#max was the first one who led her in that direction

[pinkeoni]

Max might just be the most important character in El’s story arc

[starkwlkr]

american royalty | max verstappen

kennedy!reader

US GRAND PRIX (TIME SKIP)

Max was in panic mode. Little baby Luke did not want to leave his father’s side. Yeah, it was cute, but Max had to be in the car in five minutes.

“I don’t want to leave you either, baby, but papa has to go race.” Max whispered to the seven month old. It amazed y/n and Max how quickly Luke had grown.

Y/n wanted to burst into tears right then and there in Max’s driver’s room, but she held it in. She loved her boys so much.

“You should go, I don’t want you to be late.” Y/n told Max, which made him frown. “You’ll see us after.” She chuckled and grabbed Luke from Max’s arms. Instantly, the boy started to whine.

“It’s okay, Luke, papa is just going to win the race and then he’ll be back for more cuddles.” Max pressed a light kiss to his son’s head.

Y/n and Max kept your relationship very private so no one apart from their families knew about their relationship or baby Luke. When she did attend a race, she watched from Max’s driver’s room. Usually she was alone, but now she had Luke to keep her company. Before y/n could say something, Max turned to her.

“How much longer do you think you and Luke will be watching from here? Don’t get me wrong, I love you both for coming. I think it would be better if my family watches from the garage.” Max waited for you answer. He was sure y/n was going to be mad at him for even suggesting that idea, but she smiled at him.

“You read my mind.” She kissed his lips.

So without hesitation, Max grabbed her hand and together as a family, they walked in the direction of the Red Bull Garage.

When Max saw photographers start to notice y/n, he grabbed Luke from her and took off his Red Bull hat, using it to shield Luke from the cameras. They both agreed to keep their son away from the media. They quickly arrived to the garage just in time.

“Check’s wife, Carola, is here. You can sit with her so you don’t have to be alone.” Max said as he led her through the garage. “And she has kids so that’s something you both have in common!” He tried to lighten up the mood.

“We’ll be okay, won’t we?” She tickled Luke’s side, which made the boy giggle.

“Max!” His race engineer, Gianpiero, called out. “Who’s this smiley boy?” He waved to Luke.

“My son, Luke, and this is my wife, Y/n.” Max introduced her to the British man. She didn’t correct Max on the term he used for her, it felt right coming from his mouth.

“Welcome to the Red Bull family!” He smiled at y/n.

After talking for a short time, Max had to leave so he gave y/n and Luke a kiss and a hug then left. She was introduced to Carola. It didn’t take long for the two women to get along.

Halfway through the race, the camera was focused on y/n for a few seconds. She was looking at a different monitor so she didn’t even realize she was on tv.

“And we have American royalty in the paddock today. There she is, Miss Y/n Kennedy, daughter to the late JFK Jr. and his wife Carolyn. Didn’t know she was a Red Bull fan.” Crofty said.

Immediately, Twitter was having a field day.

Y/n’s phone was flooded with notifications, but she ignored them. Baby Luke and Y/n were about to witness Max win.

As predicted, Max came in first with Checo taking second place. While Carola took her kids to watch their dad on the podium, Y/n stayed behind with Luke. As much as she wanted to watch Max, she didn’t want to expose Luke to everyone.

While the Red Bull team celebrated another win, y/n looked down at her son. “I think dad would’ve loved to be here, don’t you think?” Y/n asked. “Mom on the other hand . . . She would’ve loved Max that’s for sure.”

The topic of her parents made her emotional so she stopped talking. But it was definitely clear that y/n’s parents would’ve loved Max. Even if the media painted him out to be some kind of villain, Max Verstappen was far from it.

Max quickly made his way back to his family after the podium celebrations. He was eager to show his son his trophy, but before he could do that, he was stopped by Charles.

“You’re dating THE y/n kennedy?!”

“How do you even know?” Max wondered.

“Mate, you’re trending all over twitter. The cameras showed her, but what I want to know is why didn’t you tell me? I thought we agreed to tell each other everything!”

“You agreed, I didn’t.” Max corrected him.

“Still! You’re basically important in the eyes of america now. So if you get married, does that mean you’re automatically a US citizen and you can be president?” The Ferrari driver asked.

“I’m pretty sure in order to be president you have to be born in the US— why am I still talking to you? I have to go see my family.” Max said as he ran to the Red Bull garage.

“Congratulations, mr. president!”

Of course calling Max ‘mr. president’ became an inside joke in the paddock.

When Max made it back to the garage, he saw y/n talking with several drivers, one being the only American driver, Logan. At least they were keeping his family company.

“When Max is on break, he sleeps through the night, but he wakes up several times when his dad is gone. He’s such a daddy’s boy.” Y/n explained to Logan, Lando and Oscar.

“Of course he is, I’m the best dad in the world.” Max interrupted.

“Look at you, daddy Max.” Lando joked.

“Oh god, mate. Don’t ever say that again.” Oscar said.

“Anyways . . . How’d you like the race, y/n?” Logan asked the kennedy woman. He felt so at home at the moment. He was so honored to even be talking to someone related to the president of his country.

“It was amazing. Luke and I enjoyed every minute of it. Maybe we’ll just have to come back for another race.” Y/n looked at Max with hopeful eyes. Baby Luke cooed at his father.

“We are going to Mexico next and you love Mexico . . .”

“Great, we’ll be seeing the first family back in the paddock. It was great to meet you, y/n and you too baby Luke.” Lando smiled cheekily at the mom and son.

“You know Charles just called me Mr. President and now this? What else is going to happen?” Max laughed.

“Who knows, maybe you might end up being the president?”

[works-of-fanfiction]

Kiss and Make Up || Daniel Ricciardo x Reader

Summary: With the couple on a break, it’s hard for Daniel to see Y/N, especially when she’s looking so good in his favourite dress.

Song: Kiss and Make Up - Dua Lipa & BLACKPINK

Warnings: 18+ oral (f receiving), unprotected sex. A little bit of swearing.

Word Count: 3.6k

a/n: I think (???) I’m getting a little better at writing smut. one day I swear I will write one without giggling after every sentence. enjoy!

Daniel's blood boils as he watches her, watches his girl at the centre of attention of his fellow drivers. He wants to be angry at her for entertaining them in the first place, but he's angrier at his so-called friends for gawking at her and passing off their obvious flirting as 'just being nice'. It's annoying because she knows she looks good - incredible, in fact - an emerald green satin dress hanging perfectly on her body, displaying just enough leg to be considered dangerous. It bothered him even more that he chose that particular dress, and now she was parading around in it for everyone to see; for everyone to stare and drool over her. He didn't like it one bit, but he didn't have a choice. 

It was his fault that they were on a break. He'd lashed out, said horrible things. Tension had been brewing between them for a couple of weeks and she could sense he was about to burst. She hadn't done anything wrong; he could see that now. He'd had more than enough time to sit with his thoughts and come to regret everything he'd said, but she hadn't been interested in hearing his apology. At first, in his anger, he'd blamed her friends. He was convinced their influence had led her to her decision, that they'd been whispering in her ear and plotting against him for some time. However, deep down he knew it was nobody's fault but his own. 

The 'will he, won't he' situation at Alpha Tauri had gotten the best of him. His overwhelming desire to race took up all of his attention, leaving Y/N completely on the sidelines. She'd understood, of course she had. Racing was Daniel's dream and she knew how important it was for him to find a seat and get back out on the track, but when things seemed to get difficult and look uncertain, Daniel directed his frustrations towards her. 

"You're a fucking coward, d'you know that? Who are you to stand here and speak to me like that?" 

"Oh, drop the bigger person act, Y/N. It wasn't too long ago that you were going through a rough time and - " 

"Don't you fucking dare. You know that doesn't compare to the way you've been behaving. It is completely different." 

"You know how important this is to me. Sorry, but I think I'm allowed to be a little stressed." He held his hands up in mock surrender which only irritated her further.

"A little stressed, yes. A total asshole? No." 

"Where are you going?" He asked, watching her scoop up her phone and keys from the counter and stuff them into her pocket.

"Anywhere you are not. I can't be around you when you're like this, Daniel." Her voice cracked as she turned away, but she didn't allow him to see her cry. He may not have approved of her being the bigger person, but it's what she had to do. A text a couple of hours later confirmed her need for space, and after spending thirty straight minutes trying to type a response, Daniel realised he had to respect her wishes.

“Here.” Max interrupts, sliding a drink into Daniel’s hand.

“What’s this?”

“I couldn’t stand and watch you stare at her any longer. At least with a drink in your hand you actually look like you’re at this party and not just a creepy stalker.” He chuckles into his glass, the joke going over Daniel’s head, not even bringing the slightest smirk to his lips.

Max gulps, wincing a little at the strength of his drink. “Just go talk to her.” He says, eyes flicking between his friend and Y/N.

“I can’t. She wants space and I have to respect that.”

“Yeah, but anyone can see you’re not okay with that…”

Daniel knew Max had a point. As much as he wanted to give Y/N the space she needed and do everything he could to fix their relationship, he hated being away from her. He hated sitting across the room whilst she pretended he wasn’t there. She hadn’t looked at him once throughout the entire evening and it was starting to aggravate him. He needed to talk to her, even if it was just to find out how she was doing. He didn’t even know if that was a question he had the right to ask, but he wanted to anyway.

Plus, the way she was strutting around in those heels and playfully fixing her hair every few minutes was driving him insane. His eyes couldn’t resist following the trail from her feet, up her legs and to her hips. If she so much as leaned over the bar or stretched to grab something, he’d see beneath the thin green satin and hopefully find out she was wearing tiny, or perhaps no underwear.

He fidgets uncomfortably in his seat, setting his glass down on the table before his knuckles turn white from gripping it so tightly. As Y/N takes Carlos’ hand and twirls beneath his arm, Daniel jumps up from the stool, holding onto the table to steady his feet. “Hey, come on. You know they’re good friends.” Max warns, holding an arm out to try and stop him.

“Make your mind up, Max. You told me to go and talk to her.” He doesn’t even look at Max as he speaks, as his gaze remains fixed on Y/N whilst she dances with the Ferrari driver. There’s nothing suggestive between their dance, and it’s not the first time Daniel has seen them together like this, but he’s suddenly not as comfortable with it as he usually is.

“I think you should calm down a bit first.” Max tries to be stern with the older driver, but he knows his words are going through one ear and straight out the other side. Daniel glances at the Dutchman and gives only a second of thought to his words, then chooses to ignore them entirely.

Stepping past Max’s arm, he makes his way into the crowd and closer to Y/N. Mid-conversation, Charles and Pierre’s heads turn to the Australian as he weaves around clumsy partygoers, almost parting the room in two to get through. The two of them shuffle closer to the bar to get a better view as he reaches Carlos and places a hand on his shoulder.

“Can I cut in?” He asks, once again not bothering to look at who he’s speaking to. Instead he looks down at Y/N, who glares up at him with cold, unblinking eyes.

“Sure.” Carlos mutters, stepping aside, failing to notice Y/N tightening her grip on his hand to try and stop him. Daniel takes his place, his hands awkwardly hovering near her waist.

“Are you going to wrap your arms around me, or just stand there?” She asks abruptly, her tone coming out a lot more aggressively than she’d intended.

Daniel’s hands find her waist and pull her closer, making sure no one else can hear their conversation. Her hands are pressed against his chest awkwardly, all attention concentrating on her feet so she doesn’t fall.

“What do you want, Daniel?” She sighs, exasperation and downright exhaustion evident in her voice. This makes Daniel’s stomach turn and part of him wants to fall to the ground and beg for her forgiveness. He never thought he’d see the day when he’d be the one to make her feel like this. She was disappointed in him, and he was kicking himself for ever uttering a bad word to her.

“I need to apologise - “

“No, you just needed to get me on my own away from the guys.”

Her icy tone catches him off guard, but he feels he deserves it. As much as he’s desperate to finally apologise, he can’t deny that seeing her spending her night with everyone but him was making him jealous. He’d watched her friendships with the drivers blossom over time, especially Carlos and Lance, yet seeing their arms around her and smiles aimed in her direction tonight drove him crazy.

“Am I wrong?” She mocks, reluctantly wrapping her arms around his neck for the sake of her own comfort.

Daniel chooses not to answer, which is an answer in itself. She sniggers, looking off to the side to see the group all engaged in conversation with one another. She knows they’re all putting on an act and pretending not to eavesdrop. Those drivers love a gossip just as much as the next person.

“I don’t like seeing you with them.” Daniel finally admits, his voice low. He doesn’t intend for the entire grid to know his business.

“It’s never bothered you before.”

“Well this time is different.”

“How?”

“Because you’re not speaking to me.”

“And whose fault is that?”

Silence falls between the couple, Y/N’s hold around Daniel’s neck loosening. He reaches up and grabs her hands, readjusting them and holding her wrists tightly. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” She asks, glaring up at him, a devious smile poking at her lips.

“Don’t try to walk away from me.” He lets go of her arms, letting them float down to her sides as he leans in close, lips pressed against her ear. “Especially not when you’re dressed like that.”

She scoffs, rolling her eyes at his words. A poor and sorry attempt at winning her back, yet completely expected from Daniel. “You think sex is going to fix this?”

“Who said anything about sex?” He plays dumb but she sees straight through him. That had always been a thing in their relationship; they were both terrible liars, or rather couldn’t lie to each other as the other could always spot it.

Stepping back, she calls over to Kika who’s stood between Pierre and Charles, tracing circles around the rim of her glass. “Bathroom.” She smiles and Kika nods, slipping away from the table.

Daniel sees this and steps forward, blocking Kika’s path. “Actually, she doesn’t need you to go with her.”

“Daniel - “ Y/N snaps, cut off by his arm linking with hers and pulling her in the direction of the bathrooms.

“Come on.” He barges through the doors, squeezing the two of them into the first stall and turning the lock.

“I can’t believe you just spoke to Kika like that.” She whispers angrily, yanking her arm out of his grasp.

“She’ll get over it.”

“Pierre won’t.”

Y/N folds her arms over her chest, leaning against the flimsy cubicle as Daniel’s eyes wander around the small space. She sighs, heels scraping against the ground as she stands back up straight. “Well you got me here. What do you want?”

“You know what I want.”

“Actually, I don’t. Did you bring me in here to apologise… or was there something else?” There’s a shift in her tone and a look in her eye that Daniel instantly recognises. He knows she’s still angry at him, but sees there’s a part of her that wants him just as much as he wants her.

Sparing her a proper response, he slips a knee between her legs and pushes her against the wall. It shakes a little, encouraging a small smile to appear on her face. “You disappoint me, Ricciardo.” She purrs, running a perfectly manicured finger across his jaw.

“Something tells me you’re not so disappointed.” He grinds his knee upwards, pressing it against her clothed pussy. She groans, body slumping forward in pleasure. He catches her with his chest, pushing her back up, keeping her upright against the wall. “Does that sound like the moans of a disappointed woman?”

“Shut up.” She hisses, delicate fingers wrapping around his throat to pull him in for a kiss. Daniel moans, the sound strangled as her nails dig into his neck. The kiss is entirely in her control as she holds him in place, squeezing his throat just enough to make his breath hitch. She draws back, sucking his tongue between her lips and letting it go with a quiet popping sound.

“If we do this, it doesn’t magically fix anything.” She breathes, releasing her grip on him to rest her hand on his chest.

Daniel is smart enough to know better, and knows that hasty sex in a bathroom stall isn’t going to mend all of their problems, but he’s too turned on and fuelled by liquid courage to care. Running his hand over the top of hers, he links their fingers and flips her around to face the wall, pressing her palm flat against the cold wood. She yelps in surprise as he uses his free hand to hike her dress up. He’s delighted to see the black lace that’s barely covering her, and he hooks his forefinger through the waistband to pull her ass towards him. “Planned on getting lucky tonight, huh?” He taunts, his fingers tracing the patterns in the lace.

“I was hoping one of the guys would take me home.” She quips sarcastically, bending over more and grinding her ass against his hand. Daniel groans, letting go of her hand so he can use both freely. He grabs her ass and spreads her legs, his mouth falling open at the sight of her pussy peeking through her underwear.

Wasting no time, he drops to his knees and pushes the thin string to the side, giving him full access to the part of her he needs the most. Feeling his hot breath against her exposed cunt, she gasps, parting her legs even further. “That’s it.” Daniel hums, taking his middle finger and running it slowly through her folds. Y/N’s legs quiver as he touches her, barely inserting a finger as he concentrates on circling her pussy and feeling just how soaked she is. His finger eventually finds its way to her clit, flicking gently against the swollen bud, making her whole body twitch with arousal.

She moans his name, the word elongated on her tongue. He stops for a second, lying his hand flat against her core. “Shh… You don’t want people hearing us now, do you?” He whispers.

Squeezing her eyes shut and biting her lip to suppress any further sounds, Y/N nudges Daniel with her leg, urging him to continue. Instead, he grabs her thighs and pulls her closer to him, her feet sliding along the slippery tiled floor. “Let me taste you, baby.” The sound of his voice disappears between her legs, her thighs almost cupping his cheeks as he finds her clit with his tongue. The tip of his tongue swipes across her clit, slowly then repetitively in a rhythm. His hands hold onto her thighs tightly, his fingers leaving indentations in the supple skin.

Y/N sinks her teeth into the back of her hand, trying her best to stay quiet. Saliva and bite marks cover the spot just above her wrist whilst Daniel buries his head further and laps up her pussy like a starving animal. His nose pokes between her folds, and the newfound friction elicits a heavy exhale from deep within her chest.

Desperate to keep that nose she loves so much as close to her as possible, she reaches behind to grab Daniel’s head and guide him to the perfect spot. Fingers tangling in his hair and clutching at the roots, she rides his face, relishing in the feeling of his tongue flat against her clit, and the tip of his nose pressing into her. Daniel holds his breath as she ruts her hips against his face, gripping her thighs until it hurts. She winces, tensing the muscles as she rests her forehead against the wall, teeth still gnawing on her hand. He grunts, the sound sending a vibration to her clit and throughout her entire body, making her knees buckle beneath her. He catches her, supporting her body with his hands alone as he delves his face deeper to suck her clit into his mouth.

Losing all sense of caring, Y/N lets her hand fall free from her lips, releasing a stifled moan that echoes around the bathroom stall. Her thighs squeeze together involuntarily as she comes, and Daniel has to prize them open to set himself free. He stands, hands fumbling with his jeans as he sloppily lays kisses on the back of her shoulder, his chin still slick with moisture, so much so that Y/N can smell her own scent filling the air.

“What did I tell you about staying quiet?” Daniel whispers, his lips barely touching the back of her ear.

“I’m sort of sick of you telling me what to do.” She retorts, attempting to hide the shakiness in her voice. Daniel rolls his eyes, trying to ignore her words as he pushes his jeans and boxers down his legs, leaving them bunched around his ankles. He knows she’s not just talking about the present, but he’s too desperate to feel her wrapped around his cock to let it bother him. He hasn’t been able to touch her for weeks, and seeing her spread wide for him like this is enough to almost push him to the edge already.

