#like mostly everything past max getting knocked out

[radiaking]

i think coop was like 99% sure when seeing moldaver's pic at the 'sheriff's office' that he was right in recognizing lucy's last name and begun to really suspect that her dad was the henry he knew bc if ms. williams is around then it's not as weird for hank to be around and coop would be able to deduce that it was possible moldaver knew hank from back then too and that's why she took him. (he would obvs have no idea about rose or anything and that whole reasoning for why moldaver took hank specifically....)

i think that's essentially why we don't see him like. bothering to find/look for moldaver once he gets to the observatory/at the very least is not bothered by the fact that she's not in her like 'office' or whatever when he gets there and isn't disappointed that all he finds is hank. like i think he would've been happy to find either one of them, both would be great but anyone with some answer was enough. and also he probs assumed hank would know more since he worked directly with his wife at vault-tec right up to the end but moldaver hadn't worked directly w/her in quite some time presumably.

[moeyynorris]

Chokehold

Let’s Make Trouble in the Dream World - Part 2

Max Verstappen x F!Reader, Charles Leclerc x F!Reader (?)

Warnings: Some angst (mostly internal), uncertainty in a relationship, cheating thoughts.

A/N: The songs mentioned in italics are “Chokehold” and “The Summoning” by Sleep Token. In this fic, this is Y/N’s original music. I do not own any rights to this or any songs. As I noted before, the lyrics to my favorite ST songs are what helped inspire this series. I hope you like this fic. Feedback is much appreciated.

Moeyy’s Master List

“Trouble in the Dream World?” You hissed. Max stood beside you, shaking his head as he watched you prepare for your show. “How dare they use my own lyrics against me!” Your breath was heavy, making your hands shake. You tried to let out a calming breath so you wouldn’t royally fuck up your eyeliner.

Max shook his head. “Those people always get the story confused. You went to say hi to a friend, and they twist what it means.”

He sighed as he studied you. He had watched you apply your thick black eyeliner more times than either of you could count. But, for some reason, he was focusing on your every move, almost like the was searching for something. Did he believe what the press was preaching? Did he think there was more between you and Charles than there was?

You froze for a moment. Was there more between the two of you? You closed your eyes as you remembered the hug that lingered, the way he pulled you against him. Not that you could remember how many times you actually hugged the man, but from what you could remember, it wasn’t like that… ever.

Opening your eyes again, you glanced up at Max through the mirror. He still held your tablet in his hand, the photo of your embrace with Charles still on the top of the screen. You could tell he was annoyed. Whether it was with the story, or with the thought of you and Charles having something, who knew.

You almost jumped from your seat as a knock rapped on the door. Before you could turn, you heard a familiar Spanish accent greeting Max, along with a lively British one.

“Carlos, Lando!” You grinned as you lifted yourself from your fluffy stool. “Thank you for coming!” Carlos hugged your first. He had gone to a few of your shows in the past. Even though it wasn’t really his style of music, he said the performance was always freaking awesome, which made you smile.

Lando grinned and offered you a half hug. He had never been to one of your shows, which made you even more excited. Not just because you and he had similar taste in music, but because he was always such a fun person to be around. You could already see him going ballistic in the crowd.

“Best of luck. You’re always great,” Carlos beamed as he patted your shoulder.

“Thanks,” you chuckled. Then, your face fell as you noticed something…

Charles wasn’t with them.

Did he get cold feet? Or maybe he actually bought the tickets for them? But that couldn’t be right. He said he wanted to be there to support you. That was the whole point.

You shook your head. Maybe he was just late. But, it was odd that it bothered you that he wasn’t there, almost concerning. No, that wasn’t the right word. You honestly couldn’t think of that the right word really was. But, with Max right in front of you, you didn’t want to define the feeling. It was just there, and you were going to allow yourself to feel it.

“Fifteen minutes,” your organizer muttered through the doorway. You met his gaze and nodded.

“Okay, all of you out. I’ve barely warmed up, and I need to get everything together. Get out there.” You shoved the three of them to the door. “Craig, can you make sure they get to the front?” The organizer smiled and nodded, leading Carlos and Lando towards the back hall. Max stopped and turned to you, then pressed a quick kiss to your lips. You kissed him back, suppressing the hollow feeling of his touch. You didn’t know if the feeling was from you, or him, but you weren’t going to analyze it now. No, you had a show to do.

The warped sound of the first notes to your song echoed through the massive speakers. The crowd erupted in shouts and cheers as the lights flickered. You clenched your mic in your right hand, grinning. Then, you slowly stepped onto the stage.

Your mid-calf combat boots made no noise under the booming bass. Your shredded black skirt swayed against your thighs as you strolled towards the center of the stage. Chills covered your exposed skin as you turned towards the crowd, searching the first row for faces. Luckily, the first few rows of people were visible before the blinding lights kicked in.

You subtly adjusted your tattered, black crop top that sat over the cropped, long sleeved fishnet top you adored.

Your gaze zipped from face to face, spotting Max, Lando, Daniel, Pierre, and Carlos. Then, you found the target you were looking for. Leaning against the front barrier was Charles, sporting his black fitted Ferrari shirt and black straight legged jeans. You could feel the heat from his gaze sear your skin.

Your heart pounded as you listened for your starting beat. For one of the first times in a long time, you were nervous. And that confirmed it, Charles had something over you.

After sucking in a deep breath, you let out your first lyrics. “When we were made, it was no accident.” The crowd instantly went wild as you grinned. “We were tangled up like branches in a flood.”

Cheers and screams continued as you sang, but your eyes kept flicking back to one person. Charles bobbed his head as you continued, while Lando jumped, his mouth opened in shock.

“You’ve got me in a chokehold… you’ve got me in a—“ The moment the beat dropped, every single person went ballistic. Even Charles bobbed his head and bounced along with Carlos, who was really rocking out next to him.

As you sang each lyric of the song you had written, you felt a new feeling come through. This wasn’t about a love gone dry, no. This was a love song, and right now, it wasn’t about Max.

Charles’ smile stretched from ear to ear as he watched you perform, belting your heart out to the beat of the chaotic rhythm.

“Even if it hurts me, even if I can’t sleep, show me the way…” You held the last note, earning you more cheers and screams from almost everyone in the crowd, including Carlos, Lando, Pierre, Daniel, and Charles. Your eyes locked on Charles, offering him a smile that he readily returned.

Then, your eyes glanced over to Max. Your partner of almost two years only offered you an empty grin. You faked a very convincing smirk, which relaxed his expression slightly, before sneaking him a wink.

Muscles tensed under your skin at the realization that your actions towards Max were forced, as were your feelings. Your mind confirmed what your heart had been trying to say for a while now, you were no longer in love with the Red Bull driver. You couldn’t pinpoint a reason why, and you had no idea what it meant for the future. But this wasn’t the time to figure it out.

You had a crowd to please, and friends to entertain.

“Next, I have one of my newer singles. I think all, or at least most of you will know this one.” You winked at Charles, who returned a devilish smirk that made your body chill. With a breathy sigh, you announced, “This is The Summoning.”

Heavy drums erupted around you and you danced to each beat. You loved to lose yourself in the music of your amazing band, entranced by their talent.

Your eyes locked on Charles again, the only person your mind seemed to be focused on at the moment. His face was calm, but focused on you.

“I’ve got a river running right into you.” You practically growled into the mic. Your vision scanned over your friends, who were all eating up your performance. Lando, as you suspected, rocked out like a teen at his first concert. Hell, it probably was. Carlos did as he always did, he got into the music without going way too overboard. Daniel and Pierre both almost matched Lando’s energy as they made quick friends of every fan around them.

And Max, well, he still seemed to be enjoying himself.

Your body relaxed as you reconnected with Charles for what felt like the hundredth time. The energy flowing through you amplified with every second your eye connected. “You’ve got my body, flesh and bone, yeah.” You let the music and crowd consume you as you reached for every high note, using the positivity from your friends, and Charles, as you dance, sang, and screamed to the crowd. The screaming seemed to catch your friends, other than Max, slightly off guard, but they quickly started to eat it up.

The music calmed just slightly as you belted, “I want to see the other side… won’t you show me what it’s like?”

Then, the song mellowed out as your band members continued on with a mellow tune. But, most of the crowd knew what was coming next. Only a few who were here for you as support didn’t know the song wasn’t really over. You swayed to the calming tune, feeling almost like you were floating. Your movements mimicked your feelings as you spun and twirled. Then, you froze, staring into the sea of people.

You chuckled as the last few notes hit, then you mischievously grinned.

“Oh and my love, did I mistake you for a sign from God? Or are you really here to cut me off? Or maybe just to turn me on?” You flicked your eyes to a stunned Charles, then back into the crowd. Your skin heated at the thought of singing this song to him. These feelings were so new, so foreign. But something about it felt so right, so real.

“I’ve got a river running right into you. I’ve got a blood trail, red in the blue. Something you say or something you do. The taste of the divine—“

Carlos wrapped his arm around Charles’ shoulder and sang along as best he could. You would tell he wasn’t getting most of the words right, but Charles didn’t seem to care. He is heated gaze was dead-locked on you.

“You’ve got my body flesh and bone, the sky above the earth below. Nothing to say and nowhere to go, the taste of the divine…” You let out a long breath after the last note, staring into the crowd. You had never felt electricity like this at a show before, and you couldn’t help but feel that at least some of that was due to one specific Ferrari driver.

[weresilver]

Magic That'll Last a Lifetime

It took me far too long but it is here. This has become affectionately known as the Eddie & El 5+1 but it ended up as a 4+1 instead. Still Eddie & El though :)

This was written for @eddiemonth, day 5, role model. Title from DIO's Last in Line. I'm not writing for the day the song is actually a prompt for, and @unifiedcreationsrbr got me to see that song as an Eddie & El song with their own fic, so. Here we are!

Warnings: None, this is all just a lot of fluff. Though it does reference Flight of Icarus, which I read while writing this.

Wordcount: ... a whooping 4751

El didn't know what to expect when she was woken up by frantic knocking on their front door. A shot of fear ran through her, making her blood run cold and forcing her to think about what she knew for a fact in order to stay calm.

One was dead, she was sure of that. The gates had only briefly opened with his death but the tear had healed itself into an earthquake. Hawkins had survived, just a little worse off.

It was over. Well, the Upside Down part of things was over.

“We didn't know where else to take him.” That was Robin's voice, coming in a little muffled through the closed door to her room. She sounded nervous. “Steve's parents are coming home tomorrow, if not later today, and everyone else lives with their parents; I know Joyce wouldn't mind but—”

“It's fine, Buckley,” her dad assured, as El finally got out of her bed. She heard some more muttering, then Robin's hurried steps out. El opened her door just in time to see Steve carrying someone — Eddie — inside.

“Is that him?” Another voice questioned, surprising El. Agent Stinson met her eyes and smiled briefly at her, though it looked a little like a grimace.

She didn’t react and turned back to Steve. He’d asked her to check in on Eddie a few days after they all returned from California, and Russia, and the Upside Down. The fact that most people she knew had to go there made her so angry.

El opened her door further, nodding at Steve to bring Eddie to her room.

She wanted to help in any way she could.

(She hadn’t realized then, but that decision left her with another very good friend.)

——

Somehow, Eddie was mostly used to a bunch of rambunctious teenagers just barging into his new house, nearly on the edge of town. The thing was, there was usually a lot of noise heralding their arrival; some car or another, their shouts as they approached the front door.

They made noise, and the noise let him and Wayne know they would be getting company.

Maybe Eddie had been too distracted writing, or the music was too loud this time, but hearing the creak of the front door opening sent ice through his veins. He stood up, grabbing the closest thing he could use as a weapon — his dice bag — and walked slowly to the front door.

But instead of any intruder that still wanted his head on a pike, he saw one of the kids standing there, smiling at him.

“Hey, Eddie,” El greeted him, wiping her feet on the mat before walking in. He saw a flash of red hair right behind her. “We tried knocking, but the music was too loud.”

Eddie sighed, lowering the dice bag. Max walked past him with a smirk, heading straight to the cassette player and replacing his Heaven & Hell tape with one of her own.

“We are here to practice braiding,” Max announced, raising a plastic bag she carried on her free hand.

He knew better than to argue with the two of them; Eddie had been told that El was feeling self conscious over her slow-growing hair — he'd certainly been there — and Max hadn’t really gone out at all since everything happened — he’d also been there, just recently being forced to go out by Wayne and Nancy of all people.

He waved his arms towards his couch. “Have at it, then,” he conceded, watching as El walked over and sat down, eyeing his D&D stuff curiously. “I need to finish that.”

El turned to look at him, and Max glanced between the two of them, putting her hands on her hips in a move so reminiscent of Steve that Eddie had to hold in a laugh.

“We are not practicing on each other,” Max said pointedly, looked straight at him with a raised brow. “The only other person who could help is Mike.”

Eddie made a face at that. He could not see Mike letting his hair be braided, which…

“This is about the curly hair?”

Max looked at him with an expression that screamed “duh”, while El was smiling brightly at him and nodding.

He sighed, silently resenting the fact he’d lost his ability to say no to these shitheads. No matter how nice and sweet some of them were.

“Let me get these out of the way, then.” He gathered the things he’d left in the living room floor and placed them on the nearest chair.

He sat on the floor in front of El on the couch, and Max sat next to him, taking a magazine out of her bag. She flipped through it with a face of concentration, but soon sighed in frustration and tossed it away.

“I don’t know why I thought that would help.” Max propped her elbow up on her knee, resting her head on her fist and staring at Eddie with a frown. “I don’t think you know what to do either.”

“Hey,” Eddie admonished, but he didn’t have much defense; he never bothered figuring it out. “I at least know you don’t brush curly hair dry.” He frowned, trying to remember what he knew. “Or at all, I guess.”

“That's a start,” Max said with a shrug.

“Eddie,” El called softly, leaning forward a little while Eddie leaned back to see her. “Can we try braiding your hair, please?”

Eddie nodded — it probably looked ridiculous upside down — and stood up again. “I’ll deal with this,” he said, gesturing to his hair, “and put on something that won’t bother me when it inevitably gets wet.”

He left the girls to chat, stopping first to change, then to wet his hair. He grabbed a towel and the wide-tooth comb Steve had left weeks ago.

If the idea was practice, they’d all probably be here for a few hours.

(And, shit, it had been fun. The girls bombarded Steve with questions when he showed up, also without warning, and seeing the guy speechless when he finally looked at Eddie was nice.

But, as Steve also pointed out that evening, he should probably start remembering to take care of his hair. Example, and all that.)

——

It took Eddie a few seconds to place what woke him up, but the final notes of Creeping Death faded and a soft click kept the next song from starting.

“Thank you,” El said, keeping her voice down. She’d come over earlier in the afternoon, no real excuse as to why, just a couple of books and worksheets in her bag. They’d been doing their own thing since.

“No problem, kid.” He could picture Wayne as he spoke, standing just a couple of steps away from their cassette player, looking over the mess of papers the two created in the time it took him to get groceries. “Need anything else?”

“Music?”

El and Wayne had interacted a few times since she started showing up at their house, but El was still a little wary of his uncle. It was funny to watch, even though Wayne was increasingly lost on what to do for her to like him.

Not that she disliked him. El had said once that she struggled a little with strangers outside of the Party, but explaining that was pretty complicated.

Eddie opened his eyes to see his uncle glance at the kid briefly, a twitch of his fingers that Eddie was familiar with after years of living with the man; he wanted to reach out and ruffle El’s hair, but it was clear they weren’t at that point yet.

Her hair was just starting to grow out, curling in the heavier parts like Eddie’s when he’d been in that same situation years ago, and no one but Hopper and Joyce were allowed to touch it.

(Well, and Steve, as of late. That guy was meticulous, so of course he’d be allowed.)

By the time Eddie’s attention snapped back into the present, The Call of Ktulu was a couple of minutes in, and Wayne had already gone back to whatever he was doing. He stretched, groaning at the pull on his scars.

“Hi,” El said, smiling once he turned to her. She had their box of tapes in front of her, a few of them set aside; some of Eddie’s metal tapes, some of Wayne’s country ones. “Wayne said you needed some sleep.”

“Wayne says a lot of things,” he retorted, voice raised so his uncle could hear him. He heard a loud, wordless affirmation from the kitchen. Eddie stood up and leaned over to see just what tapes El had set aside to listen to.

“Oh, hey.” He spotted his Rising tape and pointed at it. “This is one of my favorites. Wanna give it a listen?”

El nodded. Eddie thought she might like this one; she’d already listened to a few songs from DIO’s The Last in Line and Black Sabbath’s Heaven & Hell and liked them just fine.

He hoped she’d enjoy Rising; it meant a lot to him.

Once Tarot Woman started playing, he sat back on the couch and picked up the book that had fallen on the floor at some point during his impromptu nap.

Eddie opened On a Pale Horse where he last remembered reading but didn’t try continuing it. Instead, he watched El get back to her worksheets in silence, gently bobbing her head along to the music.

Maybe they could pay a visit to a music store soon.

——

They were well into summer, now, and the kids were starting to get ready for their sophomore year. The entire group had gone to Steve's place to use his pool, probably for the last time this summer, and while Steve seemed to enjoy running around for their friends — for all he complained, the twitch of a smile didn’t go unnoticed by Eddie — Eddie himself needed to get away from the sun, the noise, and, most importantly, the water splashes.

The kitchen was empty, and the only sound came from the back. Eddie took the moment to check the fridge for any other snacks, but came up empty. Of course the little shits got everything, he couldn’t even be surprised.

It also seemed that Steve hid whatever alcohol had been here from the kids, and Eddie wasn’t about to snoop around and potentially cause problems for him.

He turned around and spotted El walking into the kitchen, head down and a frown on her face. She pulled a stool out and sat at the counter before she even realized he was there.

Eddie waved with a bemused smile. El blinked at him a couple of times before returning his greeting, though with a much more sheepish smile.

“Got tired of the noise too?” Eddie questioned, moving to lean across from her. “Because the boys are particularly noisy today.”

“No,” she said, only to immediately frown. “I mean, yes, but that’s not it…”

He raised a brow, waiting for her explanation.

“They are talking about school,” she mumbled, rubbing the tip of the beige towel over her shoulder. “I don't like hearing it.”

Eddie nodded. He hadn't liked school since the end of his sophomore year either. He supposed it was all a little different for her, though.

“Anything specific they’re saying?”

She shrugged, tracing some pattern on the counter. “They seem… excited.”

El didn’t elaborate for a long moment, and Eddie hummed, moving to the other side of the counter to sit next to her. He waited another beat, but she didn’t look up from the patterns she was drawing.

“I’m guessing that excitement is not shared.” It wasn’t a hard guess at all. He didn’t know much because Jonathan didn’t seem to know much, but if he’d had to guess, Eddie would bet the move to the other side of the country was rough on the three of them. “Moving around and changing schools suck.”

El nodded and finally looked up to face him. “School sucks.”

“Hey!” It startled a laugh out of him. “You’re the one saying it, not me.” Eddie shook his head, seeing El smile a little. “But you’re right, especially when you’re somewhere new.”

“I didn’t know anyone!” El exclaimed with a little more energy than Eddie expected. “Will was there, but…”

“He was your brand new sibling, not quite the same,” he hedged. “What was it like?”

Her brows furrowed, and Eddie expected her to shrug and change subjects; most of his friends did that when he inevitably poked into something they didn’t want to talk about.

“It was nice, at first,” she mumbled after a moment. “Going to school, with everyone else.” She placed her arms on the counter, resting her chin against her arms. “It got really hard, and people are stupid.”

Ah.

“Felt worse than everyone just telling me about school,” she added. “School is hard.”

With a sigh, Eddie adjusted himself on the stool, mimicking her position as much as he could. “I can’t really help with the actual school part of this experience,” he started, lightly tapping a song against the counter. “But I agree that people are stupid. And you wanna know something?”

He waited for her questioning hum before continuing. “People out there,” he answered, raising his head enough to gesture toward the front door. “They don’t know us, right? They don’t know what happened. And they’ll say shit to make themselves feel better about something.”

Eddie turned his head to face El. She was looking at him with slightly wide eyes, and god, she was too young. They all were, of course, but El had had even less chance to just be.

“You, young lady, are probably the coolest of us all, y’know?” He added. “I cannot begin to imagine just going on as normal after all I heard you went through.” El narrowed her eyes, staring at him with an expression he didn’t know what to make of. He ignored it. “Makes you pretty cool.”

El kept staring at him until she sighed, looking away. Eddie waited, knowing that whatever she had to say would come out when she was ready. She looked at him again, a confused little frown on her face that Eddie poked without much thought.

It made her laugh as she smacked his hand away, so that was a win.

“There was this girl,” El started slowly and softly, looking back at the doorway to make sure there was no one else listening. “She seemed nice, but… she wasn’t. She said and did things.”

“Ah, some of the worst, I see.”

She nodded and started messing with the tip of her towel again.

“How do you…” She trailed off, looking a little hesitant. But she took a deep breath, and asked, “How do you just ignore what they say?”

Well. Eddie pursed his lips, looking away. “Wayne helped a lot, actually.” He shrugged as best as he could while resting his head on his arms. “There’s nothing wrong with being different, right? He’d say, ‘wrong are the people who have a problem with you’.” He hadn’t really said it like that when he first did, but it was what stuck to Eddie all the same.

“There’s always gonna be something that people won’t like about you, something they’re gonna complain about.” He straightened and nudged El with his shoulder. “Personally, I think you have a lot to be proud of, not everyone can say they are a superhero.”

El nodded slowly, but her smile was growing little by little. “I can’t actually say that either.”

Eddie turned to her slowly, trying to maintain the unamused expression. Thankfully, she broke first and dissolved into giggles.

“This is what I get for trying to be sincere,” he complained halfheartedly.

