#i mean it could be platonic

[creator-of-calm-queer-chaos]

Febuwhump day 2: Flinching with Stucky

For @febuwhump ‘s challenge! Day 2: Flinching

Ao3 stand alone: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44733166

Ao3 as chapter: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44655928/chapters/112345108#workskin 

Timeline: Sometime after Bucky gets rescued and before Civil War

TW: Nightmares, brief descriptions of violence 

It was so strange, to suddenly have someone else in the apartment. Steve had grown used to being alone, to eating dinner by himself, to reading a book before climbing into bed and whispering a goodnight to the world. It was odd, but Steve was grateful for the change.

Bucky had been hesitant in Steve’s offer, but he was persistent. After all, so many people were looking for the Winter Solider, it wouldn’t be wise to leave him alone. Or so Steve argued. And so Bucky relented, following him to his corner of town. They stopped by a tiny grocery store where the old woman behind the counter gave Bucky a once over. She squinted at him, then turned to Steve.

“Why does this kid look like those old photos you showed me?” she asked in a heavy Irish accent.

“Guess I got a type,” Steve laughed as Bucky flushed red.

Bucky wandered around the tiny shop as Steve slowly filled his basket. It was remarkably full for being so small, with everything from sugar to thread. To his delight, he found plums. Bucky picked out a few and shyly walked over to Steve, where he was grabbing some creme.

“Um, Steve?” he asked. “Do you think we could get these?”

Steve glanced over at him, then down to the plums. He immediately nodded and gestured for Bucky to place them in the basket. “Is there anything else you want? I’m making soup tonight, but if you want to go look at their chocolate or something,” he offered, nodding at an aisle.

Bucky smiled softly, and walked over. Immediately, he froze. There were so many different sweets, all with different colours and flavours. It was overwhelming, to say the least. And then Steve was there, hooking his arm in his, and walking him over to the chocolates. Steve handed him two different bars, each with different words. One read seacláid le blas sú craobh , while the other said seacláid bhainne .

“Chocolate… with something flavour?” Bucky read from the first one. Steve beamed at him. “And milk chocolate?”

“You remember,” Steve said, placing the chocolates in the basket. “These ones taste most like what we used to eat when we could find the cash.”

With their basket full, they walked over to the counter.

“ Tabhair neart bia don ghasúr seo, tá sé ró-tanaí,” the woman said to Steve, half sternly and half kindly. She threw in some extra chocolates, saying, “free.”

“Beidh mé,” Steve grinned, paying her and taking the bags. “She was saying you’re too thin,” he added as they walked out.

Bucky grinned and scratched the back of his neck. He followed Steve back to his little apartment, and once they got there, he helped him unpack the groceries. Steve took out the parsnips and a knife, and set a pot of water to boil.

“What can I do to help?” Bucky asked, taking a seat at the counter. He was suddenly nervous.

“Why don’t you cut the parsnips?” Steve offered, handing him the knife. And Bucky understood. Steve trusted him.

That afternoon passed wonderfully. They made a soup that Steve’s mom made, sipping hot tea. They are the chocolates on the couch, telling each other fun stories or jokes. They stayed up late into the night, laughing once more.

Eventually, they grew tired, and Bucky insisted on taking the couch. Steve sighed amicably and brought him some pillows and blankets, getting him a glass of water.

“Night, Buck,” he grinned, giving his friend a hug.

“Night, Steve,” Bucky smiled, hugging back.

Steve patted his shoulder, then walked into his bedroom. He climbed into bed and thought of how grateful he was that his best friend was back. Bucky was back.

Желание. Bucky was falling through the air, Steve was shrinking into a speck. He hit the ground, and struggled for air.

Ржавый Figures haloed by lights above him, the sound of metal clinking, excruciating pain, and then he had two arms. Семнадцать He stood in a line with other soldiers, while an officer barked commands. They sparred. He snapped a neck with his metal fist. The Winter Soldier grew stronger.

