eddie waves the cardboard. “Time’s running out, man, you’re going to be stuck with me soon.”

“I’m already stuck with you.”

“True.” Eddie reaches for Steve’s coffee mug, but Steve bats his hand out of the way before he can grab it. “We’re practically married already, right? Live together, work together, raising our child together…”

As if on cue, Mercury pads into the room, stopping pointedly by her bowl and meowing. Loudly. Eddie pushes himself to his feet, dragging himself over to the cupboard.

“So everyone keeps saying,” Steve murmurs.

“Who says that?” Eddie gets out the cat food, stooping down to scratch his fingers under Mercury’s chin. “Did Daddy forget to feed you?”

“I didn’t forget,” Steve says, “and stop calling me that. She’s a cat, not our kid.” He crosses his arms over his stomach.

Eddie makes a show of gasping and covering Mercury’s ears. “She’s right here.” When Steve only grunts, hiding his face behind his mug, Eddie says, “So, who says we’re practically married?”

“No one.”

“Well, someone’s grumpy this morning.”

“Well, someone came in here while I was in the middle of my morning coffee, waving some stupid old piece of paper at me.”

Eddie’s brow furrows. He was expecting Steve to at least laugh about this, but he’s being weird. “I’m not actually going to hold you to the pact.”

“Didn’t think you would.”

Right. Time for a different tack. “Is this about you still being single?” Eddie pushes himself to his feet, ignoring Mercury’s indignant mew at leaving her unfed. “Because you’ll find someone. Maybe not by the time you’re thirty, but there’s plenty of time.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay.” The scent of cat food hits Eddie’s nose as he opens the tin; he makes a face and bends down to empty it into Mercury’s bowl. She’s already engrossed in eating when scratches her head again, and he huffs softly before he throws the empty tin out. “Well, being footloose and fancy-free isn’t so bad, is it?”

Eddie likes his life—their life—even if it’s not what he thought it would be. He’s swapped the dream of Madison Square Garden for a music store in Chicago, tour buses and a mansion for an old van and an apartment above the store, and he hasn’t gone on a date in months. Or longer. But he’s still bringing music to people via Corroded Vinyl, he still plays occasionally, and he has Mercury and Steve and their friends. It’s good.

“Dude,” Steve says, stomping over and pulling the empty cat food tin out of the trash, “I’ve told you a million times to wash these first.”

“Sorry. Haven’t had my coffee, yet.” Eddie grabs his favorite mug and pours some coffee into it, along with a healthy serving of cream and sugar. He waits for one of Steve’s usual remarks—about rotting his teeth, or clogging his arteries—but he doesn’t say anything. It sits uneasily. He blows on his coffee and adds, “Anyway, when was the last time I forgot? At least I, unlike a certain roommate who I won’t name, have learned to pick up my wet towels.”

Water drums against the sink, splashing up the sides as Steve runs the tin under the spray. “Whatever.”

“Do you know how gross it is to step on a cold, wet towel when you’re not expecting it?”

“You’ve survived so far,” Steve says, the tiniest hint of a smile playing on his lips and, for a moment, Eddie thinks this can all be forgotten, but the smile fades, and Steve adds, “I just… I’m getting kinda old for footloose and fancy-free.”

Eddie leans back against the counter near the sink; as Steve moves, his elbow brushes Eddie’s arm, and their hips bump once or twice. “I’m older than you.”

“I’m not you.”

“Okay, who pissed in your Wheaties?”

“No one.” Steve empties the sink, shakes the tin out, and dumps it back in the trash. “I’m going to open the store,” he says, stopping by the table to gulp the rest of his coffee before he heads out.

Eddie blinks at the space where Steve was a moment ago. “Well, that was weird.” He looks at Mercury. “You know what’s got into your second favorite dad?”

Mercury looks up at Eddie, then trots away.

“Very helpful, thanks.” Eddie shrugs and pours himself a bowl of Count Chocula; he spoons some cereal into his mouth and throws the pact in the trash, then takes it back out and sticks it on the fridge with a Snoopy magnet. He’s not throwing it away because Steve’s in a shitty mood.

Maybe Steve will find it funny when he’s woken up properly.

Read more on November 5!

[sweetcreaturetm]

Maybe it’s another nursing student Steve ficlet. SO WHAT?

Eddie is a transporter at a local hospital it’s a pretty chill job he gets to put his AirPods in and listen to all the metal he wants as long as he keeps up small talk with the patients as he wheels them to and from their rooms.

He gets called to take an older patient to a cat scan in the ED. He swings his wheelchair into the pod of rooms where the patient is and looks over to see who can only be described as a literal god. With golden brown hair almost to his shoulders half tied back and round gold frame glasses. He’s got on the tightest scrub pants Eddie has ever seen he can’t believe they fit over this guys ass. He can’t help but stare. Unfortunately he forgets to look where he’s going and almost runs into a grumpy old man who does not hold back from yelling at Eddie. He feels his face heat up. People are starting to look at the cause of the noise. Certain people. Certain godlike people. He turns and makes eye contact. The guys got a concerned face vaguely apologetic. Eddie tries to apologize and manages to get away from the old man and into his patients room. He gathers himself and turns the charm on. Gathering the patient and disconnecting them from any cords and they’ll be on their way. But as he goes to leave the room he’s greeted by the smiling face of the god. He gets a chance to read his temporary badge. Steve. Hmm it fits him Eddie thinks. But Eddie doesn’t make a habit of calling people their actual names.

“Hey Mrs. Jones do you know this man?” Steve questions his patient jokingly. They seem to have a rapport going.

“Remember what we rehearsed” Eddie fake whispers. That cracks both Steve and Mrs. Jones. Just when Eddie didn’t think Steve could get more beautiful he laughed and lit the room with his smile.

Steve looks back to Eddie and tells him he was just going to get some supplies ready while she’s down in CT. He smiles brightly and lets Eddie pass.

Mrs. Jones as it turns out is a hoot and a half they joke while he takes her down the long hallway and all the way back. And as much as he likes her he kind of can’t wait to get back to her room to see if Steve is still there. Tragically for Eddie he is not. And he can’t seem to see him anywhere. He maybe drags his feet through the emergency department to catch Steve again before making his way to where the transporters wait for calls. But unfortunately that’s all he sees of Steve for now.

Every time he gets a call for transport he jumps at it so maybe it’ll take him to see Steve before his shift is over. It takes about an hour before he gets another call in the ED he’s practically running the wheelchair down there. This patient is in a different pod so he gets that one done quick so he can lollygag around where he thinks Steve will be. He walks around the rooms and through the nurses station and when he’s about to give up hope he runs into the man himself.

“Are you sure you’re fully trained you seem to have a penchant for running people over” Steve teases him.

Eddie can feel himself blush “maybe I’m a little distracted tonight” he tries for a flirting tone.

Steve seems interested “oh and what is so distracting that you can’t steer that wheelchair straight.”

Eddie chooses to ignore the irony that he can’t even make himself run straight. He motions for Steve to lean in so he can tell him a secret “it’s actually a person” he waggles his eyebrows.

Steve seems to deflate “oh one of the nurses?”

“I don’t think they’re technically a nurse yet” Eddie winks and Steve gapes.

He can see the wheels turning in Steve’s head “Oh.”

“Is that okay?” Eddie gets a little nervous.

“Yes!” Steve almost yells but tries to save it “I mean yeah of course.”

“Well in that case I think we should maybe get each others numbers cause my boss is gonna kill me if I spend anymore time down here.” Eddie gives Steve a hopeful smile.

“Right.” Steve nods “Probably same I shouldn’t just be standing around flirting”

Eddie chuckles “is that what we were doing? You didn’t even ask my name yet.”

Steve blushes red. He gives his phone to Eddie and takes Eddie’s into his own hands. Eddie saves his name as ‘Eddie 🦽’ and Steve saves his as ‘Steve 🩺’.

“Okay Eddie” Steve confirms “maybe we can-“ but he gets cut off when his charge nurse yells for him.

Later when Steve gets off he sees a text from Eddie “Hey Stevie, let me know when you’re free and I’ll take you for a ride.😉” and maybe a stronger man would wait more than 5 seconds to respond but he is not that man. Especially not when it involves Eddie apparently.

[rebelrobin86]

9. Free Day

(Nancy)

Nancy stood impatiently waiting for her younger brother Mike to be ready, so they could leave.

"Mike, you have 30 seconds, or I'm leaving without you."

Mike quickly hurried tying his shoes, while Nancy waited by the door.

"Come on, let's go!"

"I'm going!"

Nancy ran outside excitedly with Mike. Steve pulled up outside their house in the RV, Nancy and Mike got in.

All their friends were there. Mike chose to sit at the back with Eleven, Will and the party. Eddie sat up front with Steve.

"Hey guys."

Robin was sat crossed legged, as she curiously looked Nancy up and down, seeing her hold a large handbag.

"Hey Nance, what's with the bag?"

"Since we're going to the beach, I've packed towels, swim suits, sunscreen, sunglasses, books..."

Eddie interrupted.

"Woah, wanna dial it back a bit Mary Poppins?"

Eddie laughed. Robin rolled her eyes giving Eddie an unamused look.

"Ignore him."

Robin would have found it funny if she had made the comment, like she can tease Nancy a little, but instantly feels defensive if anyone else does.

"So what actually is Free Day?"

Nancy lit up as she sat next to Robin, happy to share her idea. Realising she hadn't actually explained to them why she's called it Free Day, or that she had been planning this for weeks with Steve.

"It's a Saturday, no school and you and Steve have the day off work, so we're free to all hang out."

Mike instantly recognised where Nancy got the inspiration for Free Day from.

"Free Day! Like when Mom and Dad would take us and Holly out somewhere fun?"

Nancy nodded.

"Yeah Mike, it's like our family's Free Day."

Steve smiled softly, he feels distant from his family, so he's touched that his friends see him as family.

"So this is a family day out or something?"

"Yeah, Steve, we're sort of like a family."

Nancy got a pack of UNO cards out of her bag, she shuffled the cards.

"I also brought UNO with us."

Eddie played metal music from his tapes, Steve couldn't stand it, so he banished him to the back of the RV. Eddie joined Nancy, Robin and the kids playing UNO.

Eddie didn't mind, he knew Steve could just be a grumpy driver.

Steve moaned at the traffic. It was busy, parking was impossible, especially with those idiot drivers that he groaned at.

Steve finally managed to park and got out the RV with everyone, leaving Nancy and Robin alone to tidy UNO away.

Robin looked at Nancy thoughtfully.

"Did you ever want kids?"

"I don't know, as a kid I assumed I'd grow up to marry a guy and have kids, it felt like that's what I should do. You know? I think that's what Steve wanted, for our future."

"But?"

"Well I don't know if want, is the right word."

"I know what you mean, we already have kids in our little family. I think Steve's happy with these little nuggets that leave UNO cards all over the floor, for us to tidy as they run off to the beach."

Nancy laughed, discussing their chosen family. She didn't dread the idea completely, when it's Robin by her side.

"Steve's the dad, you're like the mom of the group, Eddie's like their fun uncle. That makes me their fun, gay aunt? I would obviously be like Steve's sister, which could make you the gay mom?"

Nancy then drops the cards she was holding, shocked Robin said that, but still happy with that idealistic family idea.

"Did you ever want kids, Robin?"

Nancy quickly picked the cards back up, hoping Robin didn't notice. Robin noticed but didn't mention it, just helped her pick up the cards.

Nancy saw the sunlight made Robin's hair glow golden like the sun, looking in her breathtaking ocean blue eyes.

