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of-a-chaotic-mind · 3 months ago

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Your Problem, My Problem, Everybody's Problem

Summary: Reader is in love with an immensely annoying pain in the ass. Eddie Diaz is an immensely annoying pain in the ass.

TW/CW: Eddie Diaz x Kinard!Reader, Fluff?, Get Together

Requested?: No

Word Count: 3,928

A/N: I needed to take a break from my wips so I decided to use a prompt from my prompt list but then I couldn't decide which one I wanted to use so I shoved a whole bunch of them into one imagine lmao. This was supposed to be silly goofy crack but turned into something more. Anyway, hope you enjoy! Much love to all! Requests are Open!

Prompts Used: (In Order, Not All of Them Are Word for Word) 20, 99, 100, 83, 91, 80, 42, 76, 74, 33, 22, 88, 64, 87, 94, 50, 52, 78, 97, 96, 92

--- Your POV ---

I brush my fingers through my hair as I trudge up the stairs to the station loft. As soon as I make it to the top, I notice a catastrophe on the other end by the couches. Buck and Eddie seem to be attempting to put a bookshelf together, or at least I think it's a bookshelf. It looks a little wonky and very unstable. I pad over to lean on the back of a couch as they bicker and argue over the instructions. I watch them for a moment, noticing Eddie's back muscles flex as he snatches the instructions from his best friend and tosses them over his shoulder. I shake those thoughts from my head, reminding myself I annoyed at him right now and flop over the back of the couch. I land criss cross apple sauce and roll my eyes at them, "Do you guys need a hand?"

Buck snatches his hand away from the bookshelf and scowls at his pinky before sucking it and shifting his gaze to the offending shelf. Eddie looks back at me over his shoulder, "Does it look like we need help?"

I tilt my head at him, "Do you really want me to answer that or would you like to maintain plausible deniability for later?"

He rolls his eyes and squats down to fiddle with a screw just as Buck stands up and shakes his hand in pain, "Uh, Eddie... We could probably use some adult help."

Eddie doesn't even look away from what he's doing, "Buck, we are adults."

Buck looks over at me with a slightly frustrated look on his face before dropping his head back to stare at the ceiling, "Yeah, but like... an adult who is more adultier than us."

He looks down at Eddie who snaps his head up to glare at him, "Buck, we are two grown ass men. We can handle putting a damn bookshelf together."

I snicker, "Oh, so it's a bookshelf. I thought it was some weird art piece." Eddie tosses a hand out behind him to flip me off as Buck sighs in defeat and kneels down to resume helping him. I shake my head as I pull out my phone and begin scrolling through Twitter, "I swear, working with you fuckers feels like being on a reality tv show." Realizing my phone is almost dead, I sigh in frustration and get up, "Don't hurt yourselves." Neither of them responds as I make my way downstairs to grab my charger. I have just pulled it out of my locker when I hear a crash from upstairs. I wince and look back toward the loft, turning to follow my line of sight.

When I tip toe up the last few steps, Chimney is standing in the kitchen with his hands on his hips, shaking his head. Buck and Eddie are staring at each other with almost an accusatory look plastered on both of their faces. The bookshelf is gone but as I approach the couch and sit back down, I find that it's actually just collapsed. I sigh, "I left you two alone for maybe ten minutes."

From the kitchen, Chimney laughs, "Apparently, that's ten minutes too long." I look back as he heads toward the stairs and scares the shit out of me when he trips on thin air and barely prevents himself from falling down the stairs by catching the handrail. He looks up and over at us with an expression that reads, "You didn't see that," before proceeding down the stairs carefully.

I look back at Buck and Eddie who also witnessed Chimney's mishap and shake my head, "I'm surrounded by idiots."

Eddie bends over, picking up the instruction manual as Buck points at me with the screwdriver in his hand, "We may be idiots but at least we're hot and hilarious." I roll my eyes and go back to scrolling on my phone after plugging it up to charge.

Buck looks to Eddie, "Can we use the instructions this time?"

Eddie, who is angrily glaring at the booklet, grumbles, "Whatever." The two go back to their construction, this time following the manual step by step.

I feel like I've scrolled a few miles with my thumb, to the sound of Buck and Eddie bickering, when I feel someone messing with my hair. With one hand, the other still scrolling, I lazily swat at whoever is behind me and attempt to tug my head away. Gently they grab my head, forcing me to be still, "Shhh, stop fussing. I'm just braiding your hair."

Realizing it's just my older brother Tommy, I huff in annoyance but let him continue, "Maybe when you're done you can help these two numbskulls figure out how to build their little bookshelf."

He chuckles but has no chance to speak before Buck looks away from the shelf with clear frustration on his face that melts away upon seeing his boyfriend, "Hi baby. (Y/N), can I ask you a dumb question?"

Without thinking, I answer, "Better than anyone I know."

Tommy softly swats my forehead, "Be nice."

Eddie lets out a laugh before putting on a mocking pout as he looks back at us, "Someone is cranky."

I shoot him a bird, "Someone needs to shut the fuck up." I tilt my head back to look up at Tommy, interrupting his braiding, "They're like hurricanes in human form."

With a grin he gently nudges my head back up, "Trust me, I know," and resumes his little project.

Now with his head inside a shelf compartment, Eddie muses, "So small and cranky. It's kind of cute."

He pulls his head out and looks over the instruction booklet lying on the coffee table as I shoot him a nasty look, "Eddie... shut the fuck up or I'm throwing you over the damn balcony. You are-" I interrupt my own sentence in confusion as I watch him walk to the edge of the balcony and look over to the floor below. With a tilt of my head I dare ask, "What are you doing?" Tommy removes a hair band from my wrist to tie off the braid before wandering over to help Buck.

Eddie turns to face me with a smug grin tugging on his lips, "Checking to see how high the drop is." Shrugging, he turns his back to me to return to the shelf, "See if it's worth it."

I hear Tommy ask Buck what his question was as he patiently helps him position a shelf. Buck shrugs, "I forgot."

I clench my jaw, eyes still drilling holes into Eddie's back, "Tommy?"

My brother gives Buck a few instructions and hands him a screwdriver, "Yes ma'am?"

"Is it still murder if I give him a heads up?" I ask, feigning innocence.

Tommy turns to look at me with a scolding expression, "That makes it a threat, (Y/N)."

He returns to helping Buck as I grumpily go back to my phone with a pout, "Damn..."

Eddie is now digging through a bag of screws, "You know, (Y/N), violence isn't always the answer."

I force my eyes to stay locked on my phone as I snap back, "Maybe not but is AN answer. I've been wanting to kick your ass all week. Don’t tempt me." Eddie bursts into laughter as he finds the screw he needs.

Tommy looks up from the instruction booklet and frowns at Eddie, who notices and guiltily goes back to the shelf. Tommy returns to Buck's side, "Why is that, (Y/N)?"

I toss my phone down on the cushion under me and my hands into the air, "Because he's been deliberately annoying the piss out of me all week!"

Tommy hands Buck a few screws, "How so?"

"The other day SOMEONE," I glare at Eddie who has his head back inside the shelf, "wrote 'Honk if you love dick' on the back window of my Bronco with one of those window paint marker things. I didn't see it until Buck pointed it out." I pout as Tommy grins and both Eddie and Buck struggle to hold in their laughter. "It's not funny! I drove through downtown LA with that on my window. I was confused as fuck because I had several people honk for presumably no reason."

Buck and Eddie burst out laughing and Tommy, seeing the sulking pout on my face, takes a deep breath to curb his own, "Okay, so what does that have to do with Eddie?"

"I immediately knew he did it when he nearly hit the deck because he was laughing so hard and I punched him for it but he swore up and down that he didn't. I asked him why he was laughing then and his response was, 'Because whoever did is a fucking genius.'" I cross my arms over my chest and huff.

Tommy sighs deeply as Buck looks up at him, wiping tears from his eyes, "I washed it off for her but she proceeded to interrogate everyone in the station trying to find the culprit."

Tommy doesn't look at me, obviously trying to hide his grin, "No luck?"

I open my mouth to respond but Eddie beats me to it in a fit of giggles, "Nope, she even threatened to chop Ravi's balls off with the bolt cutters."

Tommy chances a look at me and finds me glaring at Eddie who is grinning at me innocently in attempts to calm my wrath. My brother sighs and looks at Eddie, "If she kills you, I'm gonna resurrect you so she can kick your ass again."

Eddie whips his head toward Tommy with an offended expression and hands up in a questioning manner, "Why?"

Tommy shrugs and turns to help Buck position another shelf, "Because I think it'd be funny."

Eddie sucks his teeth and goes digging through the bag of screws again, "I'm telling you I didn't do it."

Buck slams his palm against the shelf to knock it into place, "We checked the cameras. It wasn't there when she left the night before but was when she came in the next morning."

I jolt up from where I had plopped down to lay on the couch, "Doesn't mean he didn't do it! He knows where I live."

Eddie points at me with a screw, still very amused, "Correct but, like I told you several times already, I took Christopher to the movies that night." I roll my eyes and plop down on the couch with a groan. The room falls quiet aside from the various noises of bookshelf construction and occasional quiet instructions from Tommy. I have wracked my brain trying to figure out who was guilty for defacing my precious Bronco in such a way but I always come up empty handed. Something dawns on me as I remember I had stopped at the bar that night to see an old friend.

I shoot up like a rocket, "Do you think-"

Hunting for screws again, Eddie interrupts me, "All the time. I'm a good thinker."

I shoot him an aggravated glare, "That's not what I meant. Do you think-"

Eddie snickers, "Yup."

I hurl a throw pillow at his head, "Will you quit that? I'm trying to ask you guys something."

Eddie takes a deep breath, about to say something irritating again, but Tommy slaps his hand over his mouth, "Ask away."

I grin triumphantly, "Thank you."

Tommy nods, hand still silencing Eddie, "You're welcome."

I open my mouth to speak but, "Ugh! Now I've forgotten what I was gonna say!" I flop back down onto the couch. Tommy rolls his eyes at Eddie who has jerked away from him and burst into giggles.

Buck tilts his head to look around Tommy at me with an understanding look on his face, "Whenever I forget what I was going to say I just think back through the conversation that led up to it." Tommy mouths a, "Thank you," to Buck who grins proudly before nodding at me. Eddie rolls his eyes sassily and returns to the shelf.

I tap my chin with my pointer finger, "Well, we talked about the damn window marker vandalism and how I interrogated everyone. I explained how I still think Eddie did it..." I sit up straight, "Oh! I was gonna ask, do you guys think," I pause with a glare in Eddie's direction but he just grins at me and continues working so I continue, "that some stranger did it while I was at the bar that night?"

Tommy shrugs and stands up to admire their progress, "Highly possible."

Eddie gets up as well and dusts himself off before looking at me, "And to think you threatened Ravi's manhood for nothing."

Eddie only grins wide when I give him the deadliest glare known to mankind, "I'm gonna threaten your manhood if you don't shut the fuck up. And unlike with Ravi, I will follow through."

Buck is still working on the shelf as Tommy ruffles his hair before taking a seat beside me on the couch and pointing for Eddie to help him. I glare daggers into Eddie's back as he obliges. It's quiet for a few beats before Tommy leans over to whisper so quietly in my ear that I barely even hear him, "I know your secret."

Not taking my eyes off Eddie and not bothering to whisper, I seek clarification, "Which one? You're going to have to be more specific there, bud. I have a lot of skeletons in my closet that even you don't know about."

He again whispers but I can hear the grin on his face, "I think you're in love."

I whip my head to glare at him so fast that my neck cracks, "I think you're delusional."

He grins and looks back toward Buck and Eddie, "I think you're in denial."

Having completed the bookshelf, Eddie makes his way over to us with Buck right behind him, "Closet skeletons? Delusional? In denial? What are we talking about? Give me the tea."

I raise an eyebrow at him, "First of all, never say, 'give me the tea,' again. It sounds weird coming out of your mouth," Buck snorts out a laugh, "Second, we're talking about how you're a sack of shit, fuck off." I punctuate my explanation by flipping him off. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head as he walks away chuckling.

Tommy is not convinced and very determined to make me feel called out, "(Y/N), when he's not looking, you stare at him like he's everything you could ever want or need."

Hoping he hears how offended I am in my tone, I refuse to look at him as I respond, "I call bullshit. That's slander."

A look of realization crosses Buck's face, shortly followed by a hint of teasing in his tone, "He's not wrong and you know it."

I groan dramatically and slam my head against the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling, "You guys are starting to get on my nerves too. Don't you think he does that enough for all three of you?"

Tommy pats my knee before lifting himself up off the couch with a grunt, "Only because you feel called out."

"Shut up," I grumble as he and Buck leave me be.

Throughout the rest of the shift, I maintain my pissed off demeanor and even do my best to avoid Eddie. I feel bad about both but I really don't need anyone trying to question me on where my head is at right now. Where is my head exactly? Stuck thinking about Eddie motherfucking Diaz. I've spent all day trying to convince myself that Tommy is wrong and I don't love him but I ultimately fail. As per usual, my big brother is right... I shuffle out of the bathroom and head to the locker room to pack up and go home.

I grumpily shove clothes into my duffle bag and mentally debate between tacos or sushi for dinner. I finally decide I'm too tired and fed up to stop for food on the way home and will just eat the leftovers from last night as I zip my bag and hoist it up onto my shoulder. I make a 180 turn to head for the door but am stopped in my tracks and jump a little when I see Eddie leaning in the doorway. I halfheartedly glare at him, "Scare the shit out of me why don't you?"