Рассвет. A mission. He was clad in all black, sneaking across buildings. There was a man in the apartment across from him, eating dinner while watching TV. The Winter Solider assembled his rifle, aimed briefly, and took the shot. It was muffled, and there was only a faint tinkering of glass. The man collapsed.

Печь The Winter Soldier kneeled in front of a man tied to a chair, various torture devices around them. He picked up a knife and drew a little star on the man’s chest. He started to peel back the skin, and relished in the man’s screams.

Девять. Someone was punching him, he was down on the ground, covered in mud. The Winter Soldier threw off his attacker, kipping up to his feet. He knocked ouut the attacker’s feet from under them, and punched them squarely in the head with his left hand. Their skull was dented.

Доброкачественный. The Winter Soldier had a knife sticking out of his leg. He ripped it out, ignoring the pain, and threw it back at the attacker. It was a teenager. His aim was perfect, as always, and the knife hit them in the chest. He stepped over their dying body as he went to murder the parents.

Возвращ-

“WAKE UP!”

Bucky jolted upright and immediately lashed an arm out to the side, where someone was. He was immediately in fight mode.

“BUCKY, STOP! IT’S ME!”

Bucky froze, and everything came back. He was in Steve’s apartment. Steve was in front of him. He was safe.

“...Bucky?”

He turned to look at Steve, who was kneeling beside him on the floor. Too much information was coming in. Steve was wearing pyjamas, and his hair was a mess. His eyes were wide with panic. Their soup bowls from last night were still sitting at the table. Street lamps outside flickered.

Steve moved his hand and Bucky flinched violently, shielding his head with both arms, curling up into a tight ball.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again, I’ll be good,” he whimpered. “I’m so sorry, please don’t reset me.”

“Oh, Buck…” Steve whispered. “Bucky, it’s me, you’re safe.”

Bucky slowly lifted his head, trembling. He scanned Steve’s face for any sign of betrayal, peering into his eyes. All he could think was will he leave me too?  

“Bucky, you’re safe. Your name is James Buchanan Barnes, born March 10, 1917. You’re my best friend. And you’re safe.”

Finally, it sunk in. Bucky let go of a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He slowly sat up and faced Steve - and then burst out crying. Steve tried to reach out a hand again but Bucky winced and Steve froze. Then Bucky leaned forward and collapsed into Steve’s shoulder.

They stayed like that for a moment, and then, slowly, Steve lifted his arms and wrapped them around Bucky.

“You’re safe,” he whispered into his ears. Even after everything, Bucky still smelled like Bucky. “You’re safe.”

Safe.

[blorbosinmyheadcentral]

Supervised Machine Learning

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

I am incredibly serious right now when I beg you all, please, and if you have Twitter or Tiktok or whatever to please spread the word: click on an author's profile on Ao3.

You want to know if an author has written more? Want to know if they're still writing? Want to see more from them? Want to know if they've written a trope or kink or sex scenario you enjoy?

Click on their name. And look at their profile.

I cannot tell you how many times in the last six months someone has read a new or newer fic of mine and said they (a new reader who has read nothing else I've done) "can't wait to see what you do next!" I've written 50+ fics and over a million words already.

"I don't know if you're still writing..." click on my profile. I am. I literally wrote a 128k+ fic for that ship last month.

"Would you ever do X?" "Please do Y!" I already did. Click on my name and look at my works.

Archive of our Own is a library. It's an archive. Not social media. It is your responsibility to fight back against the laziness that corporate algorithms have trained into you.

Click my author name. Just click it. Just click it.

Before you demand more, or ask if a writer will do XYZ, or wonder if the author still writing, or anything - click on their profile. Click on the author's profile.

I'm not trying to be mean or condescending or anything like that. I'm just exhausted. It's disheartening and frustrating to repeat myself ad nauseam, because someone couldn't take thirty seconds to do the tiniest bit of work to see if I've written lately, if I've written more for their ship, or scan my works to see if I've written what they're asking for. Please. Please. I'm begging.

Click the author's name, and explore before you ask.

