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ectologia · 1 year ago

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FAMILY REUNION

DABI + FEMALE READER + KEIGO TAKAMI

CONTENT: DUBCON/NONCON, INCEST, THREESOME, MISOGYNY, FULL NELSON, ANAL, DOUBLE PENETRATION, CLIT TORTURE, ABUSE, FORCED BREEDING, CREAMPIE

Your fingers swipe across the condensation collecting along the window pane, smudging the droplets of water to create a transparent slit to peer out of. You stare out into the cottony white rift of the Todoroki’s lavish garden. Flecks of white collect on the damp concrete patio, the flowers and trees now coated in a glistening sheen of frost. You long to feel it’s chilling bite instead of the suffocating warmth of the fireplace blaring next to you.

“Not much of a party girl, huh?”

You turn to meet the owner of the silvery voice, your jaw unhinging itself at the sight of the man. Raptorial golden eyes squint back at you, the corners of his lips turned up in a lofty grin.

“Oh, no. Yeah. Not really.” You mentally scold yourself for making such a spluttering mess of your words, barely having even said anything.

He chuckles at your jittery demeanour, setting himself down next to you on the plush leather of the love seat you had taken refuge in. The scent of various spices and sandalwood rush past your nose as he makes himself comfortable, slinging an arm over the back of the chair while he takes a brief sip from the small, ornate glass cradled in his fist. You cock your head at the inconspicuous amber liquid, you deduce it’s some type of expensive alcoholic beverage. Curtesy of the bar, no doubt.

“Whiskey.”

“Huh?” Your brows tilt.

“It’s whiskey.” He dabs a finger over the rim of the glass, exhaling. “Expensive stuff, gonna have to thank ol’ Endeavour for this whole get up.�� He leans back, spreading his knees apart until the fabric of his pant suit rubs against your leg.

He notices how you shift away, pivoting to face him at a safer distance. The tip of his tongue darts out to wet his lips as he watches you cross your legs, folding your hands neatly in your lap. “You’re friends with the Todorokis?” you question.

He chuckles, looking down at the polished marble beneath his feet. “Yeah, I guess you could say that..” He turns to look at you once again, his eyes half-lidded and hypnotic. “Name’s Keigo.” He holds out a thick palm. You meet his hand hesitantly, but he’s keen on a firm handshake.

You clear your throat, placing your hand back between the cleft of your thighs. “I’ve never seen you before?”

“Not really part of the family, just a, uh.. acquaintance.” He flashes you a sleazy grin. “I’m here with my buddy.”

Your eyes follow his as he gestures to the corner of the room. You see the shadow of a hunched figure, clad in a suit not unlike his. You study his tall stature, all the way up to his mane of ashen hair, flecks of white neatly speckled at the overgrown roots. He’s on his own, scowling at the numerous crowds of chortling elders. He raises a hand to tug at his tie, releasing it from his throat a few notches before his eyes trail to meet yours, you blink away almost instantly as his piercing ceruleans cut into you.

“He’s not to happy about this shit-show, so he asked me to tag along.” He takes another swig from his glass. “Pardon my french.”

You say nothing, opting to twiddle your thumbs and flick at the strands of hair creeping down by your ears.

“You here with anybody?” He jiggles the ice held captive in his glass.

You shake you head, clearing your throat to address his question properly. “Uhm, no. Just my parents.”

He chuckles. “No boyfriend then?”

You give a coy smile, shrugging him off. “Ah, no.”

He turns to you with an almost bewildered expression, his lips parting to form an oval in faux shock. “Seriously? Damn, I would’ve thought a pretty lady like you’d be taken by now.” He nudges your arm with his elbow. “Guess it’s my lucky day, huh?”

You chitter nervously, attempting to ignore how his hand had crept it’s way from the back of the couch over to your shoulder, stroking over the smooth skin found beneath the skimpy straps of your dainty slip dress. “You see my friend over there?” He raises a finger from his glass to point at the man in question.

You nod, confirming you were both looking at the same person.

He leans down to whisper in your ear, his hand now curling over the ball of your shoulder. “He likes you.”

Your brows knit, tilting your chin up to meet his rusted yellow hues.

“It’s true.” His hand glides from your shoulder down to the dip of your waist, chuckling as you shudder at the warmth of his palm stroking over your ribs. “He told me to come over and speak to you. Wanted to know if you were single.” You bristle as he dips down to nuzzle his nose into the warm pudge of your swiftly reddening cheeks. “Should I tell him you’re not interested?”

Your mouth gapes as you prepare an answer, but all that escapes is the pitiful gust of air trapped in your throat. He’s watching. A pierced brow twitches upwards at your glazed over expression, you can’t tell if he’s glaring at you or Keigo as he tips the thick rim of his glass to meet the seam of his lips, the prominent bulge of his adam’s apple bobbing as he empties it’s entire contents down his throat at once.

“Oh.” keigo coos, bringing you back to his presence. “If looks could kill.” He chuckles, bringing his hands down from the satiny curve of your waist, standing up to smooth the creases of his tailored jacket. He gives you a taunting pat on the cheek. “I’de better get going. I’ll see you later, babe.”

He leaves you with a flustered expression as he glides away with a curt smile.

“I asked you to talk to her. Not finger her on the spot.” Dabi huffs, shouldering past keigo to slouch against the brick wall.

keigo flinches at the abrasive shove, straightening himself out before speaking. “Woah, hey. I was doing what you told me to. I just had to butter her up a bit first.” He smirks, folding his arms against his chest. “Besides, I think she was into it.” He sing-songs.

“Whatever.” Dabi mutters beneath his breath before reaching a hand into his pocket. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes, popping the tab open to pluck one from the box. “You want one?” He offers the packet towards keigo.

He shakes his head. “Nah, I actually wanna live past 30.”

“Suit yourself.” Dabi rolls his eyes, tucking the box back into his pocket before pulling out a small mechanical lighter. He thumbs the wheel before a gentle flame flickers from the wick.

“I want her pussy.”

Dabi frowns, halting his movements. “What?”

Keigo shifts on the balls of his feet, clearing his throat. “When we fuck her. I wanna’ take her pussy.”

Dabi snorts, flicking at the glowing embers of his cigarette. “You’ll get what you’re given.” He inhales sharply, a dense stream of smoke seeping out when his lips finally part. “Anyway, I already called dibs first.”

“Well I spoke to her first.” Keigo hisses through grit teeth.

Dabi cracks his neck to the side, popping the slender joints as he closes in on Keigo. “My house, my rules.” He takes another lengthy drag, this time allowing the musky cloud to waft into Keigo’s face. Dabi clicks his tongue as he splutters, waving a dismissive hand in his direction.

“Fine.” Keigo scowls. “I’ll take her ass then.”

“That’s the spirit.” Dabi chuckles, slinging an arm over his shoulder. He exhales a strand of grey smoke through his nostrils. “So, what’s she like up close? Her tits decent?”

Keigo’s sour expression immediately morphs into a smirk, his tongue protruding from his cheek. “Yeah. couldn’t see much ‘cause of her dress though.”

Dabi tuts. sighing deeply. “That’s alright.” He swats keigo on the back. “We’ll have plenty of time to look at ‘em later.”

Keigo nods along with a nefarious grin, peering through the outer window of the entrance. His brows quirk at the numerous kitchen staff flitting about the party goers with trays balanced in each arm, toppling with food as an elaborate feast is set along the excessively large dining table. “Hey, food’s ready.” Keigo juts his chin, motioning to dabi.

He grunts, letting the butt of his cigar fall from between his fingers, the heated ash sizzling and melting through the pearlescent snow blanketing the ground.

The racket of knives and forks scraping against porcelain is shrill against your ears. You can barely part the guest’s voices into a single conversation, save for how your mother continually pats you on the knee to get your attention.

“Eat your food.” Your mother whispers over your shoulder.

You pick up your cutlery in it’s respective hand, carving into the slab of meat doused in gravy. “I am, I am.”

Your mother cocks her head. “What’s the matter? Do you not like it? We can get you something else if you want.”

“No, I do like it. It’s fine.” You shrug her off, popping the fork into your mouth.

Your jaw aches from working so long. You swallow with a harsh gulp, raising a hand to escort the leathery chunk of meat down, repressing the gag that threatens to escape. You cup your mouth as you clear your throat, scanning the table for anyone who may have seen your subtle expression of disgust. Your brows perk as you meet the same flaxen locks from earlier. His nose wrinkles as he smiles, pointing at the same untouched cut of steak on his plate, clasping his throat and sticking his tongue out in a gagging motion. The corners of your lips quirk into a broad smile, hiding behind your palm as you giggle.

Dabi watches with a bitter scowl, tilting his head expectantly at Keigo.

Keigo’s laughing falters. He nods before standing up. Your head follows him as his thumb swings over his shoulder, mouthing something to you.

You twiddle your fingers in your lap before turning to your mother. “Can I go to the bathroom?”

“Be quick.”

Almost instantly, your chair is pushed backwards as you rise. Keigo makes sure to be discreet, already having turned the corner as you trail along after him.

Your head snaps left and right as you search for him. “Keigo?”

“Right here, sweet cheeks.” He reveals himself, slumped against a wall decorated in portraits.

You smile, letting your feet carry you towards him. “What did you want?” You cock your head, paying no mind to how his hands had already began to wonder.

“You.” He hums before clutching your hips in his large hands. He spins you around until your back collides with the wall, jostling the ornate paintings hung there. You waver as he mashes his lips into yours, but quickly reciprocate, petting at his chest as you swallow his tongue down. He pulls back, using the slender muscle to prod at the corners of your mouth, licking up and down your cheek like a slobbering dog. “Do you want me?” He whispers. You have no time to answer as he hoists you up against the wall by your rear, groping each dome of flesh with clawed fingers.

“Wait.. Keigo, wait.” You turn away, only serving to entice him more as he sinks his teeth into the delicate ridge of your collarbone. You cry out, clapping a hand over your mouth to muffle your squeals. Your bodies move in unison as he bounces you in his arms, arching off the wall while your pelvis rubs against the dark linen covering his—

“Party started without me?”

Both heads snap up to address the voice. Dabi chuckles as he spots your dazed, glossy eyes peeking over Keigo’s shoulder. You’re lowered back down onto your feet, your heels clacking against the marble surface.

“Was just warming her up for you.” Your brows knit as Keigo creeps backwards, making room for the second man.

Dabi sees how your eyes dart between him and Keigo, skittish like a bunny as he corners you. “Hey, pretty thing.” He strokes a scarred knuckle up your cheek, grinning as you flinch. “I’m Dabi.” He bends down to capture you in his arms, blowing into your ear. “But tonight, you can call me anything you want.”

“Keigo?” Your eyes flicker to him, stood with his hands loosely held in his pockets with an almost bored expression.

Dabi snickers, curling his boney fingers around your dainty wrist. “Nah, apart from that.”

“Take her dress off.”

you’re passed around by your armpits like a limp kitten. While Keigo works on slipping your dress over your arms, Dabi tugs at your panties. He clicks his tongue once the skimpy garment is pulled off of your ankles. His fingers reach for the buckle of your open toed stilettos before his wrist is seized.

“No, leave ‘em on. I like ‘em.” Keigo mutters.

Dabi rolls his eyes, pulling away to run his hands up your calves. “Alright, fine. Freak.” He thumbs the flesh of your thighs, spreading your legs open with ease. “But I’m gonna be pissed the fuck off if she kicks me.”

Keigo shuffles behind you, cooing into your ear. “You’re not gonna kick are you, sweetheart?” He keeps the backs of your knees hooked over his elbows while Dabi inspects your pussy.

Dabi whistles once he cleaves your folds apart, a thumb pressing down on each of your labia. He wets his lips at the sight of your twitching pussyhole. “Damn, look at this little twat.” Your hips buck as he immediately plunges his index into the opening, twisting and pivoting his wrist to feel around your gummy walls. “You a virgin?” He takes your squirming as a positive, removing his finger to flick your clit harshly. “Let’s make this quick. My dad’s been on my ass all night.” He juts his chin towards Keigo.

He nods, lowering a hand down to tug at his zipper. Dabi had already whipped his belt out of the loops, leaving the metal buckle to dangle from his waistband as he shimmies his trousers down to his mid thigh. He chuckles, palming his dick through the thin cotton of his boxers. “I’m hard as a fuckin’ rock. Been waiting to fuck this pussy all night..”

The situation suddenly dawns on you. You flip around in Keigo’s hold like a fish out of water. “Wait. Stop, I don’t wanna do this anymore. Keigo!”

“Sorry snookums, Keigo can’t hear you right now.” Dabi snickers, pinching the tip of his now fully erect cock to rub up and down your tiny slit, slapping the sluggish appendage against the little bundle of nerves sitting at the crest of your pussy. You panic with overstimulation as the spiked cogs of his piercings click through your pussy lips, bumping your sensitive clit with every tug.

Your toes crinkle and your cunny pulses as he violently prods the sensitivite button. “Aha — oh!” You tilt your chin up to look at Keigo over your shoulder, hoping for some kind of aid. Sunset golds darken to rusted coppers. He really wasn’t listening, he was more focused on jabbing at the puckered rim of your asshole with the tip of his cock, gaging how fast he could go without tearing the delicate flesh. You turn back to face Dabi’s wicked smile. Your lip quivers while your eyes glaze over with a concave of tears, caught like a deer in headlights.

He tuts, pressing the pad of his thumb down to jerk your little clitty side to side. He purses his lips once he sees the tears fall. “Awh. She’s crying, Keigo. Look at her.” He sniggers, swatting Keigo’s knee. “Why you crying, hm?” Dabi weaves his fingers through your curls, pulling your head down to tuck your chin against your chest. You can only scream and shake once the small flicks turn to harsh circles. He puts his whole arm into jack hammering your clit with his hand, rubbing the tiny button up and down in rapid strokes. “Oh, yeah? Is that it? You crying because i’m playing with your little pussy?” Once he’s able to see the white of your sclera, he begins to coo at you through grit teeth. “Oh, yeah. That’s the stuff, huh? Feels fuckin’ good doesn’t it girlie?”

“Stop it.”

Dabi pulls away from your twitching form to stare Keigo down. “Awh, ‘s daddy getting protective?” He gives a mocking pout.

“You just said you wanna’ get this over with. Quit dj-ing her clit and just fuck her already, man.” Keigo scoffs.

“Temper, temper.” Dabi smirks, relenting in his assault. He drags a knuckle through your sloppy cunt, giving an approving hum once he sees how the near translucent strings of slick coat is fingers. “Yeah, good enough.”

Keigo locks your hips to their limits, keeping you pinned like a butterfly in his arms while dabi lines his fat-mushroom tip up with your entrance. the taught circle of pink flesh can only stretch as he plows his way through. he lets out a guttural howl once he feels himself prod at your cervix. he smiles down at your shocked expression. your mouth gapes when he slams his hips into the contorted slit. your hoarse whimpers warp into shrill moans when he repeats the motion. the pain is only bearable until the scrunched rim of your asshole is pried open by the cock beneath you. your body rejects the stretch, flexing around keigo’s base.

“fuck. fuck, oh yeah. yes. shit.” keigo hisses as dabi’s thrusting rocks you back against his dick.

dabi reminds him to compliment his rhythm. when the ravenette slams himself into your pussy, the blond should retract. their fluidity doesn’t soothe the pain. dabi shushes your pleas, clamping a hand over your mouth as you cry. “shh. sh, sh, shh..” he presses his forehead against your own to peer deeply into your glassy orbs. “do you remember me?”

you give him no response, just the subtle furrow of your brows and the simple effort of not allowing your eyes to tip back into your skull. he chuckles darkly. “s’me babe. touya.” he gasps when he feels the distorted walls of your cunt clench and twist. “did you miss me?”

“touya..” you whimper. he snorts when he feels the warmth of your breath dampen his palm.

“yeah, that’s me. am i still your favourite cousin?”

he can’t help but laugh at your feeble nod. “awh, am i really now?” he signals to keigo to pick up the pace. your breath hitches as the weight of dabi’s heavy ballsack swings into your ass with every push. “you gonna let your favourite cousin cum in your pussy?” he releases your jaw.

“touya!” you squeal, your voice warping and wobbling as you’re bounced on keigo’s hard cock. “oh! oh! ungh! touy.. ah!”

“hey.” you flinch as your pussy receives a curt smack. “it’s dabi now, i told you.”

