#oh and this post was about steve btw. if you even care.

[concerto-roblox]

my rejection-sensitive ass trying to internalise that someone saying they hate a character that i like doesn't mean they're personally attacking me and people are allowed to express negative opinions on the internet (i am not succeeding and believe everyone hates me for having fun in the wrong way)

[imfinereallyy]

Father Figures, pt. 2

I swear it was a one-shot. But then my hand slipped and "oh oops there's Wayne". You can access part 1 here. This is rated m btw. The full version will be available on ao3 (my first time posting on there...) which is linked here. Anyway, enjoy :)

The first time Wayne Allen Munson meets Steve Harrington is in a hospital room. Sure, he has seen and heard about the kid in passing. It was hard not to in a town like Hawkins. With the kind of money his old man has and the pretty face his mother parades around, the Harringtons become a sort of household name. Especially in Wayne's household.

See, Wayne may not be much of a talker, but his nephew sure is. Especially when he gets angry about something. And boy did Steve Harrington make his Eddie mad. During Eddie's first time around with Senior Year, Steve's name comes out of that boy's mouth so often that if not for that tone of his, he would have thought the kid had a crush on him.

Actually, Wayne regretfully asks at one point if he does have a crush. Wayne finds out pretty quickly that Eddie doesn't, which isn't the problem nor why he regrets asking. The problem is apparently at that very moment in time, Eddie hasn't exactly come out to Wayne. The boy shakes so much that Wayne is afraid that Eddie might cause an earthquake. Wayne has to calm Eddie down and explain very carefully he doesn't care, he's his kid no matter what. Eddie cries, and asks "Dad, what made you think to just casually bring that up?"

Wayne shrugs and simply says "Didn't think it was a secret."

Eddie lets out a wet laugh. Wayne doesn't mention how it's the first time since Eddie showed up on his doorstep that he calls him Dad.

His heart swells.

So, with absolutely no crush in sight god Wayne he's an asshole, Steve's name is brought up quite often.

"Steve Harrington just parades himself around like he's a king."

"Steve Harrington just stands there while Tommy continues to be a piece of shit. Worse, he acts like he's bored."

"Girls just hang off of Harrington, he's even got Nancy Wheeler on his arm now. What a prick, thought she was smarter than that."

"Looks like Harrington got the shit kicked out of him by Byer's. You gotta love Karma sometimes."

Wayne watches Eddie frown at the last one before saying, "Kinda gotta back Steve up on the pictures though. That was creepy."

Eddie shakes his head then continues to rant "But smashing his camera? Dick move. Doesn't understand what it's like to be poor."

Wayne is still not completely convinced it's not a crush.

Wayne Allen Munson seems to know all about Steve Harrington before he actually has the chance to meet him. None of which he has learned makes Steve seem all that good.

Imagine Wayne's surprise when he finds the Harrington boy next to his son's hospital bed.

"What're you doin' here?" Wayne asks, startling Steve from his chair. Wayne watches as he hops up from the ground, straightening himself out.

"Sorry sir, I was just uh, keeping him company. The kid's families won't let them out of their sight and Dustin wanted him to have a familiar face with him if, sorry when he wakes up. Because we weren't sure we were allowed to grab you yet. So I volunteered to stay with him, seeing as I don't have a job anymore, and well I sort of feel responsible for Eddie now. And, god I am hanging out with Robin too much because I am rambling. Sorry, Sir. "

Wayne raises an eyebrow at him. He has seen Steve around town before, hard not to in a small place like Hawkins. Eddie points him out once, scoffing at his perfect hair and holier-than-thou attitude. Wayne originally is prepared to yell at him. The sight of a boy who looks very much like the very ones who hunted his Eddie down just a few days ago ignites something protective within him. Hearing this boy ramble though, flustered and making himself hopelessly small in front of Wayne, makes him hesitate.

"Boy, I don't know half-em names you're sayin' right now. I do recognize that kid Dustin though, ya know him?"