"I thought about it. I think this it for me, for now, but if I ever found the right girl. I'd consider having kids with her, if we both wanted them. Right now, I can't even keep a plant alive. So I would have to get a plant first, then if it survives a fish, then a hamster. After that a cat or a dog, finally then maybe a small human or two."

Nancy giggled, she really loved Robin, but relieved neither of them felt ready for kids. They could both be could be content in a future without them, however are open to the possibility they might some day.

In contrast to Steve, who has only ever imagined his future with little Harringtons. Nancy really hoped Steve could be happy, settle down with the right person and start a family with them.

Nancy just knew she wasn't the right person for Steve or even Jonathan, she's never felt as happy, as she does with Robin.

"You might be overthinking this, but I'll get you a plant, we'll raise it together. Give it enough water and sunlight."

"Yeah, I'd love that. We'll be plant moms."

Nancy finally packs away all the UNO cards, then puts them in her bag. She threw her bag on her arm and held both hands out to help Robin stand up.

Nancy and Robin left the RV to catch up with their family on the beach.

[saturatedsinset]

Please tell me as much as you can about beautiful posh catgirl Page and also, completely unrelatedly, grumpy Mr. "I Don't Like Cats" Eddie. 😇😇😇

oh i see you i see how these two things have nothing to do with each other. i'm narrowing my eyes at you. have a cut this got long

catgirl adam page my beloved my angel... i'm thinking of her always. she is a calico, of course, and she is Perfectly groomed at all times. she's a little squirrely about where she comes from but who needs to know that when what matters is that she has a catpeople sized CAT TOWER ROOM in her house! she paints her claws and she sharpens them lest anyone think she is not a threat. nick takes her to one of mox's [redacted] once and she falls in love with the [redacted] at first sight. here is a small excerpt of matt describing her to moxeddie:

"Yeah," Eddie says slowly. Matt risks a glance at him, but he's just propped his chin on his hand, looks thoughtful. "Yeah, she's real pretty. She's got a vibe like she's royalty, kinda."

“Yes!” Matt exclaims, his anxieties lost in the face of a potential ally. “She’s so pretty, and the way she talks to you, it’s like you’re beneath her but not in a bad way? Like she’s too good for you but not like she thinks so, which is the part I always have trouble with.”

mr i don't like cats eddie kingston! what can i say about him! he doesn't like cats, not one bit, despite having [redacted] and [redacted] and no neither of these redacteds are matt. lucy wrote the bit about his shows which is a fucking godsend because now i never stop thinking about eddie kingston and his silly little cat gossip shows............ he's on the forums............. he hates matt jackson trust him on this he haaates him. loves adam page though. everyone does

[shares-a-vest]

Steve huffs a laugh as he walks into the living area fresh from a shower. He can't help it, Eddie is too cute when he's all irrationally grumpy, stooped over in an inhumane posture as he mutters away to himself and scribbles furiously on a notepad.

"Nope!" he exclaims, chopping a hand through the air before promptly returning to his musings.

"What's up?" Steve asks, a little cautious but smiling nonetheless because Eddie is now shaking his head, sending his curls bouncing about and tapping his rings on the coffee table.

He looks up, still huddled over his work, his eyes barely visible through his hair.

"This isn't working!" he snaps and yeah, that looks like a glare.

"Sorry," Steve says, mimicking zipping his lips shut as he steps closer.

Eddie continues scratching away, tapping his foot under the coffee table enough to make the floor vibrate as Steve lowers to sit next to him.

"Nope! Nope... Not... right... Watch-a, gah! Fuh-!"

Eddie cuts himself off, garbling a bunch of... noises? words? before clenching his teeth and growling. He palms at the notepad, rips off more than one sheet of paper and crumples it in his fist.

He looks at Steve, scrunching up his nose and frowns.

"How about we have a break?" Steve suggests, delicately plucking the (now) tight ball of paper from Eddie's grip.

He hovers his hand between them just enough for Eddie to drop his pout for a split second. Steve watches as he rakes greedy eyes over him, walking his fingers up his arm.

"Make me feel better?" Eddie lazily teases, still sounding grumpy as he bumps their shoulders. He leans in to sniff Steve (god his boyfriend is weird) adding, "You smell nice, sugarplum."

Steve chuckles and in one swift move, tosses the paper and slides onto Eddie's lap, bracketing him against the couch. He brushes at his tousled fringe.

"You look like a grumpy little kitten when you're cwanky."

Eddie folds his arms and huffs, again scrunching up his nose.

"Am not!"

Steve can't help it. He boops Eddie's nose, earning a not-at-all serious hiss.

[mistflyer1102]

lesson

Summary: While waiting for Q, Bond teaches the techs a thing or two about improvisation.

-------------------------

“You ask him.”

“No, you ask him! You’ve been here longer!”

“Which is why I’m smart enough not to take that bet.”

Bond tilted his head as he calmly walked up to one group of huddled techs smack dab in the middle of Technical Services in Q-Branch. He wasn’t even trying to be discreet -- Marcela even looked up and waved when she saw him -- but none of the other techs seemed to notice, intently focused on something in the middle of the table. He slowed down though, when Marcela detached herself from the group and walked over, smiling cheerfully. Not an emergency then, given that it’s actually quiet and calm for once, he mused to himself as he stopped in front of Marcela. “Good morning, am I interrupting something? Q left something at home, thought I would drop it off for him,” he said gesturing to the knot of techs that were now all standing stiff.

“Nope, they’re just figuring out whether to make bets on one of the double-ohs,” she said, smiling as she shrugged her shoulders. As third-in-command of the branch, Bond knew she had seen and heard all in Q-Branch. Betting on Double-Os did not faze her very much anymore. “Anyway, Q is in a meeting right now with the R&D guys, do you want me to take whatever it is he forgot and hold onto it?” she offered, extending a hand.

Bond shook his head. “Thank you, but I’m not in a rush. And I’m intrigued by this bet. Which agent are they betting on and about what?” he asked, glancing over at the knot of techs. He could see that one or two were already trying to discreetly, casually, shuffle away from the group.

Marcela arched a brow at him.

Oh.

Bond inclined his head at her before moving towards the group. Some of them had to be new, the veterans knew he wouldn’t actually do anything to them. Well, nothing to warrant a stern reprimand from Q, which was just about anything and everything. Only Q could get away with giving Bond shit, which he did more often than his techs actually knew. “Good morning ladies and gentlemen,” Bond said, leaning in between the techs closet to him. There were numerous squeaks of surprise and murmured hellos as they shifted slightly in place to give him room. “So, enlighten me. What are we talking about? Something that the benevolent overlord shall not hear about?” he asked, grinning when a few techs blinked at him in surprise. They had to be new, all of Q’s staff knew that Bond knew the in-house nickname for Q.

For a moment, no one spoke. Bond could almost see them silently debating who was going to deal with the Double-O at their table. “Um, no, I guess not? It’s, uh, really not that important, or work-related, anyway,” one of the techs -- definitely a newcomer, Bond didn’t recognize him -- said finally, gesturing to the tabletop. Bond looked down to see a few innocuous items, including a pencil, a sheet of paper, a ceramic saucer, a rubber band, and a set of car keys. The tech shifted uncomfortably when Bond looked back up at him. “Well, Max and I are new to the Technical Services Station, we just started last week, and a bunch of the others are saying that double-ohs can weaponize anything you give them. I, er, we don’t quite know what to think, or believe,” the tech admitted, scratching the back of his neck as Bond hummed thoughtfully.

“And you’re betting that I can or can’t weaponize everything on this table?” Bond asked, picking up the keys to study them. He was mildly annoyed to find that the car manufacturer was not emblazoned on the main key as it usually was.

Another tech said, “Well, we can kind of guess on the pencil, I’m Max by the way, that’s Eddie. Anyway, we can guess that the pencil, you can just throw it like a dart at someone,” Max said, gesturing to the first tech before leaning on the table. “But...yeah, the Quartermaster complains every now and then that he can’t give you guys anything because it ends up wrecked somehow, and I didn’t think that it was possible to do that with every little thing in existence. So we pooled these items as examples.”

Bond nodded. “Well, you can also stick the pencil into a space where it doesn’t belong, mechanical gears are the usual place since it jams everything up. Did that to an alarm clock once, that was also the one and only time Q ever overslept to date as an MI6 employee,” he said, setting the pencil down. “But imagine doing that to a car, or some overly large weapon.”

The techs nodded, one of them grimacing.

“Keys...keys are useful as weapons on their own, and for the cars they usually work for,” he said, turning to Marcela, who was tapping something out on her tablet. “Where did you get these? Is Q hiding a new prototype from me?”

“No, they are replacement keys for my car, and I was the only one in the group who had their keys with them. Please don’t wreck my car, I really like it,” Marcela said, not looking up from her work.

Bond set the keys back down on the table next to the pencil. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to touch your car. Promise,” he said, crossing his heart with a finger as Marcela glanced up at him. “Employee cars are off-limits.”

She blinked.”Really? I actually didn’t know that.”

Bond nodded. “The only employee car I’m allowed to drive is Q’s, and that’s in emergencies only,” he said, picking up the saucer. He held it up for the techs to see. “Useful for either causing distractions, or for buttering Q up if you want something from him. He normally drinks his tea in that Scrabble mug of his, but if you really want to up the ante a bit, bring it to him in a teacup and saucer when he’s sitting down for a meeting with the other department heads. Almost works every time.”

Eddie frowned. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘almost’?” he asked, resting his hands on the table.

Bond said, “Q got even more irritated with me once when I did that because it was more of an apology than a bribe.” He set the saucer down, and then reached for the rubber band. “I don’t think I need to go into the applications of all this, but it’s good for keeping doors closed enough that no one can immediately crash in when you’re working, but should only be used as a last resort. It’s also good for securing the plastic wrap around the laundry detergent to lessen the mess when one of the cats knocks the container down off the machine,” he said, turning the rubber band over in his hands.

“Don’t you have a cap to the container, sir?”

Bond said, “We had a cap, it disappeared one day. When small items disappear in our flat with two cats around, you have to accept the fact that you’re never going to see it again.” He set the rubber band back down, and he didn’t miss the sense of anticipation suddenly heightening as he picked up the sheet of paper. “This… this you can just straight up set on fire and go from there,” he said, grinning as the techs blinked, and began to mutter amongst themselves. Bond glanced over his shoulder, and then grinned when he saw who was approaching them.

Eddie raised his hands. “Yeah, yeah, I should have thought of that,” he admitted, taking a step back as Bond handed him the piece of paper. “Okay, Max, you win, you win,” he said, grinning as he handed a few quid over to Max, who cackled as he pocketed the money.

“What is going on over here?”

Abrupt silence fell over the group as Q appeared, still looking a little grumpy from the meeting. Only Bond and Marcela didn't react, Bond grinning at Q as Marcela continued tapping away at her tablet. Q stared at the items on the table, and then turned to Bond. “Please...I do not know what you are doing here, but I want this branch to be standing by the end of the day.”

“And it will, we were just settling a bet,” Bond replied. “Nothing is getting destroyed today, promise. I just came by to drop off your tea tin, the one you brought home last night to refill,” he said, offering the tin to Q. “Nothing is broken, and the cats are fine.”

Q studied him suspiciously, and then glanced at his techs, who discreetly dispersed back to their work stations. Then he nodded. “Thank you, James, for bringing me this. I need it, especially since I’m about to go into a budget meeting with M and the Treasury. If you decide to stay here, please stay out of the techs’ way, let them do their job, and do not make a nuisance of yourself,” he said, smiling at Bond before his attention strayed back to his phone.