She leaned against his side, resting there for a moment. “Thanks, Eddie.”

——

“Shit!”

“Well,” Eddie started, trying not to laugh at Dustin's indignant expression over his awful roll. The boy was always particularly fun to torment in D&D. “That’s another one down, I guess.”

They were close to the end of this one-shot, one final puzzle away from reaching the ceremonial sword they needed to deliver to the elven kings to end their feud on who should rule the kingdom, but since they got to this maze, it had been one failed roll after the other; the attacks, the wisdom checks he had not explained the purpose of at all.

Or, he hadn’t explained to any of his players. El was also trying her best not to start laughing next to him, though her smile was far too amused. Eddie had also told her not to mess with the dice, and she hadn’t as far as he could tell, so this was all their damn bad luck.

Dustin sat down with a huff, which meant that Arnie was the last one standing for the end of this adventure.

Will, who had taken being the first to fall gracefully enough, Jeff, Mike, Lucas, Gareth, and now Dustin.

This was not supposed to be that hard, but he supposed it was quite a difference from his usual plans; no one had realized the secret to getting the sword yet, and he wasn't sure anyone would.

What a shame.

“So, Thokas,” Eddie called to Arnie. The dwarven bard was the last one standing, and whether he would make the right call or not remained to be seen. “What are you going to do? There are five doors in front of you.”

Arnie was frowning, looking at his character sheet tensely, doing his best to ignore the divided clamoring of their friends.

With a deep breath, he announced, “I’m going through the fourth door.”

Hm. Solid thinking, no one had tried that one yet.

“You know the drill,” Eddie replied, gesturing to the dice in the middle of the table.

Arnie’s roll was better than most previous rolls, but El’s grimace as she looked between the dice and Eddie’s notes caused him, and everyone around him, to groan.

“Are you kidding me?!”

Eddie shrugged, keeping his face neutral. They really seemed out of luck, but he was hoping someone would finally get it!

“This is ridiculous!” Mike groused. He kept on complaining about the door room while Eddie rolled for damage.

Well, at least it wasn't over just yet.

“Fuck it,” Arnie shouted, folding his arms over the table. “I’m putting my dagger away, I’m not fighting anymore.”

Jesus H. Christ, finally.

Eddie heard El let out a relieved sigh next to him. Granted, Thokas only had 3 hit points left; the way things were going, he wouldn’t have been able to do much even if he’d still been willing to fight.

Everyone else, though, was complaining loudly. Even Will, but he was glancing at him and his sister with suspicion.

“The moment the dagger is back its sheath,” Eddie started, slowly standing up. El stepped away, closer to Will. “You see the room around you shift as if it were all made of smoke.” He waved his arm over the table. “The only doorway left is wide open, and you can see your goal on the other side.”

Thokas did get the sword, finding all his allies alive and well when he stepped back out of the vault room. Most of his players seemed a little lost on just what happened, though, but no one said anything until the actual end of the session.

“Dude,” Mike groaned after putting his notes away. “Why was this entire thing non-combat? You never run a non-combat game!”

“This clearly wasn’t non-combat,” Gareth interjected with a smirk, always willing to antagonize Mike for some reason. “But you have a point,” he added, turning to Eddie with narrowed eyes. “You have not done anything like this in years.”

Eddie shrugged with forced nonchalance without getting up from his chair. “Gotta spice things up, y’know? Besides, illusions are fun.” Gareth’s eyes narrowed further. “If any of you have actual complaints,” he added, voice slightly raised to be heard over the pockets of conversation that had formed around the table, “Take it to the lady over there. It was her idea, not mine.”

El smiled brightly at the hush of conversation when everyone turned to her. Will was glancing between the two of them as if he’d suddenly made sense of something — probably why she was asking about D&D at home.

“Should we be worried you two are hanging out?” Will asked after a moment, trying to sound exasperated but, in reality, sounding far too amused.

“Absolutely,” they both replied in unison and without looking at each other.

——

There were only so many people they could fit inside their new, government-issued house, and Eddie kind of needed a break. Well, there weren’t that many people, it wasn’t a capital-P party.

It was just his 20th birthday.

Eddie was trying not to feel bad for sneaking out of his own birthday party. There was even a cake that he suspected came from Claudia. Or maybe Joyce. Hell, maybe they worked together, he wouldn’t know.

Either way, he needed a break, so he’d snuck out to the front porch, pack of cigarettes and lighter in hands.

He was almost done with the second stick when he heard the front door open.

“Had a feeling you’d be out here,” Hopper declared after he sat down on the steps. Eddie turned to him with a raised brow but still held out the pack in offering. Hopper shook his head. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah,” he replied slowly, frowning a little. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

The expression Hopper turned on him was… unimpressed, he supposed. But it was a valid question.

“Wayne mentioned that Al called.”

Eddie groaned, loudly, as he dropped his head onto his knees and the cigarette into the ashtray between him and Hopper.

The sole reason this party was happening in November was his dad’s admittedly empty promise to visit in the week of his birthday. Eddie wasn’t sure why he bothered not making plans. Some distant hope, he supposed.

The party was only happening at all because Wayne insisted that the company would lift his spirits a little.

“He’s been in and out of my life since I was eight,” he started, his voice probably muffled to Hopper. “And after everything, I’m not sure I even want him around.”

“But he said he’d be here.” Eddie heard Hopper sigh. “Almost dying tends to make people want to give out second chances.” Eddie snorted, raising his head and turning to Hopper with a disbelieving expression. “New chances, fine.”

Eddie nodded slowly.

When Al had called, Eddie had expected some excuse, another scheme, something. Anything but the check-in full of concern he’d gotten. He wanted to be upset it had taken him half a year, but the government people kept a tight leash on what information ever made it out of Hawkins, let alone reached wherever the hell Al Munson was this time; he wouldn’t really have known to call — or where to call, he supposed — for a while.

But given how everything went down in ‘84, Eddie should have known he wouldn’t keep his word.

“Since we’re on the topic,” Eddie started with a grimace. Hopper turned to him with a raised brow, expression pretty much unreadable. “I, uh… wanted to say thanks? For, you know,” he gestured to his surroundings and paused. “Everything.”

Hopper hummed, turning back to stare out at their driveway and the handful of cars parked there.

“Clearing your name is the least they could do, Munson,” Hopper said. “And so is getting you and your uncle a new place. No one ends up tangled in this shit willingly.”

“Most people don’t even know this shit is there to get tangled in,” Eddie immediately said. He shook his head soon after. “It’s just… You know,” he shrugged, “Thanks for doing it twice.”

Objectively, Eddie knew Hopper hadn’t been a very active part of the process, busy trying to come back from the legally dead and making sure El was safe to exist in Hawkins. But still, it was kind of nice to have one more person try to keep his already abysmal reputation from sinking further.

“I still stand by what I said.” Hopper briefly glanced at him. “You’re not your father, Munson.”

Eddie opened his mouth to interrupt, but Hopper continued before he could figure out what to say.

“Running after seeing—” your very nice classmate die— “what you saw this year is perfectly reasonable, if you ask me, but you still decided to help.”

“That wasn't entirely selfless…”

“Sure,” Hopper shrugged. “You still stuck around. After.” Hopper gestured back to the house and turned an assessing glance at him. “Which is good, because I have no idea how you and Harrington keep taking in these kids. They are all far too loud.”

That startled a laugh out of Eddie, which, given the seemingly satisfied smirk on Hopper’s face, had been his intention with the topic change.

“Guess it’s all the trauma bonding,” Eddie said.

“Nah, it's more than that.” He shook his head. He was frowning a little in thought. “I think other than Sinclair, none of them had much in the way of decent male figures in their lives.”

“Will has Jonathan,” Eddie corrected before frowning. “Wait, are you saying I'm a ‘decent male figure’?”

“Yep,” Hopper said, eyebrow raising in an unspoken challenge. “And I know Will has Jonathan, but Joyce says he hasn't been this excited about that game you all play since the summer of last year.”

Eddie nodded. Will had mentioned that he hadn't played any D&D at all since he moved last year. He didn't even take his books, everything going to Erica instead.

He supposed that, sometimes, it helped to have a new group to play with.

“And it also helps he’s moving on from Mike Wheeler.”

Eddie almost choked on his laughter. “Not you too!” He groaned. “Mike’s not that bad!”

“Whatever,” Hopper said, shaking his head. “The point is that those kids are better off for having you around and having a place to be.”

Hopper said it matter-of-factly, not realizing — or ignoring — that his words kind of… brought Eddie up short.

(Eddie knew what he wanted the Hellfire Club to be, what he did by playing it all up. Hearing it acknowledged by anyone else, let alone by Hopper, was just a little surprising.)

“Now, I’m pretty sure you’re to blame for the weekly fight over the stereo,” he said with a raised brow, but the stern expression didn’t hold for long, giving place to a fond smile. “But El’s looking lighter lately, less worried about everything.”

The sound of the front door opening drew their attention from the conversation, saving Eddie from having to figure out a response, and they could see El’s expression brighten once she spotted them.

“Found them!” She shouted back into the house. “Time for cake,” she announced before turning to walk back inside, leaving the door open for them. A lot of voices drifted out.

“See what I mean?” Hopper asked, hooking a thumb in his daughter's direction. “Loud, all of them.”

“She's the quietest,” Eddie argued because it was true, at least in comparison. Her and Will, the two of them tended to let things… happen around them, for the most part, not really intervening until they were asked or had to. Though Will had his moments of being right in the middle of the chaos, especially during D&D.

“She also has psychic powers.”

Fair enough.

Eddie stood up, dusting imaginary dust off of his knees. Hopper did the same, though not without groaning. He would have poked fun, but it didn’t feel right to.

“I’m glad you’re alive, Eddie.”

“You too, Hop.”

(They didn’t really talk for the rest of the night, but Eddie did learn, due to a slip up from Dustin, that El had defended him, loud and clear, in the middle of the school cafeteria. No one really explained what happened, but Eddie did notice how some people stared at them. Weeks ago.

El, local superhero, standing up for his honor? Unexpected. And maybe a tally under the Not Quiet column.

Hopper and Joyce only smiled in his direction, Hopper decidedly more smug than anything. They surely knew.

Well, he was just gonna have to help her get louder then, because he sure as hell was keeping these kids around.)

[tenebraevesper]

Five Nights at Freddy's: Salvaged, Night 5: Our Little Horror Story

''A voice calls, a cry in the dark, telling me to crawl to the light. But I won't, the show has just begun, I'm giving one last encore tonight. Five nights left to find you, one last thing to tend to. You'll fear what I can do, but you'll never run. Ghosts warn of my actions, but I'm the main attraction. You'll bring my satisfaction… Our little horror story's just begun.''

– Our Little Horror Story by Aviators (Five Nights at Freddy's 3)

xXxXxXx

Sam was drinking the milkshake she had ordered while walking through the main area, lifting the drink above her head when a few kids ran past her, pushing her aside and almost knocking her over. She looked at them, still a little startled, but relieved she didn't spill anything.

''Who would've thought that the place would still be full at this time,'' she muttered under her breath, taking another sip of the strawberry milkshake and walking out of the arcade area. Even though she told Springtrap how she wanted to go to Ricky's, she realized that it would be a little weird to have an animatronic roaming through the town during the day. She suggested then that they wait until evening, just before closing hours, but she still didn't expect that there would be so many people. ''Nobody seems to be in a hurry to leave. I hope Springtrap is doing well.''

Speaking of which, once they arrived here, the moment Sam turned her back to him, Springtrap vanished. She knew that he was quite stealthy, considering how he managed to sneak up on her without noticing, but it still surprised her. She figured he would be fine on his own and went inside, deciding to try and cover as much ground as possible, even though she wasn't quite sure for what she had been searching for. If there had even been a crime scene in this place, it was probably already cleaned. Even more, one of their employees was, as far as they knew, missing, and they still let people inside Ricky's as if nothing happened.

Or maybe the management at Ricky's has no idea what happened. Everything's possible.

So far, Sam had mostly checked the areas that patrons were allowed to visit, like the main area with the stage and the arcade area, but she knew that, if she wanted to know more, she would have to get into the parts of the location that were reserved for the employees. She was already thinking about asking whether she could get hired, but then figured that she sure wouldn't get the exact job she wanted and would be stuck with having to deal with the patrons instead of trying to find out more about Ricky and his friends.

Wolfrun Corporation may not be like Fazbear Entertainment, but you never know.

She walked over to the stage, where Max, Quentin and Dahlia were performing. Ricky was nowhere to be seen, so she assumed that he wasn't in animatronic mode and probably someone was walking around dressed-up as Ricky. She did wonder why it was only him and not the other animatronics, though. She was quite sure that the children would like to see Max or Dahlia also walking around and interacting with them.

She then glanced towards where the back room was. It was covered in curtains, so nobody would notice it, but she could still see the door at the bottom. After having another look around, she approached the door.

''Hello, there!''

Sam froze, the cold milkshake having nothing to do with it. She turned around, only to see the wolf mascot, Ricky, looking at her.

''Now, where are you going?'' Ricky asked her cheerfully, his movement showing that there was indeed a person inside the costume. Sam laughed nervously, trying to act casual.

''Oh, I was just looking around,'' she said. Despite the grin on Ricky's mask, she had the feeling that the person inside the costume wasn't smiling at all.

''Well, you shouldn't be,'' Ricky said in the same cheerful tone. ''You might get yourself in trouble, you know. Haven't you heard of animatronics punishing those who don't obey the rules?''

Something in his voice gave Sam the chills. Was the actor just messing with her?

''I thought that only the animatronics at Freddy's did that,'' Sam replied, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

''Oh, they're just haunted. That is, if you believe the rumors,'' Ricky laughed. ''Me and my friends actually make sure that no one with wicked intentions causes trouble. We will do anything to make sure that troublemakers get punished. Safety is very important to us.''

''I see,'' Sam replied, forcing a smile. ''Nice to meet you, Ricky.''

She turned around and walked away, feeling Ricky's eyes boring into the back of her skull. Once she made sure she was out of his sight, she gave a sigh of relief. While she knew that it was the actor's job to approach and entertain people, as well as make sure nobody causes trouble, she felt like she was approached by this guy one too many times ever since she came here. She had nothing against wolves, but this one was rather uncanny. Either that, or it was her imagination messing with her again.

Dude, you're living with an animatronic who has the soul of a murderer inside him and it's Ricky who freaks you out? What?!

Sure, it was surprising, but there was a difference. Sam knew exactly who Springtrap was and what he was capable of, but in comparison to Springtrap, she had no idea what kind of person was representing Ricky.

She kept an eye on the wolf, who walked away, wondering whether she could try again to sneak into the back room. However, once again approached the stage and glanced at Ricky, she noticed him staring directly at her. Shuddering, she walked straight past the stage and to the nearest trash bin in order to throw her empty milkshake cup in it. Still having an uncanny feeling of being watched, she glanced back at Ricky, who seemed to be closer now than before, talking to a few children. He then lifted his head, staring at her and tilting his head.

Sam quickly turned around and left the area.

xXx

It felt rather strange being again at a somewhat familiar establishment. Springtrap felt a little bad for just leaving Sam on her own so suddenly, but he figured that she'd be able to find her way through the place. He had sneaked through the back door into the employee area, finding himself at a maintenance room as he tried to hide and decide where to go next. His first thought was to go deeper into the employee area, perhaps finding the manager's or security guard's office, until he realized that that wasn't exactly an option.

Instead, he found himself peeking into the main area, surprised to see the place packed with people. Despite what Sam told him about Ricky's, he expected that there would be, at least, adults who knew that what went down at Freddy's weren't just rumors and would be suspicious of Ricky's. However, the number of screaming, unsupervised children, parents who were only interested in their smartphones or tablets and exhausted employees told him that he was wrong.

He was quite sure that not only would he be able to snatch away a kid without anyone noticing, but that their parents wouldn't bother searching for their kid until they get kicked out once the place got closed. It had occurred to him to put this theory to a test, but he quickly decided against it, even though he would enjoy the sight of a parent screaming at an employee for not keeping an eye on their kid, despite the fact that the employees weren't babysitters and in no way responsible for the children, as a rule on the framed notice board nearby the entrance said.

And they call me a bad parent.

He sneaked into the main area, hiding in one of its dark corners. It seemed that Ricky's Wonder Shack had been keeping parts of their buildings in the dark, either because of aesthetics or to steer patrons away from them for some reason, which worked in his favor, as it gave him the opportunity to navigate through the place easier.

He observed the people from the corner he was hidden in, a little surprised that nobody seemed to notice him. Maybe they thought he was a obscure addition to the more popular mascots and not really worth their attention. He was fine with that, as he currently didn't need any spotlight. Instead, he observed the mascots on the stage.

 It was a little weird to see animatronics that weren't Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, or their variations. On the other hand, this was a different company with a different brand, so there shouldn't be anything surprising. Something he did notice was that the animatronics were kept in a really good condition. While he was still at Freddy's, he would take over for a while as a technician whenever another employee couldn't come to work for whatever reason, and he saw that they were doing a rather poor job. There had been dirt and food stains on the suits, as well as missing parts and even rust on the endoskeletons, with him having to do a thorough work on them to keep them in a good condition. He always had that feeling of satisfaction when he saw the end result.

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed two kids curiously looking at him. They were a boy and a girl, seemingly no older than four or five and looked a lot alike, with Springtrap guessing that they were twins. They didn't say anything and seemed to be rather shy, as they backed away a little when he looked at them. However, they still smiled, even giggling, as if he had just performed a magic trick for them.

''Hello!'' The girl waved and giggled again, happy that she caught his attention. Springtrap was quite sure that she wouldn't be this happy if she knew to what kind of person she was talking to. Wondering where their parents were, he crouched, still towering over the two.

''Hello there,'' he said. ''Do you need anything?''

The girl started to fidget on the spot, as if a little embarrassed to ask him.

''Do you want to play?''

''I'm sorry, but I'm busy with something else,'' Springtrap told her politely. Surprisingly, the twins handled it rather well. Instead of screaming and demanding that he plays with them, they simply nodded.

''What's your name?'' the boy asked, standing on his toes and briefly rising his hand as if he wanted to touch his ears, but stopped himself, looking at the animatronic for permission. Springtrap nodded, with the boy giggling as he touched his ear, a little awed by the soft fur, and quickly stepping back, proud of his achievement.

''Call me Spring,'' Springtrap added, with the two nodding.

''I'm Kathy and this is Kyle,'' Kathy pointed at herself and her brother.

''Where are your parents?'' Springtrap asked, tilting his head. ''You shouldn't be walking alone like this.''

''Auntie told us that we could. She also said that we shouldn't bother her,'' Kathy replied, then pointed at a woman who was sitting at a lone table, staring at her phone and furiously texting someone. Springtrap frowned and then turned to the two.

''Your auntie is wrong,'' he said gently. ''Now, here's a warning from a friendly animatronic. Do not follow people you don't know, as they might try to hurt you. If you think someone is being strange, tell your parents.''

''We know that,'' Kathy said, looking a little excited. ''Mummy and Daddy told us.'' Her expression then changed to a disappointed one. ''But Auntie said that they were just annoying and how she lets our cousins do whatever they want. They're also really mean.''

''Yeah!'' Kyle chimed in.

''Then you are smarter than your auntie or your cousins,'' Springtrap told the two, with them beaming with pride. ''Next time you come here, bring your parents.''

''We will!'' Kathy replied, taking her brother's hand. ''Thank you, Spring!''

''Bye, bye, Spring!'' Kyle waved as they left, walking over to their aunt, who still didn't pay any attention to her surroundings.

Springtrap stood up, glaring at the woman as she yelled at the twins for interrupting her. However, she instantly turned sweet and nice when two boys, a few years older than the twins, joined them, one of them pushing Kathy away and demanding that the woman comes with them and kicks out whichever kid beat them at the arcade game they were playing. The woman followed the two, leaving the twins who were rather upset, looking like they were about to cry.

Springtrap's eyes glowed purple as he clenched his fist. This wasn't the first time he had to deal with entitled people who thought that the world revolved around them, and he really enjoyed messing with them and then kicking them out of his restaurant if they wouldn't stop with their arrogant behavior. However, as much as he wanted to punch that woman, he knew that it would be smarter to take care of the twins.

Kathy and Kyle, who were still upset about their aunt abandoning them, looked rather surprised when they saw the strange bunny animatronic again, this time smiling at them.

''I saw what happened,'' he said, crouching down. ''Are you okay?''

''We are,'' Kathy said, with her brother turning to them.

''What if Auntie Karen leaves us again?'' Kyle asked, tears forming in his eyes. His sister wasn't sure what to tell him, looking like she was doing her best not to cry.

''Do you two know your parents' phone numbers?'' Springtrap asked them.

''No…'' Kyle replied, with Kathy nudging him and showing Springtrap her wrist with a pink rubber band with numbers on it.

''Mummy gave me this and said that, if we get in trouble, to ask someone to call this number,'' she said, looking relieved. Her brother stopped crying.

''Okay, here's what you two are going to do. You will go to that girl,'' Springtrap pointed at a female employee, who looked a little older than Sam, ''and ask her to call your parents. Tell her that you are lost and I'm sure that she will help you.''

''We will do that,'' Kathy said, nodding and grabbing her brother's hand. ''Thank you again, Spring!''

''But, what about Auntie Karen?'' Kyle asked his sister.

''You shouldn't be worried about her. The most important thing is that you two let your parents know that they should pick you up. Don't you think that your parents would be sad if they found out you got lost?'' Springtrap told them.

''Ah, okay,'' Kyle replied, with the two then walking over to the female employee they saw, who seemed to look both concerned and relieved once Kathy showed her the rubber band, and walked with them out of the area.

A few seconds later, their poor excuse of an aunt appeared along with her two sons, screeching like a banshee at the stern male employee, who pointed towards the entrance. She and her kids stormed out, with her yelling about being treated poorly and didn't seem to even give a second thought about the fact that she just left her niece and her nephew at the restaurant.