Steve nods his head up and down, "He's like my brother sir. Our brother." He looks down towards Eddie's bed.

Wayne avoids looking at his boy and chooses to look directly at Steve. "Well, he's a good kid. Came to me when Ed was missing, at the school. Told me he was a hero, and that he'll be missed. Guess now it was probably cause he wasn't sure if he was gonna make it and didn't want to get my hopes up. Don't know what made him change his mind either when he found me again today, told me they had him here."

Steve's face softens as Wayne talks about Dustin. Wayne pushes on, "If that kid trusts you, I don't got a reason not to trust you either. Well, until Eds here wakes up at least. He can tell me otherwise."

"Okay, Sir." Steve makes his way to move around Wayne and leave. Wayne grabs him by the wrist to stop him, and Steve flinches. Wayne decides to file that away for later and lets him go.

"No need to leave kid. And stop calling me sir. I'm not your old man. "

Steve's lips lift a little bit like Wayne just brought up an inside joke he isn't a part of. "Okay, sir—I mean Wayne. Okay, Wayne."

Steve and Wayne sit side by side next to Eddie. It's then Wayne finally looks down at his kid. He can't help but the rush of tears that come up at the sight of him. He is paler than usual, curls flat and dirty, tubes coming out of every part of him.

"My boy." He chokes.

Steve thankfully stays silent as Wayne weeps. They sit for a while in silence before Wayne asks, "You gonna tell me what happened?"

Steve, who Wayne doesn't point out has bloodshot eyes, says "You going to believe me?"

Wayne simply returns "I'm willing to try."

So Steve tells him. Tells him everything that has happened over the last week. Tells him of monsters and other worlds. How it isn't the first time, how it is hopefully the last. How scary it is for them. How Eddie is stupid but incredibly brave. How Eddie barely makes it. How Steve will be the first to yell at him when he wakes up.

Wayne listens carefully through the whole thing and can't help but think of how fond Steve sounds when Eddie's name comes up. This isn't the boy Eddie once spoke of. Albeit, it has been a long time since Eddie's spoken his name. Wayne isn't used to tigers changing their stripes though. It's a pleasant surprise he doesn't comment on.

Wayne rubs his thumb across Eddie's hand. "How did he get out? If he was practically dead?"

"Oh, I carried him Sir."

Wayne's head snaps to Steve. "What?"

Steve shrinks a bit, "Sorry I mean Wayne. Sorry I didn't mean to disrepe—"

Wayne cuts him off, "Dammit kid, I'm not mad at that. I'm not mad at all. It's just—you saved him. You carried him out of what I can only understand is what I think hell is, and you didn't think to mention that when I first saw you?" Wayne looks at Steve for a moment. Really looks at him. He's in clean jeans and a polo, but that's where his old persona ends. When Wayne looks at him closely, he can see the dark bags under his eyes, the purple bruising all over his body, and the angry red scar around his neck. Steve looks exhausted, physically and emotionally. Steve looks like a boy, desperately trying to be a man. He looks like a soldier after war.

"It's not a big deal. I did what anyone else would do."

Wayne shakes his head. "Steve. That's just the thing, I'm pretty sure no one else woulda done that. And even if they would, it doesn't make what you did any less important. So, thank you."

Steve's eyes mist a bit when Wayne says "it doesn't make what you did any less important." He looks away from Wayne and just nods.

"Okay?"

"Okay, Sir. Okay, Wayne."

---

When Eddie wakes a few days later, after a night of breathing on his own without the tubes, he interrupts Steve and Wayne's conversation on the Chicago Cubs, and says "Dad?"

Wayne is up in an instant, crowding his boy's face. "Oh, Eds. I am so glad yer alright. You scared me."

"Mmm sorry," Eddie mumbles nuzzling Wayne's chest. He then looks up towards Steve, who is watching the interaction between the two men. "Harrington?"

Steve leans forward on his elbows, and chokes out "I told you not to be cute."