He laughs softly and drops his gaze, "Sorry." I swear I saw a hint of a blush on his but decide I’m delusional. I shuffle nervously on my feet and run my fingers through my hair. When he lifts his gaze again and makes direct eye contact with me, I scold myself because my heart involuntarily skips a beat. He clears his throat, "Can we talk?"

I fidget with the strap of my duffle for a second before dropping it to my feet and plopping down on the bench, shrugging, "I guess."

He cautiously shuffles over to sit beside me, "You guess?" The only response I can muster up is another shrug, eyes trained on the locker in front of me. He rests his elbows on his knees and interlocks his fingers, eyes locked on the tiles under our feet, "Listen, I've been a real dick lately."

I attempt to calm my racing heart with a few deep breaths so it doesn't betray me, "That's understatement of the year."

I can feel his puppy dog eyes burning into my cheek when he looks up from the floor, "I know... I'm sorry, I just-"

Before I can stop myself, I tear my eyes away from the locker to give him a confused look, "Just what?"

He takes a deep breath and returns to inspecting the tiles, "I just think it’s cute when you're annoyed... I didn't mean to actually piss you off."

I sigh deeply and feel a tinge of guilt in my chest, "What makes you think you pissed me off?"

He shrugs, gaze shifting to my shoes, "You've been snappier than normal ever since this morning. You also started avoiding me... I figured it took it too far..."

I wipe my palms on my jeans and shake my head, "That's not- You didn't piss me off. If anything, Tommy did."

I don't miss the protectiveness in his tone and posture when he whips his head to look at me finally, "What? Do I need to kick his ass?"

I giggle, unable to prevent myself from admiring how cute he is when he's protective, "No, no... He didn't really piss me off. He just- he got under my skin... He called me out on something and it rubbed me the wrong way."

The mixture of concern and confusion on his face is kind of adorable as he asks, "What do you mean?"

Feeling heat rise to my cheeks, I shift my gaze to anything that is not Eddie. I chew on the inside of my cheek for a few seconds before attempting a humorous tone and admitting, "He called me out on the fact that I'm in love with an immensely annoying pain in the ass."

In my peripheral, I notice disappointment grace his features before he quickly molds it into something else and looks away, "Oh..."

Slightly surprised, I find myself staring at the side of his face. Taking a huge risk on a hunch, I clarify, "It's you, dipshit. You're the immensely annoying pain in the ass."

His eyes snap to mine as he smiles a smile that makes my heart flutter, "Really?"

Nudging him with my elbow, I nod, "Yes, no matter how frustrated I get with your relentless teasing, at the end of the day I find myself falling head over heels for you."

His eyes dart to my lips for a split second before he whispers, "thank god," promptly taking my face in his hands and kissing me so hard it punches the breath out of my lungs. I immediately kiss back, feeling my heart swell with happiness. My hands find their way to his forearms where I rub small circles with my thumbs. When we finally break apart, he doesn't go far but let's one hand fall intertwining our fingers. With his other hand, he holds my chin, preventing me from retreating even if I wanted to.

He pecks another quick kiss against my lips before whispering, "Do you think you love me enough to put up with my immensely annoying pain in the ass self more often than just work? Often enough to be my girlfriend?"

With the hand I still have on his forearm, I squeeze gently and nod with a smile on my face, "Of course." I push in to kiss him again but am unfortunately interrupted by a commotion coming from the loft. He chuckles softly as we both look toward the noise. Through the glass wall we find Tommy and Buck standing upstairs with bright smiles, clapping and cheering.

Now that we've noticed them, Buck races down the stairs and enters the locker room chanting, "Double date, double date, double date."

Upon catching up to his excited boyfriend, Tommy rolls his eyes and drapes an arm around Buck's waist, "Slow down, Babe. Let them go on a date just the two of them first."

Buck playfully pouts and crosses his arms over his chest, "Fineeeee."

He quickly drops his pouty posture as Tommy shakes his head with a smile and offers his hand to Eddie, "She's your problem now."

Eddie shakes his hand with a chuckle before locking eyes with me again and grinning, "Happily."

He presses a kiss to my nose but I pull away pretending to be offended, "Hey! If anything, YOU are MY problem now. I'm not an annoying little shithead."

I lean back toward Eddie, who kisses my cheek, as Tommy states, "No, but you are crafted with heavy notes of, 'These hands are rated E for everyone,' and, 'Hey ma, watch this.' Not to mention the dash of, 'Chaos is my middle name.'"

Buck slowly turns to look at him with a massive grin, "Must run in the family." Tommy rolls his eyes and pulls Buck closer, kissing his temple.

Eddie presses his forehead against mine and holds out his pinky, "What'd you say we team up and become everyone's problem?"

Giggling, I wrap my pinky around his to seal the promise, "Deal."

Eddie doesn't pull away or drop my pinky, "I know where to buy window markers."

I grin mischievously but before I can say anything, Tommy lets out a very exasperated sigh, "You two do know we're still here, right?" As Eddie and I separate, Tommy gently tugs Buck toward the exit. They make it a few steps out of the doorway before Tommy pokes his head back in, "And don't you even dare think about taking a marker to my windows."

We watch them make their way toward the station door as Eddie muses, "That's exactly what we're gonna do, isn't it?"

I wiggle excitedly in my seat, "Yup."

When the door closes behind them, he looks back at me, checks his watch, and grins, "I think if we hurry, we can make it to the store before it closes."

I jump up, grab my bag from the floor, and with our still interlocked hands, drag Eddie in the same direction we watched them leave. He laughs behind me, barely managing to grab his own duffle on our way out.

More 911

Main Masterlist

#911 #911 show #911 imagines #eddie diaz #eddie diaz imagine #911 imagine #eddie diaz imagines #eddie diaz x reader #eddie diaz x y/n #y/n

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zahri-melitor · 5 months ago

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I am trying to fit this time line of self destruction on Dick's part together and seriously events seem to go like this:-

Nightwing #80-82 (June-Aug 2003): Slade turns up to harass Dick in Bludhaven, Dick is fired from the BPD.

Outsiders #1 (Aug 2003): Roy asks Dick to join Outsiders and promises that he doesn't need to be friends/family with the team. (Roy is unknowingly being fed targets by Slade)

Outsiders #5 (Dec 2003): Roy gets shot 5 times in the chest, Dick feels guilt over it and has to take full charge of the team.

Outsiders #6 (Jan 2004): The Outsiders have to allow the entire inhabitants of the Slab to break out and escape as the Slab is destroyed. The team are blamed in the media for this.

Nightwing #87 (Jan 2004): Babs tells Dick they need to take a break.

Nightwing #88 (Feb 2004): Haly's Circus burns down.

Nightwing #89 (March 2004): Dick's apartment building blows up killing all residents apart from Dick and Amygdala.

Nightwing #93 (July 2004): Dick turns away as Catalina shoots Blockbuster, Dick has a panic attack, Catalina comes to find Dick on the rooftop as he despairs and she sexually assaults Dick.

Nightwing #95 (Sep 2004): Catalina tries to pressure Dick into marrying her, is blocked by Bruce calling Dick to come back to Gotham due to War Games.

War Games (Oct-Dec 2004): Dick has to fight a gang war and is assigned by Bruce to work with Catalina through it as Dick hasn't spoken to Bruce about what happened. Dick ends up with a serious leg injury.

Outsiders #19-20 (Feb-Mar 2005): Lian is kidnapped by child slavers and rescued. (Arguably could take place prior to War Games)

Outsiders #20-22 (Mar-May 2005): Bruce revealed to be funding the Outsiders, Dick goes and yells at Bruce about this, Slade revealed to have been funneling information to Roy and pretending to be Batman. (Again cannot be long after War Games, probably before)

Nightwing #100 (Feb 2005): Dick and Babs officially break up, Dick walks away from being a superhero, Dick has not spoken to Bruce.

Teen Titans & Outsiders #24-25 (July-Aug 2005): Both teams have characters get controlled - Kon by Lex and Indigo by Brainiac 8, at the end of the storyline Dick quits. This has to be after Identity Crisis but must be not long after Nightwing #100 given Dick has not yet gone undercover. Also Dick has theoretically been hiding a leg injury and brace for a period here.

Outsiders #26 (Sep 2005): Dick has sex with Kory.

Nightwing #107 (June 2005): Dick is now undercover with the mob and has been for some time. MUST come after the events above.

Nightwing #112 (Nov 2005): Slade talks Dick into training Rose.

Nightwing #114 (Jan 2006): Roy turns up, mad, and argues with Dick to come back.

Nightwing #116: (March 2006): Bludhaven has gone boom. Thanks so much, Slade.

TL:DR; there's a whole chunk of Outsiders in 2005 that has to have happened approximately around War Games due to Dick's knee injury, and since Teen Titans spent six months of title hopping through time immediately prior, you can shift both titles for their crossover right up to very shortly after War Games/Identity Crisis in terms of 'Jack is dead but Dick's not yet undercover'.

Actually thinking about it more, it's even more complicated than that, because Teen Titans #20 suggests Outsiders #16 occurred after it, unless Kory's been simultaneously on both teams. I think I have to read this as Kory has been on both teams at the same time to make any of this make sense.

This results in Dick having broke up officially with Babs and then almost immediately had Bad Idea Sex with Kory (after also having been assaulted by Catalina at least once and potentially multiple times while he's in the daze where Catalina tries to convince him that they should get married).

(Seriously why is everyone in Outsiders having random sex with people who are a Very Bad Idea)

#dc meta #timeline shenanigans

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dronebiscuitbat · 2 months ago

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Oil is Thicker Then Blood (Part 87)

She pulled N into their apartment with a groan, having been tensely silent the entire walk, with a huff, she grabbed a sleepy Tera out of N's arms, and with a breif kiss to her delicate head, went to put her in the crib.

“What's wrong? Why’d we rush out like that?” N was right behind her, looking worried. It didn't take long for Uzi to back out of the bedroom and begin to shrug off her hoodie.

A soft blush took over his face, tail kinking up as her clothes hit the floor.

“O-Oh… Uh, R-right now?” He stammered, surely she didn't have them leave early just so that they could have some alone time? That was unlike her. Though it wasn't like the nest was much privacy lately either…

She looked at him strangly, before blushing, realizing how it looked without any context.

“N-No! Dummy, not that. Come here.” She opened her side panel, huffing again as she pulled out all the paper she was using to stop the flow of thick oil, “Eugh…” She whined as it stuck to the paper, leaving strings of oil to come off her.

“Are you bleeding?! Are you hurt?! Is the baby-” He immediately panicked, closing the distance and grabbing onto her shoulder so he could take a closer look, she grabbed the bottom of his chin to shut him up.

“No. I'm fine. Everything's fine. I think, I just need you to test something.” She hummed, pointing over to the fridge where they kept Tera's oil supply. “Get out one of Tera's filled bottles and take off the top, and bring me a empty one, please.”

He did what he was told, quickly setting out one full tiny bottle and handing her an empty one, she took a deep breath and began to fill the new one, he could already tell that this was different… she looked way less uncomfortable and more relieved.

She sat down the newly filled bottle next to the pre-filled one. And then went to go put back on her undershirt with a sigh.

“You have sensors that tell you what somethings made out of, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell me the difference between the two.” She explained, pointing to the two bottles on the counter.

He flushed gold, now for a whole new reason.

“But… I'd have to taste them…”

He didn’t care about drinking his girlfriends oil with her permission, but drinking it from a bottle she'd filled with the express purpose of giving to their daughter felt wrong on so many levels.

“It's just oil. I just wanna make sure it's not unsafe for her to drink.”

“But… the human equivalent!” He whined, maybe it was his time at the manor making him feel that way, the time spent with humans making this simple act feel extremely strange.

“Then don't think about the human equivalent! There's no difference between the oil in the bottle and the oil currently keeping me alive!” She argued, and she wasn't wrong, but it didn't make him feel any different about it.

“We've shared oil before babe. It's not any different.” She said a little softer, now dressed and standing behind him, leaning on his arm.

That was true… one night, during a particularly passionate evening. A heated kiss had turned into a double bite, each other's oil pouring into their mouths. It was one of the most intimate things they'd both experienced. But this situation was entirely different.

Still… he didn't want it to be unsafe for Tera either.

He tipped the first small bottle into his mouth and it went down like a shot glass, she was right, it tasted no different then any other time he'd gotten a taste of her oil, even if he did think her’s was the best tasting.

“Just oil. Like normal.” The sensors in his mouth read out normally. 100% pure machine oil; And he made sure the taste was out of his mouth before he eyed the new one and tipped it between his lips.

It was thick and coated his throat, he made a scrunched up expression as intense sweetness spread in his mouth. His sensors got to work.

50% machine oil, 25% organic protein, 25% electrolyte solution.

He blinked.

“Uh, it's…not the same, but… nothing is being tagged as harmful, if anything it's being accepted into my system better.” He said, a little bit surprised at that fact himself.

“What is it then?”

“You want the basic answer or the complicated answer?” He asked seriously.

“Basic I guess?”

“It's oil mixed with milk.”

Uzi blinked, blushed, then looked grossed out, and then horrified.

“That's fucking gross! Are you serious?!” She whined, N nodding his head solemnly, trying to repress that fact himself considering he just drank it.

“Why am I made like this…?” She despaired, covering her visor with both hands with a sigh.

“Aaaand scoop!” In an instant, N was lifting her bridal style, taking her towards the bedroom. “It's decompress time, let's not think too hard about it!”