Bond swept a mock bow as Q turned to leave. “Of course, my Quartermaster.”

He laughed when Q flipped him off over his shoulder.

[jay4firefic]

How Buck accidentally adopted a cat... (featuring Christopher Diaz)

“What’s with the sour face?” Buck asks, dropping into a chair at the kids’ table beside Christopher. The kid in question is still picking at his half eaten barbecue long after the other firehouse children have run off to play in the big backyard.

“Harry’s dad might let him get a pet.” Christopher stabs viciously at his pasta salad with his adaptive fork, only succeeding at scattering pieces in every direction. “My dad says we can’t have a pet and I’ve been asking for ages.”

“I’m sure your dad has a really good reason for saying you can’t get a pet.” Which for the life of him Buck can’t remember at the moment, despite the fact that he knows Eddie told him about Christopher’s crusade to get a dog just last week. He catches Eddie’s eye over the top of Christopher’s head and jerks his head in a silent come here.

“He says we don’t have time for a pet but that’s stupid.” Christopher’s fork clatters and scrapes across the plate again. “I have lots of time.”

“Well, buddy, taking care of a pet is a lot of work,” Buck says, slinging his arm around Christopher’s narrow shoulders. 

“How would you know, you don’t even have a pet.”

“Actually,” Buck pulls Christopher in a little closer and ruffles his hair, “I’ve got a cat. And she’s pretty high maintenance.”

For the first time since Buck sat down Christopher looks up at him. His furrowed brow is so clearly a scaled down version of what Buck thinks of as Eddie’s ‘what are you talking about, dumbass?’ expression that Buck nearly melts. “You don’t have a cat, Bucky. I’ve been to your house.”

“Yeah, Bucky,” Chimney sits down across from them in tandem with Eddie and steals a carrot stick off of Christopher’s plate. Eddie just watches Buck with a confused frown. “You don’t have a cat, unless something happened in the last 24 hours that you miraculously haven’t told us all about.”

“I’ve never told you about my cat?” Buck looks between three baffled expressions. He doesn’t talk about Chicago much for a variety of reasons, but he really never told them about the cat? “Huh. Well, I totally have a cat. When I moved to Los Angeles I left her in Chicago with my old roommate because,” he turns back to Christopher with a serious expression - or his best attempt at one, at least, “pets need stability and a lot of attention, and when I first moved here I wasn’t living somewhere I could give her that.”

Christopher scrunches up his nose in an adorable frown. “If she doesn’t live with you how is she still your pet?”

“I’m with the kid on this one. You’ve been in LA like three years, that’s not your cat anymore man.”

Buck steals another carrot from Christopher and throws it at Chimney, who catches it right before it can hit him between the eyes and pops it in his mouth instead. “Rude. She’s totally still my cat. I rescued her!”

“You rescued her?” Christopher’s eyes widen and yeah, Buck is starting to win him over.

“I did! I rescued her from a warehouse fire in Chicago. Here, let me…” Buck digs out his phone and starts scrolling through old Instagram posts until he gets back to 2016. When he finds the right picture he makes a triumphant noise and turns the phone toward Christopher, then Chim and Eddie. The screen is taken up by a photo of Buck, a half a decade younger and a little leaner, decked out in CFD gear, covered in soot and ash, and holding something that looks like a dirty rag. He scrolls to the next picture - a close up of the pitiful gray bundle peeking out the collar of his turnout coat that resolves into a singed and filthy cat. “See? I rescued her, she’s my cat.”

“That’s a pretty sad looking cat,” Eddie observes, and it’s truthful but Buck still squawks in protest.

“She was having a bad day, alright? She’s a beautiful lady.” He closes instagram, opens his messages and finds the most recent one from Casey. Stupid Cat still misses you, and a picture of Kelly asleep on the couch in a pool of sunlight with a black and white cat curled up on his bare chest. Buck used to spend lazy mornings in the exact same position. “See?”

He startles and nearly drops the phone when Athena lets out a low whistle and leans in over his shoulder. “Are we supposed to be looking at the cat or that man, Buckaroo?”

Both, Buck thinks, even as he scoffs at her. Christopher provides a convenient distraction by tugging on his arm and demanding to know the cat’s name, his frown replaced by a grin that could light up a Christmas tree. Crisis averted. “Uh, her name is...Cat, actually,” he laughs, rubbing at the back of his neck.

Now it’s Athena’s turn to scoff. “You named your cat Cat?”

“Well, uhm…” Buck briefly has a whole different crisis on his hands trying to figure out how to tell that story without giving too much away. “My roommate said if we named her we’d get attached and have to keep her, so he insisted on just calling her Cat until we found her a new home. And then we...never found her a new home. Kinda hard to rehome something with three and a half legs and one eye, y’know? By the time he gave up and admitted she was ours it was too late to change it.”

He had tried for weeks, surfing baby name websites on his phone over breakfast or while lounging around the house and calling her by anything that caught his interest. At the end of the day he was always still calling for Cat, though, and Kelly had never stopped adding Stupid as a prefix. 

“Looks like your roommate ended up getting pretty attached himself,” Chim observes as Buck flips to a different picture - a selfie of a grumpy-looking Kelly with bedhead, holding a mug to his lips while Cat balances precariously on his bare shoulders.

“Does that man own any shirts?” Athena asks. 

Buck elects to ignore her and answer Chimney. “Severide will never admit it, but he loves the Stupid Cat. I was gonna go back for her once I got settled, but…” He shrugs. He wasn’t ready to face Kelly without the distance provided by a phone line at first, and then it had just seemed cruel to separate them. He had always meant to return to Chicago, to 51 and home, someday anyway. That someday had just started getting further and further away once he got attached to everyone at the 118. “She’s got a pretty cushy life in Chicago, and lots of people to take care of her. Here it would just be me, and like I said,” he looks down at Christopher again, “pets are a lot of work. It wouldn’t be fair to her.”

“Can I meet her someday?” Chris asks, because he always knows just how to pull on Buck’s heartstrings. 

“I don’t know, buddy. Maybe someday. For now I’ll see if K-” he catches himself, smooths it into, “Casey and Severide can send me some videos to show you. How does that sound?”

“Okayyyyy,” Christopher agrees with a put upon sigh. 

A few minutes later he finally gets up and joins the rest of the kids at play, and Buck has to uncurl himself from the uncomfortably small chair. Eddie bumps their shoulders together while Buck is still trying to shake feeling back into his feet. “Good distraction, but you realize he’s gonna be asking you for pictures all the time now, right?”

Buck shrugs and jostles Eddie in return. “That’s fine, I’ve got plenty.”

[octoberobserver]

I saw where someone else had made a post about that vine video where the one guys wakes the other up but then a 2nd guy was in the bed as well and no one knew. yea that for adult reddie

Hi nonnie, so sorry for the late reply on this! Thanks for this fun prompt, I had a blast. It ended up being 60% Hanbrough tbh, but I had fun with it ^_^

Read on ao3 Wake Up Call for Mr Tozier

Richie and Eddie weren’t subtle.

They were handsy.

And flirty.

And drunk.

But for someone able to concoct such elaborate stories (albeit with horrible endings) and create beautiful sentences (albeit among gore and horror), Bill Denbrough wasn’t always what the Losers would call…intuitive. At least not when it came to badly-kept secrets.

Common sense isn’t all that common, Eddie would shrug.

Dumb as a sack of hammers, Bev would reply.

King of the Himbos, Richie would conclude.

Which was how, on the eve of their second annual reunion, when all the Losers, (plus Patty, Don and Adrian - all officially new members) eventually retired to bed, where they were staying with Bill and Mike in his giant, seven-bedroom L.A. home, he failed to notice Richie and Eddie’s sleeping arrangements.

He watched, bleary-eyed, as the two ‘helped’ each other up the stairs, each as drunk as the other, doing more stumbling than anything, like two hammered Bambis. Suppressing his chuckle, Bill wound an arm around Mike’s waist as leaned in close, following his eye line.

“Did we put enough pillows in the guest room for Eddie?”

A slow smile spread across Mike’s face as he watched dumb and dumber stumble on the stairs, giggling like the two perpetual middle-schoolers they were.

“Something tells me he won’t need ‘em, Bill,” he murmured before planting a kiss to the side of his boyfriend’s head.

Bill frowned, turning to Mike, opening his mouth to ask why not.

“Come to bed.”

Bill’s mouth snapped shut, transforming into a grin.

~*~

Like with endings, (at least the literary kind), mornings were not Bill’s forte. But it had to be said, waking up next to Mike Hanlon, definitely helped.

“Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey,” a deep, low voice mumbled into his ear, a huff of breath causing him to shiver.

With a groan, he turned over and snuggled into the furnace-like warmth of the man beside him, burying his face in his shoulder, a pleased hum escaping his lips as he felt a strong arm wind around him.

“Do we have to make breakfast for everyone?”

His question was muffled and more than a little sulky, but Mike laughed all the same.“

We wanna be good hosts, don’t we?”

Bill groaned again, his head making its feelings known on that last shot of tequila he downed because Richie had dared him. (Maybe he was still a bit of a middle-schooler too.)

“I guess so.”

“That’s the spirit.”

Mike’s tone was warm, teasing, and alluring enough that Bill just had to look up and kiss him, right on the lips, morning breath be damned.

“Don’t talk about spirits,” he mumbled against his mouth, “my head hasn’t forgiven me for last night.”

Mike raked his palms up Bill’s sides, squeezing his hips. “No sympathy,” he grinned, eyes twinkling, “all self-inflicted.”

With that he gave a hearty smack to his ass, beginning to push him out of the bed. “Go on, you go wake up the kids. I’ll get breakfast started.”

Bill moaned, and not for good reasons.

“I hate having to wake Richie. He’s like a bear in the morning.”

Mike swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching, his sleep-shirt riding up and revealing a sliver of the very tantalising skin above his belly button, making Bill freeze mid-step.

“I feel like it’s my duty to remind you on Richie’s behalf that he is not a bear, he’s a...sea lion?” Mike paused, scratching his stomach, “No, that’s not right. An otter? Beaver? I don’t know man, something that swims, I think. Adrian was trying to teach me all the different kinds of gay—mmph!”

Bill cut him off with a kiss, leaning up and dragging him down into it.

“I love you, you giant, sexy nerd,” he grinned as the kiss broke, running his thumb under the hem of Mike’s sleep-shirt.

“I love you too,” Mike winked, smacking Bill’s ass again, “but don’t think it gets you out of waking the Losers. Start with someone easy, like Eddie.”

There was something in Mike’s voice, in his smirk, that had Bill’s suspicions flaring, but he sighed, pecking his jaw before resigning himself to his fate. Out of all of them, Eddie was one of the earliest risers, usually. It was a tie between him, Ben and Stan, most of the time. Ben, a frequent morning jogger, and Stan, an avid bird-watcher. So really, Bill knew Mike was right, starting with him.

Shrugging nto his slippers and robe, he dragged a hand through his bed-head and shuffled down the corridor, making a bee-line for Eddie’s room.

“Eds?” he called out quietly as he knocked. “Mike and I are making breakfast if you’re interested?”

Silence rang out. With a frown, he turned the handle and gave a quick glance around the door, eyes falling on the empty bed, so neatly made up, it looked like it hadn’t been slept in. Huh. Eddie must already be up. With a shrug, Bill closed the door with a snap and decided that it was best to just rip the bandaid off. Richie was going to be the one that gave the most pushback, so he may as well start with him. If he was his usual grumpy self, Bill could always move onto everyone else then loop back around.