Springtrap shook his head, sincerely hoping that the twins would get picked up by their parents. He then noticed that more and more people were leaving, guessing it was closing time. This was his cue to find a good hiding spot and wait until the place was finally closed.

xXx

Sam noticed people slowly leaving, several of them being parents who tried to coax their screaming kids to finally stop playing on the tower that was a combination of a slide, a net and monkey bars, and was connected to another one via a tube you had to crawl through. Looking at her phone, she realized that the place would be closing soon.

She had started to wonder where Springtrap actually was, as she hadn't seen him anywhere. She didn't want to use the walkie-talkie she gave him, telling him how he should call her instead in case he found something. So far, there hadn't been a call and she was slowly getting worried about him. Had he been caught?

Sam was contemplating whether she should hide somewhere, but considering how the employees had been ushering people out of the building and were making rounds to make sure nobody remained, that didn't seem to be an option. Feeling like she wasted her time, Sam walked out with the rest of the patrons. Aside from the weird encounter with Ricky, there wasn't anything.

Should I really be that surprised?

She walked away from the almost empty parking lot and towards an alley behind the building. Had she turned around the corner, she would've found herself at the back entrance to the building. She figured she should wait for Springtrap, assuming that he was still inside the building, and wait for the employees to leave. It took a good hour or so until the employees, or at least most of them, have left. The lights had been turned off and it seemed like she was the only person still here, but she didn't dare to do anything yet.

Suddenly, she heard a crackling sound on her walkie-talkie. She took it out, feeling a little relieved.

''Hey Sam, where are you?''

''Outside the building. Where are you?''

''Still inside. Seems like someone just doesn't want to leave.''

xXx

Springtrap's eyes glowed in a soft purple as he glanced into the hallway, noticing a shadow at the end of it. Someone was in the room with the costumes.

''Could you then give me a call when you're sure that the building is completely empty?''

''Sure.''

Springtrap glanced down the hallway, noticing the employee exiting the room. He was a young man, probably in his mid-20s, looking rather tall and lanky, with short brown hair. The man looked around, as if suspicious of something. Springtrap quickly retreated, only to be surprised when all the lights suddenly turned off. He kept quiet, hearing the back door closing. Springtrap waited a little, before getting out of his hiding spot and making sure that absolutely no one was inside the place. He then looked at the walkie-talkie.

''Sam?''

''Is something wrong?''

''Have you seen a guy exiting the building?''

''Yeah, I did. He just entered the car and left.''

''I see. Just wait a little longer.''

xXx

Sam paced in the small alley, a little nervous about what was going to happen. It didn't take long after Springtrap's last call, with the back door opening. She was relieved to see the animatronic, although something did bother her.

''Shouldn't there be a security guard?''

''Seems like they deemed it unnecessary,'' Springtrap replied, then frowned. ''Or they haven't found a replacement yet. In any case, I need to show you something.''

They quickly passed the door where the main area with the animatronics was, with Springtrap leading her towards the manager's office. While walking there, Sam could've sworn she heard steps that didn't belong to either of them. She didn't question Springtrap about it, yet, as she wanted to know what he wanted to show her. Once they got inside the office, Springtrap quickly closed the door behind them, with a look of concern.

''What's wrong?'' Sam asked him, but Springtrap shook his head.

''You'll find out soon enough,'' he replied, pointing at the drawers. Sam opened it, finding some messily placed files, which seemed to be about the animatronics. She took them out, quickly reading through them.

''Looks like they spent a fortune on those animatronics. All of them are high-tech, able to roam around and interact, as well…'' Sam trailed off as she read something and glanced back at Springtrap.

''Seems like they're similar to the Toy Animatronics, except for the fact that the Misfits don't only have facial recognition, but are also programmed to hunt down and detain any intruder, reducing the need for human supervision,'' Springtrap said. ''I'm not sure if they would've stuffed you into a suit like Freddy and his friends, though.''

''Sounds to me more like Circus Baby and the Funtimes, if they hadn't been designed to kill,'' Sam replied, noticing the glint of purple in Springtrap's eyes. She then took out her phone and started to take photos of the documents, while Springtrap looked around the office. He stopped when he suddenly heard steps coming towards the office. Sam held her breath, realizing that one of the animatronics had stopped right in front of the door. A few seconds later, they heard steps again and the animatronic seemed to be walking away from the office.

Sam sighed in relief, looking at Springtrap. ''We should hurry up and leave as quickly as possible.''

The latter nodded, opening a drawer and finding another file, this being one with huge letters printed on it.

''DECOMMISSIONED,'' he read, opening the file. The illustration of an animatronic he had never seen before stared back at him.

''We can read it back at home,'' Sam said, taking the file away from him and quickly taking photos of it. Once done with it, she put all the files back where they belonged. ''Now, the question remains on how are we supposed to get out. There are animatronics patrolling the hallways.''

''Well, you signed up for it,'' Springtrap said, giving her a smug grin. ''It shouldn't be surprising that this would eventually get dangerous.''

''Yeah, I know. I actually wanted to see if there's anything else before we get out of here,'' Sam said, her hand on the door knob. ''Like, the security guard's office.''

''You reckon there's footage of what happened?''

''Maybe, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was deleted,'' Sam replied, opening the door and looking outside. ''No one's here. Let's go.''

They quickly walked down the hallway, listening for steps. So far, they had luck, but just as they were about to enter another hallway, they heard steps. Sam felt Springtrap quickly grabbing her arm and pull her into a nearby room, closing the door. It was rather dark inside, with Sam first turning the screen light on her phone and then switching over to the flashlight. She didn't really like to use it, as it was too bright and would drain her battery fast, and with the screen light, there was less fear for her to be spotted. However, since the room had no windows, she didn't have to worry about it.

The room had hangers with costumes on it, looking rather vague. Sam assumed that they were spare suits for the animatronics. Two hangers were empty, with Sam and Springtrap spotting one of the costumes, the Ricky costume, on the nearby desk.

''I forgot to mention that the guy who left earlier had been here,'' Springtrap told Sam, who was examining it. ''I guess that he was taking the costume off.''

''It seems like it's not a springlock suit,'' Sam said, looking into the inside of the suit. ''I guess that's a good thing for them…''

''Or Wolfrun Corporation tried to create similar suits, but failed miserably and had to resort to normal costumes,'' Springtrap added, looking at the costumes. His eyes glowed purple when he suddenly saw something. He crouched down, trying to push away the costumes as he searched for something beneath them.

''What's wrong?'' Sam walked over to him, with Springtrap pointing at the few barely visible stains on the floor. He then examined each of the costumes, finding a few droplets on one. However, the fur had been rather dark, so it was hard to see them.

''I think we just found the crime scene,'' Springtrap replied. ''Could you shine your light over here?''

Sam pointed her phone at the floor and the suit, the stains now a little more visible.

''It seems that, whoever tried to clean this up, missed a few spots,'' she said. ''Then, there's the missing costume… Do you think someone killed the security guard while wearing a Ricky's costume?''

''Sounds like a logical explanation,'' Springtrap said. ''They then had to drag the body away, leave it at Freddy's, then return back to this place and clean up the blood. However, since it's quite dark in the room and there are also animatronics roaming outside, I assume they were in a hurry and didn't do a proper clean-up. Although, I could imagine someone claiming that the blood is just tomato sauce stains.''

Sam quickly took a photo of it, her hands shaking in both anxiety and excitement. She didn't expect that the night would turn out like this. However, as she was about to walk out, Springtrap stopped her.

''Wait here,'' he said. ''I want to check something first and then I'll come back to pick you up, okay?''

Sam nodded, with Springtrap quickly exiting the room and closing the door. He heard steps again, his eyes flaring purple when he saw Virgil walking into the hallway. The animatronic stopped dead in his tracks, as if observing Springtrap. After a few seconds, he continued walking into the next hallway, with Springtrap grinning.

''I see… They are actually more similar to the Toys than Circus Baby,'' he muttered. He followed Virgil into the next hallway, trying to remember the map Sam showed him. Those parts were marked as restricted for the patrons, but he felt that this was where they would find the surveillance room. It didn't take long for him to find it, as Virgil practically led him to it, only to stop, turn around and walk past Springtrap.

For a brief moment, Springtrap considered tampering with Virgil's system, simply for his own amusement, but decided against it, as he still had to get Sam. He walked back, stopping in front of the room with the costumes and waiting for Dahlia to pass him, as she slowly made her way towards the manager's office.

He opened the door, with Sam quickly getting outside and quietly following him. Virgil was nowhere in sight, although Springtrap had a feeling that he would return soon. They hadn't seen Ricky, Quentin or Max, and he assumed that they were at the main area. Sam, on the other hand, sighed in relief as they locked themselves in the security guard's office. She quickly turned the cameras on, observing the animatronics, who were walking in a set pattern, albeit none of them was entering the rooms with closed doors.

''It's all set to live feed,'' she said, searching for any stored videos. ''There's nothing there.''

''Or maybe someone deleted the recordings and set it to live feed, but nobody bothered to check on it,'' Springtrap said.

''We should leave,'' Sam said, turning the cameras off. ''I have a bad feeling that someone will return here and find us.''

''You mean the murderer?'' Springtrap asked, with Sam shrugging. He then opened the door and looked into the corridor, noticing Virgil vanishing into the hallway he came from. ''This way.''

With Springtrap leading them, the two walked as quickly as possible to the back door, briefly stopping when Dahlia suddenly appeared. Sam quickly hid behind Springtrap, who noticed Dahlia staring at him, her eyes lit, but she didn't seem to notice Sam. Instead, she continued down the corridor, while they entered the one she came from.

''That was close,'' Sam said, breathing a sigh of relief as they finally walked outside, with Springtrap closing the door.

''Seems that we were right about our theory,'' he said, as they walked away from the building. ''We know who was killed and where, but we don't know why or who the killer was.''

''True,'' Sam muttered, only to hear a strange sound and look at Springtrap. Aside from his walkie-talkie, he seemed to be carrying something else. ''What's that?''

''Oh, this?'' He grinned, holding a keychain. Sam stared at him, completely flabbergasted.

''You took the keys?!'' she mouthed, the last part sounding like a hiss.

''I found them at the manager's office, as I needed to open the door for you. I believe that these are the spare keys,'' he said, giving them and the walkie-talkie to Sam, who put them in the small bag she had over her shoulder. She sighed.

''You know what, we'll talk about this tomorrow,'' she said.

''Are you feeling okay?'' Springtrap asked her. Sam nodded.

''I feel a little tired, that's all.''

xXx

While Sam was sound asleep in the room next door, Springtrap was lying wide awake on the couch, thinking about what happened. He had to agree with Sam that it was quite eventful and he actually enjoyed it, as it didn't feel bad being around other people, even if he stayed in the shadows. He had even thought about visiting Freddy's once it opens.

If it opens.

Speaking of which, it was probably a bad idea for him to be at any kind of family friendly locations, as he wasn't exactly safe to be around people. Nevertheless, that didn't mean he did not know how to behave around children, acting like a friendly animatronic, without triggering the bloodlust he usually felt. Not to mention, he had been focused on the task he had been given.

I hope those two got picked up by their parents.

Springtrap glanced through the window at the night sky. He wondered what was going on at Ricky's and how it was connected to Freddy's, as well as whether it was connected to him.

He saw static before his eyes, but shook his head and sat up. The room didn't change, causing him to sigh in relief. He hoped that he could somehow put his hallucinations under control, but he still couldn't figure out how. So far, Sam was the one who managed to wake him up whenever he had a hallucination.

He thought about what she told him, how he had probably already made his choice by not only not murdering her, but also accepting her help.

Just when one horror story has ended, another one has begun. It seems like it never will end. Right, Henry?

xXx

''Springtrap?''

Springtrap was startled when Sam opened the door next morning and looked in the guest room. She smiled.

''Hey, there!'' she said. ''Did you have any hallucinations?''

''No,'' Springtrap replied. ''Did you have any nightmares?''

''Surprisingly, I didn't,'' Sam replied. ''Speaking of nightmares and hallucinations, it's Night 3, isn't it?''

''I am not exactly sure whether I should be looking forward to this, especially considering yesterday's topic,'' Springtrap said.

''Don't worry,'' Sam replied. ''This one involves you being the main attraction.''

Springtrap didn't look assured, wondering what this would be about. A little while later, he was in the kitchen, sitting across Sam, who was eating breakfast and looking at her phone.

''You know, I could've made you breakfast if you wanted. Pancakes, or something else maybe,'' Springtrap said, leaned against the table.

''It's okay,'' Sam replied, checking her smartphone and then turning to him. ''There are a few things we need to deal with first. For starters, I need to return those keys you took.''

''How do you plan to do this? Are you going to just walk inside and tell them that you have their spare keys?'' Springtrap asked.

''No way,'' Sam replied, shaking her head. ''I planned to just go back and drop them on the floor so someone else would find them. Once I'm back, we can talk about what I wanted to ask you for this Night.''

''If you say so,'' Springtrap muttered, observing her as she finished her breakfast and left for upstairs. He got up, entering the living room and waiting for her. Sam quickly came downstairs, putting the keys into her bag.

''I trust you to keep an eye on the house while I'm gone,'' Sam said.

''Don't worry, it'll be fine,'' he replied, with Sam leaving. He watched her until she was out of his sight, feeling a little lonely. Sure, he was capable of being on his own for an hour or so, but he still felt better when she was present.

Com'n! You have survived Hell, you can survive this.

xXx

Sam had been debating, not feeling right about this, but she still went through with it. Currently, she was at the counter at Ricky's Wonder Shack, ordering a pizza for lunch. As she debated which one to order, she felt a little anxious about the second pair of keys in her bag, having decided to make a copy of them. She hoped she would never have to use them and didn't plan to tell anyone (aside from Springtrap) that she had the keys for the back door to Ricky's.

''I'll take the mixed one.''

''Do you want a drink?''

''No thanks.''

After ordering, she had been given a receipt with a number, with the employee telling her how it would take about 20 minutes until her pizza was finished. Sam decided to walk around a little until her number would be called, visiting the stage with the animatronics. Currently, they weren't singing.

She looked around anxiously, still holding the receipt, and wondering where to leave the keys. There weren't many people and she searched for blind spots in case someone was watching the cameras, eventually realizing that leaving the keys at the stage was the best idea. She grabbed the keys and let her receipt fall down. She then crouched down to pick it up, placing the keys on the floor, and got up, quickly leaving the section. Nobody seemed to have noticed her and in another 10 minutes, she would be out of this place.

She walked to the tables, waiting for her order. She read some notifications on her phone, slowly relaxing. So far, everything went according to her plan.

''Why, hello!''

Sam froze when she heard a familiar voice. She turned, only to see Ricky waving at her. Her anxiety skyrocketed.

''Are you alone? Do you want company?'' Ricky asked her in a friendly tone.

''I was about to leave,'' Sam replied, standing up.

''Owww, that's so sad. Why don't you stay and have some fun?'' Ricky asked her. ''Perhaps I could introduce you to my friends?''

''I'm sorry, but I have to refuse,'' Sam replied politely, noticing her number on the screen above the counter and the employee calling it out. ''My order is up.''

Before she could hear Ricky's reply, she quickly went up to the counter, where she was given her pizza. She then walked to the entrance, but not before she glanced back, noticing that Ricky was gone. The animatronics on the stage were singing again, this time accompanied by the wolf animatronic as well.

Feeling nervous, Sam quickly left the place.

xXx

Springtrap was pacing in the living room, waiting for Sam. He had turned the TV on, figuring he could watch something, but he then quickly turned it off, preferring the silence. Someone else would've probably been rather unnerved by how quiet it was, but he was used to it, especially after having spent about 30 years locked in that safe room, the only company being the animatronic who killed him. Also, he felt that it was still better than that hellish office.

It's rather strange how things turned out. One mistake, or rather, one decision, and I came back, my soul possessing the Spring Bonnie suit.

Despite all the agony, he still smiled when he realized what would happen. He wanted it to happen. Death was nothing in comparison to what he had achieved.

It was an amazing feeling, although the only drawback was that those kids sealed the door, so I couldn't escape the safe room. Still, the wait did pay off.

He could still vividly remember the corridors of Fazbear's Fright. To be honest, he was a little surprised to see Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy being used as props at the horror attraction, but on second thought, he felt that it was quite appropriate. He even had the feeling that he belonged there as well, especially considering his past. He always felt that nothing could stop him.

I always come back.

He closed his eyes as static blurred his vision. He soon opened them, realizing that this was another hallucination.

I'm back at Fazbear's Fright.

He glanced at his suit, which looked now exactly like the withered one he had at Fazbear's Fright. He kept calm this time. It was just a memory, nothing else. He felt that he could handle this one. All he had to do was to stay at this spot and wait, as it would eventually go away. He then looked up, noticing a camera pointed at him. Of course I'm being watched. But, this is just a memory. Henry isn't really here.

He had to wonder what his old partner thought when he saw him again, when he realized what happened to William. Was he happy to see him being served the same fate as his victims? Was he horrified by the monstrosity William had become? Or did he already know about it and ignored what happened, determined to send his old friend to Hell?

I never asked him.

Someone would think that, all that time, Freddy and his friends were the ones people should fear. However, they weren't aware that their legacy wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for him. He was hiding in the shadows for so long, but now, he was the main attraction.

They thought that they could bring me to an end, but they were wrong.

He closed his eyes, feeling the bloodlust resurfacing, calling him. It was inviting him to continue murdering. It wanted him to create a new horror story.

The show has just begun.

He looked back at the camera, then turned his back at it.

However, this horror story is different.

''Springtrap?''

He was startled when he suddenly heard Sam's voice. He saw static again, with Fazbear's Fright vanishing and his suit looking less like a zombie and more like a cuddly bunny. He turned around, noticing Sam's worried expression.

''That was another of your hallucinations, wasn't it?'' she said. Springtrap nodded. ''Should I be worried?''

''No. It was just a memory,'' he replied.

''Speaking of memories, follow me,'' she said, beckoning to him. Feeling a little dazed, he followed her upstairs, with Sam turning on her laptop. ''Five Nights at Freddy's 3, also known as the game that got me hooked on the story rather than just trying to survive five nights of being hunted down by various animatronics.''

''Really? Why that game?'' Springtrap asked her as he looked over her shoulder at the monitor.

''It kinda started with a simple quote,'' Sam said, glancing at him. ''He will come back. He always does. We have a place for him. This was followed by me realizing to whom the quote referred to.''

Springtrap realized what she meant a second before she opened the file, with the screenshot of the very animatronic she was talking about. He tilted his head, seemingly nonchalant about it.

''He looks dashing.''

This caused Sam to burst out laughing. Springtrap had the feeling that she was dying to see his reaction and that he didn't disappoint, feeling somewhat happy about it. He sat on the bed, waiting for her to calm down.

''Will… Seriously?'' Sam was still smiling, taking a deep breath in order to calm down.

''To be honest, even though I was a rotting zombie bunny, I still preferred the animatronic suit,'' Springtrap replied.

''I see, but you never really explained to me why,'' Sam said. Springtrap gave her a smug grin.

''It's quite simple. Whenever I wore the suit, I had that sudden rush of confidence. I became a different person and I felt that I could do or say anything I wanted,'' Springtrap replied. ''I guess you could say I was addicted to that feeling, as it took me some effort to keep my actual identity and my animatronic identity separate.''

''I know that feeling,'' Sam said, with Springtrap looking surprised. ''You see, I have multiple accounts on various websites on the internet. I can pretend to be a completely different person than I am in real life, but sometimes, I feel exposed, especially when I show my emotions in the text I write. I understand that it's hard to separate yourself from the character you love, but in your case…''

''In my case, I became the character I desired to be. William Afton was gone and Springtrap was born,'' Springtrap said. ''It didn't take me long to accept my new identity. In some way, once all the pain and agony subsided, I was looking forward to it.''

''Speaking of which, why did you return to Freddy's?'' Sam asked. ''If you hadn't, none of this would've actually happened.''

''It were the animatronics,'' Springtrap replied. ''By that point, I was already certain why they were acting so strange, and after Freddy's closed, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to destroy them once and for all.''

''Why did you even want to destroy them? It's not like they could escape the place. As far as I know, the animatronics had a map with the layout of the restaurant and FNaF 3 even had a minigame that showed them getting an error warning whenever they got close to the safe room,'' Sam said, pointing at her laptop. ''I know that you used that to your advantage.''

''That's true. Also, the reason I had to destroy them was because I had the feeling that the spirits would eventually overtake the animatronics' AI and find a way to break out and find me,'' Springtrap replied. ''I was right about it, although I was thinking about the wrong animatronic.''

''So, Spring Bonnie wouldn't have been able to move at all if he had been active?'' Sam asked. Springtrap shook his head.

''Once my soul took over the animatronic, I saw several error warnings, but they soon stopped once I figured out how to gain complete control over it,'' he explained. ''Seems like those kids never figured it out.''

''I bet they were really happy when they saw you die,'' Sam said darkly, staring at Springtrap.

''I assume they were,'' he replied. ''I was kind of busy having to deal with being sliced to pieces by the spring locks to pay attention.'' He then shook his head. ''Nevertheless, I already told you that I chose that fate. It was certainly better than any alternative.''

''Although it also caused you to be locked away for 30 years,'' Sam said. ''You know, I'm still surprised it's been only a couple of years since Fazbear's Fright burned down.''

''I feel like it has been an eternity since then,'' Springtrap said.

''Speaking of which, that old Freddy's location you visited before your demise,'' Sam said, scrolling through the file. ''It got torn down shortly after Fazbear's Fright was burned to ashes.''

''It did?'' Springtrap was surprised. He didn't really think about any of the old locations, but he felt a little weird to hear about it. It felt like a piece of his past had been torn away.