Hands gripping her dress around her waist, he pulls her towards him, sliding his cock inside her effortlessly. Mutual gasps of pleasure and hissed curse words slip off of their tongues as he bottoms out inside of her, his clammy hands losing grip of the satin. Reaching round to grab her arms, he crosses her wrists and holds them behind her back, forcing her cheek against the wall to support her upper body. There’s an aggression to his actions, one hand holding her wrists and another snaking its way into her hair. Tugging her head back, he leans forward, his face beside hers. She looks at him through her peripheral vision, a smug smile on her face as she notices his slack jaw and half-lidded eyes. Daniel was never truly in control when it came to Y/N. The effect she had on him was dangerous and made him want to do things unimaginable. All she had to do was look at him a certain way and he’d literally and figuratively drop to his knees for her.

Daniel’s slow thrusts tell her that he doesn’t plan on lasting very long. Despite his tight hold on her and rough fingers in her hair, his hips roll in leisurely circles, the tip of his cock stroking her g-spot in a deliciously torturous rhythm. The restroom door creaks, a collection of footsteps clattering along the floor outside. With shadows passing the stall and voices filling the space, Daniel drops his hand from Y/N’s hair, instead using it to cover her mouth and keep her quiet. She tilts her head, sucking his forefinger into her mouth, her tongue wet and warm and making Daniel’s cock twinge inside of her. He moans, trying to swallow the sound so nobody will hear.

Daniel’s wet finger trails out of her mouth and down her neck, drawing a line of her own saliva along her throat. Wrapping his arm across her upper body, he holds her close as he fucks her, the heat between them making his shirt stick to his chest. Beads of sweat run down the back of Y/N’s neck and under her dress. Even beneath the harsh bathroom lighting, her skin glistens and looks good enough for Daniel to taste, to lick clean.

Voices gather at the sinks, water running and paper towels unravelling from the holders. Daniel silently prays for them to hurry up and leave, the feeling of Y/N’s pussy clenching around his dick becoming too much to bear. The muffled sounds of the music outside briefly fill the room, before disappearing behind the door. He releases his breath with a long groan, his body slumping against hers. “Finally.” He hisses, stepping back and pulling her ass with him, bending her into a perfect L-shape.

Relieved to be alone again, their pants and moans circle around the stall as Daniel drives his hips back and forth, quickening the pace. His firm grip on her ass cheeks leaves little white outlines around his fingers as he coaxes himself to climax. Hearing the sweet sounds coming from her mouth sends him over the edge, his thighs stiffening as he comes inside her, his body jolting forward in ecstasy. She straightens, resting her body against the wall with Daniel pressed against her back, his sweaty forehead slumped onto her shoulder. He pulls out with a huff, his cock leaking with cum and legs feeling sore.

Y/N readjusts and pulls her dress down, smirking to herself as she feels cum drip out of her and pool inside her underwear. She runs her hands through her hair, hoping she looks presentable as she turns to face Daniel. He zips his jeans and smiles at her, but doesn’t earn a smile back. “I told you, this doesn’t change anything.” She states flatly, reaching for the lock. He stops her, taking her hand in his.

“Come home with me.” He pleads, running his thumb softly over her knuckles, a stark contrast to the way he’d touched her just a few minutes prior.

“You’re kidding, right?”

Daniel’s expression remains serious. He opens his mouth to repeat himself, but she cuts him off with a defeated sigh. “Fine. But we leave now. I don’t need to be dealing with questions.”

“Deal.” He smiles, earning an eye roll from her as she unlocks the door and heads out, her heels clicking against the tile. He follows close behind, the satisfied grin never leaving his face.

[vivwritesfics]

English Love Affair

It started on a weekend in may. She was looking for attention and needed intervention. Felt somebody looking at her. It was Max Verstappen

18+ only!!

Warnings: smut, pwp, size kink (I suppose), BJ, wrap your monkey before you get spunky

1.6K

It started on a weekend in May. It was the Monaco Grand Prix and Y/N Norris was there with her brother. She loved walking through the Paddock on the Sunday, race day, seeing all of the people her brother had considered friends since his karting days.

Celebrities crowded around the garages, several around McLaren and several around the Red Bull garage. Even with all of the celebrities around, including the drivers themselves, Y/N could still find all of the attention she wanted from one man.

Max Emilian Verstappen. Whenever Y/N felt eyes on the back of her head, she knew it was him. She knew he was the one watching her. When he was supposed to be listening to Christian or somebody else on the team.

She could feel it now, the eyes on the back of her head. At the Monaco Grand Prix, Y/N was dressed in a pair of white trousers, with black boots and a white top, made to look like a corset. Max was watching her as she walked through the Paddock, looking for her big brother and his teammate.

If he wasn't surrounded by cameras and people, Max would have been drooling. He would have looked like one of those cartoons that had hearts popping out of his eyes, a mallet hitting the top of his head.

Monaco.

It was a race that had Max not winning by at least twenty full seconds. He was distracted, Christian decided. Nobody knew what had distracted him, but his focus definitely wasn't on the race.

That night they were all out at a bar, and then at a club. At first, Y/N and Max stood on opposite ends of the club. She was with her brother and Carlos, until they abandoned her, following girls into the bathroom.

So, she went over to the bar. It was only when the barman was serving her a drink when she realised who she was standing next to. Max Verstappen, the current world champion. "Cheers," said Y/N and held up her glass.

With a look in her direction, Max lifted his own glass and tapped it against hers.

The night progressed on in this fashion. They drank, tapped their glasses together and drank some more. With every drink they moved closer and closer to each other until they were beside each other, Max's arms slung over her shoulders.

One more drink after that and she had a hesitant hand on his chest. Max's arm moved from around her shoulders to around her back, holding them close. He ordered the both of them a shot of tequila and then they were kissing.

Y/N wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed him. Eyes shut, his tongue down her throat, body pulled flush against him. Her fingers moved through his once immaculate hair, pushing the strands out of place.

Suddenly they were out of the club, rushing back to Max's apartment. When they had to stop at the crossings, she had him pulled close, kissing him some more until a car beeped for them to move.

Once they had made it into the apartment, Max wasted no time in throwing off her top. He pushed the door shut behind him and led her to his bedroom.

The lights went on when Max dragged Y/N into the bedroom. He had his hands on her hips as he sat down in front of her, onto the end of the bed.

Y/N Norris was in front of him. Max had been thinking about this moment ever since she and Lando began walking around the Paddock. He thought about it late at night, when the lights were out and he was alone in his bed. When he was in the shower, lip pulled between his teeth as he tossed himself off.

Max kissed his way down her chest, past her bra and down to her trousers. His lips were hot, setting fire to her skin. His grip was bruising, addicting and Y/N couldn't get enough.

But Max did let go of her. He took off his own shirt and threw it onto the floor bedside the bed. But then his grip returned to her. Max pulled her closer, sitting her on his lap. There was a clashing of tongue and teeth as they kissed.

He moved his hands from his hips and down to her ass. As he did, Y/N's lips moved from his to neck. "Holy shit," Max groaned when he felt her teeth against his skin, nibbling and sucking.

His hands squeezed.

She let out a gasp, pulling away from his neck. Max moved slowly, slipping his hands inside of her jeans. "Bold," she mumbled and reached down for the front of his jeans. She popped the button and pulled down the zipper, leaving his jeans open.

Max laid back. He pulled Y/N up on top of him, reconnecting their lips. Her knees were on either side of him, hips pressed against his.

His hands travelled up her back, unhooking the latch on her bra. He let it fall away from her chest and threw it onto the floor.

There was a damn near hour of foreplay before they got to the real deal. Max was a thoroughman who liked to do a thorough job. The only time he was quick was in the car.

He worked on covering her with hickies as Y/N shimmied out of her trousers. She dropped them to the floor and climbed back on top of him.

She had to pull him to his feet as he sucked dark bruises into her neck. His jeans were getting in the way and Y/N was sick of it.

With them both in their underwear, Y/N laid back on the white sheets. She used her finger to beckon Max closer and he climbed on top of her, closing the gap once again.

"Can I?" She whispered as her hands found the waistband of his briefs.

Max nodded his head and Y/N tugged. She pulled down his briefs, exposing himself fully to her.

What they revealed was... kind of astonishing. The most noticeable thing was his sheer size. There was a moment where all Y/N could do was stare, a moment that nearly had Max putting his briefs back on.

She reached out and touched it. Max let out a whine as he hands wrapped around it and pumped. Once, twice. "Please," he whined, his knees hitting the edge of his bed.

Y/N got to work. She kept her fingers wrapped around his cock as she moved her hand up and down. When she'd had enough and her arm began growing tired, she leaned down, taking as much of it as she could into her mouth.

It was a pretty site. That was all that was running through Max's head as he watched. Y/N Norris, in nothing but her underwear, on her hands and knees in front of him as she sucked his dick.

Now, Y/N knew when she first saw the monster it was going to be a challenge. It took her a moment to muster the courage before she put her lips on his tip and sucked. Her movement were slow, adjusting to the length. Tears stung her eyes as she pushed herself further.

We all know Max Verstappen isn't a very patient man. He placed his hand on the back of her head, gripped her hair and pushed.

Max took over the situation. Drool dribbled out of Y/Ns mouth as she let Max fuck her mouth. She moaned and whined, gripping Max's hips to keep her upright.

He slowed his thrusts before pulling Y/N from him cock with a pop. "I want you," he whispered and pushed her back, laying her down on the sheets.

There was a moment of anxiety that rushed through her. She was about to sleep with the current world champion.

Max spread her legs and pulled down her underwear. He took a moment to look at her, all of her, naked and spread before him. He had never seen something this beautiful before. "Look at you," he whispered, pushing his tip between her folds. "So lovely."

"Please, Max. I need you!" She cried.

Slowly, he pushed his way through her folds until he was fully sheathed inside of her.

Holding him close, Y/N let out a cry. Her nails dug into his shoulder as he remained still, pushed all the way inside of her. "Are you okay?" Max asked through a whisper.

With her eyes squeezed shut, Y/N nodded her head. "You're so big, Maxie."

Slowly, Max moved his hips. He listened to her body, snapping his hips against hers when her moans grew louder. "Oh holy shit," she cried, eyes shut as she threw her head back.

The bed creaked as his thrusts grew louder and and more erratic. The sound of skin slapping together filled the apartment. "My god, Max, holy shit, holy shit!"

Max leaned down to kiss her. Wrapping her arms around him, Y/N held him close.

Before long, Max's thrusts were growing sloppy and erratic. He let his head rest on her shoulders. His mouth hung open as he gave two more trusts, finishing.

Max panted as he pulled out of her. He wasted no time in moving down her body, fingers prodding at her hole. He pushed past his own mess, trusting his fingers in and out of her. She quivered as he did so, body shaking under him.

Finally she came on his fingers. Her chest rose and fell as Max pulled away from her.

He'd just slept with Lando's little sister. What had he done?

[ladykailitha]

Batshit Soulmates Part 1

Yay! We have finally got to the meat of the story. And oh boy do Steve and Eddie go through it.

In Medias Res| Prologue|

***

Steve wanted nothing to do with Eddie Munson. Never had, never would. But Dustin was like a brother to him, and he would move heaven and earth to make sure the kid was safe. And he knew all too well that if he didn’t tag along, Dustin would get himself and anyone who went with him in trouble. Possibly hurt or worse. So he offered to drive.

They arrived at Reefer Rick’s place and Steve led the way. They tried the house first, but the lights were off and no one seemed to be home.

Steve was close to strangling Dustin as he kept yelling the worst possible things. But they tried the boathouse next.

He looked around but couldn’t see any drug dealing, D&D playing nerds, so he grabbed an oar that was leaning against the wall. The last thing he needed was to touch something and have it rip his arm off. He poked at the tarp.

What happened next, Steve wasn’t sure was a good or a bad thing. But it was certainly the most interesting thing that had happened to him in all of his life. And that was including finding Robin or the monster coming out of the wall at the Byers house.

The tarp ripped open and suddenly he was being slammed into the wall, a broken bottle placed to his throat. He knew that there was no way to get the leverage he needed to swing the oar to defend himself. And that’s when he felt it. He could feel the jagged edge of the bottle piercing his throat, threatening to draw blood. But he could also feel a burning on his forearm.

“Eddie!” Dustin cried out, suddenly afraid. “This is Steve. He isn’t going to hurt you.”

Steve gulped. That was certainly true. At least until they talked, anyway. He looked into Eddie’s frightened eyes and knew that Eddie wouldn’t hurt him either. But he was scared.

“Steve drop the oar!” Dustin instructed.

Steve threw the oar away. “See? I’m not armed anymore. Can you let me go?”

Eddie pushed the bottle further into Steve’s throat.

And Dustin, Robin, and Max all gasped in alarm.

“Hey, Eddie,” Dustin continued to try and soothe the scared boy. “This is Robin, you remember her from band? And this is Max. She the one that doesn’t like D&D, but she still cool.”

But nothing seemed to be working and everyone leaned forward expect the worst, when Steve spoke up.

“Eds, man,” Steve said softly. “Is–is your right arm burning all of sudden?”

“What the hell kind of strategy is that?” Robin squeaked.

But Eddie’s eyes flicked down to the arm that was holding the bottle and then back up to Steve.

He didn’t answer, but that was enough for Steve.

“Just let me pull up my sleeve,” he continued, his eyes still wild with fear. “I’ll show you, I’m safe.”

Max frowned but when she looked over at Robin and Dustin, they didn’t look confused. They looked shocked.

Robin was whispering “Oh my god, oh my god,” over and over. And Dustin was covering his broad smile with both of his hands.

She looked back over at Steve and Eddie and still didn’t understand what was going on.

Steve slowly pulled up the right sleeve of his jacket and tore off his soul patch, throwing it to the ground.

Max gasped. She knew what was happening now and she couldn’t believe it.

Eddie looked down at Steve’s arm. There it was: four stylized bats that were glowing bright red. His eyes flashed up to Steve’s again and said through a clenched jaw, “Why the fuck is mine a nail bat?”

“Oh my god!” Robin squeaked. “Max go get it from the trunk. He needs to see this.”

Steve pulled his keys out of his pocket and tossed her direction, praying it wouldn’t land in the water.

But Max caught them and dashed out of the boathouse. They all waited on baited breath. Because Eddie wasn’t going to let Steve go without knowing the meaning behind his soulmark.

Max came running back inside. “Steve! Catch!”

Eddie turned around to face her, letting the other boy go. Steve caught the bat before it even got close to either of their faces. Eddie’s eyes were wide for a different reason now.

He dropped the bottle and stepped back, everyone else breathing a sigh of relief. “Why the fuck do you have a nail bat, Harrington?”

Steve slumped against the wall and slid down it, holding the nail bat tightly in both hands, it was straight up. Like a knight holding a sword.

Dustin got between them and moved Eddie to sit down on a nearby crate, while Robin was at Steve’s side checking to see if the bottle had cut him.

It hadn’t. But he let her fuss over him, because they both needed the reassurance that he was, in fact, okay.

Eddie pulled off his leather jacket and ripped off his own soul patch. He had a couple of tattoos on his arm. One he had done himself, but the other? The other was a soulmark that throbbed bright red. It was Steve’s nail bat, no doubt.

“Bats,” Steve giggled manically. “Our soulmarks are bats.”

Eddie cocked his head and rolled his eyes. “Just answer the question, Harrington.”

Dustin grimaced. “You wouldn’t believe us if we told you.”

Robin and Max nodded emphatically.

Eddie shook his head. “I don’t know, not after what I saw. It was horrible.”

Suddenly Steve was on his feet and at Eddie’s side in a heartbeat. “I have a feeling we would be the only ones that would understand, Eds.”

Eddie let out a shuddering breath, but started talking. He told them about Chrissy and the drug deal. He talked about her nightmares and how lost she seemed when he was nice to her. He talked about how scared she had been in her final moments. And how he ran when she started to twist in a horrible, unnatural way. How she died screaming.

“I can’t get her screams out of my head, man,” Eddie whimpered. “Why her? Why me?”

“We don’t know,” Robin said. “But we’ve done this before.”

Eddie stared at her in shock.

Steve nodded. “Three years for Dustin and I, although he has about a week up on me. Two years for Max. And one year for Robin.”

“Three–three years?” Eddie stammered. “What the fuck?”

“Since Will Byers vanished,” Dustin said sadly.

Eddie closed his eyes. Both Wayne and he had volunteered to help look for the boy and Wayne had been among those that found the fake body. He nodded before opening his eyes.

“What am I going to do?” he asked.

Steve knelt in front of him and touched his cheek. “We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

*

Steve was having a panic attack. That was the only thing he could think of when he started to hyperventilate outside of his house after dropping everyone off at home. They needed to get Eddie some food and explain things properly to him, but all that consumes Steve is the refrain of: He’s my soulmate. He’s my soulmate. He’s my soulmate. Over and over.

Tears threatened to fall from his cheeks. A boy was his soulmate. He didn’t care, but his dad would. Dustin and Max seemed fine with it. Hell, Dustin was practically bouncing in his seat all the way home. Berating Steve for not meeting Eddie sooner. If only Steve had listened to him he wouldn’t have struck out with so many girls.

Steve dropped him off first just to stop the constant stream of his monologue and then Max. As he was pulling away from Forest Hills Robin touched his shoulder.

“Are you going to be okay?” she asked gently.

He didn’t know if he was ever going be. Because his forearm still burned, still glowed dark red. In fact it was getting darker and more painful the further he got from Eddie.

“I think we’re perfect mates,” Steve ground out through the thick pain lancing through his arm. “A true pair.”

Robin’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit. Like only a hundred of those are born every generation.”

He pulled up his sleeve to show her. She took his arm gingerly and ran her fingers over the dark soul mark.

“I don’t think you could have found a worst time to meet him,” she said softly.

Steve nodded.

Robin kissed his cheek and inside her house, leaving Steve to drive home alone with his thoughts.

So that brought him to where he was now. Having a mental breakdown in front of his empty house. He knew that he was going to have to compartmentalize. Which was something he was pretty damn good at. It just was shit timing. But before he could do that, he knew he had to work through the shock of his soulmate being a boy.

Usually he would talk to Robin about this, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. After all, Vickie was her soulmate, the girl just wasn’t interested in being with Robin. She would rather chase after some boy who had already go off to college and was likely cheating on her with who knows how many girls. So how could Steve gush about his soulmate when hers didn’t want her? He wasn’t an ass. Or at least not anymore.

Steve finally got out of the car and opened the door to his house, half expecting his parents to come storming out of one of the rooms demanding where he’d been. But the house was silent. As it always was these days. He toed off his shoes in front of the door, suddenly not caring if it blocked anyone from coming in. Maybe that was a good thing.

He didn’t want to be disturbed while he wallowed in his misery.

A boy. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever assume his soulmate wasn’t a girl. Not even once did even consider it wouldn’t be someone with soft curves and pouty lips. Steve scoffed. He supposed he got the pouty lips. Just no curves. Only curls. He closed his eyes and threw himself bodily onto the sofa to wallow.

Steve threw his arm over his head and sighed. Was he attracted to boys? He knew that being soulmates didn’t necessarily include sex or whatever, but he always assumed that his soulmate would fill every aspect of his life and not just being someone he could rely on.

And there lied the other crux of the problem. Could he rely on Eddie?