With Richie though, he’d have to try a different approach than with Eddie. Something loud and annoying to get back at him for his part in Bill’s hangover. Quickly, he got fished out his phone from his robe pocket, turning to the guest room where Richie was staying, directly opposite Eddie’s. 

Counting down from three in his head, he hit record and flung the door wide open, spotting Richie asleep in one of the twin beds. Stifling his laugh, Bill switched on the light and yelled, “Wake up, Sleepyhead!”

He watched gleefully as Richie, with a serious case of bed-head, jumped, grumbling something like, “Whoa, what’s goin—”

“The fuck, man?”

Bill blinked as Eddie suddenly popped up from behind Richie, his arm very noticeably thrown over his hip, both men very, very shirtless. The three friends stared at each other. A beat of silence passed.

Two.

Three.

Shock shot through Bill, his brain scrambling to make sense of this picture, a borderline hysterical laugh escaping his throat. He found his brain vividly flashing back to various moments, touches, shared smiles between Richie and Eddie and…oh. Then, with exactly zero input from his brain, his feet turned him around and led him right back out the bedroom door, a louder laugh bursting from him and carrying down the corridor, no doubt enough to wake the rest of the Losers.

Good. That gave him time to spill the beans to Mike.

Richie and Eddie blinked at the closed door that their friend had just bolted through.

“Well, that’s one way to tell him,” Eddie sighed, letting his head fall back onto the pillow, his arm tightening around Richie’s waist.

“Yeah, you popping up all Whack-A-Mole-style and scaring the crap outta him was one way to go, Eds,” Richie chuckled, turning around to face him and kissing him on the forehead.

“The man fought a murderous space clown. Twice,” Eddie grumbled into his neck, “I think he can survive seeing us in bed together.”

Richie snorted, settling a hand on his lower back, pulling their bodies closer together, he already in danger of falling out of the far too small bed.

“You know there’s a double in your room, right?” he murmured into Eddie’s hair. “Remind me again why we ended up squeezed into this tiny twin bed?”

Eddie poked him in the chest, prompting him to lean back to look him in the eye.

“Rich, we were so drunk, we’re lucky we didn’t end up trying to make these into bunk beds and sleeping in them, or something worse.”

Richie smirked. “That tub was looking appealing last night, not gonna lie.”

“And besides,” Eddie poked his chest again, softer this time, “I wanted to push the beds together to make a double. Like we did in middle school. But, you know, the tequila—”

“Ahh, the tequila,” Richie sighed wistfully, before leaning down and pressing their foreheads together.“Guess the cat’s outta the bag now, huh?” 

Eddie rolled his eyes before letting them close.

“All the others already know. Bill was just being slow on the uptake as usual.”

Richie bumped their noses.

“Told you, Eds. He’s a himbo.”

“King Himbo, I think you said.”

They shared a laugh before closing the short distance, their lips meeting in a gentle kiss. Richie hummed into it happily, (still tickled that Eddie apparently wasn’t as opposed to morning breath as he thought), brushing his tongue along Eddie’s bottom lip, the kiss deepening. Just as things were getting good, far too good for two people who were just called for breakfast, Eddie stilled, pulling away, his cheeks flushed, lips plump, and his eyes wide.

“Wait, was he recording us?”

[moviemunchies]

I’m sort of doing this thing where I’m reading books and keeping a log of it, and if there’s a movie adaptation I try to watch it before moving on to the next book in the series. So I’ve been meaning to get to Prince Caspian for a while now after reading the book.

This one’s weird because a large chunk of the Chronicles of Narnia fandom doesn’t like this movie very much. And I pretty much loved it since I saw it in theaters? It’s not as faithful to the book as the previous film, but that doesn’t make it bad. I’m still struck by the design of the film, which stands out from most fantasy films of the time (and many today), and it’s got a lot of action! That’s enough to make me dig a fantasy movie.

_Prince Caspian_ is the second installment of Walden Media’s Chronicles of Narnia film series and the sequel to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It’s also the last film in the series that was made by Disney, as they quit because they were disappointed by this one’s reception. Walden Media managed to get another studio to fund and distribute the third movie.

After a year in England, the Pevensies come back to Narnia to find that over a thousand years have passed. The country’s been conquered by the Telmarines who have driven the Narnia creatures into hiding, thinking they’d been wiped out. The Telmarine prince, Caspian X, is sympathetic to Narnians but didn’t know they still existed--that is, until he has to run from the palace and lead them in rebellion against his uncle who wants him dead to take the throne. The Pevensies are there to help of course, but Peter butts heads with Caspian (and his siblings) on how to best fight this war. And Aslan’s nowhere to be seen, except by Lucy, who can’t convince the others to follow that lead.

This movie does actually have a lot of content from the book, just rearranged or recontextualized. The Plot is completely reworked and I don’t mind that because a huge chunk of Caspian’s story in the book is being told to the Pevensies by Trumpkin--that would be a very frustrating way to tell his story in the movie. Some things, like the animals holding faith for Aslan when others don’t, is implied by the way scenes are done rather than outright told to the audience.

There are some things that are in both the book and movie, but the movie doesn’t quite explain what that’s about. The sparring match between Edmund and Trumpkin doesn’t really make much sense in the movie.

There’s also the attack on the castle. This sequence is invented entirely for the movie, and while it’s frustrating in a similar way that Finn and Rose’s subplot in The Last Jedi is, the book does mention the Narnians losing some battles and so actually showing that to the audience is fine. Also I like seeing the way they apply griffins and mice in the raid. That’s cool thinking and I wish to see more fantasy films think about how fantasy creatures might be used on military operations.

Also I really like the design of this movie? The Narnian side mostly keeps the same designs for their weapons and armor, but it’s a lot more worn down, and that makes sense because they’ve been hiding in the woods for a few hundred years. They don’t have new weapons. The Telmarines, on the other hand, look fantastic. For their culture, WETA Workshop was inspired by Spanish and Italian culture, so instead of longswords they use side swords and falchions, and their armor brings to mind a combination of Spanish conquistadors, Italian condottieri, and Japanese samurai. They look more Renaissance than medieval and I love it.

The cast is also matched up to that, with Spanish and Italian actors playing the roles of Telmarines. Ben Barnes is an exception, as he’s English, but he’s putting on his best Inigo Montoya impression as Caspian.

You know what? Let’s talk about this cast. Ben Barnes, back when he wasn’t just playing villains. I remember classmates in high school saying that he’s too old, but if he is that’s because the actor playing Peter is also too old. Caspian is supposed to be the same age as Peter, so I didn’t mind it here. I think he overdoes the whole “YOU KILLED MY FATHER” thing but I don’t think that’s Ben Barnes’s fault as much as he’s working with the Plot point that’s been sandwiched into the story.

William Moseley does very well in playing Peter as he’s written for this movie, the problem is that Peter in this movie is written to be an absolute prat. His whole arc in this movie is about learning that he doesn’t have to be in charge and to let Aslan take the wheel. This would make sense if his life experience was only what we saw in the last movie’s adventure, but we know that he apparently grew up in Narnia and became a successful and wise warrior king. So him being so full of himself here doesn’t make sense. I got over it, as I see what they were going for, deconstructing how a kid might feel after his time in Narnia, but it is very annoying and it makes Peter very unlikable.

Unlike Edmund, played by Skandar Keyes, who is absolutely THE SHIZ in this movie. Having learned his lesson from the last movie, Edmund is a cheeky wonder child who takes no crap from anyone. He doesn’t have that much of an arc in this movie, but he is great to watch, so I forgive it. He’s the guy who keeps his head screwed on straight when Peter and Caspian need someone to keep them grounded.

Anna Popplewell’s Susan is good? They still go with her being the “reasonable” one, albeit a little less uptight than in the first movie. They have this thing in the movie in which she and Caspian are definitely into each other and I don’t think that’s too out there--in the books Susan had at least half a dozen suitors when she was queen--it does mean that a lot of her character arc is dedicated to that, and we know that it goes nowhere. This one clearly implies that she’s having trouble holding faith in things she doesn’t see in front of her, and that’s a fascinating direction that doesn’t go quite as far in this movie as it could.

And Lucy. Georgie Henley as Lucy is still delightful. They removed and rearranged a lot of the material from the book in her character arc which is a shame, because I really like a lot of that stuff. As the one who still has the faith and wants to see the magic in Narnia when even the Narnians are giving up hope, she has to come across as sympathetic and believable. That doesn’t always work, especially when she does things like walk up to a bear that’s about to attack her, not realizing that it’s not talking (there ARE non-talking animals in Narnia, dear!). But for the most part she works in this movie.

You know Peter Dinklage is in this movie as Trumpkin? I find it odd that he made it big on a fantasy show that was billed as deconstructing usual fantasy tropes while heavily featuring sex and violence when he also starred in the film adaptation of a famously Christian book series and one of the giants of the fantasy genre. He does okay. I mean I like that Trumpkin is this grumpy guy who is cynical and tired of everyone and just wants to go home, but I don’t know if Peter Dinklage is acting or just… cynical and tired of everyone and wants to go home. It’s entertaining sometimes, but not brilliant.

And Warwick Davis is in this movie? He was in the BBC series as well, but instead of as Reepicheep this time he’s playing Nikabrik, the dwarf that is even more cynical than Trumpkin and hates all humans. It feels weird for me seeing him as a villain, though I know he’s done it before. I always had trouble with Nikabrik as a character because I always felt like him going full-on evil was… well, everyone seemed strangely unperturbed by that in the book, even if we had an idea of how we got there. In the movie I felt as if Warwick Davis does well in that you get him, and you get where he’s coming from, but not enough to agree. And other characters react to his turn in a way that’s appropriate.

Ken Stott voices Trufflehunter and he does not have enough to do in this movie. Trufflehunter is not that Plot-relevant in the book, but I always had the impression that he was an important character and one of the most prominent Narnians in the story. He’s okay here, but I really thought that he should be doing more in the story. Maybe the filmmakers didn’t think it would fit the darker tone they were going for, if there was a badger running around in many of the scenes? I don’t know, I wanted more.

We do, however, get quite a bit of Eddie Izzard as Reepicheep, which is fantastic because Reepicheep is fantastic. This mouse is amazing. There were some people very surprised that a mouse is going around killing people, but it’s a fantasy film, he’s a knight, and also it wasn’t as if the first movie didn’t have violence? I’m frustrated that the movies don’t go with the “talking animals are bigger than normal animals” EXCEPT with Reepicheep, because it’s pretty darn weird that all the other animals are ordinary-sized and the talking mice are the size of cats. But Reepicheep is very entertaining, very cool, and he’s great.

Sergio Castellitto plays a surprisingly sharp Miraz? Yeah, Plot-wise he’s generically evil, but I think that Castellitto makes him A) entertaining to watch, and B) convey that he knows that he’s the least popular guy in the room with the other Telmarine lords. The book version of Miraz has no idea that they’re plotting against him. Miraz in this movie does, and although he’s definitely not bright enough to realize exactly what they’re doing, by the end of the movie he knows that they’re happy to watch him die.

Pierfrancesco Pavino’s Glozelle, for instance, is barely a person in the book? He shows up to stab Miraz in the back. Here, not only is he not the person who does that, but the movie makes him very uncomfortable with the direction Miraz’s path to power is taking, despite remaining loyal until almost the very end. He’s a complex, conflicted character and I like him. 

