#imagine the crossover between these shows

[minus-plus-zer0]

The Bakusquad Gaming Group - Ch. 4 - It's Official

| Masterlist | The Bakusquad Gaming Group Masterlist | | Previous | Next (TBD) | ♡ Genre: Fluff, suggestive ♡ Pairing: Gamer!Bakugou x Gamer!Reader ♡ Tags: Crossover (MHA x multiple franchises), gaming AU, Quirkless AU, aged up

Many Let's Players, including yourself, marked the upcoming gaming convention on your calendars several weeks in advance.

You and the Bakusquad were both set to attend, but you were only welcomed as a visitor. The Bakusquad became big enough to host their own live panel with Q&A, set on the first day of the convention. You didn’t get one because you didn’t have a big group like theirs, but your fanbase was still hyped for your own attendance. Many commenters clamored for more interactions between you and Bakugou at the convention, and people expected you to visit their panel specifically. Your fans often asked when you would officially join the Bakusquad, to the point of irritation.

The Bakusquad secretly planned to have you join them on their trip to the convention center. You wanted your appearance at their particular panel to be a surprise for the fans, so you never confirmed any of the fan's theories as to whether you would or wouldn't visit the Bakusquad panel in particular. You just informed everyone that you would be attending the upcoming convention, and left it at that.

The Bakusquad shared their panel schedule with you. The entire group would be sitting at a long table in front of the audience with their leader Bakugou standing at a podium leading the event. First, they would start with introducing their members, after that they'd show some skits they put together, then they'd proceed to announcements for future projects, videos, and merch, and finally they'd get to the Q&A section where fans would line up to ask them questions. They planned for you to be the first audience member in line for Q&A disguised as a fan and from there, you'd surprise everyone by joining them on their panel table. But they weren't sure of how exactly this would work. You'd figure it out later.

All the Bakusquad members (besides Bakugou himself) would be vlogging throughout their trip and posting it all later on their shared Bakusquad channel. Your appearances in these vlogs would be your first appearance on their shared group channel, though nobody knew the Bakusquad had invited you at all. The videos wouldn't be posted until after you left the convention. Your continued collaborations with the Bakusquad in the several weeks leading up to the panel only built up the hype for how the group would handle your eventual convention appearance.

Over the past months that you've known the Bakusquad, you chatted with all their members over numerous streams. This would be your first time seeing your friends in-person. The group already planned to meet you at the airport shortly before the convention started. From there, you'd travel to the convention center together.

The day before the convention, you landed at the airport, prepared to join the rest of the group. Bakugou's head was on a swivel until he caught sight of you, then he flagged you down.

You rushed over to the Bakusquad, carrying your luggage and waving at them. Ashido gave you a big hug when you finally reached them, with Bakugou scrutinizing you two from the sidelines.

"I finally get to see you in-person!" Ashido cried. "You're so much different than what I imagined!"

"But you've seen me on my facecam..." you said, as you and Ashido suffocated each other in the hug.

"It's probably your height," Sero said. "Nobody imagines height correctly." Kirishima nodded.

"You're different than what Bakugou said you'd look like!" Kaminari chimed in. "He told me--"

"I didn't tell you jack shit," Bakugou snapped. "Raccoon Eyes, let 'em go. Don't wanna see you two snuggling the entire damn trip."

Ashido released you. "What? Afraid I'm gonna steal her from you?"

"You couldn't steal candy from a fucking baby!"

"Let's not fight!" you said. "This is supposed to be a happy occasion, right?"

"Have you met us?" Jirou asked. "We're not exactly a group that's known for getting along all chummy and shit."

You pouted. "But I like being chummy... and shit."

Bakugou patted your head. "Don't get too chummy with the wrong crowd." He glared at Ashido, who didn't care at all. "Don't worry about them, worry about yourself. We can go over the convention plans in the car. Let's move, people."

You spent the day hanging out with the Bakusquad. It wasn't so different from your chats online except that the group was much more chaotic in-person. They loved to rib one another, and sometimes it felt like it was every man for himself. For example, Jirou teased you for getting emotional and sensitive in your last dating sim and Bakugou nearly ripped her to shreds on the spot. You held Bakugou back before he could land himself in prison.

But the group members also supported one another, including you. They always made sure to include you in conversations and it felt easy to talk with them as you did before online, like they were still your same old friends. Bakugou chatted with you most of all.

"Never heard Bakugou talk this much before outside of streams," Kaminari said, as your group walked around town. "It's weird seeing him semi-friendly."

"That's a blatant lie," Bakugou snapped. "You've known me for how long?!"

"Come to think of it," Sero said, "this is my first time hearing Bakugou speak. I usually just tune him out automatically."

"I thought he was mute!" Ashido said, shrugging.

Once again, you had to hold back Bakugou from committing murder. This continued several times throughout the day, with the other members sometimes using you as a human meat shield against their leader.

The group eventually got too accustomed to you reigning in Bakugou, soon growing cocky and taunting Bakugou even more than before. They accused him of being overly fluffy, committing various crimes, and being unable to hide his fondness for you. That last one embarrassed you so much you couldn't hold back Bakugou anymore, and the entire group ran away to avoid a raging Bakugou. You were left in the dust until Bakugou led you back to where the group hid.

Afterwards, your group ate out together at a restaurant and then finally retired to a hotel. You shared a hotel room with Ashido and Jirou, each person with their own separate bed. Bakugou had his own hotel room and the other three guys shared a room with only two beds, which was quite strange. You didn't know if two of the three boys shared a bed, if one of them brought a sleeping bag from home, or if one of them just duct-taped themselves to the ceiling for a place to sleep. You didn't ask. Ashido giggled every time you mentioned it, though.

Around late evening, Ashido and Jirou left your shared hotel room to get some late night snacks. You texted Bakugou that you were terribly bored being alone, and he texted you something intriguing.

"Come over."

It almost sounded like a command, though you knew he'd respect your rejection if you didn't want to go. Still, you went.

His hotel door was open when you reached it. "Bakugou?" You popped your head inside.

"Yo." Bakugou sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for you.

You locked the door behind you and approached him, a little jittery. "I'm so excited for this convention. It'll be my first, you know?"

"Mine too," he said, as you sat down beside him. "First time being on a panel, anyways."

"I'm so proud of you," you said. "Don't forget about me after you grow eternally famous."

"...'Course I won't. Remember what we planned. And don't get too nervous, alright? 'Cause I can tell you're nervous right now."

His hand stroked your face briefly. He smirked. You bit back a smile, but it still appeared nevertheless.

"It's not really our planned surprise that's making me nervous," you admitted. "I think it's more your doing..."

"How bad is it?"

"It's keeping me from sleeping for sure."

"Why don't you go to bed?" Bakugou asked, his voice almost a growl.

"I'm already here, aren't I?" you said, innocently.

Bakugou drew closer to you, your noses almost touching.

"That's exactly what I meant..."

Your phone rang. You both jumped back. You scowled at the wretched incoming call. It was Ashido. You glanced at Bakugou before taking the call.

"Hey!" Ashido cried. "Where the heck are you?! We have your snacks right here!"

"Yeah," Jirou chimed in. "Get the fuck back here. We're getting real hungry and we might start eating your portion. Or do you want us to hunt for you?"

Jirou must've known exactly where you went. Maybe Ashido did too. You couldn't let them find you here.

"Um, gimme a second, okay? I'm kind of busy!"

"Busy with what--"

You hung up on them. Bakugou was still staring at you the entire time. His expression was unreadable.

"Sorry," you said. "I don't want them to find me in here. They'll think--"

"I know exactly what they'll think."

Your heart was still beating out of your chest, and so was his.

"I'm sorry," you said. "I have to go. I just--"

"Go."

"Okay. Alright. Goodnight."

"Night."

You didn't get to talk to Bakugou about your little tryst the following day. You felt it was your fault for leaving, but you didn't think you could convince Ashido and Jirou to stop searching for you even if you were blunt about your situation.

The group would soon start preparing for their panel and there wasn't any time to waste. As the group's leader, Bakugou would make sure that the Bakusquad got through all their panel segments on time and generally keep the other idiots in line.

You worked overtime to help manage the group, even though it wasn't officially your job. Like a true parent, you kept everyone fed, stopped numerous fights, and made fun of them even worse than how they made fun of each other. You caught Bakugou snickering at some of your teasing.

The turnout for the Bakusquad event was much bigger than anyone expected, and the audience almost filled out the entire room. Every single one of the Bakusquad members was pretty nervous. It showed in a number of ways, like fidgeting or chattiness. Bakugou was quieter than he usually was, separate from the rest of the group. Nobody else seemed to notice.

Bakugou reassured the group throughout the day that they'd 'give the audience hell' and would 'show them what they're made of'. But you still worried about him.

You found some alone time with Bakugou before the show started. You started stroking his arm rhythmically to calm him down.

"...Are ya doing this for me or more for yourself?" Bakugou asked, quietly.

"A bit of both," you said, resting your head against his shoulder. "I know you're a big scaredy cat deep down."

"You're the scaredy cat..."

Bakugou pulled you against him for a hug. You could hear how fast his heart raced inside his chest. You buried your face in his chest, trying your best to soothe his worries. You weren't sure if you were making him more or less relaxed.

"We start in a few minutes!" Kirishima called out in the distance.

You abruptly pulled away from Bakugou. You saw him mentally snap out of his reverie, and you wondered what he was thinking regarding your hug just now. But there' wasn't time.

"Got your fill?" you asked. "It's starting soon. I know you'll do great out there, trust me. So break a leg!"

"Will do." Bakugou walked away, never breaking your gaze. "And thank you, I mean it. Watch me while I'm up there, alright? Don't take your eyes off me."

You nodded. Bakugou walked out onto the panel, where the other Bakusquad members sat at a lengthy table in front of the audience. You scurried off to your reserved seat in the audience area, putting on a unicorn mask to disguise yourself. For now, you'd pretend to be a normal fan. From your seat, you checked up on Bakugou, who still seemed to be flustered from your earlier interactions.

Many audience members wore the Bakusquad's merchandise. Most members wore Dynamight's merch, with his iconic explosion logo and faceless designs. He once told you in private he hated the idea of people wearing his face, and you always laughed at the thought of it.

Some other fans wore your merch too. There was a large overlap between your fanbases nowadays. Online, there were numerous fans asking if you were present at the convention right now. The girls sitting next to you were even reading fluffy Bakugou x You fanfiction to pass the time... You hoped none of these people would recognize you now that you were disguised as a beautiful latex unicorn.

Bakugou scanned the crowd for you and spotted your unicorn mask soon enough. You gave him two peace signs that he definitely saw. He could barely tear his eyes away from your silly disguise until Kirishima reminded him to start.

Bakugou straightened the microphone on his podium, the rest of the group sitting at a long table facing the audience.

"Yo," Bakugou said. "I'm Bakugou Katsuki, aka Dynamight, the leader of the Bakusquad. And these are the lackeys that do my bidding."

"You wish," Jirou said.

"We're more like his personal group of bullies!" Ashido said. The others nodded.

"Our videos never exactly go to plan due to this type of behavior," Bakugou said, with a sneer. "In case you couldn't fucking tell, we're a gaming group. We vlog, and we enter competitions, and all that shit. You guys wanna introduce yourselves?"

The rest of the Bakusquad members introduced themselves as Bakugou asked to varying levels of applause. Bakugou garnered the most applause by far, while the rest gathered less applause, along with more formal canned reactions. You wondered how many people would applaud for you.

After their introductions, they moved onto announcements and the skits they produced. Most of the skits were just them dicking around, and often had nothing to do with video games. But the audience liked seeing the Bakusquad get into trouble. Occasionally Bakugou glanced at you to check your reaction and he looked pleased to catch you giggling. You shooed him away if he stared too long.

