#not tagging them but hopefully they’ll find this eventually

[mishine-mi-gua]

me when i rmmember my partners. me when i remmebr. every day i have them is a day i can live through

[libraryofneith]

Old Dog, New Tricks (Sandor Clegane x Female Reader)

Summary: After Sandor Clegane is rescued from the Stranger's door, he is forced to consider a future without violence, without abuse, and without servitude. Can he find a new purpose? Can he help more than he has harmed? And can he share a purpose with anyone else?

Fic Tags/Warnings: whole fic is 18+, minors DNI, cursing, violence and gore, eventual smut, some serious smutage, takes place season 6 onwards, canon divergence, last season what last season?, reader has a name, third person POV, grumpy x sunshine reader, sunshine character x sunshine protector, i am a sucker for the "grumpy old man who's mean to everyone except this one special person to whom he is unbelievable sweet" trope

Notes: this is not my first time writing game of thrones fanfic, nor my first time writing for this character, but it is my first time uploading for this character on tumblr. Those of you familiar with my work will know I've got another WIP and don't worry I've not forgotten it! I've already got 12 chapters for this so hopefully won't keep you waiting too long for updates. And won't keep you waiting too long for the smut which let's be real is why most of us are here, smut kicks in at chapter 11 and then we do not stop till dawn, I started this years ago, like pre pandemic years ago. Largely forgot about it until I discovered an old memory stick with a bunch of unfinished stories and now i'm back on my game of thrones bullsh!t. Might even re-upload an old AO3 fic of mine that I deleted years ago because I stopped liking it. Who knows? Anyways, that's enough rambling from me. On with the story, and as per, like and reblog to increase visibility and let me know if you want to be tagged when this story updates.

Fuck. Buggering fucking hell. Buggering shitting seven hells this hurts! I. Hurt. Everywhere. There’s something… something I need to think about. I said I’d watch over it… what is it? Eyes. I can see eyes. Someone’s here with me. Is it that big bitch? Bugger it all I can’t see properly! Who are you? What do you want? I can’t fight. I can’t fight. What the hell am I going to do? Bloody hell! What is it I’m forgetting? They. Whoever they are… they’re giving me something. A drink. Probably poisoned. Fuck I’m thirsty. But I can’t. They want to kill me. Shit I can feel it. I can’t fight them. Leave me alone! I don’t want your poisoned piss. Oh. It’s water. Fuck. Shit me. I feel like lead. I need to sleep. I can’t. They’ll run me through first chance they get. I’m drifting. I can’t stop. Maybe that water was poisoned after all. To hell with it. I’m ready. At least I’ll die in a bed. At least I think this is a bed. If only I could remember what I’m forgetting. Fuck.

---

I know. Eloquent right? Not to worry dearest reader, by the time you're done with this chapter I'll have the next one up which has more content.

[weeeeeekly]

quarter life crisis – ot5 tomorrow x together x afab!reader

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blurb !!! Reincarnation can bring soulmates together despite their time apart. Being a huge fan of TOMORROW X TOGETHER helped you get through the struggles of entering early adulthood. You would thank them personally if you ever could but when you possibly get the chance it’s more than what you could ever hope for.

info !!! txt are still idols, reincarnation au, soulmates au, polyamory, throuple²… they’ll all eventually date each other, mc has mental health struggles, universe assigned lactose intolerance, team no kids, glasses wearer, lives in the middle of fuck nowhere but still a city (just go with it), pet names used are “our love” and princess, & not edited.

wc: 2.4k

WARNINGS !!! NSFW, MDNI, 18+, extremely self-indulgent, soft yandere!txt, mentions of mental health & self-harm (nothing graphic) for entire series

author’s note !!! this is fiction!!! this is made up!!! i do not condone breaking in, stalking, and other ulterior motives to get close to someone you are romantically interested in.

why are there not more ot5!txt x fem/afab or gender-neutral reader… mandatory note that i do not think txt act like this in real life. I also cannot come up with a blurb for the life of me, so please peep the info tags.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

Yeonjun remembers living out the rest of his life with them, after you passed. They had to continue on with life. There was no choice.

Every time they passed by the part of the shore where they saw you last; they feel a wave of pain. A bunch of stones set in the form of a circle with a makeshift headstone in the center with your name. There was a proper headstone for you in the village cemetery, but they had personally made this one.

He doesn’t want to think about what happened after – all of them being put into arranged marriages, leaving the village, having kids, growing old, and finally, dying.

All while missing you.

When Yeonjun woke up again, the light was so bright, he was sure he made it to heaven. He couldn’t wait to see his soulmates again, but when he opened his mouth, the sound of a baby cry came out.

Yeonjun was a baby again. He looked around the room to see a set of 2 new faces who he surmised were his parents in this life.

He couldn’t believe this.

The next couple of years in his childhood flew by as Yeonjun went through the usual stages of growing up; walking, talking, singing and dancing for the first time. He did whatever it took to get back on track to finding his soulmates. And the best way to find them was to become famous.

He was enrolled in an academy to practice singing and dancing on his 14th birthday. And before his 15th birthday, Yeonjun stumbled upon an ad for auditioning for an unknown entertainment company that had just put out a boy group not that long ago. He felt the pull.

By the grace of the universe, Yeonjun passed and was accepted by the company to become a trainee under the label to then, hopefully, debut in his own group.

And because the universe bestowed its kindness, after Yeonjun had been there for a year, a new group of trainees came in and he met none other than Taehyun. When Yeonjun saw his side profile that looked somewhat familiar but ran into his arms to weep when he turned around. The staff and other trainees just thought that they were friends that were excited they were together, but it was deeper than that.

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Taehyun had gone through a similar childhood – being born and immediately understanding that things were different, deciding that being famous would bring everyone back to him, and having lessons at academies for song and dance.

It definitely paid off when he felt Yeonjun’s warm embrace 13 years later in his new life. The pair hugged each other to express how lonely they felt apart that not even all the words in the Korean language could properly explain.

Taehyun had dreamt of this moment ever since the day one of the head villagers told them at a meeting that since Yeonjun became of age at 25 without a spouse that he would have an arranged marriage along with the rest of them.

The dreaded memory of Yeonjun, months later, standing next to another girl with her holding his hand in a vice grip. The desperate look in his eyes with an unspoken plea upon his lips as a group of villagers with weapons in their hands threaten Yeonjun to stay still and obey.

Taehyun watching in agony, holding hands with Soobin and Kai as Beomgyu hugs him from behind, as the ship sails off to Yeonjun’s doom. He prays to mother nature to step in and do something so Yeonjun can swim back to them before it’s too late. But, just as before, fate is cruel and mother nature is not able to spare any favors.

She took you away just like Yeonjun was.

His feeling of bitterness washes away from Yeonjun’s warmth as Taehyun comes back to reality. His soulmate is back with him.

They’re going to find the others.

They’re going to find you.

The following year is spent with the duo practicing their craft. Sure, they were friendly to their fellow trainees, but they only needed each other.

They did thank their lucky stars when Soobin walked in after the next round of new trainees.

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Soobin had been lucky this time around.

He didn’t necessarily have that much experience in dancing or singing, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity when he stumbled upon a post for auditions while on his laptop. He filmed his audition in his room and sent it to the email address listed.

The waiting period was terrible.

He checked his email every single day after sending it in. He needed to get in. The pull told him so.

Thankfully, he received a call 2 months later when he was sulking on his way to school. The staff member told him that he was accepted into the company.

Later that week, he walked into the company to find his soulmates, Yeonjun and Taehyun, smiling at him.

Soobin was in awe of how talented his boyfriends were in this life. Yeonjun was consistently ranked as #1 for every monthly evaluation even before he got there. Taehyun had picked up on songwriting and started making his own lyrics for songs for evaluations.

Of course, they were talented, but in seafood related matters. In such a short amount of time, they were able to learn new skills and excel in them. Soobin couldn’t be prouder.

The trio trained together as much as possible to secure their spot in debuting. They needed to. There was no guarantee they would be 6 again without it.

Every spare second was spent practicing.

Free time between lunch and vocal lessons? Perfect time to go over the choreography. Not able to fall asleep at night? Time to get up and perfect facial expressions in the bathroom mirror. Walking to school? Humming the song until they get sick of it.

It paid off when Taehyun overheard two of the dressers whispering how their company boy group was gaining traction overseas in the West and approval for a junior group was confirmed.

Money started trickling in as small things started changing at first better recording equipment, better quality outfits, more staff, and evenly moving to a bigger building.

The move had been good for everyone. They were able to live in a bigger dorm and use an empty practice room to rehearse, especially when some trainees left, and new ones joined.

Soobin had been stretching as Yeonjun and Taehyun were rehearsing the beginning choreography when the door opened to reveal Kai.

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Kai had been blessed into another loving family. A loving family that was also musically talented. They were able to help him craft his singing and dancing abilities to audition for the company where 3 of his soulmates were.

Kai had been extra nervous the day of as every company before had rejected him. He knew it was part of his journey to them, but it stung.

He was relieved when he passed his final audition for this small company that was slowly growing. He was even more relieved when he walked down the hallway following the faint sound of voices only to find his leader and hyungs.

The rest of the practice was thrown out the window as the 4 raced to the dorm for some much needed cuddle time.

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Their dreams of becoming famous were becoming reachable as the next boy group was in the works. All they knew was it would be 6 to 8 members with an opposite concept as their senior group.

Evaluations were more serious than ever as standing out was a must. A handful of trainees had been dismissed last week for failing their evals. It made Soobin nervous.

The 16-almost-17-year-old boy started biting his nails again. A nasty habit you used to scold him for, but he couldn’t help it. The stakes were high. The pressure was on.

It was almost suffocating.

Almost like the exact feeling of helplessness he felt when he sank to knees in the cold ocean water as he screamed for you to come back.

He sighed as he walked out of the practice room, out of the building, and down to the corner convenience store.

As he perused the selection of cup ramen, contemplating if he should ignore his diet to eat his feelings for even if it’s just a minute, Soobin felt someone staring a hole into his back. He turned around to see no one, not even from across the store.

Weird. He thought to himself.

It was after he paid for his ramen when he bumped into another person while exiting.

“Sorry.” Soobin mumbled as he kept his eyes trained on his hands. The nerves eating him alive. A shame since he should be the one eating some delicious ramen.

The mysterious figure spoke up, “You look like shit.”

Soobin looked up from his hands to see Beomgyu’s smirking face. He dropped the cup as he brought the boy into a hug.

“I knew you would find us.”

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The 5 had a year before debut.

It wasn’t magic that they had been selected to form the new team. It was divine intervention – each of them wanting to become idols, auditioning for a small company, passing, and eventually debuting.

They wouldn’t be so sure of their future if they didn’t have memories of their past. The fact that you were out there in the world, waiting for them kept them going.

The final stretch of rehearsing was grueling. They sacrificed sleep for more hours of practice. Cut out junk food. Added working out to their daily schedule. Learnt their debut songs and choreography. Spent time recording and rerecording their vocals. Took media training and idol lessons to prepare themselves for their new life.

No one else was more relieved than them when March 4, 2019, rolled around and they officially debuted as SOOBIN, YEONJUN, BEOMGYU, TAEHYUN, and HUENINGKAI of TOMORROW X TOGETHER.

It was difficult for them to adjust to their new norm, but the amount of buzz on social media TXT got before and at debut gave them the extra strength to persevere.

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Having one’s senior group have major success and popularity years after debut was comforting. The guys were able to have an easier time paying off their trainee debt and when they were finally starting to get paid, they stashed some of their paycheck.

Soobin never felt the pull after Beomgyu.

There was no guarantee that you were even in South Korea or even their side of the world.

The world was vast. There was no way for them to explore it without going on tour, so when the company pitched the idea of a debut showcase in the United States, they jumped at the chance.

The guys worked hard in their English lessons. Being able to have another form of communication was vital besides some of their longing social media posts they disguised as expressions of love for their fans.

The first year as a rookie wasn’t easy, especially when Soobin finally felt the pull again when they took off from Seoul to New York.

They kept their hopes up as they toured, always making sure to make eye contact with everyone in the crowd at their concerts and while walking the streets in hopes of finding you.

Of course, they wouldn’t find you until years later.

Soobin’s institution landed them in the middle-of-nowhere with a piece of paper with your information that they intercepted under questionable acts.

A quaint family-owned diner served as their hideout as they stared across the street while eating burnt bacon strips and sipping black coffee to your apartment complex.

They were going to march into the leasing office and get the apartment next to yours, meet your new self, fall in love, and be together forever.

It was simple really.

20 minutes later, after their bill was paid, TXT crossed the street to enter your apartment complex. The main lobby was cozy; potted plants were in every corner and residents of all ages passed them, none acknowledging their status as idols.

Beomgyu grinned as he knocked on the leasing manger’s door. An elderly man answered the door and welcomed them in.

Taehyun stepped forward, “We are interested in renting an apartment.”

“You’re in the right place.”

After Yeonjun and Taehyun haggled the manager for the apartment next to yours, Kai peeked at the parcel lockers to spot your last name and first initial. The elderly man didn’t budge until Taehyun listed a number in the 5 digits to have them move in right away and relocate a couple that was slotted to live there before them.

The rest played out perfectly as they got a text from their manager that Miami was the break the needed and the cruise was about to set sail. They quickly bought the necessities from a bigger store downtown that would deliver later that day for them. Soobin ran around the kitchen in panic as he wouldn’t be able to bake cookies for you. Yeonjun quickly added that in delivery on his phone. The younger members started unpacking their suitcases to shower.

And they waited for you to get back.

masterlist | previous | next

author’s note heyyyy it's been a little bit since i posted. so sorry!! if you didn't know my computer started acting up so i stopped using it for 2 days then i messed up the charger and had to wait for my new charger to come in while also finishing out the last week of my summer class. everything's okay now!!

i’m not entirely sure of txt’s predebut history that well besides the most known facts that they themselves have shared, so fictionalized accounts!!!

[qstea]

hi! would it be possible to get headcanons about what kind of gifts they'd give or what they would do for their relationship anniversary? gender neutral reader for geno, error and if possible, fatal error as well.

(i've never sent an ask before so hopefully this is alright, its ok to refuse. love your writing!! :D)

📎 What They Do for Their Relationship Anniversary ★

Featuring: Geno!Sans, Error!Sans, Fatal_Error!Sans

#Notes: u gave me my top favs tysm *kisses you* srry this took like seven thousand years to make lolol but here u goooo

pronouns used: they/them

Geno Sans

Putting it in simple words, they have no idea what to do for the anniversary.

Definitely goes to Sans for advice and probably rambles about the situation to him. To which Sans just replies ‘get them something memorable, or take them somewhere, like per se, the spot where you met. maybe a vacation?’ and it just all starts to click in Geno’s head.

Alright, so. Their plan is to 1. Take you to the very top of the mountain where they first saw the surface and have a peaceful picnic with you. 2. Buy some of your favorite snacks and a movie you like and eat some popcorn up in their room, and 3. Cuddle and fall asleep together. Perfect anniversary plan.

Still super nervous about how it will go, and isn’t the best at speaking to others. Papyrus and Sans may or may not tag along and make it slightly less peaceful and a little less like alone time between the two of you.

If that does happen, it makes the atmosphere somewhat excitable. Geno isn’t the happiest about it, mainly because they really just want to be alone with you and just bathe in each others company, but if you’re enjoying it, they’re enjoying it.

Logically, some things end up backfiring during the anniversary, but it’s the thought that really counts. And for you two, is all that really mattered in the first place.

Error Sans

I don’t see them really caring about anniversaries. But if you’re super into it, they’ll go along with it.

Not really for taking you anywhere? I think they prefer staying in their anti-void and sharing their bean bag with you while watching undernovela (tbh you should’ve seen this coming. come on, it’s error.)

Afterwards, they’ll open a portal to Outertale and you guys can just hang out and watch the stars. Will point out constellations for you and everything. Ink likes to follow you and Error around mostly because he’s genuinely surprised Error managed to get into a relationship with somebody and for this long too! You better bet Ink’s going to make ship art for you guys on your anniversary. Outertale paintings are his specialty., so expect to find a few art pieces near your date spot in Outertale.

Error is mildly embarrassed and flustered when they do find these drawings though.

The kind of monster to make you a tapestry or a plushie of themselves. Not used to giving people gifts so they’ll just throw them out you and scurry away like the rat bastard they are.

The anniversary isn’t remotely well put together but it’s a nice spending it with Error, so it cancels the flaws out.

Fatal Error Sans

He has a vague idea on what an anniversary is supposed to look like. After being in the save screen for so long and then having Error brutally mangle his code, you can imagine just what that shit does to your memory.

You’ll have to bring up the topic of a relationship anniversary for them to even remember that those things exist.

Very busy a lot of the time (killing Papyruses and multiple versions of Swap and piecing their code together to try to make themselves a new brother, yknow the drill) so might not actually even have an anniversary with you.

But you mean the world to him, so if you practically beg him to do something for your anniversary, he will eventually give in.

Again you’re probably gonna have to do a lot of the work. He’ll just go along with whatever you have in mind. He doesn’t mind.

The most they’ll do is steal get some snacks for you.

Might attempt to crochet or knit something for you with his red strings but he’s not that experienced. He’ll definitely learn for you, though.

Most definitely not experienced in the art of romance so be patient with them.

[sokoviansimp]

can you please do one of wanda and nat x child reader and getting them to do homework and eat hahahahah i love ur fics btw it makes me feel so warm

✒ Pairings: Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanoff x Child!Reader (platonic)

✒ Summary: Wanda and Nat try to get you to do your homework and eat your vegetables.

✒ Tags and Warnings: Homework, stubbornness, fluff, anxiety, making friends

✒ Author's Note: I really appreciate the request! I thought this was such a good idea, hopefully, I did it justice! Sorry, it took so long. To the other requests in my inbox, I am sorry I am so slow but I will be getting to them, they're all so good :)

✒ Word Count: 4744+

✒ Read Time: 24 minutes

Masterlist : The Package AU : Socials

“It sounds like a good opportunity, I don’t think it’s ever really too early to start” Nat urged. 

“I guess, but she’s just so young,” Wanda claimed as she moved to join her friend on the couch. 

“They’ll all be her age, it’s just for a week,” Nat insisted. 

Nat had found a program for young children to learn science and math for a week, it was kind of like a day camp. The parents would drop off the young children daily for 4 hours of hands-on learning. She thought this would be good for you since you have been following very closely in Peter’s footsteps when it comes to his interest in math and science. It would also introduce you to a school setting so that it isn’t so far out of your comfort zone next year when you go to attend preschool. 

To be truthful, you and Wanda were all Nat could think about lately. She wanted so badly to be there for you two, to help you achieve success and be given opportunities that she could’ve only dreamed of at your age. This sent her down a rabbit hole searching for events or activities you could take part in. Most of them were geared toward older children, but the science camp stated all ages so she jumped on it. 

Wanda was hesitant about the program, she didn’t want to push school onto you too early. You should be able to enjoy the time before it completely takes over your life for 14+ years. Nat had a point though, it’s only a week and you would probably really love it. She wasn’t sure how you would react to being left without her all day though, hopefully, now that you have been coming out of your shell the process would be easier but it was hard to say. 

Though, it’s inevitable that this will need to happen eventually. One week of practice would be helpful to smooth out the process once it's mandatory. Wanda really admired the way Nat was so enthusiastic about this program, like the way her voice became more animated and expressive. Wanda could hear the slight rise in her tone as she described the activities that you’d get to experience, and the way she leaned closer in proximity to show off the different amenities on the webpage had Wanda holding her breath and overthinking every little movement of her body. As she got lost in the sparkle in Natasha’s eyes, she couldn't help but scrutinize herself for making everything so awkward, ‘don’t move, don’t breathe. Okay, breathe but slowly. Does she notice? why is this making me feel this way? It’s not like we’ve never been close to each other before.’

“What do you think?” Nat jolted her from her spiraling thoughts, both mentally and slightly physically as Wanda startlingly looked at her. Of course, she hadn’t been paying attention to a thing Nat was saying, but she couldn’t know that. 

“Hmm, yea that sounds great,” she admitted, hoping she hadn’t just agreed to send you to a shield boot camp or something that only Natasha would find fun. 

 “Really?” Nat was beaming at the fact that Wanda liked her idea and genuinely hoped you would have a great time. 

“Ye- yea, I mean, it’s just a week and she’s going to have to get used to spending time without us.” Wanda went on to explain.

Natasha's heart skipped a beat. Us. She knew what Wanda meant by it and even though she recognized it wasn’t anything that she should read into, Nat couldn't help but analyze it. Such a simple phrase, but it had the prospect to hold so much meaning. Wanda had included her in her vision of your future, as a unit, as us. In reality, Wanda knew Natasha would always be there for you, but Natasha couldn’t help but feel a wave of warmth and happiness wash over her at the thought of it meaning something more, causing her cheeks to flush and a smile to form on her face. 

When Wanda and Nat told you about the camp, you were initially really excited, until you found out that you’d have to go alone. Sure, they would drop you off, but then they would leave, and then, who would protect you if something went wrong? Who would be there to hold you when you got nervous around the crowd of unfamiliar faces?

“Mama?” you broke the silence as you sat snuggled into her side on the couch of the common room, enveloped in mostly darkness except for the soft glow from the television. 

“Yes, detka?” she glanced down at you as your head tilted up to meet your eyes with hers. 

“Do I have to go to da sciewence schoowl?” you asked softly, just barely above a whisper, not wanting to make trouble but you couldn’t get the fact that you would have to go alone out of your mind. 

Wanda immediately shifted her full attention to you in an attempt to create a safe and open space for you to express your worries, “I thought you were excited?”

“Well, I am- I was, but, I don't want to go wiffout you or Natty.” you admitted as you translated your fears from thoughts into words. 

"I see, I understand that you're feeling nervous about going without us, and that's completely okay, my love. It's natural to feel a little anxious when we step out of our comfort zone," she said as she gently rubbed your arm in soothing motions. She wanted to help you work through these feelings instead of blocking off new opportunities due to fear. In the end, she wouldn’t force you to go, but she would do everything she could to get you open to the experience. 

“You know, even adults get feelings like these when they're about to try something new or go to unfamiliar places. I remember when I first joined the Avengers, I felt a mix of excitement and nerves. But you know what?” 

