#not us over here absolutely head over heels for this metalhead

[fan-maddson]

"Why would I be any other way," she asked honestly. She knew how people treated him, and what they thought of him. But that was only because they chose to believe the rumors.

If anyone had ever bothered to listen to him talk, or ask him about his passions, the way his friends did, they would see him the way they do. The way she does. Brilliant, sweet, intelligent, funny, kind...and honestly, the most caring human being in the whole town. Just like his uncle. He may have been Al Munson's son, but Wayne had raised him, so he was everything good that came with the name. And so much more to her.

It's a Friday night. Surprisingly, they've got a big crowd tonight. What's even more surprising is there is a group of girls here. He makes eye contact with one of them. He thinks he's seen her around school. But he doesn't know her well. He never pegged her for a metal fan. He can't help but give a soft smile before he grabs the mike.

" We are Corrid Coffin ! Get ready to rock !!" He shouts as they start their set.

@fan-maddson

[justmeinadaze]

Could you write a steddie x reader fic where the reader is a brat and they put her in her place

No rush at all take your time :) 💗

A/N: I'm posting this on my phone so I hope it comes our right! Enjoy ❤

Warnings: Dom steddie/ sub reader, punishment (spanking with a belt)

Word count: 1157

Where are they? I hate being at these social events alone.

Tonight, your friends Nancy and Jonathan were celebrating their engagement and you seriously couldn’t be happier. The thing was as soon as you and the guys showed up to their little get together, they almost immediately detached from your side to talk to other people.

You weren’t a fan big groups of people and hated not having at least one of them near you to ground yourself. After wondering the house for a few minutes, you finally found Steve sitting by the pool talking to Robin who greeted you with a big smile.

“Hey Robin. Steve, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Actually, baby, we’re kind of in the middle of a conversation here. Is it important or do you think you can go find Eddie?”

Without responding, you turned on your heels to search for the metalhead who suddenly appeared at the kitchen table with the other Hellfire kids as they excitedly discussed something Dungeons and Dragons related.

“Um, Eddie… EDDIE!” It took him awhile to even look your way which aggravated the hell out of you. “Can I talk to you, please?”

“Is it important, sweetheart? Do you think you can go find Steve and we can talk about it later?” He didn’t wait for an answer before turning to continue his conversation with Mike.

You growled under your breath at his dismissal.

“EDWARD!” All conversation at the table ceased as the man slowly turned his head towards you. “I need to talk to you.”

He rose to his feet, his hand roughly squeezing your arm as he pushed you away from his friends. “Y/N, if you think I won’t bend you over this table and spank you in front of these people you are sadly mistaken. Now…I am in the middle of a conversation. Go find Steve.”

“Steve told me to come find you.”

“Then we’re both busy, huh, princess? Believe it or not the world doesn’t revolve around you.”

Something snapped inside of you at his words and he saw it as his head tilted to the side.

“No, Sir. You are absolutely right. The world doesn’t revolve around me. Let me just go find someone else who isn’t busy.” You glared at him before grabbing a glass of wine off the counter and disappearing from his view.

An hour and two glasses of wine later, you find your anxieties start to fade.

“I think you’ve had enough.” An arm appears from behind you and you turn to see Steve taking the glass from your hand.

“Excuse me but I don’t think I asked. This a party, Daddy. Why don’t go have fun with Robin and I’ll have fun by myself.”

A smirk paints his lips as he glares down at you. “I heard Eddie already gave you one warning so I’m not going to bother. Disobey or talk back again and we’ll punish you right here. I don’t care who hears you scream.”

Your eyes never leave his as you reach towards the counter, grab the bottle of wine, and close your eyes as you chug it back.

When you open them again you find his grin has grown as he reaches out to gently caress your cheek with his thumb. “Ok, little girl. Eddie?”

You’re suddenly lifted into the air as two arms wrap around you and carry you down a hallway into a nearby bathroom. You yelp as your thrown against the sink and a rough hand presses on your upper back to keep you still as your face presses into the granite.

“Let’s see. You said she disrespected you, she just talked back to me, and disobeyed. What do you think, Ed? 15?”

“Are you using the belt or your hand?”

“I was thinking belt. You know, make sure it really sinks in that she’s being a little brat.”

You try and push back against Eddie’s hold but he just grips you tighter as they casually talk. “Maybe 10 then for now and then an additional punishment when we get home?”

“Sounds good to me.”, Steve chuckles as you hear the sound of his belt buckle behind you. After roughly lifting your skirt and pulling down your panties, you braced for what was about to follow. “Now I know you’re struggling with listening today, baby, but this should be easy for you. I want you to count and then when we’re done, I want you to thank us. Do you understand?”

You growled through your teeth and Eddie responded by tugging at your hair. “He asked you something. You fucking answer. You keep behaving this way and we can open the door so everyone can see.”

“No. I’m sorry, Sir. Yes, Daddy, I understand.” The leather promptly came down on your behind and you gasped at the feeling. “One.”

“I will never understand why you insist on doing things the hard way, little girl.”

*SMACK*

“Two.”

“I mean wouldn’t it be easier to just do what we say the first time around instead of arguing or being disrespectful?” You winced as he hit you twice and you moaned out the numbers.

“I-I-I tried to be respectful! Y-you both brushed me off!”

*SMACK*

“Mmm…five.”

“What did I tell you, little one? If Daddy and I are busy then we are busy. If it’s not important then you can wait.” Your hand reached around to grip Eddie’s wrist as the belt came down again.

“Six. Y-y-you know I don’t like social situations. I-I-I get scared.” You felt the brat leak away as the little girl stepped forward into the headspace. The little girl that needed them to take care of you and make you feel safe.

The tears slowly begin to fall as he hit you two more times before you felt a hand lightly brush through your hair. “We’re almost done, honey. Two more. You’re taking your punishment like such a good girl.”, Steve cooed in a much softer tone than he had before.

Eddie lifted his hand off your back and gently placed it on your cheek as his thumb rubbed under your eyes. You flinched as he smacked the belt against you again before landing his final one against your ass.

“Ten. Th-thank you, Daddy and Sir. I’m s-s-sorry.”

Your underwear was carefully pulled up your legs as your skirt was pushed back down and adjusted the way it had looked before. Steve turned you around and you immediately wrapped your arms around his waist as you nuzzled his chest. You felt Eddie come up behind you and do the same as he rested his cheek on the top of your head.

“You did really good, baby.”

You pulled away from them as you wiped your eyes, Steve reaching his palm out to smooth down your hair.

“Can one of you please stay with me? I…I don’t like crowds.”

Eddie’s fingers reached for yours as he held your hand. “Of course, princess. That is considered important. You being comfortable IS important. I wish you had said something.”

“Instead of being a pain in the ass.”

You smile at them as you sigh. “I’m sorry. I’ll be clear next time. I promise!”

“Naw, you’ll be a fucking brat next time but that’s ok. We definitely don’t mind reminding who’s in charge.”

[synnamon-hearts]

Metalhead!reader and Josh/Mike/Chris/Matt? maybe both NSFW hcs pls.. pllssss needddd them so baddd

They like weird girls.

Piercings, tattoos, body modifications, listen to heavier music, dresses in ripped tights and big t shirts and lots of belts and metal accessories uyghruhg

need them together frl!!

Let's fucking goooooo! I love this! This is similar to another request I just did so I will add some of the things I left out to here.

NSFW down below!

𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭

Josh ~ This is a man right here who is a god when it comes to concert tickets. Oh, your favorite band in town? Oh no! You can't get tickets? They are all sold out? BOOM! Josh has two for the front row. Don't ask. A magician never tells you his secrets. He loves your badass rocker style so much. He even let's you borrow some of his t-shirts sometimes since he knows you like them more baggy. He's always buying you CDs and accessories and would even buy you a tattoo for your birthday!

Okay, so he does enjoy the music at the concerts and he does enjoy that smile you get on your face when you're vibing to the music, but that's not the only reason why he takes you. Oh no, honey. It's the sex. Ughhh, the way you absolutely rail him in the car after a good concert drives him wild. He will take off one of your belts and wrap it around your neck, or your wrists to keep you in place, or even give you a few lashes with it when he turns you over in the backseat. And this man is such a slut for piercings and tattoos. Lick him, suck him, fuck him with piercings on any of those sensitive spots like your tongue or your clit and you'll have him by the balls for life. And he absolutely loves tracing your tattoos, especially with his tongue. He sees you as a walking work of art and likes to worship them every chance he gets.

𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭

Mike ~ Mike isn't the biggest metal head but he does listen to it on occasion. He would be lying if he said that he didn't get with you because he thought you would be an absolute wild ride in the sheets but he grows to love your crazy and badass nature as time goes on. He will take you shopping and take you to shows. He might even let you sit on his shoulders so you can get a better look.

Mmmmm, sex with a metal girl. Maybe it's the intensity or the change (since he is used to going for pretty girls), Mike doesn't know what it is. But something about you takes sex to a whole new level. Your red lip stick prints all over his face and chest while all smeared down your chin from intense kisses is a sight to behold. And keep. Those. Boots. On. For. The. Love. Of. God. You cannot tell me that this man does not have a boot kink! He enjoys bathroom sex at concerts more than he expected. Between the risk of getting caught, the music roaring in the background, and your tips bouncing in his face as you ride him, Mike couldn't be happier. Perhaps your wild ways tamed him just a tiny bit...

𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭

Chris ~ Chris is a metal nerd, okay? He loves all things metal and absolutely falls head over heels when he meets you. Finally someone to share his love of music with other than Josh? Sign him the fuck up! He will invite you over to his house on a regular basis to listen to music and talk about upcoming shows in the area. I also have a headcanon that he likes to toy with the studs on one of your belts or rub the skin revealed by your ripped jeans when he's not really paying attention. Such a cutie.

The way you dress is a huge turn on for him. Again with the belts, he would 110% let you use one of your belts to restrain his arms, especially above his head to the headboard. He loves watching you as you bounce on him to something wild and intense playing in his CD player. Pierced tits bouncing in his face is his favorite. And when you toy with those piercings while you do it, or even reach down between your thighs to play around with that one impaling your puffy clit? The man is putty in your hands.

𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭

Matt ~ Okay, hear me out, Matt doesn't listen to much metal. He strikes me as moreover a pop-ish or more chill music kind of guy. But nonetheless, he still supports your metal addiction to the fullest. He actually really appreciates your love for music. You just get this passionate twinkle in your eyes when discussing your favorite bands or songs and he finds it quite adorable.

It's no secret that Matt loves baddies. Hello? Emily? So stuff like bold makeup, tattoos all over, enough piercings to make a Trypophobic person run screaming, and genuinely anything that makes up look like a bad bitch has him feeling pathetically horny for you all the time. And when you finally let him dive in and finally take what he has been craving so badly, he. Is. In. Total heaven! This man worships the ground you walk on. You could practically do anything you wanted to him and he would merely respond with "Yes, ma'am" and comply like a needy little puppy. It is safe to say that he will go down on you like no other, flicking that piercing with the tip of his tongue like there is no tomorrow just to show you how special you are to him.

𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭~𖹭

[kaittalkstoomuch]

so i’m officially writing an eddie x oc fic. i know about time but also i was trying to have courage! so, over the past few months i’ve thought of the characters and who’s central to them. the main characters being the love interest of eddie and eddie, i was just thinking of which characters would be so heavily involved in their life. it may need some work but here we go!

CHARACTERS

ROXANNE “ROXIE” HENDERSON

Dustin’s older sister. Eddie’s girlfriend of a year and over. She is in Nancy and Robins year. Best friends with Robin, she also used to be best friends with Nancy until Steve came along. Has abandonment issues due to her and Dustin’s father leaving. Is kind of close to Claudia up until Claudia misunderstands Eddie much like Hawkins does. She wants to protect Eddie and Dustin. Eddie wants to protect her at all times. She knows of the Upside Down but not all of it.

The story will be told mainly in her POV, with some chapters in Eddie’s. kind of reminiscent of Stevie Nicks.

EDDIE MUNSON

The very eccentric and misunderstood metalhead who fell head over heels for Roxie when he first seen her, only falling harder. Is like an older brother to Dustin due to his relationship with Roxie. Is so afraid of losing the one he loves most, knowing her past. Wants to protect everyone. He and Roxie are known as the King and Queen of the Hellfire Club. ‘86 baby.

DUSTIN HENDERSON

Roxie’s younger brother. He is extremely close to Eddie due to his sister dating him. Roxie is very protective of Dustin especially after their father left and they moved to Hawkins when Dustin was 4 and Roxie was 10. He loves Roxie and Eddie together. He is also the one who revealed the Upside Down to Roxie due to a situation with Dart.

ROBIN BUCKLEY

Roxie’s best friend. Roxie knows Robin is lesbian and that Robin loves Vicky. Robin and Roxie have been best friends since freshman year of high school. Roxie would frequent Scoops Ahoy to visit her best friend and annoy Steve. Robin is very supportive of Rox and Eddie and would know when something is wrong in their relationship. Is the reasoning for Nancy and Roxie to reconcile after the strain.

NANCY WHEELER

Roxie’s former best friend. They were best friends when The Hendersons moved to Hawkins. They had a strain during their sophomore year of high school due to Steve drawing a wedge in between them and Barb’s unfortunate death. Robin will somehow bring them back together as the best friends as they once were, revealing the truth behind their separation.

JASON CARVER

A self centered jock who had a massive crush on Roxie prior to getting with Chrissy. Absolutely despises Eddie. Roxie can’t stand him and his actions, especially the way he treats Chrissy. He has revenge on the mind.

STEVE HARRINGTON

Roxie’s frenemy. Roxie feels totally indifferent with him. Almost a love hate situation. Steve doesn’t understand why Rox has so much thoughts about him, oblivious to the strain between her and Nancy.

CHRISSY CUNNINGHAM

A struggling cheerleader who is murdered by Vecna. Eddie is blamed for her murder, which Roxie knows automatically he wouldn’t do such a thing. Roxie does not hate Chrissy, she feels bad for her due to being with Jason. Roxie would definitely want to avenge her death with Eddie.

i’m sure i’ll add more but that’s all i can think of! prologue coming soon babes! 🖤♥️💋

ps. it’ll also be on ao3!

[newtafterdark]

Taste of Metal - Chapter 11: A Closet Full of Memories AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26157634/chapters/66510040 What if the overwhelming VR experience Gordon went through, had a deeper purpose than just being a simple simulation & a freelance debug job for him?But most importantly- what if Gordon Freeman listens to Metal & used to be in a band? aka. the “Metalhead Gordon AU”

- -

“Okay, run this by me one more time, so I can be 100% sure this won’t wreck my apartment beyond all recognition.”

 Gordon stood beside Tommy, the papers G-Man had given him days prior in his hand.