Eddie giggles, his tears reflecting Steve's "Sorry big boy, can't help what you're born with."

Steve looks up at the ceiling with a wet laugh. It eventually turns into a deep sob. The only other time Wayne witnesses Steve break like this over the past few days is when he's reunited with Hopper. "You shithead, you're not allowed to be funny right now. Don't. Don't do that again. Okay? You really scared us." Wayne can hear Steve's unspoken you really scared me.

Eddie's tears are rushing down his face now. "I'm sorry Steve. I'm so sorry."

"You didn't do anything wrong. Just—next time, don't let there be a next time. Okay?" Steve's not making much sense to Wayne as he leans his head on Eddie's bed face down.

Eddie seems to get it though. He hesitantly strokes Steve's head with his fingers. "Okay, Stevie. I promise. Now, get some sleep. It's your turn, I've had enough."

Steve's shoulders sag as he gives in. Wayne shares a look with Eddie, and Wayne knows right there they have the same thought.

They've collected another stray.

———

When Eddie is home, Steve becomes a regular occurrence in their newly acquired government-funded house. He helps a lot the first month especially. Takes Eddie and the Mayfield girl to and from physical therapy. Cooks dinner on the nights Wayne works (which is most nights) and makes sure to have leftovers specifically labeled for Wayne. Keeps both Wayne and Eddie company when one of their stress becomes too much for the other. Steve's even there on the nights the nightmares get bad. Spends his time on the couch until Eddie wakes up screaming, and calms him back to sleep so Wayne doesn't worry about him at work. Or so Wayne can get a full night when he's off.

Steve's there so often enough, that when one night he isn't, Wayne's concerned.

"You're going to pace a hole into the floor boy." Wayne looks at Eddie in their living room from the couch. Wayne doesn't tell Eddie he's concerned too. Doesn't think it would help much.

"I'm sure he's just held up, or got plans Eds. Not like he was plannin' on coming here tonight."

Eddie stops and faces Wayne, biting his thumbnail instead. "Sure we didn't have plans. But Steve's been here every day for the past month Wayne. And when he hasn't he's called. I haven't heard from him in like 22 hours—" Wayne doesn't point out that Eddie did the actual math "—and that's weird. He doesn't do that. We don't do that."

Eddie's anxiety starts to seep into Wayne's. He can't help but think of the worst-case scenario. Car accident. A run-in with that Andy kid. His mind even jumps to when Eddie was in the hospital, and his stomach sinks. Wayne can't help it, he has grown attached to Steve.

"Why don't we call some of yer friends, yeah? Maybe they've seen your boy."

Eddie is so incredibly distressed and doesn't even rebuke Wayne calling Steve his like he usually does. "Yeah okay, good idea."

As Eddie reaches for the phone though, there is a light knock on the door. Eddie rushes to answer it.

"Steve thank god I was wondering—Oh my god sweetheart what happened?" Eddie drags Steve in and places him on the couch. It's then that Wayne sees him.

There on Steve's jaw, is a bruise the size of Indiana. Steve's eye is swollen, and he is breathing heavily while clutching his ribs. Wayne remains frozen and Eddie frets over Steve.

"Stevie, who did this? Where does it hurt? What can I do?"

"Eds I'm fine."

Eddie looks like he's about to yell but restrains himself. "You are most certainly not fine. Do not give me that look Harrington—"

"Oh I'm Harrington now."

"—Yes you are Harrington right now because only a Harrington would be this stubborn and ridiculous. Now tell me what happened and tell me what hurts."

Steve's resolve loosens slightly, and his head falls onto Eddie's shoulder. He lets out a painful whine, "My stomach. It—fuck—it hurts so bad Eds."

Eddie brushes his fingers through his hair and whispers to him gently. "It's okay baby, I got you."

Wayne realizes three things at once.