[karvviie]

have i mentioned that i’m a red team locus truther

(this is old art. earliest is from 2020)

[potatobugz]

objects loving objects baby!!!!

[mstormcloud]

He deserves a breakdown it would be good for him

[feroluce]

I have finally finished 2.4 and oh my GOD watching Dan Heng be so protective of his friends nearly killed me, MY HEART.

And yes, the cutscene where he pushes the trailblazer out of the way and even cushions their fall with his own body, but I mean even before that! When he was already trying to protect them and March 7th from Feixiao and Lingsha!!

Because if you watch the dango trio throughout the main quest, you'll notice that they often position themselves in the same way, which is a detail that makes me super happy that Hoyo thought to include- when the three of them aren't evenly spaced, March 7th and the trailblazer tend to gravitate towards each other and stand very close together, frequently side-by-side. And by comparison, Dan Heng usually stands slightly away, and often even slightly behind them, where he can pull on their leashes to wrangle them keep an eye on them.

This is probably a habit learned through experience, since March 7th said during Belobog she is the "queen of unannounced disappearances" fjdksajfkldjsak

And of course at least a little bit of it is just done for like, aesthetic purposes. It's a video game. Things have to look nice for the player. The trailblazer and Dan Heng are the same height, March 7th is a bit shorter, and Yanqing is even smaller. It makes sense to have the trailblazer and Dan Heng stand on the ends, with March 7th and Yanqing in the middle, it just looks nicer and more balanced that way. But still! Even when they're accommodating for Yanqing in this quest, they still all arrange themselves the same way, almost every time!

But this changes after Dan Heng and Yanqing become suspicious of the visitors from the Yaoqing.

The dango trio still stand around relaxed and in their usual manner when they go to the artisanship delve and meet Skott,

but Dan Heng takes notice of Lingsha when she arrives, and he and Yanqing mentioned her specifically when discussing their worries.

Yanqing worrying so much about Jing Yuan got me right in the heart, he's such a good boy WEH

And when the four of them go out to the alchemy delve to meet Lingsha for tea, the pattern breaks. Suddenly Dan Heng is standing right up front, and even walks in and enters the scene before March 7th and the trailblazer to get to Lingsha before them. He stays a step in front of them the whole time, too.

And then when Dan Heng and the trailblazer have to go be interrogated by Feixiao! The same deal! Dan Heng walks in ahead of them and stays in front of them! Noticeably so! Enough that even Feixiao takes note and voices it!

Dan Heng is so so fiercely protective of his companions, and I love it, I adore hyper vigilance in the wake of trauma like this, I'm so excited to see what else he does in 2.5, I hope we either get to see him get fucked up or the trailblazer gets fucked up in his place, I wanna see them run through the meat grinder!!!

[sepezzz]

Sorting the archives and a particularly cheesy dancing song comes on

[bonniesband]

It means I love you.

[koszmarnybudyn]

Arthur and Bella as young parents in an au where nothing very bad ever happens cause i just want them to be happy :(

[kennahjune]

I’m a firm platonic stonathan believer (and romantic but that’s not what this post is about).

And I love Steve and Jonathan being really friendly albeit awkward with each other.

But you know what I absolutely LOVE?

Stonathan who can’t STAND each other.

But would also go to fucking war for each other.

Some asshole is being a prick to Jonathan in school? The dudes suddenly thrown off of every sports team he’s on and the principal is fully aware of every time he cheated on a test. Steve just so happens to be at the high school that day to pick up the kids.

There’s some dickwad giving Steve a hard time at work every day? The guys windshield is busted in and car’s been keyed. Jonathan was totally just stopping by Family Video for a movie at the same time.

It’s just so funny to me. The idea of them both putting on this kind of mask around the whole group where everyone thinks they’re at least friendly with each other— the awkwardness is a given, honestly.

But then when it’s just them— getting high together or smth idk— they trade insults that would have anyone else in a ball crying.

And then them both slowly coming out of their shells around the whole group.

And the first time it happens Steve had called Jonathan a home wrecker and in turn Jonathan called Steve a whore.