Did you really expect it to last?

''I'm not sure who ordered it to be demolished, but the plot is still empty,'' Sam added. ''I actually visited it twice. Once just before it was torn down and once after that.''

''Now that you're talking about it, I can imagine Henry doing that,'' Springtrap said. ''After all, he wanted the past to burn until nothing remained. Everything we created would be gone.''

''That did work, but it seems that someone wasn't really satisfied with finally bringing the whole horror story to an end,'' Sam said, then smiled, surprising Springtrap. ''I don't mind the continuation, if you can call it that. I mean, everyone involved in it is gone and at peace, except for you, so this feels like a whole different chapter.''

''I guess you can call this our little horror story, since you decided to get yourself involved,'' Springtrap said. ''That is, if you still want to be involved in it.''

''To be honest, I do,'' Sam said in a confident tone. ''Anyways, I have another question. What did happen to Phone Dude?''

''Who?''

''That guy who brought you to Fazbear's Fright. He was talking about having how he found an animatronic and then suddenly realized that the animatronic was gone,'' Sam explained. ''That's the last I heard of him.''

''Don't worry, I didn't kill him,'' Springtrap said. ''He managed to escape once he realized that the rumors about the haunted animatronics might be true.''

''You also said that Henry was the night guard. So, was he the one who set the building on fire? I mean, Phone Dude talked about how the technology in the building was ancient and how, if they weren't careful, it would catch on fire,'' Sam said.

''I think that the fire was indeed an incident, although there's no doubt that it gave Henry the idea to create an incinerator,'' Springtrap said, sounding a little bitter. He then noticed the look Sam was giving him. It wasn't the usual unnerving glare, but she seemed to be rather sympathetic, which surprised him. ''What's wrong?''

''Are you happy with your current situation?'' she asked, tilting her head. Springtrap was stunned, especially since there was no hint of malice or anger in her tone. She was simply curious. ''You said that you feel more confident as an animatronic, so I was wondering whether you are happy being stuck in this state.''

''I guess I am,'' Springtrap replied, looking at his hands. It was a strange feeling, but he couldn't help but smile at the satisfaction he felt. This was now who he was and he didn't care about what others thought about his fate. It might have been horrible in other people's eyes, but he was content with his new identity. I am Springtrap.

''I'm glad about that,'' Sam said, causing Springtrap to look at her. ''At least you're not a tormented soul who wishes to be free from his cage.''

''Well, if someone told me to go into the light, I would just tell them to shut up and go back the other direction,'' Springtrap said, causing Sam to giggle. He could feel the warmth spreading through his chest, once again pushing that hollow feeling away. ''So, do you have any other plans for today?''

''Not really. I am not really in mood to go anywhere tonight,'' Sam replied, stretching her arms.

''Is there anything wrong?'' Springtrap asked her, noticing that she did look a little anxious.

''To be honest, I don't really like those animatronics at Ricky's,'' she replied. ''I don't have anything against the mascots, but Ricky's actor is kinda unsettling. Every time I go there, I get approached by Ricky. I mean, I know that he's just trying to entertain people, but still…''

''Let me get this straight – you're freaked out by a normal guy in a costume, but you're perfectly comfortable in my presence? I feel like I missed out on something,'' Springtrap said.

''I think it's because I know who you are, but I have no idea who the actor is,'' Sam said. ''I guess that some people had the same feeling whenever you would perform.''

''As much as I know, some of the adults felt freaked out by the animatronics in general, not just me,'' Springtrap said. ''And that was even before they became haunted.''

''Speaking of adults, my mum is supposed to come back tomorrow,'' Sam said, earning a look of surprise from the animatronic.

''I hope you managed to come up with an excuse for what I'm doing here,'' he said.

''Well, I thought I could just tell Mum that you are a sentient animatronic whom I found and who followed me home,'' Sam said, shrugging.

''It's not that far from the truth,'' Springtrap said. ''That is, if you exclude all the shadier parts. Is there anything you want me to say or do?''

''Just keep up with the masquerade and don't tell her your real identity,'' Sam said.

''Why would I even want to do that?'' Springtrap asked, crossing his arms.

''Once you meet my mother, you'll understand,'' Sam replied. ''She has her own way of finding out the truth.''

''If she's anything like you, I can imagine that she will,'' Springtrap said, a little sarcastic, only to notice Sam's expression. He felt worried. ''Should I be afraid?''

''If she learns the truth, yeah,'' Sam replied. ''However, I think this will work out. Besides, you look like a cute and cuddly bunny. That's got to count for something.''

''You think I look cute?'' Springtrap tilted his head, feeling flustered. Sam smiled sheepishly.

''Yeah, I do,'' she said. ''Although that perception comes from my experience with the games, where I only saw you as a withered bunny animatronic complete with a corpse. Honestly, it was slightly disturbing with how adorable you could look, even more after I realized who was inside the suit.''

Springtrap felt a little weird, not at all expecting this kind of conversation. However, he was glad that she had such an opinion of him. He knew that, in a way, he wanted her to accept him, but he couldn't force her.

''I'll take that as a compliment then,'' Springtrap said, glad to see her smile again.

xXx

''Huh?''

He noticed something glinting on the floor. He picked it up, noticing it were keys.

''Now, now, who would do that? Someone far too curious for their own good?'' He closed his hand. ''Tsk, tsk, that not how things are done here. Safety is very important to us, isn't it?''

He then turned around, seeing a small boy looking curiously at him. He grinned beneath the mask.

''Do you want to meet my friends?''

Links:

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#Five Nights at Freddy's: The Untold Story (Masterlist)

[yerimbrit]

[flufftober day 3, wc: 625] - haunted house : j. wonyoung

WONYOUNG’S MORTAL ENEMY is not a person, but a thing. haunted houses, to be exact. they freak her out, they scare her, they everything. you could not get her to enter one even if you promised a lifetime supply of beef.

wait, scratch that. it turns out that you can get her to go in, not because you bribed her with beef, but because she can’t resist your pleading eyes—especially after days of begging her to go with you. and although it took several days for wonyoung to set aside her reservations (which is mostly because of her past experiences with horror-themed idol activities), she believes she is and will continue to be a good girlfriend to you. 

and yet, that doesn’t keep her knees from buckling at the sound of the doors slamming shut behind the two of you. you were always more of a horror connoisseur compared to wonyoung, preferring to watch thrillers and horror over romances or comedies like sinister or gone girl. point is: you’re going to be the one leading the way through. 

it’s funny how she’s usually the confident one between the both of you, but it’s a total role reversal when it comes to things like this. the creaky wooden floorboards wail with each step you take, adding to the suspense alongside the red lighting in the manor. there’s spiderwebs and broken furniture, the air quiet besides the creaking floor and occasional knocks that are shocking to the ear.

“oh my god!” wonyoung screams, clutching onto your arm for her life. someone dressed in attire befitting of a ghost—sheets draped over their head and all—has just passed by your line of sight, disappearing into another corridor. 

you grimace at the tightened hold on your arm; wonyoung has always had a terrifying grip. “baby, it didn’t even look at us.”

“how do you know that, you can’t even see its eyes…” she whimpers, yelping when a cobweb brushes against her forearm. “please...”

sounds of footsteps echo behind you, and you brace yourself for the inevitable tightening of the idol’s grip on you. you make a shushing motion with your free hand, waiting for the footsteps to cease… though, they do not. in fact they get louder and louder and oh fuck. there’s a presence behind you.

“wony,” you whisper, and she lets go of our arm in favor of holding your hand. “on my count, we run.”

“one… two…” wonyoung suddenly launches forward in a sprint, dragging you with her rather harshly. the presence follows after, the scene turning into a full-chase scene. “oh, shit!” 

you must’ve bumped into many table legs and scattered chairs or whatever, because you’re pretty sure bruises have bloomed all over your legs like a field of flowers in the middle of spring.. there’s incoherent screaming (which are a mix of wonyoung’s terrified screams, and the figure’s jarring ones) in the background, which you tune out, instead focusing on getting the hell out of there. 

catching your breath is at the top of your priority list after making it out. the workers at the end have this pitying look on their faces, though one of them is more shocked at how fast wonyoung’s face changes from anguish to serenity. she even goes as far as to swing your joined hands back and forth, a slight skip in her step. 

she turns to you with a whimsical smile, throwing you off-guard. “that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“uh… “ okay. you have to ask. she’s way too composed after all that screaming. “are you okay?”

“i’m totally fine,” she answers a little too quickly. the corners of her lips are twitching from how hard she’s smiling. 

you giggle. “...whatever you say.”

your girlfriend is too cute.

flufftober masterlist!

a/n : jang wonyoung max level nonchalant

[ambroziadelphine]

Careful, I bite. Chapter 19

Masterlist

It was the 18th and I laid in my mostly empty room, staring up at the once colour filled ceiling to find the dull cream staring back at me. I had woken up to another nightmare after only an hour or two of sleep. My room was all packed up with just my bedding needing to be put away, having worked very hard to have everything packed after I woke up on Tobi's chest. It was clean and I was glad it was done, but it just felt wrong to be in here with the bare walls and none of my little knickknacks I had on the shelves or desk. I had my car packed and had everything else set to be shipped to Alex's house, so I really had nothing to do now; we had the passports, we were leaving tomorrow, Hashirama actually scored with Liz and while B is setting it up so some of her uni friends would be taking over the lease, he'd be staying with Liz and her kids for the time being. I laughed pretty hard at that, knowing if Augie didn't see him as a dad before, he definitely would now; Hashirama got pretty flustered at that and admitted he had offered to take care of Augie and Lorelai while she worked, or help her work if she needed it. Apparently she was already waiting with the usual server Kate covering for her as she talked with Hashirama in her office. She had figured it out after finally seeing photo's of the character's Augie was going on so much about, immediately noticing the oddly similar faces of Tobirama and Hashirama; plus Madara as I had shown her who my cousin was currently dating.

I sighed and sat up, figuring if I couldn't sleep, I could at least not be alone since it was the last day before we left. Going to Tobirama's room and knocking on the door was surprisingly nerve wracking, like I was both scared and excited to see him and I didn't know what to make of it. It was quiet in the apartment as the two brothers spent their last moments together for who knows how long, though I doubt it would really be long. Tobirama opened his door and seemed slightly surprised to see me; B was out at work after being called in so I was left alone with the boys.

"Max?" He questioned, Hashirama leaning around him to look at me in slight confusion. I blushed and looked down, suddenly feeling very shy as I realized how ridiculous it was to come over to see him.

"I.. " I tried, sighing as I kept my hands clasped in my hoodie sleeves, my face felt hot. "I didn't want to be alone tonight.. if that's okay." I said quietly, avoiding his gaze. He looked at me in surprise for a moment before his expression changed, a slightly softer look in his eyes, the tiniest smile on his face. He held out his hand for me causing my eyes to slightly widen, not expecting him to actually accept my request, but as I looked up at him through my lashes, taking his hand slowly; I found myself surprised by just what I thought wouldn't happen.

"I'll leave you two be for the night then." Hashirama said, getting up from his seat on the bed and slipping past Tobi and I out the door. "Goodnight, love birds." He teased before entering his room, my face flushing red as Tobirama huffed, his cheeks painted pink.

"In some ways, I'll be glad he'll be so far away." He muttered as I chuckled, wrapping my arms around his waist tightly

"Don't lie, we all know you'll miss him." I said quietly as he wrapped his arms around me, closing the door behind him as he lead me to the bed to sit.

"I'm glad your coming with me." Tobirama said after a few quiet moments. I looked up at him and smiled, taking his hand in mine as I leaned into his side, tracing the lines on his palm.

"Oh, I'll probably just be keeping you and Madara from killing each other. From the sounds of it you really hate him." I said with a chuckle, he smiled slightly, hesitantly pulling me closer as he laid a kiss on my head, his arms wrapping around my shoulders.

"I hate him for what he has done. The things he's destroyed and lives he's taken." He said, resting his chin on my head gently. "If he truly has taken this as a second chance and has.. changed, for your cousin.. I may be able to, at least be civil with him; though I cannot say the same for how he will behave." He said making me smile, leaning up to lay a soft kiss on his cheek, nuzzling my nose into the crook of his neck making him let out a breathy chuckle.

"Being civil is enough for me. Just as long as you two aren't at each others throats I think it'll be fine." I mused, relaxing in his touch as I felt calm with my eyes closed, leaning into him more while a comfortable silence settled over us. This was nice, really nice. Just me and Tobirama alone, his arm around me as I snuggled into his side.

"You're awfully clingy today." He muttered making me sigh.

"This just feels nice, having you here with me like this." I said making him smile, laying down with me now on his chest, his head rested on his pillows. Gentle hands moved my hips to place me laying on him, my legs on either side of him as his hands moved to my waist and he let out a pleasant sigh, digging his nose into my hair.

"This feels better, with you this close to me." He said quietly, I felt calm with him, like this was the only time in my life that truly mattered. It was so warm and nice with him, like I was in the eye of a storm where no cold or wind could reach me with just the glowing warmth of the sun around me.

"I'm really glad I met you." I told him, raising my head to look into his eyes as he looked at me curiously, leaning up slightly to kiss my forehead.

"I'm glad I met you too." He said, giving a small chuckle as he gave me a light squeeze. We talked for a bit longer before falling asleep, Tobi had pulled the covers over us and we ended up cuddled together, our legs tangled as he kept his arms protectively around me.

--------Hashirama's POV---------

It's been a little while since Max entered Tobi's room and the light was still on, but it's been quiet for a while and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxiously waiting to find out what was going on. I quietly opened the door, peaking my head in cautiously only to have to stop the gasp of joy I had at seeing Tobirama cuddled up with Max, a small smile on his face as he looked peaceful for the first time in a while. I carefully turned off the light, backing out and going back to my room, feeling lighter knowing my brother may not be as hopeless in the romance department as he was in our old world. Madara's found a woman, now Tobi, and.. even me again.

I couldn't wait to see how this all panned out.

------Tobirama's POV------

I woke up with Max still in my arms, her breathing soft as she slept, her fingers lightly gripping my shirt as I had a hand on her thigh and back. I laid my head back into the pillows and let out a sigh, turning my head to see the sunlight glowing pink in the morning air; last day here, in Seattle with my brother. I'll be honest that I was a little nervous for today, meeting Max's cousin. She seemed to be deeply infatuated with Madara, she seemed kind and innocent even with Madara so obviously ensuring the opposite; if she was anyone else, I'd despise her for being so naïve and stupid trusting the Uchiha, but she was Max's cousin, someone important to her. I couldn't let my disagreements with her choices effect how I act with her, if she doesn't like me then there's a chance Madara might be able to get her to convince Max I'm not right for her. But would he do that? He has enough hatred for me to believe he could do something like that, I suppose I could only put trust in Max to not blindly believe the Uchiha if he starts trying to drive a wedge between us. I was so lost in my thoughts I hardly noticed as Max shifted, her face sleepily looking up at my distant look, eyes gazing out the window before feeling her lips on my cheek as I snapped back to the present moment.

"As sexy as you look when you're thinking, it's a little too early for deep contemplative thinking." She said, my cheeks warming as I looked at her in slight surprise.

"I didn't realize you were awake." I said quietly causing her to chuckle, a smile on her face as she gave a content sigh, tucking her face into the crook of my neck as she placed a light kiss on my skin, a shiver going down my spine at the intimate contact. She smirked against my skin then slowly sat up, her hands rested on my lower stomach making my muscles clench as her fingers grazed my V-line through my black shirt.

"I kinda wish I wasn't. I like sleeping with you." She said, my face going a shade darker at her words before looking away, my eyes landing on the clock that read 7:30am.

"What time do we have to leave?" I asked her, seeing her look at the clock and think for a moment.

"It's almost a 4 hour drive, I told her we'd be there by 2 at the latest, so we've got at least 2 hours to get ready." She said making me smile, turning back to her as I pulled her closer, my nose brushing hers.

"Then, I'd say we just stay like this for a little longer." I said, kissing her softly as she grinned, smashing her lips into mine.

"I like that plan." She said, eliciting a chuckle from me as we laid there a little longer, until the sun was higher and B came to knock on my door to wish Max and I goodbye as she had her schooling to attend today. We then got up and I spent the rest of my time with Hashirama and Max before it got closer to the time we had to leave. We were all talking in the living room, Max was leaning into my side with my arm around her shoulders as Hashirama was in the chair I would usually occupy, when a note was slipped under the front door with a single knock and I could feel Max tense up instantly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked her, seeing her eyes glues to the envelope laid on the wood floor. Hashirama got up, his face cautious as he approached the note and picked it up, opening it carefully as he walked back over, his face turning hard as he looked at the papers laid inside.

"This man is sick." He said, handing me the papers which turned out to instead be photos, some of just Max over the last week since the King incident, walking into buildings, sitting reading a book at a library, in the café with Liz, Hashirama and I, and even some from last night of Max laying on my chest, taken through the window in my room. I grit my teeth, Max's breath hitching as she looked at the photo's, sitting up as she looked at them with tears in her eyes.

"He's doing it again.." She muttered, her face looking numb like she was both in shock and petrified. I threw the photo's on the coffee table, pulling her back into my arms to hold her tight.

"It'll be okay. Soon we'll be hours away from him." I told her softly, trying to reassure her which seemed to do little to help before Hashirama pushed one of the papers to me.

"There's a note." He said, my eyes drawing to it as I felt my blood boil at the words written.

'Don't think any of this is over Ma. 

I'll get my payback on you later, for now just enjoy you're little trip. 

And remember, Maxine.

I've got eyes everywhere. 

-R'

"I should've killed him." I seethed, wishing I could burn that paper from existence, keep these awful things from Max and make them go away, but I knew I couldn't. I didn't even have the first idea how you go about dealing with something like this in this world, in our world it was as simple as kill or be killed for anyone outside of your clan; Rio would have been dead long ago if he grew up like I did.

"Tobi.. Maybe it's best if you leave early.." Hashirama said, looking down in disappointment. He clearly didn't want to see us leave so soon but.. it might be for the best given how Rio is now making it clear he's not letting this go.

"Brother-"

"No, I'm not going to sit and watch as Max is terrified and you both are in danger." He said making me pause, the seriousness in his voice making me sigh, he wasn't giving us much choice, but I don't know how good of an idea it is to let her drive in this state. I was hesitant even letting her drive after I had knocked Rio out, she was shaking so bad as I held her hand. I didn't want to see that again.

"He's right." Max said, sniffling slightly as she kept her head buried in my chest. "He doesn't know where Alex lives, I don't even think he knows what province she's in. If we'd be safe away from him anywhere, it'd be her place." She said making me snicker quietly, resting my head on hers.

"I'd rather take you back to our world. That way, you would always be safe from him." I muttered, Hashirama chuckled and nodded.

"I understand what you mean, little brother. I wish there was a way we could be in both worlds.." He said, Max chuckled and lifted her head slightly, her face had tear tracks running down her cheeks and I couldn't stop my hand from moving up to brush the water from her skin. 

"But then you'd have to keep me safe from the dangers of your world." She said making my gaze soften, a small smile on my face as I stared at her.

"It took 20 S rank shinobi to kill me the first time. I doubt it'd be an actual issue." I said making her look at me in surprise.

"Well, I didn't really know that.." She said, looking down slightly, a blush on her cheeks causing a chuckle to come from me.

"You don't know half of what I'm capable of, do you?" I asked her, her face turning a deeper red as Hashirama laughed.

"I thought you watched the battle scenes from the show?" He asked her, she hid her face in my chest and sighed.

"I mainly watched the fight with Izuna.. I didn't really know what battles you were in as they all had multiple people fighting in the same scene, so I didn't really know which ones to watch." She admitted bashfully making me chuckle, kissing her head slightly.

"Truthfully, I'm glad you haven't seen all my battles. I wouldn't want to risk you being afraid of me due to my strength.." I said, my eyes downcast as I thought of how I had thought she might have reacted to my full abilities. Would she honestly be scared? She knows I wouldn't hurt her, but would she know it if she saw how I fought? She looked at me curiously.

"I don't think I'd be afraid." She said, a thoughtful look on her face. "Though I will say, that water dragon was pretty cool." She mused with a laugh, I closed my eyes and chuckled.

"I actually invented that." I said, she looked at me in shock.

"Really?" She asked, I snickered in amusement and nodded.

"Tobirama created most Jutsu's common in the Hidden Leaf village. He was even the one to create Naruto's infamous Shadow clone Jutsu and the reanimation Jutsu as well as many others." Hashirama said, Max seemed to almost deflate at that making me raise a brow.

"Great, so I really am the stupid one in this relationship." She said making me laugh, that was really her first thought?

"I don't think you're stupid." I told her, though she gave me a look that had me laughing lightly. "Most of the time at least." I said, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, the lack of warmth from her arms making me frown.

"Rude." She said, looking away from me when Hashirama laughed.

"You know, you two are the most unlikely couple I think I've ever seen." He said, Max stuck her tongue out at him as I sighed, kissing her forehead gently.

"I won't deny that." I said, Max smacking my arm lightly making me smile. "No hitting." I said, seeing her grin.

"From the back." She said making me furrow my brows, not entirely understanding until Hashirama started to laugh, my face flushing red at the meaning of what she made it sound like I was saying.

"That is not-"

"Fair? I know. You seemed to enjoy doing that last time." She said, a wide smirk on her face as I groaned, my face red as I avoided looking at her or Hashirama, though I could still hear his laugh.

"And I will be glad to not have to hear that again after today." He teased, I was slightly mortified at the knowledge that he heard us, but I wasn't entirely surprised given how often they interrupted us.

"Blame him. It's his fault."

[mrsjellymunson]

KNOCK AT THE CABIN | Prologue

Written for @bettyfrommars, @allthingsjoeq and @somnambulic-thing’s Stranger Prompts, Prompt 1. He shows up at your house covered in mud in the rain, but the problem is, he died two months ago.