“What?” 

“It turned out to be an incredible journey filled with wonderful people and unforgettable adventures. I got to meet my two favorite people in the whole world"

“Me?” your expression shifted from nervous to curious, as you wondered where Wanda was going with this. 

“Yes you, and Nat,” she says unable to mask the smile that forms near automatically from the mention of her best friend.

“What if, der is no one der for me?” you wonder 

"You will have so many other kids there that are your age that you can make friends with, malysh"

“What if dey don’t wike me?” You were genuinely worried about meeting other kids your age. You’ve only ever been around adults and you weren’t quite sure what to expect. Would they all already know each other? Would there be a certain way you were expected to act around them? 

"What’s not to like? You have the kindest heart and the most beautiful spirit of anyone I know.” she was speaking from the heart as she genuinely believed what she told you. Wanda watched you go from this scared little girl who was being held captive in a Hydra base to a kid who gets excited to talk about the solar system and wildlife habitats with Peter. She watched you open up and accept these people, even the men on the team,  into your life despite your wariness. She’s sure you are capable of anything you really put your mind to, “Making friends has one simple rule and if you follow it, it's practically foolproof, do you know what that is?”

You just shook your head in response, waiting for her to continue.  

“Just be yourself. If you do that you'll attract real friends who appreciate you for who you are," she said as she tapped your chest, pointing to your heart. 

“Be myself?” you wondered what it meant as you repeated the words on your own tongue. You don’t recall ever acting like someone else. “Who else would I be?”

Wanda couldn't help but chuckle at your innocence and how cute you were, “Some people try to change for others. They change their personalities, their opinions, and sometimes even their looks just to fit in with other people.”

“Oh. so, wike, pwetending?”

"Exactly! You are capable of so much more than you realize, my little one. Have faith in yourself."

You thought over her words as the show continued to play in front of you on the TV. You were so close to being on board with it, but you couldn’t get over the possibility of being stuck there without a way out. The way Wanda spoke so highly of you, gave you the confidence you needed to believe you could make friends, but what if everything really did go horribly wrong, would you be stuck there all day? 

“Mama?” you continued the conversation after a few minutes of watching tv had passed. 

“Hmm?”

“I want to go to da sciewence schoowl, but what if I need you when I der?”

Wanda thought about this for a moment, You're far too young to have a cell phone, but a communication line wouldn’t be such a bad thing for you. It could help calm your anxiety and in her line of work, anything could happen so it would make things safer. 

“Well, if there is something really important, you can tell your teacher and she can get ahold of me,” Wanda explained. You didn’t seem too satisfied with that answer though as you gave a somber acknowledgment. What if you weren't able to get the teacher's attention, or the teacher just plain refused, the plan just didn't seem very solid. 

Wanda could see that you weren’t content with her solution, “Or I can show you a trick,” she offered. 

Your face perked up, immediately intrigued, your little hands clutching a stuffed toy tightly, gazed up at Wanda with wide-eyed wonder, “a trick?” you asked

“Close your eyes, my little one,” Wanda explained and you did as she instructed, “now, take a deep breath. Imagine a warm light surrounding us, enveloping us like a soft, protective blanket. or a big fluffy cloud”

As you sat with your eyes closed, a serene smile graced Wanda's face. She concentrated, allowing her own powers to flow through her, and extended her thoughts toward you. With a gentle touch of her mind, she created a bridge between your thoughts, a telepathic connection unique to you.

"Now, detka," Wanda whispered, "I want you to think of something you want to tell me, but without saying it out loud. Just focus on the feeling and the words in your mind."

Your brows furrowed and your face scrunched in concentration, your little face reflecting the effort of trying to convey your thoughts through this newfound connection. Wanda could feel your tiny mind reaching out tentatively, like a fragile thread stretching between the two of you.

With each passing moment, the connection grew stronger, and soon your eyes fluttered open, revealing a mixture of surprise and delight. "Mama, can you hear me?" your innocent voice echoed softly between your minds, blending with the quiet hum of the room.

Wanda's heart swelled with joy as she nodded, her eyes shimmering with pride. "Yes, dorogoy, I can hear you!" she exclaimed, "Our thoughts are connected now, and no matter where we are, we can talk to each other like this. Whenever you need me, I will be there for you,” she explained.

In that magical moment, your minds intertwined, You two shared a connection that transcended words. With telepathy, you could communicate your deepest thoughts, dreams, and feelings, strengthening the unbreakable bond between mother and child. Perhaps most importantly to you though, you were able to reach Wanda without the confines of distance. 

As you sat there, immersed in your newfound ability, Wanda couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of it all. She knew that this telepathic connection would serve as a source of comfort and reassurance for you, a constant reminder that you were always connected, even when physically apart.

With that, you were content with the decision to attend the science camp. Not only that, but you were excited again. Instead of focusing on the parts that worried you, you were able to shift your focus onto all the exciting things you were bound to learn and discover. Your mind ran wild with outrageous theories, like discovering fossils or trying to figure out the speed of a flamingo by simply racing beside it. 

The first day of camp approached rather quickly. In the days leading up, you would often use your new ability to have silent conversations with Wanda. Sometimes you would do it to practice and make sure that you still could when you needed to, and other times you did it to express feelings and emotions that you had trouble translating into words. 

Wanda and Nat were both there to drop you off on your first day, you were less nervous than they expected you to be which they were grateful for. Now that you were able to contact Wanda you felt safe in exploring new experiences alone, and maybe that's because you never felt alone, because she would always be there for you if you needed. 

The camp was divided into different age groups. The majority of the kids were 4th and 5th graders, but there was a small group of children your age. Wanda and Nat were grateful that you would have enough children to socialize with but not so many that it would seem overwhelming. Hopefully, with the smaller group, it would be easier to make friends. 

In fact, you didn't even get to the classroom before you made your first friend, “Hi, I’m Matthew, what's your name?” you turned to the voice that spoke behind you, “Hi! I’m Y/N” you greeted. “Y/N! Dat’s a cool name! You wike space too? I wove space!” he mentioned as he noticed your shirt that showed a playful astronaut floating in space, holding a slice of pizza in one hand and giving a thumbs-up with the other reading Pizza Planet Explorer, “Wanna be fwreinds?” he asked. 

You were caught off guard by how quickly he spoke and became distracted, but of course, you wanted to make friends and you already had something in common, “Yes, we can be fwreinds, I love space too. My favowite planet is Saturn” you enthusiastically replied. 

“I wike Jupiter da most cuz it’s da biggest,” Matthew responded. 

The two of you sat next to each other throughout the demonstrations and even shared a table at lunch. Wanda had packed you a container of yogurt, sliced strawberries and baby carrots, and some Mini turkey and cheese roll-ups which were basically just a turkey sandwich rolled into bite-sized pieces for easy eating. At the bottom of your lunch box, there was a note that read, 

My Dearest Y/N,

I hope you're having a wonderful day at school! I am so incredibly proud of you. Remember, my little superhero, you have the power to do anything you set your mind to. Each day, you're growing stronger, smarter, and more amazing. I can't wait to hear all about your day when you come home. Keep shining bright, my sunshine.

With all my love,

Mama

You couldn’t help but smile as you attempted to read the note, you still weren’t really able to read but you were able to pick out keywords like love, smarter, amazing, and superhero, so you got the vibe and felt comforted by it, which is all Wanda had hoped for.

 “What’s dat?” Matthew asked as he saw you set the note down next to your baby carrots. “Oh, my mama wrote me a note” you explained. 

“Oh wow, she must really love you,” he stated as he wondered why he never received any notes with his meal. 

“Yea, she does,” you said with a gleaming smile. 

You managed to survive the entire day without contacting Wanda at all. She hoped it was a good sign as she and Nat headed to pick you up. They were made sure to be there 5 minutes before pick-up so that you wouldn’t have to wait, knowing you’d be excited to see them and tell them all about how it went. 

As soon as the door opened for dismissal, you immediately found Wanda’s green eyes and ran full speed with your arms stretched out reaching for a hug. She enveloped tightly you as she lifted you off the ground for a long embrace. The two were happy to see that your face was filled with nothing but joy. 

Wanda continued to carry you as the three of you headed toward the car. Wanda ducked into the driver's seat after getting you settled into your car-seat and Nat took the seat next to you in the back so that she could hear all about your day. 

“Sooo, how was it? Tell us all about it!” Nat insisted. 

“Was so fun! We learned bout uhm- OH! JUPITER HAS A RAINSTORM! And Mafwew said dat if we went to space, der wouldn’t be any noise.” 

“Matthew?” Wanda asked as she caught glimpses of you speaking through her rear view mirror. 

“Yea mama! My new fwiend! He wikes space tew!” you excitedly announced. You went on to tell them all about the things that you learned and how much fun you had with Matthew. Tomorrow couldn't come quick enough. 

“Did they give you any homework?” Nat asked once you had finished. 

“Oh yea, is in my bag” you answered as you showed Nat where it was in your bag. She read over the instructions and mentioned that you could do it right when you got home. The assignment wasn’t anything too difficult, but it sure was time-consuming. 

The project was about energy and showing how much we consume every day. The worksheet was laid out so that all you had to fill in were blocks of color. You were given a piece to plug into your outlets and once you had the item mentioned plugged in, it would show an amount. Then you had to fill in the bubble that corresponded with the range on your outlet. 

Nat and Wanda both helped you through this but you soon became bored and no longer wanted to do it. It was so repetitive and your toys were sitting right there just waiting to be played with. Eventually you got through it without making too much of a fuss and you could finally get on with what you wanted to do, except that didn't last long because before you knew it, Wanda was telling you it was bathtime. 

“But mama, I just stawrted pwlayin” you said somberly. 

Wanda wanted to give you more time to play but it was already getting late and you had to be up early tomorrow, “I know, I’m sorry baby, but it’s late and you need a bath before camp tomorrow.” Without a fight, you reluctantly followed hoping that tomorrow would be better. 

When you arrived home from camp the next day, the same dreaded question was asked, “Do you have any homework today?” You remembered how long and grueling your homework was last night, and instead of showing them the papers that your teacher gave you, today, you simply shook your head. Of course, Nat, the trained super spy, noticed the hesitation in your response as the gears turned in your brain and saw right through you. Deciding that she would look in your bag herself once you all arrive at the compound.

You immediately ran to the common room to play with your toys. Natasha, in the kitchen with Wanda, investigated your bag as Wanda cleaned your lunch box. “No homework huh?” Nat muttered as she held up your papers for Wanda to see. They shared a knowing look as Nat mentioned she would talk to you while Wanda finished cleaning out your lunch. 

Natasha entered the common room, a concerned expression on her face, holding your backpack in her hand. She had a feeling something was off when you claimed there was no homework. She sat down next to you, as you played with your toys.

"Hey, sweetheart," Natasha said gently, placing the bag on the coffee table. "I happened to find something interesting in your backpack. Do you want to explain why you said you didn't have any homework?"

Your eyes widened, realizing you had been caught in your little white lie. You fidgeted with your toys, avoiding Natasha's gaze. "I... I didn't want to do it. It- it takes SOO long, and den I don’t get to play." you admitted. 

Natasha reached out and gently turned your face towards her, meeting your eyes. "Sweetheart, I understand that homework can sometimes feel dull, but it's important to be honest with us. We're here to help and support you, but we need to know what's going on."

Wanda entered the room once your bag was all cleaned. Sensing the tension, she knelt down beside Natasha and spoke in a reassuring tone. "Y/N, we want you to succeed in everything you do. And that includes being honest, even when it's hard. We're a family, and families trust and support each other."

A family. 

Natasha noticed the term and felt elated that she was included in the phrase. The three of you were a family. It didn’t matter whether Wanda and Nat were best friends, or something more than that; the three of you were family. You felt their endless love, even if they hadn’t figured out that part of that love lay within each other. 

Your lower lip quivered, realizing the weight of your actions. "I'm sorry, Natty. I didn't mean to lie."

Natasha's expression softened, and she pulled you into a comforting hug. "It's okay, sweetheart. We all make mistakes, and the important thing is to learn from them. Let's work on being honest with each other, alright?"

Wanda joined the hug, enveloping you both in her warm embrace. "We love you, Y/N, no matter what. And we're here to help you with your homework too. It doesn't have to be boring. We can find fun and creative ways to learn together."

You sniffled, feeling a mix of relief and remorse. They were right. Lying wasn't the solution, and you knew deep down that they were always there to support her. You nodded, determined to make things right.

“It can be fun?” you wondered how they planned to turn such a mundane task into something, fun.

“We can turn it into a special challenge!" Nat chimed in

You looked up, curious about the proposal. "A challenge?"

Wanda chimed back in, joining the conversation. "That's right, sweetheart! We'll create a reward system for each task you complete. Once you finish your homework, we can all have a movie night or make your favorite dessert together."

Your eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? We can have a movie night?"

Natasha nodded. "Absolutely! But first, we need to get those homework assignments done. Let's break it down into smaller tasks, so it feels less overwhelming. We'll be right here with you, cheering you on."

Wanda took your hand and sat beside you at the table. Nat and Wanda each took turns reading different questions out for you. 

With their gentle encouragement and the promise of a fun reward, you felt motivated. They both stayed by your side, offering guidance and praise as you worked through each task. They made the process enjoyable by adding some playful moments and even turning math problems into little games.

As you completed each question, you couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. With every finished task, you grew more confident and proud of yourself. By the time you completed your last assignment, you practically beamed with joy. Almost as if homework was just as fun as playtime with your toys. 

Natasha and Wanda gathered around you, excitedly applauding your efforts. "Great job, Y/N! You did it!" Natasha exclaimed.

Wanda hugged you tightly. "We're so proud of you, sweetheart."

You grinned, feeling a sense of pride and happiness wash over you. With your two favorite people by your side, even homework could turn into an adventure filled with love and support; and as promised, you all enjoyed a delightful movie night, celebrating your achievements. You had shocked both Wanda and Nat with your choice of movie for the night, Planet 51, purely because it was something other than Frozen. 

For the rest of the week, Natasha and Wanda made it a point to create a positive and engaging homework routine for you. They turned studying into a fun activity, incorporating games, rewards, and plenty of encouragement. You learned that honesty and open communication were far more rewarding than any short-lived escape from homework.

Together, you tackled assignments, explored new concepts, and celebrated each milestone. You discovered that learning could be an exciting journey, especially when shared with your favorite people.

//

A few days later, the aroma of a freshly cooked meal wafted through the air of the kitchen, tempting your taste buds and filling the room with mouthwatering scents as you sat patiently at the table. Once Wanda had begun serving up plates of food, you noticed that the meal was something that you had no interest in eating. Your once adventurous appetite had transformed into a discerning palate, making mealtime a challenge for your loving guardians, Natasha and Wanda. 

"Come on, Y/N," Natasha coaxed, her voice gentle but firm. "You need to eat your vegetables. They'll make you strong like a superhero."

Your bottom lip jutted out, and you crossed her arms, proclaiming, "I don't like vegables, Natty!"

Wanda, with her patient demeanor, joined in, her voice filled with warmth. "But sweetheart, vegetables have magical powers! They can give you energy to run fast like-" Wanda abruptly cut her sentence short at the sudden realization that you had never met her brother. Pietro never had the chance to become an uncle before his life was tragically taken from her, him. She struggled to come up with a new comparison, as her mind was scrambling to revive her sentence. Nat immediately picked up on Wanda’s distress and quickly put a reassuring hand on Wanda’s shoulder as she took over, “They can make you strong like Mr. Bucky and Peter,” Nat concluded. 

The presence of Nat’s hand on her shoulder quelled Wanda’s mind from running in circles trying to backpedal as she focused on the way it felt to have Nat soothingly move her hand from her shoulder to her back in a messy circular motion, subconsciously leaning into her ever so slightly.

You glanced skeptically at the colorful array of vegetables on your plate. "Really?"

Natasha nodded, a playful sparkle in her eyes. "Absolutely! And if you eat your vegetables, you might even develop some superpowers of your own."

You carried the skepticism into your look back to Nat, “I alweady hab powers!” You said as you called her out. 

Nat’s eyes widened ever so slightly as she remembered that little detail but you didn’t catch the slight crack in her resolve. She was so used to treating you like a kid, like a normal kid, that she began to suppress the fact that you are in fact enhanced yourself, “New ones,” she responded as she covered up her slight oversight.

Wanda smiled as she watched the interaction, her voice filled with excitement. "Perhaps you'll develop the power to talk to animals or create beautiful flowers with just a wave of your hand."

Your imagination ignited, and you tentatively reached for a small piece of broccoli, eyeing it with newfound intrigue. Hesitantly taking a bite, to your surprise, a burst of flavor danced on your tongue.

"Yummy!," You exclaimed, a hint of both shock and amazement in your voice.

Natasha and Wanda exchanged triumphant glances, their plan unfolding successfully. They knew that sometimes a dash of imagination and a sprinkle of superhero magic were all it took to conquer a picky eater's heart.

Encouraged by your enthusiasm, Natasha and Wanda continued to weave tales of vegetable-powered adventures, turning each bite into a step closer to unlocking extraordinary powers. With every vegetable conquered, your confidence grew, and soon the plate was empty—a victorious battle won against the picky eater dilemma.

As you savored the last bite, you looked up at Natasha and Wanda, a bright smile lighting up your face. "I did it! I ate all my vegebles, just wike a real superhero!"

Natasha and Wanda shared a proud glance, their hearts brimming with joy. Together, they celebrated the triumph of a small victory, knowing that love, creativity, and a touch of superhero magic had transformed a picky eater into a courageous little hero.

Taglist: @mymommawanda@livslifeonline@reggierizzoli@mythixmagic@lesbicentism@marvelogic@katethewriter @inluvwithfictionalwomen @spooky-reader1 @marvelogic ​@kissforvoid

[cheerscoops]

Wherever You Point To I’ll Find ~ Steve Harrington x Chrissy Cunningham

Nobody expected a budding romance between Steve and Chrissy when they were invited on this graduation road trip. But, as the two spend more and more time together away from the pressures their families, they just might find that they’re the perfect match.

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Tags: modern au, road trip, mutual pining, fluff, angst, discussion of mental health and body issues, eventual smut, adult themes and swearing throughout

Word Count: 16.1k

A/N: tumblr gave me hell trying to get this posted, so hopefully it goes up this time

Anyway, this chapter brings the story to just under 50k, and I still have 6 more chapters to go. It's wild to me that I've already written that much about these two, and that number is going to more than double before I'm done. Thanks for following along with this story so far!

After giving Steve an ample amount of time to look around the shack, the group was back on the road. They stopped for pizza on the way and ended up making it to Myrtle Beach before it was too late. The only snag in their plan was the fact that most hotels in the area seemed to be fully booked for the night.

“Check this motel up here,” Nancy said as Steve started to turn into the next parking lot. “I’m sure they’ll have vacancies if nothing else. I can’t believe I forgot to book a hotel sooner."

As soon as Steve put the car in park, Nancy hopped out to go check and see if they had any vacancies. There was no reason for them all to get out of the car if they weren't going to be staying there. They waited as Nancy talked to the clerk for a few minutes, and soon she was jogging back to their car.

"So, the good news is that we have a place to sleep tonight."

"And the bad news?" Eddie asked.

"They only had one room left, so we're all going to have to share. But there are two beds, so Chrissy and I can share one, and you and Steve can share the other. It's either that or we all sleep in this car."

"I think the four of us can manage to share a room with no issues," Steve said. "It's better than sleeping in the car."

"Or camping again," Chrissy added.

"Definitely better than camping."

"Then it's settled. I'll go grab the room key, and then we can get ourselves situated."

The beds in the room were a little bit smaller than they would have liked considering they were sharing, but they could make do. They all took turns using the bathroom to get ready for bed, and Chrissy tried not to freak out about having to share a room with Steve. She didn't know why she was so on edge about it. It wasn't like she had to share a bed with him or anything like that. 

But then he came out of the bathroom without a shirt on, and she had to force herself not to stare. Honestly, it should have been illegal for him to walk around like that. He wasn't allowed to have this kind of effect on her. It wasn't fair.

She tried to busy herself with fluffing up her pillows, but it didn’t help that she and Steve had both chosen the sides of the bed that were next to the end table shared between the two. If she really wanted to, she could have reached out and touched him.

Despite the fact that she'd slept on the ground the night before, she had slept surprisingly well, and she was attributing that to sleeping next to Steve. She felt so safe with him, and now her mind was wandering towards how nice it might have been to share one of these beds with him. She could snuggle up next to him, and maybe he'd wrap his arms around her and hold her close. She'd fall asleep feeling protected, and she'd wake up to another one of his sleepy smiles. Maybe even a good morning kiss.

No. She wasn't allowed to have those thoughts. There was nothing between them no matter how much she might have liked that. She still didn't know why he'd been so upset with her when she showed up at his tent, and there was no way he was interested in her if he was that cold towards her. He'd only let her stay with him because she was scared, and he was too nice to turn her away even though her very presence annoyed him. That was the only logical reason why he put up with her. Why anyone put up with her really.

She pushed those thoughts away and rolled over so her back was to Steve. Maybe if he wasn't in her line of sight, she could fall asleep without thinking about how nice it would be to be his.

***

When she woke up the next morning, Chrissy felt awful. Not because she'd slept poorly. She'd surprisingly gotten a decent amount of sleep despite feeling like she was freezing from the way that the room's air conditioning was blasting and being afraid that she was going to invade Nancy's side of the bed.

No, she woke up feeling horrible because it finally dawned on her that she was going to be expected to wear a swimsuit and show off her body in public. She hadn’t been sticking to the carefully formulated diet her mother dictated for her, and everyone was going to notice how horrible she was certain she looked now because of that.

As everyone took turns using the bathroom to get ready for the day, Chrissy sat on her bed completely zoned out. There was no way she could go through with a beach day. She’d feel awful and exposed the entire time, and she knew she wouldn’t enjoy herself. However, she also knew that this wasn’t her trip. She was just along for the ride, and she felt like she had no right to dictate what they did when everyone else was really looking forward to their beach days. She thought that maybe she could say she wasn’t feeling well and opt to stay back at the hotel for the day, but she knew that would never work. She knew her best friend, and she knew that if she said that she was staying back at the hotel for the day, he’d give up his day to keep her company. Or, even worse, he’d convince everybody else to stay with her, too, and she’d effectively ruin this trip for everyone. She’d just have to suck it up and go to the beach with everyone else. Maybe she wouldn’t even look as bad as she thought she would, and then all of this worrying would be for nothing.