Finally, the Q&A section started and fans started lining up to ask questions. You got in line first before anyone else. Many of the Bakusquad members glanced at your unicorn mask waiting in line, thinking about the question you'd love to ask them as a 'fan'.

You kind of knew what you generally wanted to ask, but you didn't form an exact script. Bakugou would be handling the questions, so you'd have to improvise a bit on the fly. You walked up to the microphone set up for the Q&A fans, facing the Bakusquad with your unicorn mask still concealing your face.

You asked them a question that Bakugou knew was coming, something that fans already asked them a million times on social media.

You asked about yourself.

"When is that pink gamer girl gonna show up at your panel?"

The audience groaned at your annoying question. Some even glared.

“I dunno." Bakugou grinned. "When are you?”

You took off your unicorn mask. The audience gasped.

"Everyone, meet our newest Bakusquad member!"

You took off your unicorn mask and walked up to the stage. The audience's groans transformed into cheers upon seeing you. The fans wearing your merchandise shrieked and you high-fived them as you walked past. Even so, their cheers were not enough to rival everyone's cheers for Bakugou from earlier. You took an extra seat besides Bakugou's podium at the long table, the bright production lights almost blinding your eyes. You overheard some audience members talking about you. "Dynamight's girlfriend joined the Bakusquad!"

"She's gonna be a permanent part of our videos from now on," Bakugou said, looking happy to have you by his side. "And since she's now officially part of our group, you can start bugging her with questions too."

"Now you guys can finally stop asking us when she'll join," Kirishima said. Some of the Bakusquad laughed at that.

"But don't go asking any shipping-related shit!" Bakugou said. "That stuff's banned from Q&A. Onto the next question."

Some of the crowd looked disappointed by the shipping ban, but most were still hyped. You were nervous, and didn't know what questions to expect.

The first real fan approached the microphone after you left it, wearing a Dynamight T-shirt.

"Um, hi!" the fan said. "Just wanted to say I'm excited to meet you all, including the newest member." The crowd let loose a few cheers. "So my question is kinda weird. But it's something I ask at every panel. Uh, how did you guys sleep last night?"

"Oddly intrusive question," Jirou said. "Me and Ashido I barely slept at all, we were up gaming."

"Did you guys know that these three boys slept together?" Ashido gestured towards Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari. "And yet they only had twoooo beds! What's up with that?"

"Speaking of which, how did you sleep last night?" Sero asked Kaminari in a sultry tone, complete with bedroom eyes.

"I slept great, thanks to you..."

"Fucking shut the fuck up!" Bakugou said, slamming his hands on the podium. "I don't wanna hear about your creepy ass love lives!"

"Clearly someone does," you said, side-eyeing the audience. "I think it's cute."

"At least we have a love life!" Kaminari cried. "What do you have? A single hotel bedroom, all to yourself?"

You and Bakugou shared a quick glance at each other. Nobody actually knew that you visited his bedroom the other night, and you sure as hell weren't going to reveal anything here.

"My bedroom is my business," Bakugou said.

"Bet there's no 'business' going on in there," Ashido said. Jirou whooped and high-fived her. The audience laughed with them.

"Fucking shut up, all of you." Bakugou glared at the audience. "All of you."

"Aw come on you guys!" you said, desperately trying to save Bakugou's dignity. "It doesn't matter if Bakugou's got nothing going on. It's okay to be single, don't you know?"

"You're making things worse," Bakugou said.

"Wait hold on a minute! Hold on a minute!" Everyone (except Bakugou) turned to Kirishima. "So you're agreeing he's got nothing going on? Even you? 'Cause by the way the shippers talk I thought you'd--"

"Don't mention the damn shippers!"

Some of the audience cheered and shrieked, and you knew exactly which part of your current audience was the shippers. It was those people in particular.

"I thought the shipping ban was for the fans only?" Kirishima asked. "I don't ship anybody..."

"No, the ban is for everyone!" Bakugou said. "For her sake, we're not mentioning any 'shipping' for the rest of the panel." Bakugou briefly glanced at you. "No shipping questions and no shipping talk from these traitors. Or else I'll fucking 'ship' you to Africa."

"I slept fine by the way!" you said, cheerfully.

The next few questions were directed to the other Bakusquad members. You drank some water as you tried to calm down, wondering when you would be asked a question. Finally, a new fan stepped towards the microphone, his question addressed to Bakugou and you.

"Is it true that Dynamight and the new girl went to university together?"

"We actually did!" you said. "He was apparently the star quarterback on the university's sports team. Made headlines and everything. But we never talked to each other."

"It's a shame I never even saw you once," Bakugou said.

"I wish we would've met back then," you said, smiling at the boy. "Apparently you had a different haircut back in uni. Less fluffy."

"Think he would've had the same personality though," Kaminari said. "The same, awful personality."

"Shut your trap!" Bakugou snapped. "The question doesn't involve you."

"Hey, I was just kidding!"

Bakugou sighed. "Anyways, if we did meet back then, our channels probably would've turned out differently."

"Oh absolutely!" you said. "The audience may not know this, but Bakugou was a huge fan of my channel before we met. We both binged a lot of each other's videos like, all the time. And he actually modeled his channel after mine!"

Bakugou averted his eyes from you, embarrassed. Still, he didn't deny what you said.

"But your content is completely different..." Jirou said, twirling her hair. "Bakugou's never done tea time with his chat members."

"Not yet!" You wiggled your eyebrows at Bakugou.

"Not ever. Next question."

A few more fans passed around questions to various Bakusquad members before the final fan addressed you, one more time. It was one of the girls reading Bakugou x You fanfiction that you saw earlier.

"Not a shipping question, but what do you and Dynamight like most about each other?"

This question was definitely toeing the line of 'shipping', but you couldn't call it out. You didn't want to be rude to your fans. So you tried playing it off as a joke, with both you and Bakugou suddenly scrutinizing each other.

"Is there anything I like about this guy?" you asked yourself, stroking your chin.

"If you don't like me, why are you always hanging out with me? Huh?"

The audience fawned over your interaction with a suggestive "Ooooo!" You really didn't mean to flirt in front of everyone, but perhaps that was how they interpreted it. Even the fan at the microphone got excited.

"You're not gonna answer the question?" Bakugou asked.

"You first." You really had no idea how to salvage this situation.

Bakugou groaned. "I don't fucking know... I really love your hair. Happy?"

You cringed internally. Couldn't Bakugou choose a trait that wasn't tied to your appearance? You glared at him but he wasn't looking at you or anyone. The man appeared suspicious as all hell.

"Well I like your temper," you said, with a lackadaisical flick of your hand. "Makes it easy to rile you up for views."

The audience also fawned and squealed over that comment, which you didn't interpret as suggestive at all. You didn't know what ran through their minds, and you didn't want to know.

Kirishima leaned over and quickly whispered to you, "You're both really awful at this, you know that?" You couldn't even snap back a response without alerting everyone in the audience watching you.

"That's one way to fucking end things," Bakugou said. "We're officially outta time for Q&A."

"And thanks to everyone else who came!" you cried. "To the rest of you still in line, we're so sorry we couldn't take everyone's questions. We really had a lot of fun today!"

The rest of the Bakusquad thanked the audience and said their goodbyes. After the panel, your group stuck around to sign autographs and take photos with the fans. Bakugou held back unless you specifically joined him in the fan's photos. Otherwise, the boy was ready to call it quits with the panel event to explore the rest of the convention. Bakugou's eyes kept shifting back towards you every now and then.

Even after the panel finished, you wondered about Bakugou's comment. Was your hair really your best trait? Or was he hiding the real answer from the audience and you? You needed to know. After all, your own answer wasn't entirely honest. You didn't hate his temper and you did enjoy teasing him, but it wasn't your favorite trait of all time. The first positive thing about him that came to mind was his appearance, but blurting that out wouldn't have helped either.

Maybe you should've denied the fan's question entirely. Maybe you should've gotten media training prior to the panel. You didn't know.

The rest of the group split up to explore the other panels at the gaming convention. You found yourself alone with Bakugou in a courtyard close to the convention center, with fewer people around. Your heart skipped a beat.

"So... you like my hair?" you asked, a hand on your hip.

"Don't read into it," Bakugou said, quickly looking away. "I had to give 'em something."

"Couldn't you give them something that wouldn't feed the shippers?"

"You fed them too! Fuck, they would've been fed off of anything we do! If we stood next to each other, they'd assume we're married! Worry about it when we get even more famous."

"Guess so... Say, what was your real answer to their last question?"

"You're asking what I like most about you?" Bakugou folded his arms and grinned. "I dunno. Guess you're pretty cute when you're all worried like you were on stage."

You pouted. "It was a normal amount of nervousness! You were nervous too!"

"Not as much as you. Probably 'cause you helped calm me down earlier. I also love it whenever ya argue with me."

"That must be why you love pestering me," you said.

"Maybe... But if I'm being honest, there's a whole lotta other stuff I love about ya."

Bakugou stroked your face. You held still, not pulling away from him. The few other people in the courtyard didn't notice you two.

Bakugou gulped.

"So what was your answer?" Bakugou asked.

"My answer? Hm... It's probably your hair that I like most. Just so soft."

"Is that all ya like about me?" Bakugou looked at you, seriously.

"No, there's so much more than that..."

"...Guess we're the same."

Bakugou leaned in and kissed you, exhaling through his nose. His lips were warm like his body, somewhat chapped yet still inviting. His hand still cupped your face, tilting your head slightly so he could deepen the kiss better. Bakugou groaned into your mouth, kissing you like a starved man. You loved the kiss but you couldn't reciprocate with half as much pressure as he was giving; the boy wanted to immediately transform his first kiss into his first makeout session. His lips wouldn't waste this rare opportunity of getting to kiss you.

Bakugou pinned you against a nearby courtyard pillar while you were all too aware of the people nearby. You broke away from his kiss, the both of you catching your breath.

"You're lucky nobody saw that," you whispered.

"Don't care," he said, voice rough. "Wanted ya so bad."

Somebody turned towards your direction and you straightened yourself, trying to act natural. Bakugou followed your lead, scratching the back of his neck to hide his face from others. A few more people poured into the courtyard from the convention center and you couldn't resume your intimacy with an audience.

You pulled on Bakugou's arm. "How about we enjoy the convention center together? I promise we can save all that other stuff for later..."

"Oh we're definitely picking back up again later, dammit!"

Still reeling from his first kiss, Bakugou followed after you like a lost puppy. You spent the entire day with Bakugou. It honestly felt like a real date, though neither of you two said anything directly about your kiss. You didn't know where your relationship was. You didn't know whether you or Bakugou wanted to be public about your relationship yet.

Throughout the entire day, you couldn't get the image of you and Bakugou nearly making out from your mind's eye. You wondered if Bakugou was the same; he kept peeking at your lips every now and then. When he held your face with one hand, his fingers brushed dangerously close to the edges of your mouth. But you two never got another private moment to kiss with all these people around. Bakugou made sure to protect you and your privacy.

You soon reconvened with the rest of the Bakusquad. Bakugou certainly wouldn't spill any juicy details to them, instead acting cagey whenever the group members inquired on your time together. Over lunch and later dinner you two didn't have much alone time to yourselves. Bakugou kept trying to invite you somewhere more private, but you never got the chance.

It wasn't until nighttime that you saw Bakugou alone again.

Overnight, all of your members kept trying to prank and mess with each other while people tried to sleep, which led to no one getting any sleep at all. 

Bakugou was the best at staying unharmed, since he had his own bedroom as well as the only key to its lock. You were the only one allowed inside because Bakugou got you an extra key for his room.  