“you.. your hair..” you sniffle, peeking at dabi through slitted eyes as you’re head collapses against keigo’s shoulder.

he cocks his head, halting the movement of his hips to run his fingers through the inky black mane. his lips quirk upwards, the silver rings decorating his mouth clicking. “oh yeah. dyed it.” he takes you by the hand, placing it atop his head. “what do you think?”

your hand slips from his scalp to his cheek, smoothing a thumb over the metal studs and bars slitted through his flesh and the black swirls painting his once pale, milky skin. “touya..”

he scowls at your pitiful hum. he despises that look. the one of sympathy, of regret. like you think he’s lost something. he snarls, grimacing as he shoves your hand away. “don’t look at me like that.”

it makes him want to do bad things to you.

he clutches the back of your thighs in his hands, forming crescents under the pressure of his nails as he snaps his hips forward.

“ah!” you can’t help but yelp. you’re lolled back and forth on their cocks. you eventually grow numb to the pain, but refuse to acknowledge the hint of pleasure that shoots through your spine with every plunge. your mind has gone blank, your lids fall with every second that passes, your sounds now incoherent. you’re pleading again, your voice sounds like a broken record with the continuous chants. “oh! oh! uh! tou — dabi! dabi, please!”

“shut the fuck up and take it you stupid bitch.” dabi hisses.

keigo’s bouncing falters at dabi’s abrupt change in demeanour. he eyes his friend from over your shoulder with knitted brows.

“don’t stop keigo. i want you to rip her a fucking new one.” dabi goes from lethargic strokes to harsh digs, blowing into your womb with every push and pull. your jaw is caught in a vice grip as he spits in your face. “i never liked you, you were always such a stuck up little cunt. even as a kid. you could never just mind your own fucking business, could you?”

“fuck!” you’re hoisted off of keigo’s length as he releases. his legs shake beneath dabi as his puckered slit spurts all over his stomach, spraying the milky white fluid across dabi’s bed. “shit. fuck. agh.. sorry man.” keigo apologises through his orgasmic disposition.

dabi hums, allowing your limp frame to collapse into his arms. “don’t worry ‘bout it.”

you’re laid back on the feathery down of dabi’s mattress. he takes your ankles in each palm, restraining you as he jack hammers into your unprotected cunny. he speaks through his laboured breaths. “you wanna know what happens to stupid, nosy little cunts?..”

“they get bred.”

before you can respond, ropes of white accompany the buck of his hips. a guttural groan erupts from the base of his throat, he’s still thrusting, battering the thick cream against the entry of your abused, swollen womb. “take it.” he grunts. “oh, yeah. fuckin’ take it. get my seed nice and deep in there.” he rocks into you from side to side, emptying his balls.

“jesus christ man.. that’s your cousin.”

dabi turns to keigo with a lecherous grin, still cock and balls deep inside you. “we like to keep it in the family.”

#bnha #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #dabi #bnha smut #hawks #keigo takami #hawks smut #dabi smut #touya todoroki #dabi x reader #hawks x reader #keigo takami x reader #touya todoroki smut #touya todoroki x reader

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clanwarrior-tumbly · 1 year ago

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HCs: Ken meeting a Human!Fem!Reader who owns a ranch

Wanted to write something for this movie bc it’s all I’ve been thinking about for the past two days. So enjoy, lovelies!

I’m taking requests for this movie so don’t be shy <3

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

...........

After going back to the Real World to find a purpose for himself, Ken runs into you, a country girl who left the Mattel company to take care of your ranch.

You just stopped in the city to find new outfits..and instead found him rollerblading through the park, immediately recognizing him as a Ken.

You may not be in the company anymore but you just knew (especially with his vibrant outfit giving it away).

You two hit it off right away and eventually you go shopping together.

He gets a new cowboy outfit and is bashful when you pay for it (to which you reply that you..really didn’t have a choice in the matter, as he had no money).

He’s like “ohh that happened before when I was with Barbie..we got arrested for the second time that day :D”

You’re very concerned and decide that he should stick with you from now on (not that anyone at Mattel would ever care about a Ken running around to begin with...you just didn’t wanna have to bail him out of jail).

On the truck ride back to your home, you mentioned owning a ranch and Ken’s in a w e

You tell him more about it, and he’s so intrigued and can’t stop staring at you the entire time, especially as you go on about how a lot of women in your world are cowgirls and how they aren’t represented enough.

He bluntly states that he once believed “patriarchy” was all about the horses and you nearly laughed, but he seemed sad about it, so you assure him if he wanted to see horses, he made the right decision coming with you.

You introduce him to one of your favorite steeds and he’s SO overjoyed to actually see one in person. Like petting its mane and asking dozens of questions like an excited kid.

“Are you sure Barbieland didn’t have any horses of their own?”

“No, we just have the ones on sticks and our imaginations.” He pouts, mimicking the way he rode invisible horses with his hands. “But this? This is WAY cooler!!”

He tries mounting your horse, envisioning himself riding off into the sunset, free as a bird while shouting “yeehaw” at the top of his lungs-

Only for it to rear its head up and nearly stomp on his foot, with you having to calm it down as he snaps back to reality, looking utterly distraught and stressed over upsetting it.

“Alrighty. Ken. If you wanna ride a horse..the first step is earning its respect. Thought you would’ve learned about that in those books....but if you’ll let me, I’ll show you how to properly mount one. Luckily this one here’s accustomed to double riders.”

His face lights up and he listens to every instruction you give him, from placing the saddle on its back to climbing on, and finally how to control the direction he wants it to go.

For this one time, however, you take the reins and let him sit behind you, hugging you a bit too tightly for your liking, but you allow it as you show him around the rest of your ranch.

He just likes the closeness fr and you.

By the time the day’s over, your horse got better acquainted with Ken and let him ride around for a little while before you gotta put it in the stable for the night.

Before he could worry about where he was gonna go, you tell him he can stay with you as long as he wants.

He’s so happy he just,,,,breaks down ugly crying into your arms.

Though he quickly apologizes, admitting he’s still getting used to crying freely and being more emotional and-

“It’s okay, Ken.” You reassure him. “We need more guys like that around here who ain’t afraid to shed a tear or two.”

“Th-Thanks...Barbie told me it’s an amazing feeling. And honestly..it kinda is.”

After that small heart-to-heart talk, he gifts you his horseshoe necklace as a sign of his appreciation, that dopey grin returning to his face when you take it and wear it right away.

Yeah, you’ve only met each other for a day and he’s smitten the moment you started treated him as an equal. You let him have his own room, bed, wardrobe, etc. (and in time he'll have his own horse too).

All you ask is that he helps you manage the ranch, but at this point he’s willing to do anything for you now.

Finally, he realizes this was his dream all along.

One that Barbieland couldn't provide, but that was alright.

Patriarchy is overrated, anyways. This was all he wanted.

#barbie #barbie movie #barbie 2023 #barbie spoilers #barbie x reader #ken x reader #female reader #headcanons #fluff #just ken #barbie ken

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queenimmadolla · 2 years ago

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𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐘𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀

(eddie munson x secret admirer!reader)

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 Summary: After four long years of pining, it's high time you tell your crush you like him and quite possibly your last chance to, luckily there's no better time for love confessions than Valentine's Day. If only you hadn't chosen to do so anonymously, because you're pretty sure he's hoping his secret admirer is someone else.

Warnings: pining, angst, misunderstandings, very brief (blink and you miss it) descriptions of oncoming panic attack (doesn't happen), Heather Holloway being a sweetie, and a whole lot of fluff a/n: I did way too much for something that was supposed to be 2.k word count wise, and is definitely going to flop because of how late I'm posting it but I don't care because it is still technically Valentine's Day. A HUGE thank you to @kitmon for being my incredible beta-half (get it?) and if you like slow burns (and I mean the best ‘GET TOGETHER ALREADY but also please take your time really finding and understanding each other’ fics), go devour their masterlist. Happy reading and Happy Valentine's day ♡ word count: 10k

You stood posted by a row of lockers, peaking around the corner of the hall to watch as the longtime object of your affections laughed at something one of his friends said.

“Are you stalking him again?”

You jumped, clutching your biology book to your chest as you swiveled around to face Heather, your best friend.

“Geez!” You hissed out, voice low as you checked to make sure you hadn’t attracted his attention.

But it’s you, so of course you hadn’t. Eddie was still leaning up against his locker and chatting away, face framed by the mane he called his hair. His curls were defined much more than usual—clearly he’d washed his hair before school which meant he must have been up early. Why did you know that????

“I’m not stalking him,” you grumbled and Heather giggled. “I’m just observing him.”

“Well, stop observing him and go talk to him.” She nudged your shoulder, giving you a reassuring smile.

“I’m gonna—,” You answered with false bravado that soon wavered, “. . . eventually. Look, I have a plan. Okay, today is a new day, Valentine’s Day and the perfect day for romance. No more watching from the sidelines─”

Heather coughed out a stalking, followed by another cough, all of which you ignored.

“No more quietly pining, I’m telling him how I feel.”

Heather raised her eyebrows, tongue clicking.

“Let me get this straight, you’re not only going to actually exchange words with him, you’re actually going to tell Eddie Munson about your feelings?”

Your heart fluttered just at the mention of him.

Edward Wayne Munson. Eddie.

You’d had a crush on him since your freshman year of high school, and contrary to your best friend’s earlier statement, you had exchanged words with him already. Sorta. Basically.

Freshman year you’d ate shit in the hallway, tripping over literally nothing and all your belongings had scattered, he’d stopped walking to help you pick your things up before he was off again. It wasn’t much conversation, but he did say something about those invisible rocks people left lying around.

Then your sophomore year, he’d sat behind you with his club at the school’s mandatory pep rally. One of his friends had accidentally jostled you and Heather a little too roughly when he was finding his seat and Eddie had apologized on his behalf.

Then last year he’d held the cafeteria door open for you and your friends when you slipped in. That time, you’d been the one to thank him and he had said you’re welcome. Almost unprompted!

So, yeah. Maybe you were a little delusional, it didn’t matter though. What mattered was you were running out of time.

Somehow, Eddie had managed to fail the past two years, allowing you to catch up to him but that meant you were now a senior as well. You’d let the other chances to approach him pass you by because you were too scared of rejection, this was your last chance.

The college acceptance letter you’d received at the start of the week also spurred your bravery, if he rejected you, you only had a few months left until you were on your way to California, there’d be all those states between the two of you.

You had nothing to lose, so today was gonna be the day.

“Yes,” you took a deep breath, slowly exhaling as the determination sank deep into your bones. “I’m gonna tell him.”

“How are you gonna do that?” She cocked her head, the curls of her side ponytail bouncing.

“I’m glad you asked, my friend.” You grabbed her hand, dragging her down the hall to your partially opened locker. You pulled the door open fully to reveal a bouquet of roses, set on top of your books.

Her face wrinkled up in confusion, “You bought yourself flowers again?”

“No.” You glared at her, a hand scratching your head as you hissed out through gritted teeth, “And we promised not to bring that up anymore—these are for Eddie.”

Heather perked up at that, a hand resting over her chest as she fawned, “Dude, that is so cute! When are you gonna give them to him?”

“That’s the thing, I’m not actually going to give them to him directly. I need your help. You’ve got history with him, yeah?”

You already knew she did so it didn’t surprise you when she nodded. You slipped one rose from the bouquet and handed it to her.

“Can you leave this on his desk?”

“Sure! Wow, I can’t believe I get to be part of your love story,” she marveled, twirling the stem between her fingertips.

God, you hoped it’d be a love story and not a tragedy.

“And these are for you.” You pulled out a smaller bouquet of pink roses, and Heather just about burst into tears.

The two of you had been best friends since middle school, and often spent your free time watching corny teen movies, usually living through the main characters of the romance ones. You’d had a couple of almost-boyfriends, in the end you hadn’t been interested in them enough to accept when they’d try to make it official. And Heather simply hadn’t caught the eye of anyone, which was ridiculous to you considering how pretty and nice she was, so you were usually her valentine on Valentine’s Day. This was the first time you actually got her flowers instead of a bunch of chocolates to eat the night away, you’d figured she deserved them.

She’d had a crush on Steve Harrington, but he hadn’t noticed her and ended up dating and getting dumped by Nancy Wheeler. Then he’d dated every other girl except her. You feared your non-existent relationship with Eddie might go the same way.

“Dude,” Heather yanked you in for a hug, squeezing you to the point you thought your ribs might be bruised.

“Uhm. Heather. Ow.”

“Oh, sorry.” She released you, holding you by your shoulders, “Okay, so I just give it to him?”

“No, no, no, no, no. There will be no interactions. Just leave it on his desk.”

“Whatever you say, boss.”

You were about to reply when the first bell cut you off and threw you into a panic, nudging Heather in the direction of the classroom so she could beat Eddie there. Heather took off running once she realized the reason for your worry, only you both failed to remember Eddie was late to everything.

You reluctantly made your way to your first period, plagued by thoughts of Eddie’s reaction to the first rose.

Would he like it? Oh, you hoped he liked it.

What if he thought it was some prank? What if he threw it away? Would he do the same to the rest?

Oh, well. There was no backing out now.

Your carefully thought out plan was put into action. You’d made sure to play sick the last 15 minutes of every class to get an excuse note to the nurse, only you didn’t go to the nurse. Instead, you ran around leaving a rose in Eddie’s various hang outs. One at the creepy old bench you knew he did business at. Two roses with the stems placed through the slits of his locker, three on his windshield wipers, one of the younger students in your art class was in Hellfire with him and after swearing him to secrecy, Will had promised to deliver three to Eddie personally, without revealing your identity.

During lunch, you found yourself behind the stage of the cafeteria, in part of the drama department. It’s where Hellfire took place.

You’d been there a handful of times, only when your curiosity for the metalhead got a little too overwhelming for you and you wanted to feel closer to him without having to face him. It was only ever set up on Fridays, the day Eddie got to school early enough to do so.

You made your way over to sit in the chair closest to his throne, casting it a couple of nervous glances.

This would be where you left the last rose, so of course, everything about the set up, the throne had to look daunting to you now; a representation of how you were seeing Eddie as your confession grew nearer. If things didn’t go as planned, it’d be the last time you could come here.

The thought made your stomach hurt, a large void beginning to form there.

The last rose was much too personal to leave just anywhere, where someone without a key to the room would find it. No one but the Hellfire club would occupy this area today. Attached to the rose with a ribbon was a note with a simple message that meant more to you than you cared to admit. You’d written it when you first came up with your plan at the start of the week and had been debating on whether or not to sign your name since then.

The answer should’ve been obvious, right? This whole thing was to let Eddie know how you felt about him, and your romantic intentions were clear with the red roses. This note would finish implying the rest. And if you wanted Eddie to know it was you who admired him, you just had to write your name.

Yeah, simple as that.

You clicked the pen in your grasp, placing it just over the paper.

You wavered, licking your lips as you tried to convince yourself to just own your goddamn name. That’s all you had to do. Write on the paper.

Just write on the paper.

Your hand was beginning to shake, and with a heavy heart, you realized your name wouldn’t be going on this note.

You weren’t brave enough for that. You set your purple pen down, staring down at the words written in pink ink before you rolled the paper up, making sure the ribbon was secured (you’d used a hole puncher to slip the ribbon through) and left it on the seat of the throne before scurrying out of the room as fast as you could.

—

Eddie was at a loss, completely stupefied.

When he’d arrived at his history class, after having mentally prepared himself for the onslaught of boredom he’d face, he was surprised to find a single rose on his desk. By surprised, he meant incredibly suspicious. A glance around the room confirmed he wasn’t being watched, everyone was gossiping about Emmy Switcher’s upcoming party, so he’d settled into his seat and marveled at it.

Eddie wasn’t one to ever really get things on Valentine’s Day, not counting the mandatory valentine’s cards in elementary and middle school. The last time he’d gotten a card was his first senior year, and it had been a prank by a couple of girls on the softball team and their boyfriends. Embarrassed the shit out of him. The following Valentine’s Day he’d faked being sick to avoid falling victim again—god, he craved affection so much it made him pathetic enough to still hope for something gross and cheesy to happen to him.

A rose was harmless though, right? Unless it was poisoned or something. Eddie lifted it to his nose, but all he could pick up was the seductive floral scent and when he didn’t immediately pass out from chloroform, he figured it was just a rose.

He glanced around again in vain, hoping someone would somehow stick out and when no one did, he held it in his grasp, rough fingertips stroking over the soft petals for the duration of the class.