When it was finally her turn to use the bathroom, she gathered her belongings and locked herself inside to change. When she got a look at herself in the mirror, that ever present gnawing feeling in her chest only grew stronger. Normally, she loved her high-waisted bikini because she felt like it covered her problem areas nicely, but today was different. She thought she looked so bloated, and she knew it was because she’d eaten nothing but junk food the day before. She’d been trying to eat mostly healthy options on the trip so far, but the day before had been filled with fast food. Fat and salt and grease and all the things she was supposed to be avoiding if she wanted to be the perfect girl that she was expected to be. She’d ruined everything with her lack of self-control, and she could hear her mother’s voice repeating I told you so over and over and over in her ear.

It was then that she decided that she wasn’t taking her coverup off for the entire day. She’d sit there in her oversized t-shirt and shorts and watch everyone else enjoy the water. She couldn’t let anyone look at her, or she’d feel even worse about herself and the choices she’d made that led her to this point.

While Chrissy was struggling to get her t-shirt to drape just right to hide her body, Nancy was starting to get impatient back in the room.

“I’m going to head down to the car,” she said as she grabbed her beach bag. “We need to leave soon if we want to have any hope of finding a decent parking space. Just head out to meet me when she’s done, okay?”

Steve knew that Nancy wasn’t going to be okay with waiting very long. She was a stickler when it came to the schedule she’d made for their trip, and she wasn’t going to be happy if they had to park too far away and then walk the extra distance back when they were exhausted after a long beach day. He didn't want to make Chrissy feel rushed, but he knew that Nancy was going to start complaining about their schedule being thrown off if they didn't leave for the beach soon. So he tried to make his urging seem lighthearted.

“C'mon, Chrissy,” he said, throwing on his Kermit the frog impression. “We've gotta get moving right along.”

Chrissy was immediately pulled away from her self-loathing thoughts as she whipped out of the bathroom.

“I can't believe you told him,” she said, glaring at Eddie. “You promised you wouldn't say anything.”

“Tell me what?” Steve asked.

“I didn't say anything,” Eddie replied.

“Oh yeah? Then why did he do that?”

“Tell me what?” Steve asked again.

“I didn't say anything,” Eddie repeated, ignoring Steve again. “He's just like that.”

“Oh.” Chrissy got very quiet and stared at the floor.

“Can someone please fill me in on what's happening?” Steve asked.

“Do you want to tell him, or should I?” Eddie asked.

“It's silly and embarrassing,” she said, avoiding making eye contact with Steve. “I'm just a really big fan of the Muppets.”

“Why is that embarrassing?”

“I don't know. It just feels childish for them to be my favorites, I guess.”

“Well, I don't think it's childish. The Muppets are cool,” he tried to reassure her.

“You're making fun of me.” The pit in her stomach grew, and she couldn't help but feel so small. This was why she didn't tell people about this part of her personality. As soon as anyone found out she loved the Muppets, she instantly became a joke in their eyes.

“I promise I'm not making fun of you,” he told her. “There's nothing for you to be embarrassed about.”

“Really?” 

She finally looked up from the ground, and Steve was smiling at her. Not a mocking smirk like she'd feared, but a kind one. A smile that said whatever opinions he had of her hadn't been changed by what she'd just told him.

“Really. I mean who doesn't like the Muppets?”

A wave of relief washed over her, but it was short-lived because Eddie was incapable of letting her hold on to a single shred of her dignity.

“She sleeps snuggled up with a Fozzie Bear plushie,” he said before racing out the door to meet Nancy down at the car.

“Do you think Nancy would be upset if I drowned her boyfriend?”

“You're really that embarrassed by still having a stuffed animal? Even though I've given you two of them in the past week?”

“Fozzie is different. A gift from a cute boy is very different from a stuffie that I've had since I was a little kid. Nobody will take me seriously if they know I still take comfort from a stuffed animal.”

What she wanted to say was that no one would find her attractive if they knew about Fozzie, but saying that would mean admitting out loud that she wanted Steve to be attracted to her, and she couldn't bring herself to do that just yet. Especially on a day like today where she knew she was the opposite of desirable.

He chose to ignore the fact that she'd called him cute. As much as he would have loved to tease her for that, he could tell that wasn't what she needed right now. He didn't want to risk her going quiet on him again, and he was pretty sure that's where she was headed if he didn't do something.

“Can I let you in on a secret?” he asked as he closed the gap between them.

She nodded and looked up at him.

“I still have the stuffie that I slept with as a baby.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I mean, I don't sleep with it anymore or anything like that, but I've kept it safe and hidden through multiple cleanings by random people my mom hired to clear the useless clutter out of the house. Sentimental reasons and all of that. So, I get it. I'm not going to make you feel bad for having an attachment to a childhood toy. I think it's normal, and if it makes you happy, there's nothing wrong with that.”

“Thank you.”

“You're welcome. I need you to keep that information to yourself though. Not even Robin knows about it, and I'd like to keep it that way.”

“I think I could be persuaded to keep that secret for you. Unlike Eddie, I don't spill secrets for fun.”

“Go easy on him, okay? He might have been the one to bring up Fozzie, but it was kind of your fault he had the opportunity in the first place when you really think about it.”

“I guess so. He's lucky I love him, or I really would drown him.” She beamed up at Steve. “So, what kind of animal is it?”

“That's classified information.”

“Come on. You know about Fozzie. It's only fair.”

“Sorry, Chrissy. I've given you all the info about it that you're gonna get. Now grab your bag and head out to the car before Nancy comes back in here and drags us out.”

“So bossy,” she teased.

Steve reached out to pinch at her hip, but she dodged him as she grabbed her beach bag off the bed. She stuck her tongue out at him before racing out the door and heading towards the car with him following close behind her.

The ride to the beach passed without incident, and they still managed to get a decent parking space, so Nancy was pleased. Everything was perfectly fine until they'd set up their spot on the beach.

Chrissy may have solved the issue of not wanting to expose her body that day, but she'd conveniently forgotten that that didn't mean everyone else would be staying covered up as well. That fact was made all too apparent when a shirtless Steve approached her with a bottle of sunscreen.

“Would you mind helping me get my back?” he asked as he handed her the bottle.

“Yeah. Sure. No problem.”

He turned around so that his back was to her, and she had to stop herself from falling over. She'd seen him without a shirt on before. Just a few brief times during the trip and only before she looked away out of embarrassment. Those few brief moments hadn't prepared her for this.

She knew he was fit, and that was even more obvious as her hands ran up and down the length of his back to work the sunscreen into his skin. Actually feeling his muscles under her fingertips was almost too much for her.

But the thing that truly made her blush was how fixated she was on the freckles and moles that dotted his skin. This man was a mosaic, and she wanted to sit and count them all.

She couldn't do that though. If she took too long doing this, it would be weird, and he'd be uncomfortable around her, which was the last thing she wanted. So, she rubbed the last bit into his lower back before dropping her hands away completely.

“Okay. You're all set.”

He turned back around to face her and took the bottle that she'd offered back to him. She hoped he didn't notice the blush that she was certain was now gracing her cheeks, and if he did notice, she hoped he'd think that maybe she was only a little sun-kissed already.

“I can get your back for you, if you want,” he offered.

“Oh, you don't need to do that. I'm not going out in the sun anytime soon. I was just planning on staying here under the umbrella for a little while.”

“You're not going to get in the water?”

“I'm not really a beach person,” she said with a small shrug. That was a lie, of course, but it was necessary. She needed a reason to explain why she wasn't taking off her clothes, and that was as good as anything else.

“Why didn't you say something sooner?”

“I didn't feel like it was my place to object to a multi-day, already planned portion of the trip. But seriously, don't worry about me. I'm happy to just hang out in the shade.”

“Do you want me to sit out with you? Keep you company?”

“You don't have to do that. Go have fun with Eddie and Nancy. Maybe I'll come hangout with you guys in a little bit, okay?”

“If you're sure. I don't want you to be bored over here by yourself.”

“I'll be fine. I promise. Don't worry about me.”

He left her to make herself comfortable in the shade of their beach umbrella, but he would have been lying to himself if he said he wasn't a little worried about her. He thought she'd seemed excited about the beach when they'd talked about this portion of the trip in the days leading up to it, and now she was isolating herself from the rest of them. 

He didn't want to dwell on it too much, but he kept finding himself glancing back towards where she was sitting. She looked fine though, so he told himself that she was just having an off day.

But then she didn't eat lunch. When everyone else was ready for food, she told them that she wasn't hungry just yet, but they didn't need to wait for her. He'd offered her some of his fries anyway, and she'd looked at them as if he'd just offered her a mouthful of sand. He didn't press the issue, but it worried him more than her sitting out all morning did.

He didn't know why he cared so much when he was still feeling somewhat hurt about the way she'd reacted when she found him reading. He shouldn't have cared if this girl who judged him was choosing to avoid having fun with her friends or skipping meals, but he did. And the more she kept to herself and gave flimsy excuses, the more he felt the urge to make sure she was okay.

When everyone else was ready for dinner, she claimed that she'd eaten a late lunch, so she wasn't hungry, and Steve's concern for her only grew. He'd tried to be subtle about it, but he'd spent the better part of the afternoon keeping an eye on her after she'd declined joining them for a swim. Other than a trip to the restrooms, he didn't think he'd seen her leave her spot under the umbrella once. Maybe she'd gotten a snack at some point, but he doubted it. Something was seriously wrong with Chrissy, and he didn't know how to fix it. He didn't know if she'd even want him to fix it. He just knew he had to do something.

When the sun was just about to set, Nancy and Eddie wandered off to have a private moment together leaving Steve with the perfect opportunity to try to find out what was wrong. He approached her with two rocket pops that he'd purchased from a nearby ice cream cart, and he offered her one as he moved to sit down next to her.

“I'm really hoping you like rocket pops,” he told her as he handed her the treat. “I wasn't sure what flavor you'd choose, and I always got these as a kid because I was really indecisive, and they're three different flavors, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with this one, you know?”

With the sun setting, the breeze seemed especially cool, and he noticed that she was shivering a little as she hugged her knees to her chest. Before she could say anything about the popsicle he'd given her, he turned around and grabbed his windbreaker from where he'd tossed it that morning. He draped it around Chrissy's shoulders and gave them a little squeeze.

“That sea breeze is no joke,” he said as he offered up a small smile.

That was somehow the wrong thing for him to say because the next thing he knew, Chrissy was crying. This was the last thing he wanted to happen, and he was struggling to figure out what he could do for her.

His struggle was short-lived because Chrissy spoke up.

“Why are you so nice to me?” she asked. She was avoiding making eye contact with him, choosing to stare at the popsicle instead.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what is all this?” she asked as she wiped at her eyes with the back of her free hand. “The popsicle and the jacket. The plushies. Making me feel safe when I was scared and reassuring me whenever I'm upset about something. I've been racking my brain, and I can't understand why anyone would be so nice to me. And I know you said that sometimes people are nice just because they want to be, but I don't deserve that kindness. I don't.”

If he didn't think she'd brush him off, he'd pull her closer to him and hold her until she stopped crying. This was obviously something that he couldn't fix with a popsicle and a smile.

“Who made you think that you don't deserve to be treated with kindness?”

Chrissy shook her head and wiped at her eyes again.

“That's okay,” he told her. “We can just sit here quietly. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to.”

So, they sat in silence. She waited until it had started to melt a little bit, but Chrissy did eat her popsicle. Steve wasn't counting that as a win though. Not when she was still so upset and shutting down on him. Not when he could still hear the occasional sniffle coming from her direction.

Once the sun had almost completely set, Chrissy started to feel braver. Maybe it was because Steve had sat with her while she cried and hadn't tried to force her to speak or maybe it was because she felt more hidden without the sun beating down on them - she just knew that, for the first time, she wasn't afraid to tell someone what was going on in her head.

“My mother,” she said, breaking the silence.

“What?”

“You asked me who made me think I didn't deserve to be treated with kindness, and I'm giving you an answer. I don’t talk about this with anybody because it’s not exactly the easiest thing in the world for me, but I don’t have the best relationship with my mom. I’ve always been the family disappointment, and nothing I do is ever good enough in her eyes.”

“I find it really hard to believe that a girl like you could be the family disappointment,” he told her. “You’re perfect.”

Chrissy huffed out a laugh.

“That’s because I have to be. Perfect, I mean. And I thought that maybe not being around her during this trip would help, but I can hear her telling me what a failure I am every time I do something that she wouldn’t approve of, and it’s actively ruining this trip for me. I usually love the beach, but I sat out today and punished myself for my bad eating habits because I could hear her telling me that it was obvious I’d gone off my diet and that everyone was going to stare at me because of how horrible I looked. Even now, I can hear her saying how foolish it was for me to waste calories on a treat when I’ve already done so much damage to myself with all of the junk I’ve been eating on this trip so far.

“She’d be furious if she ever found out that I was badmouthing her, but right now, I don’t care. The other day, you asked me why I never sing, and that’s her fault, too. I’ve wanted to be in musicals for as long as I can remember. I love them. I love the way that they make me feel, and I wanted nothing more than to provide other people with that same feeling. But then I was eleven, and I was singing along to whatever musical it was that I was obsessed with at the time, and my mother came in my room specifically to tell me that I had a very unpleasant voice, and I needed to stop doing that because it was never going to get me anywhere. So I did.

“I did everything she told me to. I joined cheerleading because she said that was something that I was better skilled for. I dated the boy that she wanted me to date. I became friends with the people that she wanted me to be friends with, and now pretty much all of them don’t even talk to me anymore because they sided with that boy during our breakup. The only thing I haven’t gone along with is cutting Eddie out of my life. I’d be a truly miserable person without him, and I won’t let her take him away from me, too.

“It’s like she’ll never be happy if I’m not miserable though. She picks and she picks and she picks until I feel so small that I just go along with whatever she says because that’s easier than standing up for myself while she takes away everything that has the potential to make me happy. And even if I do everything that she wants, I’ll never be good enough for her. She’ll never be proud of me.”

Chrissy hugged her knees closer to her chest and willed herself not to cry anymore. Letting all of that out had felt good in the moment, but now she was embarrassed that she’d word vomited on Steve and let him see through the cracks of the imperfect mask she wore.

“I’m sorry,” she told him. “I don’t talk about this with anybody, and I just dumped all of that on you. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s clearly something you needed to get out, and I’m glad I could be here for you.”

“Thank you.”

He might have seemed calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside, he could feel the anger building in his chest. Chrissy deserved better than that, and he had no way of fixing this. He didn’t know if it was something that really could be fixed.

But he understood how she felt. Her situation was different from his, but it pained him how much he related to her. So, while he couldn’t fix the hurt that she was feeling, maybe he could show her that she wasn’t alone.

“You know, your mom’s voice will get quieter eventually,” he told her. “Once you’re spending less time with her and more time with people who care about you and see the best in you.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because you and I are more alike than you think.”

He smiled at her, but she could tell there was something sort of bittersweet to it. There was a sadness in his eyes even though he was very clearly trying to be positive for her benefit.

“You know how I had that job at Scoops Ahoy?”

She nodded.

“Well, it wasn't exactly my decision to work there.”

“How does that have anything to do with the way my mother talks to me?”

“My dad and I have never exactly seen eye to eye about who I should be and what I should be doing with my life. I'm the family disappointment, too. I grew up knowing that I was never going to be good enough to be the man that he expected me to be. That's just how it was in my house, you know? I was always a problem because I didn't anticipate exactly what he wanted. Being on the basketball team or the swim team wasn't good enough unless I was the captain and did the best or the most in every single game. And even then, I still wasn't good enough. I could have scored the game winning point, and he would have complained that we didn't win by enough, which was obviously my fault because I didn't score enough. Stupid stuff like that.

“So when I graduated high school with mediocre grades and didn't get into a single college, I figured he was going to be even worse than normal. By then, I'd gotten pretty used to tuning him out, but it still hurt. It still sucked to hear nothing but negativity from him. He didn't say anything about it though. Just hung up the phone when I called to tell him since he and mom were on one of their long business trips at the time. That almost hurt worse. Yelling and belittling me? I can handle that. I was used to that. But him being so angry that he couldn't even speak? That was a whole new level.

“When they got home, the house wasn't up to their standards,” he huffed out a laugh. “It's so stupid to me now that it's almost funny. It wasn't even messy. I hadn't put the recycling in the garage, and there was a basket of laundry I hadn't folded yet in the kitchen. Maybe I'd left a towel on the floor or something, too. I don't really remember. I just know that he acted like I'd burnt the house to the ground instead of it actually looking a little lived in for once. He went on this tirade about how me not getting into college didn't mean that I could sit around the house doing nothing all day and wasting his hard-earned money. Told me that I didn't realize how good I had it and that it was about time for me to get a job and develop a real work ethic. Which is so stupid because I'd worked the past three summers as a lifeguard at the community pool, I was babysitting pretty regularly, and I was already actively looking for a job. I just hadn't found something yet. He didn't know any of that though. That would have required him to actually be present or to talk to me about something other than what a failure I am.

“Anyway, he made me apply for every single open job in Hawkins - even ones that I was in no way qualified for - and he made me put him down as a reference on every single one. That way he could bad mouth me to everyone who was interested in hiring me. He decided that the Scoops Ahoy uniform was humiliating enough, and that's why I ended up working there for the last year.”

“I'm so sorry,” she told him. “That sounds awful.”

“It wasn't all bad,” he said with a shrug. “I mean, the sailor uniform was awful, but at least it was comfortable. And I got to spend the year working with my best friend instead of in a boring office job with a bunch of mindless drones who kiss my dad's ass. The job was more for the humiliation than anything else, and he didn’t kick me out or cut me off, so I was able to save pretty much everything I made, so I'll eventually be able to move out and get my own place without using any of his money to do it. I'm glad that I never have to put in another shift there, but I don't hate that I had the experience.”

“Silver linings?” she asked.

“I guess so.”

There was more he wanted to say to her. Needed to say to her really. He was just afraid that he’d hurt her when she was already so vulnerable. It had to be said though, so he took a deep breath and huffed out a sigh before speaking again.

“The worst part about it was that I felt like I deserved it,” he started. “My dad has been telling me that I’m too stupid to make something of myself since I was old enough to understand what he was telling me. I was too stupid to get into college, so I was too stupid to work at his company or do any kind of job that wasn’t completely mindless. The only thing I was smart enough to do was scoop ice cream. I still struggle with the lasting effects of my dad’s words, so I know that what you’re dealing with isn’t easy. But, when I’m surrounded by the people I care about, my dad’s voice disappears. It gets a little easier to tell myself that I’m better than that.

“That’s why it hurt so much when you were surprised that I was reading. I’m used to my dad and people who don’t know me or have made assumptions about me thinking I’m dumb. ‘Of course, Steve Harrington can’t read. He’s just a dumb jock. He probably doesn’t even know what books are.’ But I thought that you and I had really been connecting with each other. That you’d seen past all of that and I could be real with you. So, it really stung knowing that you saw me as that stupid, and it reinforced the fact that maybe there is a little bit of truth to everything my dad has said over the years.”

Chrissy’s heart sank. None of that was true. She’d never once thought he was stupid, and she couldn’t let him think that about himself. She scooted closer to him on the blanket and grabbed one of his hands, gripping it tightly in her own.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “So, so incredibly sorry. I don’t think you’re stupid at all, and I’m sorry that I did something or reacted in some way that made you feel like you were. That was never my intention, and I would never purposely do something to make you feel bad about yourself. I will admit that I was surprised to find you reading, but not for the reasons you thought I was. Never for those reasons.”

Steve avoided looking at Chrissy and instead stared at where she was holding his hand.

“Why were you surprised then? If you don't mind me asking.”

“You’re just so different from what I expected,” she admitted. “I may not have officially met you until this trip, but it was hard not to hear stories about the King of Hawkins High just like I’m sure you heard plenty of stories about me. You’re so different from the person that I was led to believe you were, and the Steve that I’d heard so much about didn’t seem like a reader. Not because of how smart you hypothetically were or weren’t but because that just didn’t seem like a hobby you’d enjoy. But I think it's wonderful that you're a reader. I loved getting to see a side of you that not many other people have gotten to see, and I hope I didn’t ruin whatever connection we had. I would hate it if we couldn't be open with each other anymore because of something I did.

“And, for the record, there are a lot of things that are far more important than being the smartest person in the room. You're funny, you're so incredibly kind, and you care about people with your whole heart. I mean, just look at how much time you've spent taking pictures of a squirrel figurine just because you know how happy it's going to make your friend. You're so selfless, and I see you putting everyone else's needs above your own constantly. You've been doing that with me this whole trip.

“I know I haven't known you for very long, but anyone who spends five minutes with you can see that you're the very best kind of person, and your dad is a fucking idiot if he can't realize that.”

Steve was quiet for a moment. Partially because of how touched he was by what Chrissy had said and partially because he was pretty sure the strongest curse word he'd heard her say so far was “darn,” so he hadn't been expecting such a forceful statement from her.

“Thank you,” he finally said as he gave her hand a small squeeze. “Now, you say the same thing about your mom.”

She shook her head.

“I can't.”

“Yes, you can. Your mom is clearly a fucking idiot if she can't see that you're perfect just the way you are. I know it, and you know it. You just gotta get up and say it.”

She hesitated and bit her lower lip before shaking her head again.

“I really can't.”

“C'mon,” he said as he poked at her side with his free hand, smirking when she giggled and tried fidgeting away from him a little. “You'll feel so much better if you get up and yell it. She'll never find out because she's not here to hear you say it, and I'll hold your hand the entire time if you want.”

He moved to stand and then offered her his hand to help her up. She let him pull her to her feet, and soon they were standing together hand in hand.

“I'm right here,” he told her, giving her hand a small squeeze. “You don't have to do this alone.”

Chrissy nodded and took a deep breath as she turned to face the shoreline. She could do this. She knew she could do this. With Steve by her side, she could do anything. Everything would be okay.

“My mother is a fucking idiot!” she yelled out at the horizon. Her eyes went wide, and she covered her mouth with her free hand. She was silent for a moment, but when she moved her hand away, Steve could see that it had been hiding the largest smile.