Eddie Munson: metalhead, two-time super senior, drug dealer, goofball. Nothing like the person Steve imagined growing up. Someone who was an equal, who would help him with their kids.

Kids! Shit. There went that, too. They would have to adopt if they even got that far. Steve could taste the bile that rose from his throat. But he forced it down and let out a deep breath. He just had to readjust his thinking is all. Instead of focusing on the negative.

He sat up and really thought about Eddie as his soulmate. He already knew that Eddie got along good with Steve’s little nuggets. Three of them were in his club, for fuck’s sake. And from what Dustin had said was really impressed with Erica. So that was four of his kids that liked Eddie. Or at least tolerated him in Erica’s case. That was something.

That was something else. He had taken in Lucas, Mike, and Dustin when they were lost little freshmen with no clue how to navigate high school. Of course things between Lucas and Eddie may have soured a bit over last night’s game. And while Steve wasn’t in any clubs, he had grown up watching his mother plan party after party.

Rule number one was at least three days notice of canceling unless something had literally come up that day. Which Steve knew wasn’t the case with the championship game. Lucas knew a week in advance what was coming and chickened out telling Eddie. So that situation made for bad blood all around.

But as Steve sat there he could tally up more good things about Eddie then bad. And as for the attraction, well...he had just described the other boy as having pouty lips and soft curls, so maybe he wasn’t as straight as he thought he was.

He thought back to the big brown eyes and quivering hands. And yeah, maybe Steve was more attracted than he thought.

All right crisis...well not averted. Because he was still in the middle of some shit. But managed he supposed. Now all he needed to was make sure his stupid soulmate made it out of this alive. And you know, clear him of a murder charge.

But that was a problem for future Steve, current Steve needed food and god damned nap.

****

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Epilogue

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @justforthedead89 @emly03 @bookworm0690 @itsall-taken @vecnuthy @bookbinderbitch @redfreckledwolf @littlewildflowerkitten @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @scheodingers-muppet @mira-jadeamethyst @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @genderless-spoon @anne-bennett-cosplayer @irregular-child @oxidantdreamboat @mogami13 @samsoble @xandriumbat

[apomaro-mellow]

King and Prince 15

Part 14

We have officially begun the second arc of this fic! Arc 1: Enemies Arc 2: Friends? ....Friends.... (<- You are here!) Arc 3: Lovers

The day before the festivities, Eddie was constantly on his feet and on the move. He had barely a moment to himself. But as the sun set, he took a second to check in on his favorite hostage-turned-guest. But Eddie never did these checks in person. Now seemed to be the time to give Steve as much space as he could. Eddie didn’t know in detail what kind of life he led in his old kingdom, but it couldn’t be anything good. A crown prince should be fighting tooth and nail to get back home. Steve hadn’t made any escape attempts since that last one weeks ago.

Eddie stood by the window of his room and held a hand out to beckon the raven that landed. He stroked its feathers in thanks for letting him see Steve. His eyes became the bird’s eyes whenever he wished, allowing him to see how Steve behaved while he was alone. He never intruded for long, but Eddie wasn’t going to fall to a soft heart and let someone untrustworthy roam without suspicion.

His precaution was starting to appear unnecessary in the end. Because Steve had no plans to harm anyone, not even him. As much as he and Dustin had prodded at the prince to see further than his own nose and learn about what was around him, Eddie had to admit that he too had his own assumptions about him. 

He hadn’t imagined the enemy to be an uncontrollable monster like the other side did. But Eddie hadn’t expected someone willingly lending a hand to some kids, who did manual labor with very minimal grumbling. He hadn’t expected Steve to be, well, nice. He might be the first Harrington who Eddie hadn’t wanted to kill on sight.

One thing his little feathered friend reminded him of was the fact that Steve’s wardrobe was severely cut down from what he must be used to. There was certainly a drop of quality as well, though it was comfortable to wear. And Eddie thought he shouldn’t be left out of the fun when it came to new clothes.

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

The next morning, Steve rose with the sun and had breakfast with the children in the kitchen. Afterwards, he figured his job for the day would be helping out wherever he was needed for the activities around the castle. But when he caught Robin in the hallway, she shook her head at him.

“I don’t have you today. You belong to those kids there”, she pointed to the gaggle catching up from behind.

“Them?”, Steve asked. “But they’re going to-” Their plans all involved the action happening in the town just outside the castle gates. A town filled with this kingdom’s people. People who might want to see Steve’s end, if they knew who he was.

Robin just waved with her fingers as Dustin and El grabbed both of his arms and started to pull him towards the main entrance of the castle. Outside, a wagon was already hitched up to a horse, driver at the ready to take them out. Steve tried to keep the apprehension off his face as he watched the kids get on, then followed after. Obviously the townsfolk couldn’t tell who he was just by looking at him. Even so, what if someone let something slip and the wrong thing was overheard?

His charges were unaware, still talking about all the things to do once they were there. They were already dressed in their new finery, surely with a warning not to get them too dirty before the performance. Steve tried not to feel too disappointed by his own clothing. He didn’t need any eyes drawn to him.

“We’re going to the games first”, Lucas said.

“Who said you’re in charge?”, Max challenged.

“I thought we agreed we should see the market first”, Will said.

“I agree that we should go before they run out of strawberries”, Dustin started. “But we can afford some time to go and see the mechanists first.”

Steve was suddenly struck with why he was put on supervising duty. Without an adult, they’d surely run off in a dozen different directions. They were let out right in the thick of it and Steve was overwhelmed but only for a moment as he clapped his hands and called them to attention.

“Hey. Hey! If one of you gets lost or hurt, that’s my neck on the chopping block!” Steve didn’t want to think of how literal that might be. “I’ll decide where we go and when and I swear to the old gods and new if I hear any griping, you can hop right back on the wagon.”

There was definitely some eye rolling. And the start of groans. And crossed arms. But no one directly opposed him. That left Steve to make a decision. He put his hands on his hips, looking at them one by one as they gazed back expectantly.

“So here’s what we’re going to do”, he began. “You all just ate. We don’t need to go and get berries right now. I promise we’ll go before they run out. It makes the most sense to do the games first. You guys are bouncing off the walls and need something to direct all that energy.”

After which, they’d be in a mood for some kind of refreshing pick-me-up, like freshly picked fruit. And maybe even some kind of meal before seeing what else the people of this town had to offer. His plan was met with minimal protests and for a moment Steve got the idea that they might actually like and respect him. There were games for both young and old, separated by skill level.

Lucas decided to try his hand at archery and Steve felt a twinge of pride, especially when he got a near bullseye on the first try. The next few weren’t as great but he hoped Lucas would remember that first near-win. If nothing else, he might remember the impressed look on Max’s face before she wiped it away, glancing around to make sure no one else saw. Even though the others typically weren’t so swayed by feats of athleticism, they congratulated Lucas.

“You almost got it in!”, Will exclaimed.

“Think of the potential. With an archer, we could be unstoppable!”, Dustin said.

Steve didn’t want to think about what sort of potential they were imagining. He’d thought he’d just follow them around and make sure they didn’t get kidnapped but was thrown off when they dragged him to a different field where there were older competitors.

“I think it’s time you show us what you got”, Mike said, arms crossed.

“What?”

“You talk a big game, but no one’s actually seen you do anything serious”, Max said.

“Lucas was there when Nancy tried to chop my head off”, Steve said in his defense.

Mike shrugged. “Yeah, but she was probably going easy on you.”

“You’d probably be good at that”, El pointed to where a bunch of young adults were tossing spears to see who could get it the farthest.

A simple task, especially given his royal training. Steve thought it almost unfair as he stepped up to compete. But he took the other seriously as he stretched and got ready. He wasn’t surprised when he thrust the spear forward and it fell in a graceful arc leagues further than any other. Still, he was glad that he wasn’t getting rusty up in that castle, locked away. Steve figured he’d proven himself, but then he was pointed to hay bale lifting, then the races, and then a child toss.

“Wait, why am I tossing you guys into the water?”, Steve asked while other people were stretching their legs.

Dustin lit up. “The child toss has a rich history that’s actually hotly debated and only because Eddie won’t tell us what really happened because he thinks its funny how many different stories there are-”

“Just lift them up and throw them in the pond as fast as you can”, Max said.

“As fun as it would be to chuck some of you, not in these clothes”, Steve put his foot down.

Thankfully, they moved quickly to the other games. All things that Steve excelled at. For as much as he was trying to keep a low profile, the townsfolk started to be taken with this talented stranger. It didn’t hurt that many of the events gave them glimpses at his physique. As he promised, once they got their fill of watching him compete, he took them to the market where farmers were presenting the bounties of early spring. It was a good preview of things to come in the following months.

Steve popped a berry into his mouth when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw a man he didn’t recognize. For a moment, he thought he’d been seen for who he was, but he read the other man’s body language. There was something a little nervous about it, especially in the way he seemed to want to look at Steve but not meet his gaze.

“Hey uh, so I saw you over at the fields and uh-”

Ah.

Steve licked some of the juice off his fingers and noticed how intensely he was being watched. He had his fair share of bedmates back home and was familiar with the look of desire. It had just been so long since he'd seen it. Before the man could continue, El was calling for him and Max was grabbing him by the elbow. The girls wanted to go and watch the street musicians while the boys wanted to go and visit the mechanists. Steve finally conceded to a split on the condition that they met up for lunch in half an hour.

“Half an hour is barely any time”, Mike complained.

“It’s all you have if you want to eat before seeing the illusionist. You have to be on stage right after that”, Steve reminded them.

Given that time limit, Will and the other boys rushed off to see the new machines and inventions dreamt up during the winter while the girls led Steve towards music playing. Unbeknownst to anyone there, the king was already present, red hood obscuring his face as he sat on a barrel, playing a cheerful tune for his people.

Part 16

Tag Team

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[formula-nyoom]

Stars Racing Past-2

Summary: After managing to escape the phantom on Tatooine, (Y/N), Seb, and Kimi head to Coruscant to meet with the Jedi Council to hopefully allow (Y/N) to become a Jedi and be assigned a teacher.

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the support on the first chapter. I'm really glad people liked it and I can't wait for you guys to read what I've got cooking. While I don't really like taglists, I will have one for this series. I think the max I can tag is 50(ish) people so I will have to cut it off at some point. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Series Masterlist

~~~

The ship seemed to remain in one piece as it traveled through lightspeed. And with nothing indicating that the hyperdrive would fail, Kimi switched on the autopilot as he and Seb focused on the girl that was now with them. Now that things were calm, she seemed to be processing everything that just happened as her eyes stared at the light rapidly traveling past the ship

 “(Y/N)...” Seb gently said, drawing the girl’s attention to him. “Can you tell us what happened? Why was this person chasing you?”

 “I don’t know. He had come into the store after closing…he…” The girl trailed off.

“Can you tell us exactly what happened?” Seb quietly asked. (Y/N) took a breath and nodded.

 “I was working on repairing my speeder when I heard Mr (L/N) tell a customer to leave. He mentioned the two of you…I thought you guys had come back to get me or sent someone to come get me. But when I peered in… there was just something about this person that felt wrong.”

 “What did you sense from this person?” Kimi asked.

“Sinister…and dark.” (Y/N) said. “He didn’t feel anything like when you guys had come in earlier.”

 “You said that he killed them…did he kill Mr and Mrs (L/N)?” Seb asked. The girl nodded. Her eyes started to water as the scene of the phantom driving his red lighted blade through their chests replayed in her head. 

 “I ran as soon as he saw me. I jumped on my speeder and took off. I didn’t know where I was going at first, I just knew I had to get far away from this…this phantom.”

 “Lucky you were able to find us then.” Kimi said.

“I don’t think it was luck.” Both Seb and (Y/N) said. Seb looked at the girl perplexed. 

 “What do you mean by that?” He asked

“I..I felt something. I don’t know how to really describe it, but I felt something guiding me in a certain direction. It led me to you guys.”

Seb smiled. 

 “I knew The Force would make our paths cross again.” He said. (Y/N) tried to mirror Seb’s sentiment, but her mind kept going back to the phantom.

“Who…who was that person that chased me. What did he want with me?” (Y/N) asked.

“He was a Sith.” Kimi said. Seb looked at him with concern.

 “Are you sure? The Sith hadn’t been seen in ages.”

“Everything about him screamed Sith, from his lightsaber to the way he fought.” Kimi said. “I don’t think this was a random occurrence.”

 “What do you mean?”

“On a previous mission, I was investigating rumors of potential dark side activity. I didn’t have enough evidence to warrant bringing this matter up to the council. But now I think we should.” Kimi said.

 “What’s a Sith?”(Y/N) asked. 

“Dark side Force users.” Kimi said. (Y/N) still looked confused. Seb kneeled down next to her to be eye level.

 “There are two sides of the Force. There’s the light side that the Jedi use to try and bring peace, and there’s the dark side that the Sith use for conflict and nefarious purposes. Before the age of The High Republic, the Jedi and Sith would fight constantly before most of the Sith were wiped out and hadn’t been seen since.” Seb explained.

 “But it seems like they may be trying to come back or rise to power.” Kimi said.

“What would the Sith want with me?” (Y/N) asked. “I’m…I’m just a slave.”

 “You’re not a slave. You’re so much more than just a person.” Seb said, gently clasping the girl’s hands. “(Y/N)...I believe that you can become an exceptional Jedi. You seem to be well in tune with The Force. I saw you use it in the shop, and you were able to channel it to help you find us. You seem to have a much better grasp on it than any other untrained force sensitive person I’ve come across.”

 The girl was silent for a couple moments.

“Are the stories true? That the Jedi fight for the good of others? Bring peace to the galaxy?” She asked.

 “Yes. The Jedi stand to be guardians of peace and justice. We use the light side of the Force to help protect and fight for others who can’t. And you could be that kind of person…” Seb explained. “But I also don’t want to pressure you into coming with us back to the Jedi Temple.

 “Considering the circumstances, you’re no longer a slave.” Kimi said.

“He’s right. You’re free now to do whatever you want, go wherever you want to go.” Seb said.

 “But that Sith we encountered will still try to come after you.”

“Kimi’s unfortunately right about that too. Whatever the Sith may have wanted with you, it’s not good. You would be safer with us back at The Temple. But again, I leave the decision up to you.” 

(Y/N) looked back towards the flying stars, taking in all that was said. Seb and Kimi were right, she was free. She could make her own choices now.

 “I’ll come with you. I want to train to be a Jedi and fight for those that can’t.” (Y/N) said. Seb smiled.

 “That’s wonderful to hear.” He said. 

(Y/N) smiled. Seb looked like he believed in her. That’s the first time someone has looked at her that way.

 “Don’t get too excited, Seb.” Kimi said. “We still have to meet with The Council about this matter. They may think she’s too old to start training as it goes against The Code.”

Seb didn’t seem deterred by Kimi’s words.

“I have faith that they’ll make the right decision. Besides, we'll have to inform the Council about our encounter with a Sith. I think once they hear about that, they’ll see how important the matter is.” Seb said. 

The time traveling to Coruscant wasn’t long, but it took enough time for (Y/N) to doze off, the events of the past few hours finally catching up to her. When she woke, she was met with blue sky and the sight of city skylines.

 “Have you ever been to a planet like Coruscant?” Seb asked when he noticed the girl was awake. (Y/N) shook her head.

“I’ve lived on Tatooine for most of my life.” She said. 

(Y/N) tried to take in all the new sights as Kimi piloted the SF-16. She watched as other smaller ships flew past various buildings and apartments. There seemed to be so much hustle and bustle in Coruscant. A stark contrast to Tatoonie. Eventually the SF-16 flew towards a giant structure that seemed to stick out compared to everything else in the city. It had various towers while looking very square. (Y/N) could tell that this was The Jedi Temple that Seb and Kimi kept mentioning.

Kimi piloted the ship onto a landing pad and the three began to disembark.

The ship door opened and (Y/N) was hit with a blast of cool air and no humidity as she followed Seb and Kimi off the ship. Now seeing the Temple up close, it was way more imposing with an almost wing-like symbol displayed on banners that hang from the front.

A young man greeted the three of them as they made their way closer to the temple entrance. He wore the same clothes as Seb and Kimi, minus the robe, and had short blonde hair with one long braided strand.

“Master Vettel! You're back! How were the negotiations?” The man said. 

 “We had some complications. Could you alert the Council of our arrival. There are matters we need to discuss with them.” Seb said.

 “Certainly.” The young man said. He turned around and started to hurry off.

(Y/N) followed Seb and Kimi past the entrance and into the temple proper.  Various people greeted Seb and Kimi as they walked past while also giving curious glances towards (Y/N). (Y/N) tried to stick close to Seb, not wanting to draw any attention herself while also trying to take in all her surroundings. The temple was big and open with high arching ceilings and architecture (Y/N) had never seen before. Some of the adults that passed by were accompanied by kids (Y/N)’s age, having the same braid as the young man that greeted them at the entrance. And the atmosphere of everything, it felt the same to (Y/N) as when Seb and Kimi first walked into the repair shop but multiplied by 10.

It felt both safe and suffocating at the same time.

Soon the three of them made it to a set of tall double doors with the same intricate symbol as the ones on the banners. The young man that greeted them when they landed stood in front of the doors and smiled at Seb as they approached. 

 “They’re inside ready to meet you.” He said.

“Thank you Mick. Will you wait out here for me? I need to talk to you about some things regarding your training.” Seb told him. Mick nodded. 

Standing in front of the big doors, (Y/N) suddenly felt very nervous. The idea of having to meet with people only referred to as “The Council” seemed very nerve wracking to the young girl. Seb seemed to notice this as he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“I just want to reassure you that there is nothing to worry about. The Council may seem intimidating to you at first, but they aren’t.” Seb said. 

 “I was intimidated by them when I first met them.” The young man, Mick, said. He gave (Y/N) a reassuring smile. (Y/N) tried to give one in return but she was pretty sure that nervousness still showed on her face. 

“You can stand by Kimi while I talk with The Council. I don’t think I’ll have to do much convincing to have them allow you to become part of The Order, but they may ask you a couple questions.” He said. “Are you ready?”

(Y/N) took a deep breath to try and steal her nerves. 

 “Yes.” She said, Seb smiled and nodded his head before opening the door. 

The circular room was much smaller than (Y/N) expected it to be. 

Nine chairs were arranged in a circle that took up most of the room. All of the seats except for two had someone sitting in it: Men dressed in the same attire as Seb and Kimi. 

Most of them greeted Seb with a smile but all of them seemed to look at (Y/N) once she stepped into the room. She moved closer to Kimi, almost trying to hide behind him.

“Master Vettel. It’s good to see both you and Master Räikkönen back in one piece. Master Alonso informed us that the negotiations with the Trade Federation didn’t seem to go well.” Master Webber, one of Seb’s fellow councilmen, spoke. Seb nodded his head.

 “You are correct, Master Webber. The Trade Federation was not up for negotiations in the slightest. We tried to have an open discussion with them but after a couple minutes the Leader left the room and me and Kimi were soon swarmed by battle droids. We had to fight our way out of there and during our ship’s retreat, the hyperdrive ended up being damaged, causing us to crash land on Tatooine.” Seb explained.

 “Seems you may have picked something up while on Tatooine.” Master Ricciardo said, glancing behind Seb at (Y/N). He wore a friendly smile, but (Y/N) couldn’t help but try to make herself seem smaller due to nerves.

“We encountered a member of the Sith while on Tatooine.” Kimi said. Some of the men looked at each other with either confusion or concern.

 “The Sith haven't been seen in ages.” Master Bottas said.

“What was a potential Sith doing on Tatooine.” Master Rosberg asked.

 “That was the other matter I wished to discuss with you. I had mentioned to Master Alonso earlier that me and Master Räikkönen believe that we have found The Chosen.” Seb said. He turned around and gestured to (Y/N) to come join him in the center of the room. (Y/N) quietly walked over and stood next to Seb. The tone in the room seemed to shift once (Y/N) stood before them, as if they could sense something she couldn’t. (Y/N) wished she could be as small as possible with all these sets of eyes on her. 

 “What’s your name, young one?” Master Webber asked the girl. 

“(Y/N).”  She quietly said.

“You’re from Tatoonie?” He asked. (Y/N) shook her head. 

 “No. I was sold on Tatooine. I don’t know what planet I'm originally from.”

 “You were a slave?” A different man asked. He had darker skin and wore his hair in braids. The girl nodded.

“(Y/N) said that the trader who sold her only dealt with Force sensitive. That’s a matter I feel we should discuss as well but at a later time." Seb chimed in. 

 “How old are you?” Master Webber asked her.

“11.” That answer caused some of the men to whisper to each other. (Y/N) tried not to think about what Kimi had said earlier about her possibly being too old to join The Order.

 “How old were you when you were sold?” The man with braids asked.( (Y/N) would learn later he’s addressed as Master Hamilton)

“Five.” She told him. Master Webber took in the girl’s appearance, how she stood and how her hands fidgeted with the hem of her shirt to try and ease her nerves. But (Y/N) felt that he was trying to sense something else.

 “(Y/N), with all that's happened to you in the past hours, you don't seem to be upset about being away from what was your home planet.” He said. (Y/N)’s face seemed to harden at his observation.

 “Tatoonie never felt like home. Neither did the people who owned me.” She said, her voice now at an even and clear volume.

“So you have no attachments to the life that you had on Tatooine?”

(Y/N) didn’t need to think hard about that question. The people she belonged to were dead. She never made any real friends on that planet and besides repairing old speeders, she felt there was nothing to call her back to Tatooine. 

 “No. There’s nothing left for me back on Tatooine.” She said firmly. Master Webber looked to Seb

 “You think she should join the Order.” Master Webber. It didn’t sound like a question, more so like Master Webber already knew Seb’s intentions.

“She’s too old.”Master Rosberg said.  “She hasn’t been taught the proper teachings like every youngling must learn.”

 “I understand that but I’ve seen how she uses The Force and how she’s been able to channel it. I believe if given time, proper training, and a good teacher, she can become a great Jedi.” Seb explained. (Y/N) wanted to smile at Seb’s words, but as she took them in, she also remembered that Seb had referred to as “The Chosen" earlier. (Y/N) wanted to know what he meant by that. It sounded like something with high expectations.

The men broke out into whispers amongst each other as they debated on what decision to make. Seb looked down at (Y/N) and gave her a reassuring smile and her shoulder a gentle squeeze. It comforted her a bit.

“The Council has decided…” Master Webber spoke after a few more moments of hushed whispers. “...that despite her age and considering the circumstances, (Y/N) will be allowed to join The Order and train in the ways of The Jedi.”

Both (Y/N) and Seb seemed to let out a relieved breath.

“Master Räikkönen will be her teacher.” Master Webber said. Kimi cleared his throat, having stayed at the back of the room the whole time.

 “With all due respect, the missions I go on are not fit for a padawan.” He said.

 “I’d be happy to take her on as my padawan.” Seb said.

“You already have a padawan Master Vettel. You can not take on another one.” Master Button said.

 “I believe that Mick is ready to take on the trials to become a Jedi Knight. I’ve trained him for many years and feel he is prepared to handle his own missions.” Seb said. A few of the Council men glanced at each other.

“The Council has seen Padawan Schumacher’s progress. While he has learned and grown over the years with his abilities regarding The Force since becoming your padawan, recent months have cast doubt on if he is ready to become a Knight. Unfortunately we will have to deny your request.” Master Webber said.

 “Not to mention that there are more younger Jedi Knights who are ready to take on padawans. I understand that with you believing that this girl is the Chosen one, that she should have a more experienced teacher, but The Council have not yet seen anything from her that truly proves so. Therefore she will be treated like every new padawan that comes into the Jedi Order.” Master Alonso explained. Seb nodded his head.

 “I understand.” He said, hiding his disappointment inside. “If that is the case…then I believe I may know of a suitable teacher for (Y/N).”