He’d been stunned when he arrived at his locker to find two roses hanging out of it. A few people were staring at him as he carefully pulled them from their place, but they looked more curious rather than shy or mischievous. He had a feeling whoever was leaving the roses for him wasn’t around.

He refused to leave them in his locker, the stems clutched in his hand as he went about his day and found more. Eddie was more than proud to display them, somewhat smug at the attention they were garnishing him.

Yeah, fuckers. Someone finally liked him. Eat shit.

He’d spent his English class convincing himself he’d never find out exactly who this someone was. He was pretty fucking stressed after that. He tried to come up with a roster of sorts, girls he thought might be interested in him enough to maybe leave him pretty flowers and woo him right out of his Reeboks.

He’d only been able to come up with four—impressive—but his first pick he was quick to scribble out. He hadn’t had a decent interaction with her and he figured it was creepy of him to put her at the top of the list all because of his wishful thinking.

The second girl listed was possible, maybe. Chrissy Cunningham. He’d had a crush on her for as long as he could remember since she was always nice to him. She’d dumped Jason a couple of months ago and he’d been dealing to her for a short amount of time, but she seemed pretty flirty to him. Although, flattery did work on him.

The third name made him nervous, and not in a good way. Tina Sawyer. They’d both got pretty drunk at her Halloween party and hooked up in her bathroom but she avoided him like the plague afterwards, obviously embarrassed about interacting with him, which was typical for the lot of Hawkins.

He’d been sure it was a drunken mistake but sometimes, he’d catch her staring at him, and she didn’t look all that disgusted with him.

The last name on the short list was that of Tammy Thompson. She had made her interest in Eddie pretty clear his junior year, always trying to sit behind him in classes so she could play with his hair. Unfortunately, Tammy was very, for the lack of better words, aggressive with her affections. He’d made out with her once and it had been sloppy and messy in the most unattractive of ways. It was like tonguing a dog.. Then he remembered she’d actually been able to graduate, unlike him, so he was spared.

By lunch, Eddie was ready to try to figure out who his secret admirer was. Out of the two remaining girls on his list, he was leaning more towards Chrissy, who he felt wouldn’t be ashamed to hold his hand in public.

He and his lunchbox full of drugs—and some snacks—made their way to the Hellfire lunch table where he spent a significant amount of time studying the two girls.

“Uh, are you okay, Eddie?”

Eddie glanced up at the concerned face of Will Byers, who’d arrived much later than the rest of the guys and Stephanie, one of the two girls in Hellfire. The question drew the attention of the rest of the table and Eddie internally sighed.

“Yeah, I’m fine—what are those?” Eddie asked, eyes honed in on the roses resting on Will’s tray.

The younger teen handed them over, “A girl told me to give you these.”

Eddie felt his heart skip a beat, “You know who she is?”

Will nodded and before Eddie could demand a name, he rushed, “I’ve been sworn to secrecy!”

Eddie scowled, carefully setting aside his roses so they wouldn’t be involved in his annoyance.

“Byers, I’m gonna level with you. I’ve been in this miserable prison for six long years. While I’ve had my fair share of hookups, I have not ever had a girl like me enough to leave me roses and do cute shit before. And I fear I never will again. That’s why I’m actually gonna need you to tell me who it is so I can have a girlfriend by the end of what is supposed to be the most god awful romantic day of the year. ‘Kay?”

Eddie’s eyebrows dart up, face set in an intimidating glower but Will remembers how scared you looked when you trusted him with this task. He also knows, very well, how it feels to love someone without them ever knowing because you fear what their response will be. He’d also seen Eddie eyeing both Chrissy and Tina.

Will knew what it was like to have that special person interested in someone else, too. So, he’d protect your secret.

“I swore.”

Eddie groaned, head dipping forward in a brief moment of defeat before he slammed his fist on the table, making the other occupants jump.

“Whatever, I’ll find her myself.” Just as Eddie stands, an idea occurs to him. Will said he wouldn’t tell him who it was, but the youngest Byers hadn’t said he wouldn’t tell him who it wasn’t, “Is it Tina?”

Will shakes his head, nose wrinkling. Nothing against her, she just wasn’t the nicest to him or his friends. Not the meanest, still.

Eddie breathes out a sigh, mumbling an oh, thank god as he makes his way to the cafeteria doors. That only left one possibility, and he was due to meet up with her in just five minutes. He couldn’t fight the grin off his face.

──

Your heart was racing a mile a minute, having witnessed everything transpire at the Hellfire table.

You’d selected your lunch table four years ago because of the perfect view of Eddie it provided you, but right then it was killing you. You’d ruined your manicure, picking aggressively at the polish as you watched Will and Eddie, breathing out a sigh of relief when it looked like Will hadn’t revealed your identity.

Eddie hadn’t seemed too happy about that.

Then he stormed out and you fought very hard with yourself to not follow after him because then Heather would be right and you’d be a stalker.

“Regret it yet?” Heather asked after she’d swallowed a bite of her sandwich.

“No.” You sorta lied. Yeah, you kind of regretted it but at the same time, knowing Eddie wouldn’t have to let you down gently made you less anxious. Besides, it wasn’t like you could just climb up the stage and duck past the curtain leading to the hellfire room without one of it’s members spotting you from their table. They’d tell Eddie in a heartbeat, especially if they found out the last rose and that damn note was there.

“Sure,” Heather drawled, glancing over her shoulder as you picked at your food, appetite suddenly gone.

Maybe you really should have written your name on that love note.

“Well, I hope you mean it, because Dream Girl is on her way to meet Ice Cream.” Your head snapped up at the mention of Chrissy Cunningham and Eddie’s code names you’d given them so both you and Heather were free to talk without either of them suspecting anything. You referred to Chrissy as Dream Girl because you’d known all about Eddie’s crush on her (while Heather had been depressed about Steve and Nancy, you’d eaten your weight in ice cream over Eddie and Chrissy’s more than friendly interactions with each other, which had nothing to do with Eddie’s code name—he was ‘ice cream’ because you wanted to lick him all over).

Sure enough, you looked over Heather’s shoulder, following her gaze to see Chrissy bidding her friends goodbye before she walked right out of the doors Eddie had pushed past minutes ago and as you watched her exit through the double doors, something inside you withers and dies a bit.

You knew Eddie sold to her (gave her a discount because she was pretty and because of their flirting, hearing him say that made you want to drive a knife right through your chest), you and Heather had followed them out a couple of times which is how you were both aware of the flirtationship.

After the first time you’d spied on them, the two of you had gone back to your home where Heather held a mock funeral for you. Now, you wished it had been a real one because you were sure Eddie had not only loved your roses, he also assumed they were from Chrissy. They would send him right into her arms at that shitty ass bench. And when he’d get a hold of the love note, well, you’d be the reason why Eddie and Chrissy would be hand in hand come Monday, canoodling by their lockers and kissing like no one else was watching. All the things Eddie should have been doing with you.

You should have signed your name on the fucking note.

─

Eddie had paced a pathway, disturbing the mounds of fallen leaves surrounding the picnic table.

His stuff, another rose he’d found waiting for him included, were on the table and he’d taken off his jacket, despite the chill of the February air. He was working himself up in his head, overheating in the process.

“Eddie?”

His head shot around, grinning as Chrissy—who apparently left him roses—approached him, face broken out in a smile.

“Hey, Chris.” Eddie’s heart was racing a mile a minute, palms sweaty as he rested them over his hips, then quickly realized he looked stupid so he crossed them instead.

She laughed at his nerves with absolutely no malice and they sat down at the bench, getting down to business. She’d been about to hand him a twenty dollar bill after he slid her the ziploc bag of nugs, but he held up his hand.

“On the house.”

“Eddie, it’s always on the house. I feel bad.”

“Then stop.” He emphasized the demand with bulging eyes, smirking when she giggled. She had to like him, right?

Eddie tried to be discreet about it, plucking one of the roses from his growing pile. He played with the stem, even sniffed the petals again in hopes she’d comment about it, maybe look a little excited about it or just give him any sort of reaction to indicate it had been her.

Chrissy was too busy moving things aside in her backpack to make room for the baggy. When she finally did look back up, she smiled, but gave no hint she was even familiar with them.

“Ooh, pretty flowers. Where’d you get those?”

Was she playing coy?

“Uh, someone’s been leaving them for me all around school.” Was it you?

Chrissy’s face lit up and Eddie thought it was finally the moment of truth.

“That’s so sweet! Do you know who it is? Or is it like a secret admirer sort of deal?”

Evidently, not the moment of truth. She had to be toying with him, trying to prolong the reveal. Because if it wasn’t her, he was out of ideas. And he really, really didn’t want to be out of ideas. Not when there was someone out there, maybe thinking about him.

“I actually have no idea who it is,” he sighed out, hoping if it was her, she’d just put him out of his damn misery already.

Chrissy, glanced down at the table and Eddie perked up. Nerves? Was she finally gonna come out with it?

“It wasn’t me, Eddie…but, I wish it had been.”

Eddie didn’t know what to say, mouth dropped open a little as his eyebrows quirked up in surprise.

Okay. Hadn’t been expecting that. He was expecting a yes it was me or a no it wasn’t me but not Chrissy confirming it hadn’t been her while also telling him she liked him.

“So, you haven’t been leaving them for me?”

Chrissy shook her head and reached across the table to place her smaller hand over his, palm warm against his skin. Eddie’s eyes squeezed shut as he groaned, head falling forward to rest against the table.

“Eddie?” Chrissy asked, concern lacing her voice.

He let out a very long sigh, a little miffed at how messy this whole thing had gotten. Now, there was his, Chrissy’s and someone else’s feelings in the mix. Christ.

“‘M’sorry, Chrissy.” Eddie sat up straight, face grim as he slowly pulled his hand out from underneath hers. “You’re great, fantastic, actually. You’re really nice and really pretty, but… I’ve been going crazy all day, trying to figure out who’s behind these.”

He gestures to the roses at his side, the sight of them filling him with an intense wave of longing.

“It’s been like years since I’ve gotten anything with real meaning behind it for any occasion—” he wasn’t counting the hellfire club or Wayne, referring to romantic intentions—“let alone Valentine’s Day, and someone in this school seems to be thinking about me.”

Eddie thought about what it must have taken to do something like this, it may have seemed like a trivial thought, something simple to others. He knew it wasn’t. He had no idea who it was, but he put himself in their position. They had to know enough about him to know his schedule, where he spent time, and then make the time to leave them in those spots just before he got there.

He’d spent the time waiting for Chrissy considering the anonymity of it. On the chance it wasn’t her, there was someone else in the school who was too afraid to approach him directly. He’d thought it might be out of fear of being seen with him, seen doing anything remotely romantic with him. Then, why even bother? They had to be afraid of his reaction, it’s what he would be nervous about if the positions were flipped.

And god, he’d never felt more alive before, more seen and all it took was a couple of roses. He felt like those fawning girls in John Hughes movies.

“Before today, I never would have approached you about this, you know? I know we flirt, but I never would have been brave enough to cross that line.” He admitted, looking into her shiny blue eyes. Aw, man. Eddie hated making girls cry but it was true, he would have been waiting for her to make a move, or for Tina to make a move. Any of his past hookups, really. He’d have been with any of them—having craved affection and everything that came with it so bad—if they had just been the ones to initiate things on a more permanent basis.

He would have. Past tense. They could all form a conga line and confess their undying love for him but, unless they were the one who left him the roses—the one who made him brave enough to actually go around confronting people in an attempt to seek her out—he’d let them down.

“She made me brave, makes me feel really wanted and I don't even know who she is. It’s not you, it’s just─”

“I’m not her.” Chrissy finished for him, wiping under one of her eyes. “It’s alright, Eddie. I mean, I’m obviously a little sad, but it’s not your fault or hers. I do hope you find her, though. She’d be lucky to have you.”

She gave Eddie a sad smile, making him feel even guiltier but it’d be pretty shitty of him to try to be with her when he’d be thinking of someone else.

“Thanks, Chrissy.” Eddie stood up and gathered his things. It was clear she was upset and would probably need some time to gather herself, he didn’t want to force her to leave first or linger around and make it awkward.

He left her with a small, parting smile, relieved that he hadn’t charged her. Would have felt like a douchebag to make her pay for weed and turn her down in the span of five minutes when she’d been nothing but pleasant to him.

Eddie shook it off, determination setting in once more. Sure, he was back to the drawing board, but if all else failed, he could corner young Byers again until he finally gave him a name.

He’d come up with a pretty good list of ways he could force Will to give up the name by the time school let out and he got to the Hellfire room.

It wasn’t until he set his little bouquet and the lunchbox down (he didn’t bother with backpacks, just shoved whatever he needed in his pants pockets or the box), walking around the throne in a circle like some fucking animal because he was so restless, that he saw the rose.

The flash of white had caught his eyes and he dove down to grab it, trying to be as careful with pulling the piece of paper away from the stem of the rose, only he realized whoever left it had hole punched the thing together so he ripped the ribbon with his teeth rather than rip the note.

The ribbon was stuffed into his back pocket as he eagerly sat himself down, rose clutched in one hand and the note in his other.

Eddie,

Please excuse my lack of eloquence in this note and also in our real life encounters.

Eddie felt a shiver of excitement wash over his skin, cheeks a bright shade of pink at the confirmation he’d indeed interacted with his secret admirer before. Fuck, she’d talked to him! It made her feel even more real.

She was a real person, someone he could probably hold hands with and kiss. Unless, this was done in a purely platonic way which would be a little fucked up. Red roses to be friends? C’mon. He read on.

I hoped you liked the flowers. I was actually debating on getting you different ones, something a little more personalized to you, but I ended up going with roses because, well, they convey romance better.

Eddie leaned over the arm of the throne, sagging back as he allowed himself to completely collapse with relief. Just for a few seconds, then his eyes were glued to the pink penmanship.

I’m trying really hard not to sound creepy because I’m totally not creepy and I know what you're thinking, ‘that’s what a creep would say’ but I swear I’m not, I just. I admire you. A lot. I have for so, so long. I admire the way you keep going, even when things are absolute shit for you, I like how you watch out for the younger classmen that come in and don’t really have anywhere to go. I like the way you dress, how pretty your hair is (even when it’s frizzy which is so unfair), how passionate you get with your rants (even though sometimes you’re an asshole about it).

And I like your laugh I LOVE your laugh. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had what feels like the worst fucking day of my life and I’m ready to breakdown and cry and scream, but I don’t. Because I can hear you laugh your ass off at something one of your friends said in the cafeteria, by your locker or even when you’re just walking past me. And I wish I was there, laughing alongside you or making you laugh. I don’t know how your laughter makes me feel better, it just does. I get all smiley and I feel warm inside and I want to give you a hug for it, for making me feel better without even trying.

But I can’t. You kind of scare me. Not in the mean, scary way, I’m just not sure you’ll like me. Or that it’ll go anywhere, or even if it should.

You’re so confident, Eddie. And you’re stupid attractive (you are, and I’m sure you’re aware but I’ll go ahead and tell you I’m also physically attracted to you) and it’s so overwhelming that I can’t contain it anymore and I don’t really want to. We only have a couple of months before we’re out of here (I have a feeling this is gonna be your year, you’ll be free of this sentence, too), and I don’t want to have any regrets. The only way I’d ever regret you is by not telling you how I feel.

So, here I am, Eddie Munson. Never thought I’d ever be confessing like this, but for the first time in my life, I feel brave. And it’s all because of you. Thank you, Eddie. I’ll be running around— dodging teachers and detention write ups— like Rocky in his training montages to get these roses to you because you deserve your flowers and I’d be delighted to give them to you today, and every single Valentine’s Day after. Actually, I want to give you even more than that. If you’ll have me.

Love,

What the fuck?

Eddie hastily searched the bottom portion of the back side of the paper, where the note ended for a signature, a name, initials, something but that’s where it ended.

There was no name.

“NO! FUCK! NO! No, no, no, no, NO! I’ll have you, take me, just tell me who you are!” Eddie groaned out, note dropped into his lap so he could clench the roots of his hair with both fists as he doubled over.

This had to be a nightmare. It was the only reasonable explanation for someone to say all those wonderfuckingful things, just for them to disappear.

His heart hurt and he blinked frantically to ward off the onslaught of water and sniffed to deter the tingle in his nose.

The unmistakable sound of his own little rat pack making their way towards the room wasn’t enough to get him to pull himself together.

“Eddie, dude, are you okay?”