Everyone was flipping shit trying to make them both apologize to each other before another fight broke out. But Jonathan and Steve sat and laughed at them.

Nobody ever gets used to their bitter teasing towards each other (nobody’s ever heard Jonathan use such foul language) but they learn to accept that that’s just how they are with each other.

This is kinda like a begrudging sibling-bonded stonathan.

This is also how I imagine madwheeler being btw. But I’ll make them their own post eventually.

[hbghq]

shrieking i want to post more pkciv shit on here but two very specific people that i respect and admire and look up to follow this blog and i think i would walk into the sun if either of them got the slightest glimpse of what the hell goes on inside my head so. hand comparison

[dodger-chan]

Based off this post by @cheer-nympho

I thought it would be a silly drabble, but I made the mistake of sleeping on it and, well, here have some very nearly canon compliant demon Steve

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

Eddie woke up to pain.

“What happened?” he asked, not opening his eyes. If no one answered, he could go back to sleep.

“Steve’s a demon.” It was Henderson’s voice. Fuck, it was good to hear the kid’s voice. If Dustin was here, talking to him, it meant the kid was okay. It meant they’d made it.

“No shit,” Eddie answered, and then slipped back into unconsciousness.

It had been a joke, the summoning spell. Eddie had been bored, maybe a little high, and hadn’t believed any of that bullshit, anyway. Not demons, or satan. He hadn’t even been particularly confident in god.

“Oh, it’s real. All of it,” Harrington had confirmed, sitting cross legged in the chalk circle on Eddie’s bedroom floor. Only the red flames where his eyes should be differentiated him from the archetypal teenage jock. Well, the flames and the fact that he was in Eddie’s room to begin with. Eddie’s room was generally reserved for fellow freaks and nerds. “Time’s ticking on this summoning, Munson. Do you want to deal or not?”

The next time Eddie surfaced the pain was less intense. He was able to peel open his eyes. Wayne was there.

“What happened?” Eddie asked again. Wayne smiled, and squeezed Eddie’s hand.

“Think you’re gonna remember it this time?” he asked instead of answering.

“No idea. Tell me anyway?”

“You said that last time, too.” Wayne chuckled.

What Wayne told him didn’t match what Eddie did remember; obviously the mysterious government suits had provided a cover story. A shitty, ridiculous cover story that was only slightly more plausible than the truth. Still, one that cleared his name, so Eddie probably should be grateful. And, cover story or not it was good to know Henderson was fine aside from a mildly twisted ankle. Sinclair and Lady Applejack had gotten a few bruises. Red had a way too many broken bones for anyone’s liking. Something had happened to Robin and Wheeler the Elder, though neither girl would say what. Harrington…

Harrington had fucking vanished.

“What’ll it cost me?” Eddie’d asked. He wasn’t normally a cautious guy, but he’d read enough stories about deals with the devil to know they were tricky.

“Depends on what you ask. I mostly deal in small favors. You know, a girl who turned you down gets her period early and bleeds through her pants in class. A fire alarm goes off just when you were about to take a pop quiz. And I take something of similar value in return.” Harrington had frowned at him then. “Shit like making sure I end up team captain, or always get the good drinks at parties. It’ll be a little harder to get something useful from you.”

“Running the DnD club doesn’t count as recruiting souls?”

Harrington’s laugh could only be described as a cackle.

“What makes you think I care about recruiting souls?” he’d asked. “But no, it doesn’t. If I wanted souls, I’d do better with basketball. One soul per college scout.”

“What if I want something big?”

“What happened to Harrington?” Eddie asked Dustin the next time the kid visited him.

“I don’t know.” The others all said that, too. Swore up and down they hadn’t seen him since they’d split the party to fight Venca on multiple fronts. Henderson was the only one Eddie didn’t believe.

“Tell me what you do know.” It was a demand more than a request, and Eddie felt guilty making it. Dustin had to be missing his surrogate brother.