“I did it. I can't believe I did it,” she said as she turned to face him.

“You did.”

Chrissy dropped Steve's hand before practically leaping at him to wrap her arms around his neck. He caught her and wrapped his arms around her waist, but the force of her body colliding with his knocked him off balance on the uneven ground, and soon they were falling backwards into the sand. He landed flat on his back with her directly on top of him, and after the shock wore off, they both dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“I'm so sorry,” she said through her laughter. “I didn't hurt you, did I?”

“I'm okay. Are you?”

“Never better.”

Neither of them made any moves to get up or separate their bodies from each other. One of his hands was resting against the small of her back, and she felt so seen as he looked into her eyes. With their bodies pressed together like that, she could feel his chest moving with every breath he took, and she was certain that he could feel the way her heart was pounding against her ribcage. If there was ever a moment for her to kiss him and finally express that she was interested in him the way that she hoped he was interested in her, now was the time. She just had to make her move.

He reached up to brush her hair back behind her ear as she leaned in, and just as their lips were about to touch -

“Chrissy! Steve!” Eddie called out, effectively ruining their moment.

Steve cursed internally as Chrissy immediately moved off of him and tried to put a little distance between their bodies. Eddie had the worst timing in the world.

Steve tore his gaze away from where Chrissy was now hiding her face behind one of the sleeves of his jacket and looked over at Eddie who was carrying a very sleepy-looking Nancy on his back.

“Are you guys ready to head back to the motel?” he asked. “Nance is falling asleep on me, and I'm probably next.”

“Yeah, we can go,” Steve replied. “Just gotta pack up our umbrella and blanket first.”

“You good, Chrissy?” Eddie asked, finally noticing the way she seemed to be trying to get that jacket to swallow her whole.

“I'm fine,” she said without looking up at him. “Perfectly fine.”

Truthfully, she couldn't have been more embarrassed if she tried. She'd been about to kiss Steve after insisting that they were just friends, and now Eddie was never going to let her live it down. And the worst part was that she didn't even get to kiss him. They didn't kiss, the moment had passed, and she was afraid she'd never get the courage to be so bold again. Maybe, if she was lucky, Steve would take charge and be the one to kiss her, but she was afraid that their one perfect moment had passed them by to never be recreated again.

She tried not to dwell on that too much, but it was the only thing she could think of on the drive back to the motel, and it was the only thing she could think of as she waited for everyone else to be done with the bathroom so she could take a shower. That thought was surely going to consume her.

While Chrissy was in the shower, Steve headed out to attempt to find a vending machine so he could get them all a drink. Once he was gone, Eddie flopped over next to Nancy on her bed.

“Eddie, no,” Nancy groaned. “You'll fall asleep.”

“I won't,” he insisted even though his voice was barely loud enough for her to hear him.

“You will. And then where will Chrissy sleep?”

“She can sleep here, too. I don't mind.”

“No room. Get in your own bed.”

“Five minutes.” He buried his face in her neck. “I'll get up when she's done. Promise.”

When Chrissy exited the bathroom, Eddie and Nancy were curled up next to each other and fast asleep with him softly snoring as he held her caged in his arms. Chrissy would have thought it was cute if it didn't send her straight into a panic. If Eddie was sleeping in her bed, that meant she was sleeping in his bed. And, if she was sleeping in his bed, that meant she was sharing with Steve. Steve who she would have kissed if they hadn't been interrupted. They were going to be sharing a bed that had barely felt big enough when she was sharing with Nancy, and she was certain it was going to feel ten times smaller when she was laying next to him.

She cautiously sat down on the edge of the bed and tried to make herself seem casual even if her insides were in knots. She was just about to get up and go hide in the bathroom when Steve reentered their room.

“I came out of the bathroom, and they were like that,” she blurted out before he could say anything. She didn't want him to think she'd planned this or encouraged it in any way.

“I had a feeling that might happen,” he admitted. “I didn't expect either of them to be up when I got back, if I'm being honest. I figured Eddie'd at least fall asleep in our bed though.”

“He didn't.”

“No, he did not.”

Steve moved to hand Chrissy one of the water bottles he was carrying before grabbing his pillow off the bed and tossing it on the floor.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Eddie took your spot, so you need a place to sleep. You take my bed. I'm fine on the floor.”

“Oh. I thought we could share.”

Of course, he didn't want to sleep next to her. That was too much for her to expect. He probably hadn't even wanted to kiss her, and she would have made a fool out of herself if they hadn't been interrupted.

“Are you sure?” Steve asked. “It'll be kind of crowded, and I don't want to make you uncomfortable.”

“I'm not letting you sleep on the floor. I think we can manage just fine, don't you?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

He grabbed his pillow off the floor and placed it back on the bed before climbing in and making himself comfortable. She followed his lead and climbed into the bed next to him after turning off the lights, but she tried to keep as much space between them as humanly possible. He had been worried about her comfort, but she was worried that she'd crowd him too much. She had a bad habit of clinging to anyone or anything that was sharing her bed with her. She could have blamed it on her being afraid when they were sharing the tent, but she'd never forgive herself if she made things even more awkward between them now.

Steve noticed that she was trying to put space between them and failing miserably. He knew what it had to be about because it was the same thing that he couldn't stop thinking about: she'd almost kissed him on that beach. He was sure that's what was about to happen. If they hadn't been interrupted, she would have kissed him, and he would have gotten to tell her how much he'd been wanting to do exactly that.

But that hadn't happened, and now they were in this weird limbo where they didn't know how to talk to each other anymore because that missed moment was hanging over them. He was afraid that the awkwardness building between them wouldn't go away until they'd actually kissed, and that definitely wasn't going to happen tonight. Not when Eddie and Nancy were sleeping in the next bed. But he had to do something so they could both relax.

“So, my Fozzie impression is nowhere near as good as my Kermit,” he said as he rolled over to face her. “But I can give it a shot if you're missing him.”

Chrissy shot up into a sitting position and playfully glared down at him.

“Are you making fun of me?” she asked.

“Oh, no. I would never,” he said with a teasing smirk.

Chrissy gasped and placed a hand over her heart in mock offense. The next thing Steve knew, she'd pounced and was tickling up and down his sides.

“Chrissy!” he sputtered out through his laughter. “Why?”

“C'mon, Steve,” she said as she continued her playful torture. “You wanted to be Fozzie, and Fozzie just loves to laugh.”

He tried to fight her off the best he could, but she was quick, switching spots around his torso whenever he tried to grab at her wiggling fingers, and it was hard for him to anticipate where she'd move next when his eyes were scrunched shut with laughter. She couldn't help but smile and laugh along with him as he flinched whenever she hit an especially sensitive spot.

Her hands traveled lower to squeeze at his hips, and he was finally able to grab ahold of her wrists and pull her hands off of him. His laughter died down, but his smile never left his face as he tried to regain his composure.

“This is adorable. Where else are you ticklish?” she asked, wiggling her fingers in his direction while he kept her hands trapped.

“No more. Please.”

“Can I have my hands back then?”

“Never. You've lost your hand privileges for being evil.”

“I'm a big sister. It comes with the territory,” she said with an innocent smile and a tiny shrug.

“Well, if that's the case, I should probably let you know that as an only child, I don't like losing at anything. Ever. Including tickle fights.”

Before Chrissy could protest, Steve was scrambling to switch their positions, and she was laying flat on her back with him hovering over her. He kept her wrists pinned with one hand and the other hand rested against her side. He made no moves to tickle her yet. Just held her there to build anticipation.

“And what if I said I wasn't ticklish?” she asked.

“I think we both know that would be a lie.”

He punctuated his point with a quick poke to her side in the spot that had her giggling and moving away from him earlier, and he smirked down at her as she bit her lower lip and squirmed in his grasp.

“Steve, we're gonna wake up Eddie and Nancy.”

“You weren't concerned about them at all when I was the one being tickled,” he teased with a flutter of his fingers against her side. “And since I was viciously attacked for offering to do something nice, I think this is only fair.”

He kept his touch teasing and light, just enough to make her start giggling and squirming, tracing patterns on her side with the hand that wasn't pinning her wrists. Truthfully, he just wanted to see her smiling. He wanted to erase any memory of her tears from the beach because he never wanted to see her that sad again. And if playing around like this made her happy, who was he to deny her a little fun?

Once he felt like he'd teased her enough, he released her wrists to make it a fair fight and started tickling up and down her sides much like she'd done to him. Her laughter picked up, but instead of trying to stop his hands like he'd done with her, she tried to tickle him back. She got in a few good pokes, but every time she tried to really get him, he moved to attack an exposed armpit, and soon her arms were retracting to try and protect what he was assuming was her most ticklish spot from the reactions she was giving him.

When he found a spot on her ribs that had her kicking her legs and laughing so hard that she snorted, she tapped out.

“Truce,” she managed to get out through her laughter. “Please.”

“Since you asked so nicely.”

Steve's hands slowed to a stop, but he made no moves to remove them from her sides. He just held her in place as she came down from her giggle high.

“I can't believe I snorted,” she said once she'd caught her breath. “That's so embarrassing.”

She covered her face with her hands.

He really wanted to kiss her.

Instead, he removed his hands from her sides and pulled her hands away from her face.

“I don’t know. I thought it was kinda cute.”

Chrissy was thankful for how dark the room was because she was sure her face was beet red. He couldn't call her cute when her skin was still tingling from the way he'd just had his hands all over her. She wasn't strong enough to handle this.

“We should probably go to sleep,” she told him.

“You're probably right. We've got another big beach day tomorrow.”

“I might even swim this time.”

“I'd really like it if you did.”

Steve rolled over to make himself comfortable, and without him practically on top of her, Chrissy finally realized how cold it was in the room. For such a crappy motel, they were really blasting the air conditioning, and the blankets on the bed just weren't cutting it. She didn't remember being this cold the night before, but she was pretty preoccupied with trying not to obsess over the fact that Steve was sleeping shirtless in the next bed. He was wearing a shirt tonight though, so she no longer had that distraction.

She started to think that maybe she wouldn't be so cold with Steve's arms around her again. All she had to do was get him to cuddle with her. How hard could that be?

“Hey, Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Is your offer to be my Fozzie for the night still on the table?”

God, he really wanted to kiss her.

Steve rolled back over and opened his arms for her, and she scooched over to him. She rested her head on his chest and draped an arm over his waist as she snuggled as close to him as humanly possible. As he wrapped his arms around her in turn, she immediately started to feel a little warmer. He was like a furnace, radiating heat and making her feel more comfortable.

Once she was fully settled against him, he leaned in towards her slightly.

“Wocka wocka,” he said in his best attempt at a Fozzie impression.

Chrissy gasped, and the arm that she had draped around his waist moved to tickle his side again.

“Hey!” he laughed as he grabbed her hand and pulled it away from his body. “I thought we had a truce?”

“My real Fozzie doesn't speak,” she said matter of factly. “He only snuggles.”

“My apologies.”

He gave her hand a little squeeze, but neither of them made any move to let go of the other.

“Goodnight, Steve.”

“Night, Chrissy.”

And so the two drifted off to sleep still holding hands.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Eddie woke up to use the toilet, and when he exited the bathroom, the light illuminated Chrissy and Steve snuggled up together in their sleep. He wasn't sure if he was really seeing it or if it was just a trick of his still half asleep mind. So, instead of turning out the light and going back to bed, he crept closer and took a quick picture of them with his phone. He couldn't guarantee that they'd still be like that in the morning, and he needed proof that this had actually happened to show Nancy once she was awake. It was going to be a lot harder for the two of them to deny that something was happening between them now.

***

When Chrissy woke up the next morning, she was laying on her side with her back pressed up against Steve's chest. His arm was draped over her and holding her close, and as far as she could tell, he was still fast asleep. A quick glance around the room told her that they were alone, but she could hear the shower running, so she assumed at least one of their friends was in the bathroom right now.

Normally, she was a morning person - the kind of morning person who liked to get out of bed and start her day immediately to be exact - but she was content to laze about in bed for the entire day if it meant Steve would keep holding her like that. The longer she stayed laying there the more her thoughts started to turn on her though. Even if he was cuddling her in his sleep, maybe he hadn't wanted her practically on top of him the night before. Maybe his initial offer of being her Fozzie for the evening really had been a joke, and he hadn't actually wanted to have her clinging to him like that. She'd been far too forward with him, and he wasn't interested in her in that way at all. He'd tell her that himself once he'd woken up.

And her mother would absolutely lose her mind if she knew that her daughter had shared a bed with a boy. Even if it was purely platonic - which Chrissy wasn’t even sure if it was - she could hear her mother calling her a tramp and telling her that only a common whore shared a bed with a man that she wasn't married to.

The more she thought about it, the more she needed to get out of that bed immediately, but Steve was holding onto her pretty securely. She tried to wiggle her way out of his arms, but he just seemed to hold onto her tighter.

“Good morning,” he said as he gave her a little squeeze, settling deeper into their blankets.

And, just like that, all of Chrissy's bad thoughts washed away. There was nowhere else she’d rather be when she could hear the smile in Steve's sleepy, scratchy voice. Any doubts in her mind about whether or not he'd really wanted to cuddle with her vanished when he only seemed to snuggle closer to her now that he was awake.

“Good morning,” she said, rolling over onto her back so she could look at him. His hair was sticking out in all directions, and he was looking at her with the sweetest, sleepiest smile. Her heart melted just a little bit at the sight. “You sleep okay?”

“Best sleep of my life. You?”

“Never better. Thank you for being my temporary Fozzie. I kind of really needed that comfort after everything we talked about. Plus, you're really warm. Kept me from freezing to death last night.”

“I see how it is,” he teased. “I'm just an object to you. Making me feel real cheap here, Cunningham.”

Steve tried to act offended, but it was hard to believe that he actually was when the smile never left his face which only made Chrissy start to laugh.

“And now she laughs at me! I save her from certain death, and she laughs at me. I’m wounded. Seriously wounded.”

This made her laugh even harder to the point where she snorted again and immediately moved to look away from him.

“Okay, I think I need to get up now,” she said as she started to work her way out of Steve’s grasp.

“No, I don’t think so. I’m not ready to start the day yet, so you can’t be ready either.”

“But what if I wanted to get breakfast?” she asked.

“Nope. You’re trapped. How tragic.”

He pulled her to lay with her back against his chest again as he burrowed deeper into their blankets.

“Well, if I’m trapped, I guess I have no other option than to accept my fate and stay here,” she said as she made herself comfortable again.

“A wise decision really. And, for the record, I don't mind being your personal space heater. It wasn't exactly an unenjoyable experience for me either.”

“Good to know.”

With Steve holding her like that, it was all too easy for her to fall back asleep until Eddie burst back into their room from outside.

“I come bearing sustenance!” he announced, holding up a couple of white paper bags.

She wasn't sure how long she'd dozed off, but the shower was still running, so it couldn't have been very long. But with Eddie back in the room, she was starting to feel self-conscious about how snuggled up with Steve she was. He didn't seem to care though, and he made no moves to stop cuddling her, so that helped to quiet those thoughts. If Steve didn't care about how much Eddie was about to tease them, she could try not to care, too.

But the teasing never came. Instead, Eddie just sat down on the edge of the bed that he'd shared with Nancy the night before and passed one of the bags over to Steve.

“I wasn't sure what you guys wanted since you were still sleeping when I left, but I went to this burrito place around the corner and just ordered whatever sounded decent,” he told them.

Steve moved to sit up and Chrissy had to stop herself from looking visibly upset about the fact that he wasn't holding her anymore. She moved to sit up as well and took the bag from Steve when he offered it to her. When she peeked inside and saw the size of the burrito that was left for her, she could feel her stomach starting to churn. It was massive. Much larger than anything she ever would have ordered for herself. She could already hear her mother telling her that everyone would think she was a pig if she dared to eat more than a single bite of that monstrosity, and she wanted nothing more than to set the bag aside and nibble on one of her granola bars instead.

But then Steve was nudging her with his elbow. She pulled her gaze away from her breakfast to look up at him.

“Fucking idiots. Remember?”

He offered up a small smile, and soon the furrow of her brow softened as she smiled back.

“Yeah. Fucking idiots.”

And, just like that, she was able to enjoy her breakfast. Nothing bad was going to happen to her if she ate this breakfast burrito. She didn't even notice the weird look that Eddie was giving them until he spoke up.

“What was that?” he asked.

“What was what?” Steve answered.

“You know what. Anything you two wanna share with the class?”

Before either of them could respond, Nancy opened the bathroom door and poked her head out.

“Eddie, could you give me a hand here? My bikini top is twisted, and I'm having trouble fixing it on my own.”

Eddie pushed himself off the bed and made his way into the bathroom where Nancy immediately closed the door behind him. She was already fully dressed, and there were no issues with her top like she’d said.

“After you showed me that picture, I thought we agreed that we weren’t going to pester them about what happened between them last night?” she asked in a hushed tone. “They’re not going to tell us anything if you put them on the spot like that.”

“Well, you’re ninety seven percent of my impulse control, and you weren’t out there.”

“Okay, so how about instead of questioning them before they’re ready to tell us what’s happening, you text Robin that picture and get her opinions on this situation? She might have a better insight into whether or not Steve's really interested in her or not.”

“But I already know Steve's into her,” Eddie admitted. “He's just waiting for her to make the first move.”

“When did he tell you this?” Nancy asked. “Actually, better question: why is this the first that I'm hearing about this?”

“While we were camping, and I could have sworn I told you.”

“No. This is completely new information for me, and this changes everything. What are the chances that Chrissy makes the first move though?”

“Slim to none.”

“That's what I was afraid of. Group text with Robin?”

“Way ahead of you.”

All Eddie did was drop the photo he'd taken of Chrissy and Steve asleep together, and soon Robin was spamming them with messages.

Robin: !!!!

Robin: what?

Robin: when?

Robin: how?

Robin: details! I need details!!!!!

Eddie: don't know. last night. also don't know.

Nancy: but they're clearly flirting with each other

Eddie: and neither of them are willing to make the first move so it's physically painful to watch them

Robin: has he done the hand size thing yet? that's a classic move on his part

Nancy: no. not in front of us at least. but they've been holding hands quite a bit, so I wouldn't be surprised if he has.

Robin: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Robin: why is this the first I'm hearing about this?

Robin: I demand constant updates!

Eddie: any tips for getting steve to kiss her already?

Robin: leave them alone as much as possible maybe? they're both probably feeling pressured because of you two constantly staring at them

Nancy: I am not constantly staring at them

Nancy: eddie on the other hand

Eddie: hey! I don't stare.

Eddie: I occasionally observe to make sure my best friend is having the best vacation possible

Eddie: it's what she deserves

Robin: sure

Robin: just let me know when they kiss!

“So, what do you think?” Eddie asked. “Think we can manage to give them some alone time?”

“I have an idea for that actually. Get back out there and give me five minutes to tie up some loose ends in here, alright?”

“As you wish.”

Eddie made his way out of the bathroom and back into the room’s main area where he found Steve and Chrissy still sitting practically on top of each other in bed even though they’d had plenty of time to move apart while he was gone. As much as he wanted to continue pestering them about how snuggled up they were when he came back from getting breakfast, he was trying to behave and do as Nancy said. There would be plenty of time to question them later, so he focused on finishing his burrito instead.

“I know we’re supposed to stay here for another night, but I can’t stay in this motel another minute,” Nancy said when she finally emerged from the bathroom. “That bathroom is disgusting, and we need more space than this. I did a little research this morning, and I managed to find a bed and breakfast not too far from here that has two open rooms, so we’re staying there for our last night here. Make sure all your stuff is packed before we leave for the beach so we can deal with checkout now and never have to come back here again.”

Chrissy felt a little conflicted with this new information. On one hand, the idea of a cozy little bed and breakfast where she’d have more space and a shower that didn’t look straight out of a horror movie sounded heavenly after two nights in their cramped and dingy motel room. However, she knew that meant that her opportunity to snuggle up with Steve for another night was officially off the table. She knew it was silly of her to expect that they’d end up sharing a bed for a second night in a row since that hadn’t been part of the plan for the night before in the first place, but she was still somewhat hopeful that Eddie would have fallen asleep in the wrong bed again to give her another chance.

“Sounds great,” Steve said before turning towards Chrissy. “Do you want the bathroom next, or should I go first?”

“You go first. I can wait.”

Steve finally got out of bed and gathered up the things he'd need in the bathroom. Once he was inside the bathroom, Nancy put part of her plan into action.

“I'm sorry you two had to share a bed,” she said as she started to repack her suitcase. “I told Eddie that he couldn't stay with me, but I fell asleep and couldn't stop him from doing the same.”

“That's okay,” Chrissy told her. “We didn't mind.”

“Still. It wasn't really fair to you. I know how small these beds are, and it couldn’t have been comfortable for either of you.”

Chrissy remained quiet. Part of her wanted to talk about last night with Nancy. Getting another woman’s opinion on the situation sounded so appealing to her, and maybe she’d have advice on how to proceed. The issue was that she didn’t want to talk about this in front of Eddie. She loved her best friend. Honestly, she did. There was nothing about him that she’d ever want to change, but she knew him. She knew that he would tease her about this, and that wasn’t what she needed when she was so unsure about how she was feeling and whether or not she was making a fool of herself right now.

Almost as if she could read the uncertainty on Chrissy’s face, Nancy turned her attention towards her boyfriend where he was lounging on the bed and finishing off his burrito.

“Do you mind going to get us something to drink? Maybe just some water bottles from the vending machine? Please?” she asked him.

“I thought you wanted me to pack my stuff?”

“Well, you aren’t packing right now, and I would be very grateful if you gave us the opportunity to have a little private girl talk.”

Eddie glanced back and forth between the two for a moment before pushing himself up from the bed and heading towards the door.  

“You’re lucky I love you,” he said. “Both of you.”

“Thank you,” Nancy called after him as he left.

She waited until she was sure that Eddie was gone and made sure she could hear the shower running to be sure that Steve wouldn’t be able to hear them either before turning her attention back towards Chrissy.

“Steve didn’t do anything to make you uncomfortable, did he?” she asked as she moved to sit down next to her. “Because I’ll go in that bathroom and strangle him right now if he took advantage of you or forced you to snuggle up to him like that. Just say the word, and I’ll do it.”