Eddie recalled his final option, head shooting to glance around at their faces in search of one in particular.

“Byers. Where’s Byers?”

“His mom picked him up after lunch, wasn’t feeling good,” Mike informed him, completely unaware his grand Valentine’s gesture for Jane had been the cause of his sudden illness.

It was the final straw for Eddie, he snatched the lunchbox and flowers and grumbled out, “Sessions canceled.”

He must have looked pissed as none of them protested, probably having something to do with most of them having dates afterwards.

He almost made it out of the room when Gareth called him back, holding up a purple pen he’d found on the table and figured Eddie was about to forget.

“Is this yours?”

Eddie scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“No.” Then he walked out.

Before promptly storming back in, swiping the pen out of Gareth’s meaty hands. Eddie clicked the pen and scribbled furiously over the side of his fist until the ink finally ran. It wasn’t purple. The ink filler was pink.

His secret admirer’s pen.

“What a cruel parting gift,” he sighed, shoving the pen in his pocket before making his exit. Again.

The really sad thing was Eddie couldn’t even sink into depression in the peace of his room. Emmy Switcher had approached Rick about wanting some herbal refreshments at her party and since he was still under house arrest (how Rick managed to deal and supply in his circumstances baffled him) the job fell upon Eddie. He’d driven to Rick’s restocked, then hit the party.

It was a horn fest, couples everywhere he looked. All heart-eyed and attached at the tongue. It was disgusting.

Eddie was pouting, quietly fuming that it wasn’t him and his secret admirer making out or cuddling or doing something equally romantic but noooooo. Just had to take the ‘secret’ aspect to its extreme.

He banished himself to a dark corner, only interacting with people when approached for drugs or weed. He’d caught sight of Chrissy and it had looked like she wanted to come over but he’d purposely shifted his gaze. Despite the gaping hole left where his heart was, it wasn’t Chrissy or Tina, or the girl in the upstairs restroom, who’d thrown herself at him when he’d been searching for a free bathroom to piss in, that he wanted. Eddie wasn’t in the mood to rebound.

Which was kind of crazy considering he hadn’t even been in a relationship, hadn’t been dumped. He wanted everything in that note, especially the promise of more and only with its author.

Now, Eddie hadn’t been in love before. Some serious lust and want, yeah, however, reading that note made him feel like he was falling a little bit in love and he wanted, very badly, to dive headfirst the rest of the way. Clearly, that wasn’t going to happen.

Once he’d sold out the rest of Rick’s inventory, he stole a beer and headed for the front door.

Once outside, Eddie took a minute to breathe. He hadn’t realized how stuffy it had been in there until he was no longer engulfed by the claustrophobic displays of affection.

He trudged down the pathway and paused when he saw the figure of a girl sitting on the lawn. Her head was directed down towards the ground and she was most definitely not wearing the right clothes for the outside weather.

Eddie cursed under his breath, plans to immediately drive home and get crossed put on hold as he walked over, noting the dew already coating the grass.

“Hey, you okay?”

─

Drinking your sorrows away probably wasn’t the best idea, considering how much of a lightweight you were.

Originally, you’d wanted to lock yourself away in your room for the night—and probably the rest of the weekend as well as maybe the next school week; nothing wrong with playing sick to avoid facing reality and your problems─to cry and pass out. Heather, on the other hand, had plans for you. She’d dolled you up, having to force you to wash your face and re-do your makeup once when you had started crying—put you in a cute outfit and dragged you to Emmy Switcher’s party.

You knew her intentions were pure—as pure as underage drinking could be—but she knew her mistake when the party started to couple up. You’d been approached multiple times and she’d try to encourage you to go for the decent acting ones, you just hadn’t wanted to. When Chrissy Cunningham showed up, you’d gone for shots of the hard liquor (over the sink of course in case you gagged it up, which you did a decent amount of), sure that Eddie would soon follow and you’d be forced to witness their affection.

Obviously, you ended up shitfaced and somehow lost track of Heather. Or maybe she lost track of you. You’d very briefly attempted to find her, accidentally spotted Chrissy, now making eyes at Eddie who’d shown up, and you’d promptly headed outside, eager for some fresh air and an escape from the madhouse. The high alcohol level in your blood kept you from feeling how chilly it really was and you settled into the grass, twirling strands of it around your fingers.

You weren’t sure how long you were out there when someone approached you.

“Hey, you okay?”

You looked up, ready to ask them to just leave you when you locked eyes with Eddie Munson. Most of the liquid courage coursing through your veins evaporated, you couldn’t look at him for long, gaze moving back to the grass. What a way to start sobering up.

“I’m fine.”

“You sure? ‘Cause,” Eddie sat down next to you, one leg crossed and his other, knee up with his arm resting over it. His unopened beer was at his side, “You’re outside, alone, in the cold and you look pretty fucking sad.”

You scoffed, fingers still playing with the strands of grass as you tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t make you seem pathetic. In that time, Eddie took you in.

He knew you, he’d seen you around school and you were nice enough to greet him. Pleasantries in passing. Pretty Hallway Girl, as you’d been dubbed—though never referred to as—until he knew your name. It had been the first one he had jotted down on his list for his secret admirer’s identity, of course he realized with your lack of interactions, it wasn’t likely. He entertained the idea of dating you often, you’d just never shown any real interest in him. Eddie thought about it a lot. Anytime he caught sight of you, really. Your pretty face didn’t make it easy for him to stop. He was a really, really big sucker for your eyes and that smile you’d give him during those brief interactions; like the two of you had some sort of secret between each other. Warmed him up inside.

And here you were, all sad at a party. He didn’t really mind not getting crossed if it meant he got to comfort you, keep you company.

“I’m just drunk,” you finally blurted out, unable to come up with anything else, “And bummed.”

Try devastated.

“You look it,” he joked, nudging his shoulder against yours.

“You don’t look that much better.” You shot back.

“That’s fair,” he sighed, breath visible in the night air as he tilted his head back. “I’m pretty bummed, myself.”

You really didn’t want to ask, figuring he’d already had some sort of lover’s quarrel with Chrissy and you didn’t want to get in the middle of it.

But you were an idiot, so you asked, “Why are you bummed?”

You watched him dig around the pockets of his leather jacket, pulling out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. He pulled one out of the pack, clenching it in between his teeth as he shoved the pack back into the pocket before he shrugged off the jacket entirely—denim vest included—putting it around your shoulders.

It caught you off guard but you were grateful, your body having decided to become once more susceptible to the chill of the air and dewy grass. Eddie must have been a freaking space heater because the lining inside was blissfully warm.

“Thank you,” you mumbled, shimmying around in it until you could slip your arms into the long sleeves of it, your fingers barely poking past the hem.

“You’re welcome,” he shrugged, flicking the lighter to life as he lit the cigarette. After he’d taken a drag, he answered you.

“Love,” Eddie blew out along with a wispy plume of smoke, “Didn’t expect it to be so complicated.”

You wanted to mime the action of staking yourself in the heart. Of course he was in love with her. She was wonderful! And on top of that, he thought she’d been the one leaving him roses! Had he read the note? Assumed it was her, too? DUH! You were definitely playing sick next week.

“Yeah, well. Join the club,” you grumbled, hugging his jacket around you. It was as close as you were ever gonna get to actually hugging him.

Eddie raised an eyebrow, hoping to school his disappointment. While he wasn’t looking for anyone else tonight, it was still displeasing to hear you were taken but of course you were. He couldn’t imagine you dating sporadically, you seemed much too wonderful for someone to even consider giving you up. No, he was gonna hurt himself with ideas involving you and a high school sweetheart stemming back to your freshman days, probably.

“Ah, I see. Is he here?”

You froze for a moment, “Uhm, yeah. He is.”

“Then why come? Or did it happen in there?” He jabbed a thumb behind him, gesturing to the party inside.

“No, it didn’t happen tonight, it was earlier. In the day. I didn’t really want to come but my best friend dragged me out here. I thought I was doing good, apparently not ‘cause here I am. I’m mostly bummed because of myself, though. I didn’t follow through on something I sort of promised myself and I messed everything up. For me. Not for him. I think he’s pretty happy, so I don’t want to ruin that. He deserves to be happy.”

Eddie could tell you meant it, you were vague as hell but whatever you’d done, however it ended, you genuinely seemed to want your boyfriend (ex-boyfriend?) to be happy. He hoped it wasn’t something you had to cave into for one of those meatheads. You deserved better than those jerks.

“That’s pretty selfless of you if you ask me,” Eddie raised the cigarette to his lips, admiring you.

“Eh, I guess. I fully plan on punishing myself for it, though. Really make sure to rub the salt in there, you know?” You finally turned to grin at him, despite the sinking feeling in your stomach.

Eddie thought about how he couldn’t just stop going to school so he could avoid having to look at all the faces in the crowds and wonder if his admirer is one of them.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m right there with you.”

Sweetheart. He really was trying to kill you.

“Eddie, get your ass in there and make up with her.” You lightly slapped his arm and jabbed your finger in the direction of the house. You were not about to let your sacrifice be in vain and he’d better stop unknowingly torturing you like this.

“I can’t!” He laughed, amused with your sudden bossy attitude.

“Why not?” You whined, eager to just get him away from you. It wasn’t fair, he wasn’t being fair.

“Because I have no idea who she is.”

Once again you froze, eyes widening. Luckily for you, Eddie didn’t look too much into your reaction. He figured most people would be surprised over him nursing a heartbreak from someone he didn’t quite actually know, or was aware that he knew.

“What?” You asked, trying to seem as uninterested as possible as you played with the ends of his jacket sleeves.

“Fuck it. Someone left me roses all around the school and this really amazing love note.” For a moment, Eddie entertained the idea of trying to convey exactly what it meant to him, then he thought better of it. He’d either seem crazy, desperate or like some pathetic guy in love (which, he kind of was on the cusp of), “Pretty sure it was a girl.”

Not a single dude in the high school was romantic enough to pull it off, maybe leave him an entire bouquet, but not expand upon it like she had.

Eddie licked his lips, raising the cigarette to them once more and ready to admit that he had no fucking clue who she was, but he figured he might as well make one last rally.

“Wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?”

“Not me,” you lied flawlessly, with a gentle shake of your head. “Sorry, Eddie.”

Sorry I’m a big liar because HOLY FUCKING SHIT, wasn’t expecting that.

“I figured. Still had to try, your boyfriend probably would have kicked my ass, though.” Yeah, Eddie hated Valentine’s Day.

He stubbed the cigarette out into the wet grass, and laid the rest of the way down, hands covering his eyes as the back of his head met the ground.

You frowned down at him.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Hello.

Eddie peaked at you through his fingers, “No?”

You shook your head and as Eddie moved to push himself back up, he yelped.

He shifted onto his side, digging around his pocket for whatever it was that stabbed him.

“Ouch,” He hissed, yanking the purple pen out. “Damn, that hurt like a bitch.”

Your eyes squinted at it in suspicion.

“Is that my pen?”

“Huh?”

“My favorite—and pricey—pen. I lost it at school today.” In fact, you were sure you had and you were sure that was your pen. You’d broken off the clip of it by accident and you recognized the large crack in the body of it, having once given into an intrusive thought regarding whether or not you had the strength to break it while you were bored in class. You did have the strength and luckily for you, it still worked.

When Eddie made no move to give your pen back, you figured he didn’t believe you so you added, “The ink is pink, right?”

Eddie continued to stare at you, mouth slightly parted in awe, and you suddenly felt very nervous, glancing behind you to see if there was something that caught his attention but all you could see were the empty lawns.

“What?”

He finally blinked, licking his lips again.

“You’re a really good liar.”

“What?” You repeated, this time your question was laced more so with confusion than panic. He was right, but why was he saying that?

His lips slowly parted up at the corners until he was grinning at you so wide, his dimples were showing and you could feel your heart beating wildly against your rib cage, as if it was trying to break free to fly right over to him.

“This is your pen?”

“Yes!” Is that what his happiness was about? That he was holding your prized pen hostage?

“This is your pen?” You could tell he was having fun at your expense now, getting more giddy by the minute.

“Yes!” You laughed out, his joy contagious even if he was teasing you with your own belongings. “That is my pen. Give me my pen!”

He clicked it closed with his thumb, “I found it where we hold Hellfire sessions, same pen that was used to write my love note.”

And just like that, your heartbeat seemed to stop all together, smile dropping instantly as you wished a giant hole could form in the ground below you and swallow you up.

“That’s not my pen,” you denied, shrugging off his jacket as you quickly rose to your feet. “I gotta go, bye, Eddie.”

When you saw him starting to hastily rise, you bolted, literally running back into the house to try to find Heather and get the hell out of there.

You heard Eddie frantically calling your name but you didn’t stop, forcing your way through the bodies as you desperately searched for your best friend.

Luck was finally on your side because you were soon smashed into her back by a passing group.

“Whoa,” she laughed, turning to steady you, “There you are, I’ve been searching for you everywh—hey, what’s wrong?”

You were sure she must have noticed the panic on your face, eyes shiny with tears you refused to let fall in public.

“I wanna go home, we have to leave.” You grabbed her hand, pulling her into a secluded corner as your head darted in the direction of the front door. You wanted to make a run for it but you feared running into Eddie on the way.

“What happened?” Heather asked, voice initially soft before hardening as her protective nature came out, “Did someone do something?”

You shook your head, chest heaving with your breaths. You were so close to having a panic attack.

“Eddie. He knows. He knows, Heather.” And because she was your best friend, she understood, mouth and eyes going wide.

“Holy crap. Wait—isn’t this what you wanted?”

“No—yes—I don’t know! I can’t face him!” There was a reason you hadn’t written your name down on the note, regardless of how badly you wanted to. You were just scared.

“Why not?” She bent down, leaned in closer to hear you. This girl and her twenty questions.

“It doesn’t matter, he didn’t want it to be me, anyways. He would’ve asked earlier, and he only did it now because of that stupid pen!” You should have kept your mouth shut and just gone to buy another over the weekend, “Can we just please get out of here? We can try the side gate in the backyard.”

“Is Eddie looking for you?”

“Yes, that’s why we have to leave!” Whatever Eddie had to say, you didn’t want to hear it. Yeah, maybe he could want you but if he didn’t, was searching for you to let you down gently you’d be heartbroken.

“He knows and you don’t think he wanted it to be you?”

“Yes!”

“Then why would he be looking for you?”

You refused to answer her, pushing her towards the back door instead. She went willingly for a few steps, then Heather stopped and you bumped into her back again as she craned her neck to look over her shoulder.

“I think it's too late for that.” She pointed at something behind you and you followed her finger.

Eddie was standing on top of the kitchen table a bunch of guys had carried into the living room to play beer pong on, eyes searching the room with his lips set in a frown.

He was attracting attention, a multitude of heads turning to peer up at him in curiosity.

Oh, god. He was looking for you, you were probably going to get rejected at a fucking Valentine’s Day party in some stranger’s living room.

Eddie must have caught the attention of someone near the sound system because the volume of the music was lowered and you could hear everyone muttering amongst themselves, asking what had happened to the music before they noticed Eddie.

He glanced around, not even a little nervous at the amount of people staring at him. He hadn’t planned on making a huge show of it, figured they were all too drunk to pay him any attention, luckily he was used to being a spectacle.

Eddie used it to his advantage, calling out your full name.

The crowd muttered, everyone looking at each other in confusion or maybe trying to catch sight of you.

It wasn’t long before someone recognized you, head turning in your direction, followed by many more—a domino effect—until just about everyone was staring at you, including Eddie.

He hopped off the table and made his way towards you, crowd parting to allow him. Heather slipped her hand into yours at your side, giving you a reassuring squeeze before she too stepped away, leaving you to finally face Eddie.

Eddie didn’t look at anyone else, gaze trained solely on you.

“Hi, again.”

You blinked, unable to keep yourself from glancing at the crowd around you, curious—nosey—to see what would happen next.

Guess you were going to have to finally face reality, no more running. You didn’t think you could break through the crowd, anyways.

“Hi,” you whispered but you knew Eddie had heard you, his lips pursed into a smile, eyes lighting up when you didn’t shut down.

“You ran away before I could tell you how I feel.” Eddie took another step, pretty much invading your personal space but he was desperate to be close to you and maybe body block you in case you tried to flee. He didn’t want you to run away again, to disappear like he feared you had when you hadn’t left your name on the note.

“It’s only fair right? Since I know?”

You nodded again, the drum of your heartbeat loud in your ears. You were surprised you could hear Eddie over it.