 “W-Well, we just need to find something in your apartment that can be accessed through a door or something similar… a-and then Benrey and I can start working on the pocket dimension inside it! It is completely safe for everything a-and everyone outside of the pocket dimension, I promise!”

Earlier, Tommy had sat down the entire Science Team to explain what the papers were that G-Man had given to Gordon a few days prior.

 As it was clear that their entire group that they only felt safe when all of them were in close proximity to each other, so finding a way to have them all live comfortably closeby was really the only option that could work for them in the long run. 

 Apparently, in G-Man’s mind, that meant that some part of Gordon’s apartment would become the entryway to pocket space. Which in turn would basically be an extension of the apartment where the other members of the Science Team could create rooms and spaces as they pleased.

 “So… if something goes haywire in there, like an explosion-”

 “- it wouldn’t affect your apartment!”, Tommy confirmed.

 Gordon ran his hand through his hair in thought. This… didn’t seem like a too bad idea in all honesty, but he couldn’t help worry about the Science Team’s track record of somehow even turning the best ideas into pure chaos. 

 Eventually, he sighed and gave Tommy a nod, giving the papers to him and putting his hand on the taller man’s shoulder for emphasis.

 “Alright. I will trust you with this. Just… please make sure it’s absolutely safe for everyone? And my apartment walls? This is drywall, man, not Black Mesa’s almost laser-proof tiles.”

 Tommy beamed at him, bouncing on his heels in excitement-

“I will not only make sure this is OSHA-approved but also Science Team proved!”

 Gordon smiled softly up at him, patting his shoulder gently-

“Tommy, you’re a godsend. I honestly don’t know where I’d be without you, bud.”

A quick search for a fitting area later, they decided that Gordon’s storage closet would be the best option. 

 For one, it wouldn’t look suspicious to his landlord. Additionally, should they ever decide to move elsewhere, they could simply take the closet with them and avoid whatever having to “de-install” a pocket dimension entailed.

 The only thing they had to do at this point was simply emptying out the closet before they got to work.

 Gordon carefully opened the doors and assessed the situation with a hum and furrowed brows. There were some things he would have to find new places for… and a lot of stuff he’d probably just bring to nearby thrift stores and the local Goodwill.

 He almost jumped as he felt Benrey lift his arm and poke his head through under it to catch a glimpse at the closet contents as well.

 “Oh, nosey much?”, Gordon asked with a smirk, looking down at the guard.

 “Gotta make sure you don’t- uh, steal anything.”

 “From my own closet?”

 “Yeah, ‘cause that looks like quality loot to me. Lots of mystery boxes. Minecraft Lucky Blocks.”, Benrey said with a nod.

 “Oh, those? That’s mainly stuff from my MIT days. Lecture folders and all that-”

 Gordon pushed the leather jackets and winter coats on the rack aside to give Benrey a better view and access as he motioned at him to help him carry the boxes into the living room. 

 “- but I guess there’s also a lot of B.V.R. stuff in here too...”, Gordon added.

 Darnold, who was currently watering Gordon’s (only slightly) neglected house plants, turned towards them with a questioning look on his face. He quickly walked over to where Benrey placed the stack of boxes on the floor, the plants forgotten for now.

“B.V.R…? What does that stand for?”, he asked.

 Gordon smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. 

 “Remember when I said that I didn’t really get to tell you guys much about my interests during the simulation? Well… uh, this is one of them. The biggest, honestly...”

 Benrey picked up the box on the top of the stack and looked it over. It appeared to be an old and worn shoe box. It was covered in what seemed to be stickers of band logos he had seen around the apartment already… aside from the ones that read “BVR” and-

 “...”Black… Velvet Rabbits”...”, he read off the box. Suddenly, it was if someone had finally figured out which way the battery went into his brain to activate a thought process, as he connected the dots. 

 Gordon liked music, judging by all the countless band posters on the walls, even if he had yet to share what their tunes sounded like. 

 Gordon could play different types of guitars. 

 Gordon also had said that he hadn’t played on any of them “in a while”.

 And now this old box was exclusively covered in band stickers-

Benrey's head snapped up un-naturally fast to stare at Gordon with wide eyes. 

 “Yoooo… Gordo was in a band? Gordon... Musicman?”, he whispered out in a slightly unbelieving tone.

 Before Gordon could even attempt a reply, Bubby yelled from his spot on the couch-

“WHAT?! NO! Now you’re just bullshitting us!”

 “That would be several big boxes full of bullshit, dear!”, Dr Coomer countered as he looked at the stack in question from the doorframe to the kitchen.

 “What are we yelling about?”, Tommy threw in as he opened the door to the balcony from the outside, looking in with Sunkist and a peacefully sleeping Joshua in his free arm.

 Gordon let out a nervous chuckle at the entire scene-

“My band-past, apparently.”

 He then ran a hand through his hair, fluffing it up and ruffling through his slightly out-grown undercut to psyche himself up-

 “ALRIGHT! Time to dive right into this, I guess. Let me open these...”

 It took a box cutter and several backseat comments on how to open a taped box properly, but eventually, Gordon managed to get each of the six boxes open. He attempted to open the one covered in band stickers as carefully as possible, but as he pulled the lid open, several old polaroids and concert tickets fell out regardless. He silently cursed himself for having absolutely overstuffed the thing with memorabilia in the past. 

 He picked up one of the photos carefully, while the Science Team got closer to him to look at the other contents with high interest. 

 Bubby pulled out two seemingly hand-printed t-shirts. The print on each depicted a simplified front-facing head of a rabbit with ear piercings, lightning bolts at the side... and under all that calligraphy-like font reading “Black Velvet Rabbits”.

 Meanwhile, Darnold was intently scanning the concert tickets. A good chunk of them were from big and small cities in America, but there were also a few European ones. Berlin specifically popped up several times. 

 Tommy and Dr Coomer were fascinated by the amount of seemingly random tiny items in the bottom of the box - Safety pins of varying sizes, bottle caps, empty lighters with sharpie writings on them, an ungodly amount of mismatched guitar picks, a pair of plush cubes, numerous cassette tapes and CDs, two pocket knives, patches, buttons, several pieces of steel jewellery… and a tooth??? 

 While that was happening, Benrey had carefully picked up each of the polaroids that had tumbled out of the box. 

 Looking at them, he could make out that they were probably taken at concerts. Several of them were blurry either due to poor lighting conditions or the photographer moving… or both.

 Some were of several people in dimly lit backstage areas… others of the same people in other spots, smiling, laughing, hanging out with food and drinks… and playing and tuning their respective instruments.

 Benrey counted at least four people… plus the person he couldn’t mistake for anyone else.

 He looked up from the polaroids in his hands and over to the one Gordon was still staring at.

 On that one, standing on a small stage, tightly gripping a guitar and leaning into the microphone as he seemingly yelled into it… was Gordon. A slightly younger Gordon, but unmistakenly the man beside him.

He leaned over more to get a better look, his helmet bumping gently against Gordon’s arm in the process.

Most of what wasn’t completely in-focus was blurry... but Benrey could still make out the shine of a leather jacket, leather pants, heavy boots… and oh FUCK- okay, he was absolutely staring at this photo like a cat high on catnip now but he could not give two shits - the hair. Long and curly and 100% a sidecut that had been dyed an obnoxious orange. There was a shine of snake-bite piercings… and the hint of more piercings on the visible ear.

Gordon shifted slightly beside him, smiling at the photo.

“I think I still have most of the piercings… somewhere in these boxes. Black Mesa didn’t like seeing me wearing any to work, but you know… we’re not going back there anytime, so…”

Benrey needed to say something. Anything. 