You saw the opportunity to strike, and you took it. 

It was late at night, far later than when Bakugou usually slept. Ashido and Jirou already caught you sneaking out of your shared bedroom, but they didn't stop you. If anything, they pushed you out into the hallway. It was very encouraging.

You knew that even though Bakugou wanted to see you alone all day long, he couldn't possibly stay up this late just for that. His old grandpa genes wouldn't let him. So you crept into his bedroom without issue.

Bakugou's room was entirely dark and you quickly closed the door behind you to prevent too much light from getting in. You snuck over to him and you could hear the lazy rhythmic breathing of his body. It was so cute.

You were dead tired from staying up this late, but you needed to prank him as this could be your only chance during the convention. You gave him one test poke. Bakugou moved and your heart leapt out of your chest, but he only rolled over to the other side of the bed. He still looked asleep. 

Frustrated, you got onto the bed to get back within poking distance of the beast. You giggled quietly as you prepared your real attack.

Then, Bakugou grabbed you by your waist. You shrieked and shrieked but he wouldn't let go.

You tumbled backwards and managed to turn on a lamp. His arms had an iron grip on your waist, alongside a devilish grin on his sleepy face, as he caught you right in the act. 

"Where do ya think you're going?" he asked, bags under his eyes. 

"How long have you been awake?" you asked.

"Since you opened the door. If you wanna prank me, don't make it so damn obvious!" 

He clung to you tighter, pulling you back onto the bed. Then he rose up on his knees, grabbed a pillow, and smacked you with it (softly). 

"Stop!" 

He smacked you again (softly).

"Hey stop!"

You grabbed the pillow before he could hit you and you both played tug-of-war with it. With your free arm, you grabbed a different pillow and them smacked his face with it, forcing him back. You sat upright, your new pillow locked and loaded. 

"Did ya come here just to kill me?" he asked, still grinning.

"No, but that option isn't exactly off the menu."

"What else was on the menu?"

You were about to answer his unanswerable question until you heard footsteps and a voice outside. 

"Who's making all that noise?" someone called out.

Both of your heads snapped to the front door, and you saw that it was still unlocked.

"You didn't lock the door!" Bakugou said through gritted teeth.

You shot him an apologetic look and rushed over to lock it properly. Once you did, you turned back to him, still wielding his hotel pillow as your temporary weapon-of-choice. But you didn't want to risk making anymore noise, not while there were still footsteps outside. And you couldn't return to your bedroom with people searching outside. So that left one option.

"You wanna actually sleep for once?" you asked, holding your pillow behind your back. 

Bakugou slammed his pillow back into its proper place. "That's what I was fucking doing before you arrived!" He looked a little nervous before he voiced his next thoughts. "...C'mon back over, if ya want. They might catch ya if you try to leave."

You walked over to him, shyly. He didn't take his eyes off you as you approached. 

Once you got near the bed you lightly pushed his shoulder. "Um, move please."

"Move where?"

"...Back to where you were originally sleeping..." 

He raised an eyebrow at you and then did so, climbing under the covers while scrutinizing you. "This is the only time I'll let somebody boss me around."

"No it's not," you said, smiling. You put your pillow back into its place and climbed into bed after him, with his eyes never leaving you. His eyebrow raised the tiniest bit the closer you got to him, his body stiffening.

"Hi." You gave him a small wave from your side of the bed, which wasn't that far from him.

"Fucking hello, I guess," he said, waving back. He gulped. "If you're comfortable with this, don't be so damn formal..."

He yanked you over (a little too quickly) to his side of the bed. You squealed. You were almost nose-to-nose now, your arms defensive against your chest but your face beaming up at his. He looked down at you softly, still gripping your arm a bit too firmly before finally remembering to release you. You both looked dead tired, and you felt it too.

"Thanks for sharing your bed with me so I wouldn't get caught," you murmured slowly.

"Thanks for stealing it from me with my permission," Bakugou said, groggily. Bakugou yawned despite himself and he looked even more tired afterwards. "Stay as long as ya want. I'd never kick you out, so you're safe with me. Don't ever feel like you need to leave." He poked the tip of your nose. "Just don't try to kill me in my sleep or whatever..." 

"No promises..." you said, your eyelids doing the same. 

Bakugou stared at you for a few seconds, as if contemplating his next move. Then, Bakugou tentatively pressed his lips against yours, his breathing a bit stilted. When you reciprocated the kiss, Bakugou pushed further with growing confidence, making sure to get his fill of love for the night before sleeping. Giggles bubbled out of you and you pulled away from his long-held kiss to peck his face several times. Bakugou grumbled then pecked your own face double the amount times you pecked him, just to prove a point. When he finished, he was staring down at you again, his eyelids drooping.

He looked at you like you were the most precious thing he'd ever saw.

"You're so pretty," he said, his voice somewhat slurred. "But are we actually gonna sleep now? Or what?"

He looked somewhat desperate, like he wanted you to say no. You weren't sure what you wanted.

"You tell me..."

You wrapped your arms around his neck, waiting for his next move. Bakugou stilled, his movements stiff as his arms wrapped around you in return, holding you even tighter than how you held him. Bakugou gingerly kissed you on the lips.

If your fans could see you two now, they'd have much more ammo for their fanfiction...

(The moment when you join the Bakusquad is based off of a real life gaming group moment, if anyone gets the reference! A lot of this story is based off of real life Let's Players but especially that part. Also holy crap it took me so long just to make this chapter, it got extremely long but I am satisfied with it for the most part!)

[bigtiddygandalf]

dirk gently’s holistic detective agency: these energy vampires are four anarchist punks that travel around in a van with their resident chronically ill girl, committing property damage and arson

what we do in the shadows: this energy vampire is just Some Guy™

[starry-bi-sky]

Blood Blossom Au: before the nightingale sings

---------

for my batdad blood blossom au, the one where Vlad poisoned Danny with blood blossom extract and Danny ran away from him and ended up tumbling into the care of one Pre-Robin Battinson Batman :). A quick oneshot telling the tale of the tragic deaths of the Fentons

TW: Major Character Death Warning

-------

Not all deaths are created equal.

That is a valuable lesson in life to learn. One that Danny learns when he is eleven years old, standing in the pit of his parents’ creation; the culmination of their life’s work. The portal to the other side, the realm of the dead. To the infinite. 

He learns that when he’s eleven years old, in a hazmat suit that sags on him, and boots that clunk when he walks because the only ones that fit are his mom’s, and even those are too big. In gloves that he has to clench his fists in because otherwise they fall off. In goggles that slide down his nose even when he’s tightened them the farthest they can go. 

He learns that when he’s eleven years old, choking on giggles that harmonize with the laughter of his friends’ who stand at the mouth of the tunnel. Sam’s holding a polaroid in her hand. They’re just being kids. 

They’re not laughing when Danny’s hand hits the safety lock — the one with faulty wiring, the only one in the tunnel. The only one he could possibly hit. They’re not laughing when the portal buzzes to life, and the lights inside switch on row by row as the generator begins to rumble and hum. 

They’re not laughing when Danny dies. They’re screaming. They’re not screaming when he comes back.

Not all deaths are created equal.  

Some are poetic, beautiful. The satisfying close of a book as it comes to an end, of the hardback thumping soft against the pages like the sound of a door closing. A train run its course.

Some are violent; unsatisfying; unfair. The unexpected shattering of an egg as it rolls off the countertop when nobody is looking, the unmistakable crack as it falls to the floor. It is abrupt and messy. 

But most are just… unremarkable. Unintentional. Clumsy. 

Danny’s family dies one night in late January. He is thirteen years old, barely a month away from fourteen. It is unforeseen. It is preventable. It happens. 

It happens like this: 

Their water heater breaks one Monday in January. It’s old, sitting in the garage, and has dealt with nearly sixteen years of Fenton-grade chaos and shenanigans. Of parents tossing scraps and junk into the garage as brief storage to come back to later. Of illegal tune-ups on their vehicles that result in something exploding. Of little children running around and knocking things over, playing with poles and sticks they find on the ground, on the shelves. Of being lived and used.  

Something had to give. 

Jack Fenton notices it immediately when he comes upstairs that very afternoon — his children at school, his wife downstairs — to grab something from the garage. The very same scrap and used material they store like squirrels to use later. 

He stops what he’s doing to fix it.  

It wasn’t supposed to be permanent. 

Despite what many believe, Jack Fenton is not the idiot people make him out to be. He knows what he’s good at, he knows what he’s not. He knows he can be passionate and obsessive and single-minded about things. He knows that he is a scientist, an inventor; an engineer. 

He knows that he is not a plumber. That fixing water heaters is not something he knows how to do, not safely. And he loves his family. What he does is only meant to be temporary — a fix meant to only last a few days until they can call someone in who can fix it for them. 

So Jack Fenton futzes with the water heater, gives it a temporary stitch to last a short while, and reminds himself to call a plumber later that day to come in and fix it. He turns and leaves the garage with the part he came for —  a sheet of metal for his wife to melt down — and disappears back downstairs. 

He does not make that call; it slips from his mind. 

It is not his fault. 

One day passes, then two, then suddenly it is Thursday. The water heater has still not been fixed, the water heater has been forgotten. It is nobody’s fault.  

Danny asks his parents at breakfast if he can stay over at Tucker’s house for the night. Just one night. They’re going to study for their math test and then play video games until midnight, but he only tells his parents that first half. 

He’s been doing well in school. Really well — better than he has in a while. There’s been a delightful lull in ghost appearances for the last few weeks. The living don’t know why, but Danny does. The Winter Truce always calms the dead down for a while, something about how the Zone cleanses itself twice a mortal year and that fresh wave of ecto clears out the old and brings in the new. 

This year Danny got to participate. He’s feeling the effects of it too, and he’s been sleeping consistently well for the first time since the accident. 

It’ll never happen again. 

His parents agree under the condition that he doesn’t stay up late, and Danny harmlessly lies through his teeth and agrees. He goes and throws overnight clothes into his school backpack, and when he leaves for school with Jazz his parents are already departed into the lab. 

The last conversation he has with his sister is in her car on the drive to school. Inane, mindless conversation to fill the air and pass the time. Jazz comments on how relaxed he’s been lately; Danny tells her about the Winter Truce. She listens in rapt attention. 

She tells him that she’s glad to see him so well-rested. She thinks her little brother’s been growing up too fast these days. She thinks he’s been too tense. Too caught up with the spinning of the world around him that he forgets about himself sometimes. 

When they reach school, before Danny can get out of the car, Jazz looks to her little brother and says; “I love you.” 

Her little brother’s cheeks turn an embarrassed shade of red. He makes a scrunched up, grossed-out face, but can’t hide the smile pulling across it. “Don’t be a sap, Jazz. I’ll see you later.” He tells her, yanking his hood up over his head. She hears the bashful, ‘love you too’ before he walks away. 

That is the last conversation she ever has with her brother. 

Thursday is unremarkable, passing by in its normality as it always does. There’s one, maybe two ghost sightings; shades lurking around in curious infancy that are easily spooked away by the presence of a greater being. Danny doesn’t even have to go ghost. 

Thursday evening is even less so. Danny goes to Tucker’s house — Sam has a prior arrangement with her slam poetry club — and the two of them study for an hour before they toss their textbooks aside and reach for the game console. 

Danny sleeps in Tucker’s room with one of the extra blankets on his bed, curled across the room in one of the bean bag chairs. It shouldn’t be comfortable, but to Danny it is. He sleeps throughout the night, the portal shut down by his parents before they’d gone to bed. 

Early Friday morning, before the sun has even risen yet, before it’s even so much as a concept to grace the horizon, the water heater breaks again. It was supposed to be fixed. 