And also noticeable is Damian Alcazar as Sopespian, a guy who doesn’t like Miraz, but is no more likable because of it. Because he’s obviously not doing it for any sense of the greater good, he’s doing it because he wants that power for himself. I don’t think anyone mistakes his motives or thinks of him as a secret good guy at any point in the movie, which I think speaks to the actor’s performance.

Liam Neeson is Aslan. He does great, though he really doesn’t have that many lines. Which is part of the point, that he’s not there for most of the movie, so it works, I think.

Also Tilda Swinton’s in this movie. There is some justification for it, but I think it was because she loved being in the first movie, and they loved having her in it, so they just brought her back.

I like fantasy movies with lots of action and sword fights and cool design choices. So no, Prince Caspian isn’t that faithful of an adaptation of the source material (though it’s more faithful than people give it credit for), and I do get frustrated with character arcs--mostly Peter’s. But I still really love this movie, and I have tons of fun every time I watch it.

[florenceandthemachine]

soft eddie prompt? you got it! sleepy eddie???? just sleepy eddie, i don’t care what u do but i just want sleepy tactile eddie and i want him to get all the love and appreciation he deserves

Anonymous said:

How about soft sleepy Eddie, early in a morning with Buddie and Christopher either still asleep or at a sleepover???

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE YALL

please enjoy 1.5k of soft, sleepy, touch starved Eddie. 

some things never sleep on AO3

Tuesdays, by far, were Buck’s favorite days.

Tuesdays were the magical days where Buck and Eddie were both off shift.

Tuesdays were the wonderful days where Chris had a late start at school.

Which meant, best of all, the best thing in the world—

Tuesdays were days that Buck and Eddie got to sleep in.

Buck had learned, very early in their relationship—before they had said the L word, before they had moved in together, and before Buck had the familiar weight of an engagement ring on his finger—that there were very few things that Eddie valued more than he and Christopher. And that made him all warm and fuzzy inside, sure.

But sleep… well, Buck was well aware that for Eddie, sleep was a close second.

Buck honestly had never had a relationship before where “sleeping together” actually meant falling asleep in a bed together and waking up together before it meant fucking, but that definitely wasn’t the only way that Eddie was a first for him. Honestly, though, Buck wouldn’t change it for the world.

He got to wake up every morning with Eddie, secure in his arms (and god, that had blown his mind, when Eddie had mentioned in a way that very much was not as subtle as Eddie had hoped, that if Buck ever wanted to be the big spoon, well, he would be okay with that).

Eddie liked being the little spoon. Who would have fucking thought it?

Buck knew himself pretty well—he knew that while he was a very, very physically affectionate person, it was unlikely that he was going to get that same amount of affection back in a relationship, especially in any of his relationships with men. And don’t get him wrong, he loved any skin on skin contact with Eddie, but not enough to risk jeopardizing their tentative friendship, or beginning of a relationship, with the amount of hugs and affection he preferred.

He should have known he didn’t have to worry about that—as soon as Eddie had deemed him a safe source of tired cuddling, he became the first person that Buck sought out when he was feeling even moderately tired, resting his head against the space in between Buck’s shoulder blades, using any part of him as a pillow, regardless of where they were or which teammates were watching.

(“Buck, no one's concerned about the cuddling.” Hen had told him one night, while Eddie was batting away at something in the gym with Chim, and he and Hen were tossing cards around on one of the collapsable tables. “Honestly, the only issue comes when you're both on different shifts. He turns into grumpy cat. It’s annoying.”

“You know who grumpy cat is?”

“That is not the point, Buck.”)

As much as Eddie loved sleep, Buck loved waking up even more. Waking up meant he got to press kisses against Eddie’s neck, got to tighten his arms around Eddie’s waist, got to witness first hand the half hour between sleep and full alertness where Eddie was… well, where he was adorable. Not that Buck would ever admit that.

No, he would take that secret to his grave.

When they had first gotten together, Buck had actually assumed that Eddie was a morning person. He was up with the sun, almost every morning. He could go from asleep to awake in a frighteningly short amount of time. He didn’t even need coffee to get his day going—he could literally just open his eyes and roll out of bed.

Buck thought, more or less, that Eddie was at least part android.

The first time things had changed was also the first time that Eddie had a nightmare while Buck was over, weirdly enough. One moment, Buck had been on his back, with Eddie curled up against his side, using his chest as a pillow while Buck flipped through the last few pages of his book, the next, Eddie was ramrod straight, his breathing tight and labored, body a weird combination of stiff and shivering.

Worse than the nightmare, though, was how Eddie acted when it was over. The flailing, okay, the initial shout, that was fine, but having Eddie crying? Telling Buck that it was okay for him to go, that he deserved someone less broken? Well, that was un fucking acceptable, and he made that point more than clear when he wrapped Eddie in his arms and dove back into bed.

(“You make me feel safe.” Eddie had confessed after his tear tracks had dried, lying on Buck’s chest, barely audible over the steady sound of the Santa Ana winds against the window. “I just… I feel safe when you hold me like this, when I’m in your arms.” Buck hadn’t responded—hadn’t needed to—he just tightened his hold on the other male, face buried in Eddie’s shorter hair.)

The next morning was the first time that Buck had ever woken up before Eddie, and he took extreme advantage of it—he kissed every inch of Eddie’s head and neck he could get to, he tightened his arms around Eddie’s middle, he made all sorts of adorable noises against Eddie’s mop of hair while sun spilled in through the window.

If Buck had known what he would be encouraging—nay, unleashing—he would have done this all so much sooner.

-

Buck was still, regularly, the first to wake up. And Eddie’s hair may have been shorter now, but that didn’t mean Buck couldn’t nuzzle into it whenever he woke up.

All of the other physical affection, though… that came from Eddie, even in sleep.

Eddie was a fucking koala.

It didn’t matter how they fell asleep—side by side, chest to chest, curled in with one another, hell, even when they were in separate bunks in the station—Buck almost always woke up with Eddie completely tangled up with him, wether it was just holding Buck’s arms with his own and looping their legs together, or finding himself completely wrapped up in Eddie’s limbs, nose buried in the hollow of Buck’s neck or the dip right in Buck’s collarbone.

The nights where they fell asleep chest to chest were the absolute worst, though; not because Buck didn’t like waking up with Eddie’s lips in kissing distance, because Eddie madE the saddest, sleepiest, little pouts when Buck tried to wake him up. It was nearly impossible to actually get to work on time when he had an Eddie in his arms that looked like he was about to cry if Buck actually wanted them to both join the land of the living.

Because worse than Eddie’s clingy fucking octopus tendencies—

(as if any of that was actually a bad thing)

—was that when it came to getting up, Eddie was a fucking child.

Like, a bigger child than Chris.

“Come on, Eds, we gotta get up.” Buck murmured, lips pressing along Eddie’s temple, settling right at the center of his forehead as Eddie let out a whine.

“I know, you big baby.” Buck tried again, with no heat in his voice, as Eddie let out a string of unintelligible curses and buried his face in Buck’s throat.

He tossed the blankets off of them, feeling Eddie grip around his waist even tighter, feeling oddly pleased with himself as Eddie groaned into his skin, finally working on real words. “Buck, noooo. It’s Tuesday. We sleep on Tuesdays.”

“I know we do, Eddie,” Buck started, finally working himself into a sitting position, Eddie melting down the front of his body until Buck’s lap became a pillow, Eddie’s arms easily wrapping around his middle.

Buck sighed as he rubbed along Eddie’s back, kissing his head as he leaned over and playfully swatted his flank, grinning at the surprised groan he got in response. “You gotta let me go so I can make breakfast. I’ll make your favorite waffles, but I gotta get started on them now.”

“You can’t leave, Buck, I’m your fiancé. That’s not fair. Fuck the waffles.”

Oh, it was a ‘fuck breakfast’ kind of morning.

“Eds—”

“I don’t want waffles, I just want you.”

Damn it, Buck knew he was going to regret it, but he had to look at Eddie’s face, the sad sounds only amplified by the image of Eddie rubbing his eyes, looking legitimately like he was about to cry.

Buck had fallen for that many, many times before. And he probably would fall for it many, many times in the future.

Finally cracking under pressure, Buck resorted to the big guns, his voice low and slow as he laced his arms beneath Eddie’s. He alternated between speaking and kissing where he could, pulling the other male into a sitting position, more or less in Buck’s lap. “Cmon, Eds. I’ll tell you what. Let’s get up, get Chris some breakfast, go for a nice walk along the greenbelt he loves, drop him off at school, and then we can spend the entire afternoon wrapped up with one another on the couch. You can take a nap, I’ll let you pass out on me, and I’ll order out for dinner so I don’t have to get up before Chris comes home with Carla.”

Buck really hated using Chris against Eddie like that, but it was the easiest way to get Eddie to pretend to be a functioning adult in the moments between sleep and a fully-oxygenated brain. He almost thought that he won their regular battle when Eddie finally leaned back against his chest with a happy sigh, tilting Buck’s head down for an easy, good morning kiss, eyes heavy and half lidded. And fuck, Eddie was always beautiful, but there was something about him in the early morning, soft and pliable and so loving that made Buck’s heart fucking ache, especially in the —where Eddie opened hs mouth and really just put the final nail in the coffin.

“I love you, Evan soon-to-be-Diaz.”

(It was another twenty minutes before they left the bed.

Buck had absolutely no regrets.)

[derryhawkins]

Life is a Highway [2/49]

summary: The seven of them made a plan in middle school: use the months between high school and college, and take a road trip through all of the states. Their twelve year old minds didn’t think it would actually happen, but six years later with enough saved up money, they’re going on an extremely long trip together in a large van. pairings: reddie; benverly; hanbrough; stanpat word count: 7.51k a/n: yes i had stenbranlon as one of the pairings but then i fell in love with stanpat so that changed pls don’t be mad lmao (but yes stan still has a crush on mike right now, but i mean who wouldn’t have a crush on mike??)

AO3 Link | First Chap

chapter two: massachusetts

The three hour car ride is filled with blasting music, singing along to said music, and talking nonstop from everyone over said music. Bill does a decent job of driving; he unnecessarily speeds, cutting down time immensely, and Stan keeps on telling him, "You're going twenty over the speed limit, slow the fuck down!" 

But with Richie proclaiming that everyone speeds on the interstate, Bev urging Bill to pass anyone who's going "too slow" in the dark of the night, and Mike standing through the opened sunroof to act as if he's flying, Stan's urges for Bill to slow down goes unheard. Even Eddie tries to talk some sense into Bill. It isn't until Ben says something about cops that Bill finally does so. Only a little bit, though; not much at all, but enough to make a difference that makes Stan relax the littlest bit.

They make it to Boston, Massachusetts just ten minutes before one in the morning, and pull up to a cheap Holiday Inn fifteen minutes later. Bill, Stan and Mike are the ones to go in and ask the front desk person for the cheapest room possible for seven wired on excitement eighteen year olds; meanwhile the remaining four stay in the parked van as they finish the game of “I’m going on a trip” without the others.

“I’m going on a trip to Canada and I’m bringing a cat, a map, Eddie’s mom, a blanket, cigarettes, a walkman, Mr. Chips, Georgie, coffee, a lighter, a winter coat, board games, a tiger, Mike’s Grandma’s homemade chocolate pie, shoes, Stan’s pillow, condoms, a first aid kit, and uh... Binoculars!” Bev grins, proud of herself for remembering everyone else’s items and turns to Ben. “You’re turn.” 