~~~

The sounds of lightsabers clashing echoed throughout the training room as Seb entered. Once the council meeting had ended, Seb had asked Mick to show (Y/N) to what would be her new living quarters while Seb headed to the training room to look for a certain Jedi Knight. One or two people training greeted Seb as he entered, but most were engrossed in the sparring match that was happening in the middle of the room. 

Two young men were engaged in a fierce lightsaber duel. One had dark blonde hair and wielded a blue lightsaber with intensity. His opponent deflected the hits with his own two green lightsabers. They seemed evenly matched, each deflecting hits that came their way. One may suspect that the young man wielding two lightsabers would have the upper hand, but a subtle feint and quick force powered shove from the dark blonde sent the brown haired young man he was fighting down to the ground, dropping one of his sabers. 

“I win this one Charles.” The dark blonde young man said as he held his lightsaber in front, almost as if stopping the brunette from getting up. But the two smiled at each other and the blonde lowered his lightsaber to offer Charles a hand up. Those around that watched the sparring match applauded the two of them. Seb included.

 “Max!” Seb called out. The dark blonde turned and, after giving Charles a pat on the shoulder, walked over to the Jedi Master.

 “Yes, Master Vettel?”

“I know we haven’t spoken about this matter in a while but I wanted to know if you still had your objections about taking on a padawan?”

 “Like I’ve said before Master Vettel, I don’t think it would be fit for me to take on a padawan. I’m-”

 “-not a good teacher. I know, you’ve said that multiple times. However, I’ve just met with the council regarding an important matter.” Seb said. 

 “The Council can’t assign me a padawan. I have to be the one to choose.” Max said.

“I know that, but we think you and her would be a good pairing. You know what it’s like to have high expectations placed upon you.” Seb said. Max gave him a confused look.

 “What do you mean by that exactly?”

“Come with me. I think this matter should be discussed somewhere more private.”

(Y/N) should expect that everything on Coruscant was going to be better than what she had on Tatooine. Yet she was still surprised by the living quarters that Mick showed her. The room had a proper bed with a mattress (Y/N) felt she could sink right into, a window with a view looking out at the Coruscant skyline, and a closet filled with garb like the ones everyone in the temple was wearing. It was all so much more than (Y/N) ever had.

(Y/N) didn’t hesitate in changing from her old, Tatoonie clothing into a fresh set of tunic and pants, throwing her old pair into a trash can without hesitation. The clothes fit perfectly, like they were meant to. She caught a glimpse of herself in the window’s reflection. Her hair was still messy and there was still some dirt and sand left smudged on her face, but everything else she saw looked nice, looked new. 

“This is different.” She thought to herself. “This place feels safe.”