Carbon monoxide is a silent killer. Odorless and scentless, it kills within minutes. It fills the house like a shadow casting over the ground, creeping into the rooms. 

Danny’s family die in their sleep; painless and unaware. 

It’s not Jack Fenton’s fault. He didn’t mean to.  

Nobody wakes up with their alarms. 

Danny wakes up to Tucker Foley’s alarm on Friday morning, and he turns his head intangible and shoves it into the beanbag chair like an ostrich hiding its head in the sand. Tucker gets up before him, and throws a pillow at him as he reaches for the alarm. 

There’s laughter, messing around. The both of them get dressed, and Danny has breakfast with the Foleys that morning. He takes the bus to school with Tucker, and they meet Sam by their lockers. 

To him, everything is as normal as it should be. There are no ghosts for him to fight right now, school is as school does, and he’s on top of all his schoolwork. 

He does not see Jazz at all that morning, he doesn’t notice. Their schedules are so different, their routes on different paths, that it’s not uncommon for Danny to not see Jazz until he gets home some days. That’s if there’s no ghost attacks. 

At lunch, he gets approached by her friends. Worried creases between their brows, they ask him if he’s seen Jazz. She hasn’t shown up to any of her classes. She’s not answering their texts. It’s unprecedented of her; unheard of. 

Danny doesn’t admit to the concern that swells in his gut when they tell him this. He shrugs at them, and says he hasn’t seen her either. But it was probably nothing to worry about; she might just be sick and sleeping it off. 

He offers to text her and let them know if he gets a response, and that seems to ease her friends enough that they shuffle away in uncertainty. He keeps his word, and does exactly that. He pulls out his phone and opens her contact, and shoots her a message.

‘Where are you?’ 

He doesn’t get a response back, Danny is left on sent. He puts his phone in his pocket, and with a sense of unease creeping in the back of his mind, goes on with his day. He gets no response by the time the final bell rings; and he tries not to be worried. 

The house is quiet when he opens the door. Unusually quiet. He drops his backpack to the floor, it lands with a hearty thunk, and begins to take off his jacket. “Mom! Dad!” He yells. He hangs it up, and slips his shoes from his feet. “Jazz skipped school today!”

A laughable untruth that would get his sister all riled up normally; she should be able to hear him from the front door if she was in her room. The house just stays dead silent. 

He can’t even hear the usual banging and crashing from the lab. His unease returns. He reaches for the intercom that leads directly down to the basement, and presses the button to turn it on. A burst of static, and then he speaks;

“Mom? Dad?” 

Danny lets go, and waits for a response. He gets none back. That never happens, not when the house is this quiet. Not when he knows they should’ve heard him. 

Something sickly and fearful borns in the pit of his stomach, and begins to snake upward. He heads for the lab. The cool metal of the door is familiar in the grooves of his hand, and he doesn’t even need to think about the code as he punches it in;  he simply lets muscle memory guide him. It’s been the same since he was little. 

The door hisses as the pressure is released, and he swings the door open. He takes the stairs down two at a time. Something is wrong. His parents aren’t answering him. His feet pound against the metal. 

“Mom? Dad?” He calls again, more worried, more frantic. More scared. His voice echoes down the stairwell, and he reaches the bottom before it’s fully faded. The lab is empty. The portal is still shut down. 

It was four in the afternoon, they should still be down here. 

Danny races back upstairs, fear-raised nausea coiling in his throat. “This isn’t funny you guys!” He yells when he reaches the top, shoving open the door with more force than necessary. His head swims, his voice cracked. 

He checks the garage, the car is still there. 

“Mom!? Dad!” His voice bellows out throughout the first floor, loud enough that it bounces back at him and rings against his ears. He’s never raised his voice this much — mom would scold him if she heard him. But she doesn’t show up. “Jazmine!” 

Finally, he goes upstairs, and he can’t tell if what he’s feeling is anger or terror. Something is very, very wrong. 

He swings the door of his parents’ rooms open first, and there they are, with the lights still off and the curtains still drawn. As if they hadn’t left their bed all day. Some of Danny’s fear lifts from his shoulders just by the sight of them, but he’s still trembling. Something is still wrong — the room smells… off. Not good, not bad. Just… off. 

He swallows dryly, his throat still thick, and steps into the room. “Mom, dad?” They do not stir. “Didn’t you guys hear me yelling?” 

There is only room static. Danny’s heart shrivels in his chest with a tenfold return of terror, he feels ill. He remembers, just now, that they’re not heavy sleepers, and his dad should be snoring like a freight house. 

Danny reaches their bedside in seconds, hand outstretching for the covers, “Momma? Dad?”

Not all deaths are created equal. 

But many of them are accidental. Unmeditated. Shocking.

Danny Fenton finds his family dead in his childhood home. He runs to his neighbors in hysterics, inconsolable, in tears. Nine-one-one is called, but there is nothing that can be done. They were dead for hours by the time Daniel Fenton returned home. 

He sits on the front steps of the neighbor’s house beside FentonWorks, his jeans slowly becoming wet from the snow that was unable to be scraped off, and watches the paramedics cart out his family beneath white sheets. There are police cars blocking off the street, yellow tape blocking off his house, red-blue lights lighting up the block, an ambulance on the scene. He is wrapped in a shock blanket, and he is missing his jacket and his shoes. His tears are freezing onto his face, he can’t feel the chill. 

Not all deaths are created equal

But all of them are unforgettable. 

[doobledabbadoo]

ngl season 3 of the mr men show looks soooooo good rn

in all seriousness though i thought itd be fun to combine both of my biggest hyperfixations at this point bc i think the td cast would make really fun mr men & little miss characters tbh

[ginaonline]

As soon as im done re-rewatching Psych i'll get on my White Collar rewatch... it's been YEARS and i know i'll appreciate it in a new light if i watch it with the eyes of the person i am now. Also i have terrible memory so it will probably feel like watching it for the first time.

[kaythefloppa]

If I had a nickel for every time I got hyper-fixated on an obscure, PBS Kids-based flash game where you could create an avatar in a show's universe, and explore said universe, (venturing terrain, interacting with characters, fighting bad guys, etc) I'd have 2 nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right?

[aq2003]

you know the nature of star wars to me is that they will drop something so mid or bad or uninteresting and make me go "what the hell this sucks. i don't care about any of this. im so tired of star wars can they stop" and then they will drop something so exquisite and stunning and a masterpiece of art and i'll go "i love star wars with all of my heart and all of my soul it means so much to me and it's the best thing ever in the whole entire world" and this goes around in a violent cycle. i am being thrown around like i'm in a washing machine

[girlscience]

the RAMPANT consumerism on the section of youtube I have ended up on recently is actually kind of disgusting to me. if I see one more video of a perfectly manicured hand with a hint of a sweater sleeve putting things in a target cart or using 100 bottles for a skin and hair self-care day or using 50 different cleaning products in an enormous, pristine, white home while a random pop song remix plays in the background I'm going to start destroying things.

[selffagellation]

🧍 when was someone gonna tell me that Walton Goggins was HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES of all things

[an-aura-about-you]

I've got so many jmart AU and crossover ideas in my head it's unreal.

[zoe-oneesama]

I finished "Kira Kira Pre Cure A La Mode" like a month ago, and I have brain rot that makes a Miraculous Ladybug AU out of anything with an animal theme so here we go. I would label this more as a crossover tbh and even thought of my own rules to make it coexist in the Miraculous Ladybug Universe.

Ko-fi | Patreon

To start, they break a few Miraculous Rules: the Miraculouses themselves have no resemblance to the animal they're imitating, and their powers are closer to their Pre Cure ones, which are baking/cooking based. And the reason I have for this is that these are technically not Miraculouses and technically not kwamis.

They aren't the "Miraculous of [x]" representing a concept, they're actually fairies who desire to be heroes. As such, they're actually at odds with Kwamis and there's a bit of a feud between them - the Kwamis have always worked alongside humans and see the Fairies as reckless and violating nature's laws, while the Fairies see the Kwamis as hording all the fun and not even trying to bridge the gap between them.

I imagine akumas would start showing up in Japan in Ichigozaka, bringing out the six PreCure Miraculouses, and they'd eventually follow them back to Paris to have a showdown with Hawkmoth AND the existing heroes. While the kwamis and fairies are having it out, the humans are meeting in the middle.

Ichika uses Whipp to become Crème Fouettée (Whipped Cream), a Bunny Hero with the ability "Batter Up", which captures the enemy in a giant cake. It has the side effect of being able to extract an akuma, but it can't purify it.

Himari uses Flann to become Swirl Caramel, a Squirrel Hero with modified clacker/rope darts as a weapon and the ability "Cherry Bomb", which is pretty self explanatory.

Aoi uses Aisuu to become Glace Bleue (Blue Ice), a Lion Hero with the ability "Gelato Shake", which encases her fist in a block of ice for even more painful punchs.

Yukari uses Cookie to become Kitty Macaron, a Cat Hero with a spiked yoyo and the ability "Cat Scratch" which inflates the size of the yoyo and increases their strength, making them able to scratch through anything.

Akira uses Chocco to Chien Rouge (Red Dog), a Dog Hero with the ability "Chocolate Armose" which creates a chocolate shield.

Ciel "uses" RinRin to become Blande Volante (Flying Bands), a Pegasus Hero with the ability "Kiracle Rainbow", which fully purifies the enemy and all of the damage caused during a fight. (If you know you know)

[alvivaarts]

AO3 is Removing 'All Media Types' without Public Input or Announcement. What Can We Do?

What's Happening?

For those who don't yet know: AO3 and the Tag Wranglers have begun to slowly remove the 'All Media Types' tag for older fandoms. Aka, removing the 'umbrella' tag for many franchises, and forcing franchises to be split by media, or to be shoved under one umbrella that does not accurately reflect the types of fics or source medias they come from. This has been slowly occurring with no official announcement, under the pretense that things will be 'easier' to manage, or that some users claimed that the 'All Media Types' tag was confusing. This has begun in secrecy, without genuine input from the userbase, and without any public announcement. (As of 9/5/2024 9:30 AM PST) Many of us are pretty confident in AO3 staff's decisions, but the fact that this decision is not only incredibly impactful, but made without public input, has deeply violated the condition of the site as an archive... an archive of OUR own.

Current seen issues and active risks:

Removal of 'All Media Types' automatically makes fics from different sources in the same franchise a 'crossover', forcing users to consider non-crossover fics 'crossovers'. So, any fanfic that spans or implements elements from multiple pieces of media in a franchise are now considered a 'crossover', despite being from the same franchise and not a crossover.

Removal of 'All Media Types' forces users to manually search for the fics and ships they want one by one through each fandom tag in a related franchise. (Imagine looking through all the separate DC or MARVEL movies one by one).

The 'include crossovers' and 'exclude crossovers' filters are now useless, and removing genuine crossovers (crossovers between franchises) must be done manually through the filter system, which can take upwards of half an hour, if not longer, with the amount of one-off genuine crossovers that exist.

Slightly smaller franchises are being shoved under the umbrella of a single, super popular fandom. (See, Sherlock Holmes. All Sherlock Holmes media has been relegated to the tag 'Sherlock TV', which confuses users, as the tag now includes not only BBC Sherlock, which is the umbrella tag, but any works based off of Arthur Conan Doyle's original works, the 2009 Sherlock Holmes films, and the 16+ Sherlock Holmes adaptations and international TV shows... none of which are BBC Sherlock.)

Anime and manga fandoms (especially smaller ones) are being automatically split by media type, without regard to the fact that many anime and manga adaptations are very similar, and/or authors tend to often implement elements from both anime and manga.

As far as we are aware, no one is going to be correcting any improper sorting resulting from this.