“I wanna go back to noooormaaaal.” She moaned, completely distraught at this new information. “I'm gross and huge and feel like garbage!”

“You're beautiful and perfect and absolutely nothing is wrong with you.” He replied, laying her on the bed with a certain kind of gentleness, pressing a kiss onto her rounded stomach.

“I don't know how you can still look at me the same way! And It's just going to keep getting worse! If this is exactly like a human pregnancy, it's not going to be 5 months, it's going to be 9! That's really close to launch day!” She went on a small, stress enduced angry rant that N just let her work through for a moment while he took his hat and coat off, replacing it with a loose fitting black shirt.

“Agh!” She finished up as N crawled into bed beside her. Resting his head on her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her gently, purring.

He didn't even have to say anything anymore, all he had to do was hold her and purr and she already knew what he would say if he did grace her with his words. That she was beautiful no matter what and literally nothing could change how he felt about her, especially something as shallow as her changing appearance.

She sighed.

“I definitely don't feel it…”

He smiled and placed long, trailing kisses down her neck, still purring, now wrapping her up in his tail, his hands making feather light touches up her sides until she was shivering every time they made a pass.

“You want me to be honest?” He hummed, finally, after she started to relax and lean into his chest, basking a bit in his warmth that surrounded her own core like a warm embrace, chasing off the feeling of cold she was often left with.

“This might sound weird, but… I'm really attracted to how you look right now…” He admitted softly.

“You're just saying that…”

“No! It's true! I don't know why but… you, being like this, with our baby. You still being so wonderful with Tera… I-” He stops, embarrassed, before smiling warily “I kinda want to… do this again.”

Uzi turned onto her side to look at him, completely befuddled, though flustered, and possibly a little bit angry.

“You are not getting me pregnant again anytime soon. I will take a copy of your code and develop a special firewall for myself if I have to.” She said, being completely serious, and he smiled again.

“I figured as much.” He chuckled, leaning back into her shoulder and closing his eyes. “But you understand what I mean. I love you either way.”

She looked down at the comforter, sighing and rolling her eyes before looking back up at his soft expression, she returned it.

“Yeah… I do, I love you too, N.”

He leaned down to nuzzle her visor, a spark jumping between them as they laughed and connected their lips, enjoying the moment of privacy…

Next ->

#murder drones #uzi doorman #serial designation n #oil is thicker then blood #nuzi #biscuitbites #tera doorman #it's here!#I'm back on schedule holy crap #also this chapter is weird... but it was preplanned so... do with that what you will

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bestiarium · 3 months ago

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The Crawfordsville Monster [modern cryptid; urban legend]

As far as modern urban legends go, most sightings of cryptids and creatures tend to fall into one of several recognizable categories: a lake monster, a flying saucer, an ape-like creature, etc. But every once in a while you have something weirder or unique:

On April 5, 1891, a supposed monster was sighted in the skies above Crawfordsville, Indiana, in the USA. A local pastor, Reverend G. Switzer, left his house to get some water from the well in his backyard when he supposedly experienced a strange feeling somewhere between dread and awe. Uncertain what caused this feeling, he looked up to see a large serpent-like being flying through the sky. The snake moved quickly even though there was no wind that night, and seemed like it was about to land, only to change its mind and take off again.

The paster and his wife were not the only witnesses, for that same day the apparition was seen by two workers about to haul ice on their wagon. They were so frightened of the creature that they took shelter until it was out of sight.

The size of the creature varies between stories, putting it somewhere between 16 and 20 feet (5 à 6 meters). It did not have wings – although other accounts added several fins or fin-like structures – but was able to fly by means of writhing movements, not unlike those of a real snake. The monster was white and had no head, or at least no clearly visible head, but it did have a large, brightly burning eye. Despite the lack of a visible head or mouth, the monster emitted a wheezing noise.

The Crawfordsville Daily Journal named the creature ‘the Midnight Wraith’ but today it is more commonly referred to as 'the Crawfordsville Monster'.

When researching this sighting, I came across some very weird UFO theories. While they tend to strain credibility, I admit that it’s fun to theorize about, in a fantasy worldbuilding kind of way. For example, the last source I listed here mentions a theory about atmospheric creatures that live in the clouds of our planet and stay afloat because of their extremely low-density bodies. The Crawfordsville monster, supposedly, could be such a creature.

Several explanations have been put forth. Some claimed it was a spirit. Professor Robert Burton assumed that the witnesses might simply have been under influence of alcohol or drugs. A later sighting in the same location put forth a simpler, albeit anticlimactic, explanation: two men followed the flying ‘monster’ around until it came close enough for them to identify it as a giant flock of killdeer birds: local birds with a distinct white belly. There were several hundred of them in the flock, and the birds’ erratic flight pattern might have been caused by their confusion from the electric lights, and the many moving ‘fins’ of the monster would have been the wings of the different birds. Perhaps exhaustion in the early hour, combined with the dark night sky, caused the ice haulers and the pastor to mistake the flock for a monster.

Sources: Clark, J., 2005, Unnatural Phenomena: A Guide to the Bizarre Wonders of North America, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 408 pp., 160 pp., p. 87-88. Zach, K. B., 2003, Crawfordsville, Athens of Indiana, Arcadia Publishing, p. 140-141. Hunt, C. M., 2023, Ghosts & Legends of Crawfordsville, Indiana. Haunted America, Arcadia Publishing, 160 pp., p. 12-18.

(image source 1: Mart, T.S. & Cabre, M., 2021, A Guide To Sky Monsters : Thunderbirds, The Jersey Devil, Mothman, and Other Flying Cryptids, Indiana University Press, 174 pp.) (image source: Enshohma on Deviantart)

#urban legends #cryptids #creatures #monsters #American mythology #if you can call urban legends 'mythology'#mythical creatures

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bookworm-center · 2 years ago

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"She missed Inej's stillness, the knowledge that she could say anything to her without fear of recrimination. She missed Jesper's laughing ways and Wylan's sweetness. She even missed Kaz's ruthlessness. Saints, it would have been a relief to hand over this whole mess to the bastard of the Barrel. He'd have sussed out Vadik Demidov's origins, raided the Fjerdan treasury, and placed himself on the throne in the time it took Nina to braid her hair."

Nina Zenik, Rule of Wolves (Chapter 7, page 87-88)

#grishaverse #bookworm center #six of crows #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #nina zenik #rule of wolves

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icallhimjoey · 2 years ago

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Only Now

♥ ♥ Rockstar!Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Summary: Eddie needs Hawkins, needs his old friends, needs you to ground him every couple of months. And so he visits for a few days in the middle of December and lets all of you pretend you're momentarily back in '88, and it's beautiful, but it hurts. A lot.

Author’s note: Christmas came early @joejoequinnquinn! Surprise! This one's just for you as part of @quinnyfairy's Secret Santa Project; my very first (and maybe last, idk) Eddie fic ever. Hope you enjoy!!

CW / disclaimer: 18+, angsty, swearing (lots), drinking, little smutty sort of, reader celebrates Christmas (some form of it anyway) and also my very first time writing for Eddie so please bear with!

Wordcount: 9.5K

(find all other parts of this story here) God, how you wished you could slow down time. You wanted longer minutes, longer hours. Slower ticking clocks. Maybe even freeze time all together, just so you could relish his company for longer. It felt like the minutes were slipping by in record time and sleeping through them only sped them up even more. So, you laid awake instead, and mentally willed the stretch between each tick of your clock to lengthen as you stared at Eddie next to you.

You were trying to stay quiet. Not let Eddie hear you cry, because you knew if he did, he’d shake his sleep off of him and wouldn’t be able to get back to it. It was only quarter past two, which was far too many hours ‘til morning still, and Eddie needed his sleep. This was likely the last night he'd sleep in an actual bed; for the next few weeks it'd be bunkbeds on buses and couches in dressing rooms.

He looked so soft with his hair braided up and out of his face, still wet from when he’d let you wash it hours earlier. How could you not cry at the sheer sight of him? He’d never let anyone else see him like this, you knew it to be true, and those soft noises he made? The grunts, mumbles and groans his sleep let escape him? Just for you, you were convinced.

You felt a fresh tear roll over the bridge of your nose, and there was no point in wiping it away. You knew it would find your pillow or your covers to disappear into. This was exactly what Steve had warned you about, countless times. He’d said he wouldn’t allow you to slip back and do this all over again, not after the last time, but when Eddie arrived three days ago, you’d seen Steve struggle with the same inner battle. He’d missed Eddie just as much and just as easily would let himself transport back to ’87, ’88.

“He’s here!” Steve had gotten up from the picnic table you’d both been sat on outside of your apartment building as you’d waited for Eddie. Butts perched up on the tabletop, feet on the wooden bench below you, up and away from the cold ground below it, you’d been chatting, and Steve had tried to talk some sense into you before Eddie’s taxi had pulled up.

“I know you think he needs it, but ultimately, you know you shouldn’t let him,” Steve had said, placing blame with you. You shouldn’t let him. Not, Eddie shouldn’t do this.

“I know,” you agreed, but you were the one thinking all your thoughts, feeling all your feelings. Not Steve. You knew very well that you shouldn’t let Eddie come into your world and pretend you were still twenty and fresh-faced for a few days before he’d fuck off and leave you again. But what was the alternative? Have none of Eddie at all? That option seemed much worse.

“I know you know, but it’d be great if you made smart choices. Smarter choices.” Steve referenced the last time Eddie had been in town. He had visited Hawkins for six days last May, and for weeks afterwards, Steve had been busy picking up the pieces of you that you didn’t seem to be able to hold onto yourself. He had to put real effort in to put you back together, slowly but surely, until you felt like a human being again.

Steve was a good friend. It was because Steve also missed Eddie a lot, so he understood on another level, but it also meant he let his mind get cloudy when Eddie was around. Neither of you were part of Eddie’s life anymore, not like you were before he’d left, and neither of you liked that. The three of you had almost joined at the hip, and whenever Steve would hang out with Robin, you and Eddie would play house. Eddie was your not-boyfriend, and you were his not-girlfriend. For all intends and purposes, you were absolutely dating each other. But if someone asked if Eddie was your boyfriend, or if you were his girlfriend, you’d always say no. No. You were just friends. Except you weren’t. But you were.

Now, you were pieces of the puzzle of Hawkins to him, the place he would come back to every couple of months when he’d find the time in between tours. Eddie needed the place to ground himself, to feel like the person he felt he still was on the inside. He would keep that Eddie in his own pocket, but he would always lose that version of himself on stage after doing a few shows. He wouldn’t realise he’d gone missing until he’d smash another TV in a hotel room with strangers who pretended to be his friends, and girls who were only there because he was the Eddie Munson, front man to famous metal band Corroded Coffin. That’s when he’d call Wayne and he would tell him to let everyone know he’d be coming down soon. Make sure Hawkins was ready for him. Lay the red carpets out. And Wayne would chuckle, and then he’d just tell the two of you.

"Munson!" Steve called out as he walked towards the taxi that Eddie had just opened the door of, his arms already opening.

"Harrington!" Eddie called back in the same tone once he stepped out and saw Steve.

Eddie looked absolutely horrible. Like he hadn't stopped continuously drinking and hadn't slept for days. But he smiled, and when Steve jumped him, he hugged him back with strong arms and patting hands.

"Jesus, you smell like the floor of a dive bar," Steve said, and it made Eddie throw his head back with laughter.

They broke into a playful scuffle, half wrestling, half still hugging, poking fingers at each other like teenage boys who didn't know how else to express affection. Their grunting and laughing reached your ears and made you smile. You stayed put, sat on your hands on the picnic table still, not wanting to intrude on their moment together, until Eddie caught your eye over Steve's shoulder.

"You," Eddie pointed, and you saw the glint in his eyes change. Eddie looked at you different, and it made the words Steve had tried so hard to imprint onto you immediately disappear. Eddie was here. And he was looking at you.

"Get your ass over here," Eddie beckoned with wild arms as he started walking towards you himself, leaving Steve to take Eddie's duffle bag from the taxi driver.

You pushed yourself from the bench, and took small steps, but stopped when Eddie started running and looked at you the same way he had looked at Steve when he'd started wrestling him. Full puppy dog energy. You let him crash into you, lift you from your feet and swing you around, legs flailing and voice squealing. Steve was right. Eddie smelled like he'd washed his hair with beer a couple days ago and hadn't touched it since.

"Missed you," Eddie spoke into your hair before planting a kiss there and putting you down. Missed you more, you thought, but couldn't say it. You took a minute to look at him, still in his grip. Eddie looked older, like he had aged twice as fast as you had. There were more lines on his face and his eyes sat a little deeper. His hair lacked shine and his scruff eyed unruly. You wondered how long ago it was since Eddie had eaten a vegetable.

"How long are you staying for?" you asked before saying anything else. Please stay for Christmas, you thought. Please.

"Just a few days," Eddie said, and it pained you that he said it like it was good news. Like he couldn't actually wait to get out of here again. Like that didn't absolutely wreck you.

"Let's head inside, it's fucking freezing," Steve walked past you and broke your moment with Eddie, slinging a protective arm around your shoulder, ensuring that you fell into step together as you made your way inside. You feared you'd shown too much in your face. Things that Steve had definitely spotted, but somehow, Eddie hadn't.