Series Summary: After the events of the previous months, everyone is shocked by the unexpected return of an old friend. But is it really him?

Chapter Summary: On a stormy night, an unexpected visitor arrives.

WC: 1.14k

Series C/W: 🔞 18+, MDNI, NSFW. I mean it, if you’re under 18, git! Post-S4, Upside Down exists, dark/supernatural themes. Eventual Eddie Munson x fem!reader smut. Swearing. Not much to caution about in this part, unless you don’t like rain, or bad decor.

A/N: This series contains a lot of things I haven’t written for before, so I’d love to know what you think! Please comment and reblog, it means the world to writers, and reblogs mean work gets seen. This series has a taglist so if you’d like to be on either it, or my general list, lemme know in a comment, ask or message 🙏💗

Next: Part One Part Two

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You’re holed up in an old farmhouse on the outskirts of Hawkins. It’s not exactly remote, but the nearest building is little more than a speck on the horizon so you feel pretty isolated. Owens organised it, explaining it would be a good idea for the older members of the party to lay low for a little while. Nancy had put forward an excellent argument for remaining with her family, but you, Robin and Steve had reluctantly packed up some of your belongings and relocated here. For how long, you don’t know.

It’s no palace. The wood-built building is certainly past its best, the yellowing 50s kitchen barely functional and the faded decor not to anyone's taste. But it’s (mostly) warm, (usually) dry, and most importantly, it feels safe. Which is something you all need after the events of the past few months.

You’re all acutely aware of the obvious gap in your merry band. Owens had insisted that the three of you didn’t attend the funeral, but he’d involved you as much as he could, ferrying messages between you and the kids and Wayne, discussing what he would’ve wanted to wear (you all agreed on his spare Hellfire shirt and leather jacket, knowing he’d never want to be separated from either, plus a brand new, government-funded pair of black 501s), and sneaking mementoes to you with Wayne’s approval.

Mike and Will have taken charge of his D&D paraphernalia, Dustin got his wallet chain (and wears it with literally everything, even his Weird Al shirts and colourful shorts), and Lucas opted for a small pocket knife. You, Steve and Robin each have one of his rings. Steve and Robin keep theirs in their rooms, but you wear the silver skull every day. It’s too big for your fingers, and is even a little loose on your thumb, but that’s where you keep it, spinning it to ease your anxiety, and smoothing the pads of your fingers over its bumpy surface to remind you of the friend you’ve lost. Rueing the fact that you always wanted him to be more than that, but never had the chance to find out whether he felt the same.

The kids visit periodically, even staying over sometimes, nobody expecting anyone to be watching the comings and goings of a bunch of nerdy teens. Nancy drops them off, sometimes staying, sometimes not. On this occasion she’d dropped and run, explaining that she was going to visit Max in the hospital tomorrow, spending some quality girly time with her. Lucas, who usually spent every spare moment by her bedside, was going to spend the weekend here, after Max, still seriously ill but now well enough to communicate, insisted that he needed to spend at least a bit of time with his old friends.

Tonight, you’d had a movie marathon, Keith developing an uncharacteristically generous side since everything kicked off and periodically dropping off and collecting piles of VHS tapes. Not quite generous enough to bring you any brand new releases, but even things you’ve seen before are better than the ‘sweet FA’ you’d have available given the nonexistent TV reception around here.

Popcorn litters the floor and the saggy furniture, as do gangly boys and a long-haired girl. Jane has commandeered the sole armchair, sitting in it cross-legged, and you, Steve and Robin are squashed onto the sofa with an equally squashed Dustin, the latter insisting that there was definitely room for one more.

Mike and Will are on the floor between the sofa and the old, battered coffee table. Mike’s hunched over a bowl of chips that he’s shovelling in, and Will is leaning against your legs, you stroking his hair in a way you know he finds comforting. Lucas is lounging on the floor at the side of the table, his long body stretched out and his head supported on threadbare throw pillows.

The gentle patter of drizzly rain against the windows and roof, and the crackle of the open fire, one of your only sources of heating, gives the evening a cosy feel, though you hope the rain doesn’t get any heavier as you don’t entirely trust the roof over the rear extension to cope with much more meteorological abuse.

You’ve just finished Raiders Of the Lost Ark and Steve has got up to swap it out for The Stuff, when there’s a strong gust of wind and the rainfall picks up significantly. Great, you think, the weather gods definitely weren’t listening to your silent pleas.

None of you notice Jane stiffening in her seat and shifting uncomfortably.

Under the lashing of the wind and rain there’s a sudden noise at the front door. Not urgent, not loud, just two soft thuds. If the kids had been roughhousing or the film had been on you may even have missed them.

You all look at each other, instantly and equally on edge, and all hoping that somebody, anybody, will provide a simple explanation for this.

Steve’s the first to speak. Jaw slack and brow furrowed, he asks the room, “Uhh, did anyone order takeout?”

There’s a cacophony of ‘no’s’ and shaken heads, before another soft thud is heard, just one this time.

Steve steels himself, not for the first time realising that it’s his responsibility to investigate the possibly terrifying, and potentially life-threatening, situation. He stands from his position by the video player and moves towards the door, fingertips skimming the top of the bat that’s always to the side of it, before closing his hand softly around the handle.

He pulls back the sliding bolts before twisting the lock and pulling the door open just a crack, leaving the chain on. The noise of the weather increases in volume, but other than that there’s no indication of what’s on the other side.

Steve has his back to you so you don’t see his eyes go wide, but you do hear a soft, “Wh- What the fuck?”

Robin being Robin, and perpetually thinking about her stomach, she says,

“What is it, doofus? Pleeease tell me it’s Jonathon and Argyle dropping by from Cali with some delicious Surfer Boy pizza??”

“Uh, no, it’s, uh- You know what? Maybe you should just come and see for yourself. Wait, scratch that, just the adults.”

Knowing this will unwittingly pique the interest of the kids more than if he’d just allowed everyone to come look, you and Robin glance at each other before quickly rising and moving to the door.

Steve closes it and takes off the chain, opening it wide as the three of you arrive, the kids following close behind and trying to look between you.

There, hunched, shivering, soaking wet and covered in mud, is your friend. The one who’d died saving the town. The one they’d buried only a few days ago, after he’d been lying on a slab in a lab somewhere for weeks.

Eddie.

Next: Part One Part Two

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Thanks so much for reading! I really hope you enjoyed this. Lemme know if you’d like to be tagged in future parts.

Extra tags: @jamdoughnutmagician @joejoequinnquinn

[the-firebird69]

There's a whole lot of stuff going on but there are bunkers being built under the East Coast of the USA and similar locations it's really where the capitals are I'm back proper by Mac proper and this struggling for control. Let's say they're going to use before as puppets. Going to try to put them in real fast. Of course we have a problem with that naturally and it's going on now

-more like this is under attack in the eastern hemisphere really they're only about 50% out and every day they're attacking a different location and they're trying to take them over a big fight erupts and they're gaining about 50% of them which is too many.

-the attacks are not slow or more like basis or small 50% were lost when the past 3 days and the reaction that shows here so today in the eastern hemisphere will you see them attacking 25% more twice as much as their daily attack and they can handle the volume and they are digging in. The McDonald's area stand and Biden are different locations and are not considered more lock mostly

-the Western hemisphere took big hits and they're about 40% lost and they're at 60% capacity.

-my son's like is a mess he has to bicycle around to update programs in a stupid phone that's ridiculous and you can't get the cable guy out there to fix the stupid line so I want teams on it and get information and we get stuff and more importantly we can take over bases that the max knock out and there are ways to do it I've seen it happen because of it and people are volunteering and I'm referring them to Thor and Freya

-got a little beat up last night and stayed up late been a lot of stuff done and a lot of stuff out but this this phone is bothering him and I want that to stop it's a new development is no it was happening there saying it's cuz it's smaller and it's not true

-they're assigning to people now and they have people on it but they are increasing the number and trying different simultaneous angles and then explain it to each other of course

-there's a large influx of McDonald's Stan and Biden coming in here and it's because there's an evacuation of New England and part of Virginia Pennsylvania and the Midwest upper Midwest and they're coming here because my husband is here basically and other leaders. It's a huge evacuation and they are filling in where people left and they are displacing warlock and they're clearing out they are fighting to get here as well and causing damage to the more luck again. But they have to. There's like 25% more lock about 2 weeks ago in Florida right now they're down to about 17% and they act like they're not worried a lot of people left Charlotte county last night a lot of people then the infill somehow and then 16 rings and they're going to add two more tomorrow that's how. There are more people here than you would think in Charlotte county is probably 3.5 million and they're getting tussled around and it won't last long construction projects are going to start doesn't make sense to have 18 rings and nobody doing anything in here that's what they said in the meeting this morning the max also had a meeting they said that my husband's attitude is terrible they can see why the place is a dump he doesn't have money either training everything then they said so what so they're saying they're going to have offensive on our people in populated areas and they tried it last time a couple days ago and we are going to wipe them out again and will continue to do so and people are thinking about the bunkers I will probably start to attack them so they can't complete them and it's kind of a prone position to a degree and their fleets too big and they'll bring their fleet in and they'll start taking chips that's going to go on shortly

-foreigners have picked up on stuff and it finally arriving and they're showing up and they're going to Miami it's a big area it's not that big and they need housing and they want to start construction they have construction firms and personnel but people are not letting them in and they need to get in and we need them in so trying to work some deals oh yeah people on it and it's going on now will and Bill are interested they want to get involved and make some connections and kenn and Justin, so we are going to meet with them and I'm going to offer a meeting. We have other companies that are going very strong but we have a lot of construction companies and we've been looking to do this for some time now we are now looking for partners on many many projects meeting business projects one of them is the pagliani and that's mine and I want to have women in manufacturing get in touch with me and making miracles a good choice and she's into motorcycles and the partner would be Chrissy that's BG wife she's big into them and knows what I'm talking about these things are great and EMP has tough time with him and images and that's what people need right now so I need to probably talk to them he says they're in a disheveled state beat up but really put it out there and nothing happened and my husband is saying that there's all these Chinese parts and Uriel and caught his wife agree and it will come from over there and that's BG and now making miracle gets it so she wants to be involved. I haven't hear the frame it's not a problem so we're going to try and get with him he's not making anything right now and that's his bike and my husband is kind of iffy about the hard knock it's kind of an odd looking bike and it's like this rap chopper and tracks rat chopper attention. And the pagliani is a nice looking cruiser with the right exhaust it sounds really cool like a Honda and it looks nice and it's a chopper or a cruiser or like a Sportster it's nice it's like a Honda rebel to this three different bikes so I'm going to try and get that going and sort of know where and it's not Florida no it's on LA area and they are nuts about them and we have warehouses so he wants to he wants me to start stocking parts for it so actually started doing that so we need to set up an assembly plant it'll be small at first

Hera

You got to be s******* me I didn't notice it but that's great and we have to meet up because that's a terrific idea and we have to make these someone halted it and we need to start it and we need tons of parts for it and the three bikes are perfect I have a line instead they just make one and then make the other and we can have dealerships all over the world and we probably start out with this Chinese motorcycle stuff but actually started having dealerships and he said he wonders if that would drive the production companies that sell all different bikes or just a few and summer Chinese or summer Indian and I get that too because I can get parts it looks like and it's true so we're going to start with that that's a great idea

Bg getting a lot of orders for my wooden car and for all sorts of electrics but I hear they having trouble and the bike is really great it's supposed to have two sizes he says but it's all interchangeable so if you need a part you can grab it from here or there a bowl or not and get it later that's what we really need and those things work and it said it's going to make a car too and the car uses the same bolts and nuts and everything so we're interested in it's really nice idea it's always been out there so we need to set up a meeting since it's Thursday and this usually lots of stuff going on out there gatherings and such I sort of see something that's also a great idea

Bg

I'm into this I need to do it and I want to do it and he says it might be Katya who meets up and talks to us about it did pretty good English and she's smiling and she knows why so it's a good excuse but really that sounds like fun and she can get up there now cuz you have a meeting and we'll meet in about the motorcycle but I want to be involved instead of course and our friends going to be somewhat involved because of her and that works for us too so we're going to get up there and go out on the weekend and they say they can kind of check the schedule cuz I have friends it's a huge spy Network okay just call a few people and they know what's going on and they know who's showing up so sometimes looking westboro okay like it in westborough

Crisdy

I get the idea and I'm going to bring some information and I can see if they can do it and we can set up a meeting like the next day to go look at the place and see what they need and talk of Turkey

Katia

This is a great time to say this it's a good idea and it's a great way to do it it seems to be working on other stuff and I have other stuff to do and I'm going to go out there

Thor Freya

I need these electric bikes they don't seem to work too good so we might look like a moped or a scooter and he says it's kind of like a waste of time cuz you need to get a motorcycle license but the scooters are very dangerous and I noted that there's a lot of accidents it's kind of a waste of time. But the recycled motors company is not so we're going to be around 2:00 asking about it and we're going to talk to people and it could be like a big consortium or several different assembly factories and so forth and he says that's true so we can take a look at it

Trump

And the max is saying they don't like it don't want it but people need to have some kind of transportation and they're going to try and take it

Thor Freya we're going to bring information about the casinos too and I think we'll put a sign up cuz it worked with the wooden car right now there are huge sales on the Rolls-Royce it is a giant seller it has a monogram on it from our son and daughters crest and people can see it and they're buying it like madness it's probably it's the huge numbers of sales it's probably one of the biggest seller of cars now no to be a seller of top end cars and I'm going to get involved in the Bentley I'm going to make it my Bentley cruiser and that's what they're called in the luxury world this can be very fast and we'll probably have races because the zig zag designs there's and she will race in the Rolls-Royce and he's going to race in the Bentley or backwards. I certainly see how strange it is but Ken might race against Hera so she would be in the Rolls-Royce and it sounds odd but that might have been why we're going to go ahead with it now

Oh that's great somebody sees how I think oh it's him that's surprising he says whoa what a doozy but well this is going to be fun eventually you can have one the safe car the hardtop so it's terrific it's not really that safe cuz it's a Rolls-Royce this armored kind of

Hera

Olympus

[ell0ra-br3kk3r-writes]

Magic Girl

pairing: kaz brekker x reader

genre: fluff

a/n: italics is a flashback and yes.... i based the reader off of wanda

Magic wasn’t something people came across easily. In fact no one had magic. There was small science, but that is not magic. At least no one was known to have magic. 

Y/N was a crow. And she couldn’t be prouder of her reputation in the Barrel. She earned her rank as second hand to Kaz Brekker. Bastard of the Barrel, Dirtyhands. They told each other everything, mostly because they grew up together. Being childhood friends did help a little bit. You had always known you had powers, and when you met Kaz you shared them with him almost immediately.

He always admired you when you used your powers. He thought you were the most amazing person ever, just the idea of magic flowing through you always blew his mind as a kid. When they were young he started calling her magic girl. 

“I need a nickname for you. An annoying one.” Nine year old Kaz ran up to Y/N and sat down next to her, laying down in the field of golden wheat. She turned her head, “Why an annoying one?” “‘Cause you call me Kazzle Dazzle…” She laughed, “Well it only makes sense! You are my Kazzle Dazzle!” He shoved her shoulder softly, “Shut up. I’ll think of something.” After about thrity minutes of cloud watching he shot up, “I got it!” Y/N sat up, confused, “Got what?” “Your new nickname!” He smirked at her, “Magic girl.” She furrowed her eyebrows and frowned, “I don’t like it…” He smiled triuphantly, “That’s the point!” She shook her head, “No. You are not calling me that.”

And of course it stuck, much to Y/N’s annoyance. 

Growing up and watching you gain more control, he only became prouder of her day by day. Plus now he always had something up his sleeve the rest of Ketterdam didn’t. Y/N.

In order to keep her little secret she had to wear this whole get-up. She wore black leather pants with a red sleeveless shirt with a hood to cover up her face. Kaz also got her red fingerless leather gloves for one of her birthdays to add onto her costume, as he calls it. So that’s how she stood, leaning against a wall since he gave her the roll of look-out. 

Seeing Inej and Wylan running towards her, she straightened up “What? What happened?” Inej shook her head, “We’re outnumbered. Kaz told us to come get you.” Y/N briefly nodded and took off in the direction they came from. Turning the corner she saw Nina, Matthias and Kaz cornered, doing all they could to fend the other gang off. She was surprised to see this amount of people here, normally there would be five to six at max.

Now she saw almost twelve people. One of them shot at Kaz, barely missing him. Y/N snapped into action, raising her hands, red smoke began to form into balls around them. She tilted her hands slightly and smoke began to rise under their feet wrapping itself around their legs in spirals, crawling up until their hands were pinned to their sides. They struggled, trying to get out of the smoke’s grip. She nodded her head behind her signaling the crows to get out of there. They all moved to stand behind her watching proudly.

Kaz watched, his lips curled up into a proud smile as he watched her hands fall into fists and the men crumple to the ground. Dead. Seeing them all fall to the floor instantly, his mouth fell open. Jesper smirked, biting his tongue as he was about to make a snarky remark about Kaz’s reaction.

Y/N turned around and lowered her hood, she moved toward Kaz, “Close your mouth. You’ll catch flies.” She tapped his jaw and kept walking past him as the rest of the group followed. Kaz turned around and watched her as she laughed with Jesper over something he said. He shook his head and walked to catch up with them. 

~

Once they got back to the Slat she rushed up to her room to change. After she changed she walked up to Kaz’s room. They always hung out in his room every night. It was just their thing.

Not knocking, she pushed open the door and made her way to her chair. She smirked at him. He rolled his eyes, not saying anything. “Would I be wrong if I said that my boyfriend was impressed by my little display back there?”

He huffed and scanned over the blueprints on his table. She smiled and rested her chin on her hand leaning on the table, “I impressed you.” She teased in a sing-song voice. He looked up and smiled, “You always impress me,” His smile turned into a smirk, “Magic girl.”

She threw her head back and groaned, “I hate you.” He laughed, “No you don’t. You love me.”

[33max]

What about Daniel calling Michael to bring him some food because Max fell asleep in his lap hugging Mr Roar and doesn't want to move him ;_;

Hello! Thank you for your prompt, sorry it took a while! ♥️

cw nsap, food mentions, 790 words

Daniel hates Red Bull right now. Not the team, the drink.

Max had spent all morning on the sim, chatting with his friends and apparently drinking a shit load of Red Bull. As soon as he stopped racing and snuggled up with Daniel on the sofa, he regressed.

So, Daniel had then spent the entire afternoon playing with a caffeinated Little Max.

They played hide and seek. Then superheroes. Then with Max’s scalextrics. Then his dinosaurs. Then hide and seek again. Then his cars.

There was then a tantrum because Daniel had tried to get him to sit quietly and watch a movie and Max did not want to do that. Not at all.

So, it’s been a long and hard day. Daniel is absolutely exhausted, and Max has finally crashed from the sugar high. He’s got his head in Daniel’s lap and is snoring softly, clutching his blanket against his chest. He looks so adorable that Daniel can’t possibly stay mad at him for being an absolute terror all day.

He does really need some reinforcements though because he’s exhausted, hungry, and reluctant to move in case he wakes Max, who very much needs this nap.

So he texts Michael. The only person that knows about Little Max and the only person he would trust to come over when Max is like this.

To Michael Italiano Staliano: Wanna come and watch the game? Also if you’re going past the ramen place could you pick some up?

From Michael Italiano Staliano: Yeah, I’ll get the usual – Does Max want anything?

To Michael Italiano Staliano: He’s sleeping, I’ll make him something when he wakes up

From Michael Italiano Staliano: Is he little? I’ll get him one of those cute rice dishes in the shape of a bear and we can heat it up later

To Michael Italiano Staliano: Yeah and he’s been a fucker today!!!! mate he would love that thank you

From Michael Italiano Staliano: No problem. See you soon 😎 Go Bills

Michael doesn’t knock when he arrives, he unlocks the door and comes in quietly. Daniel is so grateful that his friend is this considerate.

“Hey,” Michael whispers, taking a seat on the armchair as there is no room where Max is sprawled across the sofa. “He still sleeping?”

“Yes, the fucker drank his body weight in Red Bull before regressing… he’s been on a sugar high all day, mate,” Daniel tells him quietly. “I’m so tired.”

“Here,” Michael says, handing him a beer and then the ramen he had picked up on his way over. “Eat this, chill out, and when he wakes up I can hang out with him.”

Daniel leans his head back on the sofa. Stares at the ceiling for a minute and contemplates how he can even express how grateful he is to his best friend. “You know not everyone would be cool with this right?”

“Yeah, but I am… you know that,” Michael says, giving him a funny look.

“I’m trying to say thank you,” Daniel says, “Thank you for not being a cunt to him, thank you for accepting it, but mostly thank you for everything you do for him.”

It’s in that rare moment of emotion between the two of them that Max stirs, whimpers a little and opens his eyes.

“Hi Maxy,” Daniel says, stroking a hand through Max’s sleep ruffled hair. “Good sleep?”

Max nods, but Daniel can tell he’s still so sleepy. He’s nuzzling his face further into Daniel’s legs and he’s already put his thumb in his mouth. Daniel should find his binkie when he gets a second.

“Maxy, do you want some dinner?” Michael asks, showing him the rice bear, moving the bowl around a bit to make it look like the bear is moving.

Max nods again, shy. Always shy when Michael first comes over, it takes him a few minutes to warm up to him.

The rice bear is apparently more enticing than sleep, because Max sits up and takes the bowl from Michael. Daniel probably shouldn’t let him eat on the sofa, but what the hell, Daniel is exhausted and he doesn’t want to eat at the breakfast bar either…

“Do they do lion ones?” Max asks Michael, innocent face hopeful.