Accounts that are no longer active/accessible, memorial accounts, and orphaned fics and no longer be corrected by their original authors and are at risk of being misplaced into incorrect fandom tags. Unfortunately, no one can fix this but the tag wranglers, who were supposedly removing 'All Media Types' in the first place to prevent MORE work. Counter intuitive, isn't it?

Already, fandoms are being improperly split, others being improperly merged, and still more being far more confusingly sorted. This deeply damages AO3's integrity as an ARCHIVE.

What Can I Do?

As soon as it's back up again, make sure to stop by the Contact Support page! There, you're able to let them know exactly how you feel about this, and what fandoms your fear will be impacted by these changes. Many already have been.

In the meantime, make sure to contact AO3 on Twitter (or X): ao3org (AO3's general twitter page), ao3_wranglers (AO3's tag wrangler page), and OTW_news (the parent host of AO3).

There is also tumblr: ao3org (AO3's tumblr page) and transformativeworks (OTW's tumblr page).

And finally, the Organization for Transformative Works contact page.

If you are aware of any additional medias, please add them below to ensure that AO3 thoroughly understands the negative impact of this decision, especially the violation of trust resulting from making such a massive choice without impact. Be sure to share this information elsewhere, repost, share the links, and make a stink. Furthermore, if you are able, letting AO3 know that you are no longer comfortable financially supporting them in the future.

Be sure to also repost and list any fandoms you have personally noticed have been impacted by this change!

Already Impacted Fandoms:

MARVEL, MCU, Marvel Comics, Avengers, and related tags

Any Sherlock Holmes based Media

A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon)

World of Warcraft

Assassin's Creed

Monogatari

BanG Dream!

Jujutsu Kaisen

Disney (all media, now: Disney Theatrical Animated Universe)

DC and DC Comics

AND MANY, MANY MORE!

[andvys]

Dancing with our hands tied | S.H.

Chapter seven ⭐︎ Got a feeling your electric touch, could fill this ghost town up with life

Warnings: 18+, minors don't interact. mentions of sex, mentions of unrequited feelings, sexual tension, reader teasing Steve sexually, not giving away anything else

Pairing: Steve Harrington x fem!reader

Summary: After you and Steve cross a line, you are the one to take things to a whole new level — driving Steve insane with your never ending teasing.

Word count: 7.4k+

Author’s note: I know you keep yelling at me but anyways -- shoutout to @hellfire--cult for helping me with this, especially the uh last part hehe.

Also, @prettyboyeddiemunson talked about a little crossover thing, and I love her girl in gods & monsters so she's making a little appearance here for Eddie hehe, all credits go to my bestie of course, the character belongs to her! If you haven't read the story yet, go check it out, it's one of my faves!

Series Masterlist ⭐︎ Previous Chapter ⭐︎ Next Chapter

♡

Staring up at the ceiling, Steve sinks deeper into his pillows, finding more comfort in his bed than usual, he takes a deep breath as he runs his hand over his face. He should feel content, knowing that he’s got the day off but instead he feels tense and frustrated in a way he had never felt before. 

His mind could be anywhere right now, he could think about the new tapes he stacked up at work last night, he could think about the show he watched before he went to bed, he could think about the mixtape Eddie had made for him, he could think about the girl that so obviously tried to flirt with him at work the other day, his mind could take him to any place, his imagination could be limitless but no, his mind is somewhere it shouldn’t be, his mind is with you. 

Nothing he does, nothing he tries to think about can drag his thoughts away from you. You occupy every space of his mind, reminding him of how much control you had taken over him ever since you both crossed a line that changed things between you both. 

Steve may have been the one who started it at all, but you are the one who took the game to a whole new level. 

The little accident in his kitchen that happened weeks ago, was only the start of it all. 

Steve wasn’t exactly subtle when he kept checking you out before the fiasco with the broken lever, and he wasn’t subtle with his touches either. He was treading on thin ice, he knew that, he knew that his slight teasing could have easily backfired if you reacted differently but it didn’t, and your reactions were everything that he was hoping for. You grew flustered, you started blushing, you stuttered and you looked at him the way he was hoping you would. 

But, what he didn’t expect was for you to tease him back, especially in a way that had him blushing, stuttering, and staring at you in shock. 

You were so innocent and shy at first, doing everything as subtly as possible. It started with gentle touches on his arm or his hand, soft whispers during dinner whenever he sat beside you, or long eye contact. Then, you realized just how much power you had over him and things quickly developed into something more, something so much deeper.

Your teasing was no longer innocent and your shyness seemed to have slipped away more and more, little by little. 

The look in your eyes was no longer a shy one whenever you looked at each other. There was a fire behind your eyes that he had never seen before. The smirk that tugged at your lips wasn’t the same one you usually looked at him with, it was different, mischievous, and very suggestive – a little too suggestive for someone like you because if someone else had looked at him the way you do, he’d think that they’re flirting but you don’t do that and certainly not with him. 

The only explanation for your behavior is that you are teasing him, playing with him just the way he did with you but not because you want him. He started something that night when Hopper and Joyce announced their engagement. It was harmless at first, his teasing was light and playful, he loved to see those sweet reactions of yours but Steve didn’t know that it was a dangerous game that he had started, he didn’t know that he’d be playing with fire the moment he’d touch you. 

Because you are far from harmless, and your teasing is not light and playful in the slightest. If it was, he wouldn’t be feeling like this right now; frustrated, agitated and filled with pent up emotions that he can’t even make out in his own head. 

He closes his eyes again as a groan falls from his lips, he shakes his head at himself, cursing inwardly for thinking about no one other than you. 

Has it always been that way? 

Have you always been on his mind? 

Or is it something new?

An unspoken deal was made between the both of you when you two started this. There are no rules, just a winner and a loser – whoever breaks first loses and so far, it seems like Steve won’t even get close to winning, even though he was the one to start it all so confidently. 

You clearly have taken over, because the moment you looked at him with innocent big eyes and a pout on your lips while pressing your chest against his arm when you tried to squeeze past him, your boobs nearly spilling over your cute little top, your voice sounding raspy from all the weed you had smoked that night, he was done for. 

It wasn’t the first time that a girl had done something like this to him, plenty of girls have given him those innocent eyes, have pressed their boobs against him, in much less clothing… but something about you drives him especially crazy. Maybe it’s the fact that you both hate or dislike each other or maybe it’s the fact that he is just extremely frustrated – sexually frustrated. Maybe that is the only reason why you get to him in that way… why he feels the want to continue this little game or why he feels the intense need to fuck you and get you out of his mind, once and for all. 

Another groan falls from his lips when he remembers that Robin bailed on him after she called him in the middle of the night, telling him that she wouldn’t make it to lunch today, meaning that it will be just Eddie, you and him. 

A part of him even looks forward to seeing you, the other part doesn’t because he already knows how he will feel afterwards, while you will probably go home feeling satisfied after teasing the hell out of him. 

Every time before you leave, you look at him as though you had done nothing wrong, which sometimes leads him to believe that you’re not even aware of all the teasing you torture him with and that he was the only one playing this game, all this time. 

Steve drags himself out of bed and into the bathroom, turning on the shower so the water can heat up while he brushes his teeth. He looks at his reflection in the mirror, rolling his eyes at the mess on his head, he brings his hand up to his hair, running his fingers through it. 

As he thinks about what to wear, he gets lost in his thoughts, thinking about you, wondering what you will wear. Are you going to wear a dress? Another short skirt to drive him crazy with? 

He rolls his eyes, cursing inwardly at himself for thinking about you again. 

He needs to get this out of his system. 

He needs to get you out of his system. 

And there is only one way to do it and he knows it, but he’s not even sure where your feelings stand, if you’d be down for what he’s longing for or if you’d laugh in his face if he even tried to suggest something like it. – Your reaction would probably be the latter, and just the thought of it is enough to bring the grumpiness out in him. 

He begrudgingly starts getting ready, all while his mind keeps him occupied with thoughts about you. 

He doesn’t know what caused all of this, he doesn’t know how it happened, how his mind is incapable of thinking about anything or anyone but you these days. 

He feels as though he had been cursed. You are haunting him, in his mind and even in his dreams, and seeing you all the time doesn't help at all… and yet, he wouldn’t want it any other way because this little thing between you both makes him feel a thrill that has been missing in his life. 

By the time Steve pulls up into the parking lot at the diner, you and Eddie are already there.

You’re sitting on the hood of his car, hands folded in your lap, sunglasses low on your nose, a smile on your lips as you’re nodding along to whatever Eddie is telling you. You look good… too good for just a simple breakfast at the diner. 

He parks the car and after a few deep breaths, he pulls out the keys and gets out, trying not to stare at you as he walks towards the two of you. 

“Hey guys.”

Eddie turns around, a mocking smile on his face, he crosses his arms over his chest, “took you long enough, big boy.”

Steve chuckles, scratching the back of his neck as he eyes you from the side, “yeah uh, I missed my alarm this morning and Robin woke me up in the middle of the night to bail on us, took me a while to fall back asleep after that.” 

You groan at his words, sliding off the car, you smooth down your jean shorts and push your sunglasses up into your hair, “so she keeps ditching us.” 

“She’s in love, Sweetheart,” Eddie winks at you, wiggling his brows, “she’s got better things to do.” 

You roll your eyes at his words and look over Eddie’s shoulder, meeting his eyes for the first time today. You lick your lips as your eyes move down up and down his body. 

“Hey, Lego head.”

Lego head. The silly nickname doesn’t quite suit the look in your eyes. 

“Blondie,” he nods. 

Eddie chuckles, playing with the keys in his hand as he nudges his head into the direction of the diner, “let’s go eat, I’m starving.” 

“You’re always starving, Eddie,” you snort as you are the first to start walking. 

“Yeah man, you’re always eating and you’re still starving,” Steve chuckles, walking beside Eddie, “you’re like a raccoon or something.” 

You look over your shoulder, a smile on your lips, “oh he’s definitely a little raccoon.” 

Eddie’s lips part in surprise, he looks between you both, “did you just… agree on something?” 

You scoff at his words, turning back around without another word while Steve looks down, shaking his head. The weight of Eddie’s arm around his shoulder makes him look back up, though not at you, but at Eddie, whose eyes are filled with amusement. 

“You’re not trying to steal my girl are you?” 

Steve doesn’t know what is about the words ‘my girl’ but he feels himself clenching his jaw and gritting his teeth. By the tone in Eddie’s voice, he should know that he is only teasing, but apparently his mind isn’t able to comprehend that right now. 

He feels a fire in his chest that he can’t even explain, one that only grows even more intense a few moments later, when a guy who was just leaving the diner, steps aside for you after opening the door. 

Steve can’t see your face or the looks you are giving to the man who is staring you up and down with nothing but hunger in his eyes, but by the way you walk past him without even turning your head or looking back, he knows that you’re giving him nothing. And yet, it doesn’t stop his anger when the guy keeps checking you out, shamelessly, following you with his eyes, a smirk tugging at his lips as he looks at your ass. You’re not even aware of it as it seems and it wouldn’t be the first time. 

Steve saw you at Big Buy’s the other day, you were strolling around the aisles in your cute little dress, throwing food items into your basket, completely unaware of his eyes on you. He couldn’t look away from you… even when everything you did was riling him up, whether it was the way you bend down to reach for something on the lowest shelf, the way you touched your hair or the way your dress was moving by your sides as you walked. As he caught himself staring at you, at your effortless beauty, he knew that he couldn’t be the only one – and his suspicions were confirmed, when he looked into the other aisle only to see another guy, not past his 30s staring at you, something that you weren’t aware of in the slightest. He also caught himself rolling his eyes and clenching his fists… but that’s something that he easily ignored. 