“It wasn't like that,” Chrissy insisted. “Steve was very much a gentleman. Honest.”

“Okay, good. Because I really would have strangled him if that wasn't the case. Can I ask you something else then?”

Chrissy nodded.

“If he was such a gentleman, why did you get so quiet when I brought up the beds?”

“I just didn't want Eddie to tease me.”

“Why would he have teased you?”

“Can I be honest with you?”

“You know, I really want us to be friends,” Nancy said as she considered Chrissy's question. “Of course, we've technically hung out together before, but that was always Eddie's doing. We were both there for him and not for each other. Other than Robin, I don't really have any friends that are girls, so when Eddie invited you to come with us, I was excited for the opportunity to finally get to know you a little better. I want us to be close, so you can absolutely be honest with me, and I promise I'll be honest with you in return.”

A smile lit up Chrissy's face. She'd never voice these fears out loud, but she'd spent a great deal of time afraid that Nancy only put up with her because of her friendship with Eddie. That Nancy only saw her as her boyfriend's annoying best friend and tolerated her being around for the sake of her relationship. So, hearing that Nancy actually wanted to be friends with her outside of the context of what Eddie meant to them really helped to push those fears aside. She never did this kind of thing with the other cheerleaders, but she trusted that she could share what was currently on her mind without fear of judgment.

“Well, if I'm being completely honest here, I'm the one who asked him to cuddle with me.”

“You did?”

“I did. I mean, he offered, but I thought it might have been a joke at first? But then I asked him, and he didn't even say anything. Just opened his arms to let me get closer to him, and he seemed to care more about my comfort than his own. It was very sweet actually.”

She stared down at her lap as she remembered the feeling of Steve's arms wrapped around her, and she couldn't help but smile at the thought. What she wouldn't give to fall asleep like that again.

“Chrissy Cunningham,” Nancy said with a beaming smile of her own. “Is that a blush I see?”

“I don't know. Maybe?” she replied.

“I think you like him.”

“I don't think that really matters. We barely know each other.”

“So? Do you remember when I interviewed you and Eddie for the school paper? For your production of Pygmalion?”

Chrissy nodded.

“That was the first real conversation I ever had with Eddie, and I knew I liked him by the time I left that auditorium. I felt terrible about it because I thought there was something going on between the two of you, but the feelings were still there regardless. So, I don't think it matters how long you've known him. All that matters is what you're feeling and whether or not you want to act on those feelings.”

“I'm not saying that I like him,” Chrissy insisted. “But, say that I do have feelings for him? Am I making a fool out of myself?”

“I don't think so. I've seen the way he looks at you, and I think that he could maybe like you, too. You just have to be willing to put yourself out there.”

“That's easier said than done. I've never just told a guy that I'm interested before.”

“You haven't?”

She shook her head.

“Jason was my first real relationship, and he was the one who asked me out. I've been second guessing a lot of that whole experience lately, so I have no idea what I'm doing here.”

“I don't know what I can say other than Steve is a great guy. He won't make you feel bad about yourself even if he doesn't feel the same way. I should know. I have firsthand experience with him.”

“Does that make this weird for you? Me asking you for advice on how to flirt with your ex, I mean?”

“Steve and I weren't right for each other, and it was never going to work out between us. Maybe if this had happened right after we broke up, I'd feel differently, but I view him the same way that I view my younger brother now. He annoys me to no end, but I can't imagine my life without him in it, and I just want him to be happy. If you'll make him happy, then I'm happy to give you a little nudge in the right direction.”

“You really think I could make him happy?”

“Yeah, I think I do. There's just something about the way he smiles at you. So, maybe just give him the opportunity to make the first move if you can't bring yourself to do it. I don't think you'll regret it.”

“Thank you.”

Chrissy didn't know what else to say. She might not have been sure how she would make it known that she was interested in starting something with Steve, but Nancy had effortlessly cleared away a sizable amount of her nerves about the whole situation.

“You're welcome,” Nancy replied. “Now pack up everything you don't need for the day. I don't want to spend a second longer in this place than I absolutely have to.”

With that, Nancy got up to finish packing her own things and get a start on Eddie's bags as well. Soon enough, it was Chrissy’s turn for the bathroom, and she found herself rushing through her morning routine to be ready as soon as possible. After the conversation that she’d had with Steve the night before, she was actually looking forward to their day at the beach. Her mother’s voice was still there - she knew it wouldn’t disappear completely overnight - but it was slightly easier to ignore it when she could recall Steve telling her that she was perfect.

So, when they were finally settled into their beach spot for the day, it only took her silently repeating that her mother was a fucking idiot to allow herself to take off her cover up and let other people see her wearing a bathing suit. Even if she felt a little self-conscious, she knew that her nautical themed bikini kept the parts of her that she was the most self-conscious about covered with its high-waisted bottoms. She could be brave about this, but she still felt herself freeze when Steve looked in her direction. As he approached her with his bottle of sunscreen, she told herself to play it cool. She could handle this. She knew she could.

“Mind giving me a hand again?” he asked, offering her the bottle.

She took it from him and helped him apply the sunscreen to his back again just like she’d done the day before. When she was finished, she handed the bottle back.

“Mind doing the same for me?” she asked.

She turned her back to him and pushed her hair over her shoulder so it would be out of his way. She tried to keep her cool as he took his time making sure he covered every inch of exposed skin on her back, but this was very different from them being snuggled up while fully clothed. Her skin was on fire with every little touch, and she hadn't realized just how large his hands were until could feel how much of her back they could cover at once.

After what felt like an eternity and still not enough time, Steve placed his hands on her shoulders and gave them a small squeeze.

“You're all set.”

“Thanks,” she said as she turned around to face him. “I appreciate it.”

“You're welcome. Cute suit by the way,” he said as he reached out to fiddle with one of the decorative white buttons closest to the top of her bikini bottoms. “I like the blue. It really makes your eyes pop.”

“Thanks,” she said, avoiding meeting his gaze. This was the exact kind of opportunity that she knew Nancy was talking about that morning. It would be so easy for her to just reach out and run a hand up his arm. She could smile at him and give his bicep a little squeeze. Look up at him and bat her eyes. Move a little closer to him and make it so much easier for him to lean in and kiss her. It would be so easy.

But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not there and not in that moment. Flirting with him while she was so exposed felt too intimidating. She needed a little push which meant getting some alone time with Nancy to get her opinion on how to proceed.

“So, are you gonna get into the water with us today?” he asked, pulling her away from her thoughts.

“I think so,” she replied. “But I was hoping to have a little girl time with Nancy first if that's alright with her.”

“Absolutely not,” Eddie said. “You already had girl time this morning. It's my turn. You can't have her.”

With that, Eddie grabbed Nancy around the waist and lifted her to run away from his friends and towards the shoreline with her giggling and shrieking the whole way.

Chrissy and Steve shared a look, and she backed up slightly when she saw the mischievous smile that lit up his face.

“I'm not sure I like whatever you're thinking right now,” she said as she took another step backwards. 

The smile on her own face betrayed her, and soon, Steve was lunging to grab her. He lifted her with ease, and she clung to him as he ran to join Eddie and Nancy.

“Don't you dare drop me,” she managed to get out between her giggles.

It wasn't lost on her that Steve was treating her the same way that Eddie was treating his girlfriend, and she could feel her heart flutter as he gently let her down once they were about waist deep in the water.

“Look who's decided to join us today,” he announced to the other couple. “And only slightly against her will.”

“I was going to come out here eventually,” she insisted.

“Allegedly.”

Chrissy splashed in his direction which only led to him splashing her back, and soon they were enmeshed in an all out water war with Eddie and Nancy finally allowing Chrissy to act like the carefree girl she deserved to be.

***

When lunchtime finally rolled around, the group sprawled out on their blanket with sandwiches and chips from a nearby cart. After a morning of playing around in the water, they were all ready for a bit of a break.

“What are you looking forward to the most about being in D.C. tomorrow?” Nancy asked Chrissy as she started to unwrap her food. “I realized this morning that we never really got your input about what you wanted to do on this trip, and I could easily rearrange our schedule to include anything that we left out that's on any potential list you have.”

“Oh, I don't really have a list. This is your trip and not mine. You don't need to change anything on my behalf.”

“Don't be silly,” Nancy insisted. “This is just as much your trip as it is ours. If there's anything you want to do, I'll make sure it happens.”

“It's fine. Honestly, I'm just happy to be along for the ride.”

Steve frowned. If they hadn't had their heart to heart the night before, he might have believed her. But, knowing the pressure she was under to be agreeable and not be seen as a burden, he had a feeling that she wasn't allowing herself to do something that she felt might be an imposition. He felt compelled to make her realize that she was allowed to want things, and he thought he had a pretty good idea on how to do it.

When they finished eating, Steve excused himself saying that he was heading to the restrooms. Instead, he went in search of a vendor he was certain that he'd seen earlier. He quickly found them and purchased a single seashell collection jar. With a scrap of an old receipt, a sharpie, and some tape that he had in the glove box of his car, he made a new label for the jar.

Once he was happy with how it looked, he made his way back to where he'd left the group, and he found Chrissy by herself.

“I think Eddie and Nancy ran off to build a sandcastle,” she told him as he sat down next to her. “I told them I'd wait for you to get back.”

“This is for you,” he said as he handed her the jar. He watched as she eyed the label.

“The Chrissy needs to be nicer to herself jar?”

“Whenever I catch you being mean to yourself, you have to put a dollar in the jar. Every single time until we're back in Hawkins. And that includes you insisting that this isn't your trip, too. You might not have helped plan it, but you're an important part of it. For all of us.”

She was quiet for a moment, turning the jar over and passing it back and forth between her hands as she considered what Steve had told her.

“And what happens with the money at the end of the trip?” she asked when she finally spoke up.

“Well, if I see you putting yourself first, I might give you a dollar back, but I was thinking that we'd put this money towards doing something fun together after the trip.”

“Just the two of us?”

“Yeah. Just the two of us.”

“Okay. I can agree to those terms. Do I have to put a dollar in for saying I'm just along for the ride then?”

“I'll let that slide since it was before I made the jar. I just want you to realize that you're allowed to want things.”

“You know I'm not used to that.”

“I do.”

“Then you also know how hard this is going to be for me.”

“That doesn't mean I'm not going to help you get used to it.” He reached over and took one of her hands in his. “You deserve to be a little selfish sometimes.”

Chrissy didn't know if she could be selfish and put herself first. That went against everything her mom had forced her to believe over the years. She was supposed to be agreeable and go along with what everyone else wanted or else nobody would ever want her. But then there was Steve who was giving her hand a little squeeze and smiling at her and telling her that it was okay to care about her own happiness. She didn't know if she could do what he wanted her to do, but when he cared about her this much, she knew she could try.

***

Once they'd finished another long day at the beach, they made their way to the bed and breakfast that Nancy had found that morning. Nancy pulled Chrissy inside with her to check in, leaving the boys to unload and carry in all of their bags from the car.

“Now, you can say no to this, and I won't be mad at all,” Nancy said once they were out of earshot. “But I was maybe wondering if you'd be willing to share a room with Steve tonight? We have a room with one bed and a room with two beds booked, so obviously you would get the room with two beds. It's not like I'm expecting anything to happen between you two, and I don't want you to think this is me putting any pressure on you to make that kind of move on him or anything. It's just that Eddie and I really haven't gotten much alone time on this trip, and I'd really like to have a night for just the two of us, you know? But only if you're okay with sharing with Steve by yourself. If you're uncomfortable with that, just say the word, and you and I can share like we originally planned.”

The idea of sharing a room with Steve was both exciting and terrifying for Chrissy. On one hand, she'd never spent the night alone with a boy with a before. Not unless you counted Eddie, and she certainly didn't since there was no physical attraction between them. It was different with Steve. She still hadn't built up the courage to make a move or even let him know that she was open to him making a move, and sharing a room with him definitely threw that door open in a way that she wasn't sure if she was ready for.

On the other hand, the idea of potentially getting to sleep snuggled up to him again was so appealing. And knowing that there were two beds in the room helped to calm her nerves because she didn't have to share with him if she ended up being too afraid to ask him for another night of cuddles. They could just be two people sharing a room. Nothing had to happen between them.

“I can share with Steve,” she decided. “I don't mind.”

“You're literally my favorite person right now,” Nancy said as she pulled Chrissy in for a hug. “Thank you. I owe you one, okay?”

“Don't worry about it. Just enjoy your alone time with Eddie.”

Nancy got them checked in just as the guys entered carrying their bags.

“Steve, you're sharing with Chrissy if that's alright with you,” she said as she passed Chrissy her room key.

“I am?” That certainly wasn't the sleeping arrangement he'd expected.

“The room has two beds, and she's already agreed to it. You're allowed to say no though.”

“If it's fine with Chrissy, it's fine with me.”

“Perfect. We'll see you two in the morning for breakfast then.”

With that, Nancy started to make her way towards her room pulling a very confused looking Eddie behind her.

“So, are you actually okay with this, or do I need to make you put another dollar in the jar?” he asked once the other couple was gone.

“We shared a bed last night, Steve. I'm past being uncomfortable with sharing a room with you. Besides, it'll be just like our first night at the motel. The only difference is that we don't have to share our beds or listen to Eddie snoring.”

“Fair enough.”

They made their way to their room, and Chrissy called dibs on the first shower the second Steve had set down their bags. She wanted nothing more than to wash the sand and salt water out of her hair and put on some comfier clothes, and she wanted to do it as soon as possible.

When she'd finished in the bathroom, Steve took his turn which left her to think about their sleeping arrangements. To her, it was clear which bed Steve had claimed for himself. He'd set his bags at the foot of the first bed, and Chrissy's belongings were set on the second. She could easily accept this and climb into her own bed while he was in the bathroom.

But Nancy's voice was in the back of her head reminding her that all she had to do was take an opportunity to let Steve know that she was open to him making the first move. And what better way to let him know that than to be sitting on his bed when he came back into the room? And even if he didn't make a move and all they did was cuddle like they had the night before, that was still better than nothing at all. Maybe it was a little bit more bold than she was used to being, but she couldn't let herself sit on the sidelines while her life happened around her. She had to take charge in the little ways she could or else nothing was going to change.

So, without giving it another thought, she climbed onto Steve's bed and tried to make herself look casual as she flipped through instagram stories on her phone. Forget the fact that she was a bundle of nerves about how he was going to react to this. She could be cool and casual.

When Steve exited the bathroom and saw Chrissy lounging on his bed, he stopped in his tracks. He hadn't been expecting that from her after she'd made a point out of saying that they didn't have to share their beds that night. Yet there she was sitting on the bed that he'd claimed as if that was the most obvious place for her to be.

He was almost afraid to comment on it because he didn't want to scare her away. So, instead of saying anything, he just grabbed his bags and moved them over to the other bed. Then, he climbed onto the first bed to sit next to Chrissy.

“I don't know if you noticed,” he started. “But I kinda thought this was my bed.”

“I noticed. I just happened to decide that I wanted this bed, too. And I believe I recall a certain someone telling me that I was allowed to want things.”

Steve let out a laugh and smirked over at her.

“Careful, Chrissy. First, you invade my tent. Now, you're taking over my bed for the second night in a row. I'm starting to think you might have some ulterior motives here.”

She could have told him that she was hoping he'd take the hint, but she couldn't bring herself to make that final push. Instead, she playfully pushed his shoulder which only led to him pushing her back, and soon they were in a full on elbow war. Then, Steve got in one perfectly placed poke to Chrissy's side that left her giggling and squirming away from him. The same mischievous smile from earlier lit up his face again as he turned his full attention towards her.

“You know, I never did get back at you for ignoring our truce last night.”

“You wouldn't dare.” Chrissy's eyes went wide as she started to curl in on herself in anticipation.

“Oh, but I would.”

He was poised to strike, but before he could, she started laughing without him even touching her.

“Now, this is adorable,” he said with a wiggle of his fingers in her direction. All he had to do was hover his hands over her and act like he was about to touch her to elicit a ticklish reaction from her.

“Cut it out,” she said between her giggles as she tried to block his hands.

“Cut what out?” he asked. “I'm not even touching you.”

“You know what.”

She squeaked as he feigned moving to squeeze her hips, and she curled up even more in a failed attempt to shield herself.

Meanwhile, in the hallway, Eddie was trying to listen to what was happening in their room.

“Eddie, what are you doing?” Nancy asked when she exited her own room and saw him.

“C’mon. Aren't you curious about what they're doing in there? All I can hear is Chrissy laughing though, and we both know Steve isn't that funny.” he asked.

“Not enough to be pervy about it like you are right now. Get back in here and leave them alone.”

Back inside, Steve was about to tickle her for real when he heard voices outside their room that he was pretty sure were Eddie and Nancy. He paused his playful torture and signaled for Chrissy to be quiet with a finger pressed to his lips before getting out of the bed and creeping towards the door with her following close behind him. He waited a moment to make sure he could still hear them before banging on the door which earned him a very loud “fuck!” from whoever was on the other side.

“Good night, Eddie!” Chrissy called out.

They heard Nancy apologize on Eddie's behalf, and once he was certain they were gone, Steve turned his attention back towards Chrissy.

“Now, where were we?” he asked.

“Well, I think I was thinking of taking a late night stroll.” She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to shield all of her tickle spots from him.

“Really?” he asked. “Because I was thinking we were doing something else.”

He didn't give her a chance to run. He was quick, and he was able to pick her up and gently toss her back on the bed before she even knew what was happening. She didn't try to get away though. She just laid there giggling in anticipation as he climbed back onto the bed.

There was a moment as he climbed over her where he was struck with just how well they seemed to fit together. It would have been so easy for him to just lean down and kiss her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't want the story of their first kiss to be that they were in bed and it just happened. Chrissy was special. She deserved better than that. And even if that wasn't the case, he didn't want her to think that he was trying to pressure her into doing something more. He could wait another day to kiss her. For now, he could be content with another tickle fight and hopefully another night of her snuggling up to him for comfort.

***

When Steve woke up the next morning, he was sad to find his bed empty. After Chrissy had surrendered in their tickle fight, neither of them had really been all that tired, so they'd put on a movie and ended up falling asleep cuddling again. But now, she wasn't in his bed, and he missed that warm and fuzzy feeling he'd had waking up next to her the day before. There was barely any light in the room, so he figured it had to be fairly early. Maybe she'd only gotten up to use the bathroom, and she was going to be coming back to snuggle up to him any minute now.

A quick glance around the room told him that wasn't the case. Chrissy was sitting on the window seat with her head tilted to rest against the glass. She looked deep in thought, and she was slightly illuminated by the beginnings of the sunrise. He didn't think he'd ever seen a more beautiful girl in his life. No one could ever hope to compare the way that Chrissy looked to him now.

He pushed himself out of bed to ask her to come back to get some more sleep with him, and moved to sit next to her on the window seat, but she spoke before he could make his request.

“I wish that we could stay in this moment forever.”

Her voice was barely even a whisper. So quiet that it made him question if he was actually supposed to hear her. He did though. He heard her, and he realized that he was wishing for the same thing, too.

So, instead of making his request, he opened his arms for her. She moved to sit on his lap, and he wrapped his arms around her as she leaned back against his chest.

Sitting there with Steve, Chrissy felt the safest and the most content that she'd felt in a long time. And, as they sat there watching the sunrise together, she knew what she had to do. Today was going to be the day she told him how she felt. If it wasn't painfully obvious to him already, she had to let him know. Before the day was through, she was determined to open her heart to Steve Harrington.

[kipcobblestone]

hello!!! starting on tumblr a bit bc I want a place where I can post just fuck all cause dats what drey ( @clusterpuppy ) is doing tee hee, also free place to infodump bc Insta has a limit 😭

this is just a little dump about the stuff I’ll mainly post just to give context of it all!! The three above are Selphie, Kip, and Cariad and they make up a party called “The Irregulars”, and the story called Under The Grave that me and Drey are working on is very centric around these three and the characters that pertain to their stories!!

I’ll go into a lot more detail below!! More info about Under The Grave and the characters—

Under The Grave was an ongoing DND campaign that me and my boyfriend are turning into a running story, and hopefully want to work on making it a playable campaign for others to enjoy too! But a lot of the stuff you guys will see me post is more along the lines of the story stuff. The story centers around a party of three characters, their party being known as “The Irregulars”!

Selphie Leoxidor (she/they)— a Neutral Good Sea Elf Bard; the main character of the party, and the main person that the BBEG is targeting! They’re a chosen one of the BBEG, Tharizan, in the journey of wiping himself from existence with the help of mortal prowess to undergo a battle that will rid of him in entirety. she’s super optimistic, outgoing, and hopeful, and tends to be the light at the end of the tunnel in most case scenarios! she’s disabled in a wheelchair with her legs being paralyzed from the hips down from a terrorist attack against her, but a close party friend artifices her a pair of working legs that she struggles with at first, but is slowly learning their usage through the story! they’ve got a good head on their shoulders and is personable, as loyal as they can get when it comes to helping her friends.

Cariad Heulwin (he/they)— a True Neutral Aasimar Paladin; a military runaway, as his best friend acted out a kamikaze attack on the military base he was zoned to, and now resides in a cottage much further out and away from society. they’re a much more introverted person, but have a good soul, they’re just slow to trust when it comes to the party coming into his life, ESPECIALLY with the Tharizan issues tagging along. this flares up a lot of the PTSD and trauma that they have in regards to the shit they struggled with in the military, but eventually he finds a newfound trust within Selphie and Kip, and they become the best of friends. He’s a pretty rational and logical thinker, stoic in his nature but to those they really care for, he would lay down his life for them.