One, Wayne isn't sure Eddie has called Steve that before. He calls him names across the board. But baby isn't one of them. Wayne knows for a fact the two aren't together yet. They have been dancing along the line for a few weeks now. Wayne thinks about pushing the timeline along, but the boys don't seem to be there quite yet. This seems like a step in the right direction.

Two, in the past month and a half Wayne has gotten to know Steve, he realizes that the boy doesn't do well around older men. He flinches at every sudden movement Wayne makes, and won't even let him give him a pat on the back let alone a hug. Also in that time, Steve has barely gone home. Knows his parents didn't visit him at the hospital, but did come home two weeks later to make sure nothing is damaged from the earthquake. Assholes.

And three, Steve avoids the question as to what happened. Eddie seems to let it slide. Wayne doesn't give the same courtesy.

"Who did this?" Wayne says abruptly, startling Steve who seems to realize Wayne's presence only now.

"Wh-what?" Steve shakes.

"I'm not mad boy. But I'm not stupid. I know this ain't a what but a who. And I think we can both conclude who. But I'm going to ask you anyway. Who. Did. This?"

The last of Steve's resolve crumbles as Wayne puts a gentle hand on his shoulder. It is as if he hadn't known a gentle touch from a father before. Maybe he hasn't.

"My dad. He uh, we got into a fight last night. Found out how much time I was spending here, with Eddie, with the kids. He started saying how I was spending time with the wrong people. I tried to just nod and go upstairs because it was just easier to ignore him than fight him sometimes. Like what's he going to do right? He's only here a couple of days a year. But then he mentioned Robin and he called her a slur, and that said her kind was an abomination. And oh god I don't even know how he found that out Robs is going to be pissed she's been so careful—"

"Babe." Eddie squeezes Steve's hand.

"Right sorry, he just was going off about Robin. And it just set me off, I just lost it on him. How dare he talk about her that way? And I just told him that if he's got a problem with her, then he's got a problem with me too. And God Wayne, the silence that came after. It was like all the words had been sucked out of the room. Next thing I know he's grabbing me by the jaw and throwing me on the floor. And he just starts kicking me, screaming about how I am no son of his. I didn't know what to do. My mom just watched it all. I just laid there... I should have fought back—I—" Steve trails off trying to collect himself.

"When he was done he sent me to my room and told me to think about what I'm doing to this family. I just laid there all night and all day, just waiting for them to leave. I had to wait til they left for dinner tonight to get out. I can't—I can't go back there. Me and Robs were planning on moving in together next week, we made a deposit on this two-bedroom downtown, but I don't think I can spend another week there, and oh god, all my stuff is there. What have I done." Steve puts his head in his hands.

Eddie is crying with Steve by the end of it. Neither he nor Wayne comments on how Steve just came out to the both of them. It doesn't seem important at that moment. Wayne crouches down to eye level with Steve.

"You did nothing wrong. There is nothing wrong with you. You did what you had to do to survive, and even if you didn't it still wouldn't be your fault."

Wayne stands back to his full height. "Now, you can stay here until you and the bird girl have your place. Do not fight me on it. Anyway Steve, I know it's difficult right now. But I'm going to need you to let me know what you need from your house."

"What, why?"

Wayne just sighs, "I know you ain't stupid. Just tell me."

Steve seems hesitant but tells Wayne anyway.

He nods at both his boys when he speaks next. "You two stay put. I'll be back soon."

Steve and Eddie both look like they want to fight Wayne on it. Steve wants to stop him from leaving at all, and Eddie probably wants to stop him from going without him. They both smartly stay silent.

"Okay, Uncle Wayne."

"Okay, Wayne."

———

Later, Wayne comes back with three duffle bags and bruised knuckles.

Steve hugs him without a second thought.

———-

A few days pass and the three of them are in the kitchen when Eddie asks. "Did ya tell hop?"

Steve snorts in his coffee. "Hell no."

Wayne can't help his curiosity as he watches the both of them across the table.