He had no idea what, but this was worth so many words-

“Awooga.”

Gordon instantly let out a sudden loud laugh, followed by a wheeze as he bent slightly over, holding his stomach-

 “Really?? “A-Awooga”??”, he asked in disbelief, yet still smiling.

 “Yeah, dude. Like… uh.. uuuuh...”, Benrey started, but it seemed like he couldn’t quite figure out how to exactly end his sentence. A stream of pink Sweet Voice escaped him before he quickly covered his mouth with his hands.

 Gordon chuckled at that and patted Benrey’s helmet.

 “‘s all good, man.”

 He looked over to the rest of the Science Team, blinking in surprise as he saw that Tommy and Dr Coomer had picked out the cassette tapes and CDs and placed them on the table.

“Would you mind if we listened to some of your old tunes, Gordon?”, Dr Coomer asked as he held up one of the CDs. That specific one was labelled “First Band Practices with the Rabbits - 2012”.

 “As long as no one comments about my inability to grow a proper beard back then-”

 “You tried anyway, didn’t you?”, Bubby asked with a smirk.

 Gordon inhaled deeply, looking contemplative for a second before replying-

 “Look... I had only been on T for about 2 years when we founded BVR. This-”, he pointed at his current full beard- “- takes time.”

 “A-And for some people it doesn’t get easier over time either, Bubby! That’s why I personally stay clean-shaven!”, Tommy added with a nod before he looked over to Gordon with a bright smile. 

 Gordon looked at Tommy with surprise, but quickly beamed and tapped his hand rapidly against his thigh in excitement.

 “YOOOOO!!! NO WAY!!”, he exclaimed.

 “Yes way!”, Tommy confirmed, followed by a soft giggle.

 Darnold raised his hand with a shy smile. 

“Same hat.”

 Coomer stood up a bit straighter, patting Gordon on the back.

“Gordon, you’ll find that no one in our group of friends falls under the label of “cisgender”!”

 “Yup.”, Benrey added, popping the “P” loudly- “You’re good. Not gonna pick on the stuff your body was still getting a hang of. Your tunes though? Those are gonna get the full, uh, the full IGN rating.”

 Gordon let out a soft breath he didn’t know he was holding.

 “You know what? Yeah, put that in the stereo! You can also help me sort through… well, all this.”, he said with a chuckle, looking down to the remaining boxes beside him.

 Looking back up, Gordon saw that each member of the Science Team was fiddling with one or two smaller items from the shoe box. He let out a short amused huff as he smiled at the scene before him.

 “Oh, and If you find anything you like, you can keep it! That also goes for the leather jackets-”

 Gordon barely moved fast enough to avoid Bubby as he scrambled to get to the closet first, closely followed by Benrey.

 Gordon called after them with a laugh-

 “OH MY GOD! THERE ARE ENOUGH FOR EACH OF YOU AND THEN SOME, YOU HEATHENS!”

[killiansbutt]

Finding Firelight (ch.4)

pairings: nalu – mentions of albis, gajevy, gruvia words: ~5000 tagging: @natsusluce read on FF and ao3.

summary: Lucy Heartfilia has a lot of reasons for attending summer camp, but getting spooked by campfire stories and falling in love with her best friend isn’t one of them. modern summer camp au.

prev: [one][two][three]

Four

“If ya two are done flirting with each other, we should get back,” Gajeel interjected, snorting when Natsu and Lucy jumped. Lucy was positive her face wouldn’t return to a normal color anytime soon and she shot Gajeel a nasty look, climbing to her feet with more dignity than she someone accused of flirting with their best friend was meant to have.

Natsu had no such problems, a grin stretching across his face till his stupid canines were flashing. He began a confident stride towards the mess hall. Gajeel hadn’t told them where they should have been going, but nonetheless, he and Lucy fell in step beside Natsu.

Lucy combed a hand through her hair, trying to fix the kinks from having it in a pony-tail and nearly stumbled when Natsu spoke. “Metalhead wouldn’t know what flirting was if it punched him in the face,” Natsu commented with his hands folded behind his head. Gajeel gave him a look that could make a lesser person shiver, but Natsu merely raised a brow.

Lucy pointed out the obvious. “Does this mean you’re flirting with him every time you hit him? I mean, the only person you hit more than him is Gray,” she said. Both boys came to a stop and she almost kept walking, but halted at the last minute, rocking on her heels to see what they thought. Gajeel’s face was akin to someone eating an entire lemon, but Natsu looked – dare she say it – thoughtful.

“No, he’s practically my cousin, I can’t flirt with him.”

“Does this mean if he wasn’t, you would?”

“Bunny girl,” Gajeel growled.

Lucy waved him off, curious for Natsu’s answer. Things of any romantic nature seemed to go over his head and Lucy was curious, almost painfully so, to have some insight into the way his brain worked. Not for herself, of course, just for science, but despite this protesting thought, she had a sudden image of herself with piercings, a messy mane of dark hair, and red eyes. She shivered, shaking the thought away. Even if Natsu was interested in someone with looks like Gajeel, that didn’t matter to her.

“Not really, I’m not interested in him like that. Sorry, Gajeel, I hope you find someone who makes you happy.”

Gajeel let out a relieved breath and Lucy suppressed a giggle with her hand.  

“How about Gray?” Lucy asked, spotting a figure over their shoulders. The two did have a weird sort of chemistry and although she wasn’t sure if fighting was exactly the healthiest way to show affection, she wouldn’t fault either of them for using it to communicate. Far be it from her to judge her friends and their love lives.

“Lucy, that’s horrible, why would you ask that?” Natsu moaned, clapping his hands over his ears. “I don’t even want to be friends with the stripper, let alone… anything else.”

“That’s relieving to hear,” said Gray dryly, freshly out of the showers from the looks of his clean clothes and the wet hair clinging to his brow. “I hate you too.”

“Don’t say that, you two are like best friends.” Lucy laughed.

“Us?” Natsu and Gray chorused. When Lucy laughed again, they shot the other venomous looks and started walking once more, pointedly ignoring the other. She stifled the snort that nearly escaped when she noticed the identical little stomps the two boys were doing; Gajeel didn’t comment at all, merely grunted and followed after them at a distance like he didn’t want to be caught dead with two – three, he would say with a pointed glance at her -- idiots.

“C’mon, Lucy!” Natsu called over his shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”

Lucy picked up the pace till she was shoulder to shoulder with Natsu. His head tilted to her, beaming, and though she wasn’t sure what made him so cheerful, she returned it with one of her own.

…

The mess hall was teeming with people when the rather strange group arrived, but they made a wide berth around Lucy and the boys despite the lack of space. She bristled, but Natsu growled something at Gray and she figured the other campers had a point. Gray and Natsu together was cause for alarm, definitely, but adding Gajeel to the mix meant they were one step closer to an absolute catastrophe of which nobody wanted to see. She wondered what she added to the group – it was unlikely that any of them feared her, but as she collected her tray and the first grilled cheese she could find, Lucy noticed an abundance of looks on her.

She shifted uncomfortably, accidentally jostling Natsu’s overfilled tray and only his swift tilting kept the whole tray from splattering the floor between them. “Careful, Lucy,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to subject you to the kitchens again,” she replied, eyeing the food on his plate. The food station looked no worse for wear. They were familiar enough with some of the campers eating habits, but she didn’t particularly want to see if they had enough accident forgiveness to load up another tray for Natsu in the event that his became Humpty-Dumpty.

Natsu ignored her comment. “Let’s go find somewhere to eat.”