Kip Cobblestone (any pronouns)— a Chaotic Neutral Halfling Rogue; the anti-hero of this little group who was a homeless urchin in the capital for as long as he could remember. once getting together with the party to adventure, she considered Selphie and Cariad (well… cariad took a little longer but that’s besides the point) quick friends! As the stuff with Tharizan commenced, a lot of the guilt that he held and buried in his past was dug up and picked at like a fresh wound, so they’re very paranoid throughout the story. Still trying to remain whimsy and charismatic, she holds on close to the connections that he’s made in hopes that they’ll work through it all together and help each other through the darkest hours. he’s always bouncing off the walls, and will always be causing some form of trouble if you take your eyes away from them for one second…

Each of these characters get their backstories uncovered through a series of events that are split into tarot cards! Lots of characters from different backgrounds show up, lots of scenes, lots of action, lots of emotion, the whole shebang! Now, to go into a little more about the BBEG…

Ityx Tharizan is the founder of the country of Artror, the place where all of this occurs. He is also the embodiment of selfishness, fizzing out of his physical form and into an energy that bleeds into the veins of society. He’s always thought himself to be the stain of the world, and was actively seeking out those who he thought were strong enough to kill him so that the world could suffer a lot less. Now, with Artror, the society is falling apart at the seems. It’s an active dystopia, a world where monsters and aberrations reign above all, and the celestials and fey are the scum of the earth; the rest fall within the middle. Artror is a massive hyperbole on what would reflect the real world in the state that it is, touching up on a lot of subjects that would make most people very uncomfortable… so that puts into perspective just how miserable this universe is. Tharizan feels as if his presence dissipated that the messed up world would seek balance and return to a utopia that he has sought out in his head. Tharizan chooses a group of four people, one of these people being Selphie, to carry out the job of killing him.

All in all, the Irregulars find that Tharizan had been planted in each of their individual lives planning up to the point where they’d all be together. Lots of things get revealed to the three of them that they didn’t even really stop to consider. I’m keeping this pretty vague because I have yet to know what I AM gonna post about, but it’s just a basic summary of what the story is about!

But yeah that’s pretty much it for the most part!! If there are any questions about anything there’s an ask box open I think and I would absolutely enjoy going into more detail about anything that pertains to this story. Me and Drey work on it a lot, especially the characters and their relationships and I look forward to having this account to just. dump about it all!!

[comradesbooks]

Fanfiction is underrated tbh

Fanfiction is a written story based off of an existing media, consisting of new takes on the original work, whether it’s meta commentary through characters, alternate universes with different plot beats than the original, or material that is used for the shameless entertainment of reader and writer alike. Producers and consumers of this material know who they are. It’s not necessarily a genre in and of itself, and there is some stigma over fan works as a whole. Personally, I, an active writer of fanfiction, approve of it, and I’m gonna go on a tangent as to why, even though no one asked for it. 

My points will mainly boil down to one umbrella concept; that fanfiction is excellent practice for newer storytellers. 

The best part about fanfiction is that it’s low pressure. It’s not graded, there aren’t deadlines, there are only basic guidelines provided by the original work, and, most importantly, it’s (mostly) anonymous. Unpublished fanfiction authors, such as those on Fanfiction.net or Archive of Our Own, use pen names to protect their identities. An adult writer’s real name doesn’t have to be traced back to the cringey Self-Insert/Levi Ackerman one shot they wrote when they were twelve. Because of that low pressure and lack of deadlines, a newer writer ought to feel more comfortable in getting their feet wet in the writing community.

When it comes down to it, fanfictions, whether they are 2,000 word one-shots or 300,000 word epics, are just works of fiction, and like any work of fiction, need framework. The key difference in the framework between original fiction and fanfiction is that the fanfiction already has the basic framework done. All the fanfic author needs to do is alter and add what they like to the existing template, which is (usually, hopefully) a strong foundation to be built upon. It’s not unlike an artist tracing the contours of a portrait in order to learn how to render colors for a more realistic style. It should never be treated as an original work, but a template for sake of self-improvement, which is perfectly acceptable. Original works of fiction all begin as a blank slates, and it can take a long time to do the worldbuilding necessary to tell a good story. To give a quick and well-known example, J.K. Rowling took over a year just plotting out the foundation for the Harry Potter series, and went on unemployment to do it. In fanfiction, newer writers have the ability to skip the lengthy worldbuilding process, learning by example as they utilize the world that has already been built to their advantage. 

One of my favorite parts of writing fanfiction, especially for a larger fandom, is that there is no shortage of critique, if one knows how to look and ask for it. In this age of the interwebs, ignorance is a choice. Writers of fanfiction don’t have to worry about building a fanbase before they can get any commentary because the creator of the original work already did the heavy labor. All the writer has to do is write their original work, tag it appropriately, and ask for critique, and they’ll eventually get some, sooner or later. With access to so many different viewpoints, thanks to the internet, constructive criticism couldn’t be more accessible. (I will note that some fandoms have some individuals who are absolutely monstrous for a variety of reasons and may not be the most wholesome or supportive sources of criticism.) Critique can be a hot take, especially in the art and writing community where people are known to be a tad sensitive, but no one can improve themselves without a little criticism. Not only do internet-based writers have virtually unlimited access to good, constructive criticism, but they also have access to negative opinions and comments, which will harden them to the real world. Let’s be real here, if you publish a book anywhere, I don’t care how perfect it is. Someone will find something wrong with it and will try to cancel it. 

And that is my extremely informal, blunt, and unstructured opinion on fanfiction that is completely correct in every way. If anyone wants me to elaborate on a specific point, I have no issue with that. I like standing on my soap box because who doesn’t love an inflated sense of importance?

[gummybear1178]

F-14 (Family of 14)

Chapter 2:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:  

Also on AO3:

So, I’ve never posted on tumblr before but decided to start spreading my works onto here. So here is my first Top Gun Fanfiction. More chapters to come! Let me know what yall think! If yall have any advice for me for using tumblr please give it! I’m just starting to learn it! I did learn the keep reading bar thing before I posted this so I hopefully don’t clog the feed! 

Not fully sure where this story is going other than it will be IceMav and their 12 adopted dagger squadron kids!

Followed Maverick plot but Icemav is a thing, some changes along the way, all set up to show Mav and Ice and their adopted Dagger Squadron kids!

The dagger squad is determined to find out who Maverick is married to, leading to some shenanigans and eventually the reveal! Followed by one shots featuring MavDad Icemav and Dadmiral with the Daggers! Feel free to leave requests and ideas!

My first Top Gun Fanfic and being used to pull me out of writers block. May not be some of my best work but you can edit a story but not a blank page.

No matter what let it be known that dagger squadron is in fact not oblivious. Well, they are not always oblivious.  They do have their moments though, however this, was not one of those moments.

"So, everyone else has seen the ring on Mavericks dog tags, correct?" Payback asked.

"Yes, and yet we have had no mention of it is." Hangman rolled his eyes at the fact this conversation was starting again. They had been theorizing since they first saw the ring.

"Obviously, it has to be Penny. I mean you guys saw him flirting up a storm with her our first night at the hard deck. How else could he have gotten permission for us to use the beach for football yesterday?" Fanboy asked aloud.

"No, that was more," Phoenix paused for a moment trying to find the right word, "Familiar banter. They've obviously known each other for years, but they are not married. More like long term friends."

Rooster just sat in the corner shaking his head. For he had all the answers, but absolutely no will to give them.

---

The next day was the day everything took a turn for the worse.

Jake stared at the radio from the ground helpless hearing Maverick yelling at his best friend trying to pull him out of G-Lock.

"Come on Javy." He muttered under his breath.

A weight was lifted off his shoulders as soon as he heard Javy say he was okay, and Maverick also took a breath.

Only for the next tragedy to occur.

"Bird strike!" Maverick yelled out over the comms.

This time it was Bradley's turn to freeze and stare at the radio begging anything and everyone that his best friend would be okay as Phoenix spoke everything she was doing. While Maverick told her to eject.

Though even when Maverick announced he saw the two parachutes, he did not let the tension go.

He knew better than most anyone that a chute didn't mean much. Especially after Top Gun in '86.

Until he heard confirmation from Phoenix, he wasn't believing anything.

"Rooster, there were two chutes." Hangman tried to pull him out of his stupor, only still in the room because he was waiting on Coyote to get back.

"Chutes mean nothing Hangman. I'll believe it when I see them with my own two eyes."

Jake nodded, knowing what they had been told in flight school. Before heading out to the tarmac to wait on Coyote.

Rooster knew he wasn't going to get info from anyone, not until the copter was back from picking them up and probably not until medical had checked them out.

So he sat in the rec room until he heard otherwise. Someone with information would eventually make it in here, and he didn't want to miss that info.

Eventually, news did make his way, just not in the carrier he would have wished for.

"They'll keep Phoenix and Bob in the hospital overnight for observation," Maverick broke the silence, "They're gonna be okay."

"That's good," Bradley took a deep breath, "I've never lost a wingman."

"You're lucky. Fly long enough, it'll happen. There will be others."

"Easy for you to say. No family. No kids. Nobody to mourn you when you burn in other than Ice. All you've got left in your life is on man."

"Go home. Just get some sleep."

"Why'd you pull my papers at the academy?" Rooster suddenly moved, having remained mostly still, "Why did you stand in my way!"

"You weren't ready." Maverick said softly, the day Bradley left flowing through his mind.

"Ready for what? Huh? Ready to fly like you?"

"No. Ready to forget the book. Trust your instincts. Don't think, just do." Maverick shook his head, "You think up there, you're dead, believe me."

"My dad believed in you. I'm not gonna make the same mistake." Rooster said putting all the venom he could in that one bite. He knew what words would hurt the most and he was willing to use them.

Before Maverick could say another word Bradley stormed out the door, just like he had all those years ago.

Maverick leaned against the wall and slid downwards til he was sitting on the floor with his knees pulled close to his chest.

Flashes of the night Bradley left covering his sight before changing to his days with Goose. Until his line of sight was engulfed by memories, his mind unable to comprehend anything else.

All he could hear was Bradley's words on repeat, only broken up by the sound of Goose's neck hitting the canopy.

"Maverick." Another noise breaking through the sounds, but he kept fading back out.

Warlock had come to check on the captain after the insane day, and especially after seeing a fuming Rooster leave the room.

Realizing words would not get through to him, Warlock decided to pull the emergency card, one he really hoped he wouldn't have to use.

Seeing Maverick's phone sticking out of his pocket he gently grabbed it, only to realize there was a password on it. One Warlock did not know.

Shaking his head he pulled out his own phone and called Cyclone.

"Warlock?" Cyclone answered professionally though unsure what his co worker would be calling him for having seen him mere minutes ago.

"I need you to get medical to the rec room, and I need you to make another call..."

"Why do you need medical in the rec room?"

"Sir, Maverick is having a panic attack."

"No, we don't call medical-"

"But sir-"

"No, I was given special notes on who to call for this and we avoid medical."

"Understood sir, I'll stay with him."

Cyclone stared down at his phone for a moment, before taking a deep breath and pressing call on a contact he had only ever been called by.

"Admiral Kazansky." The voice on the other end answered.

"Sir this is Cyclone, your orders were to call you directly for anything concerning Mav-"

"Get to the point Admiral." Ice spoke coldly, he was not one for wasted time espeically when it came to the wellbeing of his husband.

"Sir, Maverick is experiencing a panic attack." Cyclone said bluntly realizing it was the best way to go.

"Is anyone with him?"

"Yes sir, Warlock."

"Understood, I will be calling Maverick's phone, have Warlock answer."

"Understood sir."

The phone made a click as it hung up as Cyclone then began texting Warlock the instructions.

---

The phone Warlock had pulled from Mavericks pocket mere minutes ago began ringing as a text from Cyclone came through with instructions.

Warlock answered immediately and was met by the face of the COMPACFLT.

"Sir"

"Thank you, please put the phone in Maverick's hand with the screen facing him and exit the room, wait just outside."

"Yes sir."

"Mav, I need you to breath ok. Just breath." Ice spoke softly, but still loud enough to be heard through the phones speaker.

Maverick was slowly coming out of the attack, and that was being expedited from hearing Ice's voice.

"Mav, it's Ice, just breath, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, alright now breath out." Ice continued to talk him through breathing as his car took off towards Top Gun.

Ice watched at Mav slowly started to slow his breathing down to match the counts.

"Mav, I need you to start listing off things you can see." Ice saw the panic in Mavericks eyes as he went to speak.

"Hey, Mav, it's okay. Take a second. You aren't in the ocean or in a plane. You are on the ground in the rec room at Top Gun. I need you to keep breathing for me."

The panic began to subside from his eyes once more as he became more aware of his surroundings.

"Ice." Maverick choked out.

"Yea, it's me Mav," Ice nodded over the phone glancing up to see they were approaching the Top Gun building. "I will be there in just a few minutes ok, just keep breathing."

As soon as the car stopped in front of the entrance closest to the rec room Ice jumped out of the car and took off. A few people did a double take as the Commander of the Pacific Fleet ran through the building.

Warlock's eyes widened as he saw the admiral turn the corner. He opened the door as Ice nodded a look of thanks before entering. Slowing his speed as not to startle Maverick.

"Mav, hey, I'm here."

"Ice." Maverick said much more clearly this time.

"Hey, Mav, I've got you it's going to be okay. Just breath with me." Ice spoke softly tugging the other man against him. Maverick held on tight breathing in Ice's scent, mostly coming out of the panic.

"Alright, I need you to name five things you can see."

"You, the tarmac outside, the tables, a radio, umm..." Maverick paused for a moment.

"That's four, just one more Mav."

"The chairs."

"Good, alright, four things you can hear."

"Your voice," Mav smiled softly, just barely, for a second remember the time when they weren't sure they would ever hear it again. Ice smiled with him. "Your breathing, jets taking off, and people talking outside."

"Good, now name three things you can feel."

"Your heartbeat, your arms around me, and your presence."

"I'm not sure if the last one counts Mav, but I'll take it."

"Fine, if your being picky, the floor." Mav snarked back a bit making Ice smile, seeing him really coming out of the panic attack.

"Alright, two things you can smell."

"You and jet fuel."

"Good." Ice breathed out pulling Maverick back into a tight hug.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Ice asked softly.

"Not here. Tonight." Maverick promised.

"Alright, are you good to head back outside yet, or do you want to sit here for a few more minutes."

"Few more minutes. I haven't seen you since this morning." Mav smiled into Ice's neck.

"Yeah well, at least we get to see each other every morning and night right now. Might even be able to keep that up if you don't make another admiral mad."

"Yea well, if they would stop doing stupid stuff I would stop making them mad."

"Yeah I know, though not all of them are your fault some are their fault." Ice rolled his eyes.

"Come on, you know you had fun ruining Cain's fun."

"I did have fun with that one, you ejecting at mach 10.4 not so much."

"Details."

"Are you ready?"

"Ready? To let you go? Never. Can I go out now? Yes."

Ice nodded at the answer, pulling away just enough to give his wingman a kiss.

"You head out, send Warlock in. I'll talk to him then head back to my office. I'll see you at home tonight." Ice promised before releasing his husband from the hug. "I love you."

"I love you too." Maverick said as he went to leave before stopping, "Don't get mad until I tell you what happened at home ok. I just want to talk about it there, not here. I'm not trying to hide it. I promise."

"I believe you." Ice nodded watching as Maverick left and Warlock entered.

"Sir."

"Thank you for assisting. I expect your discretion on this matter."

"Yes sir."

"Beside this, how has it been going, and don't give me the official wording."

"Maverick is a better teacher than he wants to say. The kids rally behind him. They recognize his skills and abilities, albeit they didn't at first. He definitely has an unorthodox method to teaching and life in general, but that just seems to be Maverick over all."

"Unorthodox is definitely a good way to describe him."

"But I think I understand why you were so insistent on him teaching this mission. I don't think anyone else could. Not with his expectation of them all making it home."

"That's part of why it needed to be him. His acceptable losses are always zero. If he doesn't believe they can execute the mission and make it back, then they never will."

"He believes in them, but I'm not sure they are ready to believe in themselves yet. He finally made them start becoming a team after his beach football stunt the other day, but none of them have successfully completed any part of the mission in the time allotted or the elevation."

"Then maybe he just has to show them..." Ice trailed off coming up with a plan to tell his wingman later that night.

"Sir, I don't want to overstep, but why were there orders not to contact medical?"

"It would have just freaked him out more. I know you are aware of what happened to his RIO during his time at Top Gun," Warlock nodded, "He was with him for medical after, and those moments as well as those once he made it to the medical bay are still ingrained in his memory. To be surrounded by that makes it harder for him to come out of the attack."

Warlock nodded in understanding knowing of others who had a serious distaste for hospitals after certain events.

"Off the record, how is he doing with Lt. Bradshaw?"

"Off record, I'm waiting on the bomb to go off. If it didn't already. In the sky Rooster finally flies as well as he could not being held back, until suddenly he goes back to his careful flying. He bounces between your style but slower and less instinctive and Mavericks in the sky. But not in an efficient way, rather he is too careful then too reckless. If he would just fly he would be fine, but he won't let go."

"Part of that is Maverick being here, and part of that is what has happened between the two in the past. Then Goose on top of all of that." Ice shook his head. "What do you mean if the bomb didn't go off already?

"I was walking here to check on Maverick after the events of the day, and as I was walking up I saw a fuming Rooster leaving."

Ice closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So that's what set it off."

"That and a couple of other incidents."

"Incidents?"

"Coyote went into G-Lock on the last hop, and immediately after there was a bird strike, Phoenix and her WSO Bob were forced to eject. Everyone should be okay, but that doesn't make the day any easier."

"No it doesn't." Ice nodded taking in the information. "Thank you for you time admiral."

Ice went back into admiral mode and made his way back to his car then back to his office. Knowing he and Mav would have  a lot to talk about when they got home.

---

Dagger Group Chat

Fanboy GUYS!!!

Payback What?

Fanboy DID YALL HEAR WHO WAS ON BASE!?!?

Phoenix I've been stuck at medical, who?

Fanboy Admiral Kazansky! THE COMMANDER OF THE PACIFIC FLEET

Phoenix I know who Admiral Kazansky! But why was he on base??

Bob Well is kind of in charge of Top Gun and you know the whole Pacific Fleet and every naval base on this side of the country.

Fanboy Yea, but apparently he was literally sprinting across base

Yale Did they maybe call him in since we had two incidents today?

Fanboy Why would they call him in? Seems like more of a report on his desk kind of thing, unless he was here to chew some people out. Do you think Maverick got in trouble?

Payback It's not like either of the incidents were within our control. For heavens sake, one was a bird strike.

Rooster Wait! When was Admiral Kazansky on base?

Fanboy If the rumor mill is to be believed then about an hour or two after we everyone touched back down.

Phoenix Well since I doubt we will get any further on this mystery tonight, I need to be entertained while stuck in medical all night, so anymore theories on who wears the ring to go with Mavericks?

Fanboy To list out our list of ideas we have: Cyclone, Hondo, Penny, and Warlock.

Payback I still think Cyclone is absolutely not it.

Bob For all we know at this point we may not even know of this person at all

---

"Mav?" Ice called out as he walked in the front door of their home, locking the door as he hung his keys.

"Living room!" Maverick called back.

"Hey." Ice greeted pulling Maverick into a hug.

"Hey." Maverick sighed holding on tight to Ice.

"Food is already in the crock pot and ready for us. Then we are talking."

"I know, but I just want to stand here for one more minute."

Ice nodded pulling Mav even closer.

Mav took a deep breath before pulling away.

"Alright, I'm hungry and this food has been smelling amazing for the past 10 minutes I have been home, let's eat." Maverick announces.

Ice smiled following his wingman to the kitchen.

They sat down at their table and began eating, when Ice finally broke the silence.

"Maverick-"

"I know," Maverick cut Ice off. "I am trying to find the words."

"Don't worry about finding the perfect words, just get it out and clarify from there." Ice knew his mind was going faster than an f-18 being flown by Maverick and he just needed to start speaking. That was the trick, once he started talking he would figure it out.

"How much did Warlock tell you?"

"Not much, but I want to hear your side and version. He gave me basic facts, you will give me the info I actually need to know."

"We were on a Hop, the goal was practicing the targeting followed by coffin corner. Coyote went into G-Lock." Maverick paused, staring off in the distance.

"Mav..." Ice comforted reaching his hand to take the other mans.

"Just before he would have crashed I got tone on him and he snapped out of it. We leveled out. Everything should have been fine. Then there was a bird strike. I managed to maneuver away in time but Phoenix and Bob got caught in it," Maverick looked down sighing, "She did everything right, she was calling out every step of the way, but there was no saving the plane. It was gone. They ejected. There was two chutes. I saw the two chutes. You and I both know chutes don't mean anything, but they made it. Just a little bruised and shaken."

"Maverick," Ice said softly, "They made it out. You made it out. Everyone is fine."

"I know."

"There is more."

"Yea."

Maverick moved the food around on his plate, taking a few bites, before pushing away the now nearly empty plate.

Ice saw this for what it was, Mav wanted to delay the second part for a few minutes, and he did not want to have it at the kitchen table.

Ice was not a fool, it was not a coincidence that a fuming Bradley Bradshaw was seen just before Maverick was found. That was the reason Ice wasn't pushing the conversation yet.

Ice followed Maverick with his own empty plate. Rinsing them off before placing them in the dish washer.

He wrapped an arm around Maverick, who leaned into him, before guiding him to their couch.

Maverick curled into his side before he began to speak. Ice rubbing his hand up and down Maverick's arm.

"I knew Bradley was in the rec room. He and Phoenix are close. I knew he was waiting on an update. He knows just as we do that chutes don't mean all is well. I told him they would be kept overnight for observation, and it just escalated from there."

"Maverick, what did he say to you?"

"Told me no one other than you would mourn me when I burned it. Told me I had no kids."

"Mav..."

"He told me that his father trusted me, and that-that he wouldn't make the same mistake."

"Pete..." Ice's eyes widened, he pulled Maverick tight against his side. "He knows what buttons to press. He knows how to hurt you. Just as you know how to hurt him. That doesn't make anything he said right. Bradley is our kid. We helped raise him for most of his life, you even before me. Then after Carol we did raise him. He is your kid, no matter how mad he is. He may not want to say it out loud, but he would mourn you. If he wouldn't then he wouldn't care."

"Ice, if I put him on this mission I could actually lose him forever, but if I don't... I lose him anyway."

"Pete. You are a better teacher than you will probably ever realize. You have something that cannot be taught, you give a care about those kids. About their lives. You aren't just there to send them on a mission and be done with them, you want them to come out alive and better pilots. You will choose who is best for this mission, and that is all you can do. That is what you are there to do, you are training them to make it back from the mission. Not just to complete it as everyone else would do."

"They don't believe they can do it."

"Then show them."

"How?"

"I've known you a long time. You always manage to find a way, especially when no one else can."

The cogs in Mavericks brain started to turn.

"Ice, can you authorize and f-18 for me in the morning?"