Unlike today, he can’t even help it when he passes the guy who can’t seem to tear his eyes away from you with a deathly glare on his features, feeling anger for how shameless and disrespectful his ogling is, it’s disgusting. 

“Perv,” Eddie mumbles under his breath, glaring the same way Steve does. 

The guy doesn’t even spare them a single glance, moving past them after taking another long… too long look at you before he walks out of the diner. 

Steve and Eddie roll their eyes, following you to the table that you have already picked, completely unaware of what just happened. 

You sit down in the booth, sliding over to the window. You put your sunglasses down on the table and instantly reach for the menu. 

Eddie sits down beside you, while Steve takes the seat across from you. He tries not to look at you, sinking deeper into the leather seats as he reaches for the menu, as well. 

“What are you guys doing afterwards?” Eddie asks. 

“Nothing, just gonna go back home and watch movies or something,” Steve mumbles, peeking over his menu and at you, to find you looking at him already. 

“Perfect, why don’t you two have a little bonding moment and have a movie day together?” Eddie grins, wiggling his brows at the both of you. 

Steve sees the way you scrunch your nose up at his words, scoffing and shaking your head at him like it’s the most ridiculous thing that you have ever heard, like it’s something that you don’t even want to think about. 

“We’re getting along just fine, no need for bonding time.” 

Right. Steve had been so focused on all your teasing, he almost forgot about how much you two are supposed to dislike each other. 

“Exactly,” Steve winks at Eddie, “Blondie and I are doing just fine.”

He looks back at you, his eyes meet yours, you raise your brows at him, smirking as you tilt your head. 

“Are we?” You ask softly as you blink at him. 

Steve leans closer, licking his lips, he opens his mouth to speak but Eddie cuts him off, clapping his hands. 

“Yeah, you are getting along! Now shut your mouths before you start a fight.”

You both snort at the metalhead, leaning back in your seats, neither of you saying a word, you both just look back at your menu’s, focusing on that… for now. 

The busy waitress stops by your table, telling you that she will be back to take your order in a minute, seemingly catching Eddie off guard after placing her hand on his shoulder before she scurries away again. 

He no longer looks at the menu, he finds something more interesting to look at. 

Steve’s eyes flash with amusement as he looks over at his friend, whose eyes are wide and cheeks are red, an awestruck expression all over his face. He can’t help but nudge your foot under the table, tilting his head towards Eddie when you look up with a frown.

You turn to your best friend. Your features soften, eyes flashing with surprise, you bump your shoulder into his, clearing your throat, “hey Ed’s, before you fuck this up again, don’t you want to tell Lego head about what happened?” You ask, snickering. 

Eddie blinks, turning back to you, “h-huh?” 

“You have a man to give you his opinion of what you did wrong.” 

Steve furrows his brows, looking between your amused face and his confused one, when Eddie’s eyes flash with realization and he groans in annoyance. 

“Sweetheart, he’s gonna be on my side.”

“What opinion?” Steve asks. 

You turn back to your menu, scoffing at Eddie and rolling your eyes before you glance at him, “you’ll want to kill him.”

Eddie groans, shaking his head, his curls bouncing a little. 

“You’ll understand, Harrington. You’re a man. She is… looking at it from a feminine side of things.”

Steve gives you a quizzical look, almost laughing at the exasperated look on your face. 

“Alright shoot,” he says to his friend.

Eddie presses his lips together, taking a deep breath before he folds his hand on the table and looks at him with squinted eyes, “okay so, I saw this girl at the hideout yesterday, Jeff told me to go talk to her, you know… so I did. We started talking, she was funny and all that, and you know, I always like to be a little mysterious.” 

You snort, making Eddie roll his eyes again, “shut it, Sweetheart.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Anyways,” Eddie sighs, glaring at you, “so, when she asked me if I was there with a girl, I just said ‘wouldn’t you like to know?’” 

Steve draws back a little, raising his brows and pursing his lips, looking perplexed. 

“Uh huh..” You murmur, keeping your eyes on Steve. 

“Eddie,” Steve shakes his head, “just uh… did it… what happened then?”

Eddie sighs again, “well, she rolled her eyes and left, but you know, she may not have a sense of humor so… it’s whatever.” 

“Munson, that girl had a sense of humor, you just have a lack of fucking tact,” Steve says, shaking his head at his friend, in pure disbelief. 

Eddie’s jaw drops at his words, while a laugh falls from your lips as you turn to look at your best friend with nothing but satisfaction on your face. 

“Told you.”

“Seriously!?” Eddie gasps, frowning. “Harrington, you were always mean to girls in the past, and you still slept with them!” 

Steve scoffs, shaking his head. 

“That was in high school, Munson! You are a grown up now, why the hell would you do that? Just tell her you were there alone or with friends!” 

Eddie’s jaw drops again, he slumps back in his seat, throwing his hands up. 

“I just thought that a mysterious persona would work better than… you know… bubbly, happy, go lucky guy, desperate to get his dick wet persona…” He whines, “no one wants to fuck me.” 

You giggle, hiding your face behind the menu. 

Steve’s lips curl into a smile, he points a finger at you, “I’m gonna have to agree with Blondie, again, you’re a fucking idiot.” 

“Don’t worry, Eds. I’ll help you,” you say, smiling, “I’ll teach you how to flirt.” 

“How are you gonna do that, Blondie? Do you even know how to flirt?” Steve snorts. 

You may be a tease, a good one at that, but a flirt? No. You’re too rough, too mean, too harsh to be a flirtatious person, you can barely hold a conversation with someone without going off at them about something, you wouldn’t even know where to begin with, unlike him. 

He is a flirty person, he has charm, he knows how to wrap a girl around his finger with just a few simple words. 

He doesn’t know what to expect, but he surely didn’t expect for you to smile at him, to shrug and give him nothing more than a glance that tells him how wrong he is. 

After the waitress comes back to take your order, leaving Eddie a blushing mess, you excuse yourself to the bathroom, only to come back with your hair now free from the scrunchie that kept it together and another coat of gloss on your lips, something that instantly catches Steve’s eyes. 

You place your elbows on the table, putting your chin into your palm, blinking at him innocently. 

The look in your eyes tells him that you’re up to no good, but he can’t look away. He leans closer to the table, licking his lips as he raises his brows at you. Both of you are unaware of Eddie, who is basically drooling over the pretty waitress, too distracted to notice the looks you are giving to each other.

“The waitress, is she from Hawkins? Never seen her in my fucking life,” Eddie murmurs in awe. 

Steve turns his head to look at the woman, a gasp nearly tears from his lips when he feels your foot on his calf and you pull his attention back on you, he stares at you with wide eyes. 

Smirking in satisfaction, you pull your foot back and look down at your nails.

“I-I don’t know, Munson, not familiar.” He stutters without looking away. 

Steve knew that this would happen, that you would tease him in one way or another, but he didn’t know yet, just where you would take this today. 

When your milkshakes arrive at the table, both you and Steve watch Eddie with amusement as he stares up at the blonde waitress, eyes moving back and forth between her face and her chest, not knowing what to look at first. 

His eyes get stuck on the dainty cross necklace around her neck, seemingly growing more intrigued by her, his dark eyes meeting her blue ones. 

Steve narrows his eyes at you, almost laughing when you look at him, at the same time. 

Eddie’s cheeks are even more flushed than before now, his eyes wide, lips parted. The girl presses her lips together, trying not to giggle at the look on his face. 

“Your food will come right up,” she says, looking between you all before her eyes meet Eddie’s again as she takes the last milkshake off the tray, putting it on the table and sliding it towards him. 

He clears his throat, wrapping his fingers around the glass before she can even let go. 

Both you and Steve watch the way she smiles down at Eddie and at the fingers brushing against hers. 

“Thanks, Sweetheart,” he smirks at her, surprising both you and Steve with the confidence in his voice. 

The girl smiles in surprise, before she turns around, walking away from the table but not without giving Eddie another glance, his lips curl into a bigger smirk and he waves his fingers at her.

Your mouth drops and so does Steve’s, both of you, looking at each other again, with stunned and puzzled expressions on your faces.

“Dude,” Steve mumbles, slowly turning to face his friend, “tell me… how did you fuck this up again… at the hideout, I mean?” 

Eddie only looks back when the girl disappears into the kitchen, “the girl at the hideout just wasn’t the right one.”

“Oh, and this one is?” Steve chuckles, pointing his thumb to where the waitress walked off to. 

“Yeah,” Eddie says, dreamily. “She’s so…”

“Hot?” You ask as you reach for your milkshake, grabbing the red and white straw between your thumb and your pointer finger.

“Gorgeous,” he blushes. 

Your lips tug into a smile, you bring your hand up to his face, pinching his cheek, “aw, look at you.” 

He swats your hand away, snorting. 

“I thought you didn’t know how to flirt, you’re doing such a good job, keep it up, Eds.” 

“What can I say, I’m full of surprises,” Eddie winks at you before he looks away, eyes searching for the waitress again. 

“He doesn’t need your help after all,” Steve laughs, tilting his head, “not that you’d be much of a help anyways.” 

You squint your eyes at him, shrugging at his words, and you surprise him with your silence. 

He watches the way you lean forward, placing your elbow on the table as you finally wrap your lips around the straw. Your eyelashes flutter and you tap your red fingernails against the glass, a moan falling from your lips. 

“Mmmh, that’s so good.” 

Steve nearly jumps from his seat, the sound making his stomach flutter, he clenches his fists, staring at you with wide eyes. 

There’s no smirk on your lips, no mischief behind your eyes, nothing but innocence is etched into your features – you’re not even teasing him, it was nothing but a genuine reaction to the sweet drink. And it’s something that frustrates him even more. 

You reach for the maraschino cherry next, popping it into your mouth before you lick the whipped cream off your finger. 

Steve’s breath hitches in his throat, he shifts in his seat, trying to look away from your lips… that are still wrapped around your finger but he can’t, his eyes are stuck, his body is stuck, he can’t move, all that he can do is watch you.

And then, you look towards him, eyes flashing with surprise when you find him staring. He hopes to see you blushing but instead, a smirk tugs at your lips as you release your finger, scooping up some more whipped cream before you bring it up to your lips. 

And this is where the real teasing begins. 

Steve nearly gasps when you hold eye contact this time as you lick the cream off your fingers, letting out another, softer moan. 

Holy fuck. 

Steve’s eyes darken, he swallows harshly, clenching his jaw in anger. 

Eddie is too busy with his own milkshake, ogling the waitress as she talks to customers at the bar, completely unaware of how you both eyefuck each other, the way Steve can’t take his eyes off of you. 

By the look in your eyes, Steve knows how much fun you’re having with this, you know how much it frustrates him, you know what you’re doing to him. 

And as though, all of this wasn’t bad enough already. You then accidentally drop some of the whipped cream on your chest. 

“Oops,” you purr, giving him an innocent look through your lashes. 

The warmth in his chest only grows more intense, spreading across his whole body, filling him up with need and a deep hunger that keeps growing and growing, one that can only be satiated in one way – he needs you, just once, he needs to have you, he needs to taste you, he needs to fuck you, he needs you out of his system for good. 

He had enough of this, of all this teasing. 

He would fuck you right there on this table if he could.

But, despite your teasing, despite the look in your eyes, despite your little act, he is still not sure about where you stand. He knows how you react to his touches, to his teasing, but a part of him fears rejection if he does make a move. 

You are barely even friends, and the thought of making a fool of himself, in front of you, makes him want to crawl into a hole. 

You are both playing this game, but while he knows what he wants, he doesn’t know what you want. 

Maybe you just enjoy this little back and forth, waiting for him to break first before you move along and pretend like nothing ever happened. Maybe you don’t even expect anything to come out of this. Maybe you don’t even want him the way he wants you. Maybe you just like to tease him because you know that it's riling him up. 