“Lu-chan! Here!” Lucy squinted, trying to spot the voice in the crowd. Levy was short and though she could project her voice to be heard to everyone in the room, it wasn’t much useful for actually locating her. Unless one of them happened to learn echolocation. Gajeel, who had been standing on the opposite side of a crowd leaving the mess hall, merely pointed her out and Lucy spotted Levy in one of the corners, only the tips of her fingers waving over the crowd’s heads.

Gray waved off their invitation to join them, heading towards an orange-haired boy.

As they approached Levy’s corner of the room, Lucy could make out Gajeel’s voice: “You were better off standing on the table, you shrimp.”

She bit her lip, wincing in sympathy at Gajeel’s surprised yelp. She hadn’t been on the receiving end of Levy’s kicks, but she also wasn’t so stupid as to comment on her friend’s shortness aloud. Levy had told Lucy the first night of camp that she had heard comments about her shortness her entire life and her first instinct now was to kick first, ask later. As Gajeel was figuring out the hard way.

“Excuse me?”

Natsu sniggered, but Lucy elbowed him carefully. “Hi Levy!” Lucy said cheerfully, interrupting Gajeel’s response.

“Where did you go? You weren’t in the cabin I woke up.”

“Neither was Erza though,” Lucy pointed out.

“The only time Erza is still in the cabin in the morning is when we do the games,” Levy said, waving her hand. “You, on the other hand, have to be hit in the head with Cana’s mysterious bag of booze before you wake up.”

“If you know what’s in the bag, why is it mysterious?” Gajeel interrupted.

Levy shot him a look. “How she fit so much booze in one bag is beyond scientific explanation.”

“How she hides it from Erza, too,” Lucy admitted, cutting her grilled cheese to pieces with a plastic knife. Natsu rolled his eyes, taking the knife from her and setting it down on her napkin. He grabbed his grilled cheese as an example and held it up to her, ripping it into smaller pieces in less the time and effort. Lucy stole a piece of his and chewed on it, scowling at him. “Well, nobody asked you.”

Natsu snatched one of her evenly cut slices, dipped it in his ranch dressing and ate it in one bite.

She narrowed her eyes, plucking a fry off his plate. He retaliated by swiping some of her chips.

“Swooping is bad,” she told him evenly.  

Natsu frowned. “What happened to sharing is caring?”

“Who told you that?”

“You.”

“That’s a lie, that doesn’t sound like me at all,” she said while taking another one of his fries, flicking him gently when he tried to grab a chip.  

Levy leaned forward, elbows on the table as she watched. “Do they do this a lot?”

Gajeel shrugged. “Yeah.”

“You’re like a third wheel, huh?” she commented, grinning. The glee on her face made Lucy giggle; she covered the noise with a drink of water, but not soon enough. Levy’s eyes landed on her with a thoughtfulness that made Lucy shiver, fearful of whatever her small friend would think to ask. “So, Lucy, where have you been all day? You didn’t answer earlier.”

Lucy thought this was a suspiciously easy question. “I had… detention… all day and then I went to play baseball.”

Levy blinked. “Detention? Baseball?”

“Because I ran off with him—“ She jutted her chin towards Natsu. “—so Erza considered me an accomplice. I woke up at dawn to clean up the arts and craft cabin place thing with these ones.”

“Cabin place thing, very clear,” Natsu noted with a laugh. “What happened to all the fancy words in your letters?”

“There’s a difference between writing something and saying something,” she said defensively. “I can look over my writing for errors or search a dictionary for the exact word I need, but I can’t exactly do that when I’m talking.”

“Thought it was instinctive,” he said, shoving half of his burger into his mouth in one smooth move.

She eyed him with some disgust. “Only parts of it.”

Levy snapped her fingers before Lucy could begin her tirade about writing. “Lu-chan, focus.”

“Sorry.”

“So, how’d you end up playing baseball and, more importantly, did you win?”

“Of course I won, who do you think I am? I’m a Heartfilia, we don’t lose.”

Natsu laughed, choking on his food. Gajeel tapped him – she used the word generously, because Natsu slammed forward into the table, narrowly avoiding landing face first into his ranch soaked plate – until the coughing subsided. Lucy glared at him, a vicious thought of letting him choke in retaliation for wounding her pride, but she let it go just as quickly when he shot Gajeel an offended look. With the fire in his eyes, the messy pink hair, and the bit ranch on his nose, Lucy thought he was cute.

She thought Natsu was cute.

She clapped a hand over her mouth, glancing around, but nobody had her mental slip. Sure, he might have been a little cute, but to think it so… so blatantly was scandalous. It was the type of thing that would send the rest of the camp into an early grave – and death by cackling was not the type of thing people wanted to put on their tombstones any more than she wanted to put death by humiliation on hers.

Her weird thought and movement went unnoticed and Lucy dropped her hand with an inward sigh that quickly changed to a surprised gasp.

In her brief lapse into thoughts – read as: panic – the mess hall had fallen into an all-out food fight. Strangely, it wasn’t the fact that Gray was suddenly by their table or that Gajeel and Natsu were in the middle of shoving an entire burger up the other’s nose or the fact that fury-faced Erza was lamenting the loss of her strawberry cake that made Lucy pause, it was the fact that Levy in all her glory was standing on the table, throwing salad at anyone that got too close to her.

Lucy gapped at them, sliding out of her seat at the exact moment that Gray slammed into the table where she had been sitting, bits of ketchup smeared across the left side of his face and bits of lettuce clinging to his hair.

“What did you guys do?” she hissed, words turning a yelp part-way through when a glob of something came soaring towards her face. Gray snarled when it plopped against his ear, flinging himself back into the melee. Lucy scrambled under the table, face peeking between the bench and the table with a grimace. Natsu stumbled back into the table, his shirt drenched in the remnants of their drink and a look of almost gleeful happiness on his face and she narrowed her eyes. “Are you trying to get us all in trouble? Master won’t be happy if we make a big mess!”

“Lu-chan! Stop talking with the enemy!” Levy demanded, flipping her bowl of salad over Natsu’s head.

“What? What enemy? What’s happening? I was only thinking for thirty seconds!”

Levy’s eyes flickered to hers, but only briefly as Natsu was shaking the lettuce off his hair like a dog. Lucy batted a piece away before it could get her in the eye and therefore could do nothing when Natsu grabbed a fist-full of her chips and flung them into Gray’s face. “Natsu!” Her hand shot out, fingers gripping the edges of his dangling scarf and jerking him down; he yelped, dropping to one of his knees. “I was going to eat those still!”

“I mean… you still could,” he wheezed, tapping her fingers. She let his scarf go with an apologetic grimace. “But I wouldn’t.”

Lucy glared. “I wanted those chips.”

Natsu stared at her for a long moment, his eyes flickering from her steely eyes to the pout of her lips, and she forced herself not to react, not flinching in the face of scrutiny. Another moment passed. Finally, he sighed in defeat. “Fine, I’ll get you another bag, alright?”

“Hmm…”

“Don’t get greedy,” he joked. “I’m only getting you one bag.”

Interesting, she thought. “Does that mean if I beg, you’ll get me more?” She asked quizzically, folding her hands on the bench and poking her head out from beneath the bench. When a piece of food flew too close for comfort, she ducked back underneath with a flinch.  

Natsu stepped forward, blocking her from view, a grin on his face as he crouched to be closer to her. “I could, but I didn’t expect you to beg,” he said, laughing. Movement behind him caught her attention and she blinked, preparing to shove him to the side, when he struck his arm out and flung the offender’s food away before it could make contact with either of them.  