Eddie stared down at you, lips pressed into a thin line, but he didn’t look upset or frustrated. It looked like he was thinking about something.

Little did you know he was reciting the note in his head to give him some courage, he’d memorized it.

He didn’t leave you waiting for long.

“I admire you. A lot.” Your breath hitched as the words you’d jotted down were repeated to you, “So much that I want to stand on expensive looking, antique tables and crash parties for you. I like the way you get animated when you talk, the way you give into your intrusive thoughts at the most random of times—yeah, I saw you trying to see if your finger fit in the pencil sharpener in the library once—I like how kind you are, even when people don’t deserve it.

“I like how you’ve never made me feel ostracized, never made anybody feel like that and I like how dramatic you are—storming off, making an exit, falling flat on your face in hallways then staying there like a dead body before you decide to reanimate again once you’re done being embarrassed. I like how you beat up your locker when it won’t open and then you give it a couple of pats to apologize once it finally does.”

Eddie chuckled at those particular memories, having been thoroughly amused when watching you and you feel your face get hot at being the cause of his cute laugh.

“And I really like your face, your pretty eyes, all of this,” Eddie gestured to you, to all of you from head to toe, “… you’re beautiful. Although, I gotta say, you drove me really fucking crazy today. Made me feel emotions I didn’t know I was capable of feeling and you scared the shit out of me when I thought I’d never get to know who the person I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love with is.”

Okay, maybe you didn’t want the ground to swallow you whole.

“I know we only have a couple of months left of school and you’re probably going off to continue being amazing at some college in some big city a million miles away—‘cause that’s my luck—but I’m willing to work with that. I want to drive those million miles to give you flowers and hold your hand, kiss you, listen to you complain about your bad days, hear you brag about your good ones, kill all the bugs you’re afraid of—even though some of them freak me out, you make me feel brave, too—and just be all around disgustingly domestic with you.

“And yes, that includes all the not so fun domestic stuff like fights—which we’ll get over, I’ll do just about anything, even cave first, if you give me those big, coy eyes of yours—and taxes. I want to do it all with you. If you’ll have me.” Eddie ended, eyes wide and just a little out of breath.

There it was. He’d thrown it all out there, everything he wanted to offer (because he wanted to give you everything, even though it kind of terrified him).

And you—you were just staring at him, left to gape at him since you’d expected… well, you hadn’t really known what to expect since you usually ran from the consequences—be they good or bad—of your actions.

He wanted to be with you. Holy crap, Eddie Munson wanted to be your boyfriend. Wanted to do boyfriend things like visit you at college and hold your hand. You’d thought, the whole time, it had just been you observing him. You never thought he’d be observing you, too. It all sounded too good to be true, you couldn’t really think, couldn’t really form words.

You didn’t have to, Eddie grew anxious, maybe even a little impatient despite having decided the moment you’d run away from him in the front yard that he’d chase after you for as long as it took him to get you to give him a chance.

He found himself blurting out his strongest desire, “Can I kiss you?”

This was it, you were faced with another opportunity, and this one was the actual last opportunity you had to tell him how you feel, without any anonymity. No more hiding, no more running.

“Yeah,” you breathed out and he was on you before you’d even finished saying that singular word, his surprisingly soft lips pressing desperately against yours as his hands moved to frame your face, one of his thumbs stroking along your cheek.

Your eyelids fluttered shut as you returned the kiss and just like that, what he intended to be a simple but firm kiss, turned into your lips moving against each other, a little wet and enough to have Eddie want to pop his leg up like in the fucking movies.

The only reason he kept himself from introducing his tongue to yours like he so badly wanted to was the sounds of encouragement around him; cheering and hollering. You broke away, having also heard your peers whooping and wolf whistling, to hide your face in his chest, bashfulness returning full force.

Eddie laughed and kissed the top of your head, unable to contain his grin and joy. He definitely wasn’t used to this, more accustomed to jeering, not cheering. A couple of people even clapped him on the shoulder.

“You know what, I think they’re rooting for us, sweetheart.”

You pulled away just enough to look up at him, offering a small, pleased smile of your own.

“They’re not the only ones.”

Well, he had to give you some tongue for that one. The cheering and sounds of excitement got louder as he did.

—

You hadn’t walked into school hand in hand with Eddie when Monday came around—though you’d spent pretty much the entire weekend with him, driving around town, lounging around your room (he’d come in through your window) and making out—he hadn’t mentioned anything about meeting up in the parking lot and you weren’t offended in the slightest. While you wanted to see him, you appreciated the extra time to calm your excited nerves before you did.

Heather ran up to you the second you made it to your locker, grin stretching from ear to ear.

“I still can’t believe it. It didn’t even happen to me and I’m pinching myself because of how romantic it was!”

“Imagine how I feel,” You were all smiles as you turned the combination for your locker. But of course, since it was openly known as one of, if not, the shittiest of lockers in the school—having belonged to several wrestlers and football players before you, who’d evidently cared for it on the rough side—it didn't budge when you tugged at it.

You wouldn’t miss it when you graduated.

With a sigh, you pulled the straps of your backpack off of your shoulders and handed it to Heather. Then, you yanked aggressively at the small locker handle. It was your routine though, so you knew it wouldn’t open then, either. It was only when you slammed your fist against it, after all the yanking, that it opened.

Roses immediately flooded out of it, piling onto the ground at your feet. You and Heather watched with open mouths, glancing at passersby, who also looked on in surprise, until your stuffed locker finally finished its floral avalanche.

“Like ‘em?”

You jumped up, and then internally scolded yourself for almost trampling a couple of your flowers. You carefully twisted around to face Eddie, who was leaning back against the row of lockers behind you, smug smirk on his handsome face.

“Yeah, what are all of these for?” You asked, still marveling at them as he pushed himself off the lockers to wrap his arms around your middle and press a kiss to the side of your head.

“I realized I never got to ask you to be my Valentine or give you flowers. So, I bought some Saturday morning,” They were on sale so he’d gone purposely overboard, “used my uncle’s collection of mugs as vases to keep them alive, then woke up at the asscrack of dawn this morning to get here before you did. I probably broke your locker even more, by the way. So, be my Valentine?”

“I’m pretty sure it was part of the terms and agreements of our relationship, but yes. I’ll be your Valentine.”

Eddie closed your locker for you, pressing his weight against it to make sure it was secure and no more roses would escape before he scooped up the ones that had fallen out, arranging them into a large bouquet which he handed to you, leaning in to give you a kiss.

You hummed happily against his lips, nose wrinkling in glee when you felt him smile.

Eddie let out a content sigh when you parted before glancing to his side at your gawking best friend.

“Hey, Heather.” Eddie wasn’t at all bothered by the audience. “Nice shoes.”

“Thanks! They’re new. You done sucking face?”

“For now,” he promised, then turned his attention back to you. “I’ll see you later, beautiful. I’ve got a test to barely pass. Gotta make sure I walk that stage with you.”

Eddie pinched your cheek, pressed another kiss to your forehead and rushed off down the hall. You’d barely locked eyes with Heather when Eddie came running back, taking your face in his hands as he muttered something about one more and gave you a kiss that had you a little shaky on your feet.

‘One more’ actually turned out to mean a couple more pecks before he really forced himself away, blowing you a kiss just as he disappeared around the corner.

“He’s whipped,” Heather stated.

“Pretty sure I’m falling in love with him.”

“That’s appropriate.” You both nodded before you turned to face your closed locker, arms full of sweet smelling roses.

“. . . You still need to get your books, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

Heather slid her arms through the straps of your backpack, over her front, so she could hold your flowers for you as you prepared to battle your locker again. It was totally worth it.

—

Eddie never ended up giving you your pen back, it’s the one he used to write love letters to you while you were away at college.

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rosenotactuallyquartz · 4 months ago

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Here is a question. As a pearlrose shipper, what do you make of Rose's objects stored in Lion? It makes me a bit sad because we don't see anything that's clearly about Pearl there. You have Greg's shirt and portraits, but no mementos of Pearl's. I mean, there is the flag, but Steven gives it to Bismuth, so I don't know if it was meant to be Pearl's.

why isn’t there anything about pearl in lion’s mane?

there actually might be. and if there isn’t, that’s alright.

i had to really look into pearl and rose’s individual characters & their history, but here are the possible situations that explain why we see nothing related to pearl in lion’s mane.

theory 1: “what am i going to do when she disappears?”

what im about to talk about would be quite in character for pearl, i think. in this scenario, rose did have some more obvious artifacts from pearl in lion’s mane.

remember this memory ?

“it’s rose. what was she thinking? she can’t have a baby! what am i going to do when she disappears? i’m going to lose her!” — pearl, a single pale rose

throughout the entirety of rose’s pregnancy, pearl knew she’d die—that’s been confirmed, at least. and this decision made pearl especially insecure about rose’s love for her. she was wary of greg at first, using the word favourite, but then we hear it’s over, isn’t it and she talks about her death while saying she chose you. but gems just love. they don’t label things like open, exclusive, polyamory, monogamy. pearl was alright with the meaningless human flings rose had, likely with this understanding that if she wanted to do the same, it’s okay, too.

(but mind you, pearl’s cleverness, tendency to be observant and focus on small details, & interests likely led her to finding out lots of not-so-great things about human society, while rose’s love for new experiences, naivety, and tendency to always see the beauty in things made her more attracted to human social life than pearl. but pearl was still fine with that, remaining quite protective, confident, & happy with her love life and personal relationships. it took longer for pearl to really warm up to humans, and then she made some friends, but this took until she got to know steven. she and rose always wanted to protect them from danger no matter what, because they loved earth and humanity but felt differently about human activities/socializing)

given that they lived comfortably together for 6000 years, this was great. but then, greg comes in, and he’s unfamiliar. he actually had something called decency unlike rose’s other human bonds, because it looks like said humans never asked rose if they could have a conversation, never asked more about the ultimate connection between gems, and quite frankly, given that rose was confused when greg explained that they (a human & a gem) were supposed to respect each other, i highly doubt these other humans even came close to respecting rose! forgive me, i have issues with these unknown humans, for some reason. they were more than some meaningless fling, so that made pearl worry about things like favourites. because really, this sort of bond was new and confusing for them. also, rose’s eyes always look quite sad, but in greg the babysitter, when she’s explaining how humans grow but she stays the same forever, her eyes seem to have more noticeable sadness. i think by this point, rose became more withdrawn. that, paired with greg giving her a sense of comfort and escapism from her pain made pearl start to really interpret this as, greg is her favourite. then, rose gets pregnant. this is when things become the most tense: it goes from favourite to choosing. pearl saw this as rose choosing greg over her. dying to have a child instead of living with pearl forever.

however, nine months feel very short for gems. and obviously, pearl wanted to spend as much time with rose as she could. rose getting cravings is probably why pearl is canonically very good at making pie (although i’m sure rose loved to eat the things pearl baked long before her pregnancy, so that’s why pearl makes food for steven, and that’s why she has generally a good & comforting feeling about baking pie). as pearl spent lots of time with rose, she couldn’t hide this pain, wondering how much she truly meant to rose. pearl is a passionate person already, and she was dealing with anticipatory grief on top of this. whether or not she tried to hide these feelings, rose knew at one point.

they couldn’t have proper closure, as rose didn’t want an in-depth conversation at all.

i mean, could you imagine what that would sound like? “how could you ever question my love for you? that was something i learned from garnet, not to question love, after i saw ruby and sapphire fuse for the first time. oh, it’s because i’m leaving you? all of you? you’ll be better off without m—oh no.”

she knew that conversation would only bring pearl more pain. so, instead of talking about it, her best attempt at giving her anything close to closure was to show her. she told pearl that she has important things from her and she “holds onto them” somewhere.

pearl wants to remember rose and hold onto everything related to their love, so she asked rose to return them to her.

but not right away. pearl wanted to watch over her every second that she could, and rose wasn’t feeling good a lot of the time. she’d retrieve them while pearl’s on a mission or something, so pearl never finds out about lion.

basically, rose did have things in lion that were related to pearl, but following that conversation she gave them back to her.

theory 2: “rose had a place that she kept hidden from all but me.”

this other theory is something i came up with when i was twelve. surprise surprise, i still don’t mind it.

“shhh! it’s a secret, even to garnet and amethyst. rose had a place that she kept hidden from all but me.” — pearl, rose’s scabbard

pearl and rose were incredibly close, and they had the secret armoury that pearl showed steven. so, why wouldn’t pearl and rose have another secret place? heck, they probably had a few.

rose & greg were together for 4 years, as greg is said to be 40 when steven is 14, but he says he was 22 when he met the gems. she was also much more familiar with earth and material objects, and she seemed to connect with greg through things like music and video tapes. they weren’t finding a bird feather and “oh my gosh this is so fascinating what is this” and keeping it, so that they could always remember their first hundred years of exploring earth (gregrose people, i am not hating on gregrose for not doing this… actually, im making fun of pearlrose more, look at these two silly sapphic nonhumans going wooooowwwooooooo when they see something on the ground).

it’s also been thousands and thousands of years since they first came to earth. every keepsake related to pearl… would be a lot of things. far too many for lion. so, maybe rose reserved those keepsakes in a separate place where she and pearl both knew of. i mean, it’s not unlikely considering pearl already had a secret place between her and rose—the secret armoury. she showed this to steven of course, but showing him their keepsake place is not something either of them would ever want. it’s personal. pearl goes there when she needs to be alone and reminisce, and it’s also probably designed with colours and features that they like. understandably she wouldn’t tell anyone about another place, bigger than lion’s mane, where they keep things.

my treasure chest theory

this can fit into both possible scenarios i’ve mentioned!

lion’s mane is still very much a mystery, even at the end of future. take the treasure chest, for example. it was locked, and steven couldn’t open it with a key that he found in lion 4: alternate ending. yet, in future we saw that the treasure chest was open. steven never acknowledged it, but given his issues opening it throughout the show, i really don’t think he had the key. i’ve made a forum thread about this, & you’d be surprised by how people think it was steven’s darn jacket. while that is something that noticeably changed, i don’t think rose would know his size at the oddly specific mid-teenage age, then store it in a box and lock it. some folks claim it’s a metaphor about pink diamond, but can the creators really do that? we see it in a scene. this means that the characters do, too. it can definitely represent/symbolize something, but it must also have some actual significance.

& i think it’s related to pearl.

the chest looks rather old, and i don’t think it would be related to greg even if it looked like something you’d buy in the 90s. this looks like a treasure chest you’d find hundreds of years ago… in an ocean, perhaps.

i think it’s a special box they kept where they stored all their memories in from when they first came to earth, first lived together, etc. maybe rose kept it in lion, and maybe pearl didn’t think she still had it. rose knew pearl had the key. she knew steven would find lion one day, and she wanted pearl to show him everything that they loved about life and earth. so, she kept it there, much like keeping the flag because she wanted steven to learn about the flag from pearl.

the box also has some flowers much like the one she put in pearl’s hair before the fake shattering, kept and pressed in a book. the original is also there, but wilted because it took longer to figure out how to protect it. she wanted to keep it because it reminded her of the beginning of their love. however, she also wanted to lock it for awhile after a few hundred years, because early life on earth was simultaneously a reminder of an experience they want to leave behind. it’s funny; the rose aspect of it, the beginning, they want to remember. the pink aspect of it, the end, they want to forget. years following this, pearl mentioned that she was ready to open it again, but rose didn’t seem to be. eventually rose was ready, but pearl never asked about the box again. she assumed rose never kept it, after this.

between change your mind and future, i think steven mentioned the box once. pearl asked him to describe it, and then she asked if he could bring it out. she had the key (hence steven couldn’t open it in the mane), she kept everything with her and after being incredibly emotional about all of this, she let steven keep the box. so now it’s open in lion’s mane so he can keep things related to connie (gifts, keepsakes, memories). pearl thinks this feels right because:

rose would love this

steven requested this

pearl is close to connie

they remind pearl of her and rose when they were younger

ending this post with these sketches of pearl by rebecca sugar. she’s wearing her 80s outfit with the leg warmers. in the first picture she sits with her cheek in her palm, blushing slightly, staring in adoration. the second picture is from waist up, her hands are in fists in front of her like she’s dancing, and her head is turned, smiling. i have a feeling she’s looking at rose in these pictures.