She looked again at her new living quarters. (Y/N) assumed that she was supposed to wait for Seb or someone else to come get her. But after traveling with Seb and Kimi for the past couple hours and having to meet with The Council, (Y/N) finally had some time to herself. And even though (Y/N) could spend hours on end sitting by the window staring at the skyline, there was a whole Temple to explore. And that’s what she was going to do.

~~~

At the moment, (Y/N) had no idea where in the temple she was. Honestly she should have expected this, being in a big and elaborate building she’s never been in before. (Y/N) had managed to find the temple’s library, mess hall, and the same entrance she had entered in with Seb and Kimi. But in trying to find her way back to her living quarters, (Y/N) seemed to have gotten a bit turned around. 

 ‘Maybe if I double back and try and retrace my steps-’

(Y/N)’s thought process was interrupted as she accidentally bumped into the back of someone.

 “Oh, sorry about that.” (Y/N) apologized as the person turned around. It was a boy about her age, with brunette hair and brown eyes. He wasn’t alone, as a blonde boy with blues stood behind. Both of them had the same singular braid in their hair that Mick had.

 “No worries.” The brunette boy said. His voice had the same accent as Master Webber. He looked at (Y/N) with curiosity. “Are you new? I’ve never seen you around The Temple before.” The brunette boy said. 

“Oh, yea I’m new...just arrived today.” (Y/N) told him. The boy smiled. 

“I’m Oscar. This is Logan.” The brunette boy held out one of his hands for (Y/N) to shake. (Y/N) shook it and held out her hand for the blonde boy to shake. He hesitated before shaking her hand with one of his gloved ones. 

 “It’s nice to meet you Oscar, Logan. I’m (Y/N)”. She said, “I was trying to explore around but ended up getting a bit lost.”

 “It is a bit hard to find your way around this place when you first get here.” Logan said.

“Well me and Logan were gonna head to the training ground. Maybe we could show you parts of the temple on the way there, if you want to join us.” Oscar said.

 “Sure. That would be great!” (Y/N) said.

Following the two boys, Oscar and Logan showed (Y/N) parts of the temple she had missed, like some of the teaching rooms and outdoor atrium. Just as she was about to follow Oscar and Logan into the training room, someone called her name.

“(Y/N)!” It was Seb, who walked over with someone in tow. (Y/N) waved goodbye to Oscar and Logan before walking over to meet Seb.

“I was wondering where you may have wandered off to.” Seb said. “I have someone I want you to meet.”

The girl standing before Max wasn’t what he expected. Master Vettel had told him how he thought Max would be the perfect fit to train someone who was expected to become a great Jedi, that there was some prophecy involved with the person he was supposed to train. 

 “Max, this is (Y/N), she just arrived today. (Y/N), this is Jedi Knight Max Verstappen.” Seb said, introducing the two. The girl, (Y/N) as Seb introduced her, had started fidgeting with one of her sleeves as soon as she walked over. But she seemed to steel herself and held out a hand for Max to shake. It had smudges of dirt and a bit of dried oil left on it.

 “It’s nice to meet you.” She said. Max shook his hand.

As soon as their fingers touched, Max felt The Force wrap around him, as if it was trying to tell him something. He tried to steel himself, and hone in on the feeling. And he found that it was coming from the girl in front of him. Did the girl feel it too? Max couldn’t tell as she pulled her hand away. He did the same.

 “I was just discussing with Max on how I think he would be a good teacher for you and that you would make a good padawan for him to train.” Seb said to (Y/N). “However the decision does come down to Max, so I thought it would be best for you two to at least meet before any decisions are made.”

Max didn’t think he was the type of person that would be a good teacher, that he wasn’t fit to train a padawan. He’s admitted multiple times that he’d rather spend his time training and going on missions where he could use his lightsaber a plenty than be in the temple teaching a youngling the ways of The Force.

But there’s something about the girl in front of him. Not only with The Force but with just everything about her. Max looked at (Y/N) and saw his younger self staring back.

 “Now Max, you don’t need to make a decision now, but I advise that you and (Y/N) try to get to know each other before-”

 “I'll do it.” Max said, interrupting Seb. Seb looked at Max with surprise.

“Really? “That’s wonderful to hear!” Seb said, now smiling. “Well my previous suggestion still stands that the two of you should get to know each other before you guys start training. I'll leave you to it.”

Seb gave (Y/N) a reassuring pat on her shoulder and a nod to Max before walking away, leaving the pair alone. The two stared at each other.

“So I assume I address you as Master Verstappen?” (Y/N) asked. Max grimaced.

 “Don't call me that. Max is fine.” He said. (Y/N) could now pick up that Max spoke with an accent, one she had never heard before. “Have you eaten at all since you’ve got here?”

(Y/N) shook her head, now realizing how long it had been since she had last eaten.

 “Well I can show you the dining hall and we can talk, “get to know each other” as Master Vettel said. Is that ok?”

 “Yea, sure. I’m starving.”

Through the windows of the dining hall, (Y/N) could see the sun slowly setting on the Coruscant skyline. After putting various food on her tray, (Y/N) followed Max as he led her to a more secluded part of the dining hall.

As she followed though, (Y/N) couldn’t help but notice the various stares or hushed whispers from people as they passed.

 “Is that Verstappen…with a youngling?”

“Verstappen said he would never take on a padawan.”

 “Do you think The Council forced him to take on one?”

Max took a seat at one of the tables tucked into the corner. (Y/N) sat across from him and looked down at her food.  

“Master Vettel told me you lived on Tatooine. I’ve never been to that planet. What’s it like there?” Max asked. While Max was trying to skirt around the unfortunate circumstance the girl was in before she was found by Sebastian and Kimi, Max still wanted to try and get to know the girl. So he thought asking about the planet where (Y/N) grew up would be a safe question to ask.

 “Hot. Sandy. Hot and Sandy is the only way to really describe it.” (Y/N) said with a neutral face as she poked at the food in front of her.

“What was your favorite thing to do there?” Max asked. (Y/N) took a bite of her food and smiled a bit. 

 “Trying to repair an old speeder that someone left behind.” (Y/N) said. “A bunch of races are held almost every month on Tatooine. I was hoping to get it fixed and enter some of the races. Win enough money to get me off the planet.”

 “I prefer racing ships over speeders. A lot more action and opportunity.” Max said. (Y/N) looked at him curiously.

“Is that what I’ll be able to do at some point? Pilot a ship and race it past the stars?” (Y/N) asked. Piloting was something (Y/N) always wanted to learn. Properly. She learned bits and pieces from the pilots that would come into the shop for parts or repairs, but (Y/N) always wanted to learn how to fly a ship. Probably to better her chances of getting off Tattoonie. But (Y/N) no longer had to worry about that.

 “Maybe. What I’m supposed to do is teach you how to harness The Force.” Max said. “But you are my padawan, so I can teach you things The Council may not want you to learn when you’re just starting out.” Max said, giving the girl a slight mischievous grin. (Y/N) couldn’t help but smile back. 

After the two had finished eating, Max walked (Y/N) back to her living quarters. Whispers and stares seemed to follow them as they walked and (Y/N) tried to brush it off. 

 “We’ll start your training tomorrow morning.” Max said as they stopped at the door to (Y/N)’s living quarters. “I know it may feel strange sleeping in an unfamiliar place but try to get some proper sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

 “Ok. Goodnight.” (Y/N) watched Max walk away. As he passed by a group of younglings with braids in their hairs, they looked at Max with awestruck faces. But he didn’t pay them any attention. (Y/N) remembered what she felt when she and Max first shook hands. Something seemed to pull her towards Max, The Force trying to tell her that something about him was important. She couldn’t help but wonder…who exactly did Seb assign as her teacher?

TAGLIST: @fangirl-dot-com @chasing-liberosis @miarabanana @vicurious28 @mayo-0-o

[ferrariregina]

little black dress pt.1 | mv1 × reader

pairing: max verstappen × reader

warning: alcohol consumption, not proofread, unedited, club scenes

summary: former fear of best friend's brother max turns into unexpected love when you return to town, connecting in your friend's absence, sparking deep feelings.

part 1, part 2

your eyes roamed around the dance floor, looking at the people dancing their nights away. some grinding on each other, some just being themselves.

a smile creeps up on your face as you watch your best friend victoria dancing with her man, having a night away from her precious boys.

sipping on your drink you get occupied with people watching. you've always been the quiet type who loved observing in any setting, even at the club.

"y/n come on! we are here for you today get on here!" vic drags you onto the dance floor. "welcome back babe! I missed you so much!" she screams over the loud music dancing along with it making you break out in your moves.

oh, yes you might be shy but you know your way around the nightlife. throwing your head back, and rolling your hips to the music you let yourself go like no one was watching.

except there max was, leaning against the bar watching you dance in that little black dress of yours.

it took him a while to recognize you. the last time he saw you, you were still a teenager who was dead scared of him from the day his sister first introduced you both.

looking at you now all max could see was the most beautiful woman he ever laid his eyes on. he watched you and his sister dance around, laughing and enjoying the night.

you sat to have a drink leaving vic and tom alone for a while unaware of your best friend's brother's presence in the club.

"still scared of me schatje?" a low voice startled you making you almost stumble off your seat.

"jesus! you scared me!" you screamed looking back at to see max. "i was never scared of you max. stop with it," you playfully hit his chest. although young you were scared of him for some unknown reason you would never admit it.

"glad to see you back in town y/n, vic missed you a lot," he said moving a strand of hair out of your face.

"i missed her too-" your eyes went to the dance floor only to see no sign of the lovebirds. "did they just ditch me?" you let out a laugh looking at max.

"you're surprised?" he asks standing up and gesturing you to follow him. "honestly?no. not like it's the first time." you shrug following him.

your heels clicked on the pavement as you followed him to the parking lot. he led you to his car, opening the door "drop a text to vic, I'm dropping you off at your place."

a/n: brainstormed three nights and came up with this. can't promise that part 2 will come soon butttt I promise it'll be better than this one. enjoy this till then!

xoxo

[thesiltverses]

I don’t know who types up the ask answers on this blog but to whoever’s reading this: how do you all feel about being alive and sentient? What keeps you going, what purpose propels you through this chaotic void? What do you think (or hope) waits for you after your inevitable end? What do you think constitutes a life well lived?

I'm going to answer this in the most wayward and stupidly overlong manner possible, because the previous ask had me thinking about puppets, and I was already mid-way through writing up a book recommendation that's semi-relevant to your questions.

Everyone (but especially people who've enjoyed The Silt Verses and all the folks on Tumblr who loved Piranesi by Susanna Clarke) ought to seek out Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban.

Riddley Walker is a wild and woolly story set in post-apocalyptic Kent, where human society has (d)evolved into a Bronze Age collective of hunter-gatherer settlements. Dogs, apparently blaming us for our crimes against the world, have become our predators, hunting us through the trees. Labourers kill themselves unearthing ancient machinery that they cannot possibly understand.

A travelling crowd of thugs led by a Pry Mincer collect taxes and attempt to impose themselves upon those around them with a puppet-show - the closest possible approximation of a TV show - that tells a mangled story of the world's destruction, featuring a Prometheus-esque hero called Eusa who is tempted by the Clevver One into creating the atomic bomb.

Riddley himself, a twelve-year-old folk hero in-the-making surrounded by strange portents, ends up sowing the seeds of rebellion and change by becoming a conduit for the anti-tutelary anarchic madness (one apparently buried in our collective unconscious) of Punch 'n' Judy.

It's a book in love with twisted reinterpretation, the subjectivity of interpretation, buried or forbidden truths coming back to light (the opening quote is a curious allegory about reinvention and cyclical change from the extra-canonical Gospel of Thomas, which is a good joke and mission statement on a couple levels at once) and human beings somehow stumbling into forms of wisdom or insight through clumsy and nonsensical attempts to make sense of a world that is simply beyond them.

It rocks.

The book starts like this:

On my naming day when I come 12 I gone front spear and kilt a wyld boar he parbly the las wyld pig on the Bundel Downs any how there hadnt ben none for a long time befor him nor I aint looking to see none agen. He dint make the groun shake nor nothing like that when he come on to my spear he wernt all that big plus he lookit poorly. He done the reqwyrt he ternt and stood and clattert his teef and made his rush and there we wer then. Him on 1 end of the spear kicking his life out and me on the other end watching him dy. I said, 'Your tern now my tern later.'

Riddley's devolved language - a trick which has been nicked/homaged by many other works, most notably Cloud Atlas and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome - is a masterwork choice which may seem offputting or overwhelming at first, but which has its own brutal poetry and cadence to it, and ultimately which makes us slow down as readers and unpick the wit, puns, double-meanings and playful themes buried in line after line.

(Even those first five sentences get us thinking about cyclical change, ritual and myth in opposition to the dissatisfactions of reality, and 'tern' to paradoxically indicate a rebellious change in direction but also an obedient acceptance of inevitable death.)

In one of my favourite passages in literature and a statement of thought that means a lot to me, Riddley has been smoking post-coital weed with Lorna, a 'tel-woman', who unexpectedly declares her belief in a kind of irrational, monstrous Logos that lives in us, wears us like clothes, and drives us onwards for its own purpose:

'You know Riddley theres some thing in us it dont have no name.' I said, 'What thing is that?' She said, 'Its some kynd of thing it aint us but yet its in us. Its lookin out thru our eye hoals...it aint you nor it dont even know your name. Its in us lorn and loan and shelterin how it can.' 'Tremmering it is and feart. It puts us on like we put on our cloes. Some times we dont fit. Some times it cant fynd the arm hoals and it tears us a part. I dont think I took all that much noatis of it when I ben yung. Now Im old I noatise it mor. It dont realy like to put me on no mor. Every morning I can feal how its tiret of me and readying to throw me a way. Iwl tel you some thing Riddley and keap this in memberment. What ever it is we dont come naturel to it.' I said, 'Lorna I dont know what you mean.' She said, 'We aint a naturel part of it. We dint begin when it begun we dint begin where it begun. It ben here befor us nor I dont know what we are to it. May be weare jus only sickness and a feaver to it or boyls on the arse of it I dont know. Now lissen what Im going to tel you Riddley. It thinks us but it dont think like us. It dont think the way we think. Plus like I said befor its afeart.' I said, 'Whats it afeart of?' She said, 'Its afeart of being beartht.'

While Hoban is, I think, deeply humanistic to his bones and even something of a wayward optimist, the notion of human beings as helpless and ignorant vessels, individual carriers - puppets, if you like - for an unknowable and awful inhuman power-in-potentia and life-drive that lacks a true shape or intent beyond its own continued survival (even when that means destroying us or visiting us with agonising atrophy in the process) conjures up the pessimism of Thomas Ligotti, another big influence on our work and a dude who was really into his marionettes-as-metaphor.

Let's go to him now for his opinion on the thing that lives beneath our skin. Thomas?

Through the prophylactic of self-deception, we keep hidden what we do not want to let into our heads, as if we will betray to ourselves a secret too terrible to know… …(that the universe is) a play with no plot and no players that were anything more than portions of a master drive of purposeless self-mutilation. Everything tears away at everything else forever. Nothing knows of its embroilment in a festival of massacres… Nothing can know what is going on.

Curiously, both Ligotti and Riddley Walker have appeared in the music of dark folk band Current 93, whose track In The Heart Of The Wood And What I Found There directly homages the novel and ends with the repeated words,

"All shall be well," she said But not for me

These words, in turn, hearken back to Kafka's* famous reported conversation with Max Brod:

'We are,' he said, 'nihilistic thoughts, suicidal thoughts that rise in God's head.' This reminded me of the worldview of the gnostic: God as an evil demiurge, the world as his original sin. 'Oh no', he said, 'our world is only a bad, fretful whim of God, a bad day.' 'So was there - outside of this world that we know - hope?' He smiled: 'Oh, hope - there is plenty. Infinite hope, just not for us."

So, we walk on.

We carry this thing that's riding on our backs, endlessly bonded to it, feeling its weight more and more with every passing day, unable to turn to look at it. Buried truths come briefly to life, and are hidden from us again. Perhaps they weren't truths at all. We couldn't stand to look the truth directly in the eyes in any case.

If there is hope, it's for the thing that looks out from our eyeholes, which thinks us but cannot think like us. We'll never get to where we're going, and the thing will never be born. There's no hope for it. Perhaps we don't want it to win anyway. It's nothing, and the key to everything.

The Jesus from the Gospel of Thomas says:

'When you see your own likeness, you rejoice. But when you see the visions that formed you and existed before you, which do not perish and which do not become visible - how much then will you be able to bear?'

Kafka, writing to his father, begins by expressing the inexpressibility of his own divine terror:

You asked me why I am afraid of you. I did not know how to answer - partly because of my fear, partly because an explanation would require more than I could make coherent in speech…even in writing, the magnitude of the causes exceeds my memory and my understanding.

Kafka concludes that while he cannot ever truly explain himself, and that the accusations in his letter are neat subjectivities that fail to account for the messiness of reality, perhaps 'something that in my opinion so closely resembles the truth…might comfort us both a little and make it easier for us to live and die.'**

It doesn't bring comfort to Kafka, whose diarised remarks both before and after the 1919 letter make it clear that he views his relationship with the things (people) that birthed him as an endless entrapment that prevents him from attaining any kind of self-actualisation or even comfort, since he cannot escape their influence or remember a time before them:

I was defeated by Father as a small boy and have been prevented since by pride from leaving the battleground, despite enduring defeat over and over again.

It's as if I wasn't fully born yet...as if I was dissolubly bound to these repulsive things (my parents).*** The bond is still attached to my feet, preventing them from walking, from escaping the original formless mush. That's how it is sometimes.

Samuel Beckett returns again and again (aptly) to this pursuit of a state of true humanity and final understanding that is at once fled and unrecoverable, yet to be born, never to be born, never-existed, endlessly to be pursued, pointless to pursue. From the astonishing end sequence of The Unnameable:

alone alone, the others are gone, they have been stilled, their voices stilled, their listening stilled, one by one, at each new-com- ing, another will come, I won’t be the last. I’ll be with the others. I’ll be as gone, in the silence, it won’t be I, it’s not I, I’m not there yet. I’ll go there now. I’ll try and go there now, no use trying, I wait for my turn, my turn to go there, my turn to talk there, my turn to listen there, my turn to wait there for my turn to go, to be as gone, it’s unending, it will be unending, gone where,where do you go from there, you must go somewhere else, wait somewhere else, for your turn to go again

I’m not the first, I won’t be the first, it will best me in the end, it has bested better than me, it will tell me what to do, in order to rise, move, act like a body endowed with despair, that’s how I reason, that’s how I hear myself reasoning, all lies, it’s not me they’re calling, not me they’re talking about, it’s not yet my turn, it’s someone else’s turn, that’s why I can’t stir, that’s why I don’t feel a body on me, I’m not suffering enough yet, it’s not yet my turn, not suffering enough to be able to stir, to have a body, complete with head, to be able to understand, to have eyes to light the way

From Thomas' Jesus:

When you make the two one, and you make the inside as the outside and the outside as the inside and the above as the below, and if male and female become a single unity which lacks 'masculine' and 'feminine' action, when you grow eyes where eyes should be and hands where hands should be and feet where feet should stand and the true image in its proper place, then shall you enter heaven.

Tom's Jesus makes a particularly Gnostic habit of both insisting that the hidden will be revealed and demonstrating the impossibility of attaining a state where the hidden ever can be revealed. Contrary to C.S. Lewis, we will never have faces with which to gaze upon the lost divine and the mysteries that shaped us, and crucially, as Christ puts it, we would not be able to bear the sight of ourselves if we did.

We will never become the thing that's riding on our backs.

Jesus again:

The disciples ask Jesus, 'Tell us how our end shall be.' Jesus says, 'Have you found the beginning yet, you who ask after the end? For at the place where the beginning is, there shall be the end.'

The Unnameable:

I’ll recognise it, in the end I’ll recognise it, the story of the silence that he never left, that I should never have left, that I may never find again, that I may find again, then it will be he, it will be I, it will be the place, the silence, the end, the beginning, the beginning again, how can I say it, that’s all words, they’re all I have, and not many of them, the words fail, the voice fails, so be it

The final passage of The Unnameable, which often is hilariously shorn and misinterpreted as an inspirational quote about how if you don't succeed, try again:

all words, there’s nothing else, you must go on, that’s all I know, they’re going to stop, I know that well, I can feel it, they’re going to abandon me, it will be the silence, for a moment, a good few moments, or it will be mine, the lasting one, that didn’t last, that still lasts, it will be I, you must go on, I can't go on, you must go on. I’ll go on, you must say words, as long as there are any, until they find me, until they say me, strange pain, strange sin, you must go on, perhaps it’s done already, perhaps they have said me already, perhaps they have carried me to the threshold of my story, before the door that opens on my story, that would surprise me, if it opens, it will be I, it will be the silence, where I am, I don’t know. I’ll never know, in the silence you don’t know, you must go on, I can’t go on. I’ll go on. †

We bear this thing that's riding on our backs. We'll never get to where we're going, and the thing will never be born. If it was born, it'd be too terrible for us to bear. There's nothing riding on our backs.

It will never speak us into being.

We keep on calling out into the silence, we keep trying to explain or understand the thing that's riding on our backs, searching for a way to birth it before we die. Our words about the thing are crucial, and they're meaningless, and they're all we have, and they're nothing at all. We cannot name it and we cannot express it, but we cannot stop trying, and we will keep turning back to our words about the thing, obsessing over them, tearing them to pieces, putting them back together.

I'm fumbling at something I can't think or say, but fumbling is all we're capable of. There could be beauty and meaning and comfort in the fumbling, but it's also vain, and foolish, and pointless, and we're lying to ourselves about the beauty and the meaning and the comfort, and we're indulging ourselves pointlessly by going on and on about the pointlessness of it. Nothing can know what's going on. We will never get close enough to understand without being destroyed.

Thomas' Jesus again, warning those who seek to reveal what's hidden:

He who is near me is near the fire.

Riddley Walker, reflecting on the Punch puppet's inexplicable desire to cook and eat his own child:

Whyis Punch crookit? Why wil he al ways kill the baby if he can? Parbly I wont ever know its jus on me to think on it.

If you got to the end of this, congratulations: but the above is honestly the most appropriate patchwork of what I believe, what propels me, what I feel.

As for what comes after life, I think it's fairly straightforwardly a nothingness we are tragically incapable of fully knowing or accepting - it's Beckett's unimaginable and unattainable silence, a silence that his characters' voices keep on shattering even as they cry out for it.