“After the gates joined, Nancy went through at the Creel House, but Steve and Robin came back for us. You were…um…I asked Steve to save you. He said he would. Then he went all demon-y, and asked Robin if she wanted anything while he was at it. She asked him to get Vecna. He must have. Because we’re all alive, and when El got here she said that One had been killed.”

“But how?”

“I don’t know! Demon stuff, probably,” Dustin snapped. “Steve carried you and me out of the gate, he put us in a car and told Robin not to worry about being a bad driver, just to head towards Hawkins Memorial and we’d get there safely. I didn’t see him after that.”

A deal with Dustin to save Eddie. And a deal with Robin to save them all.

“You and Nancy Wheeler, trying to shoot for the moon.” Harrington had shaken his head almost sadly. “She couldn’t meet my price. Tried her hardest for nearly a year. But even the hope of bringing Barb back wasn’t enough.”

“I don’t want anything as big as a resurrection.” Eddie had been thinking more along the lines of getting the house back. Or freeing Wayne from his father’s debts.

“Once we’re talking about anything of real significance, the exact size doesn’t matter. You see,” Steve had leaned to the edge of the summoning circle, like he was inviting Eddie into a confidence. “I’m not exactly supposed to be here. If I do anything too obvious, something that couldn’t happen without demonic intervention, I get dragged back to hell. So the price is the same regardless.”

“And that is?” Eddie had been through a lot more in his life than prissy Nancy Wheeler. He could stomach what she couldn’t.

“Love me.”

Robin didn’t visit Eddie in the hospital. She didn’t visit him at his uncle’s new trailer when he got out. Eddie had to track her down at work, pretending to need help finding a horror movie to watch on the VCR he didn’t own.

“I need to know what the terms of the deal were,” he whispered, leaning close as Robin tried to push him back with a copy of The Exorcist. The power of VHS compels you. “The one Dustin made with Steve, and the one you did. What was the price?”

Robin relented.

“Steve told Dustin the price of saving you was losing him as an older brother.” Damn. That was harsh.

“And Dustin agreed to that?” The kid looked up to him, sure, but Harrington had been his hero.

“Dustin thinks he’s smarter than he is. And he didn’t know about the whole-” Robin made devil horns with her left hand “-thing. He probably figured Steve was just being a jealous bitch, and he’d talk him around once you were stable.”

That made more sense. But, “Henderson never tried to make a bargain before? Even by accident?”

“You have to ask to make a bargain,” Robin pointed out. Which, fair enough. Dustin did tend to give orders where other people would ask politely. Harrington might never have had an opportunity to offer Dustin a deal. “I don’t think it was really a deal. Steve was just telling Dustin the truth; that once he knew he wouldn’t be able to see Steve the same way.”

Eddie wasn’t sure he bought that. Steve wouldn’t have saved Eddie for his own sake. It was a nice thought, though, that Harrington was capable of caring about Dustin enough to do real magic for free.

“What about your deal?”

“Paid in advance.” She scowled at him; if Eddie hadn’t already known the price, he’d have been afraid to ask. “How did you know about-?”

She made the devil horns again.

“I, uh, accidentally summoned him once.”

Robin lit up.

“You know how to summon him?” she asked, bouncing on her toes. Eddie nodded. “I know his name. His real name. After Starcourt, the Russians, when I - I can bind him. Eddie, we can bring him back.”

“Your price is sex and you’re trying to tell me Wheeler didn’t pay?” Gossip put Wheeler and Harrington in bed together a full year prior. Even if word of mouth had run a little ahead of reality, “I call bullsh-”

“My price isn’t sex,” Harrington had interrupted. “Sex is cheap. There for the taking whether I want it or not. Fun but worthless. My price is love. Romantic. Platonic. Familial. Doesn’t matter. But it has to be love. Do you know how valuable that is?”

Eddie hadn’t.

“It’s almost time for me to leave, Munson. Is it going to be a small favor? Or do you want to try to earn something big?”