"Is this you finding a way?"

"I think I already found the way, however it's less paperwork for you later if you authorize the f-18 rather than me just taking one."

"I do appreciate less paperwork considering how often you cause me to have more paper work."

"See, I'm improving."

Ice rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too."

---

Cyclone stood in front of the 12 pilots in the classroom, having no clue what to expect. All he knew was that Maverick wanted them all in the room.

That alone scared Cyclone.

Though maybe not as much as the f-18 authorization he had received for Maverick this morning, conveniently timed after he tried to ground maverick after his panic attack yesterday fearing he wouldn't be able to carry out the mission training much less fly. Maverick and his guardian angel. Honestly, if Cyclone didn't look up to and respect Iceman as much as he did he would call  him insane for putting up with Maverick at all. He didn't see how he did it. Much less why he put up with it. Though he understood it a lot more when he found out the worst kept secret in the navy was true and not just gossip and the wingmen were in fact together. Married at that. Further confirmed when Cyclone got Maverick's file for this mission.

Once again a mess to deal with since that file was filled to the brim.

The aviators were talking amongst themselves trying to figure out what crazy idea Maverick had for them today, and Cyclone couldn't blame them because he was curious too.

"Maverick to Range Control. Entering point Alpha. Confirm green range."

"Maverick, Range Control green range is confirmed"

"What's he up to?" Phoenix mumbled.

"Setting time to target. 2 minutes, 15 seconds."

"2-15, that's impossible." Payback said

"Final attack point. Maverick's inbound."

"Popping in 3, 2, 1. Bombs away."

Cyclone and the pilots all stared up at the screen in shock watching with anticipated breaths.

9.5 G

TIME ON TARGET

00:00.16

"Bullseye!" Fanboy shouted

"Damn." Hangman mumbled, this was the Maverick from the stories.

---

Maverick looked at his phone as he changed out of his flight suit.

Ice They are making you mission leader. I'll be on the carrier now. The third miracle was never optional, but now it really isn't. You will come home to me. That is non-negotiable.

Maverick stared at the messages for a minute.

He was going on this mission.

---

Maverick stood looking out at the water.

"You are coming back to me."

"You know I can't promise that."

"You can promise me that you will do everything possible to come back to me."

"I can promise you that, but I am doing the same to make sure the others come back. Especially Bradley."

"I know. They know that too. They believe in you, and they believe that you believe in them. I saw it in their eyes when you announced your pilots."

Ice hugged his wingman as they stared at the open waters, the calm before the storm.

---

Ice watched the command room with a bated breath as updates came through. They were nearly to the target.

He listened, not speaking a word, letting everyone else do their jobs.

He stayed ice cold as his name suggested and his reputation supported.

He stayed that way, until he heard Bradley's panicked voice announce he was out of flares and SAMs were on him.

Only those who knew him well or were paying close attention would see the change, but anyone could see it when the words 'Dagger one is hit' came over the comms.

His entire world was shaken.

Cyclone and Warlock's eyes widened as they risked a glance back at the admiral, scared of what they might see.

The mighty Iceman's ice cold face was gone, and in it's place was terror and heartbreak.

His world collapsed further when they call out that Dagger two is hit.

---

Ice leaned against the wall of the command room, wishing to Goose above to bring back their kid and Maverick.

Iceman was generally very patient, something that made him very dangerous and feared, but when it came to the well-being of Maverick and Bradley, well his patience went out the window.

His head shot up as fast as Maverick flies when they had something pop up on radar.

"It's an f-14 sir."

"Maverick." Ice finally spoke.

Cyclone shook his head with an impressed look on his face.

"Launch Hangman." Iceman ordered.

"Goose, save our boys." Ice mumbled under his breath.

---

Ice stood in the tower, bracing himself for the inevitable buzzing of the tower. A smile on his face as he laughed.

He watched their landings from above, and watched his husband and son hug for the first time in many years, before heading to his quarters to wait on his wingman. The flight deck didn't need him down there. He would ruin their celebration, and they deserved a celebration.

---

Ice watched from the window as a blue bronco pulled up to his house for the first time since Bradley had left 15 years prior.

"He actually came." Maverick spoke so softly Ice wasn't even sure if he knew he spoke it aloud.

"He will always come back home, it just took longer this time."

A tentative knock came from the door.

"I'll be upstairs. You two talk. I'll join after." Ice nodded knowing this conversation needed to be between just those two for now.

"Bradley." Maverick breathed out as he opened the door.

"Mav."

They made their way to the couch, tension was evident in the air. No one was sure how to start a conversation that had been in waiting for 15 years.

"You said we would talk. Why did you do it?"

"You weren't ready."

"You've said that, but I know that's not all of it. The academy would help me get ready. You and Ice would help me get ready. So tell me the rest."

"I made a promise."

"You held me back because you made a promise? Why would you promise to keep me from the academy? From flying? Like you and ice and dad-"

It clicked. There was only one person Mav would make that promise too.

"You promised my mom."

"She didn't want you to fly and risk dying young like Goose. She wanted you to live a full life."

"Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

"You weren't talking to me anyway. I wasn't going to hold that over your head."

"Why didn't you tell me when I asked you in the rec room?"

Maverick realized Bradley wasn't going to let this go.

"You hated me. You didn't need to hate her too. I couldn't ruin your memory of your mom."

Bradley froze.

"I'm sorry for the thing I said you. I didn't mean them. I regretted them as soon as they came out of my mouth, but I just kept going because I knew it would hurt you. I could never hate her. I couldn't even hate you, and I tried. Trust me I tried. I couldn't even hate Ice. "

"I love you Bradley."

"I-I love you too dad."

Maverick's eyes watered, it had been 15 years since he had been called that. Bradley had for years used Mav and Dad interchangeably, part of why him saying he had no kids had stung so much. Bradley was his kid.

"Will Pops ever forgive me?" Bradley asked softly hugging Maverick tight.

"I already did Baby Goose." Ice said from the stairs behind them.

"Pops." Bradley gasps, standing up slowly.

"I forgave you the moment everything happened, I've waited for the day you would walk back through the door."

"I missed you Pops."

"I've missed you Baby Goose, now how about you come sit with us for dinner and tell us what you've been up to the past few years that didn't make it in your file and that your uncles never told us."

"Well for starters Dagger Squadron currently has a bet going to figure out who you are married to Mav."

---

More to come!! There will be Mav and Ice with their adopted squadron!

Chapter 2

[togrowoldinv]

Congrats on 1k!! For your celebration, can I please request 43 + carol? With R saying it :D

Thank you! I was excited to write some more Carol, so thanks for sending in! 💙

Also on another note, I’m sorry it’s taking me so long to get all of these requests done. I promise I’m working on them and they’ll all get written eventually! Hopefully sooner rather then later.

Carol Danvers x Reader

"You look gorgeous in that."

1,000 Followers Celebration Masterlist

“Baby are you about ready?” you ask your wife as you walk by the bedroom where she is getting dressed.

“Yeah, just one second,” Carol says.

You busy yourself with gathering your daughter’s things for her night at a friend’s house. Tonight is a gala for your work and Carol wants to go, but reluctantly agreed to get dressed up for it.

It’s not often that you see your wife all dressed up, so when she comes out of the bedroom you are left speechless. She’s wearing a deep blue suit that hugs her just right.

“How do I look?” Carol asks with a smirk. She may not have wanted to get dressed up, but she knows she looks good.

As you’re trying to find the words to respond, your daughter runs by you and stops at Carol’s feet to look up at her.

“Mommy, you’re so pretty!” she says with a huge smile.

“Thank you, Taylor! You are beautiful and precious, baby girl,” Carol says as she leans down to kiss her forehead. She runs off again and you walk up to Carol.

“You look gorgeous in that, my love,” you finally speak. Carol blushes and kisses you gently.

“Well, I figure I’ve got to look good next to my absolutely stunning wife,” Carol says and it’s your turn to sheepishly glance at her and kiss her.

“Thank you, Carol. It’s going to be a great night.”

“It’ll be a perfect night, babe,” she agrees with a smile.

Tag List: @gracebutnotgraceful @i-wished-for-you-too @nataliaromanova-widow @idkwhygregg @be-missed @likefirenrain @hehehehannahthings @mythosphere-x @wandassitcom @marvelwomen-simp @maia-lightwoood @mortallytremendoussandwich @xxromanoffxx @ggrangerdanger @peanutbutterprincess @picnicmic @exhaustedfangirl @wandaslittlewhore @marie45019 @itsyourgirlmalise @jujuu23 @the-night-owl-blr @strangegardentaco @avatarsnips @natashasilverfox

[thevoidknights]

reyna-the-divine​:

“Well, since we’re playing tag, hiding would turn it into hide and seek instead. Also, I am not properly prepared for hide and seek.” Slane says tapping their armor. He carries a sword and shield on him, having had extensive combat training in his years making him a formidable foe in a fight.

“…I see. I am sorry for your loss. In our world, our parents also had to deal with an apocalyptic event. Many suffered from it, and we are still recovering as well. However, I’m certain that we would be willing to offer any aid that would help your people recover.” Slane adds on, with his brothers nodding along. For now, they follow along the weaver children to Elderbug’s house.

Reyna nods to Ghost. “Please, lead the way.” She says. “Oh, and would Hollow be comfortable around Radi you think?” She also asks, as Radi was still in her arms.

“That’s true I suppose... Sorry, we’re so used to tag turning into hide and seek due to Clover it’s easy to forget that it isn’t the same game sometimes.” Gwi did at least look a bit sheepish, as far as he could anyway. He gave a little bow to Slane, his own weapon shifting on his back. Hopefully neither of their weapons would be needed. 

Cingwin was the one to speak up this time, voice soft and meek, “thank you... while we do miss our parents we wouldn’t trade Ghost for anyone else either. They’ve cared for us when no one else would... Them and auntie Hornet are more than we could ever ask for considering everything else they’ve both got to take care of. We’re so grateful...” Avilline and Gwi nodded along, agreeing with their quiet sister about this. Plus their auncle Hollow as well. All the of the royal siblings didn’t have to care for the Weaverlings like their own but they did anyway and it meant the whole world to them. 

Ghost meanwhile is watching their children go with a bit of concern, normal for them given their parental instincts but eventually they conclude everything will be fine and they smile to Reyna. “Of course, and I’m sure after their initial surprise they’ll calm down so long as we’re both there to keep an eye on her. Besides, they may take to playing with Clover as a means of distraction.” It hurt that their twin still was hurt so deeply by the moth goddess but they certainly couldn’t blame the other either. Having the source of the infection rot you alive was a horrifyingly traumatic event after all. They open the door to find their twin still cocooned up in the blanket nest but at least they were awake given the tired chirp of greeting they offer. At least until they see Reyna enter then they bolt upright to try and appear presentable and gives a light glare at their twin for not being warned about the company. 

@thevoidknights

Reyna had normally always come into this world a a lizard. She never really had her natural form changed. Yet this time, she found her body to have morphed into a new shape. It had happened during her visit to another version of Hallownest before, so it seems the change now affects her here as well.

She was a moth, with a cerulean blue chitin and body, while her wings were white, with golden lines crossing over them on the fringes. She still had her yellow gold eyes though, and was still her normal height of 9 feet and 6 inches. She also had her antena colored like he frills on her lizard self.

So now with this, she wanted to go find Ghost and show them her new self. She wondered how they would react to seeing Reyna in such a body? Well, she's about to find out, as she sees them standing out in Dirtmouth.

[cazimagines]

A Freudian Slip - The Sequel

Synopsis: Zemo was always getting on your nerves. Yes, he was hot and god you were attracted to him but he was also your enemy. After what happened last night you were trying your best to pretend it never happened however Zemo isn’t willing to let you do that.

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings/Tags: FOR A MATURE AUDIENCE, Smut, Oral sex, Fingering, Slight fluff, mentions of guns

Author's note: You guys really liked ‘the Freudian Slip’ and I’ve had a few requests to write a sequel, so here I am. This is my first time attempting to write smut for all y'all who are horny for Zemo so um hopefully it’s good. IF YOU KNOW ME NO YOU DON’T

My Master list

“Madripoor knows how to give New York a run for its money,” Sam says as they walk past all these containers.

“They know how to party,” Zemo replies, walking up beside you. His arm grazes against yours, making you tense. Picking up your pace, you reach Bucky and leaving Zemo behind.

Last night you might have made the worst mistake of your life. You had made out with Zemo.

Zemo!

The man that was a terrorist. The man who had caused the Avengers to split up. You hated him! You had to hate him. Right?

Yet when you glance over to him, you can’t help feel warm inside. Goosebumps crawl up your skin as you hear him speak. That accent of his drove you wild. You want to kiss that smirk off his face when he looks at you. His brown eyes bearing into yours. He made you feel alive. He made you feel all hot and bothered. He made you feel confused.

Earlier at Sharon’s party, you were watching him. Usually, you like a party, but this time you held back. Zemo looked around for you, but he eventually gave up and danced on his own. You smiled as you watched him have fun. For those moments he seemed so innocent. You wanted to join him dancing, but Sam and Bucky were already suspicious of you and Zemo. Why it had taken you two so long to reach them after you split up. You had to distance yourself from him. No matter how hard you found it.

You swallow, pushing away the thoughts of you and him as you tried to focus back on the mission at hand.

You arrived at the crater, and Sharon handed you all earpieces to wear. Placing it in your ear and head into the crater. It was pitch black in there, making you stop to try to see anything.

Zemo was following up behind you, and as you stopped walking, he walked into you. You stiffened, feeling his body press up against yours. His arm reaches around, squeezing yours as he moves beside you. Though you couldn’t see him, you just knew he was smirking at you.

Zemo pulled out a flashlight. He shone it in your eyes to annoy you before shining it forward to see the end of the crater. He walked forward, touching the wall, then pushed it. The wall moved, revealing it as a door as music flooded the room. He glances back at you, Sam and Bucky as you all pull out your guns. Sam and Bucky head in and you follow them as Zemo keeps the door open for you. His hand rested on the dip of your back as you walked past, but you shook it off. He turned to stare at you, but you continued to walk ahead, not giving him a second glance.

The song ‘Comin home baby’ plays out of a record as you enter. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as you glance around where you were. Rounding the corner, you finally see the man you had been looking for. He was quietly singing along, unaware of the people approaching him from behind. Sam and Bucky questioned him while you and Zemo held back.

You were just there for backup you didn’t want to get involved. Your eyes sneak back to admiring Zemo though, and you wonder just how involved you were. Zemo’s eyes snap to yours as he notices you staring, and he tilts his head at you, his thin lips sneaking up in a curl.

You look away, staring ahead, willing your cheeks to stop blushing.

As Sam and Bucky continued to interrogate the doctor, Zemo walked around the area. You kept trying to see what he was doing while at the same trying to make sure Zemo didn’t notice you.

Sharon runs into the room at that moment, “Guys, we’ve got to go”

Zemo quickly raises his hand, showing a gun he had found, and shoots the doctor dead.

“NO!” both you and Sam shouted, looking at Zemo in shock. Sam crashes into Zemo, holding him against the wall to stop him from shooting anyone else. You rush over and prize the gun out of Zemo’s hand, chucking it to the floor.

Before you got another moment to think, the whole crater exploded. You were flung back down, hitting your head against the floor. Searing pain crossed the back of your head and you let out a yelp of pain.

Groaning, you raised your hand to your head. Pulling it back, you see your hand covered in blood.

“Shit” you mutter trying to wipe your hand on your clothes.

You felt arms wrap around you, pulling you off the floor. You blink, trying to get the dust out of your eyes as the arms guide you out of the rubble. Finally, in the sunlight, you realize Zemo has his hands on your side pulling you along. Just as you two left the remains of the building, it explodes behind you.

“Are you okay?” Zemo questions as he turns you around to look at him. His eyes glanced up and down you in worry as he takes in the extent of your injuries.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Zemo, were they still in there!?” you ask anxiously as you look back to the burning building.

“They’ll be fine, come we need to go,” Zemo insisted, grabbing a hold of your hand again pulling you along. Your head still seized with pain making you trip slightly, but you kept it together.

“Where the hell are we going?” you ask but Zemo doesn’t answer he just keeps running and pulls you up onto a crater.

“Zemo!” you exclaim in annoyance, then your eyes widen as he pulls something out of his pocket.

“What the fuck is that”

“My mask, ”

“Your what now? Since when have you had a mask!” you question, looking at him confused.

“I’ve always had one. Now you need to duck” he ordered, looking over the edge of the crater.

“Why should I do that”

He rolls his eyes and wrenches you down, “Can’t you listen to me for once y/n'' he exclaims. He then grabs your gun and heads to the front of the crate wearing his mask. He shoots a pipe, and it explodes, sending a shock wave through you. You collapse to the ground feeling faint from the blood loss and Zemo rushes back to you.

He puts his hand on the back of your head to help you up, and his eyes widen when he pulls his hand away to see blood covering it.

“Why didn’t you say something” he angrily muttered.

“I’m fine” you groaned, but the black spots you could see in your vision said otherwise.

Zemo wrapped one arm under your legs and the other under your back and picked you up. He held you close to his chest as he ran forward holding you in his arms,

After a few minutes, he helps you stand up, letting you lean on him. You hated how dependent you were on Zemo at this moment, but a darker side of you enjoyed being this close to him. Leaning against a crate, you watch as Zemo finally pulls off his mask and opens one crate. Your eyes widen in shock as you watch him ride out in a car.

He gets out and opens the passenger seat door for you. Putting one arm around your waist and making you wrap your arm around his shoulder. He guides you to the car and helps you in. Both of you don’t speak. He knew you were too embarrassed to, and at this moment he didn’t want to push you.

Driving along you two picked up Sam and Bucky, who were thankful for seeing you alive. The car drive lasted a few hours, but eventually, you arrived at a new city where Zemo had a place you could stay.

Zemo got out of the car to help you out, but by this time you're determined to not rely on him. You pushed the door open, swung your legs out, tried to stand up, and almost fell over, but Bucky grabbed you.

“She needs medical help,” Zemo demanded as he opens the door to the house to let you in. Bucky excuses himself for a walk as Sam and Zemo help walk you into the building. They guide you to the sofa and lay you down. Sam finds some bandages to apply to your head while Zemo pours out some whiskey for you.

“To get rid of the pain,” he says, handing it to you. He sits beside you, gently putting his hand over the bandage on your head.

“Watch it” Sam growls glaring at him,

“My apologies,” Zemo quipped, removing his hand and your heart sinks a bit as he moves away.

With the pain easing, you eventually drift off into a light sleep. You don’t know how long you slept for, but when you woke up and looked around the room, you were in was empty. Feeling stronger, you stand up and start looking around the room. You notice a door off to the side where you could hear running water. Heading towards it, you gently knock on the door.

The water stops, and the door opens slightly to reveal Zemo on the other side. As he sees you, he opens the door and pulls you into the bathroom, closing the door behind you.

“I-I didn’t mean to come in here, I just wanted to see who was around” you mutter as your eyes flicker up and down Zemo. He was currently dressed in a bathrobe, and from the way it looks, not much else. Your eyes focused on the necklace that hung around his neck. How low the bathrobe dipped, exposing a part of his chest. You felt your core warming up and your mind filled with thoughts.

Zemo chuckles as he watches your eyes run up and down him, “Liking what you see?”

You freeze, bringing you back to reality. “N-no” you say, turning around trying to open the door but Zemo wraps his arms around you pulling you to him. He leans his face into your neck kissing it making your eyes flutter shut and let out a slight moan.

“How's your head?” Zemo asks, pulling back from you and raising his hand to touch the bandage.

You turn your head slightly, looking at him annoyed. Hopping from trying to seduce you to a casual conversation as nothing happened.

“I’m fine”

“Well, forgive me darling for not believing you but last time you said that you weren’t”

“I feel better...thank you for helping me”

“Anytime darling” he whispers in your ear. As his body presses into you, you could feel near your ass a bulge pressing against you.

“Why have you been ignoring me?” he then asks

“I haven’t” you quickly reply. He turns you around and pushes you against the door, tilting his head and staring intently

“Don’t lie to me y/n”

His serious glare makes you feel fuzzy, makes you feel warm but also angry at him. He knows very dam well why you have.

“Because Zemo, you are supposed to be a bad guy. Someone I should hate! I shouldn’t be doing thinking things of you”

He leans towards you, his lips grazing yours, “Such as?”

You pause for a moment, knowing you shouldn’t step over this line, but you just can’t help it.

“Fucking you”

“Oh? Such dirty thoughts. I thought you were above such things.” Zemo purrs

“Stop teasing me!” You whine. You try to lean forward to capture his lips but he leans back, putting his finger on them.

“Ah y/n, I want you to make a promise before we get anywhere”

“What”

“Please...don’t ignore me”

You look into his eyes and for once it was like the mask he always wore, of a self-absorbed man slipped away. You were staring into the eyes of a desperately lonely man.

“I promise, but Sam and Bucky can’t know”

Zemo grins, his teeth flashing. “I won’t tell if you don’t”

His lips crash onto yours, hungrily pressing against them. You open your mouth as his tongue explores yours. His hands wander up and down your body, pressing hard against your skin. He roughly grabs your arms and pushes you over to the sink. He picks you up and places you onto it. His lips leave yours, trailing down your jaw and neck.

His fingers venture downwards as well, slipping past the hem of your trousers. He moves them down past your underwear and slips into your private parts. You gasp as his fingers graze over your clit. The feeling sending shivers through you. You can feel Zemo smirking against your skin as he leaves a hickey against your collarbone. You grasp his hair, tugging on it, making him moan into your skin.

He removes his hands from you and grasps a hold of your trousers, pulling them off. He quickly pulls down your underwear while you remove your shirt. You attempt to grasp his bathrobe, but he ducks down.

He slowly parts your thighs, trailing kisses along them as he moves closer to your core. Your legs felt like jelly, as you expected him. He chuckles looking up to you, “So needy for me” he jested before wrapping his lips around your clit and sucking.

You chuck your head back, moaning in pleasure as warmth floods your core. Your hands grasp his hair, holding him tightly as he continues to lick and suck at your clit.

“Be careful Y/n, these rooms are not soundproof” he says, releasing his lips from you but you are beyond the point of caring. You wrap your thighs around his head, pushing back to you.