Daniel is just about to tell Max no, unfortunately, they only do bears when Michael says “No, but next time I come over to do your Daddy’s meal prep… I’ll make you a rice lion!”

How the fuck is he gonna do that? Daniel bursts out laughing, but it’s at that moment that he realises that Little Max is special to Michael too and that Michael’s not just helpful because he’s Daniel’s friend, he’s helpful because he wants to support Max.

[boldlyvoid]

Freezer Burns | Chapter 8

Chapter Eight (last chapter) | Masterlist

Summary: Coming Home.

Warnings: Fluff, implied Smut, flirting/suggestive content, implied/referenced past sexual assault, apologies, Wayne/Claudia POV, happy ending for everyone

Word Count: 5.5k

He really didn’t have a lot of things to pack up. He places an empty cardboard box on his bed and looks around the room… “there’s nothing I even really want…” 

“Your clothes,” Eddie reminds him, pointing at the closet. “And even pack some things that don’t fit, you can hand-me-down them to your little brother.” 

“True,” he smiles. “I can’t wait for him to come home tomorrow.” 

“What’s the plan look like, again?” Eddie asks, he wasn’t as into the planning as Steve was. He met with Claudia after Grandma Beth to apologize to her and they personally created the whole itinerary to keep Dustin safe and aware. 

He knocked on her door softly, hearing a few meows before it eventually opened. Claudia smiled at him, she has gotten to know him really well in the last year, and this wasn’t much different… he just knew the truth now.

She makes little cakes and a pot of tea and they sit together in the living room, her cat in her lap as she pets her for support. The conversation mostly 'how are you' and 'what have you been up to' before he gets into mentioning the elephant in the room. 

“I’m really sorry,” he announces. “I hate being related to my father, I hated him even before I knew all this happened… I really don’t want Dustin to look into him or try and build any relationship because my dad has something wrong with him. I don’t think he can love anyone and I don’t want Dustin to suffer feeling unloved like I do.” 

She nods along, letting him get it all out before her lips curl up in a smile. “Do you want to hear a story?” 

He nods, unsure but willing to go with it. 

“Last year after Halloween there was a change in Dusty, I couldn’t quite place it and then he told me. We were having a movie night, watching Star Trek the Wrath of Khan like we do once a month together, and he noticed Spock and his brother Sybok don’t get along and his dad is a complete asshole and he asked me, ‘mom, can I have a chosen family like Spock has on the enterprise even though I have you?’ And I was a little shocked by it, but he went on to explain that his friends all come from difficult homes, be it Mikes parents hating each other, Will’s mom being all alone to raise him and his brother, Lucas’s parents are working 10 times as hard as any family in Hawkins and don’t have as much time for them and your parents are just down right neglectful.” 

“Yeah,” Steve agrees.

“Then there’s Max whose mom is stuck in an abusive marriage, his favourite teacher Mr. Clarke doesn’t even have a family… he said ‘I’ve kinda made my own family with everyone around me.’ Steve, he has considered you a big brother from the moment you entered his life, and I’m not sure how it happened or if I even want to know, but seeing him happy, seeing him loved, it means the world to me. You’re made up for your father's actions tenfold in the last year alone. You’re everything he needs.”

He tears up, “thank you.” 

“I’m going to tell him the truth on the ride home from camp,” she explains. “His friends want to come over to have a little surprise party for him, but I have a feeling he’s going to want to see you right away.” 

“I’ll be at work on the first,” he explains. “From 12 till close, so if you want to bring him to the Mall to talk that’s okay, he might need some ice cream.” 

She laughs, “it’s a good way to cope with big news.” 

“Are we going to let my dad know that he knows?” 

She shakes her head, “I don’t want to, I’m going to tell him why… but ultimately it’s his choice to reach out, I don’t think he’ll want to given how much he hates your parents for mistreating you.” 

“He’s said that?” 

She nods, “he got very upset telling me about it. He said you went out for lunch during Christmas break last year and bonded over being single kids with bad dads… he said it was like he finally got to sign up for the big brothers and sisters program. He loves you, he even asked me if you could move in with us so you’d be better-taken care of.” 

“Oh,” his heart swells as a tear rolls down his cheek. “I just wanted him to know he could always talk to me… he got shunned by the girls at the dance and it made me think about how I didn’t have any advice from my dad about how to be nice to girls and he needed someone to teach him that respect and kindness is more important than the number of girls can you get with.” 

“See,” she beams with joy. “You’re a wonderful role model.” 

“I’ve been really trying,” he can’t help but cry. Other than Eddie, no one in his life has really looked at him and said what he was doing was good. He was good. 

“Uh, yeah… She’s going to tell him on the drive home tomorrow and possibly drop him off at work with me… I’ll probably spend the rest of the day with him if that’s okay?” 

He nods, “yeah, I don’t mind, baby.” 

“I’ll still come to bed though,” he makes that very clear, walking over to Eddie and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. 

Eddie rests his hands on Steve's hips, “I thought lesbians moved fast and here we are living together after a few weeks.” 

“We’ve been living together the whole time,” he teases. “Grandma Beth adopted us months ago with a plan, I think she gave us a love potion.” 

“Hm, like an old fairytale,” Eddie agrees. “Less murder-y than Hansel and Gretel but just as sweet as the poor old granny that got got by the big bad wolf.” 

Playing with Eddie’s hair, he smiles, “that would be a fun Halloween costume for the two of you…” 

“You’re getting a red cape,” Eddie smirks. 

“You want me to be little red riding hood?” 

He nods, “I mean, I’d love for you to be riding me…” 

“Funny,” Steve tries to stay normal about that, but he too would love to try that. He can’t stop staring at Eddie’s lips, his breathing getting heavier, “I don’t even know how we’d do it…” 

“That’s okay,” he whispers, smoothing his hands over Steve’s sides. “I know… I can show you?” 

He nods, “please?” 

“Fuck,” Eddie releases a shaky breath and pulls Steve in closer to his chest. “You’re so hot I can't believe you’re mine sometimes.” 

Steve cups his cheek, pulling him closer so their noses touch, “make me yours again, then…”

—

He runs into Robin in the hallway outside of the bathroom, “hi,” he smiles and points at his hairy chest, littered with bruises, “what’s that?”

“Huh?” He looks down. “Oh, he’s a biter.” 

Robin hums, “I figured he’s a freak in the sheets too.” 

He nods, not really one to kiss and tell with her… mainly because he hasn’t slept with any women as long as he’s known her. “Why are you waiting for the bathroom?” 

“Oh uh,” she doesn't know how to say it… and then the door opens. 

“Oh, hey Steve,” Nancy smiles at him. She’s in her little silk PJs that he got her for Christmas years ago, unbuttoned with her bra on under it, hickies also visible. 

“Damn,” he stares at her, and she stares at him, both realizing the other had gotten laid that night in the exact same house… 

Robin covers her face, “can we not do this… yet?” 

“I see nothing,” Steve teases, letting Nancy pass and stealing the next spot in the bathroom. “You better be ready to leave in 20 minutes, though!” He calls through the wooden door to Robin. 

“You little shit,” she bangs on the door. “I have to wash my hair, don’t take forever!” 

“I’ll take you in,” Nancy says, kissing robins cheek softly but Steve still hears it through the door, followed by giggles and the sound of them making their way back to her room.

He doesn’t take long, he’s out relatively quick and backs down in the basement with Eddie before he has to go. He already had something to eat, he just had to slip into his uniform and go… but he really didn’t want to. 

Eddie is still laying under the covers, arm over his face so the light doesn’t bother him, his chest uncovered and one leg was also out from under the blanket. Steve just stood there with his shirt in his hands, staring at him, shaking his head with a smile. 

He lays the blue shorts on the end of the bed and crawls in, carefully kissing Eddie’s chest and his neck, disrupting his peace for a cuddle… who was he to complain? Eddie wraps his arms around him and kisses his cheek. “Hi.” 

“Hi,” Steve replies before kissing him on the lips again and again until he smiles too hard. “God, I love you.” 

“Don’t say that when you have to leave,” he groans. “I just wanna show you how much every time.” 

He just chuckles to himself, “thank you… honestly.” 

“For what?” 

“Nancy is upstairs with Robin… for like point 5 seconds I was upset to see her and now I’m like astounded I ever thought the feelings I had for her were true love.” 

Eddie wraps him up and flips them over so he’s on top, “what did I say? I love you so fucking much I don’t want to ever let you leave this bed. You’re mine, Stevie. Mine.” 

“I’m not going to apologize for saying I love you,” he teases, having fun with that sentence for once in his life. Finally, fuckin finally, someone loved him back the same, if not more than he loved them. And it felt fucking fantastic. 

“I would ask you to call out… but you’ve got a big day,” Eddie reminds him. “You think he knows yet?” 

He nods, Dustin was probably sitting in his mom's car right now, “she picked him up at 10… they’re probably almost back in Hawkins.” 

“It’s gonna be a good day,” he assures Steve, brushing his hair back with a sweet smile. “I’ll come to see you at some point too.”

“You wanna tell Dustin together?” He asks, not knowing if he was out to him already or not.

“Whatever feels right to you,” he assures Steve, like always. “I’m just happy to see you happy.” 

He pinches Eddie a few times, “how are you real?” 

“Ow! I’m also sensitive!” He complains, reaching between them to dig his fingers into Steve’s sides and tickle him. 

“Don’t! No!” He starts laughing uncontrollably and can’t escape Eddie’s grasp. The laughing fills the basement, and the two of them play fighting in bed when he should be getting ready for work. 

“Steve!” Nancy yells from upstairs, “get your ass in gear, I can’t leave till you move your car.” 

“Hold on,” he calls back, still breathing heavily from laughing, smiling wide at Eddie. “I love you.” 

“Was that Wheeler?” Eddie looks at him all confused. 

He nods, “yeah, I think Robins dating her?” 

Eddie balls his hands into fists and lifts his arms up to celebrate, “yes, I knew it would work out.” 

“She’s got just as many hickies as me,” Steve says as he slips out of bed and reaches for his things. 

“So Buckley’s a freak too,” he smiles to himself. “I always knew we were similar.” 

“Shut up,” Steve can’t help but laugh, 'cause yeah, they are…

Once Steve is all dressed he leans down and kisses Eddie one last time, “I love you, too, by the way,” Eddie reminds him, he didn’t say it back just before. 

“I know,” Steve steals another kiss, and a third and a fourth before pulling away. “I’ve really gotta go, I’ll see you later?” 

“You know it,” he reaches out and smacks Steve’s ass as he starts to move away. “Have a good day!” 

He grabs his keys and shoes and runs up the stairs, through the kitchen and into the foyer, “sorry, sorry,” he apologizes as Nancy gives him a glare. 

“You want to come with us?” Robin asks, letting him know she would indeed be going with Nancy. 

He shakes his head, “I’ve got Dustin to drive home later.” 

“He’s going to be at work with us all day?” Robin didn’t know that was part of the plan. 

He shrugs, “I don’t know when he’s coming, but yeah I’ll be driving him home for Claudia.” 

“I’ll come back and get you,” Nancy offers, “you can come over to my place for once?” 

“Yeah,” she gets all soft and leans in, pressing a sweet kiss to Nancy’s lips. 

Steve almost trips putting his shoes on while staring at them in amazement and playful disgust, 'cause it's his ex and his best friend... “ew?” 

“Grow up,” Nancy waves him off and kisses Robin again. 

Steve hasn’t seen her look like that before, she’s so enamoured with Robin that you’d think it would make him jealous… just a few weeks ago he was still hung up on how things ended, now he’s overjoyed that she’s found what he has with Eddie… they’re both happy now. That’s all he could hope for. 

—

When he sees the Hawkins sign his stomach drops. He’s been sitting with his mother and the new information about how own life for about 2 hours now and it still didn’t feel right. His mom was assaulted resulting in a pregnancy that later became him. And that meant He, Dustin Henderson was of Harrington blood… no fuckin’ wonder he loved Steve so much. 

“Can you drop me off at the mall?” He asks as they enter downtown. 

She nods, knowing that this was going to be his destination so she was already on her way to the mall. “You okay?” 

“Yeah,” he tries to believe it himself. “Are you?” 

“I think so,” she half smiles, faces still puffy from all the tears. 

“Thank you for sharing that with me, I’m sure it was really hard,” he sympathizes, remembering that it’s important to validate other people's heavy emotions, it’s something Mr. Clarke taught him. 

When she pulls up in front of the mall he takes off his seatbelt and throws himself into her embrace, “I love you, mom.” 

“Oh dusty,” she almost cries. “I love you, too."

With a kiss on the cheek and a pat on the back, she pulls away and sends him off to see his brother. It felt healing now that he knew the truth. There was just one last person she had to talk to, one last person to make things right with. 

Claudia ends up parking her car outside Wayne's trailer with a deep sigh. She gets out and slowly, but surely, makes her way to his door, she knocks a few times, waits… and then she sees him through the screen door. 

“Dede?” Wayne stares at her through the screen, “what are you doing here?” 

“I told Dustin everything,” it just starts falling out. “Everything, Wayne.” He throws the door open and pulls her into his embrace as she starts to cry, “I’m so sorry.” 

“I’m sorry-er,” Wayne whispers, rubbing her back gently. “I wish I went with ya, I wish I could’ve been there to protect you… I wish he was mine.” 

“I’m sorry,” she says it again, unable to find any other words. Feeling like she took the chance at being a father away from him. “Especially for Eddie.” 

“What about him?” He pulls away, “he hurt?” 

She nods, “devastated. Steve came to me wanting to no more, said you kicked him out all because he wouldn’t keep Steve from his brother for you.” 

He nods, “I did do that… but it’s only cause—

“‘Cause he said you were being irrational like Dick,” she knows everything. “You’ve gotta know when you’re in love there are not many people who can tear you apart.” 

“Yeah,” he sighs. “I fucked up big time… twice, didn’t I?” 

She nods, “you could’ve come with us to Chicago.” 

“I know,” he pauses like there’s more. She knows his face too well. 

“What?” 

“I was gonna pack up and come see you and then my sister got sick,” he admits. “I had to raise my nephew, but I was gonna help you raise Dustin.” 

“You still can. You can mend things with Eddie, get to know Steve and… and you can come around whenever you want to meet Dustin,” she doesn’t know how to say she wants him back. 

“Can I take you out as well? Or am I just allowed to come over?” He teases, wanting to pick up where they left off so desperately. 

“If you patch things up with Eddie tonight, we’re having family dinner at my place tomorrow, it’s a potluck cause there’s a boatload of kids to feed,” she can’t help but smile. “The woman Eddie’s staying with is a saint, she’s taken in a few kids.” 

“I figured he was with Beth,” he sighs in relief knowing he was safe. 

With a hand on her cheek, he brushes her hair back and smiles at her softly, taking in the moment. He always wondered when he’d get to see her this close again, the love he had for her never faltered, it never left, it's all still there as he stares at her.

“I still love ya, Dede.” 

“I know,” she smiles, basking in his embrace. “But you’ve got a kid to talk to before work… I can’t show you how much I’ve missed you just yet.” 

“I still get off work at 4:30 in the mornin',” he reminds her. 

“I still live on Piney Wood,” she says in the hopes he knows he can come n see her after. “I’ve got a key under the matt, you can slip into bed with me after your shift, like old times.” 

He pulls her into a gentle kiss, breathing her in deeply, he’s missed everything about her on a level he couldn’t ever understand. He’s yearned for her for so many years… who knew it would be Dick Harrington’s son that brought her back to him? 

—

Dustin runs to Scoops Ahoy like his life depends on it, losing his breath on the way, he drips his chest and takes heaving breaths as he reaches the counter. “Is he here?” 

“Is who here?” Robin smiles, pretending she doesn’t know exactly who he’s talking about. 

Before he can even answer the storage room door busts open with the sound of rubber soles screeching on the linoleum. “HENDERSON!” Steve jumps, overjoyed to see him. “Henderson! He’s back, he’s back!” 

Robin shakes her head with a loving smile, she’s heard a lot about Steve’s love for Dustin, long before he knew they were related, it’s cute to see them meet again now knowing the truth. 

“You got the job!” Dustin cheers him on, pointing at everything. 

“I did! I got it,” he reaches forward, initiating the first sequence in their long best-friend handshake. 

Grab hands, lock fingers, and pull away enough to come back in with a fist bump which then becomes lightsabers crashing twice before Dustin stabs Steve in the stomach and he pretends to bleed out… They spend a long time creating it and memorizing it through hours of rigorous practice. It was perfect now. Weird, but perfect. 

After their handshake, Steve pulls him into a hug and kisses the top of his hat-covered head. “I missed you, buddy.” 

“I missed you, too,” Dustin holds him back, arms wrapped around his middle with his face pressed to Steve’s chest. 

“I uh, I’ve been working on something for you,” Steve explains as he pulls away. “Wait here.” 

He runs back into the back room and takes a special ice cream boat out of the walk-in freezer. It was 3 scoops of ice cream, each with different toppings, candy rings along the side of the bowl as port holes and Waffle cone pieces as sails. He brings it right out to him with a smile, “pick a table, she’s all yours.” 

“Holy shit!” He giggles with excitement, smiling with no teeth. 

They pick a booth away from other people and sit together, catching up on Dustin's camp experience without even touching on the new truth they were both aware of. 

“Girlfriend?” Steve stops him mid-retelling. “You asked a girl out?” 

He nods, “we were spending so much time together… she was in all my groups at the start and she wanted me to be her partner for our final project and I just couldn’t imagine never talking to her again.” 

“That’s so cute,” Steve holds his chest, right over his heart, feeling so overjoyed for him. 

“I didn’t even need any of your tricks,” he teases. 

“Yeah well, I’m learning that none of my tricks were good anyway…” 

“Suze likes me for me,” he swoons. “And she’s so hot, like so far out of my league. Phoebe Cates level of hot.” 

“No way? Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No,” Steve A) thinks he’s exaggerating 'cause it's his first love and B) doesn’t want to believe a 13-year-old girl is that hot… he shouldn’t ever think that.

“Yes way,” Dustin can’t help but smile back. “Brilliant too. And she doesn’t even care that my pearls aren’t real, she says kissing is way better without teeth.” 

Steve opens his mouth to reply but all he can do is blink, “huh… wow man. Yeah, no that’s great. I’m so happy for you.” 

“Thanks,” he says with a mouthful of ice cream. “Do you really get to eat as much of this as you want?” 

He nods, “I mean, yeah, but I’ve gotta watch my figure… you know, for the ladies.” 

“and hows that working out for you, huh, Harrington?” Robin teases, overhearing them from where she was cleaning off a newly vacant table. 

“Shut up,” he gives her a death glare. 

“What’s that about?” Dustin knows something's up. 

“Huh?” 

“Do you have a new girlfriend?” Dustin lights right up. “Oh that’s so cool, maybe when Susie comes to visit one day we can—

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” Steve cuts him off and moves in closer, bringing his voice down. “I am seeing someone though… a guy, someone.” 

Dustin leans in too, mouth agape and eyes wide, “who?” 

“Do not freak out and cause a scene or so help me, Henderson I will never give you free ice cream again,” he prefaces, watching Dustin nod frantically. “It’s Eddie.” 

“What!?” He almost screams and then shrinks down in size to stay quiet again. “I mean, what?” 

He nods, a sweet smile on his face. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Robin at her Grandma’s house and He’s good friends with her cousin.” 

“Gareth,” Dustin knows them well already. “Holy shit, that’s so cool, Steve?” 

“You think?” He beams, cheeks filling up with a beautiful pink colour. 

“Yeah! I’m just glad you’re happy,” Destin scoots over in the seat and wraps his brother up in another big hug. “I was so excited to come home and see you and now… now you’re my brother?” 

“I know,” he rubs his back, wondering at what point he’d bring it up. It was all up to him how much Steve acknowledged it. He just holds him back a little tighter and whispers, “I’ve always known about my brother, I always wanted to go out and find him and meet him. I can’t believe it gets to be you.” 

Steve just holds him there, rubbing his back gently. “You’re okay, right? You know you can talk to me about what your mom said? She’s already told me everything.” 

He nods against him, “I know, I just don’t want to.” 

“Alright,” he lets it go. “I love you, man.” 

“I love you, too,” Dustin holds him tighter, impossibly tight at that. Steve almost can’t breathe. “Thank you.” 

A stray tear falls down Steve’s cheek, and he rushes to wipe it off before patting Dustin on the back. He gets the memo and pulls away then, looking at Steve with similarly glossy eyes. 

“Are you busy tonight?” He asks. 

He shakes his head, “nope, I told Eddie I’d be hanging out with you… unless you want him to come too? Or you can come over to our place?” 

“You’ve moved in together already?” 

“Had to,” he presses his lips together in a sad smile. “Eddie got kicked out, I can’t see my dad ever again knowing the truth… we moved into Robin's basement.”

“I’m sorry,” he feels bad, almost as if it’s his fault that Steve had to move out… and knowing Eddie’s uncle dated his mom, he feels like Eddie’s issue was somehow on him too. 

“No,” Steve points at him. “Don’t worry about it, we’re just staying there till we save up for our own place… I’m actually thinking about applying to school again.” 

“Really? For what?” 

“Well… I was thinking I’m good with CPR from the lifeguard training and,” he drops his voice and moves in, “fire kills things from the upside down, so I should know how to work with it…” 

“You’d be a good firefighter,” Dustin can’t believe he didn’t think of that for Steve himself. “You are very strong, like both in the sense you could carry someone out of a burning building but I think you could cope with it too?” 

“You think?” His soul lightens then, he’s always wanted his family to be proud of him… and now he had that. 

“I know!” He cheers, “you’d get to stay here, too.” 

“Exactly,” he finally settles against the red leather bench seat. Every weight has been lifted off him, Dustin knew everything and he was supportive of it too. 

—

“Sir, I don’t think it’s best that you be in here.” 