"Steve, you have to tell Hop. He's going to find out anyway." Eddie pushes as he puts an ungodly amount of sugar in his coffee.

"No I don't. He'll just flip out, there is no good reason to tell him."

Eddie puts his hands on his hips. It reminds Wayne of Steve the past couple of times he's seen him around the kids. "I can think of one good reason. He's practically your dad. And I'm pretty sure your Dad would want to know what your old man did to ya."

Wayne can't help but hum in agreement. He knows if Eddie's old man comes around, he wants to be the first to find out.

Steve looks at Wayne briefly before saying, "No he's not. He's just like that with everyone."

"No, he's not. With El? Yea, that's his daughter. Maybe even Will. But not with anyone else. Except you. Why do you think I'm afraid of him?"

Steve gives him a look, "Cause he's an ex-cop Eds."

"Please that doesn't scare me. Didn't scare me when he was an actual cop either."

Wayne isn't sure that's entirely true. He remembers a very specific incident of Eddie tripping over his laces to get away from Jim.

Eddie carries on, "No, he scares me 'cause he's your dad, and I know he'll hang me by my toenails if I so much as make you cry. So yea, I think you should let him know. Besides, we both know he's going to be way more pissed when he finds out from literally anyone else. And we both know he will because you told Robin, who definitely told Nancy, who probably told Joyce, and you can see where I am heading with this."

Steve throws his head back and groans. "He's going to full government name me when he finds out."

Eddie lets out a manic giggle, "Ooo, you never told me what your full name is. Now you gotta tell me, Stevie."

Steve gives Eddie an exasperated look, "It's Steven James Harrington."

It's now Eddie's turn to groan. "Of course, you have his name. Well, I guess it's better than Richard. Hop must love that. Was kinda hoping you had my name or something."

Wayne makes a mental note to talk to Jim himself. Knows Steve will avoid it. But Wayne's got to make sure someone is looking after Steve when he can't. Wayne's been meaning to thank the man anyway. For all his done for Eddie. And now, for all he's done for Steve.

"Want me to make you feel better Eds?" Steve says with a smirk.

"Please. I'm not sure if I can go on any further with the torture of knowledge that contains your middle name."

"Hopper's middle name is Edward."

The scream of joy Eddie lets out nearly punctures what's left of Wayne's hearing.

———

By midsummer, the boys are an item. They haven't said anything to Wayne but he can tell. One day, the boys come back from their friend's weekly dinner holding hands. So they didn't have to tell Wayne. Not really.

It is just that, Wayne has gotten to know Steve Harrington over the past few months. He has gotten to know him as "Friend Steve" and "Brother Steve", and even after one intense game night, "King Steve". Wayne has a feeling though that "Boyfriend Steve" is different. As much as he likes the boy, his kid comes first. Wayne feels he needs to give Steve a talk.

The problem is he can't really give him a talk if neither of them has really told him. He has made that mistake once with Eddie, assuming, he won't be making it again.

So Wayne waits. And waits. And waits. And just as he is thinking he might never get the verbal confirmation from the two, he gets the image clear as day of what the two are on a Tuesday when he gets to go home early from work.

It's just not in the way he expects or wants.

Wayne can't really blame the boys. They didn't know Wayne would be coming home early, it was a surprise to Wayne himself. So they probably didn't think that anyone would be coming around the Munson household on Tuesday at midnight.

That doesn't make the situation any less scarring.

See, Wayne Allen Munson wasn't a god-fearing man. He can't be with what his Eddie had been through. But he can't help but think this is some sort of cosmic punishment when he gets home and hears moaning.

Wayne stands there in the foyer as a loud, "Yes baby just like that" and "Oh god, harder" and even the unfortunate "You're so tight, it's like you were made for me."

Wayne thinks god might be laughing at him. Wayne can't really go upstairs and stop them. They are both adults and he feels that having an image of what they are doing would be substantially worse than the noises.

Wayne decides to put some earplugs in (which thankfully cut off the noise, since his age made him half deaf anyway), sat in his armchair, and waits it out.