Ben sucks in a breath of air and let’s it out. “I feel so pressured, oh my god,” he whispers before speaking louder, smiling almost shyly as the others laugh. “Alright, uh, I’m going on a trip to Canada and I’m bringing a cat, a map, Eddie’s mom, a blanket, cigarettes, a walkman, Mr. Chips... Shit. Georgie! And coffee, and a tiger-.” 

“You skipped two!” Eddie shouts. He’s pointing at Ben with a large smile, and is obviously too happy that someone has messed up.

Bev playfully whacks Eddie’s shoulder as Richie laughs. “Hey, be nice to Ben,” she defends him. “He did his best. Besides, it’s a miracle any of us made it as far as we did in the game.”

Eddie pouts and rubs his shoulder, acting as if Bev genuinely hit him. “Meanie.”

Bev snorts out a laugh. Richie leans to the side and gets close to Eddie, pinching the shorter boy’s cheek. “Oh, don’t be such a baby, Eds! What, are we gonna have to swaddle and rock you so you don’t cry?”

His expression quickly pinches into annoyance and Eddie swats Richie’s hands away, and shoves him – not too hard, but hard enough to get Richie out of his personal space bubble. “Fuck off!” Eddie yells. “I’m not a baby!” His cheeks are tinged pink, and while Richie just chalks it up to be Eddie’s anger, Bev knows full and well it’s not.

She covers her mouth with one hand to hide her smile, and she leans her elbow against the back of her seat. Her blue eyes quickly move from the two boys in the row of seats with her to the one sitting behind her. She’s acutely surprised to see him already looking at her, eyebrows moving up the slightest bit. Ben’s eyes widen and he looks away, and he clears his throat quietly as his face reddens. Bev removes her hand and rests her chin on top of the headrest, smiling, ignoring Richie and Eddie who are both now play fighting.

The thought of Ben liking her back worms it’s way into her brain. She quickly shoves the thought away, though, and sadly remembers how he used to like her. As in, not anymore. She then pushes that thought away, and decides to just talk with Ben.

“How’re you liking the trip so far?” She moves to get into a more comfortable position. Her chin stays on the top of the headrest, and she undoes her seatbelt so she can turn fully around, arms wrapping around the bottom of the headrest as she sits on her knees.

Ben looks back at her, eyes still wide. “Hm? Oh, uh.” He shrugs and smiles. “I’m really liking it, yeah. It’s nice – fun, too.”

“That’s good. Same here.” She stops. Eddie’s body leans against hers for a moment before he gets pulled away by Richie, the lanky teen trapping the other in a koala-like hug.

“Take back what you said about Bowie! Do it, or you’re dying via the Tozier’s bone crushing hug!”

Eddie laughs and wiggles. He’s barely trying to get away from Richie, not at all doing is best. Because he can get away if he wants to – all of them know that. “Suck a dick, Richie! I just said he wasn’t my favorite! I’d pick Elton John over him any day!”

“That’s it! Prepare to die, Kaspbrak!”

“Not until you drop dead first, Tozier!”

Bev moves her eyes away from them as she rolls them, and they land back on Ben who’s shaking his head at their friend’s antics. “They’re something else, aren’t they?” She asks, keeping her voice low.

Ben meets her eyes again. “If they’re not dating by the end of this,” he whispers, “I’m locking them in the clubhouse back in Derry and not letting them out.”

She snickers. “I’ll help.”

“I’d like that.”

“Really?”

He smiles, looking a bit shy now, but hums in confirmation and nods. “Of course I would.”

Her own smile grows into a wide grin that showcases her teeth. There’s a faint blush on her cheeks, and she hopes that it’s unnoticeable in the dim light. “Good. Great.”

One of the side doors to the van is suddenly pulled open, startling Bev and Ben, yanking the two from their little bubble. They turn their heads to the now opened door and peer around Richie and Eddie to see Mike standing there with a happy smile.

“We’ve got a room! C’mon, guys.”

The four eighteen year olds are then piling out of the car, and they grab everything they need for the night, along with Stan's and Bill's things so they don't have to come back out to the van. 

The room isn't the biggest. It's small and with all of their suitcases on the ground, there is barely any room to walk; the room becomes a maze of sorts, and the Losers have to jump over their friends and the luggage to get to the one bathroom they have to share. Then there are two double sized beds and a chair that pulls out into a small twin mattress. It's not the best, and it's certainly not ideal, but they make it work.

Bill absolutely refuses to pick a place to sleep until everyone else has a place, meaning he ends up with the space between the two beds on a makeshift pallet that Eddie makes for him with whatever extra hotel blankets they can find. Bev and Stan end up sharing the bed closest to the bathroom, and then Ben and Mike share the bed near the AC, and finally Richie and Eddie get the small pull out. 

None of it is awkward. It's something they're used to, something they've always done. There's even a time when they were fifteen when they all got into a dog pile to cuddle one night, and they all fell asleep like that. So, sharing beds is the norm. It's almost expected at this point and they're so used to it, which is why at some point during the night Bill sluggishly makes his way into the bed with Mike and Ben, neither boy disturbed or frustrated that another body has joined them.

+++

Stan isn't a morning person. It's not that he doesn't like the mornings - because he does, a lot - but it's more of the fact that it takes a while for him to wake up, and if people don't give him his time and space, the person will most likely get either a death glare or harshly snapped at. He knows the same thing goes for Eddie - the spitfire is always harsh and snippy until he's downed some coffee, and he just doesn't like waking up early - and so they're two peas in a pod when morning comes. 

Bev can arguably not be a morning person as well, but she, like Stan, just takes a while to wake up. She's just not verbal. So, during the early morning hours of breakfast and checking out and getting their things together for the day, the three of them stay by each other, knowing neither of the two beside them will mess with them too much.

Stan leans against the van beside the opened door with crossed arms and a blank, tired look. It's currently early in the morning, because apparently beforehand he had thought that getting up earlier to have more daylight during their day was a fantastic idea.

Of course, when that idea came to him, he hadn't thought about how grumpy both he and Eddie are in the mornings, and how nonverbal Beverly gets. Or how annoying Mike and Ben are, because they're both very much morning people, talking and laughing and being their usual selves, but somehow it's incredibly annoying. Meanwhile, there's Richie and Bill; neither morning people nor not morning people. Just...two teen boys functioning like zombies until they are awake enough who won't snap your head off if you confront them.

Stan casts his eyes to the side as Ben laughs at something Mike says to him as they put the suitcases back into the trunk. He frowns, crosses his arms tighter over his chest, and rolls his eyes. He tries to tell himself that the feeling in his chest is just his usual morning mood, not him becoming jealous at the simple fact that Mike is laughing with someone else. He sighs and half heartedly rolls his eyes at himself, tuning most of everyone out.

Currently, Richie and Bill are back on top of the van, just laying there until further notice. Eddie is sitting on the edge of the seat in front of the opened van door, staring - correction: glaring - at nothing in particular with a cup of shitty hotel coffee clenched in both hands. Bev is behind him, eyes closed, a half eaten cinnamon muffin on her stomach as she just lays in the row of seats. No one is quite lively at the moment, with the exception of the two morning people. For now, the excitement of everything has dwindled down. Though, Richie is talking Bill's ear off. His words are just slow and lazily spoken as if he's high. Stan knows that's about to change, both because as time passes by everyone is waking up more and more and also because he can hear Richie's words get livelier.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Mike asks suddenly.

It takes a moment, but Stan is quickly realizing that Mike is talking to him. Not Bill or Ben, or even Richie. But him. Stan turns his head to look at Mike, who has the kindest smile on his face despite the early hour, and his dark eyes are directly looking into his own. Stan hopes that he isn't blushing, and shrugs before speaking. "I know there's a few parks and museums. Maybe even a zoo or an aquarium, but I don't know how expensive everything is."

"We should go to Salem!" Richie suddenly yells out, sitting up from his position on the van and peers down at Stan and Mike before the latter can even respond. He sends a subtle wink the Jew's way as Mike looks to Stan to see his reaction.

From inside, Beverly starts to groan in annoyance but cuts herself off. Suddenly she's behind Eddie and poking her head out, the boy looking way more than annoyed at the close proximity as she leans on him for support. "Salem Witches!" She yells, suddenly lively and awake and verbal. "Fuck yes, can we go Stan?"

"Is that Salem even in Massive Two Shits?" Bill asks, still waking up and obviously not caring about pronouncing Massachusetts correctly.

Richie giggles. "Massive Two Shits," he repeats.

"Fucking grow up, Rich," Eds grumbles.

"Oh, like you don't find Massive Two Shits funny."

"It's not."

"Kinda is," Bev butts in, earning a glare from Eddie and a loud thank you from Richie, accompanied by Bill's agreement.

Stan rolls his eyes fondly. "The Witch Trials did, in fact, happen in Salem, Massachusetts," he tells them.

"So can we go? It'll be fun! Oooh, what if we get to see the exact spot where they hung the thirteen witches?"

"They're not real witches, Rich."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"Well fuck that, man."

"I will fucking fight y-."

"Okay!" Bill shouts over Eddie's threat and sits up. He quickly moves to lean over the edge of the top of the van like Richie. "Keep the b-b-bickering to a minimum, pluh-please, until we're all a little more awake. Please."

When Eddie opens his mouth to talk back, Bill just looks at him and Eddie shuts his mouth, eyes going to Stan who gives him a Look. One that he gets told is a lot like a parent getting onto their kid. So, of course the curly haired boy uses it when he needs to, because it always works in whatever situation. Eddie licks his lips and stays quiet, and hands Bev the rest of the coffee. Behind Stan, Mike is motioning to Richie to zip his lips for the time being. At noticing some movement, Stan looks up and watches Richie do the action back and toss the invisible key to Mike. He can't help but smile softly at the interaction after Mike 'catches' it.

"I say we go to Salem," Ben speaks up for the first time, sharing his opinion on the matter. "We might not ever get a chance again."

"But we're in Boston," Eddie presses.

Stan frowns. "But things are also really fucking expensive here."

"If it were up to me, I'd skip Boston and go to Salem," Mike says. "Save the big city stuff for New York or something else. Besides, we can't spend all of our money in one place. We have a limited amount, so we gotta be smart about spending it. We only have one shot at this road trip."

"I'm w-with Mike. Do a few things there, it won't be too exp-p-pensive most likely, and just chill out."

Beverly, who is now sitting on the floorboard of the van by Eddie's feet, shitty cup of coffee between her thighs, asks, "Does going to Salem mess up with the route you made, Stan?"

The route. Stan certainly hasn't forgotten about it. It took months to get it right, to find roads that hit one major fun place in each state but to also find ways that wouldn't make them have to go through one state too many times. Eventually he got it right. It's the main reason he's in charge of the map, if anyone is being honest. He smiles, pleased that Beverly actually remembers it. "Depending on how far away Salem is, it shouldn't."

"I saw a sign on our way here for an exit for Salem. Think it's about..." Ben trails off and thinks for a moment. He then lights up some and nods. "fifteen-ish miles out of the city."

"Works for me," Bill says with a tiny shrug. "Work for y-you, Stan?"

Stan nods, appreciating how his friends are taking the route and all he made into consideration. He doesn't know why it's so surprising or so uplifting, but it is. "It does, yeah."

"G-Great! Everyone hop in, we can't waste away our day!"

+++

Beverly stays sitting up during the car ride, too excited to do much else. She's sitting in the same spot as the night before but instead of Richie and Eddie in the row of seats with her, it's actually Ben and Mike, the aforementioned boys sitting behind them while Bill drives once again, Stanley in the passenger's seat with the map. During the thirty minute ride, Beverly tries her best to not lean on Ben too much. At the same time though, she makes sure to not lean too far away on the sharper turns Bill takes that push her away from Ben. All the while, she's also trying to act as if sitting beside her crush isn't the main root of her excitement. It's hard, she'll admit, but it's also worth it. 