Eddie’s head pops up at the sound of his boss's stern voice only to see him keeping Wayne from coming in. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Eddie rushes over, “what’s wrong?” 

Wayne wasn’t a confrontational person, so either someone was dead or hurt if he was coming in to see him in a middle of a fight. They haven’t talked in a few days, Wayne’s also never been one to say sorry. So it makes him worry more.

“Can we talk?” 

His boss turns to him, making sure he feels safe to do so, he knew all the gossip about Eddie’s boyfriend and how his uncle didn’t like him. His boss loved him, he was the only good employee he had, so he felt a little protective of him. 

“I’m okay,” Eddie assures him. “Can I take 5?”

He nods, “holler if you need me.” 

“Will do,” he gives him a smile and then follows Wayne out into the mall and to a bench where they can sit. 

He’s nervous as hell when he sits beside him, he carefully stares at him, observing his body language and his face. He looked sad. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m a fucking idiot,” he admits, pressing his lips together as he shakes his head, he looks like he might cry. “Claudia came over and told me everything, they told Dustin today, which I’m sure ya knew about—

“Yeah, I did,” he cuts him off. “So you know Steve left his parents?” 

He nods, “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you when you said he’s a good kid.” 

That hits him right in the chest. “You’re sorry?” 

He nods, “I know I don’t say it often, but I am. I was wrong, I didn’t listen, I need to find a way to stop.” 

“I get it though,” he sympathizes. “Mom told me all about your dad, he was barely there after the war. I don’t blame you for standing your ground and not budging on much.” 

“But you’re my kid now,” he whispers. “I promised your mom I wouldn’t ever treat you like our dad did us and then I did. I was just as bad a dick, as bad as my dad and yours… you have never deserved that.” 

He nods, tears bubbling behind his eyes. He swallows sharply, “you’re a good dad…” 

Wayne wraps him up in a big hug. “I love you, kid. I’m so fuckin’ sorry I did that to you.” 

“It’s okay,” he holds him back so tight. “We’re okay.” 

He pulls away but cups Eddie’s cheek with his hand so he keeps looking at him, “when are you coming home?” 

He shakes his head, “I don’t think I am…” 

“Why?” 

“We’re all moved into Beth's basement and Steve’s saving up for a trailer, so I’ll be back in the park eventually and I’ll come to see you all the time, but I think I’m happy where I’m at,” he explains softly, not wanting to hurt him by saying no. 

“So I get my room back for good?” He tries to see it as a win. 

Eddie nods with a chuckle, “I guess you do.”

—

Eddie gets him first, parking in the driveway behind Gareth’s van, Nancy would park beside him when she got there, leaving Steve to park on the street later when he got home. 

Home.

He walks in with a smile, kicks his shoes off by the door and heads right to the kitchen. He gives Grandma Beth a hug and a kiss on the cheek and takes a seat on one of the bar stools. 

“How was work?” 

“Good,” he sighs, letting the stress of the day out with it. “Wayne came in and talked to me.” 

“Oh?” She had no idea, genuinely. 

He nods, “mhm, he apologized, I guess Claudia talked to him and made him realize he was in the wrong.” 

“Are you okay?” She looks at him so softly.

“Yeah,” he shrugs. “I really think so… I cried it all out, it got fixed, I’m happy with Steve, I like living here… so yeah I think I’m okay. I’m fantastic.” 

She beams a beautiful smile back at him, “I’m happy for you, sweetheart.”

“Thank you,” he reaches out his hand across the counter to hold hers. 

She gives his hand a squeeze before she lets him go, moving on to making him a plate of dinner after a long day at work. 

Nancy and Robin join shortly after, Steve apparently took Dustin to set up some HAM radio he made so he can talk to his girlfriend from here… there was a lot he needed to catch up on when Steve got home. 

There it was again. It was so easy for him to call this place home. Being in bed with Steve was home. Being in his arms is home. Steve is home. 

He heads down to his room to sit in his feelings, too in love to even think straight, he feels like he could go crazy thinking about how happy Steve made him feel. It was a little crazy to think back on how scared being around Steve made him, how big of a crush he had on him… now Steve loves him back and they sleep in the same bed and share a room and they’re together. They’re happy. 

He cleans up their room a bit, he makes it cozy again and slips into bed with a copy of lord of the rings: the return of the king, not knowing when Steve would be home. He was almost done with this read-through, only 50 pages left in the book, the perfect place to get caught up in while he waited for hours to go by without his lover. 

“Shh, he might be asleep,” he hears Steve’s voice as the basement door cracks open and then two sets of feet stomp down the steps. 

“Hey,” Steve lights right up when he sees Eddie still awake in bed. “Dustin wanted to sleep over…” 

“Thats cool,” he doesn’t mind at all. 

Dustin runs over to Eddie and gives him a big hug, almost knocking the wind out of him as he jumps up on top of him. “oof— what’s this for?” 

“I’m glad you’re part of my family now,” he’s so sweet it could make Eddie cry. 

He shoves him off playfully, “gross, why are you so sappy?” 

“Harrington genes,” he teases. 

“Hey?” Steve stares at them like they’ve both insulted him somehow. “I’m not that emotional?” 

“Okay,” they both say at the same time, turning to each other to giggle. 

“You guys suck,” he walks away from the bed to the dresser he shares with Eddie and takes out some new comfy sleep clothes for the night. 

Steve changes in the bathroom first, then he gives Dustin some stuff to change into and soon all 3 of them are cuddled into the same bed with Dustin in the middle. Eddie keeps reading, only this time they ask him to read it out loud. 

“How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep, that have taken hold,” Eddie reads softly. 

Perfectly content with where the threads of his own life have fallen into place. 

General Taglist 

@ncsls0515 @stevesmunsons @reidsbookclub @wroteclassicaly @sweetyyhippyy @manuosorioh @mrs-dr-reid @k-k0129 

Steddie

@nosaladallowed-ao3 @maya-custodios-dionach @wifeyreid @girl-with-an-orange-cat

[lavendertales]

That is an amazing milestone so many congratulations are in order! Celebratory drinks all around! 🎉🎈😸💜🍻🥂🍾🎊🎆

OK, my request is heavy angst with no happy ending. Female reader. Curvy, short--I mean, fun sized, with glasses. I think with Max Phillips or Whiskey...

#44 "I'm only here for the dog." (Reader gets the dog lol).

#91 "Don't go on that date."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"Say it."

(Reader already trying [though honestly utterly failing] to move on with someone else? Another Pedro character, perhaps? [Ezra popped into my head for some reason though dealer's choice if that option is chosen...])...

Anyway. Make me hurt good. Lol

💚🐀💜

thank you so much, honey!! ❤️❤️hope this is what you envisioned!

breaking me - Jack Daniels x f!reader x Ezra

word count: 774

A/N: angst. reader is, as per the request, short and wears glasses. Ezra is only mentioned tho.

The knock came sooner than you expected. At 7:58 pm, you knocked on the door, heart in your throat. This was going to be an amicable moment and nothing else. You knew that, he knew that.

You checked the time again. 7:59 pm. A bad omen, you fleetingly thought.

The door opened, Jack’s disheveled figure meeting yours and you gulped. Crap, it was already more difficult than you thought back at home.

“Hi,” he greeted you, voice guttural and thick with emotion.

“Hi.”

He stepped aside, welcoming you inside. You tucked your hands into your pockets, looking around nervously. The place was filled with thousands of memories, from all categories: happy, sad, angry, amusing… everything hurt.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“I’m just here for the dog.”

Jack nodded, moving right past you to the bedroom. Moments later, he returned with Spot, the dog the two of you got when you were living together. When you broke up less than a month ago, Jack immediately gave you Spot, no arguments. You suspected it was mostly so he wouldn’t have yet another painful reminder of you and your relationship. Truth be told, you were glad to take Spot; to you, he was a welcomed and much needed friend.

You were rubbing his belly as Jack stared at you. Everything about you was just as beautiful, just as enticing and all the more heartbreaking.

“Look, I feel like I should say this so you don’t get caught by surprise if you somehow hear it elsewhere,” you said with a grave voice.

“What?”

“I’m… going out on Friday. It’s… a date.”

You struggled to get out the words. It was hard to even process, but you meant no harm when you said that. You didn’t even try to make him jealous or anything, you simply felt like he needed to know that.

But you weren’t really sure it was a good idea to go on that date. You certainly weren’t ready to go out with someone new. You had to try though.

Right?

“His name is Ezra. He works at a museum, he’s very smart and – “

“No offense, darlin’, but I really don’t want to hear about that.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, I just – “

“Doin’ it anyway.”

“I just thought it might be better if you heard it from me.”

“Hate to break it to ya, but it only makes it worse.”

You stood up, trying to meet his gaze, but it was tough considering how much significantly shorter you were than him. You fixed your glasses and looked at him, nostrils flaring with anger. Unjustified, perhaps, boiling right at the surface, but still there.

Screw amicable.

“I’m sorry if you think I came here to hurt you or something, but I came here to get Spot and maybe even to see you one last time.”

“See, every word you’re saying makes it all hurt ten times worse than it already does.”

“I am tired of apologizing, Jack! We agreed this was friendly and peaceful and now it feels like it’s not.”

“When you’re gonna walk out of that door, you get a dog and a date. And I get nothing.”

“What do you want me to do then? We can’t be together, we can’t be apart…”

“Don’t go on that date,” he cooed, seemingly one step away from falling apart altogether.

“Why?”

“You know why.”

“Say it.”

“I love you.”

You hadn’t heard those words in a while and they made you tremble with pain and fury alike.

“It’s not going to work this way, Jack,” you whispered through tears, fighting the almost urge to choke on your own words. “You can’t just say that and expect things to magically fall into place.”

“I love you so fuckin’ much – “

“Stop.”

Upon seeing your flushed face, cheeks crimson with anger and tear-stained, Jack backed away, looking down at Spot, then at you once more.

“I just came here for the dog,” you said.

“I hope you find everything you’re looking for, darlin’.”

You know you won’t ever hear that pet name again. You just know. And even if you will, it won’t ever feel that way.

Once the door gets closed, a painful sob leaves your throat, but no sound comes out. You lean against the wall, with Spot looking up at you all confused, and you let it all out. You feel the finality of the moment, you feel how stupid it was of you to tell him about your date or that you set it in the first place.

In the empty hallway, you weep until you can’t breathe.

permanent Pedro crew:

@doin-stuff @pedro-pastel @acourtofsnakes @rosiefridayrogersunday @beskarboobs @imcalledflorence @casssiopeia @pasckles @phoenixhalliwell @elegantduckturtle @kingsqueensandvagabonds @greeneyedblondie44 @sebbys-girl @mrsparknuts @hayley-the-comet @spideysimpossiblegirl @lsphoenix @kirsteng42 @lunaemss @goldielocks2004 @diogodxlot @queridopascal @gracie7209 @floraandfrost @dobbyjen @janebby @what-iwish-you-knew @jedi-jesi @kaqua @datenshi666 @stevie75 @for-my-satisfaction @mishasminion360 @grandfanficstation @mrsudontknowme @hello-i-am-daydreaming @mando-s-wife @pastamomma @midwesternwitchery @headinthestarz @drreidsconverse @dindjarinneedsahug @captainjaspenor @1800-fight-me @phandoz @ayrusss @amneris21 @alexxavicry @persephones-garden @din0-plan3 @dinsangelx @deliriosinrose @mswarriorbabe80 @crazyworldofsiani @terecord @squidwell @happycupcakeenthusiast @amidalush @pepperpottsxxxx @detectivecarisi-1 @starwarslove16 @dinandgone @fic-appointment @toxicfrankenstein @nicolemval @girlofchaos @mandosmistress @dumplinshee @jitterbugs927 @foremma13 

[something-tofightfor]

Pushing The Envelope - Valentine’s Day 2022 request #1

Pairing: Max Phillips x Female Reader 

Word Count: 2301

Rating: M - language, mention of blood and weapons, one tiny mention of a murder, vampires ... you know the drill. 

This first request is for @alraedesigns​, who wanted something humorous with Max P and an envelope. 

This is my first time ever writing for Max, and I definitely don’t think it will be the last. He’s FUN. Thank you so much for the request, Alex. I hope you like it! 

Sitting in the parking lot, you stared up at your office building. It was nondescript - ten stories of beige, windows that offered a view but let very little light in, an elevator that only worked half the time, and mostly insufferable coworkers - but it also allowed you to be near Max. 

The thought of him made you grin, even though you knew it was foolish. You knew who he was and what he was, and he’d never tried to cross any lines with you aside from seriously flirting… but you would have let him. Any day of the week. And you never stopped him, using his tactics right back on the man, your direct nature surprising him often.

Phone alarm buzzing, you swiped a finger over the screen to silence it and sighed deeply before climbing out of the car and beginning the short trek across the parking lot. Max and his team had shown up a few months earlier, quickly beginning their takeover. 

To be honest, the changes had made your workplace more tolerable. The team was more efficient, people didn’t snap at each other as often, and because you’d been given a choice about whether or not he’d turned you, you were one of the few people that could leave the building during the day … which meant that you didn’t have to worry about your coworkers trying to tag along on every lunch break or including you in their weekly happy hours, which occurred in the middle of the night. 

But it also meant that you were the one sent on errands for the ones that couldn’t leave. Your job had shifted from data entry and filing to running errands, mostly … and you didn’t mind. Max had approved an almost 60% pay raise for you to compensate you for your time and efforts, grinning at you from across the large wooden desk, and for a moment, you’d understood how he’d charmed everyone so easily. 

No, that wasn’t true. You understood it all the time, you just hadn’t wanted to let him win that round with so little fight. There was no guarantee that Max would stay in your office, and as much as you relished the thought of never having to worry about grocery shopping or waking up with the sunrise to go to work again, you hadn’t been willing to give up everything for a desk job that you hoped was temporary. Especially not this desk job. 

When the doors opened to your floor, you made your way past the cubicles of your coworkers, most of them typing away furiously or talking in hushed voices on the phone. On the walk, you laid down sheets of paper on their desks; receipts, billing statements, pick up and drop off confirmations - it was all there for them whenever they needed it as proof that you’d done what you were asked to, and as a record of what they owed you.

The last stack was for your boss, and after pausing long enough at your desk to drop off your bag and straighten the neckline of your shirt, you headed for his office, knocking twice and not waiting for him to answer before entering. “I’m back, Max.” 

His chair was turned so that he was facing away from you, the man tossing a small, green ball against the back wall of the office. “Took you long enough.” 

“When’s the last time you had to deal with daytime crowds anywhere, hmm?” Sliding a stack of papers across the desk toward him, you took a long breath. “People go outside on their lunch breaks. They go into places. They get things done before it gets dark so that they can go home and be with their families.” 

It was a fine line you walked with him - you knew the man wouldn’t lash out at you, knew that he wouldn’t try to charm you with his enhanced senses, and knew that he wouldn’t fire you because the team needed you - so you took advantage of the situation, speaking to him candidly. He likes it. He’s good at hiding things, but he can’t hide this. “If you’d let me change you over, you wouldn’t have to worry about the ‘daytime crowds’ anymore.” He spun the chair around as he spoke, the ball held tightly in one hand and his eyebrow raised. “And then I could show you what the dark is really good for.” 

“You gonna show me how to lurk in alleys, Max?” You rolled your eyes. “Gonna teach me how to charm someone so that they let me -” He frowned at you then, a mock expression of hurt on his face. “I don’t lurk.” The frown changed into a smile, both brows raising. “And I can’t teach you to be charming, so maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t let me turn you, otherwise you might have starved.” 

“Asshole.” But you were grinning, too, using your chin to gesture to the papers. “All the receipts for this week. Everyone’s got theirs, too. Make sure they all pay me, alright?” He watched you silently for a few seconds, mouth hanging open slightly. “What?” 

“Nothing.” He shrugged, sitting up straight. “I actually need you to stay and help me with something, though.” That surprised you - Max had an assistant; a perky young woman that had been more than happy to let him turn her only a week or so after his arrival, practically throwing herself at him when the opportunity arose. But I haven’t seen her in a couple days. 

“Where’s Trisha?” You glanced over your shoulder and then back at Max. “I’m sure she -”

“Trisha didn’t work out.” He pressed his lips together. “Too eager. Friendly, but shit at her job.” Didn’t work out? What does that … Deciding that you didn’t want to think about it too much, you blew out a long breath, waving your hand in the air. She made her choice. 

“What do you need?” It wasn’t like you had much to do for the rest of the day; you were caught up on your actual work, and had planned on a few hours of online Scrabble before clocking out. The perks of a highly efficient workforce. “And can I do it at my desk, I was planning -”

“No, you cannot do it at your desk, I need you in here.” He pushed away from you, reaching down and into a drawer. “Sit.” You did as he asked, moving before you could stop yourself, but instead of staying silent, you yelped the man’s name out. 

“Absolutely not, Max!” Grumbling, you pushed down on the desk, trying to stand - and you couldn’t. “No. You do not get to use that voice on me. You don’t get to -” He couldn’t hold back a laugh as you shot to your feet, the chair moving backwards. 

“Just reminding you that I can.” He was still grinning, pushing a small stack of envelopes and a typed piece of paper across the desk at you. “Seriously, though. Sit. It’s not anything hard, I just …” He leaned in, nose wrinkling. “Everyone else here sucks, and you don’t.” It was a legitimate compliment - the look in the man’s eyes warm. “I need you to address these for me. A whole lot of things improved when I was in Romania, but my handwriting wasn’t one of them.” You snorted at that, reaching for the stack and pulling it toward you. 

“Maybe after a couple hundred years it won’t look like a third grader wrote -” He growled at that and you laughed, glancing down at the sheet. “Jesus, there’s like thirty names on here, what are they -” “Don’t worry about what they are, just write.” Mumbling the words ‘yes, sir’ under your breath because you knew that he’d inwardly react to it, you began to do as he asked, methodically addressing each envelope and piling them neatly to the right of you. While you did that, he focused on his computer, typing for a few minutes and then printing off a stack of sheets, bringing them from the printer to his desk and then working through them, signing each with a flourish of his pen. 

He finished before you, and you glanced up after a few minutes of complete silence on his side of the desk, finding that he was sitting still, elbows bent and both hands behind his head as he stared at you. “Creep.”

“Nope.” He leaned closer, moving his hands to the desk. “I’m just watching how efficient you are.” Like always, the intensity of his stare unnerved you, and without glancing away from him, you reached for another envelope, the tip of your finger sliding along the edge. Shit. 

You watched the look in his eyes change and even before you felt the sting of the papercut, Max was focused on your finger, the look on his face hungry. “You cut yourself.”  

“It’s not bad. It isn’t even…” But you stopped when you saw the beads of blood on your skin. “Oops.” Instinctually, you let go of the paper and lifted your hand toward your mouth, ready to place the tip of your thumb between your lips like you’d done countless times before. Halfway up, though, you felt Max’s fingers wrap around your wrist, haling the movement. “... Max?” 

It was the first time he’d ever touched you, and you barely concealed your shiver at the way it felt. No, do not fall apart right now.  “Let me?” It was a dangerous thing to do, and you knew it, though it didn’t stop you from nodding, eyes trained on your thumb as he pulled your hand toward him - the agreement having nothing to do with im commanding you.

“Do not bite me.” You mumbled the words, Max’s gaze flicking up to you and then back down to your hand, the entire tip of your finger smeared with blood. That’s a bad one. You knew you needed to look at the envelopes to see if you’d bled on anything, but couldn’t tear your eyes away from what was happening. Because it might never happen again.

At the last possible second, Max raised his eyes and locked them with yours, the change in focus drawing your attention and forcing you to miss the moment your thumb made contact with - and then passed between - his lips. Oh shit. He sucked gently, the flat of his tongue running over the pad of your finger. He released you before you could even begin to process what happened, the man leaning back in the chair and swallowing. “You do that a couple hundred more times and I won’t need to find someone to -” “That’s inappropriate, Max.” You couldn’t hide the racing beat of your heart - and knew that he could hear it, too. “Who do you think you are?” 

“Your boss… who also happens to be a vampire, and gets very hungry after a long day of -” Rubbing at your face with one hand, you groaned. “What? I’m just being honest.” 

“I know.” What a time for it to happen, though.  You hadn’t bled on the envelopes, and after a few seconds, returned to the task, trying to ignore the man across the desk from you. It didn’t work, and your mind kept going back to the way he’d licked your skin clean, the drag of his tongue slow, like he was savoring the taste of your blood. Maybe he was.

“I was going to have you fold these letters and stuff the envelopes, but you managed to hurt yourself on a single envelope, so that might be a little too dangerous for you today.” He was joking - the man’s tone light, and without missing a beat, you set what you were holding down, flattening your hands on the desk and looking at him again, head tilted to one side. 

“You know, if you’re that hungry, we can just use a letter opener and you can slice open my arm. Would save some time, and then you wouldn’t have to hope that I repeatedly forgot how to correctly handle pieces of paper, and you’d never have to worry about me being such a smartass to you again.” It was maybe a little much - but the previous few minutes had made it clear that you’d reached your limit with pretending that you weren’t attracted to the man when you were in front of him and he was being normal. 

“I like the way you think.” He cleared his throat, standing and circling around to your side of the desk and then taking a seat on the edge of it, the man’s thigh smashing the stack of envelopes that you’d just finished, creasing every single one of them. Well, shit. “But I don’t need a letter opener.” Widening his eyes, he grinned, the pointed ends of his teeth visible. It wasn’t the first time you’d seen them, and you figured it wouldn’t be the last, either. I hope it’s not. 

“Good.” Murmuring the word, you stood too, once again lifting your arm, holding it out to him. “Might be tempted to stab you with it if -” He cut you off though, the man bypassing your arm and reaching up, his fingers curling around the back of your head. 

“You could try.” He leaned in, lips hovering over your ear. “Might be fun.” 