-Jon‡

*I can't remember if Kafka makes prominent reference to Czech puppets in his work, which is interesting in its own right given the thematic relevance (the protagonist in The Hunger Artist is perhaps a kind of self-directing puppet show?).

However, Gustav Meyrink - who some unsourced Google quotes suggest was pals with Czech puppeteer Richard Teschner - did write a strange little story, The Man On The Bottle, about an audience watching a 'marionette show' who are too wrapped up in performances and masks to interpret the reality that they're actually watching a human being suffocate to death.

**Thomas Ligotti: "Something had happened. They did not know what it was, but they did know it as that which should not be.

Something would have to be done if they were to live with that which should not be.

This would not (be enough); it would only be the best they could do."

***Beckett's Malone Dies actually kicks off with a related sentiment:" I am in my mother’s room. It’s I who live there now. I don’t know how I got there...In any case I have her room. I sleep in her bed. I piss and shit in her pot. I have taken her place. I must resemble her more and more."

† I don't necessarily align myself in humour with Ligotti on a lot of this stuff but I imagine he would recognise both Beckett's writing and Kafka's frustrations re explaining the causes of his hatred for his father as sublimation: finding artistic and philosophical ways of sketching the inexpressible horror and uncertainty of our existence in order to reckon with it at a remove without destroying ourselves. A higher form of self-deception, but self-deception nevertheless.

‡Muna's more of an anarcho-nihilist, I think.

[mothellie]

So I have a Life is Strange theory and I know I'm probably not saying anything that hasn't already been said before, but I feel the need to ramble about it because MMMMMMMMMMM. Major spoilers for Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm.

My theory: Rachel had powers, too.

That's definitely been said before. I know I've seen people talk about it both on here and on other sites. When she kicks over the flaming trashcan, a HUGE gust of wind blows from behind her and turns this relatively small flame into a huge forest fire. The fire goes out when she disappears. I've seen people debate whether this is a power related to the wind, or fire itself, but I personally think that her power encompasses all of nature. Which leads me to the second part of my theory.

Not only does Rachel have powers, ones that are related to nature, but she quite literally is the storm that wipes out Arcadia Bay. And the deer that follows Max around through most of the first game, and the butterfly.

Now PLEASE hear me out on this.

Max Caulfield suddenly gains the ability to control time seemingly out of no where, conveniently right in time to save Chloe Price from being shot to her death in the Blackwell bathroom. She's also been getting premonitions of a catastrophic impending tornado seeming headed straight for Arcadia Bay. And, to top it all off, she sees a doe all around the town that seems to follow her and make direct eye contact with her on several occasions, that only disappears when her and Chloe finally locate Rachel's body. Do you wanna know where Max saw the doe in the junkyard, the very first time she's seen it outside of her foreboding nightmares about the storm? Right next to where Rachel is buried. What's in the bathroom that gives Max a convenient hiding place to witness Chloe's death so she can reverse it? The butterfly.

At each turn Max takes, there is some sort of natural occurrence or creature guiding her path, leading her not only to the clues that solve Rachel's disappearance, but also to saving Chloe's life time and time again. She's then faced with a choice: sacrifice her hometown, or sacrifice her best friend.

Despite being given a choice, it's my firm belief that Rachel wants us to sacrifice the town. The very first thing Max's power is used for is to save Chloe, which she was all but put on a leash and led to by numerous strange occurrences that all seem to link back to Rachel Amber. Rachel wants two things: for her story to be told, and for Chloe to be safe. And she knows the only way to ensure both of those things happen is through Max Caulfield, Chloe's long-term best friend since childhood. She also knows that Chloe and Arcadia Bay do not mix, and cannot coexist. If Chloe lives, Rachel will not let Arcadia Bay stand knowing all the pain this town has caused not only herself, but Chloe. If Chloe is dead, there's nothing for her to protect. And it's all up to Max to decide if Chloe is worth that sacrifice. She's gotten what she wanted for herself, for her story to be revealed. That's why the doe disappears after they find her corpse. The only thing that's left is ensuring nothing can ever hurt Chloe again, not even herself.

Once Arcadia Bay is in ruins and Chloe is safely out of town, the storm stops. Peace has been restored and Rachel can finally rest.

And, finally, my third part of this theory:

Rachel is the reason anyone in the continued Life is Strange series has powers in the first place.

Life is Strange 2 picks up a story that seems completely unconnected from the story of Rachel, Max and Chloe. It follows two completely different characters, Sean and Daniel, in a different state. Life is Strange: True Colors follows Alex Chen, also in another town. This seems like it couldn't possibly tie back to the original story but JUST YOU WAIT, DEAR READER. In LIS2, Sean and Brody quite literally have a heart to heart while overlooking the ruins of Arcadia Bay. In LIS:TC, Alex meets Steph Gingrich, a character who was featured in LIS:BTS and is canonically from Arcadia Bay. No matter how minor the connection is, each Life is Strange game up until this point has somehow referenced or tied back to the story of Rachel Amber, and by proxy the story of Max and Chloe.

Each character who gains powers have something in common, as well. They all have something, or someone, important to protect. The same way Rachel, and Max, protected Chloe. Rachel's influence is still felt throughout the United States, all because she wanted to protect all that was important to her and destroy anything that dared to underestimate her.

The true story of Life is Strange can only be told if you sacrifice Arcadia Bay, and that story didn't start with Max Caulfield. It started with Rachel Amber.

[bylerschmyler]

Mike - Vecna's 4th victim

I know that many people believe that Mike was a tool for Vecna to get Will and El back or that he waited for Mike to be gone to California. I have a pretty different perspective on this and I want to share my thoughts about this. I just gonna warn you that this post will be quite long but I would appreciate it if you take your time to read it.

For the tool-theory and waiting to be gone-theory I have two simple reasons why I don't think that they are correct.

When Vecna kills Chrissy Mike is still in Hawkins. He doesn't wait for Mike to be gone/sitting in the car/plane and traveling to California. Vecna kills her mere hours before Mike had no possibility to interfere with him. It's not only that Vecna kills Chrissy, no he kills her in close proximity to Max who could have been more suspicious about Eddie, Chrissy and the lights and could have called a CODE RED, which would have led to Mike not going to California. So if he wanted Mike to go to California (either for him to be gone or to get El/Will back) why would he jeopardize this mission by being too impatient?

If Vecna wanted Mike out of the way why didn't he just kill him? I mean we can all agree that pre S4 Mike already has a massive amount of trauma. So if he needs Mike out of the way he could have just cursed him too, couldn't he? There was nobody to stop him from doing it. El? Out of the picture. No powers and too far away. Mike? Wouldn't be able to help himself during a trance. The Party? If they don't know what is coming, how would they prevent it?

So I think Mike wasn't a tool for Vecna. He was a perfect fit for a far more important role.

He was the Chosen one, the fourth, the final sacrifice.

But before we are going to discuss Mike's role in Vecna's plan in detail, let's take a step back and take a look in the things that actually happened in S4.

Specifically everything that has to do with Patrick and his curse. Because there are so many things wrong with Patricks curse.

First of all Patrick doesn't fit the other victims. Timing wise as well as in his trauma and our connection to him and his connection to other characters on the show.

Timing

Patrick is the only victim that we see getting cursed. This happens on the March 23rd (sunday) at some point during the day (morning or noon I guess). (here the scene where he gets cursed)

This is in direct contrast to the timeline which is presented by Max. For further explanation this is also March 23rd but late in the evening.

So let me get this straight.

Chrissy's curse started a week ago (approximately week = seven days. I made this post where I found a specific date when Chrissy's symptoms started and they are not adding up. But I think it's because it's meant to be not the curse itself that's coursing these symptoms but something else which I will talk about in another post)

Fred's started six days ago

Max's five days ago

And Patrick just that morning (basically one day ago)?

In no way this is supposed to happen. What was the reason? Did Vecna forget to curse Patrick four days ago? Or couldn't he decide who to curse 4 days prior?

Well the most logical reason (imo) is that his actual target can't be targeted. And we do know one character who was in Hawkins and left during the season. And that's Mike. But this is not the only reason Patricks timing is off.

With Patrick being cursed there is a change in the way the curse works for Max and him in comparison to Fred and Chrissy. I won't go too much in to the details but here are some observations.

Chrissy and Fred both have 3 visions that are heavily paralleling each other.

Their 1. vision is related to the people around them. Chrissy thinks that Max is still in the room when the pounding on the bathroom stall starts. Then she hears her mothers voice and Vecna's feed come into vision. Her mothers voice get distorted soon after and Vecna's voice fades in.

Freds first vision is also directly connected to a conversations he is having with Officer Daniels. Daniels also fades in to Vecna. His face and his voice.

The second vision is the grandfather clock. But a very creepy version.

With Chrissy it's spiders with Fred it's people turning into Vecna calling him murderer.

The third vision is there death and relieving their nightmare.

Both die on the end of their 5th day of being cursed. Their visions start during the day and the day ends with their death.

In contrast to this Max curse is put off this timing. Max visions start on the end of her 5th day of being cursed and she has 3 visions with different themes than Fred and Chrissy.

Max's 1. vision is the grandfather clock. But it's only the creepy grandfather clock. No spiders and no link to Max's trauma.

Her 2nd vision is like Fred’s and Chrissy’s 1st vision a person who fades into Vecna.

her 3rd vision is supposed to be her death which she can escape from.

She has a 4th vision where she actually dies.

Patrick only has one vision we see and one that is implied but we don’t see at all. His first vision is the clock during Chrissy’s funeral.

the other would have been when he dies but we don’t see the vision.

Timing wise this implicates the scenario that Patricks’s cursing throws the timeline off schedule because we see a clear pattern before he was cursed which is thrown off the second Vecna targets him. So likely the original schedule would have targeted Max on the 23rd and the 4th victim on the 24th.

Lack of imagery and missing build up

His trauma, connection to other characters and the connection we build to him is also off. While most of it is due to the lack of imagery regarding him but also to the fact that we have a build up in this topics that Patrick is reversing.

I don’t really want to order the trauma of Vecna’s victims in terms of severity because I firmly believe that any trauma should be addressed and recognised and you shouldn’t compare trauma (unless you’re a therapist) because this kind of invalidates the people with “less severe” trauma. But when we talk about Patrick’s trauma we only have two clues about what it is because we don’t see visions that are related to his trauma. The first one is when he gets cursed (here). A man, likely his father, calls him a disgrace. Lucas also tells us that Patrick came to practice with a black eye once.

This implicates that Patrick is also a victim of domestic abuse (like Chrissy) What I find interesting is that this creates a circle of trauma themes.

(I want to emphasize that between Fred and Max there is a build up because Fred has survivors guilt and Max has survivors guilt but also wanted the person that died to die before he died. This is obviously meant for us to notice because it’s an addition to the same theme)

Ignoring the potential build up in the trauma and going into Patrick’s relationships we see that he doesn’t make sense as 4th victim narratively speaking. We have a clear build up in the victims relationships with other characters:

Chrissy has no known relationship to our main characters 

Fred is Nancy’s colleague and apprentice (Fred asking Nancy how she did this with Jonathan). They are close enough (Nancy trusts him enough) to take him to the Trailer Park. 

Max is a main character of the show. She has many close relationships to other main characters

And then Patrick comes around and he is just Lucas’ team mate who he can’t even trust because they are hunting for his friends. 

The connections to other characters get closer and closer until Max only to go rapidly down with Patrick. Narratively this doesn’t make sense because Patrick is supposed to be the 4th victim. He should have close ties to our favorite characters and they should care deeply about him because of the needed rise in tension. They get around it with Max escaping the death vision and being the actual 4th victim but for the original plan this would have been very weird.

This also ties to the connection we as an audience have to the victims.

Chrissy is a new character. We only see her in one episode and we barely know anything about her. Most of what we know is that she is a cheerleader and she has trauma. Although many people sympathize with her we can’t really get connected to her.

Fred is basically the same. But we get more information about him. We know he is a journalist. We also know that he does know about Jonathan and Nancy and their struggles in their relationship (which he kind of wants to take a chance in because he flirts with Nancy). We have two episodes with him.

We have known Max since season 2. We had a lot of time to get to know her and create a bond with her.

And yet again Patrick doesn’t make sense. Why do we get a new character which we don’t like because he is part of the antagonists, after a (beloved) main character? There was a subtle build up and then we flunk down in the negatives with our perspective on the character.

I wanna add that in an recent reblog of a post i discussed Mike's parallels to the other victims. You can find the post here.

But how does Mike fit in?

Most people on here are well aware of all the hints that connect Mike with Vecna. Therefore many people believe he is a target in S5. I believe so too. I still don’t think that so much has changed during S4 that made him more targetable than he already was. Yes his trauma increased through the shootout, the death of unknown hero agent man, lying to El and losing Eddie and Max, but his trauma was there before. And it was severe enough to make him struggle. It’s pointed out in the canon extending book “Lucas on the line” and it is also shown in his behavior in S4 (getting up too late, used clothes, dirty room/basement, he doesn’t eat on camera, and more). So Mike would be a perfect target for Vecna only considering his trauma. But there is way more stuff that make Mike a perfect last puzzle piece in this situation. First of all he is one of the few characters that are in Hawkins when the curses begin and have more/deeper connections than Max. Yes Max has a lot of deep connections (the Party and El specifically) but Mike has those connections too and he has deeper connections to the teens (Nancy and Jonathan especially), Will, Joyce and Hopper. So in a certain way he is more connected to the rest of the cast and would be perfect to be the final step of the build up we see with character relationships. He has also been part of the show since S1 and was one of THE main characters in S1 and S2. He has a very important role in figuring out important plot points and so for us he is obviously a very important character. And so while I don’t play favorites he is slightly more important for the audience (subjectively speaking). Timing wise (as I said before) he is the only character we know to travel out of Hawkins during the cursing. Him being cursed on March 20th (thursday) wouldn’t compromise the given timeline. It would also explain this scene where Mike clearly looks like he has a awful headache.

And this scene where Max has a nosebleed and the camera’s focus shifts to him

(some people believe that’s the moment he cursed Max. I doubt that. When Max explains the symptoms she said nosebleedS, plural [Insert Eddie’s comment on Nancy’s guns here].I believe that’s thursday morning and Mike was just cursed and had a nosebleed like Patrick and he looked like he looked because he found it suspicious that he had a nosebleed and now Max has a nosebleed.) Clearly two times where he was visibly shown in the context of the curses symptoms. Also his bedroom scene, when he reads Els' letter could connect to the symptoms (this is more of a reach than the other two).

Sleeping in underwear => He woke up an a cold sweat

The binder with Will’s drawings is in his room => having nightmares and needing comfort

(re-)reading the letter => having nightmares and needing reassurance that everything is okay

he is later than he usually is => trouble sleeping

Also I think @aemiron-main pointed that out: Mikes Reaction to Karen telling him that he need to be home by nine because it's an early flight suggests that he barely sleeps because he seems to not care of the early flight.

And last but not least the line Vecna uses for Max (You’ll be the chosen one, the fourth the final sacrifice) fits way better to Mike. Why? Well the main reason I only got on the Mike getting vecnaed’ train was while I was rewatching the show I saw this scene where El screams for Mike while she has a vision:

This scene reminded me of this scene where Will does the same:

And it made me think about how Vecna knows that both of his former targets heavily depend on Mike. He is the first they think about when needing help. He’s the first they find comfort in when upset. So Mike is obviously on Vecna’s radar. There is more…. These two scenes where Max and Mike help El and try to protect her and Billy sees it.

They stand out because it would make so much sense for Mike to be targeted too. Max does become a target because of her trauma but also because of her connection to El. So Mike would be a perfect target too. Him being the final sacrifice would be the peak of devastation for both Will and El and would make perfect sense for Vecna to do so. Also it would contrast Mike’s arc because he is usually the one interfering with Vecna’s plans in overtaking the real world. Mike being the last kill to open the gates to the UD would be very “poetic” from Vecna’s POV. Furthermore the line “You would be the chosen one” would be far more fitting for Mike. Mike is a fan of fantasy stories. The Chosen One Trope is a typical fantasy trope that has been used for ages. Mike can relate far more to this trope than Max (Max is a comic fan where this trope is used too, but Mike is pictured way more with classic fantasy where this trope is used very often).

But why did Vecna wait for Mike to go on vacation?

This is the only thing that really makes me struggle. Because I don’t have a good answer to this. The only possible explanation I see (without doubting the rest of this theory) is that Vecna didn’t look for his plans, his supposedly happy memories/thoughts and only took in the bad ones. Max tells us that she thinks Vecna only looks for the bad memories.

So if Max is right then Vecna didn’t look for the light in Mike’s mind and only for the darkness. (Therefore didn't see his hope of reconnecting to Will in Califronia) I also want to point out that Mike is not the only target Vecna needed. He needed four victims. So this is not solely about him. And you need to know that Vecna feeds off his victims fears, anxiety and guilt. So it makes sense for him to unleash his curse when all his victims are especially tense/anxious

Chrissy’s mother forced a beauty idea on her daughter that resulted in her being connected to bulimic tropes (Throwing up, rotten food). She is also a cheerleader in the 80s and she “needed to be pretty” because the championship games were coming up. So Chrissy would be more anxious than usually

Fred is less obvious than Chrissy. The only clues I got why he would be more anxious than usual are that Officer Daniels (Vecna Vision) tells us that the accident happened last year and he knows about Jonathan and Nancy’s relationship problems. The first could mean that the car crash happened somewhere in 1985 or it could actually mean that the anniversary is coming up which (knowing from S2) would affect Fred through the anniversary effect. The latter could make him anxious because he might see a chance with his crush (we see him multiple times openly flirting with Nancy)

Max would be more anxious because Billy’s birthday is coming up (March 29 - also anniversary effect)

Mike would be more anxious because he is traveling to California and he doesn’t know how Will feels about him and maybe he is a little jealous because of El’s letter and Will painting something for a girl

Additionaly the week before spring break could be full of tests which could make all victims more anxious.

Another good question regards the timing. Vecna did look for a replacement for Mike on March 23rd but Mike left early on March 22nd. So why did he wait an additional day for Mike? This is obviously a question I asked myself a lot. Why did Vecna wait for Mike to be gone for a whole day before looking for a replacement (Patrick)? Well this one is very hard to answer. But there is one scene in particular that makes me believe that Vecna starts his rampage usually early in the morning. You can take a look here in this post. I included the scenes right before and right after the scene on purpose because it gives us a better perspective on the timeline. So right before Vecna gets hooked up to the vines, El went to her bedroom crying. We know that this happened on the night of March 22nd. Then it cuts to the UD where Vecna gets hooked up but nothing happens afterwards. Instead we see how the sun rises/travels in the sky. Then it cuts to Lucas and the beginning of the hunt for Eddie. So what is the purpose of this whole scene? Vecna wanted to start the final stage of his curse (visions) for Max early on the 23rd. This is probably what he was doing with Chrissy and Fred the days before. He recognized that he couldn’t find Mike anywhere and then started to search for a replacement until he found Patrick. Very important for this theory, Vecna finds Patrick way later. There are almost 20 Minutes between this scene and the scene where Patrick gets cursed. Even more important: We see every group on screen before we get back to Vecna. There is literally a cut to every small group. First Lucas and the Jocks, then Max, Dustin, Robin and Steve with Eddie, then Nancy, the Cali Gang, Joyce and Murray, Hopper back to the Hawkins gang at the Trailer Park. I think Vecna didn’t recognize Mike’s absence because he was solely focused on Fred on the 22nd and started with Fred visions early in the morning before Mike got to the airport. So when he wanted to get started with Max the next day he realized that he couldn’t reach Mike anymore and decided to go for a replacement. That’s when the timings of the victims don’t add up anymore.

Besides everything I showed you here there is another theory that is connected to this. #possessiongate from @dinitride-art

This shows how my theory is supported visually in the show. It also explains why Mike isn't shown as cursed after the breakfast on the 23rd because his curse was shifted to Patrick.

[circe69]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐧 - 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟐

As you arrived in the rainy Manchester, England, you found yourself to be in a slight predicament. With a drenched suitcase in one hand and a wasted train ticket in the other, you wander into a somewhat shady bed and breakfast, with Simon Riley's grandfather as the owner, and Simon Riley himself being your neighbor.

link to part 1

🗝 cw: suggestiveness, making out 🗝 genre: fluff 🗝 fem!reader

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The sound of a familiar alarm clock shook you out of your sleep, the repeating tune bouncing off the walls and making you groan as you turn over to slam your hand on the machine.

7 AM. All for a breakfast, you thought, but truthfully, you were curious about the man you'd met last night, Simon, and desperately wanted a chance to see him again, even if it meant losing a few hours of sleep.

You rolled out of bed, sliding on some complimentary slippers that the Inn had offered. Manchester was freezing this time of year, and the hardwood floors didn't help. As you padded your way across the small room, you passed a floor-length mirror. Your mouth downturned at what you saw, your hair going in all different directions and your pants rolled up to your thighs. Well, I guess it means I got good sleep, you shrugged as you passed the mirror into the bathroom, unraveling your curling iron in impatience.

The weather was chilly, and slightly rainy, as always, but you didn't mind it. You'd brought a perfect outfit, anyways, some flare leggings and a dark green sweater. Your makeup had been done in almost record timing, not to mention it was one of those days where it had turned out amazing (out of pure luck, no doubt.) and your hair wasn't as frizzy as you'd expected it to be. It was strangely perfect, and as you slid some UGG boots on, you started to get excited for breakfast.

Just as you were about to turn the door knob to walk out, slinging your purse over your shoulder, there was a loud knock at your door.