About an hour later (jesus an hour later) Steve comes downstairs to the kitchen in only his boxers. He doesn't seem to notice Wayne. His head is in the freezer when Wayne decides to clear his throat loudly.

Steve slams his head in fright and whips around with an icepack in his hand. "Oh shit."

"Oh shit is right."

All the color drains from Steve's face. "How much did you hear?"

Wayne appreciates that Steve cuts right to the chase. "Enough." He knows he can explain to the boy that he didn't really hear that much, and the earplugs are firmly in his hands as evidence, but he decides to torture Steve.

Just a little bit, can't have him too comfortable.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Munson, I—"

Wayne cuts him off. "No need to apologize, just as long as you boys are being safe that's all I care about. No that ain't what I want to talk to you about."

Steve visibly swallows as he sits across the counter from Wayne. "What about then?"

"Look, I'm awfully happy for the two of you. It's about time you boys got your shit together—"

Steve lets out a small laugh at the comment. Wayne continues. "—but I need to make things clear with you Steve. You hurt my kid, I hurt you. Eds has been through a lot. Not just with the whole spring break situation. I mean his whole life. He bounced around from place to place until he landed on my doorstep. He's used to giving his all, and not getting much in return. Eddie loves with his whole chest, and he doesn't know how to do it any other way. You better make sure you're worthy of it because I am not sure anyone is...including me. You're pretty damn close though, I know it. I can see it. You're a good person. But that boy is my whole world. I know where to hide a body if need be."

Wayne expects Steve to cower in fear, but instead, he smiles softly at him. "Don't worry. I'll dig the grave myself. I'll try my best not to hurt him, sir. I can't promise much, but I can promise I'll love him every day without fail."

"You tell him that yet kid?"

Steve shakes his head, "No. I think soon though sir."

Wayne nods feeling satisfied. "Good, and enough of this sir crap I thought we've been over this."

"Okay, Wayne."

"Better. Now, who's the ice pack for? You or him, because I don't want to have to grab the shovel outta the shed tonight."

Steve's blush spreads from his cheeks all the way down to his chest. "Uuuh, for me sir. I mean Wayne."

"Good. Go grab my son for me now will ya?"

Steve stutters, "Wh-what? Why?"

"Just go grab 'em."

Steve runs upstairs and brings down a smug-looking Eddie. Wayne's sure Steve gave him the rundown of what he heard, and Eddie doesn't appear to be ashamed like Steve had the smarts to do.

Little shit.

"Sorry Wayne didn't know you were home. Was that what you wanted to talk about?"

Wayne looks from Steve to Eddie, before narrowing his eyes at the latter. "Nope. It's your turn."

"My turn?" Eddie's confident face turns confused while Steve's flashes surprise.

"Yea kid your turn." Wayne contemplates for a second what to say, but knows in the end that Eddie will get the message loud and clear from one sentence alone.

"You hurt him—" Wayne turns to point at Steve, before facing Eddie again "—I hurt you. Got it?"

All the color drains from Eddie's face. That's the reaction he is looking for.

"Got it." Eddie grabs Steve's hand to make his way back upstairs. Before they are completely out of sight, Steve catches Wayne's eye. The boy looks softer than he did before. He looks like he wants to say something but settles on,

"Goodnight Wayne."

"Goodnight Steve."

———

Steve doesn't ask Wayne about that night until months later in October. Wayne is on the couch with a beer when Steve walks in (he has the key Eddie gave him in September). "Eddie's not here right now. Think he's running late with band practice."

"Oh I'm sorry. I can come back later." Steve stands awkwardly in the doorway.

"Don't be silly come sit. I'm just watching the game. It's no cubs considering they didn't make it far, but it's still a good game."