You headed up to Steve's apartment together, Steve decided. In the elevator, Steve pressed the button for his floor, not yours, and the second of quick eye contact between the two of you said enough. Once inside, Eddie immediately asked if it was okay for him to take a quick shower. You know, because he'd been traveling so long, Eddie said. Not because the stench of alcohol really had almost become too overwhelming in the small space of the elevator, and Eddie realised just then how clean and healthy you and Steve looked compared to him, all flushed cheeks, bright eyes, and plump skin.

When Eddie locked the door behind him, you caught your reflection in Steve's hallway mirror and immediately regained your composure; you stood up straight, pulled your shoulders back and relaxed your brow. Eddie was here. You were going to have fun together. Even if it was just for a few days. Maybe even more so because of it, because now it was extra important to make every second count.

"You okay?" Steve saw. You smiled and said you were. Eddie was here now. You did a good job pushing all sadness aside and told it to not pop back up until later. Sometime after Christmas maybe. You could deal with it then. Steve accepted your smile, happy to see you still had it ready for him, but he worried about you anyway.

"Where is he?"

It was much later, and Robin used her spare key to let herself into Steve's apartment, not bothering to announce her arrival by ringing the doorbell, not willing to wait for someone else to let her in. You saw Eddie smile, mouth full of pizza still, as he immediately got up from where he was sat on the floor by the coffee table.

Robin walked in, hidden inside a heavy coat, under a wool beanie and wrapped up in a thick scarf. Whatever pieces of hair you could see were wet from the snow that had started coming down late afternoon and hadn't stopped since.

"Oh my God, it's famous rockstar Eddie Munson!" Robin shrieked and bounced as Eddie leant in to hug her tight. He lifted her up, just like he'd done with you, except Robin didn't get any spins or whispers placed into her hair. "Steve!" she called over Eddie's shoulder. "You've got someone famous in your home!"

"All right," Eddie laughed bashfully, "It's just the town's freak today, I’m afraid."

"Yea, a freak who apparently is now friends with Alanis Morissette?! What the fuck, Eddie?" Robin punched Eddie in the arm.

"I've met her once," Eddie argued as he sat back down, looking at you and rolling his eyes. It was aimed at Robin, but he made sure she couldn't see, and you giggled together.

You spent the evening chatting, eating, and drinking. Drinks that Eddie turned down with a swift, "Nah, I'm good, thanks," and you wondered if he didn't touch a single drop just because Steve had made that comment about his scent earlier.

Robin was her chaotic cheerful self and couldn't stop asking Eddie questions. It meant you got to sit back and listen, bask in the company of your friends. As the hours passed, you turned more into the people you once were, and you couldn't help but love every second of it. Steve started using pet names he hadn't used in ages. Robin made sarcastic jokes at the expense of others so skillfully, no one minded them at all. Eddie grew more theatrical in the way you knew him to be, silly, loud, enthusiastic, and stupid, just the way you liked him most. The second you'd stop giggling, someone would do or say something that would get you reared right back up again, and you'd all join in, smug faces with dumb smiles. You weren't sure if you also became more of the girl you once were, or what that even looked like, but you were having fun, and that was all that mattered.

"Where are you staying?" Robin asked Eddie, like she didn't already know. Maybe she didn't, you thought for a second, because why else would she even bring it up? Maybe it was just polite conversation as she started getting ready to go home and brace the cold once more.

"I think–" Eddie squeezed his eyes shut for a second, before cocking his head your way. "–there's a very comfortable couch made up somewhere in this building for me," Eddie smiled. You nodded because he was right. You had fashioned your couch into a comfortable guest bed, but all four of you knew that there wasn't a chance Eddie was going to use it. There was no reason for you to have gotten the extra pillows, duvets, and sheets out, but you had done it anyway. If not to fool anyone else, then at least to fool yourself.

And fool yourself you did. But only for a minute.

"I've got extra blankets here if you need them. Another pillow too, if that one's too firm," you gestured at a closet as Eddie dropped his duffle bag onto your made-up couch. He looked around a second. You'd made the couch look very cosy, and Eddie almost pouted at the effort you'd put in. But then he looked towards the hallway, and without saying anything, let his feet follow his gaze. He just walked right out. You heard him flip the light switch in your bedroom, followed by the soft sound of a thud to your mattress, and then a heavy blissful sigh.

You knew you shouldn't. But you also knew you absolutely would.

Without putting up a fight, without even trying to pretend this wasn’t what you wanted, you got into bed with Eddie and let him pull you close. Eddie hugged you, face to face, and you hugged him back, clinging. Almost as if a hunger inside you that hadn't been stilled in months finally found its satisfaction. All your senses were being fed with all things Eddie, and you reveled in his embrace. Eddie felt strong, but somehow frail too, which was a little troubling. And he smelled like Steve's shampoo, which was a lot troubling. But he was warm, and you were held. It was so very welcoming. So needed. You hugged each other like you used to do all the time, and you nuzzled into him, your nose pressing firmly into his neck. Something in your chest slotted into place, and it felt right.

"Why are you sad?" Eddie asked after a few beats of silence. It was earnest and sober. A question he'd never ask you if you weren't alone together. In the dark, together.

You hated that he'd seen it within you. But how could he not have?

"I'm not," you whispered, and Eddie didn't believe you, but pulled you closer in response. "Go to sleep, you look like you need it," you didn't want to talk anymore. One of Eddie's hands searched to find one of yours to grab onto. To squeeze. And he would've kissed you if he hadn't been so tired.

"Is it the memories?" Eddie asked the darkness that surrounded you, revealing he still knew you better than you knew yourself. Memories had their way of rearing up and sinking their teeth into your present, and you hadn't yet figured out how to not let them hurt you.

Just to put the matter to rest, and because you didn't want to lie to Eddie, you agreed. "It's the memories."

Eddie moved a little before you felt and heard a kiss close to your ear. "I'm here." And he was.

The next morning you woke up being the small spoon to Eddie's big spoon. Eddie had himself wrapped all around you, a leg slung over you up so high, its thigh covered your hip. His nose pressed into your neck where his lips were fluttering soft kisses that tickled you awake slowly. It was the best wake up call you'd gotten in a while, and you pretended you were still asleep, just so the moment would last you longer.

You wanted to take whatever you could get, knowing you would only be able to have it for a short amount of time. It would absolutely ruin you the next time you'd wake up in your bed alone, but you were too greedy for it now not to bask in it. Swim in it forever. Let it bubble around you, like in a hot tub.

Eddie let a hand roam underneath your shirt. They were slow, soft fingers, cool against your skin, but the stroke of them gratifying. Instead of going for a squeeze - which you were totally expecting, you knew Eddie - he pressed his flat palm right in the middle of your chest, catching cleavage, but mostly monitoring your heart rate.

He curled around you more, tightened his arms and pulled you in closer, using the hand over your heart to push you into him. You let him do whatever he wanted, and tried to control your breathing as best you could. He then found a spot on your neck to lick, and just like Eddie predicted, it made your heart beat faster instantly. He knew you were awake.

"Good morning," Eddie's voice vibrated impossibly low and sensual, and it sent a shiver down your spine.

Eddie tilted his hips and your breathe caught and shattered. You could feel him press up against you, impossibly hard for you, and it made you want to push back into him more. You didn't move, though, and instead kept your eyes closed and your hands in place. You knew what would happen if you did push back into him; if you did let your hands wander where they were itching to go.

You took a deep breath to shake it off and you felt Eddie do the same. With his face nuzzled into your neck still, Eddie was inhaling you, and you felt him rock his hips into you once more.

You couldn't. Not yet, anyway. Because Steve was in your mind still, with important words of advice you promised you'd guard yourself with when it would eventually come down to this.

Eddie sensed your apprehension and stopped, halting everything he was doing. His hand immediately slipped from your top and his leg moved down yours a little which freed you from the death grip he'd had on you. His common sense returned too abruptly for your liking, though, and you whined at your sudden loss of him. Eddie immediately regretted the severe, quick change in his demeanor. To make it up to you, he lifted himself over you far enough to press a warm, sweet kiss onto your cheek.

"Did you sleep OK?" Eddie sounded much more awake this time.

It was a good thing Eddie got up and out of bed. Every minute you spent in Eddie's arms like that, only made you want it more. He didn't necessarily need to climb out on your side of the bed, though, but the way he had rolled over you, pushing you down into the mattress as roughly as he could whilst muttering, "oh, sorry, just sneaking past, excuse me, sorry," injected humor into your morning together.

It was only a few hours later that you were absolutely freezing your tits off, watching Eddie and Dustin who were quite literally frollicking in the park. It didn't matter how old they were, or how old they'd ever be; these boys would lay their eyes upon each other, and energy would just shoot into their legs. They were running, shouting at each other and laughing loudly. After five minutes of flinging powdery snow and trying to make one another topple over to get a full face of it, you saw the beginnings of little snowballs that they then started rolling into bigger ones.

It was so cold. You had your gloved hands tucked deeply into the pockets of your coat, your chin dipped into your scarf and your face displayed a permanent grimace as it dealt with the biting breeze it couldn't escape.

"Are they... are they seriously going to build a snowman?"

Mike stood next to you, same grimace displayed on his face, shivering even more than you were. He was still just as lanky as he'd been in high school. Tall, thin, unproportionally long limbs and barely any bodyfat at all. Mike wasn't built to keep himself even slightly warm in cold winters like this one. He was too cool for school, too. Too cool to join Dustin and Eddie in their play, so he watched them from the sidelines, just like you did.

"Do you want to go get a coffee?" you asked Mike, turning your full body instead of just your face to look at him, desperate for some warmth and for some caffeine.

"Guys!" Mike called over. "Wanna go grab a coffee?"

You smiled a small smile to yourself. You would've absolutely left Eddie and Dustin for a moment to get a coffee alone with Mike, but Mike clearly didn't think walking off with only you was even an option. It was all right. You and Mike weren't friends. You understood if Mike thought it'd be awkward.

Neither Eddie nor Dustin reacted to Mike's question. They were too busy making sure their ball of snow didn't collapse in on itself. You saw some of Eddie's wet hair strands stick to his face, mouth open as he breathed heavily, letting Dustin tell him how to use his hands in swiping motions to get the shape right. Both of their jeans had big wet patches at the knees and you wondered how cold and uncomfortable they were going to be for the rest of the day. Mike let a weird, sort of judgmental laugh escape his throat before he shook his head. You grinned at Mike. Where Dustin was so openly a fan of Eddie, Mike quietly tried to hide his - to you - obvious admiration for Eddie. You guessed Mike was secretly way more impressed with him than he let on, and desperately wanted to impress Eddie himself too. Dustin was the guy who would unashamedly pin a poster of Eddie up onto his wall, happily displaying that he was friends with Eddie Munson and was so very proud of him. Mike was the guy who thought that putting up posters was definitely not cool, but instead would try to casually name drop Eddie any time he could.

"Well," Mike said. "At least they're having fun," and it didn't sound like a comment Mike would make, but more like he thought it was a good thing to say in the moment. To fill the silence he didn't know how else to fill. And in a desperate attempt to keep conversation with you going, Mike's mind came up with a question he asked before his brain had even thought of what your reaction to it could be.

"What's it like having your boyfriend back?" Mike asked, and you felt your chest tighten, but were incredibly quick to respond. It was like you'd kept the answer ready in your mouth, because you anticipated someone saying something along the lines of what Mike just said.

"Eddie's not my boyfriend."

You'd said the same thing so many times in your teens that you instantly felt transported back in time a bit. You always fully believed yourself when you said that you and Eddie weren't dating, wholly trusted that you were speaking the truth. But it also always hurt you. It was a sentence that scratched at your insides with long, sharp nails that could puncture your flesh if you weren't careful.

"Ex-boyfriend, sorry," Mike corrected himself like he knew what he was talking about.

"Not that either."

You wondered if Mike thought it had been weird when you and Eddie had walked up holding hands, especially if he also thought that you used to date a long time ago. What kind of ex-lovers held hands still?

You hid yourself into your shoulders a bit more and felt how you had lost complete feeling in your toes. Mike frowned at you in confusion. He'd been around you when you were younger. He looked up to Eddie then, and still did now, and where ever Eddie was, you would be too. Robin would shout inappropriate jokes about you in public places all the time. Mike remembered how Eddie had ran after you once, just to squeeze your ass with both his hands, and you'd just turned around and smiled at him. You had let Eddie stop you, even though you were late for something already, and Mike had heard how Robin softly said to Steve that you were definitely fucking each other, which had made Steve scoff loudly. "No, they're not!" Steve had exclaimed. But then they all saw how you looped fingers through a belt hoop on Eddie's jeans to pull him closer into you, and Robin had given Steve a look that said, see? And Steve had stared for a moment before stuttering, "Oh, so, maybe they are...".

"We've never dated," you stated, sensing Mike's confusion with your eyes back on Dustin and Eddie who had now seemingly found themselves in a snowball fight. Dustin hid behind what was starting to look like a snowman, but seemed abandoned now. They wouldn't finish it, you knew it, and that was okay, because numbness was starting to creep up your ankles and you really wanted coffee.

"Eddie!" you called. You saw him freeze and perk up to look at you, like a startled meerkat, big brown eyes locked right onto you and awaited what you were going to say next.

"Coffee!" you beckoned him with your whole upper body, unwilling to take your hands from your pockets, and Eddie came running immediately, under loud protest of Dustin and Mike. Because Dustin didn't want coffee. And Mike was so annoyed that Eddie hadn't listened to him when he called them over earlier.