“What d’you think there is to do in Salem?”

She shrugs at Ben’s question. Then, she’s looking at him and smiling. “What if there are actually witches and they teach some magic?” Her brows lift some. Obviously, that’s not going to happen. But a girl can dream, right?

Eddie scoffs from behind them. Mike, who’s talking to Stan and Bill about lunch plans, glanced behind him briefly to look at the other boy before focusing his attention back on the two up front. Bev turns some in her seat to look at Eddie properly, Ben doing the same; both are relatively surprised to see Richie fast asleep and sprawled out, head in Eddie’s lap. Beverly makes eye contact with Eddie and grins teasingly. The grin merely spreads as his cheeks turn a dark shade of pink.

She isn’t surprised when he ignores the look the best he can and says, “Witches aren’t real, Bev.”

“Okay, obviously,” she says. “But it’d be cool if they were! Right, Ben?”

Ben looks taken back but he recuperates quickly. He’s then nodding and smiling, agreeing with the redhead beside him. “Uh, yeah! It would be pretty neat.”

“C’mon, Eddie, you can't deny the truth! If they were real, think of all the cool magic you would be able to see them do! Or, better yet, if you were a witch.”

“You would be able to have a cat – or another animal,” Ben tells him, knowing that will win him over in an instant. Eddie has always wanted a pet – more specifically a cat – his entire life. Unfortunately for him, his mom never let him get one.

And it works. Bev watches as Eddie’s eyes brighten and how his expression shifts from slightly bored to excited. “Okay, it’s official, I’d much rather be a witch than see one.”

“Good. Because I think you already have a cat.”

At his questioning look, Bev simply points to his lap where Richie’s head is resting with his lanky arms around Eddie’s waist and face close to his stomach. Eddie blushes deeply, unable to get a proper sentence out. He crosses his arms and averts his eyes away from his two friends just as Mike turns around to look as well.

“Shut up,” Eddie mumbles the same time Mike lets out an aw at the sight. Though, he’s clearly fighting back a smile, face hot and pink with blush.

“It’s cute, Eddie,” Ben tells him.

Bev nods and smiles some more. “Adorable, actually.”

“Where’s Bill’s camera? We need a picture of this,” Mike says.

Eddie’s jaw drops. “No! No we don’t!”

“Don’t wake Richie up!” Bev whisper-shouts.

“Too late.”

Beverly covers her mouth with one hand as Eddie freezes up, but before anyone can say anything else the van is coming to a stop at a red light, and everyone’s attention is diverted to the windows. As she turns to look out of the window beside her, she catches Richie sit up from the corner of her eye. She’s tempted to look back just to see how much he’s blushing, but doesn’t. So, she keeps her eyes on the window. Even when Ben leans closer to her to look in the same direction, she doesn’t move. One of his arms go over the head rest and he sits up to look over her. 

“Massive Two Shits is actually really pretty,” Bev says, eyeing the scenery before them. The vehicle finally starts to move again, causing them to pass by trees and plants and a few other cars in a blur.

“It’s not when you call it ‘Massive Two Shits’,” Stan mumbles from the front seat.

“But,” Richie starts, and Bev can hear his grin, “it is funny!”

“Massachusetts. Massive Two Shits. Whatever, same fucking thing here. Either way you say it, the state is still beautiful!” She exclaims with a smile, and motions outside.

“I have to agree,” Mike says.

“Me too,” Ben mutters.

She turns her head to look at him. At realizing how close the two of them are, she only inches back a little bit and gives him a warm smile, not thinking into too much detail about how he’s already looking at her. “Glad you agree, Ben.”

Mike sputters from his spot on the other side of Ben. “Hey!”

Bev laughs and leans to the side to look at him. “The same goes for you, Mikey.”

“Thank you.”

Not too long later, the Losers Club are officially in Salem, Massachusetts. Bill drives around for a few moments until he finds a café parking lot to park in. For a bit of time, the seven of them just sit and talk about what they can do in Salem - Mike got a brochure about the town from the front desk at the hotel they slept at the night before. Eventually, they settle on going their own ways for the first little bit of the trip. Eddie has to call his mom, Stan and Bill want to find something breakfast-like, and Bev, Ben, and Mike are content with just walking around for the time being. 

So, that’s what they do.

“Remember to meet up at the Derby Drawf Light Station in an hour!” Stan calls out to everyone as they part ways.

Bev happily links her arms with Ben’s and Mike’s, turning her head over to smile at him. “Don’t worry your corkscrew curls off, Stanny! We’ll be there.”

“You better be!”

+++

“That was the longest twenty minutes of my life,” Richie complains as he and Eddie finally walk away from the payphone. 

“Well, you didn’t have to come along, y’know,” Eddie tells him.

Richie shrugs, smiles, and bumps his shoulder with Eddie’s. The smile just grows as the familiar warmth from just touching his crush went through him. “Wanted to,” he says simply. Then, “Besides, who knows what would’ve happened if I let you go alone. Talking to Mrs. K never turns out as good as it just did! She would’ve dragged you back home through the phone, but I would have stopped her! What’s the look for? I so would’ve saved you! Who needs Big Bill or Mikey? You’ve got Trashmouth Tozier, ready to keep you from her suffocating clutches at a moment’s notice!”

Eddie laughs and shakes his head, rolling his eyes after. “My knight in shining armor,” he says sarcastically. “You’re so dramatic.”

Richie can only stare down at him for a moment. The midmorning’s sun rays are hitting Eddie just right, causing his usual dark brown eyes to look a bit lighter - more golden, if anything - and his freckles stick a bit more already. Short brown hair is styled neatly but looks soft to the touch. To put it simply, Eddie Kaspbrak looks absolutely stunning - which, hey, isn’t that big of a difference from any other day in Richie’s eyes, but still - and it’s taking everything in Richie to not reach over and kiss him. 

So, he holds himself back. He forces himself to look in front of him instead of at his crush. He stuffs his hands in his cargo shorts’ pockets and says, “You’re the one who just mentioned a knight in shining armor, Eds, I merely said I can save you.”

“It’s the fucking same thing, dickhead! And seriously? ‘Eds’? We’ve talked about this, it’s not my name!”

“And it ain’t goin’ away, sweetcheeks, it’s been fourteen goddamn years,” he responds with in the best country accent he can muster up. It’s better than it has been, he knows, but it’s still not perfect.

It’s silent for a moment. And then, “Has it really been fourteen years?”

Richie nearly stops in his tracks. Actually, he does. He blinks, thinking about it, and then his brows raise. “Huh. It has, yeah.” It’s mind boggling, to be honest, to think about how long he’s been friends with Eddie, and even with Stan and Bill. Fourteen years. Nearly their entire lives.

“Never really… It doesn’t seem like it,” Eddie says and faces Richie. “Well, I mean, it does, in a sense, but. Like. I dunno.”

Richie chuckles. “Eloquent as ever, Spaghetti.”

“Fuck off. I mean, I… It just feels like I’ve known everyone else the same amount of time, when reality we’ve only known Bev, Ben, and Mike for six years. Not fourteen. It’s weird.”

“Yeah. I get it.”

“You do?” 

“Yeah.” A beat of silence. “I feel like you should be telling me to fuck off by now.”

Eddie rolls his eyes with a fond smile and turns on his heels to walk away, giving Richie the bird as he did so. Richie starts walking as well, merely watching Eddie with what he knows Stan would describe as ‘heart eyes’ if he were there with them. So, when Eddie starts to speed up and start to jog, Richie notices instantly. He doesn’t have time to question Eddie, because suddenly the shorter boy is dashing away, Richie barely catching his words.

“Race ya to the light station!”

Richie sputters and quickly starts to run. “Th- what?! This isn’t fair, Eds, you were on the track team! Plus, you’re cheating - didn’t even count to three! Get fucking back here, asshole, we’re starting over!”

They don’t start over.

Richie doesn’t care, though. He is just happy to be able to spend some time with Eddie, to see the other laugh and have fun and be actually carefree. And he’s happy the he feels the same way. No school projects or assignments are looming over them, no deadlines for anything, no bullies, no suffocating Sonia Kaspbrak who hates every single one of Eddie’s friends except for maybe Bill – because, weirdly, a lot of adults love Bill – and they just aren’t in Derry anymore. 

It’s nice. Fun. Freeing. It’s a breath of fresh air.

Richie tries to catch up with Eddie. The fucker was on the track team with Ben, and unfortunately for Richie, his long legs can’t exactly keep up; he isn’t athletic in the slightest. He was a stupid band kid during high school. And he really wants to catch up. He just can’t. So, he slows to a jog, letting out a quiet groan and some unkind words about how stupid the amount of energy running takes, and eventually just settles for a fast paced walk. The heat of the summer sun doesn’t help anything.

A few people are looking at him, and Eddie, oddly. But it’s not the bad odd – more confused, if anything, about two old teens running around as the curse one another out jokingly. They aren’t in Derry anymore. People aren’t so blatant about how weird and possibly stupid it is to see two friends genuinely have some fun.

Richie shrugs the looks off and continues his fast walking. “Eddie! C’mon, man, I’m not a runner like you!” He huffs and stops walking to lean against one of the buildings to catch his breath better. Not too long later, Eddie is standing in front of him with a cocky smirk. Richie chuckles and gently pushes his face away, causing Eddie to stumble backwards a step. “You’re a little bitch.”

Pushing him away is more for his own benefit, if anything. Because Eddie has gone from absolutely stunning to really fucking hot within moments. His hair is a slight mess, some of it pushed back at the front and a few strands sticking in different directions thanks to the wind from how fast he ran, and he’s a bit sweaty but not much. His skin is flushed and he’s breathing heavily, too. It takes all of Richie’s willpower to not do anything. To push that inter turmoil of “I want to jump my best friend’s bones but I can’t for obvious reasons and it sucks” away.

Eddie laughs and shoves Richie’s hand off of him. “And you’re a lazy bitch,” he retaliates with.

At first, for a split second, Richie’s confused. But then—

Right, Richie reminds himself, I called him a little bitch.

He grins. “You betcha!”

“Alright, c’mon, let's cool off. Wanna go in this store for a few minutes?”

“You think we have time?”

“You are worried about time?”

“Eds, I love you, but I don’t wanna face Stan’s wrath already just one day into the road trip.”

“Just five minutes? Please? It’ll be fun!” And then Eddie is doing the puppy dog eyes. For the full effect, he even sticks out his bottom lip a little bit.

Richie groans. “Okay! Sheesh, fine, no need to bring out the puppy eyes.”

Richie doesn’t have time to feel bad, to even think about how late they might actually be, because right then and there, Eddie is grinning from ear to ear and dragging him by the wrist into the little shop they are standing by.

+++

Mike holds the Polaroid camera safely in his hands. Before they all left the van, he had asked Bill if he can use it and take a few pictures. Bill had agreed, so long as Mike didn’t break it or ruin anything. He’s only taken one picture so far, and it’s of Bev and Ben standing together by the tiny, white square building of a lighthouse near some water. The two didn’t notice he took the picture, both too engrossed non whatever they were talking about to notice but they also had looked relaxed. Happy, wide grins and fond eyes paired with the scenery of the Light Station makes for a good picture. 