“I didn’t say I was going to, just questioning. Don’t be weird,” she said, relieved to avoid that mess.  

“Says the one hiding under a dirty bench.”

“Says the one who started a food fight. What are you, twelve?”

“Gajeel and Levy started it.”

“Oh, sure, I can totally believe Levy did it. She’s a sweetheart.”

“Lucy… She’s dumping soda on Gajeel’s head right now,” he said with an undertone of pride as they both peeked over at Levy and Gajeel. Levy hopped between tables with deadly grace, joined by two or three other people who followed her, and her current table put her just above Gajeel’s distracted head. Lucy held back a snort when soda landed on the boy’s head.

“Gajeel’s a big boy, he can handle it,” she replied cheerfully. “Besides, I think they are flirting.”

Natsu squinted. “I don’t see it.”

Gajeel yelped and whirled around, murder in his eyes. “Shrimp!” He shouted at her retreating back, scrambling around tables to chase after her. The chaos of everyone flinging food at each other should have made it more difficult to see – after all, Lucy had already lost sight of Levy – but she heard a yelp in the distance that told her Gajeel had caught up.  

“Okay, you might be right,” Natsu noted, seeing something that Lucy couldn’t see. She tugged on his pants and he explained, “He’s carrying upside down on his shoulder. It’s not a Gajeel move, I expected him to put gum in her hair.”

“What is he, five?”

Natsu shrugged.

“BRATS!”

Lucy giggled when the room came to a sudden, horrified stop. For once, she wouldn’t be the one to get in trouble for this; they couldn’t even label her an accomplice when she was clearly hiding, not a trace of evidence in her hands. Natsu fell back onto the bench, trying to roll underneath the table to hide with her and she giggled again, poking his back and shoving him to the floor. “No, you face the consequences,” she told him mock sternly.

“Lucy,” he muttered quietly, panicked eyes flickering between Makarov and her. “I thought you said it was more fun when we’re together?”

“Oops, too late,” she said cheerfully just as Makarov approached them, his face impatient and red, though Lucy couldn’t help noticing the little twitch of his lips whenever he caught sight of some of them. She figured it was a little hard to be mad when someone had two buns stuck to their face like Gray’s brother did.

“I came to assure everyone that their mail arrived safely and could be picked up before dark,” Makarov started, his hands folded behind his back. Lucy’s eyes widened. The crowd perked up, dropping their food onto the table or – in most cases – the floor, though Lucy only noticed dimly, her eyes locked on Makarov, waiting with bated breath for him to finish. “But the front cabin will be closed by the time you all finish picking up. I imagine you’ll have to wait till breakfast tomorrow to pick up your mail. Oh, what a series of unfortunate events, but I suppose that’s the price we pay to have fun.”

She let out a breath and Natsu helped her out from underneath the table, squeezing her hand briefly before he joined everyone else in the cleaning. It was a slow process, even with everyone’s excitement and Makarov’s watchful eyes, and it was only when Erza, nearly as red as her hair, stated her apologies loudly that productivity increased by ten percent. Lucy, Bisca, and Droy were the only ones to avoid clean up, but after a few minutes of watching the pitiful – yet amusing, if Bisca’s snorts meant anything – of watching their fellow campers, the other two pitched in with the effort.

Stubbornly, Lucy cleaned off a spot on the table and climbed up, feet resting on the bench and absently watched Natsu scrub ketchup off the walls. Feeling eyes on him, he glanced over at her and offered a cheery wave. Lucy returned it mechanically, an unpleasant bubble forming in her stomach that seemed very unlike everyone else’s excitement. Mail came once a week, often in a bundle since outsiders were limited to one day a week of access to the camp to protect the campers, and it was strange to realize she had been at camp for a whole week. It felt like yesterday she had just arrived, worried and uncertain, but determined.  

A whole week. She couldn’t believe that in that time she had forgotten, mostly, about her home.

She wondered if her father noticed her absence yet. When it came time for camp, Lucy hadn’t even said good-bye to him, merely let Virgo escort her to the meet-up in town where a bus would take her to another meet-up that would take her to camp. Was a week long enough for him to notice and miss her absence? It was the longest time either of them had been separated in a way and she hoped, perhaps futilely, that the space was exactly the thing he needed to remember that he had a daughter who needed him.  

Lucy really missed her dad and she hadn’t even realized how much till now. Lucy sighed, foot bouncing on the bench as she waited for Makarov to dismiss them for the night. Her father was a smart man, she bet that he realized she wasn’t there after the first dinner. She would bet anything that by the next night, he was curious about her and how she was doing, how the silence of their dining room would be worse than usual and he would want to write to her, just to make sure she was safe at the camp or having fun. If she was lucky, that is.

It’s called Love and Lucky, that has to count for something, she thought with a hopeful smile, jumping off her bench as Makarov sent everyone out to the beckoning bonfires.

…

Lucy slept badly despite her cheerful thoughts, dreaming of the letter her father left her that apologized for the last year, dreaming that for every day she was gone she had a letter in his sharp, pointed handwriting. Each dream made her smile, but they always ended after a moment as squeaking noises roused her from sleep. She never got any farther than recognizing her father’s handwriting before she awoke, heart racing and ears pricked for the rustling nearby, and as the hours crept by, one after another in a slow-moving dance, Lucy thought she would never fall asleep at all.

As quickly as the thought came, it passed and Lucy was sound asleep.

The next time she woke, the sun was well on its way, beaming at her through the window and she mumbled sleepily, rolling to face the other way and snuggling into the warmth of her blankets. Her body felt heavy still, craving sleep for a few hours longer after such a rough, up-and-down night, and she nearly gave into its demand.

Levy chattered happily about getting a letter from her mother. Cana laughed, talking about a letter from her friend, Kagura, and the letter her dad would sneak into the mail as well even though he was asleep in one of the other cabins. Their happiness was infectious and Lucy snapped awake, sitting up so quickly that Levy startled in her own bed, squawking as the book she held clattered to the ground.

“It’s mail day?” Lucy asked sharply, tiredness fading from her face at the first nod. She threw herself out of bed, legs tangling in the blankets and she ripped them off in her frenzy. Her dreams had lit a fire beneath her, one that drowned out the last year of heartache, leaving behind a frantic sort of excitement. The letter was going to be there, the one that was going to fix everything. Well, maybe not everything, but it was going to be a start that she would grasp eagerly with both hands.

Levy and Cana watched her with astonished faces, but she had no time to explain or words to give as she shrugged off her pajamas, letting them flutter to the floor forgotten as she tugged on the nearest pair of clothes she could find. The shorts were snug on her hips, but she ignored them, brushing her teeth and then her hair, darting out the door with her hands still gathering blonde tresses into a messy ponytail. It was a rush job, but her looks were the last thing on her mind.

The door burst open behind her as Levy and Cana scrambled after her. “I didn’t expect to see you so excited,” Cana noted, her eyes narrowed.

“This is the longest I’ve been away from my father ever!” That wasn’t precisely true, her father went on many trips that lasted weeks. Once he had left for two months and his arrival back had only been because her mother had fallen so ill that she couldn’t rise from bed. She amended her statement, forcing away that awful memory, “This is the longest he’s been away from me, I mean he usually has someone with me when he’s on business trips so he can just ask them how I’m doing. But this time he can’t! Master and Gildarts are the only ones with working phones up here! I want to know everything that’s happening back home and he’ll have to tell me if he wants to see how I am!”