Steve nods and makes himself comfortable on the couch. Since spring break, Wayne and Steve have built a friendship of sorts. Steve still shows signs of apprehension in the first few seconds, but the conversation becomes an easy flow after a while. They usually talk about sports, cars, or cooking. All stuff Wayne enjoys but Eds won't show the slightest interest in. It's nice, to have someone to share this stuff with.

Today they mostly talk about the game on tv and Eddie's habit of running late. It's after a particularly funny joke about Eddie being late to his own birth that Steve asks, "Hey Wayne, can I ask you something?"

"Ya just did kid."

"God, you sound like Eddie."

Wayne chuckles, "Sure Steve. Shoot."

"Why did you talk to Eddie too? About the whole, hurting each other stuff? I mean Eddie's your kid, and I'm just the guy who gets to spend time with him." Steve waves his hands around, it reminds Wayne of Ed.

"Well, I love ya both," Wayne says easily while he takes a sip of his beer, like it isn't hard to say. And it isn't really. It was quite simple to Wayne. Just like Eddie, Steve might not be his kid by blood but he is close as he can come.

"Oh." Steve takes a deep breath, as if he is holding back tears, and says "Thanks, Wayne. I love you too."

Wayne almost mistakes the pain as Steve's voice as reluctance. The happiness that shines in his eyes says something else. Says he doesn't hear that from fathers very often. Says he hopes Wayne means it.

He does mean it.

Eddie walks in the doorway to find the two men silently staring at each other, and Steve close to tears. "Well hello there my lovely family how are—Wayne what did you do to Steve? Did you yell at him? I promise the bruise on my face was from dropping a wrench while trying to fix the van. Nothing else." Eddie pulls Steve up and squishes his face between his hands. "What did he say to you, baby?"

Steve shakes his head and laughs lightly at Eddie's antics. "Nothing bad. Promise. Happy tears."

"Happy tears?"

"Happy tears."

Eddie stares at him for long moment before deciding he believes him. "Okay. Okay. I relent." He grabs Steve's hand and throws a wave at Wayne. "Let's go upstairs though, I have to tell you about practice and how Gareth brought a boy with him! And you'll never believe what boy it was! It was our little baby Byers himself..."

Wayne hears Steve's gasp and Eddie's giggle as he continues on up the stairs. Wayne can't help the warmth that settles in his chest.

Because Wayne Allen Munson is lucky to have two wonderful boys. And he is even luckier that his two boys love each other. Because they deserve that and so much more.

———

Okay, it’s a lot I know. I just couldn’t resist. I wanted to write Steve and Wayne too. I think this one is less sad and more funny but I think that kind of speaks for the kind of relationship the two of them would have. Also it contains much more steddie than the last one. I’m thinking about maybe writing a part 3 with Steve’s relationship with the kids and how he’s their father figure? But for now it ends here. Also this took me like two days to write? I’m sorry for any mistakes or rushed parts. I am one woman show. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed :)

Also I have finally posted on ao3!!! Can’t believe it, I’ve been so nervous about it especially because I am still without a beta. But this felt long enough to put there and I wanted to be able to share with more people.

access part. 1 here and ao3 here

[angelbaby-fics]

Hehe I noticed!! I’ve been wanting to request this for a while 🙈 I’ve entertained the idea, pre serum daddy Steve, but when he comes back to his little his post serum Steve and he helps his little try and understand why he was gone and what happened. I loved you’re latest fic btw 💕

Butterfly

Word Count: 1.1k

A/N: Oh wow this is SUCH a sweet concept & I hope I've done it some angsty-fluffy justice!! Its rather similar to an idea I've had for a while where modern era little finds Steve's old pictures and is amazed that he used to be so tiny 😮 Maybe I'll write that as a sibling to this! Also I know this is not really how things went in the movie considering, you know, the world war going on, but who cares!! This is my fic, I make my own timeline!! Enjoy dear 💕💕

Daddy’s coming home.