So what is left for him to do? 

Stop this game and move on? Or… keep going and wait for something more to happen? 

He’s had enough of your teasing, but he’s far from losing, there is still some power left in him… some. 

He won’t sit here and let you get away with this. 

So despite the uncomfortable strain in his pants, despite the burning in his skin, he plasters a smirk on his blushing face and reaches forward, keeping his eyes locked with yours as he mimics you, he grabs his glass and he reaches for the cherry on his milkshake, purposely dropping some whipped cream on the table as he puts the cherry in his mouth. He chews slowly, licking his finger tips while he watches you slowly, the way your smile slowly falls, the way your eyes widen a little. 

He bites back the smirk as he scoops up the whipped cream off the table, with both his middle finger and ring finger, bringing them up to his lips, he looks back into your wide eyes as he places them into his mouth, watching the way you break eye contact to look at his lips. 

Your throat bobs as you swallow, tightening your grip on your glass as you watch the way he licks his fingers slowly. 

He can see the way you shift in your seat, the way your breathing gets heavier and your eyes darken, the way you lick your lips and how flustered you get as you look back into his eyes. 

You are pressing your thighs together, he just knows you are. 

He pulls his fingers out of his mouth, smirking at you in satisfaction while you still sit there, frozen in place. He breaks eye contact, looking down at his vanilla milkshake as though nothing happened.

“You gotta give this one a ride home, Harrington,” Eddie mumbles, pointing at you without tearing his eyes away from the bar, “I think I’m gonna stay here a little longer.”

You clear your throat. 

Steve expects you to be more… nervous, to hear your voice wavering, but instead, it sounds confident, filled with yet more teasing as you open your mouth to speak. 

“Oh, I would love a ride home with Stevie,” you smile at him innocently as your foot touches his calf again, but this time, it doesn’t just stay there, you move it up, just a little, but enough to nearly make him choke on his drink. 

“So you can keep getting on his nerves?” Eddie chuckles. 

You lick your lips, smirking as you nod your head slowly, “exactly.”

Yeah, you don’t really do this anymore, getting on each other’s nerves, you both have found something so much better and much more interesting to do to one another. 

“You know I always win, Blondie,” Steve says so very confidently, like he isn’t slowly losing his mind because his want for you is beginning to consume him entirely. 

You tilt your head at him as you bite your lip, the sleeve of your blouse slowly sliding down your shoulder, making him gulp. 

“Do you?” You ask, batting your lashes at him, provoking him with the look on your face. 

He bites the insides of his cheeks, nodding at your words, “mhmm.”

A breathy chuckle falls from your lips, you shrug and lean back, “we’ll see.”

Eddie doesn’t know that you’re talking about something entirely else now, but he couldn’t care less, when he’s got his eyes set on someone that stole his breath away. 

He uses every second he gets with the pretty waitress to flirt, whether it’s through glances when she passes by or through his charming words when she delivers the food to the table. 

He happily eats his burger and his fries, eyes following the blonde wherever she goes, completely blind to what’s happening right next to and in front of him. 

You and Steve keep staring at one another, eyes filled with intense need, hands itching to reach out to the other. 

Steve feels the longing inside his chest, intensifying as the minutes go by, driving him insane. It gets to a point where he can’t wait to get the hell out of this diner so he can go home and take care of himself. He is not sure if he had ever felt this desperate before – he surely never had to rush home to jerk off, but that’s what he feels like now, like he’s going to explode if he sits here any longer. 

The moment you decide on leaving, Steve nearly throws himself out of his seat, feeling no patience left inside of him. 

“I got this covered,” Eddie announces, pulling out his wallet as he gets out of the booth so you can get out, “you two can go.” 

You grab your sunglasses and get up, putting your hand on Eddie’s shoulder, “I see what you’re trying to do, you wanna get rid of us so you can flirt with the hot blonde.” 

He wiggles his brows, smirking at you proudly, “gotta score a date with my dream girl.” 

Steve chuckles, grabbing the car keys from his pocket, he smirks at Eddie, “just don’t mess it up again.” 

Eddie shakes his head, “nah never.” 

“Alright casanova, call me and tell me how it went.” 

“Call you?” He frowns, “I’ll be there to raid your kitchen tonight, sweets.” 

You step away from him, brushing past Steve, “alright raccoon, I’ll see you later then.” 

“See ya,” he chuckles. 

With a sigh, Steve looks at Eddie, playing with his keys and giving him a nod. 

“Good luck, man.”

“Thanks,” Eddie winks, “and don’t kill each other!” He jokes, ignoring the weird looks he’s given from an older couple two booths away. 

“Don’t worry, we’re not at that point anymore.” 

You’re at a whole different point now, one that doesn’t make him angry, not exactly, just one that drives him up the wall. 

Steve stares at your hips, at the way your shorts hug your body so nicely, the way your ass looks so good in them. He forces his eyes away, feeling a little startled when you turn around to face him before you open the door, a friendly smile appears on your face and he realizes that you aren’t looking at him, but at Eddie’s ‘dream girl’, waving goodbye at the girl before you step out. 

He feels the sudden need to talk, hoping that you won’t tease him any further in the car, because if you do, he isn’t sure if he will manage to control himself the way he did, the whole time at the diner. 

He rubs the back of his neck, walking down the steps, he clears his throat. 

“Do you think he will manage to score a date?”

You slow down as you put your sunglasses on, “yeah, I’m pretty sure he will.”

Steve chuckles, nodding. 

“She seems nice, and she’s pretty,” you say.

So are you. Steve thinks to himself. 

“She’s got the kind of blonde hair you wanted when you ruined your hair with the blonde dye, huh?”

Steve can’t see your eyes behind your sunglasses, but he can see the amused look on your features as your lips curl into a smile. 

He ignores the way it feels when you step closer to him, when your hand brushes against his knuckles, sending chills throughout his whole body. 

“Actually, I wanted it even lighter, and how would I know that the pictures on the box dye were lies, it said it lightens up any hair color to that specific color!” 

Steve laughs at you, “what color were you hoping for?” 

You shrug, stepping away from him again when you walk around his car to the passenger side. 

“I wanted like a Dolly Parton or uh… Heather Locklear kind of blonde.” 

He unlocks the car and opens his door, raising his brows at you, “wow, you should have gone to a hair salon, Blondie.”

You lift your sunglasses, rolling your eyes at him, “it was a spontaneous decision, I thought I could handle that myself, I’m definitely never touching hair dye again.”

“Just call me, next time,” he winks at you as he gets into the car, “I’m a pro at doing hair.” 

You laugh at him as you get in as well, “didn’t know you were a hairdresser, Harrington.” 

“They don’t call me ‘the hair’ for nothing.” 

“Oh wow. I wouldn’t trust you with my hair, who knows what color you’d dye my hair to.”

“Maybe I’d get it to the Dolly Parton blonde that you wanted.” 

“Yeah, right!” You scoff at him, “cause you’re such an expert!” 

A smile tugs at his lips, it almost feels normal, sitting here in his car with you, talking like this, it almost distracts him enough from the strong tension between you both, from the pull that is dragging him towards you, more and more. 

Despite the frustration that he feels from all your teasing, he cannot help but want to keep playing the little game. 

The sun is shining brightly, pulling down the sun visor won’t be enough – how convenient it is that he keeps his sunglasses in the glove compartment. He could ask you to get them but instead, he moves closer, “I’m sorry,” he murmurs before he places his hand on your knee as he reaches forward so he can get his ray-ban’s. 

Satisfaction rushes through him when he hears you sucking in a sharp breath. 

But, his longing intensifies when he gets a whiff of your perfume and feels how soft your skin actually is. 

He clearly never thinks things through, his little plans always backfire. 

The want to wrap his hand around your thigh and keep it there is so strong… so goddamn strong, but he pulls away begrudgingly, holding back the smirk when he feels your eyes on him. He puts the sunglasses on, and finally starts the car. 

Your silence surprises him, but he knows that it’s something that won’t stay for long. 

Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran starts playing and Steve almost wants to laugh at the irony, this is exactly what he feels like right now, hungry like a fucking wolf, hungry for you. 

If you had been any other girl, he would’ve made a move on you, a long long time ago. He would have flirted more obviously, he would’ve taken your hand in his, he would’ve brushed your hair out of your face before leaning in to kiss you.

But you’re not just any girl, you’re… you. 

You love this little game, and no matter how flustered you get, no matter the looks you are giving him, he still struggles to read you, he still struggles to figure out whether you want what he wants or not. 

He is waiting for a sign, but it’s almost like he’s blind to anything you give to him. 

He holds the steering wheel tightly, keeping his other hand on the gearstick, dangerously close to your thigh. He keeps sneaking glances at you, at your soft skin, at the way you press your legs together, at the way your fingers play with the loose string on your shorts. 

Steve’s face grows hot, his heart beating faster in his chest. 

He almost feels relieved when your house comes into view, and he pulls up into your driveway. 

“So… what are you doing today?” You ask as you unbuckle your seatbelt, “besides having a movie day by yourself.” 

You turn your body towards him, not making any moves to get out of the car yet. 

“Uh… I don’t know,” he lies, his cheeks glowing red. 

He already knows what he’s gonna do the moment he walks through his front door. 

You take your sunglasses off, biting your lip as your eyes move up and down his body, making him shift uncomfortably, yet again. 

“Well, I’m going to lay out in the sun, in my new red bikini.” 

Steve’s eyes widen, and he almost starts drooling at the images that start forming in his mind. 

Images of you… half naked. 

“We should have a pool party at some point,” you smile, blinking at him as you start inching closer to him, looking down at his lips. 

“Uh huh…”

“But anyways, I should get going,” you sigh, catching him by surprise when you place your hand on his thigh, so dangerously close to where he needs you the most, “thanks for the ride, Stevie.” 

And as though that wasn’t bad enough. 

You almost cause his heart to stop beating, when your face is only inches away from him now, and you press your lips against his cheek, kissing him, completely shocking him, leaving him a stuttering mess. 

He lost all ability to speak, all he can do is stare at you, as his skin tingles and his heart races. 

You smirk at him, eying his red cheeks. 

“Who would’ve thought that Steve Harrington would ever blush for me,” you say smugly, before you pull away and get out of the car, giggles falling from your lips. Without another word, you close the door and walk away, looking over your shoulder one more time, still giggling. 

Fuck. 

His frustration turns into anger when the realization starts creeping in slowly. 

The smug look on your face, the smirk and your stupid giggles prove his point, that you did all of this not because you wanted him, but because you wanted to win this fucking game. 

That’s all it is, that’s all it ever was. 

A game. 

He doesn’t know what the feeling in his chest is, whether it’s the feeling of annoyance or rejection, but it only irritates him even further, especially when all he can think about is still you. 

You in your stupid red bikini, lying under the sun, looking pretty and hot… looking like someone he can never have, not even for a single night. 

He is angry, angry at himself for still wanting you, for needing you, for wishing that he could feel your bare body underneath him, for wishing to hear your moans, your voice calling out his name, your hands clinging to his body, fingers tugging at his hair. 

Despite the rejection, he feels his stupid jeans getting tighter, his dick straining against the fabric, making him feel uncomfortable and so needy to a point that the moment he gets home, he rushes upstairs and into the bathroom. 

He slams the door shut and presses his back against it, hastily unbuckling his belt, the clinking and his heavy breathing being the only sounds to fill the room… for now. He pushes down his boxers and his pants, just enough so he can pull his dick out – his tip is an angry red, already leaking with pre cum, he spits into his hand before he wraps his hand around his aching cock. 

That is all that it takes for a needy whimper to fall from his lips. 