Levy frowned, but Cana slung her arm around Lucy’s shoulders, drawing her to the other girl’s bosom. Lucy blushed. Cana laughed and said, “Well then, onwards! We’ll get you breakfast while you get the mail – what do you want? I’m thinking waffles.”

“Oatmeal. Maple and brown sugar,” Lucy replied, thinking of her father’s favorite breakfast with a grin. She let out a relieved giggle when Cana let her go. With a salute and a nod, Cana and Levy headed for the mess hall, gesturing animatedly about the camp’s event later today.

Lucy smiled and raced for the main cabin – it was attached to the mess hall like a shed, but it’s entrance was on the opposite side of the mess hall’s. As she entered, she could see a few other campers collecting their mail from a cheery faced Mira and Lucy waited in line, so excited that it took everything in her to do nothing more than tap her fingers against her side. When it was her turn, she nearly leapt to the counter, but controlled herself enough to approach it like a normal human being.

From the amusement on Mira’s face, she didn’t necessarily succeed.

“Hey Mira, can I get the mail for Cana, Levy, and I?”

Mira smiled, flipping through a stack of neatly organized letters, plucking one that she could see was for Cana from a section labeled A. Her finger ran down the alphabet, but when she came to H, Mira paused, her smile dropping. Lucy felt the world tilt. “I don’t have any mail for you, Lucy,” she said apologetically, eyes darting up and then widening as she spotted Lucy’s disheartened face. “Let me go check the back, it might have been— “

“No, it’s okay,” Lucy interrupted, a lump rising in her throat at her own foolish hope. “Can I have Levy and Cana’s? I told them I’d bring it to them.”

Mira hesitated, a war playing across her face, before she went back to her stack of letters to pluck out Levy’s. She passed both of them over with a grimace. “I’m sorry, maybe next week though,” she whispered, aware of the sudden silence in the room. As though everyone knew that the Heartfilia girl wasn’t worthy of getting a letter from home. Lucy sucked in a shallow breath, offered a small broken smile, and then left the main cabin, walking slowly towards the mess hall.

For once, it was quiet, just the shuffling of paper and a low murmur of voices.

She ignored this, walking to where Levy and Cana sat, sinking into the open seat beside Levy. Both looked up at her, faces growing alarmed, and she forced a smile to her face, pleased when they calmed a fraction. She had no wish to talk, not here and not to anyone.

Shakily, she offered over her friend’s letters. Cana pushed over the bowl of oatmeal in thanks, only pausing when she noticed the lack of anything else in Lucy’s hands. “Hey, Lucy,” she started slowly, sharing a look with Levy that spoke volumes. “Did you, uh, get anything from home?”

Lucy smile fractured slowly, piece by piece, and then she lowered her voice. “Of course, I just want to read it in the cabin,” she said, forcing cheer into her voice. Then, because she didn’t want to be alone, but she also didn’t want to talk about herself, she asked, “Who is yours from?”

Cana stared at her a moment longer, glancing at Levy once more, then said, “My friend, Kagura. She’s too old for the camp now, missed the cut-off by three months.” Love and Lucky was, unfortunately, for younger children and teens from twelve to eighteen, which was possibly why Lucy found it so bizarre that her parents had fallen in love here after a single summer. Less than year, when you thought about it, and yet they knew after camp ended the first time that they were meant to be together.

Levy and Cana began to read their letters while Lucy wondered, scooping a bite of oatmeal into her mouth, what it was like to be loved so swiftly and unconditionally. For her father’s faults, Lucy didn’t doubt that he loved her mother from the beginning till the end and she knew – she knew – that he loved her to this day.

Maybe that was why he didn’t look at Lucy anymore. Maybe the pain was too much, maybe he couldn’t stand to look at her any more than Lucy could stand to see her photos of her mother. How would it feel to see the face of someone who loved you looking back at you every day?

But then Lucy knew because she saw that same face every day and she didn’t have the luxury of looking away from her own reflection.

She swallowed the oatmeal, setting her spoon down slowly because her stomach rolled and protested against the sudden rising desperation, so different than the excitement that had awoken her.

An entire week of not hearing from her and he didn’t care at all to see if she was okay, to see if she needed him.

Not that she did. No, Lucy was practically an adult, she didn’t need her father, but there was a part of her aching with her parents’ absence, the piece growing larger every day, and Lucy realized she didn’t need her father maybe, but she certainly wanted him. She tried to recall the last time she had hugged him, a distant memory springing to mind of a red-haired doctor ushering her into her father’s arms after Layla had died. Jude had hugged her tight and she had pressed her face into his white shirt, tears streaking down both their faces at the unexpected tragedy of the day.

That was the last time, really, because she couldn’t recall her father during the funeral, just Virgo’s grip on her shoulder, the maid unsure of how to comfort her, but offering her presence nonetheless. Lucy had felt like she had lost both her parents within days of each other and the empty, hard shell left behind was not the father who had given her a new bow every time he came back from a business trip away from home. Now the man who came back seemed to look at her impassively, eyes sliding past her as though she were little more than an average wall decoration.

Lucy bit her lip hard, forcing back the lump in her throat and prodded at her oatmeal. Maple and brown sugar sounded less appetizing now than it had a few minutes ago and she only managed to choke down two bites before the rustling paper and silence drove her mad. She stood up from her table, some eyes following her movement then drifting down to their letters or to their private conversations, and she dumped her oatmeal in the trash and her bowl into the sink, heart aching too fiercely to even speak when someone called her name.

Her body moved on automatic and she took calm, even steps toward the exit.  

The moment the door shut behind her, she walked faster.

The moment she was out of view from anyone eating inside, she ran.

The moment her trembling legs gave out and sent her crumbling to her bottom in a familiar cove, she lent her face into her hands and cried.

[allspark]

It’s time for our weekly Diamond Comics Shipping List! Check out some great titles IDW has in store for us next week like Star Trek vs Transformers, Batman/The Maxx, Star Wars, Team Sonic Racing, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and much more! All coming your way for December 5th!

STAR TREK VS TRANSFORMERS #3

John Barber, Mike Johnson (A/CVR A) Philip Murphy (CVR B) Gaving Fullerton

Klingons and Decepticons lay siege to a remote Federation dilithium mine-and the only thing holding them back is the shaky alliance of Captain Kirk and Optimus Prime. But what dark secret is buried beneath the ground… and can this uneasy partnership withstand the revelations?

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TRANSFORMERS IDW COLL PHASE 2 HC VOL 08

John Barber, James Roberts, Shane McCarthy (A) Alex Milne, Andrew Griffith, Guido Guidi (CVR) Marcelo Matere

Rodimus leads a team of Autobots into Cybertron’s past, pursuing the Decepticon double-agent Brainstorm, who plans on killing Orion Pax before he can become Optimus Prime. Meanwhile, on Earth, Prowl is left in command gathering his allies, the Constructicons, to search for the one human he holds a grudge against, Spike Witwicky. Then, Drift returns! After leaving the Autobots in disgrace, he’s now alone, on a mission to clean up the darkest depths of the galaxy.

Collects Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye issues #35-40, Transformers: Robots in Disguise issues #35-38, Transformers: Punishment, and Transformers: Drift-Empire of Stone.

•   Advance solicited for December release! •   The best format for new readers to pick up the series and for continuing readers to supplement their collections with deluxe hardcovers.