You started walking and your numb feet felt weird in your shoes, but the movement in your legs was very welcoming. You fell into step with Mike and let Eddie and Dustin catch up with you. When Eddie got close, all wet hair and wild eyes, he latched onto your back and let out a shaking breath as he shivered up against you. He tried to sneak his hands into your pockets alongside yours, shoving them in, bunching up the sleeves of his coat as he did, and finding warmth there. He squeezed your hands through your gloves, and then you walked together like that, like that didn't make you love Eddie more than you already did.

"You can hold Mike," Eddie smiled when you felt Dustin's peering eyes burning holes into the two of you, and a short silence followed before Mike took off running. "Come here, Mike! Cuddle me!" Dustin shouted, as he chased after him and Eddie took the moment to sneak a kiss onto your temple as you laughed and let it fill your chest with pure love for him. Eddie was here.

That evening, you met Steve outside Wayne's trailer before all three of you headed in and enjoyed Wayne's cooking together. The trailer hadn't changed much – some obvious things were different, of course. There was no more fold-up bed in the corner of the living room. It wasn't as messy without all Eddie's things slung about. And it also wasn't as smelly inside – Eddie was never allowed to smoke indoors, but Wayne made long hours, and rules never really stopped Eddie. It was good that the trailer felt different, you thought. It made it feel less like you were a teenager still. Less like you'd traveled back in time.

You sat together, and ate Wayne's homemade meatloaf. "It's the only thing I can make that's decent enough," Wayne undersold his signature dish, like he always did. "Please tell me you have more that I can take with me," Eddie said through a mouthful, and with every bite he took, you thought Eddie looked better. Healthier, with more colour to his cheeks and more life in his eyes.

You ate until you couldn't anymore, you reminisced and you laughed. You didn't think you'd ever seen Wayne laugh the way he did when he told the story of how he once caught Steve sneaking out, trying to climb out of a window unsuccessfully, high as a kite, whilst the door right next to the window was wide open. Wayne laughed so hard, it squeezed tears from his eyes and he could barely make it through the story.

You saw Eddie lean back in his chair, his grin wide, love swelling his chest and flaring his ribcage as he looked at his uncle. He almost looked drunk with love and admiration, and for a second you thought Eddie had just invited you over for dinner at Wayne's because he knew that Wayne loved traveling back in time just as much as he did.

You all helped clean up before Wayne had to leave for his shift at work, and just before he walked out the door, Wayne spoke to you like you were all 16 and about to stay the night over at Eddie's.

"You let your parents know you're here?"

You and Steve looked at each other with stupid smiles, and then both nodded. "Yes, Mr Munson."

"There's pop in the fridge, and there's microwave popcorn, but don't let Eddie touch it, or he'll burn the place down."

There was still a black scorch mark in the kitchen from when Eddie had literally nearly burned the place down. All of your eyes found it, and you saw Eddie grin with a little guilt hidden underneath. It was nice to be at an age where you could joke about things Wayne had been so angry about at the time that they had happened, you could feel it bubble in your stomach and saw Steve almost burst from the strain of barely withheld laughter.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," these were words meant just for you, because Wayne knew they were rendered useless on Eddie and on Steve.

"And boys, look after her." and those were words meant just for Steve and for Eddie, because Wayne knew your parents and he always worried what they thought of you being over in his trailer without adult supervision.

"We will." Steve and Eddie spoke in unison, their tones entirely different from each other. Wayne smiled the smallest of smiles, having greatly enjoyed stepping back into the little routine, and left the three of you alone.

"Movie?" Steve then asked. "For old time's sake?"

And it was so stupid. Because sat on the couch together, it felt like nothing had changed in over ten years. You stared at Wayne's little old shitty TV that he still had, "Still works fine, don't need to replace things that aren't broken," and you picked a movie from a stack of tapes that still held exactly the same titles it did ten years ago. No new additions, everything the same, just labels more faded. You'd sat down in a corner of the couch and pulled your legs up, only for Eddie and Steve to immediately protest.

"I'm not middle-seating it,"

"Move,"

And so you were pulled and pushed into the center of the couch, one boy either side of you, and you sat through a full movie, not paying attention to a single thing that happened in it. Because you were sat next to Eddie, and it was freezing outside, but Eddie was warm - he was all you could feel and all you could think about. And at one point, Eddie's hand that was resting over the back of the couch fell onto your shoulder. And when Steve wasn't looking, Eddie used it to pull you into him and you snuggled up. But then when Steve did look, he didn't even seem fazed. Didn't even mention it. Because this was what it had always been like, and Steve loved his friends all the same, whether they were touching each other, or not.

That's when you felt her take over; your teenage self. You were her, all open, unrestrained and naive in all the best ways. You sighed and sunk into yourself, because you'd missed her. And you knew that she would fight adult-you if you were to deny a kiss from Eddie. Because that was how these nights always ended, didn't they?

Except this night, it didn't, because you weren't actually your teenage self with endless pits of energy within you, and you'd had a long day. It didn't help that whatever you were watching didn't interest you at all, and Eddie's breathing was rhythmic and deep. The last thing you remembered was Eddie and Steve make soft conversation over you as you'd let your eyes close. They said things about the movie. There was small talk about Wayne. You tried to stay awake, hoped that maybe you'd catch them exchange words about you, but you drifted off faster than you could grasp in the moment.

You stirred awake when you felt someone pull you upright by your arms and then guided them to sling over their shoulders. Then there were arms that wrapped around your waist, and a soft restricted groan close to your ear as you got hoisted up off of the couch.

"Mmhm?" So tired.

"Come on, we're getting you into the car," Eddie whispered, and you heard Steve huff a tiny laugh through his nose.

You moved your legs to walk, because you absolutely could walk, but strong hands underneath your thighs held you up and in place. A coat got draped around you, over you, covering you as best it could.

"Tie my scarf," Eddie softly instructed Steve. "So it won't fall," and you felt how something tied around the back of your neck that pulled with Eddie's movement, and you imagined the woven wool tied the two of you together. When Steve opened the door, a cold gust of wind ruined every little bit comfortability and you tightened your koala-grip around Eddie.

"Steve started the car 5 minutes ago, it'll only be cold for a second."

The next morning you woke up on your couch with your face pressed into Eddie’s back. Your made-up couch, where Eddie had placed you down onto the cool sheets after insisting that he also carried you into your apartment when Steve had driven you all back to your building. You’d accepted every touch and every hold with your eyes closed and your limbs slack. Steve had whispered good night when you got out of the elevator at your floor, and Eddie had suggested you could have breakfast together the next day.

“Why are we on the couch?” your voice, thick with sleep, spoke into the dark morning.

You obviously remembered going to sleep on the couch, but only just now wondered why exactly Eddie hadn't taken you into the bedroom, where you'd probably both be much more comfortable, would have a lot more space.

“Couldn’t let it go to waste,” Eddie’s voice was gravelly, like he’d been screaming into a microphone on a stage all night, or like he had a really bad cold. "You made it look very nice."

You pressed your lips against Eddie’s shoulder blade over his T-shirt. It wasn't a kiss per se, but a nice place to just rest your mouth for a little bit. You inhaled Eddie, his scent unmistakably him and you felt him snuggle backwards a little into you more. Confusion struck. You knew this fabric. You smelled your own laundry detergent in the mix of all things Eddie and leant back to get a better look at what he was wearing.

“Are you… are you wearing your old hellfire club T-shirt?”

“Mmh, found it in your pajama drawer,”

Eddie had caught a glimpse his old T-shirt and hadn’t hesitated to put it on, dressing himself in nostalgia, knowing it would fill his cup all the way up to the brim. How could it not? He had just watched a film in the trailer with you and Steve. He had spent the day fucking around with Dustin and Mike. And now, wearing his old T-shirt to bed? This is exactly the type of shit he went to Hawkins for. The type of shit he needed. That grounded him. It pulled him off his pedestal and forced him into his authentic self.

After pulling the T-shirt over his head, he had slid onto the couch next to you, and made sure he positioned himself lower than you, pressing his head underneath your chin. Let you hold him. Made him feel smaller. Younger. Like his old, teenage self.

"Is today your last day?" you loved Eddie in his hellfire club T-shirt. It transformed him more into the Eddie that you knew, inside and out.

"Alive? I hope not," Eddie was quick witted, but you didn't appreciate the joke and stayed silent. Eddie picked up on it immediately.

"They're picking me up tomorrow, yea,"

Eddie said it too neutrally. No emotion or feeling behind his words. You wondered which end of the scale he was on; was he ready to get out of here, or did he maybe wish he could have a little more time? It was probably the former, you thought, and you let it hurt your chest, regretting even thinking about it in the first place. You tightened your hold on Eddie. Pressed your cheek into his back more. You needed to burrow; disappear into everything that was overwhelmingly Eddie for as long as he would let you.

"Do you want to get up?" Eddie asked after a while, his voice suddenly normal, no trace of sleep left at all.

"No," you muffled into his T-shirt, and you felt his body shake with silent laughter.

"Come here,"

You were already there, you thought, but Eddie started shifting to turn around and maneuvered you underneath the covers until you were practically on top of him. He hugged you tightly to his body and you laid like that for a while. Eddie would sometimes kiss your head, swirl his nose into your hair and you could feel how your breathing started syncing up. Like you locked together, somehow. They were blissful moments of nothingness, just the two of you, and you wished they could last forever. You tilted your head and looked up, and without permission or the right, Eddie stole the chance to press kisses to your cheek, creeping closer to your mouth with every single one he planted onto you. You felt yourself at the far end of a bridge, and with every millimeter Eddie got closer to your mouth, you could envision him take big steps across it. You held the power to halt him, make him stop somewhere midway, but he was running, and you really wanted him to crash into you.

Eddie kissed you. It was slow and lazy. It felt dangerously familiar in all the right ways and all the wrong ways at once. Morning kisses turned into morning making out and you felt flutters all throughout your lower stomach that you tried very hard to ignore. Until you couldn't anymore, and you caught yourself, smiled into your kiss and forced it to break.

"Eddie, I don't think..." you started, but breathed as you looked at his mouth. Words faltered you entirely, because Eddie's mouth was there, and it wanted to kiss you, and God, wasn't that exactly what you yearned for?

"I know," Eddie knew exactly what you meant, not needing to hear the words to understand them. "I know."

When you heard a key turn in your front door, Eddie and you were still wrapped up in sheets together. "Steve." Eddie warned, and you knew he was right, immediately shooting up from the couch and scurrying into the kitchen. You pretended you were making coffee when Steve stepped into your living room. Steve was dressed, but the bedhead on him revealed he'd not been awake long at all.

"Breakfast?"

You made toast, and you scrambled some eggs – even parted some oranges for Eddie and Steve. Breakfast was enjoyed mostly in silence, and it was comfortable, just the three of you chewing, sipping, occasionally yawning and stretching. You all shared tired eyes and eventually talked about your plans for the day. Steve said Robin had time to hang out, and Eddie said he wanted to be outside. Go for a walk. See Hawkins in the snow some more, because it looked so nice, all dirt and grime covered up by thick blankets of shimmering white.

When Eddie went to the toilet, Steve eyed you for a second and then sighed loudly. He was annoyed with a capital A and his frown translated it loud and clear.

"It's worse this time, isn't it?" he scoffed, having observed you long enough to know he was right. "Why did you let it get worse?"

You were quick to shoot him down, not wanting to get into it right now. If you did, you'd argue, because it felt unfair for Steve to keep shifting all blame onto you when it was never just you, was it?

"Stop. Everything's fine," you actively gaslit him, and you were very aware of it too.

"Your bed looks extremely untouched in there, you're not fooling anyone," Steve pointed in the direction of your bedroom, having seen your pristine made up bed from the hallway when he'd walked in. Steve could deal with the two of you sharing a bed, but the couch felt different. The thought of you sharing a big bed left Steve the chance to at least pretend you both kept to your own sides of it with your backs towards each other. Finding Eddie untangling himself from the sheets on the couch, and your pajamas all twisted up around your body made him put two and two together. It's wasn't a hard puzzle to solve.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," you got up and started clearing the table, desperate for this chat with Steve to end.

"Yes, we will, when I come over to peel you from your bathroom tiles, crying shell of a person," Steve seemed angry with you, spat his words with venom. You understood it was just worries from a friend, but all you wanted to do was get angry in return, even if it made no sense.

"Steve, I-" you hissed, but stopped yourself when you heard your toilet flush. It was just glares from the both of you then, eyes shooting daggers, calling each other names that couldn't reach Eddie's ears.

That afternoon, Robin had picked the three of you up and parked somewhere close to Lovers Lake. It had completely frozen over. You were about to say you should've all brought ice skates, but Robin was already on the ice. She took slow steady steps, unsure, and a little shaky. Steve followed, a lot more confident, and when the ice didn't crack when he jumped to demonstrate how thick it was, you and Eddie stepped on too. You held onto Eddie on the slippery ice and slid quite far out together, following Steve and Robin who figured out they could run without slipping or falling. They were laughing, chasing each other, and spinning in circles around you. Robin slid over and almost bumped into you, "I've not figured out how to stop yet," and took hold of both of your hands before she started running backwards, speeding up as she dragged you along. The thrill had you shrieking, and it was fun, even though there wasn't a single second you didn't think you were going to fall and hurt yourself.

When Robin slowed down a little, it gave you a chance to look over your shoulder, and you could see Steve and Eddie talk. You were too far away to hear them, too far away to even read their faces properly, but Steve seemed sad as he spoke, and Eddie seemed annoyed as he listened.