He closes his eyes, throwing his head back against the door as he starts jerking off slowly. 

Images of you curse and bless his mind at the same time. 

He wonders what it would be like to feel your hand around his dick or what it would be like to feel your lips on his neck, your whispers in his ear as you take care of him. 

He furrows his brows, lips parting as his moans get louder and he begins to move his hand faster and faster, squeezing his eyes shut. 

He pictures you on your knees for him, your hands replaced by your lips as he shuts you up with his cock in your mouth, silencing you once and for all, while tears stream down your cheeks.

“Oh fuck…” Steve whimpers, getting lost in pleasure. 

He wanted nothing more than to bend you over the table when you started teasing him with the stupid whipped cream, but all he can think about now is you on your knees worshiping him. 

His muscles tighten as he increases the tempo, using his thumb to rub the slit as he imagines it being the tip of your tongue as you look at him with big and teary eyes. 

And he doesn’t know for how long he was imagining you like this, but it doesn’t matter because he is soon spilling in his hand, a loud groan escaping his lips as well as a shaky breath, the back of his head hitting the door as he tries to ease his breathing. 

Maybe three minutes passed, or twenty, but it didn’t matter. His cum is already on his hand and in your honor. 

But this didn’t satiate his hunger, nor his lust for you in the slightest. 

Nothing that he could possibly do will. 

He can imagine you and take care of himself all he wants, but it won’t change the way he wants you, the way he craves you. 

He knows that there is only one way to get rid of this.

Tomorrow he will put his frustration away. That’s all it is, frustration. He just needs to let it out. He needs to fucking breathe again. 

Yeah. Tomorrow. 

♡

tagging friends and mutuals

@taintedcigs @mysticmunson @wroteclassicaly @maroon-cardigan @munson-mjstan @sherrylyn628 @munsonlore @ibellcipem @joekeerysmoles

[starkwlkr]

Hi Jen!!!❤️❤️❤️

I saw your requests were open so possibly, social media au or not, Cillian Murphy’s or Christopher Nolan’s daughter (either one would be fine, but I saw your imagine about Nolan!reader x Cillian so maybe Cillian would be better, either one is fine though) dating Charles Leclerc or lando Norris

(I don’t know if this has been done yet but it feels very random, but it I saw you wrote for F1 and Cillian so I just thought of that crossover. Couldn’t decide which driver I wanted to request for so I’ll leave it up to you between Charles and lando)

But if you do, then thank you!!!

my favorite nepo baby | lando norris

faceclaim saorsie ronan (don’t hate me, yes ik there’s more irish actresses but i love saoirse) also i love this request, mixing random fandoms is my favorite thing ever

liked by maxverstappen1, ynfans and 56,377 others

danielricciardo happy birthday, lady bird

mclarentears WHAT

dannyric333 does daniel know everyone??

bottaszz you don’t understand THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME

landonorris my favorite nepo baby

danielricciardo the nepo baby says thank you

landonorris tell the nepo baby to make an account

danielricciardo no - the nepo baby

landonorris i tried

vettelsbees this is my roman empire

view all 23,477 comments

summer break

Y/n Murphy only knew Daniel Ricciardo because he had friends everywhere. It was only a matter of time before the Irish actress met the famous honey badger. Soon, his friends became her friends and the whole friend group was hanging out everywhere.

One of their hang out spots was the F1 paddock. Daniel insisted for Y/n to come to his favorite race, the Austin Grand Prix. It was no secret that Daniel is secretly a Texan so he wanted his new friend to experience the Texas atmosphere.

“We need to get you some boots and maybe a longhorns jersey. You’ll look so cool, trust me.” Daniel said as him, Heidi and Y/n walked into the AlphaTauri garage.

“He’s going to convert you into a Texan.” Heidi whispered to Y/n.

“Can you imagine me going home to my father speaking with a texas accent? He’ll have a stroke!” Y/n laughed.

“I bet that by the end of the day, you’ll love texas as much as I do.” Daniel smirked. “Maybe you’ll find a country boy you can take home to your old man.”

“Oh god, he’s going to have more strokes, die then come back and have more strokes.”

“Well then I can get you a British boy that won’t make your old man die.”

Y/n knew who Daniel was referring to. On the day of her birthday, which was a few days ago, Daniel showed her the comments that Lando had left on his post.

‘my favorite nepo baby’

While she told everyone she didn’t have an Instagram account, she had a secret one that only had about twenty followers which were close family and friends. She used that account to look at Lando’s account. She was going to lie, he was attractive.

“Just make an instagram! That boy keeps messaging me about you.” Daniel pleaded.

“I don’t use social media, I tried and I didn’t like it.” What a lie.

“Okay well can you at least talk to him? Wait, I should go with you, he might be the one having a stroke.”

So while Heidi stayed back in the garage, Daniel accompanied Y/n to the Mclaren garage so Lando could finally meet his favorite nepo baby. Y/n started to feel nervous, why? She didn’t know, she hardly knew Lando apart from his instagram posts.

“Hey Landoooooo!” Daniel dragged out the o.

“Is that Daniel Ric—” Lando’s voice stopped when he noticed who was standing beside Daniel.

“Is he having a stroke? I can’t tell.” Daniel whispered to Y/n.

“Hi . . . You’re y/n. Wow.” Lando tried to play it cool. “I’m Lando, but I’m guessing you already knew that because of the giant Australian yelling my name. Thank you Daniel.”

“Glad I could be of service. I have to go get ready, but you two go ahead and talk. Y/n, I’ve been told the Mclaren garage is the best spot to watch a race so . . bye!”

And all thanks to Daniel Ricciardo and his match making skills, your dad, Cillian, didn’t have a stroke when he finally met Lando.

[lady-ashfade]

Blood And Pressure

Part two

Yandere!Pjo x Fem!Grisha!reader. (Platonic Yandere gods) (romantic!various characters)

-♡ Chapter: Previous // Next

-♡ characters: Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, Clarisse La Rue, Grover Underwood, Annabeth Chase.

-♡ this is a shadow & bone slight crossover. Reader is a heartrender and that's all really (maybe more in the future!)

-♡ Please note that all characters are aged appropriately, so all characters are older versions of the book characters. So 17-19 characters for these, you can choose any of them really.Just that they are older teens.

-♡ I will be imagining Charlie Bushnell as Luke.

-♡warning : short, yandere behaviors, obsession, stalking. slightly sick love, possessive, manipulative, gaslighting. platonic yandere too, blood powers, powerful powers but not godly, and future warnings when more chapters come out.

This was the best moment of your life. The camp was beautiful. You got to see real people training together, not just the ones that come into the infirmary. And Percy was just as amazed as you. It was cool to see someone your own age being new to camp, and that you could use him to get yourself out of that damn house.

Percy made you smile with his small jokes and comments about the place. Which caused Chiron to look between you two without you knowing. You never looked so happy.

“There is a place for you,” chiron points to one of the cabins. A flag hanging from the roof was Hermes and you smile, they welcomed everyone. Many kids ended up in the infirmary after their pranks and you loved to hear the stories.

Percy was to go into the cabin and start his new life while you had to watch and then go back. Of course you were happy for him to have a place. But it would go back to being alone.

“What about y/n?” Percy turned to you with a brow raised. “Don’t you have a cabin?” Before you could answer, the centaur answered for you.

“She is not a Demigod,” he moved his hooves closer and puts a hand on your shoulder. You sigh and nod, “she stays with us. Now say your goodbyes.”

Pushing everything you felt back you mange to give the boy a big smile, “good luck Percy.” And his name in your mouth lift him smitten along with your smile.

He couldn’t wrap his head around why you were here to just stay in the big house. This was a camp for half-bloods and you weren’t one…he wasn’t sure what you were. So why keep you locked up?

“I think y/n should see the inside.” He turn his gaze to the larger man. You could see the mischief on his face.

“I mean, you said you’d give them a tour and haven’t showed them what the insides look like? I think you should keep to your word.”

You cover your mouth with a giggle and he finds himself taking another glance at you with growing pride. However Chiron wasn’t as happy about this because he wanted to get you home and away from everyone…just like the oracle said to.

“I agree, now if you’ll excuse us.” You turn your head and grab ahold of Percy’s hand and start to walk to the cabin door. You had a mission to see everything that you could!

Percy turned brighter by each second and followed you with a clouded head. He stares at the way your hand felt on his. Maybe he could find a way to keep you with him at all time. His chest filled with butterflies and he couldn’t help but to squeeze your hand back as you pull him along.

The cabin was full of campers and bunks crowded around everywhere. You didn’t know what you were expecting but this wasn’t it. I mean the cabin should have been much bigger with the amount of kids that came in, even Hermes had many kids. Just for a second you felt out of place until your eyes set upon another…ones you have looked into before.

Eyes that looked at you many times, the only boy you had a conversation with before. With a scar running across his cheek.

“Well, aren’t we lucky.” The boy stepped closer to you both. His lips curled into a smirk as everyone else the cabin turn to look at you both. The mystery girl and the new boy who took down a minotaur. A odd pair to be seen together.

Percy tightened his hold on your hand at the way he was looking into your eyes and inching closer. Who was this guy? If only he could throw his arm around you to show he already had his claim.

“Luke Castellan.” The slightly taller boy introduced himself. His eyes looked away from you and he was met with percy harsh gaze. The only one now to stop the contest they seemed to have was Chiron who walked behind you.

Camp seemed to get more interesting by the second.

Taglist: @maria699669 @gorgeourrific-nerd @targaryenluvs @theaaeht @dabalyuteeeftia @alliriseabove

[lizardsfromspace]

Nothing shows off better how TV used to work than The Single Guy

In this Wikipedia grid, yellow represents one of the top ten shows on TV, and green is the #1 show of the year. You may recognize Friends, Seinfeld, and ER. You probably don't recognize any show between them, but they're all yellow

After Friends, NBC mostly gave up on making a block of their best sitcoms like they had in the 80s. NBC also had shows like Frasier and Newsradio, but they weren't on the same night. Instead they filled the time in between Friends & Seinfeld and Seinfeld & ER with...a bunch of clones of Friends, since they wanted to make Another Friends. Most of these shows had more viewers than any TV show today, and most of these shows were series no one liked that got cancelled after two or three seasons

The Single Guy is canon to Friends by the way. It's in the Friends Universe. Because Ross appears on a episode. Imagine getting a chance to crossover with Friends and choosing to feature Ross. But it was their first try at a knock-off of Friends and Seinfeld, and nearly thirty million people saw every episode. But everyone knew none of those thirty million people liked it, so they retooled it between seasons (...to make it *more* like Friends by adding a bunch of friends he talked to in a coffeeshop), and then they moved it to its own night and uh

The viewers did not follow.

But the shift from blocks to exclusively on-demand viewing changed TV in a fundamental way, bc now you have to seek everything out. You can't just be exposed to something new. The whole strategy of building shows up by putting them in between other shows, under the belief people would just keep the TV on between two shows they like, is gone. It seems silly, but most of those shows weren't like The Single Guy. Friends started off in between Mad About You & Seinfeld, and then Seinfeld & ER. A lot of popular shows started there, but also that slot was often given to a show that had Emmys and critical praise but that weren't huge hits. Under the programming block model shows could just exist until they found an audience Cheers was one of the lowest rated shows on TV its first season, and didn't become a top ten hit until its fourth season; Seinfeld didn't become one until season five. Remember fourth and fifth seasons?

That model really couldn't survive streaming, or even the DVR age, and also NBC deciding to fill every free slot with shitty Friends clones didn't help. But this is a part of why streaming services are terrible at producing sitcoms & new series in general, and why Abbott Elementary is airing as its network's only sitcom & sandwiched at the half hour between reality shows