BATMAN/THE MAXX ARKHAM DREAMS #3

Sam Keith (A/CVR A&B) Sam Kieth

With Joker back in Arkham, Maxx runs off into the night. Meanwhile, Batman grows more wary of Dr. Disparu’s experiments. In an effort to unravel the riddles of the Outback (and Disparu), Batman seeks out Julie Winters… and they both enter a dimensional hole leading to the Outback-where they encounter an alternate version of Harley Quinn! Back in the real world, Joker, Harley, and the Penguin are the current subjects of Disparu’s experiments-experiments that have a decidedly bad reaction on the Maxx!

COMPLETE CHESTER GOULD DICK TRACY HC VOL 25

Chester Gould (A/CVR) Chester Gould

Dick Tracy closes out the 1960s by moonlighting-literally! The master sleuth takes a part-time second job as Head of Security and Law Enforcement for Diet Smith’s operations based on the moon. Soon, Tracy learns that an international crime syndicate, the Apparatus, has infiltrated Smith’s organization on the lunar surface.

All this and more in these classic Chester Gould comic strips, from April 3, 1969, to December 23, 1970.

MAGIC THE GATHERING CHANDRA #1

Vita Ayala (A) Harvey Tolibao (CVR A) Ken Lashley

The boundless multiverse of Magic: The Gathering returns to comics!

In the wake of tragedy, Planeswalker and pyromancer Chandra Nalaar strikes out on her own. On her journey, she’ll have to fight against threats both old and new, as well as her own sense of guilt. Can she overcome all of that alone? And who is that familiar face lurking in the shadows?

OCTOBER FACTION TP VOL 05 SUPERNATURAL DREAMS

Steve Niles (A/CVR) Damien Worm

With their former leader and father retired, the rest of the Allan family adjusts to the new status quo and brings the monster-hunting business into the modern era. But a sinister and powerful new evil stirs… one that could tear the family apart! The town of Gristlewood is under attack from the most powerful being it has ever seen. Vivian and Geoff take the lead in fighting the evil, but can they even begin to match its power? Or will this be the end of the October Faction?

•   Advance solicited for December release! •   “The October Faction: Supernatural Dreams is packed with demonic action, with an important family thread running through it.”-Horror Talk

RICK & MORTY VS DUNGEONS & DRAGONS #3

Patrick Rothfuss, Jim Zub (A/CVR A&B) Troy Little

A dimension where the Dungeons & Dragons paradigms are real. The rules are absolute… or, at least, they were… until Rick and Morty make their mark. Get ready to plead the fifth (edition) in this unlawful, chaotically evil story of family friction and fantasy frolics.

The world’s greatest roleplaying game. Reality’s most dysfunctional animated series. What could go wrong?

•   Presented in conjunction with Oni Press! •   Patrick Rothfuss, the multiple award-winning, bestselling author of The Kingkiller Chronicle series, joins Dungeons & Dragons fan-favorite author Jim Zub (Avengers, Wayward) on a tri-dimensional fantasy adventure! •   Rick and Morty is one of the most popular shows in Adult Swim history, with a steady fan following since it debuted in 2013. This is the first official Rick and Morty team-up story and should have deep traction in fan circles! •   Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition sales continue to grow each year and the Baldur’s Gate video games have sold millions of copies around the world. D&D has returned as a cultural force in bookstores and online.

RISE OF THE TMNT #3

Matthew K. Manning (A) Chad Thomas (CVR A) Andy Suriano

The TMNT are in a bitter fight with each other over an extremely sensitive topic… which pizza place has the fastest delivery! When a villain butts in, the Turtles will have to put aside their differences and do what they do best: beat up bad guys!

•   Overseen by showrunners Andy Suriano (Cosmic Scoundrels) and Ant Ward!

ROAD OF THE DEAD HIGHWAY TO HELL #2

Jonathan Mayberry (A/CVR B) Drew Moss (CVR A) Santiperez

An over-the-top wild ride prequel to ROAD OF THE DEAD! Written by Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author and creator of V-WARS. Scientist Harriet, tank crewman Skelly, and their crew of losers leave a trail of bodies-living and dead-behind them as they race for sanctuary through the zombie wasteland of North America. The road to hell is paved with bad decisions, heavy drinking, and a lot of blood on the asphalt.

•   Five-time Bram Stoker award-winning author, Jonathan Maberry, returns for a new tale of the undead!

STAR TREK TNG TERRA INCOGNITA #5

Scott Tipton, David Tipton (A) Angel Hernandez (CVR A) Tony Shasteen (CVR B) Photo

On the heels of the blockbuster THROUGH THE MIRROR miniseries comes a brand-new NEXT GENERATION series, featuring untold tales of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D! Interstellar odd couple Worf and Beverly Crusher undertake a difficult mission, but can they overcome their differences to work together?

•   Takes place during Star Trek: The Next Generation’s critically acclaimed fourth season! •   Featuring covers by Mirror Broken co-creator and designer J.K. Woodward! •   The unexpected twist ending of Through the Mirror continues!

STAR WARS ADVENTURES #16

Chris “Doc” Wyatt, Michael Moreci, Kevin Burke (A/CVR B) Arianna Florean (A/CVR A) Valentina Pinto

Welcome to the Resistance! Star Wars Resistance is an exciting new animated series coming to the Disney Channel this fall, and making its Star Wars Adventures debut in this very issue! In the time before The Force Awakens, this all-new adventure follows the fledgling Resistance as it begins to realize the growing threat of the First Order!

•   Ties into the new Star Wars Resistance animated show coming this fall to Disney Channel! •   Written by Resistance show writers Chris “Doc” Wyatt and Kevin Burke! •   Plus, an exciting new Flight of the Falcon story!

STAR WARS ADVENTURES DESTROYER DOWN #2

Scott Beatty (A) Jon Sommariva (A/CVR A) Derek Charm

Swallowed by the shifting sands of Jakku, the Imperial Star Destroyer Spectral has been lost for two decades, giving rise to rumors of hauntings and buried treasure. But an epic sandstorm has revealed the ruins of the starship, and renowned scavenger Rey now leads the race to claim whatever lies within!

•   Three-issue miniseries set during the days before The Force Awakens! •   Includes a backup story depicting the Battle of Jakku, revealing how the Star Destroyer Spectral met its fate during the last days of the Empire!

TEAM SONIC RACING (ONE-SHOT)

Caleb Goellner (A/CVR A) Adam Bryce Thomas

Sonic’s been taken to another world and entered into a race unlike any other! With a little help from his friends Tails and Knuckles, he’ll race to win the competition and get everyone home! BUT! Before that, check out a comics exclusive story straight from the world of Team Sonic Racing!

•   Leads into the upcoming game, Team Sonic Racing, available Winter 2018! •   Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails team up in this exciting adventure! •   Special extra-long one-shot!

TMNT ONGOING IDW COLL HC VOL 08

Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Ben Bates, Dustin Weaver (A) Bill Sienkiewicz, Damian Couceiro (CVR) Dan Duncan

Bebop and Rocksteady stumble across a time-travel scepter, kickstarting the craziest, most destructive adventure yet! Then, when a mysterious new mutant targets Baxter Stockman, it will be up to the TMNT to reluctantly save him, but little does anyone know that a larger trap is being laid by a new arch-foe. Plus, Donatello reboots a new and improved Metalhead only to find that the robot no longer functions entirely as designed. Collects the Bebop & Rocksteady Destroy Everything mini-series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe issues #1-8, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issues #65-66.

•   Advance solicited for December release! •   The best format for new readers to pick up the series and for continuing readers to supplement their collections with deluxe hardcovers.

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IDW Comics Shipping List for December 5th! It’s time for our weekly Diamond Comics Shipping List! Check out some great titles IDW has in store for us next week like