His fingers touch your core, finding it soaked where they easily slip inside. You moan at the feeling of his fingers stretching you out. He pumps them in and out of you at a rapid rate while his tongue twisted on your clit, eliciting moans out of you.

“Zemo” you gasp as you felt your limit coming. “Zemo I’m going to-” you break off, unable to finish the sentence as you finally release as you see stars.

After a few moments, you are brought back to reality as you can feel Zemo run his tongue up your core drinking you in. He pulls back from you and stands up. His eyes trailing up and down your body as you lie there recovering from your pleasure. “So beautiful” he whispers.

You reach forward, grabbing a hold of his bathrobe and tugging it down his body till he wasn’t covered anymore. He swiftly moves over to a draw, pulling out a condom wrapper. Tearing it open with his mouth, he pulls the condom out and slips it onto himself.

His hands reach out to you, wrapping them around your body, pulling him closer to you. He rests his head on your shoulder as he pushes into you. You moan loudly in his ear as you feel him enter and cling to him, dragging your nails up and down his back. He grunts as he thrusts into you. Moaning as you squeeze your legs tighter for him. He trails kisses on your shoulder, gently biting a part of your skin.

“Y/N” he breathes, pulling back from your shoulder and claiming your lips again.

He pulls back from your lips and smirks at you teasingly, “Are you going to call me daddy again?”

You flush bright red remembering that night, “Damn you” you rasp out

He chuckles, leaning back towards your ear, “I don’t mind if you do”

At that moment he hits a certain spot within you, making you cry out. “There Daddy, please” you gasp and he complies, attempting to hit the spot again within you. His hands sneak back down and rub your clit, making jolts of pleasure run through you.

You feel yourself coming to another release, making you tangle your hands in his hair. You let it all out, seeing stars. After a few more thrusts, Zemo slows down and lets out a moan.

You two stay like that for a few minutes, just holding each other. Eventually, Zemo pulls back, pulling his condom off. He brushes the hair away from your face and gently places a kiss on your lips.

“You were great darling”

Tag list: @ineffablebean

Tagging who asked and showed interest in a sequel: @breakfastatlenas @prestigious-tea

[astaroth1357]

AYE requests briefly open you say? Then here ya go: MC (female or gn) turns into a child for a day courtsey of Solomon (maybe around 5) with the Brothers. I think it'd be adorable, what with finger painting on spell books and things, but there ya go!

The MC is Now Five Years Old, Thanks Solomon...

Oh boy…. A little kid in Hell sounds like a train wreck admittedly, but at least they'll have some pretty strong guardians right? I heard It'll Be Okay by SMLE & Helen Tess and decided that was JUST the feel this sort of request needed.

Intro:

Solomon really doesn't mess up spells often. He's been doing this for a while (at least as far as my headcanon is concerned) so he's gotten pretty damn good at magic over the years. It takes a looot to make him mess up. Like say, a natural disaster, an unexpected surprise… or a whole-ass MC getting knocked into what sigil he's using at just the wrong time. Yeah. That'll do it.

How in the world is he going to explain this to the brothers…?

Lucifer

His anger toward Solomon is quite severe… tempered only slightly by how utterly adorable kid!MC is. (Well all know he's got that soft spot for cute things 🤭) It reminds him so much of his brothers at that age…

The man basically reverts back to being Dad!Lucifer sooo fast.

He's the one tying their shoes, checking on them throughout the day, making sure they're not running with scissors… that sort of thing.

Weirdly enough he's not that bothered by it… In fact, his brothers find it a little unnerving just how at peace he seems when he's keeping track of kid!MC doing this or that… It's like he's just put on an old pair of gloves and found out they still fit.

Speaking of his brothers, Lucifer can't turn off "Parent Mode" so it starts spilling over to them too...

When he started telling Levi "It's bedtime" and used a napkin to wipe Beel's face for him in public, they decided to hold an informal intervention. They're grown demons now, damnit!! 😖

Mammon

The first thing kid!MC did when they saw Mammon was fling themselves at him while screaming "MAMMIE!!!" at the top of their lungs… Regardless of his confusion, the man could probably die happy now.

He only gripes a little bit about being saddled with babysitting duty… Because everybody knows he's not the babysitter now. He's the playmate.

"Mammie, I wanna play House!!" "I ain't playing House with ya, kid. How 'bout Tag?" "No way, you're too fast!"  "Hide'n Seek?" "Luci said we can't play that no more…" "Well don't hide in the oven again!" "You didn't find me!!" "That was the problem!!!"

Pretty much the Man-Child/Actual Child Duo. He's perfect for keeping up with them and they'll whine incessantly when they can't find him for too long...

Totally the brother to take them to the amusement park or really any of those super fun places kids love. He will be just as excited as they are to be there, too.

It's not uncommon to find Mammon passed out on a couch or something with an equally exhausted kid!MC sleeping on his back. The two can really wear each other out…

Leviathan

He's probably the least perturbed by this change. Sudden de-aging of characters is a pretty popular anime trope, after all...

He's not all that taken with kid!MC though to be honest… Largely because he's too worried about keeping his stuff out of their grubby mitts. 😖

"Levi, what's this?" "GAH! Don't touch that!! That's my limited edition Ultra☆Rainbow Witch figurine!!" "I wanna play with it, though!" "It's not a toy!!" "That's not fair! You have nothing but toys, Levi!! You need to share!!" "NO I DON'T!!!"

In those times where Lucifer forces him to share, Levi goes full neat-freak. He handles all the discs and games himself, everything gets practically sterilized, and kid!MC HAS to wash their hands before they touch ANYTHING (especially the game controllers). He ain't risking any random kid-gunk getting on his precious possessions… 😰

He does enjoy playing games with them well enough, at least. No one's going to pass up a game of Devil Kart after all!

Sometimes he'll let them win just to see how happy they get… Though, then they start getting a big head about it so he has to remind him who the actual gamer is with another string of losses... Sucks to suck, kid! 😌😏

Satan

… You know, five year-olds ask a lot of questions… A looot of questions…

"Satan, what's that?" "An umbrella. You use it so that rain doesn't get on you." "Where does rain come from?" "Evaporated water collects in the atmosphere and-" "Is rain like the sky peeing?" "...." "Satan? Does your face hurt?... Satan?"

Please Lord, they may not be on speaking terms, but someone has to have mercy on his patience...

In truth, Satan's kind of charmed by how curious kid!MC is, he just wished they'd listen more to his boring explanations…

"Satan? Why does everyone listen to Diavolo?" "Lord Diavolo is like a king to us demons." "Where's his crown?" "He doesn't wear a crown." "Oh… You don't wear a crown and people listen to you. Are you a king too?" "I mean, you're not wrong… 😏" "Satan, get back to work."

Eh, maybe having a little MC isn't all that bad. They don't lie, after all. 😌

Asmodeus

OMG he hasn't seen a child this cute since the twins were in diapers!!!!

If Mammon isn't around then Asmo takes over babysitting duties (like an actual babysitter) and he's more than happy to do it. It reminds of him of taking care of baby Belphie!

If kid!MC has any interest at all in makeup then he's happy to foster it. He won't give them the good stuff of course, but he'll show them how to do blush, eyes, lipstick, nail polish, whatever!

He also dabbles in a bit of facepaint so do they want to look like a kitty, panda, or dragon? He's got them covered.

Asmo just likes to let them be creative in all forms, really. He's going to be the one to break out the paint and markers and just the kid!MC go to town! (hopefully not on the walls…)

Takes pictures of whatever they draw, good or bad, and happily displays them to everyone. There's not a big enough fridge to hold all the art he's going to collect (and zealously protect).

Beelzebub

Playmate #2 right after Mammon, but he's the less excitable, more responsible one.

"Beel! Beel! Watch me jump off this slide!!" 😰 "Please don't… You could hurt yourself… You slide down slides. That's why they're called that." "*GASP*... That's right! You're a genius!!" *sits back down* "Not really, but thank you." 😊 *waits for them at the bottom*

If the MC is with Beel, they're doing one of two things. Either they're playing together or gorging themselves on junk food.

Beel actually likes "domestic" games like House and Tea Party because it's an excuse to raid the kitchen. He'll play "house-husband" all day as long as he gets to actually eat at every imaginary dinnertime.

He'll play active games too, of course. Especially action-oriented ones like "Cops and Robbers" or Superheros. No one's better at roughhousing than Beel! Though he'll go easy on them, cause they're small and all… 😅

Everyone can always tell when Beel's in charge of them because he carries them around on his shoulders. He's the tallest one of the family so it's like getting to be a giant!

Belphegor

Belphie was introduced to kid!MC when they started crying during one of his naps. They couldn't wake him and they thought he was dead… Followed directly by them declaring their tears were magic when they noticed his eyes opened.

He proceeded to close his eyes again and purposely play dead just to get them all worried again. It was the smile creeping up onto his face that eventually gave him away… 😏

He likes to play with kid!MC and Beel but he's not going to let it get in the way of his nap schedule or anything. When they play "Knights" he gets to take the role of the world's laziest dragon… Rawr.

Kid!MC will only settle down for naptime if Belphie joins too since he'll read them a book like he used to do with Lilith.

Satan's usually the go-to guy for storytime, but Belphie's a close second (largely because he just imitates what he remembers Lucifer doing for him, voices and all 🤭).

He deals with their myriad of questions by just making shit up and pretending he knows what he's talking about. It's around the time that he told them that little men live inside the freezer and shave ice cubes to keep things cold that Lucifer started getting on his case about it… Killjoy. 🙄

[skepticbeliever-bookclub]

What are your personal favourite fics? :D

Great question! A perfect excuse for us to reach out to our members and ask them for their personal favourites and thanks to our collective recs, we're about to unravel a list of some real gems for you and hopefully therein you'll find a few favourites of your own.

want you in my room - beethechange | E, 13k, Complete

As they watch, Tall Guy takes his beanie off, revealing a mess of thick, shiny brown hair. He runs his hand through it to shake out the hat hair and Ryan feels like he’s stuck in an Herbal Essences commercial, except he’s the one making inappropriate lustful noises.

Ryan adjusts his snapback, determined. He is, after all, wearing his very finest basketball shorts, without even a single hole at the hem, and the knowledge puts an extra spring in his step. “I’m gonna climb that dude like a tree,” he tells Curly.

guidance for sailors, lost at sea - varnes | T, 6.2k, Complete

“I’m not the mom,” Shane says, drowsily appalled.

Ryan raises his eyebrows. “I didn’t say you were the mom,” he soothes, sincere in the way that Ryan kind of always is, even when he’s being sarcastic. “I just said they reacted to you as if you were the mom.”

“It’s -- that’s the same thing,” Shane protests, but quietly, because he has a tiny ghost perched on his hip and he doesn’t want to wake her. It. Whatever. It’s kind of hard to tell, because they don’t look like people, exactly, more like -- outlines.

Actually, ironically, what they really look like is people covered in sheets, round at the top and kind of vague at the bottom, but Shane has stopped trying to say that because Ryan gets mad about it. He thinks it’s disrespectful.

Shane thinks it’s disrespectful that he was made step-parent to a bridge full of baby ghosts without anybody asking him, but sure. Pointing out that they look like sheets is the problem.

You can run away with me anytime you want - PhyllisDietrichson | E, 12k, Complete

But sometimes Ryan scrolls through Shane’s instagram when his socials go quiet and their text convo takes a long pause and Ryan knows it’s because Shane is off camping somewhere, and Ryan can’t deny that he feels the tug of his absence.

we were wrecks before we crashed into each other - uneventfulhouses | E, 24k, Complete

Cleo’s smile is soft. “Shane told me his memory. What’s yours?”

“Less about memories,” Ryan says truthfully. “More about the future. Where we’ll be and such.”

Arching a brow, she drops her arms, so she clasps her hands in front of her hips. “Where do you think you’ll be?”

Ryan laughs. “Dunno.” He isn’t brave enough to say that he does know that Shane will be there, somewhere, wedged between the regular, the obtuse, the breathtaking, the wild. The generic and the extraordinary. The weird and the wonderful.

or; this week on Weird and/or Wonderful World, Shane and Ryan visit a record shop.

Hold Your Breath, It Gets Better - beethechange | E, 10k, Complete

Ryan stops short in the doorway of his bedroom, banging his shoulder against the doorframe in his haste, because he’s too late. Shane’s kneeling in front of the bottom drawer of his bedside table, peering down at the contents, hand frozen in a hover like he’d been about to reach in. His face is a blank mask.

“Ah. I keep the batteries in the top drawer. Not. Not the bottom one.”

“Yes,” Shane says, cocking his head to the left in puzzlement, and then he pauses for a fraction of a second too long as he considers his words. “I can see that the batteries are not in the bottom drawer.”

darling it’s a faded notion - varnes | E, 28k, complete

The sun is too bright and Ryan’s whole body is alight with something that is eating him all the way up from the inside out, but he keeps his eyes open and he makes himself look, and he tells himself that once he finds Shane, he’ll think about it. Once he finds Shane, they’ll make a plan. Once he finds Shane, and only then, he’ll let himself have the thought he’s been swallowing down like bile since he came to: that they didn’t fall.

They were pushed.

OR: Ryan and Shane get cursed by a ghost, and now they can’t be not-touching. It’s … not great.

open all your doors - apologeticallybourgeois | E, 8k, Complete

Shane was almost sure that Ryan didn’t actually cast a spell for it to happen, if only because the price he’d have to pay would probably be counted in, like, human limbs instead of a couple of small animals.

The Leading Man - breathtaken | E, 95k, Complete

All things considered, he could definitely do a lot worse than this: a performer-owned and -operated, queer-positive, crossover film studio, promising creative input right from day one – directing, cinematography, [...] it’s everything he wants.

He just has to get his dick out for it.

Euneirophrenia - orphan_account | T, 4.7k, Complete

Euneirophrenia: The peace of mind that comes from having pleasant dreams

Maelstrom - liminalweirdo | E, 40k, Complete

Here’s the thing about driving halfway across the country to see someone. You can’t really deny, after that, that you’re pretty much head over heels for them.

The Denial Twist - beethechange | E, 35k, Complete

“This is kind of surreal,” Shane says, taking a sip of his tea. It’s piping hot and delicious, except it tastes like hot chocolate and not like tea at all. “Sort of—Wonka-esque, right? Or Alice in Wonderland.”

“If you’re aiming a shot over the bow about my height you can fucking forget about it,” Ryan says, watching with interest as Shane’s cup refills by itself. “But yeah, it’s surreal. Literally, because dreams aren’t real.”

Shane’s unsettled by the comment. It sets alarm bells ringing in his head but he doesn’t know why. He just wasn’t expecting Dream Ryan to be so, well—so on the nose.

Or, the one where Shane and Ryan have some really weird dreams and perhaps, eventually, some sex.

Collide - needywitch | E, 35k, Complete

Ryan is desperately in love with his best friend.

what's the point of this again? - touchinghearts | T, 9.3k, Complete

When Ryan invites Shane back for a holiday week to meet his family during a big reunion, it doesn’t even occur to Shane that it could be a big deal.

Lost a fic? Check out our fic found tag, and if you still can’t find it, send us an ask!

[billfarrah]

Season 2 predictions tagged by @levon

Thanks for the tag @levok! I never do these things coz I always use Tumblr on my phone but I’m working from home today and have access to my laptop so here we go.

1. What month will season 2 be released?

- I’m cynical and am thinking December. I followed the timeline of how long it took to release season 1 and if production and post-production take the same amount of time, it won’t be released until December. Edvin did say they want to get it out as quickly as possible so hopefully they can get it out a bit sooner (although of course I don’t want them to rush it and I doubt they will).

2. What episode will Simon and Wilhelm have their first s2 kiss (who will initiate the kiss)?

- Maybe episode 3-4; I feel like they may have some moments where they get close but stop themselves. Of course Simon should be the one that initiates it since he’s the one that broke off their relationship and he was wronged by Wille, so things need to be on his terms, but I would be fine with Wille initiating it as long as he has clear consent from Simon.

3. How will Simon find out about August being behind the leak?

- I feel like he’ll find out by accident, like by overhearing a conversation, perhaps one that Sara is having, and they’ll have a fight about it and she’ll tell him Wille knew as well. He’ll go to confront Wille about it and it’ll be a very emotional scene.

4. Will there be snow in s2?

- I hope so. 

5. Will there be any physical fight (if yes, who will be involved)?

- Yes. I think there could a confrontation between Simon and August about the video and Wille has to intervene; I picture him holding Simon’s arms back and whispering softly into his ear like, “This isn’t you, this isn’t you,” and eventually Simon just collapses against him (yes, I’m thinking of the scene in the Raven King between Adam and Ronan, okay)

6. Will Wilhelm abdicate?

- No. That will never happen. Lisa has already said she doesn’t want to get too political and that would be WAY too political. I also think it’s not that interesting.

7. Will Wilhelm make a new public statement about his sexuality?

- I could see the season ending with him making a statement and a potential season 3 starting with the aftermath. We know YR loves a spicy cliffhanger.

8. Will there be introduced another queer character (can be a s1 character - if yes, who)?

- I don’t think so, and if there is, it’ll be casually revealed about a background character. It won’t be a major character for sure.

9. Will Sara become a boarder student at Hillerska?

- I’m conflicted about this. Sara sort of blackmailed August by saying she’d tell Wille but Wille already knows. That look between them at the end was interesting for sure. I feel like it could make for good drama with her being a boarder, and it was brought up, so I’m gonna say yes, and it drives a wedge between her and Simon because we already know that’s going to happen.

10. Do we get a forehead kiss between Simon and Wilhelm (if yes, who kisses who)?

- I feel like this has become such a weirdly controversial topic lmao like now that it’s been addressed by the creators, there is this weird attitude that if we get it, it’ll feel too fanservicey. But to me, it’s just another form of intimacy. I think forehead kisses are cute and if we get one, I’ll be happy, because I love any moment of S&W being cute, but I don’t care either way because I’m sure we’re going to get many, many beautiful intimate moments between them, so I’m not really gonna comment on this one.

11. Will Simon and the queen exchange any words (if yes, who will speak first)?

- Yes. I could see Simon speaking first because he has no idea how speaking to royalty works and the Queen is offended; I want them to butt heads. 

12. Will there be clothes exchange between Simon and Wilhelm (if yes, what item)?

- No. I think they’ll spend most of the season not in a relationship so there won’t really be much opportunity. Maybe in a potential season 3 when they’re in an established relationship. 

13. Will Sara speak any Spanish?

- No. I think she’s going to distance herself from her family even more.

14. Will Simon become aware of Wilhelm's anxiety?

- Yes.

15. Will Wilhelm break the 4th wall at some point?

- Duh. It’s like, a thing at this point, and Edvin is so good at it.

16. Will Alex get some sort of revenge (if yes, how)?

- No. I love Alex and his actor but he really was not a very significant character; he served his purpose for the plot and I also don’t like revenge plots; I thin they’re cheesy. However, the casting call requesting a specifically East Asian actor does make me wonder...

17. Will Erik appear in any form (letter, flashback, etc.)?

- Yes. I think it could really add a lot to the story to see a flashback.

18. How many characters will cry (with tears) - who?

- Simon, Wille and Sara. I wanna see those bitches SOB. They need it; they are all so god damn emotionally repressed. Especially Simon; boy needs to let it out.

19. Will Simon and/or Wilhelm say 'Jag älskar dig' (if yes, who says it first - will they both say it)?

- Yes. I could see Wille saying it to Simon again in a sort of apology type scene and Simon still doesn’t say it back. Simon saying it back has to be a BIG moment and I think it would hit even harder if Wille says it AGAIN and Simon still doesn’t say it. What can I say? I love pain.

20. How many times will we see Simon eat pasta?

- 3

21. Who will have the first kiss in season 2 (named characters)?

- Sara and August. Gross.

22. Will Simon and Wilhelm have any PDA (if yes, what kind)?

- Yes. I could see their first significant PDA moment being hand-holding; I doubt they’d kiss in public.

[sleepyowlwrites]

find the word tag CCCXXXXVI

I don't want to change my blog title because I'm not ready for summer to be over. autumn might be my favorite season but I feel like this year I slept through summer. and by slept through I mean worked through. and by worked through I mean that yeah, I did that last year too, but this year only half-existed and I've been been so off the edge of myself in not a bad mental health way and it's terrible. I'm not down, I'm not out, I'm just slump. a puddle person. but I am going on vacation and hopefully I will reform into a human while I'm there. @spacetimewraithwrites -> #

mark (a sketch, bold lines, chromatic, 2021)

my hair is large around my head until I tie it back, but it curls as it will and I let it, because that is what my hair does. it is mine, and I intend to keep it, no matter what color it is or if it’s only half-braided because I slept on my side. my freckles go away in the winter, but I don’t miss them because I know they’ll return. there’s a small scar beside my eye. it shows more when I’m tired, and it hangs there like a mark on the moon and I’m not ashamed of it. it does not say that I am shadowed, it just means that I fell down as a child.

make (searching for myself and soulfulness, 2012)

I sought to write some lines To express my broken soul I thought that I would taste the ink And it would make it whole I looked down at my weary feet With their tattered soles I looked also at my heart And saw it was full of holes

miss (paper aeroplanes, 2013)

It's hard for me, it's hard to be So far away from you Can't see your face, can't see your smile I know you miss me too I'll send you goodnight kisses When I look up at the moon

morning (things without names, 2015)

There are things without names That creep in the dark Restless and yearning For the morning skylark

There are colors that hover Just out of our reach We're grasping at rainbows We learn, and we teach

more (the sleepy stash, 2018)

Tiny bits of yesterday came knocking at my window Apparently I'm ahead as well as slow Can anything be more beautiful than the empty smell of snow?

minute (imposter, 2020)

I hate- this house is too new for the memories it holds can the wine on the doorstep force back the cold? too cold here, with your hands inside the holes on my sweater the weather is turning the corner with its head facing away from me I dance alone it’s stressing me out, can we turn back back? minute by minute one inch to every coat collar that hangs inside the walls broken glass falls slowly suspended on a feather and the feather owner’s dead I spin on my heel to find a gun to my head

eventually, forgotten, acceptance, unfortunate. BONUS: aspire, internal. @woodhousejay @muddshadow @houndmouthed @livvywrites @ink-fireplace-coffee @pixelw0rds OR ANYBODY