#ask me anything #pearlrose #steven universe #rose quartz #pearl su #crystal gems #pink diamond #rosepearl #asks #answered asks

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a-little-unsteddie · 11 months ago

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stuck in your throat || 1.5

1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | [here]

ahhh!! the final part of chapter one! hope the wait was worth it <3 i’ll be posting the full chapter on ao3 tonight, so look out for a post with that link! i’ll also start a master post that i’ll pin to the top of my blog later. eventually. it’s on my to-do list.

i’ll start posting chapter 2 sometime in jan/feb, depending on when i fjnish writing chapter 3, which i’m about a third done with!

happy christmas! i hope everyone enjoys the final part to chapter one!

Steve hadn’t received a response from Eddie, but he wasn’t really expecting one anyway. He sipped his chai and checked the time every minute or so, and even though it felt like he’d been waiting for ages, only a few minutes had passed when a man walked into the café. He had long, dark curly hair, that was in a messy bun. He was wearing a grey band shirt with ripped black skinny jeans and chains hanging off of them. He appeared to be holding the hand of a little girl who had a mane of wild curls that were a few shades lighter than her dads. She was wearing a purple dress and a poofy blue jacket that appeared to do nothing to slow her down as she seemed to move even as her dad ordered.

Steve couldn’t stop the smile that formed at the sight, but assumed that this wasn’t who he was waiting for. He didn’t think his client would bring his pup with him to the interview. He found no harm in watching them for a bit while he waited for Eddie to show up.

After the man placed the order, he turned to look directly at Steve, who flushed in embarrassment at being caught looking and ducked his head. Which meant he didn’t see the man approach with his daughter in tow, but he did smell him, a sweet, musky scent filled his nose as the alpha approached, it reminded him of the forest. He lost himself in it for a moment before subtly shaking his head to clear it. He looked up with wide eyes as the man stopped at his table, hazel eyes meeting brown.

“Steve?” The alpha—Eddie?—asked, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. Steve blinked as he took in the sight of the man, trying to figure out where he knew him from. He looked familiar, but he couldn’t pinpoint why. He was sure he would have remembered meeting an alpha this handsome.

“Huh? Oh, yes, sorry,” Steve stammered, cheeks suddenly flushed. He stood abruptly to properly greet the alpha, “That’s, um, I’m Steve.” he thrust his hand out to shake Eddie’s, who took it and shook firmly. Steve ignored the way his stomach swooped at the firm grip the alpha had.

“..I’m Eddie,” he responded, and opened his mouth to say something else but a small voice interrupted them.

“I’m Elodie!” the pup said cheerfully, trying to replicate the action of shaking Steve’s hand. He was immediately enamored with Elodie and allowed her to shake his hand.

“It is so nice to meet you, Miss Elodie.” he said sincerely, grinning as she giggled in response. The three of them quickly sat, with Eddie and Elodie on one side, and Steve on the other.

Steve wasn’t sure where to start, now that he knew they were going to be joined with the pup he would be taking care of if he was chosen. To be fair, he probably wouldn’t have known where to start even if she hadn’t joined them.

Elodie seemed to be taking this seriously, sitting next to her father with her hands together on the table. She had taken out a notepad and had it opened to a blank page with her colored pencil next to it. She looked like she was trying hard to look stern, and failed miserably at it, which was just an adorable sight. Beside her, Eddie looked uncomfortable but still polite. Elodie also seemed to not have the same problem as the adults, immediately launching into questioning.

“Will you take me to the park?”

Steve glanced at Eddie, who looked fondly exasperated the moment Elodie started talking, so Steve figured it wouldn’t hurt to answer her question.

“If your dad is okay with it, sure,” he agreed easily, trying not to show his amusement in his tone, but sure his scent was giving it away as it sweetened. He was glad that pups didn’t fully develope their understanding of the different scents until they were a bit older than Elodie.

Elodie nodded firmly, writing it down on her little notepad, which upon closer inspection, Steve noticed had stickers of what appeared to be dragons and unicorns decorating it.

Eddie seemed content to let her do her questioning, sitting back and watching the pair. Steve wondered if this was the interview, to see how he and Elodie got along.

“Will you give me treats?” was the next question that Elodie had for him.

Steve leaned forward to stage whisper to her, “Only every day,” as if it were a secret. She brightened at that answer, giggling. Steve tried not to wince as her feet kicked into his shins, hiding it with a grin.

Elodie looked up at her dad, “Alright. I think we have a winner.” she said firmly, and Steve couldn’t withhold a grin from taking over his face, just barely holding back a laugh. She had all of two questions for him, neither of which were entirely surprising for a pup to ask.

Eddie rolled his eyes fondly at her, patting her head, “You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Odie?” Elodie nodded rapidly, eyes wide and begging. “Let me ask him some questions, and I’ll take your vote into consideration. Sound good?” Elodie looked like a bobble head as she nodded wildly again.

“Okay! Can I go play now?” she asked, looking out the window where there was a park across the street.

Eddie looked as though he was about to say no, so Steve took it upon himself to try to convince the alpha.

“There are picnic tables on the far side, you can’t see them from here, but we could sit at one of them and keep an eye on her,” Steve offered, Eddie’s gaze snapped over to him in surprise.

Elodie looked at her father with wide brown eyes, lip jutting out in a pout. “Please?” she asked, stretching the word out until Eddie heaved a sigh.

“Alright, let’s go,” he gave in, standing from the table. Steve’s cheeks hurt from how much he was smiling from this little encounter, and stood to follow them out. Elodie immediately held her dad’s hand, and reached a hand out to Steve to hold one of his as well. Steve glanced nervously at the alpha, but allowed her to take his hand, too.

“Bye, Steve!” Will called as they walked to the door and Steve knew he’d be receiving a load of texts from the other pups he used to babysit about this.

“See you later, Will,” Steve called back, bracing himself against the chilly air as they stepped outside. Almost immediately, Elodie tried to race ahead of the pair, but instinctually, Steve tightened his hold, as Eddie lightly scolded her.

“Elodie Mae, you know you have to hold my hand to cross the street,” he said, frowning at the pup. Elodie pouted, but held their hands and walked with them across the street to the park.

Once they were safely across, Elodie took off towards the park while Steve led Eddie to the picnic benches on the far side. Steve nervously glanced at the alpha, trying to figure out how he was doing so far. He seemed relaxed, but wary of their surroundings, glancing around them frequently, as if nervous to be seen. Steve felt his hackles rise, and furrowed his eyebrows. Could the alpha be embarrassed to be seen with him? Surely not, Chrissy wouldn’t have let him move forward to this stage of the hiring process if Eddie wasn’t going to at least consider him for the job.

“Here are the picnic tables,” Steve said needlessly as a way to fill the silence that had grown between them.

Eddie hummed in response and sat at one of them, and Steve followed his lead, sitting across from him. The picnic table was positioned perpendicular to the park, so Steve sat straddling the bench to keep an eye on Elodie. He may not have been hired yet, so he still wanted to prove that he was capable of the job.

Eddie was silent for a while, but eventually he seemed to figure out what exactly he wanted to say. “This wasn’t my idea,” he started, watching as Elodie ran up to another kid playing at the park.

“I figured not,” Steve admitted, smiling as the two pups ran off together to play.

“But Chrissy is right,” he continued, looking at Steve, “being on tour is a lot and watching an eight year old while performing is pretty much impossible. So, I had two options: leave her at home with a nanny, or bring her with and hire a traveling nanny.”

Suddenly the reason why Eddie seemed so familiar became abundantly clear, he was Eddie Munson. Rockstar, Eddie Munson. Corroded Coffin lead singer, Eddie Munson. Heart-throb alpha, Eddie Munson.

Steve tried to grapple with this revelation silently, hoping that Eddie wouldn’t notice as he didn’t want the musician to think that Steve was being unprofessional. It was fine, really, it just wasn’t something that Steve had been expecting, is all. He wasn’t even a fan of the music, but he knew that Dustin and his friends—including Will—were massive fans. He was glad that Will didn’t flip out when they were in the coffee shop.

“That would be a lot on anyone’s plate,” he finally said, once he was sure his voice wasn’t going to give away his realization. “And I would be more than happy to take some off of it. I’ve already started planning some classwork, actually,” he admitted shyly.

Eddie looked at him in surprise, but it didn’t seem like a bad reaction, so Steve considered it a win.

“Really?” he asked, eyebrows raised. “Even though you weren’t guaranteed the job yet?”

“I was stressing about today, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared,” Steve shrugged, not looking at the alpha, instead watching as Elodie and the other pup raced from the monkey bars to the swings.

“That’s impressive,” Eddie told him, and when Steve looked at him, he was smiling tentatively.

Steve scoffed slightly, brushing off the compliment. “Even if I don’t get the job,” he felt a pang of sadness hit him at the thought, “it’s still good practice.”

“Oh, you have the job,” Eddie said nonchalantly, so much so that Steve didn’t process the words for a second.

“I do?” he asked, whipping his head to look at Eddie so abruptly that he felt his neck crack once.

“Yeah, Elodie got the final say,” he smiled vaguely in the direction of where Steve knew Elodie and her new friend were playing.

Chrissy’s earlier amusement about not making the choice of candidate made sense, now.

“Thank you,” Steve said, unsure if that was the right response, but not knowing how else to express his gratitude about being hired.

Eddie smiled vaguely at Steve, shrugging slightly. “As long as she didn’t choose an obvious asshole, I’m more than happy to hire whoever she wants. Means she’s gonna be more likely to listen to you.”

Steve nodded, “That…makes a lot of sense, actually,” he said softly.

“I’ll get Chrissy to email you the official offer, and whatever else needs to be sent,” he hummed, smiling at him.

“I look forward to it,” Steve said honestly, already looking forward to telling Robin that he got the job. He thought of the NDA, and wilted slightly. He wasn’t sure how much he was allowed to actually share with her about the job. He knew he’d be able to tell her that he <i>got</i> the job at least, but not much more than that. Maybe he’d ask Chrissy if they were hiring for something else, because like hell he’d be sued for talking to his best friend.

The pair spent another two hours or so watching Elodie run around and play, but eventually they had to leave.

“Bye, Miss Elodie,” the omega said, laughing as the pup hugged him tightly.

“Bye, Mister Steve,” Elodie mumbled into his sternum before she pulled away and took Eddie’s hand.

“Goodbye, Eddie,” Steve said, looking up at the handsome alpha through his eyelashes. Eddie smiled, but it looked tense, and Steve was reminded that this wasn’t Eddie’s idea. In fact, he seemed to be mildly against the whole affair.

After they said their goodbyes, Steve watched Eddie and Elodie get into a black car with tinted windows, and watched as it disappeared around a corner before he started the longish walk home, feeling a pep in his step as he did.

if you want to be added to the tag list, confirm your age in your request. if you want to be removed, let me know!

tag list: @marklee-blackmore @paintsplatteredandimperfect @steddie-as-they-go @disrespectedgoatman @lingeringmirth @hyperfixated-on-stuff @swimmingbirdrunningrock @littlewildflowerkitten @sani-86 @thegingerrapunzel @adventures-in-mangaland @missingmalfoy1 @yellowdevilkitten @extra-transitional @queen-stevie @stevesbipanic @crypticcorvidinacottage @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @eyehartart

#eeeeeep #the long awaited meeting #i swear they get better next chapter djshdhsha #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #eventual steddie #steve x eddie #alpha!eddie munson #omega!steve harrington #rockstar!eddie munson #single dad!eddie munson #nanny!steve harrington #tw omegaverse #cw omegaverse #unsteddie writing #stuck in your throat #siyt 🎤

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cressthebest · 2 months ago

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Crimson Rivers thoughts pt. 48

chapter 74:

1. NOT SIRIUS TELLING REMUS TO FUCK HIM AND THEN FINDING OUT HIS DAD IS ON THE PHONE. ID DIE- 💀💀

2. not remus going from: FUCK ME PLEASE to never touch me again, i am unworthy and but an evil temptress

he just went from one shade of dramatic to the next

3. “Remus likes that he can leave doors open and come and go as he pleases. He likes that he can just randomly take a walk whenever he wants, going anywhere and as far as he wants to, hearing the birds sing and letting his new home leave a lasting imprint in his mind, taking shape, something to settle in. He likes that he has the freedom to do anything, and really, all he ever wants to do is just—exist. Just be”

crying when i literally have an exam tomorrow at eight am. 💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼

4. wolfstar is living my dream. i can’t even begin to tell you. they’re living my dream. i’m so unwell knowing that they get everything i want. i’ve never wanted to be sirius more in my life at this point

5. BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHA SIRIUS PROPOSES WITH A SPOON i- that’s the faggotiest thing i’ve ever seen

6. awwwwwwwww remus said yes!! this is the cutest proposal i have ever seen in my life

7. they.. they are making out on the dirt ground of the market surrounded by people

8. “"Was it at least a nice spoon?"

"Worst spoon I've ever seen."”

LMAOOO

9. god i love sapphics. lily has the most dramatic proposal planned for mary. i love lily

10. awwww lily’s gonna have a baby with mary sometime in the near future. they have their own little family!!! i get so happy thinking about it

11. “In Alice's story, he may be the villain, but in his? In his, there was no villain, just pain, and now peace.” yes yes yes YES

12. awww it’s both sad that sirius leaves his mind during his wedding but also so sweet that remus stops the wedding so sirius can remember every bit of it

13. i cried at how happy sirius was to find out that remus waited for him at their wedding

14. pandora has no shame oh my god

15. but also!!!! canon polyam couple 💃🏼💃🏼

16. FHSHDJSJSKJDKDKSJKSKD REMUS AND SIRIUS ARE GONNA BE FOSTER PARENTS OH MY GOD

17. remus being there for lily during the pregnancy test is so special to me. what if i gnawed plastic or mulch or chomped glass? huh? huh???

18. holy shit. regulus babysits for one afternoon and suddenly he’s adopted two more kids. jesus he works fast

19. HARRY!!

20. domestic jegulus raising kids!!!!!!!!!! AND LILY ISNT SURROGATE!! SHES RAISING HARRY WITH MARY!!! 💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼

21. oh gosh they’re gonna adopt teddy, huh? i can’t wait for this oh my god

22. uhhh i was so invested in the story that i literally don’t have anything else to say about the end of this chapter. i was so fixated on this i swear

chapter 75: FINAL ONE OMG

1. remus is being so gay over sirius in a dress. and bud, me too. me toooo

2. “”You want to know something?"

"What?"

Regulus watches the rain come down, his lips still curled up as he murmurs, "I would have volunteered for you, too."”

i’m crying so bad over here. tbh i think my period is about to begin because i also cried over the episode in my little pony where they all tell the stories of how they got their cutie marks and then the mane six find out they were all connected by rainbow dashes sonic rain boom.

3. i finally recovered then got emotional over the horcrux hornet

4. shdjsjjsjsjs the hat made a full circle

5. EVAN!!! look every time i forget about him, his presence comes back to smack me in the face and hurt me

6. 😟 that’s it? i’m done? i’ve been reading this for months, and i finally finished. i feel both so completed and so very incomplete.

7. it’s over. huh. it’s really over. well. yeah.

#marauders #regulus black #james potter #jegulus #sirius black #crimson rivers #remus lupin #wolfstar #lily evans

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bimoonphases · 8 months ago

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@wolfstarmicrofic March 30 – prompt 30: Calming Draught – word count 642

Calming Draught - Calms the user of shock, trauma etc

Remus was late. Whenever he went to St Mungo’s he tried to make it home before dinner, but this time he had been caught up with Mary in a very complex healing potion. They had gotten it wrong a bunch of times and had ended up crying in frustration, missing Lily and her mastery of potions even more than usual. When he finally walked in the house it took him one look to see it was bad.

All of Harry’s toys were scattered around the living room and in the middle of it all Sirius was holding the screaming two-year old in his arms, trying to calm him down, himself looking on the verge of tears.

“What happened?” Remus asked, putting his bag on the carpet.

“The neighbours had a birthday party with fireworks,” Sirius said through gritted teeth, carefully bouncing Harry up and down with the only result of making him scream even more. “One of the fireworks was green.”

Remus nodded and got closer, carefully taking the little boy from Sirius’s arms. Green lights made Harry mad with terror, and it took a really long time to calm him down. The first time it had happened had been with the fireworks on the fifth of November, literally a couple of days after they had taken him in. Exhausted with grief and the responsibility of now having to raise their best friends’ son they had taken an embarrassingly long time to realise it wasn’t the fireworks to frighten him so much, but the green light. Somewhere, deep into Harry’s brain, he connected it with the light Avada Kedavra made when used, the same light which had robbed him of both his parents.