You asked Robin if she knew what they were talking about, and she giggled, "Probably confessing their undying love for each other," making you laugh. When the four of you joined each other again with flushed faces and cold fingers, you started on your way back to get off the ice, and Eddie seemed more distant.

Eddie didn't grab a hold of you the way you would've wanted him to. Eddie didn't reach for your hand to hold, even though his legs still seemed just as unsteady and wobbly. Eddie didn't wrap an arm around your shoulders as you walked back through the woods to where Robin had parked her car. And Eddie didn't want to sit in the backseat with you, calling shotgun and running the last few steps to the car to ensure his place in the front.

There was only one thing you could conclude; Steve had tried to be a good friend to you, had tried to let Eddie know to back off a bit, maybe. And you loved your good friend Steve, but could strangle him in the moment. All you had were glares for him from your spot in the car behind Eddie, which Steve pretended he didn't see, and Robin caught in the rearview mirror.

That evening, around 8pm, you all stepped into The Hideout, and you were a little shocked at the welcome you got. The welcome Eddie got. There were maybe 15 people, and the place had seemed quiet, people minding their own business, but when eyes landed on Eddie, everyone seemed up on their feet and he was hauled in like the super star he was.

Eddie was given drinks by strangers, talked to by everyone, all at once, and asked by the young band playing that night to sign their instruments. Random men patted him on the back, acted like they were long lost friends, and talked to him like they knew Eddie - talked to him like Eddie knew them.

It was overwhelming to witness, let alone be the guy who has to take it all in, and you sighed a breath of relief when you saw Steve had been able to grab a little table a bit further into the back for the four of you. Away from the bright lights that surrounded the bar. Away from the band who had already pulled Eddie up on stage and had pressed a guitar into his hands, "One song, Eddie! Come on!" and who was he to deny these young boys a little bit of fun?

When he stepped off stage after playing three, four, maybe even five songs, you touched Eddie's arm and pointed out where you were sat. Eddie just handed you the two drinks he'd already been handed by strangers and told you he'd be there in a second. Eddie took his time talking to anyone that wanted to talk to him. This was rockstar Eddie. Famous Eddie Munson. Eddie who lived somewhere high up on a pedestal. You admired him, because he was everything Eddie would've looked up to when he was younger, and now he had made it.

You admired him, were so proud of him, but you weren't sure if you necessarily liked him.

When Eddie eventually joined you, the four of you chatted, laughed, flipped coasters off the edge of the table and tried to catch them after just one rotation. Robin could stack several up and flip them all together, catching them all in one swift move, and you all tried to see if you could too, but made coasters fly instead. Eddie dared Steve to get on stage, sit behind the drumkit, give a dumb ba-dum-tss as if someone had just told him a bad joke. Steve called bluff on Robin when she said she was going to order a shot and try to get a girl's phone number. You went and got more drinks for all of you, and the bartender gave them to you for free, waved at Eddie in the back and made you wish you'd ordered more expensive drinks instead of just four beers.

The night was all giggles and pure joy, and you loved every second the four of you spent together so much, it made you forget that Eddie was leaving the next day. Eddie was there now, and that was all you really had, and all that really mattered.

Steve ended up being the first to leave and Robin dipped out not much later. It was only just past 11 when Eddie asked the owner to call a taxi for the two of you, and you finished your drinks in silence, Eddie's hand on your thigh, smiling stupid smirks and catching stolen glances. You knew where the night was headed, and you gladly let Eddie lead the way.

You made your way into your apartment by the sheer sense of intuition alone. You hadn't broken from one another since stepping into the elevator, and letting yourself into your apartment was a messy, fumbling, frustrating task, because Eddie wouldn't stop kissing you, and you liked how he pushed you up against the door too much.

Getting to your bed eventually, you let Eddie push you back onto your mattress. A knee pressed into the springs in between your legs and he hovered over you with his hair cascading down, giving you tunnel vision. All you could see, feel, smell, hear and taste was Eddie.

"Let's get you what you need,"

You moaned as you let him, taking all of what he was willing to give you in the moment. Eddie was all soft, caressing fingers with a caring mind that searched for a condom before getting himself anywhere near you. All attentive eyes and thoughtful lips. Until he wasn't. Until he grew rough. You could feel him slowly shift into the guy who you'd seen hold a guitar that night. The man he turned into when he stepped on stage. All confidence, all ego. You knew he wasn't just giving you what he thought you needed. Eddie was taking from you what he wanted and asked no permission, because he knew he already had it.

Eddie went for a shower after, and you hadn't hesitated to join him, unwilling to leave his side during these last few moments that you had with him. Eddie let you wash his hair, let himself melt under your massaging touch and the hot stream of water. He let you charge the last little bit of his inner battery, unaware he was draining yours simultaneously. You asked if you could braid his hair after combing it with him sat on the floor, one of your knees on either side of his shoulders, and he had just hummed, drowning in the bliss of having someone touch him like this. You french braided his hair out of his face and made sure his curl pattern would look nice when he'd undo them. Eddie curled his arms around your legs, and you knew it was the last bit of past Eddie you were going to get from him. Come tomorrow morning, he'd see one of his band members and he'd take the foot he still kept in the past and would scrape it along gravel towards his future. You had only now.

And now... here you were.

It was just past two in the morning, and Eddie was asleep in your bed whilst you were staring at him with tears escaping your eyes, willing time to slow down until it stopped entirely. You honestly really didn't mean to wake up him. You didn't. But you couldn't help the small sob that escaped you, even though you really tried, and you held your breath right after in hopes of the silence compensating it enough.

But Eddie had heard you. Caught you, eyes blinking open and meeting the worst version of you. It was the wrong time and the wrong place to meet this version of you, and you mentally kicked yourself for it. Thick, salty tears had left your face wet, and when Eddie cupped your cheek with his hand, he felt what he hadn’t already been able to see in the dark.

The adult in you didn’t want to argue, didn’t want to wake Eddie up any more than you had already done. The adult in you wanted Eddie to live his life for himself, the way he had been doing for the past however many years, chasing dreams he had never been able to shut up about when you were younger. The adult in you wanted success for Eddie in every single form he would accept it.

But your teenage self kicked your adult self in the shins and shouted, "Fuck what you want, what about what I want?". You wanted to argue. To talk, at least. Be selfish in the moment and let go of what you held trapped in your heart, even if you knew Eddie wouldn’t know what to do with it – wouldn’t even really like it.

"Stay."

Eddie didn’t hesitate, not even in this state of being half-asleep half-awake, and said, "I can’t stay."

"Please, stay. Stay for Christmas." You sniffed loudly, almost doing it on purpose to manipulate him into feeling sad for you. To show you some empathy and to indulge you in your need for him.

"You know, I can’t stay, baby." Eddie made it sound softer that time, added a pet name, and hummed right after.

You knew he meant he didn’t want to stay. Hawkins wasn’t Eddie’s present, or future for that matter. It was Eddie’s past; the past where he would step one foot back into every couple of months. The past he had to revisit in order to keep his future bright as he would stare at it up ahead. The second the mental image of his future started dulling, Eddie dove head first into his past, into you, until the sun would come back out. Then, he’d be off again.

"That’s okay, I don’t want you to."

You sent mixed signals, but you meant them. Both were true. If Eddie didn't want to stay, you didn't want to keep him there. Eddie frowned with a type of confidence you didn’t appreciate.

"Lies."

"I want you to stay if it’s not going to hold you back. I want you to stay because you want to stay. Maybe… maybe we shouldn’t..." You paused and tried to let your mind find the right words.

"Anymore." You added.

"This." You finished.

Eddie let the silence linger for longer than you liked, and the confidence you had seen in Eddie's expression faltered slightly. Just a little. Just enough for you to have seen it in the dark.

"You know I love you right?" Eddie tried saving it, but you didn't know if Eddie even knew what he was trying to save exactly.

"That doesn’t change anything. Love doesn’t make you stay for Christmas."

"I’ll stay for Christmas." Eddie moved in closer to you, pulled you into him to cuddle, to hold you as you cried. He wanted to give you this fantasy for a moment if it would get you through the night in one piece.

"You can’t." you protested, already ripping at the seams.

"I can’t." Eddie sighed.

Overnight, Eddie had changed from the guy who held you as you cried, to the guy who left your apartment with all of his things without waking you up to say goodbye.

Eddie had been there, jammed up high, all the way up in all of your senses until, very abruptly, he wasn't anymore.

Eddie was gone, and he had taken your teenage self with him, leaving you hollow, empty, barren, bleak, and lifeless.

Eddie was gone, and you let your hands reach for him across your mattress, feeling sharp pains in your chest when you didn't feel him there, your apartment was quiet.

Eddie was gone, and he had taken every trace of himself, like he had never even been there to begin with. Except for one thing. You knew it would be there. He always left one, and why would this time be different? You reached up for it without even opening your eyes, letting your fingers find it on the pillow where he'd rested his head before he'd walked out on you.

A little note.

A small message to leave you with. A message that was meant to hold you over until you'd see him again. But would you? See him again?

You cracked open eyes that were already wet and let them adjust, blink into focus, to read what words Eddie felt would excuse his absence.

"Merry Christmas x"

Eddie was gone. And so were you. Read the sequel: Over Now

-----

The Taglisted:

@ghostinthebackofyourhead @dirtyeddietini @kiwisa @jasminearondottir @josephquinned @cancankiki @sidthedollface2 @dylanmunson @munsonsgirl71 @alana4610 @emmamooney @xomunson @sadbitchfangirl @thatonefan-girl @paola-carter @eddiemunsonfuxks @figmentofquinn @haylaansmi @thewondernanazombie @munsonmunster @kellysimagines @mybffjoe @harrys-tittie @chaoticgood-munson @harringtonfan4 @sherrylyn628 @bdpst-massacre @xeddiesbattattsx @05secondsofsexgods @lovelyblueness @adoreyouusugar @nadixq @prozacandnicotine @munsonswhore86 @alwayslindie @thefemininemystiquee @hauntingbastille @eddie-joe-munson @ali-in-w0nderland @pepperstories @phyllosilicate-s @thebellenouvelle @luvrsbian @joesquinns @choke-me-eddie @alizztor - (tag list currently full)

#secret santa project #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #rockstar!eddie #rockstar!eddie munson #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fluff #eddie imagine #fanfiction

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salivacitrus · 8 months ago

Text

decoding perfect love's encoded messages

perfect love's code contains secret messages in a few different ciphers/codes. these messages are from the perspectives of milo's three forms, as well as text in plain english from eris. this post lists and decodes all these messages.

this is applicable to version 1.0 of the game. if there's any more added in future updates, i'll update this post.

the lines with scrambled letters are in caesar cipher, with the letter shifts varying between lines. these lines are from the perspective of pre milo.

the lines with strings of double digit numbers are in nihilist cipher, with alphabet abcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwxyz and keyword manipulation. these lines are from the perspective of manipulation milo.

the lines with strings of dots and dashes are in morse code. these lines are from the perspective of violence milo.

the lines in plain english are from the perspective of eris.

each encoded message has its decoded form directly below it in italics. decoded lines may be adjusted for readability.

script.rpy, lines 1-4. these lines are placed at the very beginning of the script's code, and are meant to hint at which codes are used for the encoded messages.

Oh my dear, it's such a Lowly sight, to be loved Indefinately without a clear Mind. The Middle child is crying he wants to be hAppy, the youNgest wants to be just lIke them in every way, the oldest wants to Protect with an Undying wish and the LAsT Is the type that ONly cares for themselves. It's cynical. He hurts and for what? What does he reMORSE over? Let's have some fun, shall we?

script.rpy, lines 7-10. these lines are placed right after the previously mentioned lines.

U vgef imzfqp eayazq fa omdq rad yq, eayqazq fa xahq yq. I just wanted someone* to care for me, someone to love me. 56 63 57 55 66 57 46 35 89 67 78 64 56 36 48 68 58 60 63 35 77 39 85 48 74 65 54 58 77 77 42 44 58 48 67 48 83 26 75 78 87 56 85 I will be just like them in every form and in every way. .. / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / .--. .-. --- - . -.-. - / - .... . -- / - --- / - .... .. -. -.- / --- - .... . .-. .-- .. ... . / .. ... / ..-. --- --- .-.. .. ... .... .-.-.- I will protect them, to think otherwise is foolish. Milo will love you, he has no choice.

*originally says "somone" when decoded. i assume this was a typo, so i changed it.

script.rpy, lines 90-93. these lines are placed after the setup for default configurations, and before the script code for the main menu.

X'b hd wpeen iwtn rwdht bt. I'm so happy they chose me. 76 34 48 78 46 87 46 43 98 46 68 47 43 55 56 48 68 70 55 24 55 57 67 67 76 53 48 35 48 68 55 24 55 57 67 67 76 32 44 48 66 66 65 53 55 67 49 46 66 44 47 58 77 69 42 43 77 58 78 56 56 44 55 They are my god, a thing* I cannot reach. I cannot fail for a second or I am nothing. .. / .--- ..- ... - / .-- .- -. - . -.. / - --- / -... . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. / .- -. -.. / .--. .-. --- ...- . / .. / -.-. --- ..- .-.. -.. / -.. --- / ... --- -- . - .... .. -. --. .-.-.- / .. / .-- .- -. - . -.. / - --- / -- .- -.- . / ... ..- .-. . / -.-- --- ..- / -.-. --- ..- .-.. -.. / -. . ...- . .-. / .... ..- .-. - .-.-.- I just wanted to be useful and prove I could do something. I wanted to make sure you could never hurt. It's unfortunate that you chose him.