The summoning went a lot easier with Robin’s help. Or maybe it was being sober when he set it up. Either way, the candles flickered and inside the once empty circle stood Steve Harrington. A little less human looking: tattered wings, blood stained claws, and just barely noticeable fangs were added to the flaming eyes. But he was still recognizable to Eddie. And to Robin, who threw herself across the lines of protection they’d carefully drawn less than an hour ago - smearing them into uselessness - for a hug.

“I missed you, too, Rob.” The voice was the same.

“Oh, right, quick, put this on.” She handed him a ring. One of Eddie’s - she hadn’t wanted to wait until they could find something a little more fitting of Steve’s image. “I bound you to the ring. I figured it’s portable, so you can take it with you if you want to leave Hawkins. You can wear it on your hand, or on a chain if you don’t want it visible. Just don’t lose it. If someone else takes it, they’ll be able to drag you around places. But I thought that was less of a risk than binding you to something you couldn’t move-”

“Breathe, Rob,” Steve reassured her, hugging her tightly. “It’s fine. Better than fine. I didn’t think…I never expected to see you again. Either of you.”

“Well, that was real dumb of you, Harrington.” Eddie grinned at the demon. The boy. His savior and possible friend.

It wasn’t possible to look intimidating with Robin Buckley clinging to him, but Steve gave it a good shot.

“You looking for another dirty magazine, Munson?”

“Uh, I guess I could use a new skin mag? The one I’ve got is starting to fall apart.”

“Check your mail tomorrow. One’s going to get misdelivered. You owe me one.” Harrington had smiled, smooth and perfect. He’d disappeared when Eddie’d blinked.

The next afternoon, Eddie’d found the newest issue of Blueboy, meant for delivery in Chicago. Pretty impressive; Eddie hadn’t even told Steve he’d needed gay porn. A week and a half later there was a note in his locker, telling him to pull the fire alarm at the beginning of third period.

And that was the end of it.

“Not this time.” That had been the end of it, until Eddie’s freshmen sheep turned out to be demon worshipers. Until Chrissy’d been murdered, and Steve had jumped in to help without asking anything of Eddie in return. “That used to be my ring.”

“I figured.” Harrington glanced down at the snake now wrapped around his middle finger. “I’m not giving it back.”

“Guess you’ll owe me one.”

“Guess I will.” Steve stepped out of the circle, out of Robin’s arms. “Are you doing Friday night? Come to mine. I’ll make you dinner.”

“You asking me on a date, Harrington?” Eddie was pretty sure that’s what Steve was doing. “It’s going to take more than one date to pay me back for that ring.”

Crazy how fun it was to tease a demon.

“I sure hope so.”

[arthrobug]

Headcanon: Ramon is actually really intelligent, it's just a little surprising

[nerdynuala]

@radioroseweek day 6, on which I spent more time than intended:

Date

Sugar, spice and everything nice

Stupid ideas go brrr in my mind

[nartml]

was it casual when i had a panic attack at the thought of you dying was it casual when you risked your entire carrier just to feed me lunch was it casual when you were willing to die protecting me even though you wouldn't accomplish any of the goals you devoted yourself to was it casual when i spent so many nights rolling around in deep thought about whether you think of me like i do about you was it casual when i wished for you upon a shooting star was it casual when i refused to let you continue your way down a path of self-destructive loneliness even though you wanted me to was it casual when you needed to kill me and only me to grow stronger and be entirely untethered from your past but you just couldn't was it casual when i preferred to bear your pain and hatred and die fighting you as opposed to giving up on you was it casual when i could trade blows with you (read your heart) even though your supposed wife couldn't was it casual when i was your one and only was it casual when the hands that we blew off of each other bore the evidence of our cosmic connection was it casual when you cried your first tears of relief and happiness after you lost to me was it casual when you kept in touch with me but not with your wife was it casual when we fought and laughed and became inseparable was it casual when i can't exist without you was it casual when i put all my goals on hold because how could i focus on them when i can't even save you was it casual when you were my main motivation for training to become infinitely stronger was it casual when i'd remain a fool my entire life if being smart meant that i had to give up on you was it casual when you know my heart i yours was it casual when