"You up?" Simon yelled from the other side. You jumped in response, and opened the door with a hand over your chest. "Goodness, yes I'm up!" He smirked at your slightly out-of-breath sentence, but his face fell when his eyes swept over you.

They didn't miss an inch. They were curious, hungry. Dark brown eyes watched every part of you as if he was studying for a test. "Wow, you look," he stopped to look back up at you, and cleared his throat before saying, "Put together. Way more than yesterday."

You gasped at his attempt of a compliment, dramatically leaving your jaw agape for him to see. "I'm always put together!" You tried to catch up with him as he made his way down the stairs.

After stepping foot on the first floor, Simon led you into a small dining room that was already filled to max capacity with people. You looked around to see the Simon's grandfather, some old ladies knitting scarves, a few younger boys playing with toy trains on the ground. It was a nice sight to ease into the morning with, the sunlight shining through broken blinds and resting on the tops of people's heads.

"Mornin," Simon's deep voice said as it broke through the previous chatter of the people. Everyone stopped what they were doing to all respond in harmony as he led you to an empty seat and pulled it out for you. You politely nodded and as he scooted you in, Simon leaned down to whisper in your ear, "You snored like a bloody freight train, y' know that?" You slapped his arm as he sat in the seat closest to you, "I did not!" Simon winked at you before tucking a napkin into his shirt, "Yeah, I didn't sleep at all, you were too loud."

"Alright, alright, Simon, leave the lady alone," his grandfather said before tapping a rusty spoon on a mug, "I'd like to make a toast, to all of you lovely people who decided to join our breakfast. I reckon my wife is still asleep, but I'll bring her up somethin'." He paused to clear his throat, "As rundown and grimy as this place can be, it means a lot that you all have come to stay. So thank you." He lifted his mug of coffee and you all did the same, cheering quietly and clinking cups with one another. One of the old ladies said from across the table, "I'm starving, hurry up and open those dishes befor' I keel over."

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

"Ugh, I'm stuffed," you said, slumping back and leaning your head on the back of your chair. Simon turned to look at you, his cheek resting on his palm. He kept sleepy eye contact with you as his foot slid up your ankle, gently rubbing back and forth on your bare skin. You smiled at the action, leaning up in your chair and placed a hand on top of his. He whispered next to your ear, "I wanna show you something." You nodded and followed him out after he stood and pushed both of your chairs in.

Simon led you to a small garden in the backyard of the Inn, with rows and rows of both fruits and flowers. It was quaint, but perfect, and well-kept. Probably the most well-kept thing of the whole establishment. "This is so pretty. Who takes care of it all?" He didn't even look up at your question, but stayed in his kneeled position on the wet grass, fiddling with a strawberry plant in his fingers. "I do," he spoke, "Well, whenever I'm home, it's my hobby. But my grandfather tries his best when I'm not." He stood up, holding a hand out to you, signaling for you to take it. "If you think this is pretty, you just wait."

He walked you past all sorts of different plants, explaining what each of them were and what food it was good on. You admired it, how this strong Lieutenant who kept to himself most of the time was so adamant when it came to gardening. Before you knew it, the two of you stumbled upon a vine-covered gazebo, green laced the white paint underneath it all, and it overlooked a small but gorgeous lake. Your face said everything it needed to; it was the most beautiful thing you'd ever seen. The sun was perfectly reflected on the water, gentle ripples popping on top every so often.

"Wow," was all you could say, and as you turned around to face Simon again, you noticed his eyes weren't focused on the amazing sight beyond the gazebo; they were focused on you, perhaps even the whole time you'd been there. All he needed to see was your face light up at things he'd seen his entire life, things that to him were mundane and boring, but maybe with you they could mean something again.

He took a step closer, slowly stepping to close the distance between the two of you. You watched chest rise and fall with nervous anticipation, feeling your breathing falter as well. His hand hesitantly moved to your waist, the other to your cheek and slowly pulled you in, his lips gently resting on top of yours.

The kiss was slow, nothing was to be expected from either of you. Your hands were still at your side, but steadily reached up to wrap around Simon's neck. You slightly opened your mouth at the same time you tugged a fistful of his hair, making him groan into you and squeeze both of your hips. He walked you backwards until your butt hit the railing of the gazebo, and braced himself on one side of you while his other hand roamed the entire length of you; from brushing his fingertips on your collarbone to gripping the meat on your thigh, nothing was left unconsumed by his large hands. Your tongue swept against his bottom lip before rubbing against his own, soft groans and whines were the only sounds overlapping the soft waves breaking on the rocky shore below you.

Simon broke the kiss to rest his forehead on yours, panting and swallowing deeply before going back in for seconds, his teeth nipping at the skin on your neck and jaw, then kissing the redness he'd marked away. He pulled his head up again, looking at you and your swollen, pink lips, all from his doing.

"Mm," he groaned once more, his eyes closing and burrowing his head into the side of your neck.

"Simon?" You said in a soft tone. He hummed in response, his hands rubbing your lower back, gathering fabric in his fingers to massage your bare skin. "I'll open my door tonight."

He looked up at you, his eyes widened and a small smirk dressing his face. You spoke again, teasing him while letting your hands roam over his chest.

"Are you gonna knock?" You smiled into the question.

Simon planted one more kiss on the tip of your nose, then one on the side of your mouth, "Maybe," he responded.

But Simon knew in his head, it wasn't a maybe, he'd been waiting since he first saw you to get his hands all over you, to whisper sweet nothings into your mouth and behind your ears. He wouldn't just knock at your door, he'd be there on both knees, ready for you to open it.

[phantomenby]

Newbies choice

babyloutattoo89

Can I request a Poly!Lost Boys where the boys realize the reader is their mate and trying to gain their attention hoping the reader would pick them first? If that makes any sense?

Yes! Sorry this is so late, its a little longer than I was expecting it to be but I hope you like it :)

Paul sniffed the air mid ride, hair still billowing behind him as he slowed down, leaving his brothers to pass by as he tilted his bike towards the front of a backway he hadn’t seen in a while.

Something had caught his nose. 

A scent he hasn’t smelt before, and trust me this man had sniffed around Santa Carla from one end to the other, even in the places Max had attempted to prohibit them from entering in the past.

But this was new new. 

And as though the scent was made of magic he had begun turning, twisting the bike with him until he was heading down the passage and leaving his packmates to watch on in confusion before turning back to match his route. 

“Where you goin’ Paulie?!” Markos voice fought to reach over the loud echo of their engines through the route Paul was taking them down, the curl-haired blonde barely able see through the thick smog their bikes were racking up from the speed.

Paul ignored him, ears zoned out as his nose sent him in the right direction, nothing mattered more to him right now than finding that intoxicating smell.

–

A mere two miles away was the source of said smell.

The source of said smell was also in the middle of chowing down on some chili fries, with no thoughts in their head beyond the delicious - and albeit slightly overpriced - meal they had treated themself to after a solid seven hour work day with no break to eat.

“Wow, I’ve never seen someone eat that with just their hands before”

You paused your feast to glower at the attendant, who was also unfortunately your best friend, accepting the bundle of tissues she was holding out to you in moderate disgust.

“Thanks ‘chelle,” you mumbled between wiping the sides of your mouth, tossing away the tissues and turning to face her, there were no other customers at this time of night which made “decompressing” with Chelle so much easier, “you know, its your lovely southern charm that attracts people to you, the way you say words with such unyielding bluntness really shows off what a delight you are under all that hairspray.”

Michelle beamed at you, refusing to accept the sarcasm in your tone, it was loving enough anyway in her eyes.

“Speaking of-” her ears picked up the sound of approaching bikes before yours did, her wide eyes looking over you as her fingers tapped with excitement, “wonder who its gonna be tonight.”

The bikers were normally pretty okay by Santa Carla standards, as apposed to the groups that lived on the beach and acted all uppity.

No. The bikers were nice, at least from what Michelle had told you, in all your time in Santa Carla you had avoided the tourist heavy areas at night. You see Santa Carla was burdened with a “missing person” problem and it had led to your parents being too scared to let you out of the house after dark, even now being well into your thirties and you hadn’t told them that you happily went out into the night as and when you liked.

Your eyes never left your friend even as she kept sneaking glances towards the group who were slowing down behind you, their thunder dwindling as they curled round to the small corner of the lot Michelle’s food stand was situated.

“Hey do you think your boss will let you take a week off?” Chelle only hummed in response, leaning forward to rest her chin on the counter, eyes twinkling the same way they did when she took you to a dessert bar last weekend, “we could go up north a bit and-”

You snapped your fingers in front of her when her eyes moved completely away from you, “ ‘chell- Michell!” 

She jumped, grabbing your fingers, “hush for a minute.”

You watched with a pout as she walked away to the cash register where one of the bikers was waiting, his dozy blue eyes holding your gaze as long as he could before Michelle got sick of him and raised her voice to get his attention.

Glancing behind him you could see three others heading towards him, assuming it was the other bikers who had been riding with him you didn’t think much of it. Not until one of them walked past where Michelle was stood to stand infront of you.

“Hey.”

Wow, real interesting. You rolled your eyes, sending a look to Michelle, a subtle plea for help. Her smile only grew bigger as she watched out of the corner of her eye.

“You seem new, are you new?” He tried again.

He was hot, you’d give him that. And his voice, lord, there was no saving you.

After a solid minute of Dwayne staring at you with no response, David finally came to his aid.

“Well if you’re not new are you old?”

You scowled at that, looking up into another pair of alluring blue eyes, “so what if I am? We all get old someday, and technically everyones old to someone, so, yeah.”

Your voice drew quieter by the end, cheeks burning as awkward air settled in your throat. 

“Well you are certainly new to us,” Davids eyes grew darker as he took you in, your scent was truly something but it did nothing to explain just how exquisite you were in person, even standing this close to you was testing his control, “I’m David, and this is Dwayne.”

David. Dwayne. 

You’d never heard of them before, the bikers round here didn’t usually go by their own names, there were the cobras, the mountain riders and the lost boys. And the only ones you sorta knew were the mountain riders, and that was because their shop was right by your work.

“Cool, great names,” You fought to keep your cool, arms crossing in front of you comfortingly. David motioned his hand towards you, a silent question, “oh me- I’m Nik.”

David nodded, hearing the rest of his pack come up behind them. “And here are the rest of us, Paul,” he pointed to the man who had stared at you from the beginning, “and Marko,” then to the other blonde, the one with short curly hair who twinkled his fingers at you.

They were cute, all of them.

“Hi, I’m Nikki, or Nik I don’t mind.”

Michelle who had been watching between preparing their food took a free moment, coming over to where the five of you stood with a rather unnerving smile, “you know, Nikki’s free all night, you know, if you felt like dragging them out a bit.”

David caught you before you could stop her, turning to your friend with an equally evil grin, though his made your skin crawl a little. “Well if you insist, why dont we take them out, give them a ride?”

Pauls eyes shone brighter at the notion, taking the chance to offer his hand in invitation, “I ride best, much better than these clowns.”

This was it. This is how you die. 

When you raised your hands to say no Paul merely took one in his own, taking it as your acceptance of his proposition. Meanwhile you could only think of how your parents fears of the darkness was completely valid, hopefully when they had to make missing posters for you they’d use a photo less than three years old.

Marko threw an arm over your shoulders as Paul walked you to their bikes, his cool palm squeezing your shoulder, “oh this’ll be fun doll, Paul knows all the shortcuts.”

“Shortcuts? Shortcuts to what?” Shortcuts?! Shortcuts indicates a destination. You turned your head, barely able to see Michelle from how far from how poorly lit this area of the lot was, but you were sure if you saw her she would have that usual smug look on her face.

There was nothing you could do now, it was four versus one and you barely remembered anything from the self defence classes you took in college, or any of the tips your parents tried to pass on.

Paul walked you to the middle of the row, presenting his bike to you proudly and climbing on so you could get behind him. When your arms wrapped around his middle you felt him tense, worried you had squeezed too tight you let go a little only for Paul to place a hand over your own and pull it back.

David turned to face you, his eyes glowing far too bright to be natural, “you ready sugar?”

-

They had been riding around for much longer than you liked, and you had learnt pretty quickly that Paul was one of the worst of them all. And more than once you had stared longingly at Dwaynes bike as you saw him doing his best to avoid the dips in the dirt roads they had headed down.

Currently you were heading through a small patch of forest that sat along the coastline, the further you went the stronger your anxiety grew, you had barely been to this part of town during the day and you were sure you wouldn’t be able to find your way home when it was this dark.

Paul pulled to a stop at a lower part of the cliffs right by an old staircase that looked one bad storm away from toppling over, his bike kicking up all of the sand that had been carried up by strong winds that made you shiver as they blew past you.

Watching this David saw it as a chance to woo you a little, so he slid off his long trenchcoat leaving him in just a jacket and sweater so he could place it over your shoulders. “Come on, we’ll show you the best place in town, wont we boys?”

Marko and Dwayne whooped at his words, walking ahead as Paul sulked behind as David wrapped an arm around you, seeing you in no position to complain as the coat warmed you up.

They brought you down to their nest, to you it seemed more like a deathtrap but for them it was a safety net that protected them best in this world. Even their old sire Max couldn’t track them when they went far enough into the cave system.

David kept a hold of you until you were safely in the main cave, leaving you in his trench coat as he moved away to sit in his chair.

You didn’t miss Daivid’s hand brushing across your side as he left you, his eyes meeting your own with a warm look before he settled into an old armchair that was set beside an old fountain. The more you looked the more you realised that this looked less like a cave and more like some ruins from before the war, even the posters that were scattered across different parts of the cave were at least thirty years old. Maybe someone lived here before…

Marko saw his chance and took it, taking a seat on one of the couches and offering it to you. When he noticed your hesitation he gave your mind a small nudge, sending David a smug look when you came to sit beside him.

David didn’t care, he could work your mind better than anyone, and since you still had his coat on he knew Marko was struggling to smell you through him.

“So you’re new, but not new?” Marko toyed with your hair, purring at the smell of blood rushing to your cheeks.

You shook your head, “not new, in any way, I’ve been here awhile.”

He frowned, “awhile?”

“Mhmm, goin on over three decades now.” 

Marko froze, as did Dwayne who was coming to sit on the other side of you. If you had been here this long how had they missed you?

“So you just been in your house all this time?” Hot air brushed over your ear in a way that made you shiver, “never goin out, Santa Carla’s a night town you know.”

Yeah, you knew.

“My parents didn’t really like the busy parts of town, guess they rubbed off on me…” You shifted awkwardly as you felt four pairs of eyes burning into you with curiosity, it was hard to be someone who was both not from the suburbs who hadn’t also been to the boardwalk at least once in their life.

“Well, how about it then,” David stood, the chair creaking under his weight as he jumped up, climbing up on the fountain he began to prowl with his hands behind his back, “since you’re new to well, Santa Carla nightlife and we are connoisseurs of sorts, how about we show you round- teach you the best places to go.”

You met his eye as he stopped in front of you, “will you take me home after?”

He smiled, nodding, “yes, under one condition.”

“Yes..?” You were dreading this, next thing you know they’re asking for a spare kidney to cover the trip home and then-

“Pick who you want to go with first.”

You froze. "What?"

David's grin grew, like a wolf to a lamb he leaned forward with a sinister look in his eye, "you choose, newbies choice."

[stepmarchen]

do you know if there are any real persons, places or even events that asm plot/characters could be based on ? spice&kitty uses a lot of historical events and characters in her novels (how to get my husband on my side for ex) i did some researches and i found some good similarities between theo and Ludwig II of Bavaria , places such as Neuschwanstein Castle , Nuremberg state.....

there are! they are largely unconfirmed but i have some theories! (i will speak about locations later, i have separate plans for that one!)

It's difficult to be 100% certain whether Spice&Kitty took direct influence from these historical moments but there's some strong implications. I'll put my theories below!

1. Affair of the Necklace (1785): It's the story of Cardinal de Rohan, who was swindled into purchasing a diamond necklace on behalf of Queen Marie Antoinette (unbeknownst to Marie herself). Unable to pay the 1.6M livres, he was tried as a fraudster and punished, but not before exposing the woman he believed was his sponsor, Marie Antoinette. Although she was guilty of plenty other crimes, it was the nail in the coffin that led to her eventual beheading.

There's two connections we could make here: 1. Shuri being put to blame for promiscuity over necklace(s) that she was never connected to in the first place. 2. Corrupt cardinals like Meissner willing to drag royals (Theo) down to hell with them.

2. King Henry VIII and Anna Boleyn (1536): Anna Boleyn was the second wife to King Henry VIII. Despite being in love during their early encounters, Anna was eventually convicted to a majority of charges, including but not limited to treason and incest (w/ her brother), and was sentenced to death.

This one's a little more on the nose. A King executing his own wife after discovering an incestual affair? Sounds about right.

3. Eleanor of Aquitaine and her two Kings (1137-1204): According to historical accounts, Eleanor was a bright and adventurous lady who clashed with first husband, the straight laced King, Louis VII. Eventually their marriage ended and Eleanor found love with King Henry II, Louis' rival, who was massively powerful in France. Seeing his rival and ex get together, Louis became extremely angry and this would be the start of a long-lived rivalry that lasted even with their descendants.

We don't know if Johannes and Max were rivals during their friendship together, but we do know that Ludovika was the girl that managed to catch both of their hearts. Not to mention the similarities in their personalities: Free-spirited Ludovika choosing Max's reign over Johannes' reservations and call to duty. Meanwhile, all this continuing down the line with their children, Theo and Jeremy.

that's all I've got so far, but feel free to share your findings about Theo and Ludwig II!

[gunterfan1992]

Episode Review: “The Star”/“Jerry”

(Fionna & Cake, Eps. 7–8)

Airdate: September 22, 2023

Story by: Anthony Burch, Adam Muto, Hanna K. Nyström, Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang

Storyboarded by: Iggy Craig, Graham Falk, Jacob Winkler, & Sonja von Marensdorff

Directed by: Ryann Shannon (supervising), Hans Tseng (art)

It is hard to believe that we are already privy to the penultimate episodes of the Fionna & Cake miniseries. So far, this series has been hit after hit. So do "The Star" and "Jerry" live up to what has come before them? Read on for more...

The plot to "The Star" is deceptively simple: Fionna, Cake, and Simon are transported into a universe where Simon was killed by vampires, which led to Marceline being abducted the ice crown-wielding Vampire King (once again played by the wonderfully sonorous Billy Brown) and turned into his protege, known as "The Star." While the world has been almost entirely overrun by vampires, a Mad Max-esque version of Princess Bubblegum is still putting up a hell of a fight (Mad Max Bubblegum is aided in this task by Peppermint Butler-as-a-Tank, a human[?] version of Huntress Wizard, and a non-psychopathic version of Martin). Cake's shapeshifting impresses Mad Max Bubblegum, and so she decides to enlist Fionna, Cake, and Simon's help in defeating the Vampire King and his evil 'daughter.' Alas, as goes the best-laid plans of mice and men... The episode ends on a purposeful anti-climax: Fionna, recognizing that all is effectively lost, forcibly teleports herself, Cake, and Simon away from Vampire World while Mad Max Bubblegum and The Star struggle in the sky, with neither wanting to land a killing blow. The fate of Vampire World is thus left unresolved.

As a major fan of Stakes, I was delighted to be transported back into the world of vampires in "The Star." And this time, the show does a very solid job showing just how powerful and scary these monsters actually are (despite their Kermit the Frog-meets-Nosferatu appearance). And let us not forget Evil Marceline (oh, where to start)! I quite like that Ooo's Marceline is a heroic anti-anti-Christ, but even I found the titular antagonist of "The Star" to be a terrifying delight. It has been a good long while since Marceline has rightly pranked someone, and while I don't know if killing people or sucking souls count as pranks, it was nonetheless wonderful to see her ornery side return—only this time, turned up to 11. You can tell that Olivia Olson had a lot of fun recording her lines for this episode; her performance is energetic, her tone mocking. When I heard The Star taunt Mad Max Bubblegum and Co., it took me back to when I first heard Olson's voice acting in "Evicted!"

It was a clever move having The Star and Mad Max Bubblegum be sworn enemies, as it allowed the series to explore their dynamic as a couple without focusing on their past or present relationship. In the Vampire World, we learn that the two have never been in a relationship together. But despite this, still found themselves pulled toward one another in an almost preternatural way. Who knows… Just as the souls of Finn and Jake seem to be destined to always find one another, perhaps Marceline and Bubblegum are "soul mates" in a similarly metaphysical sense? Regardless, the hesitancy to kill one another that both characters show at the end of the episode speaks volumes as to how they feel about one another, even in a universe where they are sworn enemies. (Man, I really hope we get a Bubbline spin-off one of these days…)

Ah, I feel like I could talk about the Star for days, but there is more to consider, so let me move on to…

Airdate: September 22, 2023

Story by: Anthony Burch, Adam Muto, Hanna K. Nyström, Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang

Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Jim Campbell, & Jackie Files

Directed by: Steve Wolfhard (supervising), Hans Tseng (art)

"Jerry" begins with Fionna, Cake, and Simon finding themselves in a dead and desolate world—humorously dubbed "Crapworld" by Cake—that we later learn was created by the Lich's wish in the season five premiere "Finn the Human." (As a mythological aside, when the Lich made his initial wish, it seems that Prismo did not simply wipe out all life in the Oooniverse; instead, he effectively created a copy of the Oooniverse within the Oooniverse. After killing off all life in this bubble dimension, Prismo then transported the Lich to his new wish-altered reality. Really, it is turtles all the way down…) While searching for the Crapworld ice crown, Simon tries to cheer up an increasingly despondent Fionna by telling him the story of how he and Betty met.

Eventually, our heroes run into Crapworld BMO, who upon learning that Prismo's remote is out of juice, attempts to recharge it with his robot heart. This does not go as planned (it actually results in Crapworld BMO spectacularly exploding, which is somehow both horrifying and funny), and Simon, Fionna, and Cake decide to track down Crapworld BMO's oft-mentioned friend "Jerry" and tell him that BMO has passed. Upon finding Jerry, however, the trio discover that he is actually the Lich… albeit a depressed Lich; it seems that after fulfilling his mission of ending all life, the Lich lost a sense of purpose. (I've been there, dude...) Simon sees this as an opportunity, and using the Crapworld ice crown and the Lich himself as a conduits, he manages to summon GOLB just as Scarab materializes to deliver divine punishment.