*originally says "think" when decoded. i assume this was a typo, so i changed it.

script.rpy, lines 7675-7676. these lines are placed after the househusband ending.

.. .----. .-.. .-.. / -... . / -.-. .- --. . -.. / .... . .-. . / .-- .. - .... / -.-- --- ..- .-.-.- I'll be caged here with you. Strange, even as a clipped bird you aren't the one who is in a cage.

script.rpy, lines 7929-7930. these lines are placed after the walls ending.

67 42 48 35 78 60 45 45 77 68 57 44 76 26 65 39 59 76 62 25 78 35 67 87 76 34 57 57 57 66 65 53 98 58 79 57 63 42 55 48 86 60 85 45 89 56 88 56 47 22 75 68 59 66 85 45 89 35 77 58 64 26 57 55 66 67 55 62 59 78 68 78 64 65 48 75 50 87 85 55 67 48 67 55 56 56 76 68 56 79 73 65 78 69 Please don't hate me, I'll do anything for you. I'll give you my heart if you ask me, I'll give you my everything, just for you. What you thought was a failure was a success. Some things perhaps are better not seen.

script.rpy, lines 8162-8163. these lines are placed after the marriage ending.

56 54 66 68 59 89 66 53 59 68 78 87 76 34 48 76 46 99 85 45 89 66 49 87 47 33 64 48 79 89 46 53 87 48 67 65 56 44 48 48 78 78 75 35 88 76 68 66 46 26 75 45 80 76 75 34 55 68 86 48 55 22 84 39 79 68 74 22 76 39 66 44 74 36 67 57 50 56 44 34 78 68 57 48 74 Isn't it pretty, the way your eye glitters in mine? Isn't it wonderful that we have the same mark on each other? As long as we get to match forever more, it does not matter how you mark me.

script.rpy, lines 8355-8356. these lines are placed after the cannibal ending.

.. - / - .- ... - . ... / --. --- --- -.. --..-- / . ...- . .-. -.-- - .... .. -. --. / .. / -- .- -.- . / -.-- --- ..- .-.-.- / .. / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / . ...- . -. / .-.. . - / -- . / .-. .. .--. / -- . / - --- / ... .... .-. . -.. ... / .. ..-. / -.-- --- ..- / -.. . ... .. .-. . -.. / .- / - .- ... - . / --- ..-. / -- . .-.-.- It tastes good, everything I make you. I will even let you* rip me to shreds if you desired a taste of me. How noble of you. Do not worry, if I desire a taste of you, you will know.

*originally says "me" when decoded. i assume this was a typo, so i changed it.

script.rpy, lines 8537-8538. these lines are placed after the doll ending.

56 55 76 57 69 89 42 54 68 45 57 48 84 26 75 39 80 88 55 44 66 68 57 48 64 22 66 78 87 56 85 54 It's not as if he were using them anyways. The joints don't seem to work as well as they used to? That's too bad.

script.rpy, lines 8705-8706. these lines are placed after the killer ending.

- .... . -.-- / -.. . ... . .-. ...- . / .. - / -- --- .-. . / - .... .- -. / .- -. -.-- - .... .. -. --. .-.-.- They deserve it more than anything. It's a strange joy to watch others hurt. You understand, right?

script.rpy, lines 9192-9193. these lines are placed after the burning ending.

67 42 48 35 78 60 55 25 68 38 58 77 43 42 64 45 69 87 85 45 89 48 47 64 47 44 76 39 49 69 75 22 75 55 86 57 76 34 54 48 77 60 55 56 87 68 45 76 86 45 78 57 50 60 45 26 58 48 78 85 43 54 44 55 66 66 65 53 98 58 79 44 65 25 48 75 50 87 85 55 67 48 67 55 55 22 76 35 66 97 42 65 87 36 49 48 65 32 67 66 89 79 76 Please, I did it all for you. I cleansed it all with fire, just as you needed. It was all for you, and everything has always been for you. Oh? Just for me? You shouldn't have my love.

script.rpy, lines 9421-9422. these lines are placed after the kidnapping ending.

-.. --- . ... / .. - / .... ..- .-. - / -- -.-- / .-.. --- ...- . ..--.. / -... ..- - / - .... .. ... / . -..- .- -.-. - .-.. -.-- / .-- .... .- - / -.-- --- ..- / .-- .- -. - . -.. .-.-.- .-.-.- .-.-.- .- -. -.. / .. / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / --. .. ...- . / -.-- --- ..- / .-- .... .- - / -.-- --- ..- / .--. .-.. . .- ... . .-.-.- Does it hurt, my love? But this exactly what you wanted... and I will give you what you please. Aha... is that what you were worried about? Do not worry, my love. This little thing could never hurt me in the slightest.

sprite.rpy, lines 205-208. these lines are placed between the file location specifications for some true ending assets and character sprites.

A oadd twugew ozsl A zsnw lg sfv escw lzwe zshhq. I will become what I have to and make them happy. 88 46 53 73 88 82 46 70 79 74 84 74 50 60 76 44 96 83 79 46 68 64 63 64 50 47 82 64 65 66 75 60 76 44 76 84 48 66 86 54 57 106 66 38 77 55 63 83 70 27 86 63 75 92 59 68 59 74 83 66 58 47 64 73 88 83* When they look at me with disdain, I can't help but cry. I did something wrong, didn't I? .-- .... . -. / - .... . -.-- / -.-- . .-.. .-.. / .- - / -- . --..-- / .. / -.-. .- -. .----. - / .... . .-.. .--. / -... ..- - / ..-. .-.. .. -. -.-. .... .-.-.- / - .... . / -.-. --- .-.. .-.. .- .-. / - .... . -.-- / .... .- ...- . / --- -. / -- . / .. ... / - --- --- / ... - .-. --- -. --. .-.-.- When they yell at me, I can't help but flinch. The collar they have on me is too strong. So meek and malleable - it's been a while since you found someone with such a lack of spine.

*this line uses alphabet zebrascdfghiklmnopqtuvwxy instead of abcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwxyz, and is the only one to do so. i assume this was a consistency error.

sprite.rpy, lines 1640-1643. these lines are placed between the file location specifications for character sprites and background images.

U'y eaddk rad xaawuzs mf kag rday mrmd, U'y eaddk ftmf kag tmp fa emhq yq. Oagxpz'f U tmhq nqqz efdazsqd? Bxqmeq paz'f xqmhq yq. I'm sorry for looking at you from afar, I'm sorry that you had to save me. Couldn't I have been stronger? Please don't leave me. 55 45 85 37 69 90 62 25 68 47 45 84 47 23 48 39 68 56 64 65 88 47 58 66 54 63 57 68 58 79 76 55 98 58 79 57 84 22 76 57 69 89 54 35 77 46 46 48 53 45 75 39 How could I have been anything without you? I was nothing before. .. / .-- .- -. - / - .... . -- / -- --- .-. . / - .... .- -. / .- -. -.-- - .... .. -. --. --..-- / .-- .... -.-- / -.-. .- -. .----. - / - .... . -.-- / ... . . / - .... .- - ..--.. / .-- --- -. .----. - / .. / -.. . ... - .-. --- -.-- / . ...- . .-. -.-- - .... .. -. --. / . ...- . -. / -- -.-- ... . .-.. ..-. / ..-. --- .-. / - .... . -- ..--.. I want them more than anything, why can't they see that? Won't I destroy everything, even myself, for them? But HE was the one who was seeking you. HE was the one who wanted to be with you.

sprite.rpy, lines 2655-2658. these lines are placed between the file location specifications for some true ending assets and code for image transforms.

Sjsb hvciuv W ybck kvoh mci rwr hc as, W kwzz ghwzz zcjs mci psqoigs mci aors as kvczs. Even though I know what you did to me, I will still love you because you made me whole. 56 54 56 58 80 76 45 44 88 47 45 84 47 53 78 57 46 97 42 65 55 45 78 48 74 63 56 35 79 68 46 55 78 55 48 65 47 I shouldn't have run away after what he told me. .. / ... .... --- ..- .-.. -.. / .... .- ...- . / -... . . -. / ... - .-. --- -. --. . .-. --..-- / .. .----. -- / ... --- / .-- . .- -.- .-.-.- / .. / -.. --- -. .----. - / -.. . ... . .-. ...- . / - --- / -... . / .-- .. - .... / -.-- --- ..- .-.-.- I should have been stronger, I'm so weak. I don't deserve to be with you. So really... isn't it just his fault?

that is all that i could find.

#bunny love #kitten purrs #puppy eyes #perfectlovevn

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lovelynim · 1 year ago

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Losing Count

Genshin Impact - Alhaitham x Kaveh

A/N: So... if anyone is wondering where this came from, I found a fanart in Twitter that greatly inspired me. After two polls, here we are

Summary: After having his work out routine disturbed, Alhaitham decides to give Kaveh a challenge

Word count: 1279 words

“83… 84… 85… wow, you are really good at this!”

“You know….” Alhaitham grunted, pushing his body up despite the weight on his back, “you are not… really helping.”

Kaveh grinned at his boyfriend’s complaining, crossing one ankle after the other as he allowed himself to enjoy the ride. “Come on, how do you expect to gain something from your training if you don’t step up the difficulty?”

Alhaitham regretted all his past actions that led him to his current state. “Whatever… just keep… counting…”

He didn’t know why he agreed with all this. Maybe he just wanted to show off or tease Kaveh in some way… still, it was too late to go back on his words now and he didn’t even want to think about how annoying Kaveh would become if he gave up.

“Right right, where was I? Ah, yes, 66… 67-”

“You were… at 86…”

Kaveh chuckled again, feign ignorance as Alhaitham finished another push-up, “sorry, I keep losing count ~”

With the blonde sitting on his back, the scribe felt like his 100 push-ups session was being dragged for hours and hours in an unending cycle. And with Kaveh counting out loud - constantly going to and fro between the numbers - he was starting to believe that he had already beat that mark a long while ago.

“87… 88… 89- Huh? Come on, Haitham, you are so close!” Kaveh cheered, giving the other a couple of taps on his shoulder and thanking the archons the scribe couldn’t look at the grin in his face right now.

Lying beneath him, Alhaitham was giving it his best efforts to tense the muscles in his arms again, but he was really starting to give it in.

“Y-you are… too h-heavy…” he groaned, managing to get back up, adding one more to the count.

“Hah?! Heavy?!” Kaveh gasped, acting as offended as possible, “just admit you are too weak to finish a session, Haitham.”

‘As if you could do half of it’, the other man thought as his boyfriend continued to talk. He just needed to ignore him a little longer and he could finally finish this endless session. “Just… keep counting, K-Kaveh…”

Tsking at his his boyfriend’s comment, the architect rested his hands on Alhaitham’s back to give himself some extra support. “Fine… where was I at? Right, 71… 72…” The smugness on his voice was clear, not even hiding the fact that he was messing up the count on purpose anymore.

The muscles of Alhaitham’s arms were already sore, his legs tired from the constant tension and drops of sweat falling off his forehead. Yet, Kaveh didn’t seem to mind his struggle, even amusing himself with it.

“What? Are you giving up?” Kaveh hummed in mockery, tapping his boyfriend’s shoulder as Alhaitham laid flat on the ground, with his arms sprawled next to his head. The scribe muttered something, but his words didn’t quite make it to Kaveh’s ears. “Hm? ‘You’ what?”

“I said… I’m. Done.” Alhaitham repeated, a little louder this time. Before he could alarm Kaveh any further, the scribe used the last bits of his strength to push his body up and make his partner fall off him.

Letting out an audible grunt as his butt hit the ground, Kaveh barely had time to react as Alhaitham rolled him over and sat on his back. “My turn now,” the scribe huffed with annoyance clear in his voice.

“W-wait, agh… I-I can’t!” Kaveh struggled beneath him, not able to move a single inch despite all his efforts.

“You don’t need to do 100, just 10. Or ‘are you too weak to finish a session’, Kaveh?” Alhaitham chuckled, enjoying the taste of revenge as he wouldn’t even bulge no matter how hard Kaveh tried to get up.

“Y-you are… too heavy, Haitham! Aghh, g-get off me!”

“Only when you finish your session,” Alhaitham mused, placing his hands on Kaveh’s shoulder, “come on, start it already.”

Kaveh groaned in frustration, able to make far from enough strength to actually do a push-up. Truth to be told, he wasn’t even sure he could do it on his own, and with Alhaitham sitting on his back? He knew he didn’t stand a chance against that task.

“I already told you, I can’t!”

“Hmm,” Alhaitham muttered, looking down at Kaveh as an idea popped up in his head, “I believe you just need the right… incentive.”

Sliding his hands down Kaveh’s back, Alhaitham rested his thumbs over his boyfriend’s wing bones and dug at the blonde’s ribs with the rest of his fingers, making a high-pitched and surprised squeal leave Kaveh’s lips.

“AHALHAHAITAM!! AhahAHA, nohOHOH!!” Shrieking as if it was some kind of murder attempt, Kaveh pressed his elbows down to his sides, trying to protect himself from the merciless assault.

“Come on, do it. I’ll stop if you can finish the session,” Alhaitham muttered in a calm, uninterested tone. His words could barely be heard through the loud laughter as he prodded and poked, tickling Kaveh with ease.

The architect kicked his feet behind his boyfriend, squirming left and right like some kind of worm, but he couldn’t move a single inch with the scribe resting like an imobile boulder on his back. “Y-YOHOHOU! AhahAHAh, h-hohorrible mahAHAn! LEHEHET GO!”