Now, Mike is just wondering when in the hell his two friends are going to get their sit together and date, because he knows Ben’s statement of being over Bev had been a lie those months ago whether he realized it or not. And Bev clearly feels the same way. Mike just doesn’t know for sure how long that’s been a thing, but it’s a thing nonetheless. Everyone already has to deal with Richie and Eddie, they don’t need another oblivious blooming relationship. Or else, Stan might just rip his hair out from how stupid their friends are being, and Mike, despite loving his friends, can certainly relate to that feeling.

He smiles to himself, content. So, maybe four out of the seven of them need to figure out some things before they make Stan lose his mind, but he honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. They’re all together. Happy. Currently having a grand time on a road trip that just started. The nerves that he had felt just the day before are gone for the most part. He doesn’t have a worry, right now.

He lifts the camera to take a picture of the horizon, but stops himself right as he’s about to as two familiar voices meet his ears.

“—and, like, it’s gonna take the entire day but I think I’ve figured out what to do. We can walk to these spots, which takes from five to ten minutes if I did the math right, and I think we’ll have more fun as a group.”

“SSS-Sounds really fun, man. The others are gonna be excited.”

Mike turns and spots Stan and Bill right away, walking close together as the former holds a pamphlet. Bill has a large coffee in one hand, and with the other he’s pointing to something. Mike just stared at them both for a moment. Then, he lifts his camera and takes a picture. The film slides out and he grabs it before it can fall just as both Stan and Bill look at him from hearing the shutter of the camera. Stan’s ears turn the slightest bit pink, and Bill grins wide.

“What w-was that f-for?” Bill asks.

Mike smiles and shrugs. “I just wanted to take a picture of you two. Also got one of Ben and Bev earlier,” he tells him. Then, he’s handing one picture to Bill and the other to Stan. “Here.”

The honest truth is that Mike just wanted to take a picture of Bill – don’t get him wrong, he loves Stan to pieces – because he looks great. Not only in the sense of attractiveness but also in the way where he seems relaxed. Calm, even. Nothing’s bothering him. He’s just having fun with his friends, something Mike hadn’t truly seen since they were kids.

The stress of senior year had all eaten them up. Not one of them had been put together well during those horrendous months of their last high school year. Each of them had to calm Eddie down from a panic attack at least twice because the poor boy was so worried about not passing, not being able to get away from his mom. Stan shut down a few times, causing the Losers to then help him time and time again. Bev had a mental break down after Christmas break and chopped her hair again and even dyed it blue until the school made her dye it back to a ‘normal’ color. 

Out of the seven of them, Ben, Mike, and Richie seemed like the better collected of them all, which is far from the truth. Richie had been tempted to drop out, and Mike had given a good ‘you made this far, you can make another few months’ speech to him; Mike is pretty sure the others said something similar to him at some point. Ben had started to go to parties pretty often just to find something to help him relax in between major assignments – alcohol, generally. And between football at the beginning of the school year and school in general, Mike was pretty keyed up as well.

Then there’s Bill. He couldn’t relax once, too stressed and worried about anything and everything, and he probably slept the least out of all of them. Mike’s surprised he didn’t turn out being 72% coffee. It was honestly a crazy experience for all of them. One they don’t want to relive, but one they will because, yes, college is a thing that they’re going to do.

But right now, Bill isn’t stressed. Sure, Mike knows that he misses Georgie a shit ton, who Bill is also bound to worry about, no doubt, but he’s not on his third cup of coffee already from lack of sleep. He’s not scowling from stress, or even showing an ounce of any negativity. Mike smiles more at noticing that, and glances at Stan as he leaves the two for Ben and Beverly who are starting to walk over.

Bill smiles fondly at the picture Mike took. “This is a g-good photo, Mike.” His blue eyes then lift and lock with Mike’s brown ones. But he quickly diverges his stare, cheeks tingeing pink.

Mike chuckles softly. “Thanks, Bill.”

And, alright, Mike isn’t dumb. He can read people. He knows himself. He has a crush on Bill, who likes him back - if the blushing and nervous laughs and that kiss from New Year’s are anything to go by - and you may be wondering: why aren’t you dating, then? Simple answer: Mike also can tell Stan likes him - if the blushing and tiny nervous smiles and lingering stares are anything to go by - which puts him in a predicament. Because Mike only likes Stan as a friend; he likes Bill. So, naturally, Mike doesn’t want to hurt Stan in anyway. If Stan didn’t like Mike, though… 

Mike would have asked Bill out by now.

But also there’s this thing called homophobia (or, well, biphobia), so maybe that’s a lie.

So scratch what was said earlier, all seven of them need to figure out some things before someone loses their mind.

Beverly suddenly jumping on his back pulls Mike out of his thoughts. He catches her and stays balanced easily, and once Bill takes the camera from him, he securely puts his hands under her thighs to keep her up. The auburn haired boy is quick to snap a picture as Bev smacks a wet kiss onto Mike’s cheek. A grin spreads across his face.

“Aw, Bev, love you too,” he says laughing. Then, he turns his head and kisses her cheek, less went and more gentle.

She tightens her hold on him as a way to give him a hug. “You’re a sweetheart, Mikey.”

“Where’s Dumb and Dumber?” Stan asks. It’s not directed to anyone in particular, but because Bill and Ben are looking at the picture of Mike and Bev, Mike is the one to answer.

“No clue.”

Bev rolls her eyes. “They probably got distracted by something, knowing them,” she says.

“It probably wasn’t a good idea to let them walk alone,” Mike thinks aloud.

“Wait, who’s Dumb and Dumber in this situation?” Ben asks, looking between his friends. “I mean, they’re both pretty smart - Richie made straight A’s with ease.”

“The fucker was stressed for nothing,” Bev mumbles, and everyone nods in agreement.

“Eddie has more c-c-common sense, s-sometimes,” Bill speaks up.

“Sometimes,” Stan repeats, stressing the word to make a point. “But they need to hurry up. I said an hour, and it’s been an hour.”

“Give ‘em a few more minutes,” Mike says. “They’ll be here in no time.”

Richie and Eddie are not, in fact, there in no time. 

Twenty minutes later the two remaining Losers walk up. The look Stan gives them – and Mike, too – makes everyone laugh, and even Stan gives the tiniest of smiles so nothing is really taken too seriously. After Eddie shows them a crystal rock he bought, explaining in detail with fast words and very little breaths of air how ‘Witches’ use crystals for magic and different energies, they set off to go on with their day.

+++

The plan Stan – “Give it up for Stan the Man with the Plan, folks!” – came up with while he was with Bill had them going to seven different spots in Salem, all within walking distance, which doesn’t include the Derby Wharf Light Station.

They walk to the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. It isn’t a long walk at all, maybe ten minutes at most, but they spent about an hour at the 9-acre park. They don’t think that they’ll spend much time there – 30 minutes at most – but then they explore a few buildings and a ship or two and whatever a wharve is, and suddenly an hour has gone by. They go the Salem Witch Museum next, which is another ten minute walk, and all of them groan with relief at seeing it was inside a building. The group spends an even longer time in there. 

Upon arriving, they got a very dramatic re-telling and history lesson of what happened in 1692 with life-size props and such. Richie wants to complain for the sole reason he wasn’t expecting to learn anything, but he can’t because he’s too interested and invested along with his friends (Mike and Ben especially) as they figured out that the “witches” had been no different that the blacklisted Communists in the ‘50s and the Japanese-Americans in WWII who had been encamped. Then they learn some stuff about witches today, and witchcraft as well, and then they’re off to the Peabody Essex Museum (Richie makes a lot of crude jokes simply because of the word Essex). By the time they get through the museum – it doesn’t take too long, especially with how fast they all walk and they don’t take too much time looking at the different things – they’re all starving.

The rest of the day is like that. Going to and from different popular sights in the town. After getting a cheap lunch, they do the Hocus Pocus Tour, visit a Witch House, go to the memorial for the Witch Trials and end everything with a wax museum because apparently Stan likes museums. They have fun the entire time. Bev buys a witch’s hat from a gift shop, which not so surprisingly suits her, and they got to see where the thirteen women were hung. There’s a continuous debate on whether or not witches are actually real the entire day - nothing serious, obviously.

By the time they are finished, the sun is starting to lower in the sky. Not drastically so, given that it’s only close to five, and everyone is tired from walking around everywhere. Ben and Stan lead the way, the two talking about something or another, and Mike is right behind them with Beverly on his back once again, the witch hat on her head. Eddie is walking beside them, and as he goes on about the various cool things in Salem, the other to listen carefully. Richie and Bill are taking up the end.

“Did you realize it’s been fourteen years since we first started being friends?” Richie asks suddenly, eyes on Eddie for a moment before moving to Stan, and then finally he looked to Bill.

Bill blinks for a moment. It takes a second for him to comprehend what Richie just said to him, but when it finally clicks, his mouth parts slightly. “Really?” That can’t be right. Can it? 

“Not the Losers, just… Us, and Stan and Eddie.”

Oh, that makes more sense. “That’s…” Bill can’t think of anything, so he just whistles lowly and mutters a, “Wow.” Then, “What the hell, that’s almost our enti-tire lives!”

“I know!” Richie exclaims back. “And like, what- who gets to say they’ve stayed friends with someone from elementary school? Or even middle school? It’s fucking crazy, man.”

“Dad told me a m-m-month or so ago that what we have is s-something sp-special,” Bill tells Richie. Briefly, he thinks to that day and how Zach Denbrough was even prompted to say that. 

At first Bill doesn’t remember, but then it all comes back to him in an instant. It had been after one of those rare occasions during the school year where they did an impromptu sleepover at the Denbrough household, all cooped up in Bill’s bedroom despite the size. Nothing dramatic happened. They laughed most of the time and played games, and everyone was reluctant to leave the next morning despite the fact they made plans to go to the clubhouse that afternoon. Once everyone was gone, Zack Denbrough stopped Bill, explained that not many people stayed best friends with one person from their younger years - let alone six - and then went on to say that the seven of them had - have - something special.

“Why did he have to word it as if we’re all dating?”

Bill rolls his eyes. “Who knows, maybe we are and w-w-we’re just too stu-stupid to realize it,” he jokes.

Richie laughs. “Wouldn’t that be something.” He pauses, dramatically of course. He then reaches over and Bill grins as Richie winks at him just as Richie puts his hand in one of Bill’s pockets. “Babe.” Then, he’s pulling out the keys and dashing to the van. “I’m driving! Everyone get in the fucking car, we’re going to McDonald’s!”

Bill’s jaw drops for a second and then he’s laughing. “You f-f-f-fucker!”

“Oh, hell no!” Stan is then racing after their friend. “You’re not driving, Richie! I love you, but I do not trust your driving skills!”

“I’ve been driving longer than any of you shits!”

“Doesn’t equate to safe driving!” Eddie shouts, cupping his mouth.

“Says the one with the road rage,” Mike comments, earning a laugh from Ben and Bev, and the finger from Eddie.

Bill chuckles and steps beside Eddie while they walk the rest of the short distance. “It’s true, Eddie. Y-You have some b-b-b-bad road rage.”

“Whatever,” he mumbles.

None of them manage to talk Richie out of driving - and poor Stan tries so hard to get someone else to drive - so they all get into their respective seats, but Ben takes Richie’s old spot and Bill takes Ben’s (not so he can sit beside Mike. That’d be absurd!).

(...Okay, fine, it’s so he can sit beside Mike but the others don’t need to know that).

Then finally, they’re off to McDonald’s. They chant the fast food’s name for a solid thirty seconds until they realize they don’t know where a McDonald’s is. 

And that’s how they spend forty minutes driving around searching for one.

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