“It’s alright Bambi,” Remus said soothingly. “Nothing will hurt you now, I promise.”

Harry’s screaming turned to sobbing and he buried his face in Remus’s jumper.

“Cry all you want,” Remus whispered. “We’re here for you.”

After a while, the sobs stopped and Remus looked under the wild mane of hair that looked so much like James’s to see Harry had fallen asleep, exhausted. He carefully placed him in the day bed by the fireplace while Sirius collapsed on the sofa.

“You’re so much better at it than me, Moony,” he whispered as Remus sat by his side.

“It’s not true,” Remus passed an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders. “We’re both learning.”

“I couldn’t calm him down,” Sirius said slowly. “He was screaming so much and I couldn’t do anything, I just wanted to scream with him. It’s so unfair to him, Moony. Prongs and Lily were made to be parents and we… We don’t know what we’re doing.”

“I know,” Remus sighed.

“It’s ridiculous, I… I don’t even know what loving parents look like!” Sirius was now half-laughing half-crying, practically in hysterics. “We’re going to fuck him up, Moony, we’ll be like my own parents!”

“Sssh, my love,” Remus quietly kissed Sirius’s temple. “You’re exhausted.”

“I am,” Sirius sobbed. “I always am, and then I think about them not being happy with what I’m doing with Bambi, and… Maybe Lily wishes her sister had gotten him instead.”

“That’s how I know you’re rambling, Padfoot,” Remus chuckled. He shifted to pass a hand through Sirius’s hair and look him in the eye. “If there’s somewhere from where they’re watching us, I know Lily knows we’re doing our best. And Prongs is probably still laughing at the time we had the brilliant idea of leaving Harry alone for five seconds with a barrel of paint.”

Sirius chuckled.

“All those handprints on the corridor wall… He truly is a Marauder’s son,” he said.

“We’re trying and it’s going to be fine,” Remus smiled. “We’ll manage it, together. Alright?”

“Alright, Moony,” Sirius nodded.

“Good. Now, I think you could do with a drop or two of Calming Draught before bed, don’t you?”

#Sirius and Remus calling Harry Bambi is one of my weaknesses #also Sirius thinking he's not good enough because he didn't have loving parents my heart #wolfstar raising harry #wolfstar #wolfstar microfic #remus lupin #sirius black #remus x sirius #sirius x remus #marauders #marauders era #harry potter #mary macdonald #post war wolfstar #the marauders #the marauders era #just writing (like i'm supposed to live)

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saintsenara · 7 months ago

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Do you think there’s any situation in which Sirius/Snape could work as a ship if James Potter was alive/around?

I love both Sirius/Snape and Sirius/James (platonic, romantic and everything in between) as ships so I’d love to see a universe in which the 3 of them have a lovely time together but I dunno if I can picture it. I can mainly see Sirius/Snape working with James and Lily dead and Sirius post Azkaban because it really brings him off his pedestal and leaves that shared grief and longing for that intensity of companionship.

I guess part of the problem is trying to imagine Sirius being able to even remotely care about or prioritise someone else with James in the picture, even if James is only giving platonic on his end. But then doubly so if that person was someone James had a massive rivalry with and doesn’t want near his wife. (Although if he knew Snape wasn’t interested in Lily like that maybe he’d chill out about it? Or would only child syndrome kick in and he’d hate him even more for trying to “steal” Sirius from him because it would be really shocking and maybe low key traumatic for James to have any less than 110% of Sirius’ attention…again even if they were only platonic… 🤔)

If it was going to work I could see it maybe more after Hogwarts when they’ve all grown up a bit and James and Lily are wrapped up in their family and Sirius is a bit adrift at adjusting to not being able to have all of James all of the time.

The closest I’ve seen to making something like it work was a fic where Snape was horribly tortured for killing Peter in front of Voldemort to stop him telling the secret and it left him vegetative for years and the Potters cared for him and eventually Sirius took over so they could go live their married lives. I was really interested in where they were going with it and pretty sold on that being a situation in which it could end up all happy families but unfortunately the fic was kinda preslash and stopped before it explored how things would go romantically for Sirius/Snape after Snape regained his consciousness.

Would love to hear your thoughts on any scenarios in which you think the 3 of them could get along swimmingly!

My other thought was maybe if Sirius had been put in Slytherin and James decided to talk his way into Slytherin to be together, they might eventually adopt Snape into their wider friendship group for his dry wit the way they did Remus. I feel like James was waiting his whole life to have both a best friend and his own gang and would make one wherever he was with the best of what he had available (lbr Peter is hardly a stellar pick), and without the “he’s evil because he’s Slytherin” divide they could potentially find the Dark curses Sev knows fun/useful against whoever else they decide to bully instead, might notice in the shared dorm how poor he is and get a pity thing going like they did for Remus’ werewolf issue (which Snape’s pride would hate but he’d probably milk knowing how he was with Lucius?), and if Snape was gay and as devoted to a crush on Sirius as he was to the canon one on Lily and therefore willing to do some wing maning for James with Lily to keep in James and Sirius good graces, it could really cement his value as a pal….and if Snape had other options for well connected friends who could get him out of Cokeworth (picturing Fleamont setting up summer internships for James’ unfortunate looking poor but impeccably mannered pal at Sleekeasys R and D department 🥹) I’m sure Snape would be happy to not bother with the blood supremacist half of his year who want his childhood best friend dead (unless we think he joined to be in with them as a way to keep Lily safe, but I think that would be more a rationale he’d give himself or her later to justify his behaviour) ……..but anyway even if all of this elaborate scenario could happen so that the 3 of them would be pally, I still can’t picture Sirius being able to love/fancy someone more than James if James is right there, even if it’s only platonic on James’ end.

Unless I guess we take a reading of canon that Sirius was so mean to Snape because he fancied him madly and was furious about it, or because he could sense the queerness in him he hated/was being told by family to squash out in himself. Then maybe they’d have a special type of connection that could be powerful in a way Sirius wouldn’t be able to share with a straight James? Would that be enough though for Sirius never see one without the other Black? 🤔

I do think if that was the friendship group and they made Snape the secret secret keeper instead of Peter James and Lily might have lived! (And Snape might have let himself get killed keeping the secret 🥲) …although that said if Peter had an inkling James Potter might go to Slytherin he probably wouldn’t have fought the hat so hard and would have still been in the gang too!

I’ve really gone on a tangent here but yeah so interested in any scenarios you could see it working, I think about this a lot and I love the way you think about HP things! 👏

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

this is a question which i've wondered about for a while, which i'm going to answer with a tentative... yes.

because i do agree with you that one of the things which makes snack-in-the-90s really work is their shared grief over the loss of james and lily [and their shared guilt and desire to punish themselves for the role they each played in their deaths] and how it contributes to them being one of the series' most interesting narrative mirror pairings.

but it's equally true that they're narrative mirrors even without the grief aspect simply because of their mirrored love - whether you wish to interpret this as platonic or not - for one half of james and lily, and the quiet devastation [even though sirius expresses this very differently to snape] they feel when the two pair off.

and so i do think - in a world in which both james and lily survive [i don't think it can be either/or] - there is the potential for snape and sirius to find themselves drawn together by a grief which is less profound than that caused by james and lily's deaths, but is still transformational in a way that i think is often overlooked in fandom: the grief of realising that the person you love doesn't feel the same way.

because i love platonic prongsfoot and platonic snily as much as the next girl, and i think that the grief i'm describing can apply just as much to platonic love as to romantic love.

but i prefer - and, indeed, i'm on the record as being convinced this is the text's actual intention - to read both snape's love for lily and sirius' love for james as romantic.

and - obviously - the intensity of this feeling prevents either snape or sirius getting a grip while they're in their teens [especially if they're both also grappling with the idea that they're not straight - i'm afraid i've never bought the fanon that the wizarding world is more enlightened when it comes to sexuality]. it makes perfect sense that - as you say - it's impossible for the nineteen-year-old sirius to imagine caring about someone the way he care about james, and to convince himself that the only way he can live his life is to spend decades pining nobly from afar, never letting on how much his heart aches.

but one of the great tragedies of the canonical snape and sirius is that they get stuck in a state of arrested development from their lives - essentially - stopping when they're both twenty-one. there's an inherent pettiness to their interactions in canon - the obsessing over schoolboy experiences, the fact that snape finds himself stuck at school and sirius finds himself stuck in his childhood home - which other characters clearly don't quite understand [dumbledore saying to harry at the end of order of the phoenix that sirius was too sensible to be goaded by snape seems dismissive in the context of what we - the readers - have seen, but it makes perfect sense that - from dumbledore's perspective - a thirty-six-year-old man wouldn't still care about playground beef from twenty years ago.]

in a world where james and lily live, snape and sirius get a chance to act their actual ages - and with that, sirius gets to learn how to accept that his role in james' life will change as his best friend settles into being a husband and father and snape either gets to learn how to stop pining for lily from afar or how to start trying to make amends for his treatment of her.

and james and lily also get to grow up too - to recognise how their priorities towards their friends will change as they form a family of their own and to see their school days [and their behaviour during them] more objectively the further removed from them they become. james at eighteen would rather die than have anything less than 110% of sirius' attention. james at thirty has other things to worry about.

i think that it would only work in a scenario where snape and sirius encountered each other again after having left hogwarts [i like the slytherin!james suggestion - and i'd be interested to see how you'd write it - but i personally think that there's no way on earth james is having snape anywhere near him until he's - for want of a better term - "won" their rivalry over lily]. but i also think it would only work if that scenario was decades after they graduated, rather than years, and that the two don't meet again until they're - at least - in their early forties.

i think you could do something really quite interesting with james in that setting - as he realises, as his children reach adulthood and start to fly the nest, that sirius is chronically single and decides the project he wants for his middle age is to find his friend true love.

never expecting that his friend will bail from a date he arranges with a lovely woman and end up hiding in the leaky cauldron talking to snape - but then being mature enough [after some running around screaming "snape? snape?" at lily] to think that if sirius is happy, then he is.

and on this point, both sirius and snape canonically struggle to be realistic about how they see themselves and their worth - for example, in how they both refuse to believe that they could successfully atone for their roles in causing james and lily's deaths. when this is combined with the fact that sirius grew up in a community which is obsessed with blood and lineage - and how that blood and lineage is continued - and snape grew up with his primary masculine role-model being a violent man who was presumably also a homophobe, i do think that both of them would find it difficult to be open about their sexuality, especially since - in a world where they get to live normally after 1981 - they would be starting to understand themselves as queer during the aids crisis [which i refuse to believe doesn't impact the wizarding world, because i loathe the implication of canon that wizards are resistant to muggle diseases].

i think you can plausibly write them as both still in the closet in the 90s/00s - and for sirius especially to be worried about james' reaction if he found out he was interested in men. [which is a dimension often left out of things which examine sirius as queer and james as straight. lots of queer men worry - sometimes unnecessarily, sometimes, sadly, justifiably - that being open about their sexuality with straight male friends will cause those friends to back off from their platonic relationships due to a homophobic fear that queer men will automatically interpret platonic physical and emotional intimacy as romantic.]

but - whatever else he is - james clearly isn't a bigot. and i think he could once again get over the fact that sirius has shacked up with snape [snape?] in order to be proud that sirius was finally comfortable with who he is.

[and yes, i do genuinely think that sirius and snape's canonical vibe can be read as having some level of sexual attraction in it - they are both just so obsessed with each other that it's giving "why do i have this hyper-intense need to get in this other boy's face oh wait that's why"...]

#asks answered #asenora meta #asenora's opinions on ships #starprince #snirius #sirius black #severus snape

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lieutenant-teach · 9 months ago

Text

Meeting Cyare’s father (or Anakin Skywalker doesn’t like his new son-in-law very much)

(Anakin doesn’t go Dark, everyone lives, everyone’s happy. No Sequels, rehashed Heir to the Empire instead of the OT. DinLuke, minor Anidala, CodyWan, HanLeia)

Din was really relieved about his helmet on, but then he remembered that the Jedi can feel other people’s emotions. No luck, then.

His cyare’s father’s eyes were trying to burn a hole in his head.

– Let me get it straight, Luke. A Mandalorian bounty hunter. – The voice could cut the stone better than a lightsaber.

– Mum likes him, – Luke was smiling, but Din saw him tensing for a fight. A cybernetic hand squeezed his.

– I didn’t raise my only children to give them away to some criminals, - Skywalker-senior stood up from the couch and started walking back and forth. – First I have to agree to allow my princess marry some smuggler…

– Han did help us to stop Thrawn.

– … and then my son wants to partner a bounty hunter, - Luke’s father wasn’t listening to him, anger coming off him like waves – Din was certain he wasn’t Force-sensitive, but one may not be to feel the Dark Side emanating from Anakin Skywalker at that moment.

Din remembered Luke’s words before ‘meeting with father’s half of the family’: ‘My Dad will become angry, I’m sure – he didn’t react to Han well, too – but don’t worry, he’ll cool down’. The warning rang in his ears when he saw Skywalker-senior for the first time: tall, with a rich mane of greying curls, but still very handsome former Jedi assessed him and made up him mind immediately. ‘Not worthy’. Now they were sitting on the softest couch Din’s ass had ever been on, in the richest living room Din’s eyes ever seen, and ‘officially’ letting Din into a very branchy Skywalker family tree. Or, trying.

– Dad, I’m almost thirty, I can decide for myself. And Din’s a hero of his own – he kept Grogu save and sound, stopped Moff Gideon, and also saved the town of Mos Pelgo from the krayt dragon…

– But a bounty hunter! – Skywalker-senior cried exasperatedly. – And, to add to it, a Mandalorian! It is all your fault, Obi-Wan! – he suddenly turned to Luke’s uncle, quietly watching all this until this moment.

– Wait, why? – the man was older than Luke’s father, gray hair and beard and mischievous twinkle in the eyes. So far he hadn’t said anything, but Luke had said his uncle would be supportive. Now it was time to find out. – My fault Luke fell in love?

– With a Mando! – Skywalker raised his voice. – Who in this family has a thing for Mandos?

– Do not speak about Satine like this, – Obi-Wan’s voice became steely, – and anyway, Cody is not a Mandalorian.

– He is a clone of a Mandalorian!

Din started to lose the thread of the conversation. He even wished he had a Jedi ability to speak telepathically and could ask Luke what the kark was going on. He shifted his head, trying not to be very obvious in his confusion, Luke caught his gaze and shrugged.

– Do you really think I taught Luke… - Luke’s uncle sighed. – We have been here before, Anakin. Luke is an adult, he can think for himself. If he brought young Din Djarin here, then he is certain in him and his own feelings. Did your fits of reality rejection change Leia’s mind?

Luke’s father breathed in and out heavily, clearly holding himself from harsher words, but reluctantly accepting the truth.

– Maybe, you should just talk to Din? – Luke’s uncle didn’t look happy, but so wasn’t Din hearing this suggestion.

‘Let me talk, – Din remembered Luke’s words. – When Dad started being… um… not very nice to Han – critical of sorts – Han started talking back. It escalated, some chairs were flying around, Dad and Leia exchanging angry remarks – Dad said she deserved better, Leia insisted she loved Han – and Han himself wasn’t making everything easier. It took two professional negotiators – Mum and Uncle Obi-Wan – to calm them down. Still, Leia and Han are happily married and have a son. So it’s just an unpleasant procedure you have to endure’.

– Maybe, he would take the helmet off for starters? – Poison in Skywalker’s voice could kill a bantha. No, a herd of banthas.

– I cannot, - Din was glad his voice didn’t tremble. He wasn’t afraid of the man, but watching a family drama, and, worse, being the reason of it didn’t feel well. He didn’t want to cause a rift in Luke’s relationship with his father. – My Creed prohibits me to.

– Veery convenient, - Skywalker smiled a tight and unpleasant smile, ignoring pleading and exasperated eyes of his son. – We’re a family now, you don’t show your face even to your family? Luke, have you seen his face?

– Dad, now it’s rude. Of course, I did. – It was obvious Luke was holding well, but his patience wasn’t infinite, too. – It’s only for immediate members.

Technically, after realizing the existence of different Mandalorian Ways, Din wasn’t sure he couldn’t do that. After all, taking off helmets didn’t make Bo-Katan Kryze or Sabine Wren less Mandalorians. But even if he would – not for this man.

The door slid open, a man quietly entered the room and stood behind Luke’s uncle’s armchair, resting his elbows on the chair back. Could he be Boba Fett’s relative? Because he was a carbon copy of Din’s friend, albeit much older. An intricate scar was winding its way from his temple down around his left eye.