“Keep talking and you’ll have to do 100,” Alhaitham scolded, clearly enjoying the turn of tables. Much to his surprise, Kaveh actually tried to do one push-up despite having his ribs mercilessly tickled by his boyfriend. Of course, he wouldn’t let that go without teasing, “you know, you need to keep your arms away from your torso if you want to do it properly.”

“S-stoHOHOp tahahalking!!” Kaveh whined, letting out another squeal when the Alhaitham used his index finger to poke his underarms.

“I’m merely giving you some advice,” the scribe continued, letting out a lazy sigh as he continued the tickling, continuing to wiggle his fingers despite Kaveh’s attempts to block him, “you also need to keep your legs straight, otherwise you won’t do it right.”

Kaveh cried out softly through his laughter, resting his face against the floor as he could do nothing but laugh. All the (little) strength he had was leaving his body with each tickle. It almost made him regret messing with his boyfriend earlier, “I cahAHAn’t!! HAHahaitam, pleheHEHEHAhase!”

Despite his begging, Alhaitham didn’t seem like he was going to stop anytime soon. Stopping to move his fingers, but keeping them pressing against Kaveh’s oh-so-sensitive spots, the scribe leaned his face down, muttering a little close to the blonde’s ear. “Not so easy, right?”

“Y-yeheah! I g-gehehet it!!” Kaveh admitted, feeling as his whole body tensed with anticipation by having Alhaitham’s hands ready to strike at any moment, “I-i’m sohohorry, o-ok? Don’t b-be mehean!”

“Mean?” Alhaitham chuckled in a way that made Kaveh shiver. The architect had a bad feeling about this. “I only asked you for a 10 push-ups session, it’s not even the same thing…”

“A-AlhaithAHAHam!” Kaveh squealed as the scribe gave his ribs another squeeze, making his heart beat even faster than before. “N-nohOHo, please!”

“Let’s go for 5 then, is it better, Ka-veh?” Alhaitham mused, digging his finger in again and making another high-pitched and embarrassing noise come out of his partner. Waiting for Kaveh’s answer for his offer, Alhaitham raised his eyebrow as he felt his body moving up, noticing that Kaveh was actually doing it.

“One…,” Alhaitham said once Kaveh’s arms were totally tense. After lowering his body, Kaveh’s body suddenly dropped back to the ground before he could finish the second push-up.

“ALHAHAITHAM! AHahah, n-nooho!”

“Ah… sorry, I lost count, Kaveh,” Alhaitham muttered, smiling wickedly, “let’s start again, yes?”

#genshin impact #genshin impact tickling #kavetham #alhaitham #kaveh #ler!alhaitham #lee!kaveh #ticklish!kaveh #tickle fic

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sidekick-hero · 9 months ago

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(steddie | mature | 2.1k | tags: mutual pining, Eddie/OMC (nothing explicit), memory of the past | second part to are you still mine? where Steve remembers another moment from their shared past | @steddielovemonth prompts Love is keeping a spare sweater/blanket in the car because they always get cold by @steddieasitgoes and Love is showing up when someone doesn’t ask ❤️by @steddieas-shegoes | AO3)

Steve thinks that making out with Eddie on the dance floor at Dustin and El's wedding is probably not the most polite thing to do. Especially as the best man.

But boy, is it hard to stop once they start kissing, twenty years of longing and dreaming all flowing into an almost desperate need to get closer and closer. Eddie kisses Steve like he wants to crawl inside him so he'll never have to leave again, and by God, Steve wants him to. Now that he's finally feeling Eddie, tasting him, he's not sure he can ever give it up.

It reminds him of Christmas Eve '93.

He was in Hawkins for the holidays, staying with Claudia and Dustin, as he had done every year since he and Robin had moved to Chicago in '87. His parents usually spent the holidays in Florida anyway, claiming the weather was more to their liking. He had a standing invitation to join them there, but Steve never took them up on it.

He'd rather spend Christmas with his real family.

So every year, on the day before Christmas, their little close-knit group would come over to Joyce and Hopper's house and gather for a family dinner. It was a tradition, almost an unspoken rule. Christmas Eve was spent at the Byers-Hopper residence.

Even Eddie would come, come hell or high water. In fact, he once told Steve that it was part of every contract he had signed since their first record deal in '88. Eddie would have time off between December 23rd and New Year's. The rest of the year was pretty unpredictable; they never knew when they would get a chance to talk to Eddie on the phone or even see him in person, but Christmas Eve was set in stone.

The last time Steve had seen Eddie in person had been at Dustin's graduation in May. Eddie had come all the way from LA just to see Dustin graduate, and Steve had been so excited to see him. More so than usual, since Steve had just graduated from teaching after drifting aimlessly for a while before deciding to go to community college to become a teacher.

He was also single for the first time in a long time. And he had thought that maybe this could be their chance. For a future together. Because Steve could teach in LA just as well as he could in Chicago. Or maybe Eddie could make music while living in Chicago; the city had a great music scene and recording studios as well. It wouldn't matter where, just that it was them.

Steve had never stopped hoping.

That's why he'd wanted to ask Eddie out while they watched the kid they kinda co-parented graduate. Only the words had died in his mouth the second he realized that Eddie hadn't come alone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Tom. Tom, these are my friends, Dustin, Mike, Will, Lucas, Max, El, Robin and Steve."

"You're a friend of Eddie's too?" Dustin had asked the guy, and Steve marveled at how dense their token genius could be sometimes.

Tom had smiled at Dustin and taken Eddie's hand. "His boyfriend, actually. Is that okay with you guys?"

No, Steve had wanted to say, piss off.

But he hadn't. Instead, he had avoided Eddie and Tom altogether, barely exchanging more than a few words with Eddie and ignoring the hurt look Eddie gave him whenever Steve pretended to be too busy to talk to him. It was for the best, really.

Their Christmas Eve gathering was a family affair, no outsiders allowed. It meant that Steve would at least not have to deal with watching Tom all night, enjoying what Steve himself had hoped to have one day: Eddie's love.

But even without Tom physically being there, he was like a ghost haunting him. It wasn't even that Eddie talked much about him or anything like that. In fact, he was too busy asking Steve questions about his new job as a middle school teacher and about the cat he and Robin had adopted and how their crazy neighbor was doing.

It made it easier to forget about Tom. The eggnog helped, too, and by the time he had finished his fourth glass, he was leaning heavily against Eddie's side, warm and cozy and surrounded by his still familiar smell. It almost felt like back in '86, before LA. When they drove Eddie's van to the quarry and lay on a mattress in the back with the doors open, looking at the night sky.

Eddie always kept a spare blanket in the van, just for Steve, because Steve always, always forgot his jacket. By the end of September, when Eddie had left, the blanket had begun to smell of them both.

"This is nice," Steve said, his tongue loose and his inhibitions low. "Just like the van, remember?"

Eddie's arm was on the back of the couch behind Steve, and he used it to pull Steve even closer. "Yeah."

And then, in a lower voice, "I missed you, Stevie."

When Tom stood in the doorway to pick up Eddie, reality came crashing down on him.

Everything went downhill after that.

Because after Eddie and Tom left, Steve decided he couldn't stay a minute longer either. He couldn't handle the laughter and joy, and especially the worried looks Robin was sending his way. So he told everyone that he was walking home to get some fresh air and to clear his head of the eggnog.

"Are you sure? I can drive you. Or you can stay with me at my parents'; you know they wouldn't mind."

"Thanks, Robbie, but I want to be alone for a little while, okay? Just for tonight. We'll talk tomorrow, I promise."

She gave him a long, searching look before nodding and pulling him into a tight hug. "Take care of yourself, okay? I need my best friend."

His downfall was the bar on the way to the Henderson house, because he had just enough money in his pocket to get sufficiently shitfaced.

And just enough spare change to call Eddie from the pay phone outside.

It rang for several long minutes, and Steve was almost ready to hang up and try again when a sleepy voice on the other end grumbled, "This better be important."

"Eddiiieee," Steve cheered, "thought you wouldn't pick up. Thought maybe you were too busy screwing Tom to answer the phone." Steve slurred his words badly and wondered if Eddie could even understand what he was saying.

"Jesus, Stevie, you're drunk as a skunk! What happened?"

"You," Steve whispered, and then louder. "'Nothin'. Just, y'know, spending Christmas Eve alone and drunk. Got to get used to that, I guess."

There was a long silence on the other end, and Steve would have thought Eddie had hung up if not for the sound of his breathing.

"Eddie?" Steve had to ask, the silence between them worse than anything he could imagine.

"Where are you?" Eddie had asked suddenly, and Steve had just enough time to tell him before the line went truly silent and the dial tone rang through the speaker, the phone demanding more coins Steve didn't have.

Cursing under his breath, he leaned his head against the glass of the phone booth and pinched his nose to keep the tears at bay.

He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, Eddie's hand was on his shoulder, shaking him gently. "Steve, hey. Stevie, come on, wake up. Time to get you home."

Blinking up at Eddie, Steve was sure he must be dreaming. "Eddie? What -?"

"You sounded like you needed someone, so I came. Come on, you must be freezing, man, you're shaking."

"Am I?" Steve asked, his voice sounding dazed, and Eddie sighed. With an arm around Steve's waist, he led him over to his old van. The one he'd left behind after his first visit to Hawkins after moving west, realizing it wouldn't survive the trip back. Wayne was taking care of it so that it would still be able to drive short distances in and around Hawkins, ensuring that Eddie would always have a ride when he visited.

"Your chariot awaits, my prince," Eddie said, helping Steve inside. It still smelled like it did back then. The inside of the old van had a distinct aroma that mixed the musty scent of the worn upholstery with the lingering hints of herbal sweetness and Eddie's cologne. It felt like a snapshot from his memory, as if no time had passed since he had last sat here.

God, Steve had missed this car.

He patted the dashboard clumsily but lovingly. "I missed you, baby."

"Did you just tell my car you missed her?" Eddie asked incredulously.

Steve pouted at him as Eddie turned the ignition and the engine roared to life. "She's a lady, Eds. You said so yourself. And she was always there for us."

Eddie's eyes were soft as he looked over at Steve.

"You're right, Stevie. She was." And then he leaned to the side and turned in his seat to rummage in the back until he emerged with a burgundy blanket. He draped it over Steve with gentle hands until only Steve's head was sticking out. "You're still shaking."

Steve was too stunned for words, and maybe that was better, because Eddie had shifted into drive and pulled onto the blissfully empty streets of Hawkins.

It was Steve's blanket. The one Eddie had put in the van for him.

The drive over to the Henderson's was a quiet one, both men lost in their thoughts. It was only when Eddie pulled up to the curb in front of the house that Steve spoke again, his brain a little more alert than when he had called Eddie.

"Thanks, Eds. You didn't have to do that," he told Eddie as earnestly as he could while feeling like the car was still moving underneath him.

"I know. I wanted to, though. I'll always want to, you don't have to ask."

"Why?"

"'Cause it's you." He said it so simply, as if it were just another fact. The sun rises in the east, monsters exist, and Eddie would always be there when Steve needed him, even when he didn't ask.

"Kiss me," Steve begged, suddenly desperate in a way he couldn't understand. All he knew was that if he let Eddie go right now, this moment between them would be over and he would have lost Eddie.

Again.

"Please, Eddie." His voice broke at Eddie's name.

A soft touch on his cheek, feather light as calloused fingers caressed his skin before a warm hand cupped his cold face.

"I can't," Eddie whispered even as he leaned in, his eyes so dark they looked almost black.

Steve leaned forward as well, willing to meet Eddie halfway, something he wished he'd done so much sooner.

"Why?" Almost inaudibly.

"Because I don't think I could stop if I kissed you now," Eddie replied, pressing a tender kiss to Steve's forehead, right between his eyebrows. "Go inside, Stevie. Sleep it off. You'll feel better in the morning."

And Steve went, if only to hide the tears on his face.

He didn't feel better the next day. Or the day after that.

It was a year before he spoke to Eddie again.

"Remember Christmas Eve '93?" Steve asks Eddie after they finally break apart.

Eddie's eyes are glazed and it takes him a second to get his bearings. He makes a questioning sound, clearly trying to catch up with where Steve's mind had gone, but then his face clears.

"Of course. God, you have no idea how much I wanted to kiss you that night. It took everything in me to let you go."

"I wish you had. I wanted you to."

"I know, sweetheart. But you were also really drunk and upset, and I had a boyfriend. And even though he wasn't you, I didn't want to hurt him. He didn't deserve that. But most of all, I didn't want to make you the other guy. I remember how much you hated your dad cheating on your mom, and I couldn't make you a part of something like that."

Steve kisses him again to show Eddie that he understands and that he's grateful. Because it's true, he wanted Eddie to choose him, but not like that. Not by hurting someone else like that.

"But I loved you then. Which I guess wasn't fair to Tom either, but I just didn't know how not to."

"I know. I think a part of me knew then, too. Which made it hurt even more."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. What did you say in your toast? 'If you're willing to take the long and winding road, you know that whatever's at the other end is worth it.' You are worth it."

Later, in Steve's hotel room, sweaty and sticky and still catching his breath, Eddie vows to show Steve every day that he's worth it. That they're worth it.

#steddie #steddie fanfiction #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things fanfiction #steddielovemonth #day 13 #Love is keeping a spare sweater/blanket in the car because they always get cold #Love is showing up when someone doesn’t ask ❤️#my writing

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