To be continued!

"Jerry" is a decidedly bleak episode that more than anything radiates the creative sensibilities of its supervising director, Steve Wolfhard. For those out of loop, Wolfhard was a storyboard artist on the original Adventure Time series, and he helped write some of the show's strongest outings (e.g., "Puhoy," "Lemonhope," "Escape from the Citadel," "Graybles 1000+"). Wolfhard has a unique approach to writing, often using humor/cuteness to paste over more existential horrors, and while he did not storyboard "Jerry," the episode nevertheless feels like the apogee of his "voice," brimming as it does with a darkness that is only lightly covered with a veneer of humor. Indeed, many of the episode's funniest moments (e.g., the scene in which BMO cheerfully, stupidly kills itself, the reveal that the Lich has depression) cannot be described as anything other than gallows humor. Wolfhard often joked in interviews that many of the episodes he pitched involved main characters dying. With "Jerry," he finally got his chance.

Ultimately, what prevents "Jerry" from becoming a bummer-fest is the way the episode is interspersed with flashbacks that tell the story of how Simon and Betty fell in love. Despite their being the emotional heart of the episode, I do not have much to say about these scenes other than they are sweet. They largely expand upon details that we already knew, but in doing so, they enliven those details, infusing them with a sense of affect that exposition or background detailing could never convey. There's a couple easter eggs thrown in for die-hard fans (e.g., several relics from the main series are name-dropped, we see when a photograph of Simon from "I Remember You" was taken), and its all tied-up nicely with a new HALF SHY song, "Everything in You." All in all, these scenes are the sweet, sweet eye bleach we need, given the tone of the episode's other half.

My biggest gripe with these episodes is that they both lean too far into Fionna's failures while somehow not leaning in far enough. The former issue is most noticeable in "The Star," the beginning of which sees Fionna follow up her candy genocide by making a series of increasingly bone-headed decisions, one of which leads to the direct death of a character (although, Mad Max Bubblegum was also quite bone-headed for letting Random New Girl put everyone in danger immediately after introducing them to her few crew members). Put simply, I feel the episode excessively plays up Fionna as a gullible girlfail, which seems a bit much. Paradoxically, in "Jerry," the show did not have Fionna properly, fully, believably consider the ramifications of the mistakes she had made; instead, the episode focuses much of its emotional energy on the story of Simon and Betty's relationship. Yes, Fionna does have a realistic breakdown in the middle of the episode, but almost immediately, the show decides to have Simon distract her with more of his own love story. None of this sinks the episodes, but it does make them less than perfect.

For some, the episodes' bleakness might also be a defect: indeed in both "The Star" and "Jerry," lots of characters die, and the fridge horror is off the charts. But while I have criticized the show for such cruelty in the past (e.g., my review of "Wizard City"), the bleakness in these episodes is not meaningless. Instead, it arguably serves to underscore that without Simon Petrikov existing and doing all that he has in the Ooo Prime universe, the world (any world) quickly goes to hell. (This is perhaps most noticeable in "The Star," given that the big twist of that universe is that Simon was killed by vampires, presumably before he placed the ice crown on his head, thus resulting in Marceline's capture and indoctrination by the Vampire King.) Even in his crazed "Ice King" state, Simon is something like a cosmic lynchpin holding together reality! Considering how much Simon/the Ice King is a woobie in the original series, it is nice to see Fionna & Cake accentuate just how important he actually is.

Final “The Star” Grade: A-

Final “Jerry” Grade: A-

[munsonsreputation]

Hi Kay!!! Here’s a toast for you 🥂 And also an idea: one bed trope with Steve “I don’t share bed” Harrington and reader? (Steve gives me this “I hate to share beds, but I would do it with you” vibes) Do your magic, baby 💙

effie!!!! 🧚

one bed tropes are my favorite and i couldn't wait to work on this request!!! i loved it so much and i totally think that steve would hate sharing his bed!! that man loves to hog the pillows and blankets--likes his own space in general...but you're an exception!!! 🛏❤️

i hope i did your request justice and thanks so much for your sweet words and our fun chats!!! i love you so much!!!!! 💘💘💘

A road trip to Steve’s parents’ cabin sounded like a fun idea at first. Everyone piled into Eddie’s van he let you all borrow for the trip and the route began. Music playing, laughter resounding through the cramped car, heads rested on shoulder while others napped—it was pretty great.

You got the lucky job of sitting shot gun next to Steve, reading off directions from the map and making conversation to keep him awake for the rest of the drive. It was safe to say that you enjoyed Steve’s company a lot, not that you two were super close by any means, but you two just sort of gravitated towards one another naturally.

Robin was the one who introduced you two in the first place, which then led to her inviting you to her and her friends’ weekend adventures from time to time, allowing yourself to get closer to the rest of the gang who welcomed you with open arms. You immediately hit it off with Steve, laughing at his jokes and talking to him about everything under the sun. He was pretty cool and to be quite honest with you; you were ecstatic when we invited you to the cabin for the weekend.

The only problem was that the road trip started at six p.m. which then went on until ten since traffic and the multiple pit stops that Steve had to take because Mike and Dustin drank three whole cans of cola at the beginning of the trip. So when you all finally arrived at the cabin, everyone was out of their minds fatigued and wanted nothing more than to sleep on an actual pillow than Eddie or Robin’s shoulders.

“Finally! I’m exhausted!” Robin announced dramatically, letting herself in first after Steve had unlocked the doors to the small cabin.

Everyone followed behind her, looking around the place and making themselves at home. Steve grunted, hauling in the rest of the kids’ bags with the help of you who fought back your laughter while you held the door open for him.

“T-thanks!” He cringed out, dumping the bags near the front door while you grinned and locked it up.

“No problem, Stevie.” You spoke, patting him on the back while you followed him into the living room where everyone was hanging around waiting for Steve to tell them where their rooms were.

“Look there’s three rooms upstairs,” He pointed up as if you all didn’t know where it was, making everyone roll their eyes meanwhile you couldn’t help but giggle at how much of a dad he looked like.

“Mike, Dustin, Will, and Lucas—you four in one room. El and Max. And Robin and—”

“Me! And I want the side farthest from the door…I don’t want to get killed first!” Eddie shouted, racing up the steps with everyone else following behind him, arguing that they wanted dibs on the best room.

You had assumed that you and Robin would share a room. You two would always sleep in the same bed during sleepovers and whatnot, but you had forgotten that Eddie and Robin were also pretty close, so you couldn’t blame him for taking your place when you never asked.

Steve shook his head, mumbling a “goddamnit, Munson” under his breath before turning over to you with an apologetic smile.

“I’ll umm go get Eddie. He can take the couch and you and Robs can room together.”

But before he could walk towards the stairs you clutched his arm, shaking your head, “No no no, don’t worry about it. He seems excited to room with Robin! I don’t want to ruin his fun.”

You looked behind you, the leather brown couch looking to do the job for the night. As long as Steve had a spare blanket and pillow, you were sure that you could make do with it for the next two days. “I can take the couch! It actually looks pretty comfortable!”

Plopping yourself down onto the cushions, you wiggled, getting as comfortable as you could to show him that it would do. A smile on your face that didn’t seem to convince him whatsoever. He knew that couch was far from comfortable; he had to sleep on it the one time all of his little cousins took the rooms and it was far from a goodnights rest to say the least.

Steve shook his head, “No, I can’t let you sleep on the couch, doll, you’re a guest. I can take the couch and you can take the master bedroom down here.”

He was already picking your duffle bag off the floor before you could protest, leading you to trail behind him, struggling to seize your belongings from him, “No, Steve, that’s not fair! You’re the one who drove us all the way here. You should have the best room.”

Steve snickered, bearing your bag up higher so that you couldn’t reach it as he continued down the hallway to the bedroom, “Yeah, and you kept me up for those four hours, so you deserve a bed too. I’ll let you have it!”

You whined, stomping your foot against the wooden floors as he chuckled, shaking his head at your adamance before he reached the room.

“This is it,” Steve said, gesturing towards the door. “The master bedroom.”

He opened it, revealing the expanse of the bedroom that was fully furnished. A king sized bed in the center of the room that was fairly cozy and as you peered in some more, you could see a door that led to the bathroom which was attached.

“Steve…” You said guiltily, turning to him as he gestured you into the room, placing your bag down at the foot of the bed, “I can’t let you do this for me. You’ll wake up in the morning with a sore back if you sleep on that thing!”

He laughed, raising his brows amusingly while he crossed his arms, “So the couch wasn’t really comfortable huh? I knew you were lying!”

You furrowed your brows, realization hitting you as you tried to shake your head, “W-what?! No! Of course, it was comfortable! But you’re like six feet, you’ll be all cramped on that thing is what I meant!”

Again, he didn’t seem convinced, but he was impressively entertained by the way you were able to come up with a coverup on the spot. He knew you were just bluffing so that he could take the bed and you would go back on the couch. Not on his watch.

Steve rolled his eyes playfully, “Come on, don’t be like that. It’s just a room. Plus, I’m a gentleman. I can’t let a lady sleep on the couch.”

He was a gentleman. You’d give him that no problem. But still, you weren’t satisfied with this whole situation.

“W-what if we share the bed?” Your voice heightened when you asked the question, unsure if he would be comfortable sharing a bed with you for the next two nights.

You almost looked timid, shoulders ceasing in with your cheeks buried to your side as you looked over at him with sincerity, “Only if you’re comfortable! Sorry! I shouldn’t have—”

His eyes widened a bit, shaking his head to assure you that he wasn’t uncomfortable. He knew you were asking it out of the kindness of your heart. If he had offered the room to someone else like Eddie or Dustin, he was sure the twerps wouldn’t even consider offering the share—he was thankful that you did otherwise.

“You sure? I snore y’know.” The hint of teasing pulling at the corners of his mouth as he watched you relax and giggle.

“Yeah, Harrington, I think I’ll manage.” You smirked.

“I’ll let you have the bathroom first. I’m just gonna go grab my bags and make sure everything’s locked up.” He said as you nodded, reaching for your bag while he left the room and closed the door behind him to give you some privacy.

In all honestly, you were scared shitless to share a bed with him. Not that he made you uncomfortable or anything, but he was Steve Harrington for god fucking sakes!

The closest that you and Steve had ever been to sharing a bed was when you all decided to watch a horror movie which led to you and Steve screaming and trembling in each other’s arms while the others did the same to the person nearest to them.

Maybe you had developed a teeny tiny crush on him after that, but you were sure that Steve wouldn’t feel the same, so you just left it at that. But tonight it really felt nerve-wracking.

What if you sleep talked and said something embarrassing. What if you stole all the blankets and left Steve cold for the rest of the night? What if you accidentally kicked him in the shins? What if your boob popped out of your tank top and he woke up with your tits right in his face?

Holy shit.

What if you just shut the fuck up?

The hot shower didn’t seem to ease your nerves as much as you liked, but it was just going to be tonight and two more nights of sharing a bed with Steve. Everything was going to be ok. It was all in your head. Plus, Steve said he snored, which probably meant he was a deep sleeper so he would be out in no time before he could hear you sleep talk or feel you hog the blankets. Hopefully.

When you stepped out of the bathroom, you were surprised to see Steve sitting on the bed, looking over a comic book he had found lying around probably from when he was a kid. When the door opened, he turned his head to you, standing in the doorway, pulling your hair out of the low bun you had it in to prevent it from getting wet.

You probably didn't think anything of it, considering the fact that you wore this exact pajama set all the time, but you had forgotten that Steve would be seeing you in it. It wasn’t anything inappropriate, just a silk tank top and silk shorts to match, though it was a little snug, hugging your body tightly and leaving nothing to the imagination with the flimsy fabric sticking to your damp skin.

“Crap..I-I can change if you have a shirt I can borrow?” You stammered the apology as you could feel your cheeks flush with embarrassment.

Steve shook his head, looking a bit flustered himself. “No, no, it’s fine. I mean, it’s great. You look great. I mean, your pajamas look great. Not that you don’t look great, but...I’m just gonna stop talking now.”

He reached a nervous hand to the back of his neck, feeling the fever of his blood bolting from not knowing how to shut up in front of you. Meanwhile, you felt a little more at ease at Steve’s previous words. He was just as nervous as you, which made you feel a little less bad about your own nervousness.

“Do you wanna shower?” You proposed, walking over to your bag and placing your dirty clothes into the separate compartment from your clean ones.

He shuffled up from the bed, placing his comic on the nightstand, “Uh yea…was the shower pressure fine?” He sought, bending down towards his own bag and pulling out a pair of sweatpants.

“Yeah, and the water is nice and hot.” You smiled warmly as he returned it before walking into the bathroom and shutting the door softly.

You decided it was best that you settle into bed already, choosing to take the side farthest from the door. The sheets were soft and thick enough to engulf warmth over your bare legs in the middle of the chilly night.

You had wondered why Steve hadn’t come down here more often, considering the serenity and privacy that the cabin provided. From the windows you could see the grassy mountains and tall trees hovering over the woods—it was a different scene from the Hawkins you were used to and surely a nice change of pace.

When Steve emerged from the shower, you turned your head, seeing him shirtless with a pair of sweatpants hanging loosely over his hips. Thankfully, the sheets had hidden your blushing cheeks and cheeky smile away from his view.

“Is it ok if I wear this to bed?” He sought, looking a bit self-conscious of his bare chest out without considering that fact that you’d be so close to him.

You nodded, trying to play it cool with a smile still plaster under the covers.

“Yeah, it’s nice. You look comfortable.”

Steve grinned, walking over to the other side of the bed and gently tugging the sheets back. “So, you’re giving me the side closest to the door, huh?”

Laughing, you nodded your head while you scooched over, giving him more room on his side, “What Eddie said really stuck,” you quipped lightly.

“I have enough space. You can come closer if you want.” Steve assured you once he got in, his arm accidentally brushing against yours.

You hummed thankfully, dragging the blankets with you as you moved closer to him, only an inch or so separating your bodies as you both tried to get as comfortable as possible. Though for you it seemed impossible as you kept tossing and turning, the bed so big yet the space feeling so tight, you felt like you were drowning in the mattress and sheets.

“Are you okay?” Steve turned his head to your slightly, a small smile on his face letting you know he was irritated at you incessant moving.

Wiggling your shoulders, trying to find a comfy position, “Yeah, sorry, I keep moving,” you muttered, feeling guilty for him needing to put up with you.

Steve chuckled faintly, turning his entire body to face you, his head snugly resting on the plush pillow beneath him, “It’s okay, I do the same thing too.”

“Really?”

You followed his movements and facing him as he nodded assuringly. The two of you smiling like sleepy idiots in the massive bed.

“I usually cuddle another pillow to fall asleep.” You blurted out, without thinking, immediately shutting up as the words left your mouth.

A look of curiosity fell over his face and his eyebrows rose, “Does it work?”

You nodded, pulling the sheets down so he could see you, “Yeah…It’s helps me relax and fall asleep faster.”

Silence fell over you two as you tried to close your eyes and fall asleep the old-fashioned way, but Steve kept his open, watching the way your tense eyelids fluttered, knowing you were not going to fall asleep like that. It would only be a matter of time until you were tossing and turning again and he knew that both you and him needed a good night’s sleep for tomorrow’s festivities.

He practiced the words in his head first. Trying to come up with the best possible way to ask you without making the situation awkward all over again. He didn’t mind and if you didn’t, then he was willing to take the chance to ask.

“Well, I could...um...I could cuddle you if you want. You know, to help you fall asleep easier.”

You swore you could hear your heartbeat faster and feel the blood rush to your cheeks when he asked the question. Your skin getting warmer just at the thought of having Steve’s arms wrapped around you. Slowly you began to open your eyes, meeting him in the pale moonlight that snuck in.

“A-are you sure?” you asked, trying to stabilize your shaky voice.

He nodded, a lipped smile on his face, “Yeah, I don’t mind at all…maybe it’ll help me sleep too.”

“Okay.” You whispered, looking at him nervously until he opened his arms and gestured you to lie into him.

You turned over, facing the opposite way as you scooched back, his arms already wrapping around you, guiding you more in until your back met his bare chest.

“This ok?” He murmured softly, looking down at you where your head nuzzled just beneath his chin and halfway onto his pillow.

“Perfect.” You nodded, already closing your eyes with a ditzy smile on your face.

He laid back, a similar smile on his face, as he could feel the softness and warmth of your bare arms. The silky material being the only thing separating his chest from your skin, yet it felt like you guys were meshing together easily. Like you were a missing piece to his puzzle as you laid there with your arms wrapping around his on your midsection.

Never in a million years would he had ever thought that he’d get to be this close to you. The only time he had gotten to hold you like this is when those damn kids convinced you all to watch a horror movie. You had buried your face into his chest after one of the characters had gotten beheaded and he didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around you despite his own astonishment at the film and screams for Dustin to shut it off.

Maybe he wished that he didn’t tell Dustin to turn it off because he would’ve gotten to spend the rest of the night with you in his arms, but maybe that loss time was being made up now. Though he hoped you couldn’t feel like heart thumping against your shoulder—he was regretting not wearing a shirt.

For a moment you let yourself bask in the feeling of being in Steve arm’s once again, this time without the horrific screams of your friends. His arms wrapped securely around you, making you feel safe, not that you didn’t feel like you were, but he was like an extra blanket of security and warmth around you.

The both of you longing for this closeness, but not knowing that the other felt the same.

Not until now.

Steve’s breath fanned over your skin slightly as he took a deep breath in and out, preparing his words carefully as he didn’t want this moment to end, “I think you’re the only person I’d ever share a bed with.”

Your heart burned, and so did your body, he could feel your skin heating up and your arms tugging his tighter around you while you let out a sound of contentment mixed with a short laugh, “I’m honored…and you’re better than any other pillow.”

He chuckled deeply, pulling you closer, and you smiled as you felt his lips lay a kiss to the top of your head, “Glad I could be of service.”

The two of you knew no other words had to be spoken to tell each other how you felt. It was just that simple and easy to read and understand each other. And even easier to share a bed and hold one another as you two drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

BONUS SCENE:

The sounds of loud footsteps running through the cabin followed by the shouts and screams stirred Steve awake from his dream. He rubbed at his eyes, listening to the sounds come closer, the familiar voices of his friends letting him know they were up to something.

Meanwhile, his sleepy gaze fell over your body beside him, still fast asleep and limbs tangled around his body as you snored softly. You were a cute and heavy sleeper, something he would have to remind himself to tell you later on today.

“Steve! Open up…Hurry!” Robin’s voice reverberating outside the door while multiple fists clanged on the lumber.

His eyes widened, easing your arms from around him as he stepped out of bed and walked swiftly to the door to see what the commotion was about. When he pulled it open, everyone dressed in their pj’s and bedhead staring at him in horror.

“What the—”

Before he could speak, there were an array of speeches speaking over one another. El and Lucas who looked like they were about to cry while the others just kept talking making it hard for him to follow along.

“One at a time!” Steve whispered shouted, now fully awake as they all shut their mouths and everyone looked at Dustin first.

“We can’t find her! We searched allllll the rooms. Maybe she got kidnapped during the night? We have to call the police!” Dustin exclaimed as everyone nodded their heads in agreement before their faces of concern turned into confusion.

Steve failed to stifle the laugh, his throat heaving with humor as he couldn’t believe the absurdity of it all. He watched their faces contort, Robin thrusting her hand forward to nudge his shoulder passively aggressively for his laughing they didn’t seem to understand in the moment.

“Guys…” Steve started, shaking his head before looking back towards the bed and seeing you still asleep, “She’s in here.”

He opened the door wider, revealing your sleepy body encased by the blankets, as you had no idea they were all standing there looking on in shock.

“How in the world…” Max tilted her head, looking between Steve and you.

Eddie smirked, whistling lowly towards Steve, “Finally, dude.”

“Wait what?” Lucas and Dustin said at the same time.

El and Will were a little less invasive, with a simple, “Awww.”

Then of course the little shit head Mike, had to go too far, “What the hell? You guys had sex?!”

“Shut up!” Steve smacked the top of his head gingerly, pushing the door enough to conceal you once again as they tried to peer in but were unable to.

“We didn’t have sex.”

He looked at Eddie glaring, “She was supposed to room with Robin, but you took her spot.”

Eddie winced, mouthing an “I’m sorry,” that didn’t look quite genuine considering the sly smile he had on his face, followed by the wink he shot him.

“But you hate sharing your bed…” Dustin said to himself deliberately as everyone agreed, letting that sink in before they finally realized.

“You like her?!”

Steve’s cheeks flushed a bright red, already giving his friends an answer as she giggled and turned to each other, making kissy faces that had him rolling his eyes.

“Stevie?” your hoarse voice called out as you blindlessly felt the empty spot that Steve was supposed to be in.

He looked behind him, seeing you whining as your hands tapped the bed, still half asleep. Looking back at his friends who still hadn’t wiped the smirks of their faces, he sighed, “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going back to bed.”

“Hmm, sure, you will.” Max teased, crossing her arms as she turned and walked away.

Steve rolled his eyes once more, going to shut the door, but before it could, a hand pushed back from the other side firmly. Robin peeking in as she smiled.

“I told Eddie to room with me by the way…I couldn’t stand seeing you guys act so oblivious.”

His eyes widened as Robin’s toothy grin took up her face, “Byeeeeee!” and with that she skipped away, cackling successfully, while Steve couldn’t help but chuckle and lock the door.

“I’m back, doll.” Steve said quietly, pressing a kiss to your forehead as he lifted the covers and got back into bed with you.

Your arms instantly wrapping around his midsection as you nuzzled your face into his chest, breathing in his scent, “S’ok…what did they want?”

His fingers stroked your hair, beaming down at your sleepy state already getting comfortable again in his arms. “They were just wondering where you were.”

“Can we stay in bed a little longer?” You mumbled into his chest, halfway to falling back into slumber again.

He snickered, cooing lovingly as he rested his chin on top of your head and wrapped his arms tighter to pull you closer.

“As long as you want.”

robin + eddie teaming up!! sorry, i couldn't help it...they're such masterminds <3

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