– I am being quite nice! – Skywalker protested, dragging all attention to himself. – I can’t believe Padmé actually said ‘I like this guy, let’s take him in’.

– You know, I agree with you, - the probably-Boba’s-relative suddenly said. Luke’s uncle turned to him with puzzled expression. Luke looked disappointed. – The kids take after their mother in their bad choice of life partners.

Skywalker seemed about to blow up. He grabbed something from his belt that appeared to be a black respiratory mask and pressed it to his nose and mouth. The mechanical labored breathing sounds filled the room, Skywalker was drilling the man with burning eyes.

– Now, Cody, that was harsh, - frankly, to Din’s mind, Luke’s uncle didn’t look apologetic a lot. Luke sighed, his shoulders relaxed.

– I thought you were serious! – he even laughed a little, then gather himself again. – Dad, you do realize your approval or disapproval won’t change anything?

– Unfortunately, - Skywalker’s voice also sounded mechanical. – I believe no one in the galaxy or farther is worthy of my children. – He signed. – I guess I have to work with what we have here. – He shot a look at Cody, who smiled in return, and this smile was ‘I know you know I’m right, and I unashamedly love it’.

– Very well, - Obi-Wan clapped his hands. – Now as everything is settled, - Din clearly heard ‘Anakin is settled’, - we can share some stories and know each other better, right, Din?

Luke looked at Din with shining eyes. Din signed quietly. This look was worth all these awkward minutes.

#star wars #dinluke #din djarin #anakin skywalker #luke skywalker #obi wan kenobi #commander cody #codywan #fanfiction #my fic #fanfic

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wobblesthecowgirl · 1 month ago

Text

I'm No O’Driscoll!

Chapter Five: Shopping Spree

Tags: Arthur Morgan x Femreader, enemies to lovers, O'Driscoll reader, game plot, Arthur doesn't have tuberculosis, eventual smut, age difference, 18+, mild gore Word Count: 3k A/N: I'm so sorry for being gone for so long! I had a lot going on, but I'm back with a long chapter! This is not plot related, but in the next chapter, we get back a certain Irish lad. Chapter One

“Y/n! Let’s go into town and do some shopping!” Karen grabbed Y/n’s forearm and gave her an excited shake.

“Shopping? And with what money exactly? Slaving away doing chores for Mrs Grimshaw isn’t paying well. In fact, it isn’t paying at all.” The new member of the gang sighed. After her drunken fun with Lenny and Arthur, she had the worst hangover known to man. Then, there wasn’t anything to do at camp, no missions she could take part in, as they were trying to settle down and keep a low profile. Which left Y/n to help the other women with chores and get treated harsher than the others due to her O’Driscoll past.

“Well, that’s what the men are for, silly!” Karen rolled her eyes. They had just finished folding up the clothes, which meant they were done for the day.

Y/n shook her head, “As fun as it sounds, no man here would give me money. Except Kieran, but he hasn’t got any.” She thought that maybe Lenny would, but just asking anyone for money made her feel bad, and he was probably only nice to her because he was drunk, which wasn’t farfetched when she thought about how Arthur treated her that night too.

Karen dragged her towards Tilly and Mary-Beth, who were washing and drying the food bowls. They looked like they were nearly done too, and upon seeing Karen forcefully pull Y/n towards them, they raised an eyebrow.

“We are going shopping!” Karen declared and finally let her go.

“We are?” Mary-Beth sounded excited immediately, probably already thinking about what to buy. Tilly scoffed, “Oh yeah? And with what money?”

“Exactly what I said. We can’t go asking the men.” Y/n nodded in agreement with Tilly, glad that someone saw some sense.

Mary-Beth dried the last bowl and brushed her slightly wet hands on her apron before removing it and said, “It is rather impolite.” Karen groaned in annoyance at the three before her eyes gleamed and a sly smirk spread across her face.

“Then we’ll steal money!”

“Steal?” Mary-Beth giggled, putting a hand over her mouth. Y/n thought about it for a minute, yes stealing was bad, but she had shot multiple people in the head, she would hardly call herself morally sound. Plus, she really wanted new clothes.

“I’m down.” She said and Karen cheered. Tilly crossed her arms, a playful smile on her lips, “Ok, ok, me too I guess.” They all faced Mary-Beth who laughed, “Count me in.”

The four of them put the clean bowls and cutlery away; it was only early afternoon, many on the men were out doing their own thing, a few chattering away. They began to plan quietly among themselves: They would ask one of the guys to drive them into town, they’d pickpocket as much men as they could, then buy whatever they want. Not the most solid plan in the world but it was a start.

When they were happy with it, Karen began to make her way to Arthur who had only just come back to camp. Y/n’s eyes widened as she grabbed her wrist and whispered, “What are you doing? You’re going to ask him?”

“Yes! Arthur’s nice enough he’ll say yes to us!” “He’ll say yes to you, not me. He hates me. And I don’t like him.” She watched as Arthur tied his horse up, feeding her an apple and brushing her mane. Karen pulled her arm back and said, “Well I’m asking him; besides we need a big brute in case we get into trouble.” There was no stopping her as she made her way over to him. Y/n watched as she convinced him, his face turning from confusion to a grin and a slight chuckle with a shake of his head. When Karen waved the girls over, the other two ran, whereas Y/n sighed and strolled over, hand in pocket.

Arthur was leading them towards the wagon, where Kieran was attending to the horses. Y/n waved at him, and he smiled at her, before his eyes drifted to Mary-Beth and he looked away sheepishly.

“What are you ladies even buying, and with what money?” Arthur asked as he made his way to the back of the wagon and began helping Tilly up, then Mary-Beth, but hesitated when Y/n made her way around. She waved him off and awkwardly climbed up herself, feeling Mary-Beth pull her forearm up for support. Karen followed Arthur to the front to help him with the horses and they set off.

“Don’t you worry about that Arthur you just sit and look pretty.” Karen tapped his arm, and he scoffed, “Well excuse me for being worried when a group of women ask me to take them to town to go on a shopping spree.”

Tilly changed the conversation before he started to catch whiff of their plan to rob unsuspecting men, “Where were you today?” She asks him.

He grumbled while steering the horse to the right, a farm coming into view, “I was running errands for old Dutchy. I came back empty handed of course.” His face looked like he had just bit a lemon. They continued to have small talk amongst themselves, although Arthur didn’t acknowledge Y/n, not that she was complaining.

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Once they made it into town, the women hurriedly hopped off the wagon and thanked Arthur. He raised an eyebrow at them before saying, “I guess I’ll sit here and look pretty. Don’t be too long now.”

Tilly and Karen linked arms, while Mary-Beth did the same to Y/n. The weather was perfect; sunny and a light breeze. The town was bustling which would make pick pocketing easier because of the distractions.

“Should we start at the saloon?” Tilly asked as they grew closer. Karen nodded, “Good idea, drunk men are easy targets.”

The four made their way inside, gaining a few stares as a group of women entering a tavern was a rarity.

“Make sure to keep safe,” Y/n warned them, “Don’t be putting yourself in harms way just for a couple of coins.”

Mary-Beth playfully bumped her shoulder and teased her, “We know what we are doing! Don’t go worrying about us now!”

She should’ve guessed these women had done this before, but she still felt a weird protectiveness towards them. There was a very drunk man all alone sat at the bar and Karen tapped Y/n.

“I’m going to flirt with that man, while he’s distracted you pocket his wallet.” She whispered. Sounded easy enough. Tilly and Mary-Beth did something similar on the other side of the bar, and Y/n watched Karen work her magic; she couldn’t deny that she was very charismatic, and the man was practically ogling her. While he was distracted, she acted casual and stood near him, looking to see any indication of his wallet, and grinned when she saw it was peeking out of his back pocket. Back pocket? Basically asking to be robbed. She lightly grabbed it and as suspected, he didn’t even feel it. She winked at Karen who grinned back as she excused herself. She dragged Y/n to the stairs as they opened the wallet. There was easily one hundred dollars.

Karen cackled, “We are a perfect duo! Let’s keep at it!”

They looked over to the other two girls who had done something similar and gave a thumbs up. They did this a few more times, sometimes Y/n would flirt, and Karen would steal, and other times all four of them would target one man. Just from the saloon alone, they had easily made nearly four hundred dollars. Karen made her way to her, a gleam in her eye.

“Listen Y/n, there’s a very rich man that I have wrapped around my finger. He wants to take me to a hotel room, if I go with him and you steal his wallet, we could easily get double of what we already have!”

Y/n hummed in thought, sipping a beer she was given by a man she flirted with.

“I don’t know, we’ve got enough for what we want. A hotel room? I don’t want you in danger.”

Karen huffed, “Oh come on! Don’t be like that, I’ll be a smart and safe little lady.”

She sighed at her blonde friend but reluctantly agreed. The plan was to follow Karen and this man from behind as they went into the hotel, and stay outside the door. When it sounded like the man had his trousers off, Y/n would take those along with the wallet. So, they did just that, she tailed them, keeping hidden from the hotel receptionist, and stayed posted outside the door. She grimaced as she heard him zipping off his trousers and his sickly perverted words. She just had to open the door quietly while he was distracted, but when she heard Karen begin to struggle and then shout, Y/n lost her temper immediately.

When she burst open the door, she saw the man had Karen pinned down, while he was just in his boxers, and he whipped his head around in shock.

“What? What is this?” He shouted angrily, getting off Karen.

“Karen, get behind me.” Y/n demanded and was glad to see her friend listen to her. She then turned her attention back to the man, “You don’t know how to treat a lady, Mister?” she taunted, a rising feeling that this man wouldn’t leave without a fight. Of course, she was right. The man immediately went to grab her, as she pushed him back.

He scoffed, “I’ll show you how I treat bitches like you.” He swung at her, punching her on the nose, causing it to bleed straight away.

“Y/n!” Karen shrieked as Y/n wiped the blood off but only smeared it. She shook her head, “Karen, go find the others and get out of here. I got this don’t worry.” And before finishing her sentence, she kicked the man in the stomach then punched his jugular.

Karen ran out and the man tried to follow her, but Y/n pushed him again and scoffed, “Don’t even think about it.”

He pushed her harshly until she stumbled out the room, before punching her in the nose again and running down the hallway towards the stairs, still in his boxers. Y/n quickly chased after him and pounced at him in the middle of the stairs, causing them both to tumble down. She knew all these injuries would hurt like a bitch the next day, but she had to stop him from getting to Karen. She punched him on his cheek as he pulled her hair aggressively. The receptionist was hiding under the desk after hearing them scream, as the rich man hissed at her, “You think you can fight like a man? You think you can stop me?”

She finally freed herself from him before kicking him in his gut. He wheezed and stumbled to the doors. Before he could open them himself, Y/n kicked him again and the doors burst open as the man fell down the porch and into the mud. She strode towards him, some of the public quickly walking away, others watching and whispering. Y/n felt weirdly good, it had been a long time since she overpowered someone; she had spent weeks being frail and weak.

He got up, getting into a fighting stance and all she could do is laugh down at him while she stood on the porch.

“You look ridiculous, Sir! You’re still in your underwear!”

He screamed in pure rage as he began to run towards her but was stopped when a hand grabbed his shoulder. Y/n grimaced.

An angry looking Arthur had stopped him before snarling, “Just what do you think you’re doing?” The rich man instantly cowered, his mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish. He couldn’t respond however, as Arthur punched him once and instantly knocked him out; to everyone’s surprise, he didn’t stop there. He sat on top of him and began punching and punching. Y/n’s eyes widened, if he didn’t stop now, he would kill him. She quickly ran over and pulled his forearm, “Arthur stop it! You’ll kill him!” He reluctantly got off the now severely injured and unconscious man and shook his head. When he realised people were staring, he shouted, “Fights over! Go home!”

The crowd quickly dispersed as the other three women ran over, Mary-Beth hugging Y/n tightly, “Y/n! Are you ok? Your nose is bleeding!” They pulled apart as Y/n wiped her hand along her nose and sure enough it was still bleeding. She looked down and the clothes she was going to replace for being tatty were even worse now. Her button up shirt had been pulled so the first two button were gone, the original tear on her thigh and grew bigger, as well as having blood splatters on them.

She chuckled, “I look like a mess, huh?”

“Yes, you do.” Arthur grumbled, “come on, we are going back to camp.” All the girls whined in protest but when he looked at them, they quietened down. He was never mad at the women in camp (Minus Y/n) so they hurriedly got back into their original seats. Arthur pointed at Y/n and demanded she sat with him at the front, so she did without arguing.

Once they finally made it out of Valentine, Arthur began to shout at only her, “What the hell was you thinking! Look at you, trying to fight for money!”

“I handled it! You didn’t have to get involved!” She snapped back, wincing a little as the adrenaline died down and now her whole body was aching from being punched, pulled, kicked, and falling down half a flight of stairs.

He scoffed, “You call that handling it? You could’ve ended up dead if Karen didn’t find me when she did!”

The women in question interrupted him, “It’s my fault, Arthur. It was my idea, she saved my hide.” He sighed and shook his head, responding, “I don’t care. I’m disappointed in all four of you. Couldn’t you have just told me what you planned to do? Or just ask for some money?”

Y/n could tell that under his frustration, there was an underlying worry, most likely for the other three.

“We just wanted to do things our way, we’re sorry.” Tilly explained, as all of them went quiet. Until Karen coughed, “Although… we did get quite a bit.” And she held up the rich man’s wallet. Y/n burst into laughter, “No way! After all that you still managed to take it? A master thief over here!”

She glanced at the once angry man and saw that a smirk had crept on his face. The tension was disappearing throughout the trip, and while the three girls in the back was distract in conversation, Y/n turned to Arthur.

“I’m sorry for causing a commotion.” It physically pained her to apologise to him, even more than her actual injuries, but it didn’t feel right not to. His eyes widened slightly but he quickly replaced it with a scowl.

“I still have to let Dutch know what you did. Your little ‘commotion’ could have people sniffing around camp.”

She sighed, slumping a little more in her seat as he spared her a glance, “make sure you sort your face out, you nose doesn’t look happy.”

Y/n looked away quickly and snapped, “Shut up. I won that fight.”

“Sure you did.”

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Dutch took the situation surprisingly well. He was smiling throughout her retelling of the story and laughed at the end. He gestured at her state and said, “You definitely need some new clothes now!” He laughed harder at her appearance as she bit back her tongue, she could quip back at Arthur all she liked, but she didn’t dare do it to the leader of the gang. Once he had calmed down, he asked her seriously, “So, you can fight? Arthur has mentioned before about your skills with a gun too.”

She nodded, straightening her back a little bit, “Yes, I can fight. I used to be a sniper before… all of this.”

Dutch nodded, “A lady sniper? That’s not something you hear every day.”

Arthur spoke up, “Where are you going with this, Dutch?”

He smiled, the cogs in his head turning, “Good ol’ Josiah Trelawny has given us some information about Sean. I’ve sent Javier and Charles to investigate but I want you to go too, Arthur. And Y/n should join you for the ride.”

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Y/n had finished washing her face and sighed when she looked at her clothes. So much for getting new ones. She had to get a good night’s rest, as tomorrow she would have to stick by Arthur’s side yet again to help go rescue a captured member of the gang. Clearly Dutch saw something in her, which she appreciated, but she didn’t appreciate always being paired off with the man who shot her.

As she got to her tent, she was surprised to see some clothes folded up and a wallet she had helped Karen steal earlier that day. When she unfolded the clothes she raised an eyebrow. They were clean and smelt fresh, but they were large. A black button up top and some dark blue jeans, and a black belt. She knew she would have to use the belt and tuck the top in as these were clearly for men. There was a note under the jeans, and she was shocked.

These are some clothes I don’t wear anymore. I know they aren’t your fancy ones you were hoping to buy, but it’s better than the ones you have on now. Arthur

Arthur had given her his own clothes. Why? Out of embarrassment? To say sorry? She almost didn’t want to wear them, but then again, she was grateful. She folded them back up before changing into her pyjamas, and climbed into her cot, trying to get some rest for the big mission tomorrow.

Tags: @insaneintheemembranev2 @friendlyspacemartian @gloriasttbh @fmlmf

#rdr2 #rdr2 fandom #rdr2 x reader #rdr2 fanfic #arthur morgan x reader #rdr2 community #rdr2 arthur #red dead redemption 2

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