Instead of retorting with something playful as had become normal for the two of you as you circled each other, you lifted both hands, grabbing for the bottom edges of his lapels and pulling him closer. “I’m sure a lot of things would be fun with you, Max.” 

You’d barely gotten the words out before he pressed his lips against yours - his smile still evident… and just as genuine as yours. 

—

[youcouldmakealife]

SOTM: Caleb/Max, Maddie; comfort zone

For the prompt:  the guy who is definitely accidentally coparenting with his teammate. rent free in my head

These guys first appeared on Patreon, and here’s what you need to know: Caleb is this: Caleb is a single dad who shares custody of his daughter with his ex-girlfriend. Max, a young teammate of his, and the eldest of 8 in a blended family, has been at Caleb’s place more often than not lately.

The hardest part of making the show is the solitude.

You’d think Max would be relieved to finally get some space, some peace and quiet, and he was about some of it — having his own room made everything easier, from not accidentally waking someone up when you got up too early or went to bed too late, meant he didn’t have to jerk off in the shower or with his back against the door, yell, ‘I’m changing’ if the knob turned.

It meant he had a door, and that door would get knocked on before someone entered if it was closed. Doors are underrated — a door meant everything past it is his, meant it was his space, meant you needed permission. Oh, his mom would always say ‘don’t take anyone’s stuff without asking’, but that rule was ignored as much as any other ones, up to and including Max’s hockey gear, which he kept in the trunk after a certain point, just to make sure nobody touched it, only aired it out outside on sunny days, even though it made the entire car reek.

He’s still got a roomie on the road, that hasn’t changed, but when he’s not on the road, he has his own place. There were a couple offers to billet him, and in hindsight he should have taken someone up on it, but he thought it’d be nice, having his own space finally, thought it’d be nice to have something just for himself, something that belonged only to him, that no one could take from him.

It’s boring as fuck. 

And not just boring: the quiet unsettles him, even when he’s on the road, because Landon’s super considerate about wearing headphones and doing things quietly, and Max’s siblings...weren’t. Understatement. It leaves him feeling edgy, like something’s wrong, or some scheme’s being cooked up. Even though he knows logically that it’s just that he’s, you know, hundreds and hundreds of miles away from them, his body doesn’t get the message, just yells ‘danger!’ at him every once in awhile. Not fun.

He always thought he was pretty big on like, space, and solitude, and all that, but apparently he isn’t, because space and solitude suck. Blow. All those things. He ends up calling home way too much to get updates on what all the gremlins are up to, and he knows his mom thinks it’s hilarious, but she humours him at least, well, right up until someone’s yelling in the background and then their conversation’s cut off with a ‘I gotta go, I’ll call you back’. 

She never does call back.

Max doesn’t take it personally, he knows exactly what she’s dealing with over there. She’s down one kid to take care of, but then, Max mostly took care of himself — minus hockey, but he always carpooled with a sympathetic teammate, and that was before he was billeting. He did a lot of the work too. Next man up: Max imagines Laura’s dealing with most of the monsters now. Good luck to them. Laura doesn’t take their shit like Max does.

Max checks his phone, sighs. Nothing, which was what he was actually hoping for, since it’s a day off and he wants to veg, but now that he’s gotten it he’s dissatisfied. He’s learned a lot about himself in the last year, starting with the fact he doesn’t seem to know shit about himself. He guesses introspection’s hard with a packed schedule and no place quiet enough to actually think. No time either, not when he was straining himself to make the league. It’s not that he isn’t still stretching, still reaching, he is, he knows he’s never going to stop, but he’s got more time on his hands than he ever has, and mostly it just leaves him restless.

Did Brit drop off Maddie? Max texts Caleb.

On her way if you want to come over Caleb replies, and Max rolls off the couch, feet in his shoes and out the door as he texts Omw

*

Max and Maddie arrive basically at the same time, Max strolling down the driveway as Brit and Caleb do the Maddie and Things transfer. You never realise how much stuff someone has until you’re lugging it to your ex’s. Not that Maddie doesn’t have stuff at both places, but sometimes she’s very particular, and ‘you have the exact same toy at your mom’s house’ is not convincing to a two year old throwing a tantrum. Not that anything’s convincing to a two year old throwing a tantrum except ‘you can have whatever you want, just please stop screaming’. Even that sometimes doesn’t work.

Brit raises her eyebrows at Caleb as Max walks up, a silent ‘seriously, him again?’, at least Caleb thinks. He’s lost some of his Brit fluency, and he’s sure she’d argue he had way less of it than he thought he did. 

Caleb shrugs. Brit’s got her whole family locally, and Maddie spends tons of time happily bouncing from cousin to cousin, grandparent to aunt to uncle, while Brit can go do things, or just chill in the kitchen talking to an adult. Caleb’s got the team, and Maddie’s had a few playdates with other little Sharks, but that’s it. When Caleb has Maddie, he’s just got Maddie. 

Well, and Carts, who is a godsend. Max makes Maddie a snack while Caleb unpacks all the stuff from Brit’s, transferring them to their places — blankie and stuffed elephant for bed, sloth picture book in the bedtime book pile — rereads the email Brit sent before she came: sloth book is current obsession, he will need to read it at least three times before bed, them’s the breaks — and spends a couple minutes in his room fully transforming into Dad. He was doing that before Brit dropped Maddie off, but then his mom called and interrupted the transformation. 

Dad doesn’t swear. Dad says words like ‘whoopsie’ when Maddie makes a mess and never raises his voice and lets her smush half-eaten crackers into his face. Dad and Caleb are different people; maybe if he was with her full-time that’d be different, but as it is, he needs some time to switch over.

Max doesn’t seem to need any — him and Maddie are currently sitting on the floor of the kitchen having a tea party with her snack. Max has a tiara hovering precariously over one ear and is holding his plastic tea cup with a dainty pinkie out.

“Room for one more,” Max says, and Caleb sits down on the cold tile, accepting his tea cup. No tiara for him, which is too bad.

Maddie starts climbing all over him sooner rather than later, clearly over this sitting calmly in a circle business, and Caleb grimaces when she finds the exact spot he took a puck last game. It’s her number one skill.

“Think it’s time for a game?” Max asks, levering himself up from the ground without a groan — Caleb forgets what that’s like — and Maddie pauses, attention piqued.

“Miss Maddie, what shall we do with you,” Max says, hands on his hips, and Caleb looks down at the floor to hide his smile, a smile that disappears as soon as he sees it, crumbs on the tile, along with — who knows what, that could be juice or maybe Maddie just oozes mess out of her pores. It seems as likely as anything else, especially since Caleb doesn’t think there’s any juice in the fridge that’s so violently pink.

She’s been here half an hour. The cleaner literally came this morning.

“Can you?” Caleb asks, but he doesn’t need to finish the question, because Maddie’s thoroughly taken care of — screeching happily as Max hoists her up over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold to take her to the living room, which has basically become Maddie’s playroom when she’s there — while Caleb dabs at the mess with paper towel, fully aware that it’s a fruitless quest, that the second he stops he’s going to find something else. Caleb thought he was messy until he had Maddie. Mom assures him he still is, but seriously, he’s got nothing on her.

When he finishes cleaning up and has a quick, quiet moment of Caleb to himself, checking the box scores and answering a text from Cap, he heads into the living room, finding two sets of butts too close to the TV, Maddie clinging to Max like a limpet.

He sits on the couch like a civilised person, and watches himself some Peppa Pig.

[magniloquent-raven]

soulmate au part 3!!!!

(read part 1 and part 2 here)

it takes three weeks for anything to happen.

they see each other at school, exchange glances in class, brush past each other in the hallways, fingers grazing as their shoulders bump, incidental touches that wouldn’t draw attention but still leave billy tingling and giddy and embarrassed at himself but…

he’s still getting used to having a soulmate. a real, tangible person he can reach out and touch.

and maybe he’d get used to it faster if he could touch him more, but life keeps conspiring against them. they can’t seem to get a second alone. when it isn’t steve’s kids are crawling all over him 24/7 it’s neil breathing down billy’s neck because he ran out on one fucking class.

well, and then had to lie to neil about why, which was probably what put neil on high alert, but still.

three goddamn weeks.

and neither of them have been patient about it. steve keeps writing billy notes. in the middle of class scrawling things like you have nice eyes and i wanna spend time with you and billy can fucking feel how smug steve gets about making him blush. it’s all he can do not to make a scene in front of half their peers. sometimes he’s not sure if he’d punch steve for being an asshole or kiss him for being sweet.

or both. he can do both.

but mostly he wants time, and somewhere to just...be. with steve.

and he gets that, three weeks after their conversation in the parking lot. steve’s parents will be out of town, and his kids have some stupid game night planned. max keeps asking to go but pretending she isn’t, badly feigning disinterest, and best of all, neil and susan are planning a weekend trip to visit susan’s bedridden aunt a few hours away.

billy is determined to take full advantage of those thirty-six hours. neither of them will acknowledge it directly, but he knows max will tell neil he was home all weekend if she has to. he has no reason to be nervous about being caught, or anything else. it’ll be fine.

it’ll be fine.

he tells himself that over and over but it doesn’t stop him from checking every corner of the house in case neil’s hiding behind a door somewhere before he can even think about getting ready to leave.

he checks again after he’s showered and dressed.

thankfully max is already gone, so she’s not there to see him pacing around like a neurotic rat in a maze.

it almost worse that he isn’t just anxious, he’s excited. and it’s making him twitchy.

there’s no plan. they aren’t going on a date or anything. he’s just...going to steve’s house. steve’s empty house. he’s going to be alone with his soulmate. the list of reasons why that scares him is endless.

and he’s not sure if he’s more terrified of the possibility that steve won’t ask about the makeup thing or the possibility that he will.

knocking on the harringtons’ front door is. an experience. it shouldn’t be. it’s just a fucking door. but billy’s palms are sweating and suddenly he has no idea what he’s even going to say, and he keeps glancing over his shoulder even though he doesn’t really know what he’s looking for, and it feels like he’s been standing on the porch for a fucking eternity but—

his worries don’t exactly melt away when steve opens the door but there is a warm flutter in his chest that’s...new. and distracting.

and steve smiles at him all sunshine and chocolate, and the second the door closes behind them he grabs billy’s hand, wide-eyed, questioning, watching billy’s reaction.

his palm is just as sweaty as billy’s and it’s gross, but also kind of comforting.

“hello to you too,” billy snickers, and steve visibly relaxes, lacing their fingers together properly.

“hi,” he breathes quietly, his gaze soft, but intense, focused. “waiting sucked, okay. i’ve been wanting to do that forever.” he shakes their joined hands for emphasis.

“...that all you were waiting to do?”

steve’s grin turns sly, and his gaze drops a little. “no.”

billy wants to kiss him. he wants to be kissed. he wants steve’s mouth on him, somewhere, anywhere, right now. it’s a nice mouth. he’s spent a lot of time looking at it, and thinking about it, about the way the steam from the showers turned his lips so, so red, wet and slick and both too close and too far away, wondering what he’d taste like—

but steve turns away, taking all the air in billy’s lungs with him. it’s so jarring a shift that billy actually sways a little before he gets ahold of himself and lets steve tug him by hand and lead him upstairs.

the wallpaper in steve’s room has to be some kind of hate crime, but billy doesn’t have time to dwell on it, because there’s a beige bag sitting conspicuously on top of steve’s neatly made bed. the clear plastic top is zipped shut, dusty with age and spilled powders, but billy can still make out tubes of lipstick and eyeliner pencils through the haze.

he stops in the doorway and stares at it, thoughts at a stand-still.

steve’s still clutching his hand, tighter now, and no longer pulling him along. “i—uh. the bag was my mom’s, i think. found it crumpled up under the sink, so, like. she probably doesn’t even remember it exists. and the stuff in it is...new.”

“...new,” billy echoes faintly.

“yeah. yeah, i—i bought it. had no idea what i was looking for though, so i hope i did alright.”

billy blinks at him.

“was—was that okay? i know maybe isn’t exactly a yes, but i kinda hoped it could be, y’know? it’s—it’s totally cool if it isn’t. if you’re—if you’re not up for it. or…” he trails off awkwardly and grimaces.

billy takes a breath. “i’m up for it,” he assures steve with more confidence than he feels.

and steve absolutely beams at him. “yeah?”

“yeah.”

turns out steve not knowing what he was looking for meant he bought...everything.

as billy pokes through the mess he tries not to feel too apprehensive. or at least tries not to let it show. too much. he chews his thumbnail, picking up an eyeliner pencil with the other hand. it’s good shit, all the products are, with fancy names for colours and designer labels. it’s all leagues better than the drugstore clearance shelf crap he lifted as a kid. which doesn’t make this any less nerve-wracking.

“it’s been a while since i did this, so. don’t expect it to be, fucking, art or anything.”

steve shuffles closer from his spot at the foot of the bed and touches billy’s knee. “the eyeliner earlier this year…?” he gestures vaguely at his own face, eyebrows raised.

“friend of mine did that,” billy mutters.

and then his whole goddamn life came crashing down around him because of it.

his anxiety spikes, and he drops the pencil back into the pile, shoving the bag away. “i can’t fucking do this,” he snaps, and he’s halfway standing already when steve reaches for him, alarmed.

“billy, wait—” the hand on his elbow is soft, gentle, but he still flinches away. steve withdraws, fingers curled, lips parted, shock and hurt at war on his face. “i’m sorry. i—shit, i’m sorry—”

“don’t.” billy shakes his head, pulling away further. his lungs hurt. there isn’t enough air in this room. “just—forget it. this was a mistake.”

he’s through the door and heading down the stairs before he can think about it, before steve can respond. he wouldn’t have heard him anyways, not over the echoes of his father’s voice that follow him no matter how fast he flees.

but he stops just short of leaving. stands on the ugly little mat by the front door and stares down at it, his forehead inches away from resting against the wooden doorjamb.

he doesn’t want to leave.

he doesn’t want to go anywhere but back upstairs.

and...he kind of hates it. he has no reason to want that. he barely fucking knows steve, and he certainly doesn’t owe him anything. not a look at his authentic self or even a fucking apology. nothing.

so why does he want to give him all of that and more.

why.

it’s fucking terrifying and ridiculous and confusing and…

“billy?” steve calls out tentatively, far enough away that billy doesn’t startle. he’s making his way down the stairs.

if he’s gonna run, it’s now or never.

now…

or…

he turns around, and leans back, his shoulder thudding heavily as he hits the wall. his eyes itch, and rubbing them doesn’t help.

“billy…” steve’s right in front of him now, hovering just shy of being close, worry etched into every line of his face. “i’m sorry. i shouldn’t have pushed, i’m sorry—”

“not your fault,” billy mumbles, muffled against his palm. “stop apologizing, harrington.”

steve sucks his bottom lip between his teeth. “i...uh.”

“you were gonna do it again weren’t you.”

“...no.”

billy snorts quietly, head falling against the cold wallpaper at his back. “fuck,” he exhales, hand dropping to his shoulder. “look, this is...threatening to be the best fucking thing that ever happened to me, and good things don’t just—it never lasts. it always blows up in my face, and you should know that before you get caught up in it too.”

there’s an awful, drawn-out pause while steve purses his lips and tilts his head and looks billy up and down, his gaze gentle despite the scrutiny.

“i want to touch you,” steve says quietly. he waits for billy’s hesitant nod before he wraps his arms around and tucks his face into the crook of billy’s neck. “i’ve been waiting for you my whole life, hargrove, you’re not scaring me off that easily.”

and...billy always wanted to believe in the romantic notions people wrote about in songs. soulmates being destined for each other. epic, unconditional love. he never had any reason to believe it was real, but he clung to it anyway. despite the part of him that was wary, afraid of putting too much stock in something that might break his heart later on.

so for steve to just outright say it like that…so matter of fact. the reality of the situation smacks him in the face a little.

he puts his hands on steve’s waist, slipping under his shirt to rest against soft bare skin. touching him feels...right. when he lets himself feel, lets himself be here, in the moment. the sweet scent of steve’s hair, the warmth of his breath, the soothing pressure of his fingertips smoothing the wrinkled fabric of billy’s shirt. it all adds up to a feelings that billy can only describe as home.

not home like the place, but home like the warmth of sunlight and sand between his toes, ocean spray on his lips. a feeling he’s always had to chase to capture, but somehow it’s...here. quiet and still, and nothing like he’s used to, but it’s here.

and his touch seems to put steve at ease as well, he practically melts into billy’s embrace, which does strange and addictive things to billy’s heart.

but he can’t just shut his fucking mouth and enjoy the moment.

“bet i could, though. scare you off. i might, some day.”

“billy,” steve sighs, and pulls back enough to look him in the eye. “trust me when i say, you’ll never even make the top ten scariest things i’ve seen.”

and he wants to scoff, or feel insulted, or push the issue, start a fight, but. there’s a hollow look in steve’s eye. it’s not the face of some sheltered rich boy who thinks he’s a big man, no, there’s truth there. billy believes him.

stopping the tide of questions is almost physically painful, but he knows there’s no going down that road today. he’s hiding enough of his own skeletons to be sure they aren’t ready for that yet.

he might just be ready for something else though.

“i wanna try again.”

steve blinks at him, confused for a beat, two, and. “oh!” his lips part around the exclamation, distracting billy for a moment. “the—the makeup? you don’t— you don’t have to.”

“i want to.” he hesitates, and then presses a brief kiss to the tip of steve’s nose, startling a smile out of him. billy grins back. “i want to.”

[blackflamemax]

inspired  by  : max dennison (hocus pocus) / & added inspo ! tbd.

full name. maximillian dennison / faceclaim. charlie gillespie / dob. 16 may / zodiac. taurus / occupation. tbd. / birthplace. los angeles, ca. / orientation. idk, bisexual probably / song. tbd / film. karate kid / education. high school / temperament. phlegmatic / mbti. estp   / alignment. tbd / abilities. lighting candles ig / hogwarts house. gryffindor / emoji. ( 🕯️ )

present !

10.19.22: honestly, max is just trying to make it through the holiday season without something else bad happening. just give him a break. all he really wants is to vibe for a bit without having to figure out how to get rid of the sanderson sisters. he has spent so much time trying to find a way to solve his problems that he really does need a small break. or like. so he thinks.

past !

moving: max had everything before he was forced to move from his sunny california city to hallow falls. did he want to move? no. especially not in his senior year of high school. but it wasn’t his decision and he was allowed to mope about it. he was used to the vast variety of people in california, not the strange and unusual people who believed in witches in hallow falls. since his opinion on the holiday was much different than everyone else’s, he stuck out like a sore thumb. everyone in town knew it.

magic isn’t real: he’d be the first to tell you that witches weren’t real. the first to believe that the sanderson sisters weren’t real. he wasn’t afraid of his opinion, even if he was one of the few people in his town, and even his own sister was one to believe in the myths. so he did what anyone would do and he made fun of those people to a degree. max was arrogant and haughty about his opinion, instead of maybe believing that it could possibly be real.

the cabin: the night the sanderson sisters escaped, dani did what she did best and threw a fit to get him to go trick or treating with him. honestly, max knew that dani could go by herself, but she got her way that night and max followed his sister around, that night. only for it to turn out just alright when they knocked on his crush, allison’s door. after that, the three of them headed to the cabin where the sanderson sisters were supposed to have lived. 

black flame candle: of course it was hubris that max light the candle thinking that nothing would happen. he didn’t believe in witches and he was going to prove that they weren’t real. but the second he lit the candle, he knew that something was wrong. he was wrong. he knew he had been wrong. when the sanderson sisters appeared, max knew that he was wrong about his opinions. that dani and allison were right. or well, he didn’t think that right away. it wasn’t until a cat turned into a human that he truly believed it. but of course by then it was too late. the sanderson sisters were out, free, and planning on hurting children.

fixing the problem: so now, he’s on a whirlwind mission with his small ragtag group of people to fix the problem that he created by lighting that black flame candle. 

family: only max is allowed to tease dani. his family is important to him, even if he doesn’t say it that often enough. with what he’s going through, max is going to protect his sister and make sure that nothing bad ever happens to dani. he won’t tell her that, but that’s the only reason that he’s going after the sanderson sisters. also he really doesn’t want blood on his hands if they do start hurting children. but mostly, it’s for his sister. 

future !

obviously max needs to learn more about magic in order to defeat the sanderson sisters and save the children. he’s been proven wrong about magic, so he’s got to fix his mistake even if he doesn’t want to. part of this is going to have to be him learning to trust those around him and admit that he’s not always right. unfortunately, he’s not much of a research man. he’s a plan man, so he will leave the studying to allison and dani and help with coming up with ideas on getting rid of the sanderson sisters. so yes, eventually, it would be nice to fix the problem he solved, but it’s going to take effort.

max needs to learn to be more articulate with his feelings, including how he feels about his sister. it’d be nice to explore these sorts of feelings with other characters as well. he probably does think it’s obvious that he cares for his sister, but to the outsider, it probably doesn’t look that way. and it’s not that obvious to dani. it is something that he needs to work on. 

he needs to learn that he can be wrong. period. lighting the candle is the start of him learning this, but future plan is that he really learns that sometimes he doesn’t know what’s best and sometimes he needs to listen to people that are smarter than him and that’s okay. he doesn’t have to be the smartest person in the room or the one that knows everything. sometimes believing in the magic is just as important as proving that it doesn’t exist. it’s not exactly nice to make fun of people who don’t believe in the same thing that he does. so maybe he just needs to let people think what they want to about magic and leave it be. 

taken connections !

binx — the one that used to be a cat? 

georgette — friend

wanted connections !

dani

the sanderson sisters

allison

idk someone other than allison that tries to get him into halloween.

he needs a job.

someone to help him learn more about magic.

friends.

a bully. 

just someone in general that makes fun of his opinions. 

someone that can help him figure out what he’s doing with his life.