After what felt like eons alone at the apartment while Steve underwent his procedure, he was finally fully recovered and coming back home. With Bucky already off fighting abroad, you’d had nobody to take care of you while Steve was gone, so you’d had to stay big all week. You were excited for Steve, that he’d been given this incredible opportunity and finally been allowed to join the army, but you couldn’t deny that you were excited to have him back. Days of acting as the adult while simultaneously fretting over Steve’s wellbeing, you were ready to finally let yourself be his little baby again.

As the hour drew nearer, you found yourself getting smaller and smaller the more excited you got. You didn’t know what sort of state Steve would be in after such an experimental procedure, so you’d tried your best to keep the apartment tidy for his return, and by the time you were finished dusting, you were just about ready to dive headfirst into little space. You were pacing back and forth across the carpet, fiddling with your fingers and chewing on your shirt sleeve, when you finally heard the long awaited familiar sound of Steve’s key in the lock. Your head perked up and you ran to the doorway, practically vibrating with anticipation at seeing your favorite person in the world again.

Except, the man that entered your apartment was NOT Steve Rogers.

At least, not the one you knew. Your Steve was small - pocket sized as you liked to call him. You could look him right in the eyes and hold his hand whenever you walked without having to reach up. This man nearly filled the door frame, blocking out the afternoon sun with his figure. The light cast his face in shadows, and you could barely make out his features. You shrinked back from the doorway with trepidation and fear as the man crouched towards you.

“Hey baby, don’t be scared please,” you heard him say in a voice that sounded like Steve, but different, like it was rumbling from deeper inside. “It's me. It’s daddy.”

As he knelt in front of you, his features came into focus, and you saw a face that looked like Steve’s. But you just couldn’t believe it. You were already so little and sensitive, you weren’t ready to take in his new appearance, this new situation you found yourself in. So you ran.

You ran down the hall into your bedroom, slamming the door behind you. Steve stood in the doorway, still as a statue. He hoped you wouldn’t react like this, but he knew you might. He knew how different everything had become in such a short amount of time. He knew that even though he was still the same man inside, that on the outside, he was almost unrecognizable. After the stress of procedure, testing, recovery, and the general 360 his life had taken, all Steve wanted was to cuddle you like he always did when one of you had a bad day, so he set out to follow you.

You were huddled under your blanket when you heard the knock on your door, and Steve’s deep voice followed.

“Baby, I know I look different, and you have every right to be hesitant. I just want you to know that it's still me in here, it's still your same old Stevie, okay? And I’ll be out here with open arms whenever you’re ready to see me again. I love you, angel.”

And with that, he retreated to his own room to unpack.

You stayed there curled up on your bed for hours, you lost track after you fell asleep and woke up to the sun fully set and the house shrouded in silence. Upon waking, you found yourself even smaller than you’d been earlier, your body and mind fully cemented in your coping mechanism for your protection. You squeezed your most precious stuffy to your chest, but all you really wanted now was Steve. Even the shirt you’d taken from his room after he left and wrapped around your pillow was starting not to smell like him anymore. You needed the real thing.

Is that really who was out there in the living room? Was the man who knocked on your door and told you he loved you really the same Steve that had left the apartment just days prior? He sounded an awful lot like Steve; you hadn’t gotten as good of a look at his face as you’d liked, but he sure looked like Steve too. Maybe it really was him. Maybe… there was only one way to find out.

Throwing off the blanket, you hesitantly tiptoed out of bed and quietly snuck towards your door, stuffy still clutched tightly in one hand. Opening the door, you made your way to the living room, where you saw the Big Steve Man sound asleep on the couch. That's when you really recognized him, his face relaxed, his body still curled up as if he didn’t take up the entire couch now anyways. His rhythmic breathing and faint snore was the soundtrack to every one of your dreams, you knew it better than anything in the world. So suddenly, you felt safe with this man, who you were now approximately 99% sure was indeed your Steve. You just needed him to pass one more test.

“Um.. hello daddy,” you whispered tentatively, which was surprisingly enough to rouse the large man.

He blinked his eyes a few times in the dark room, still not used to how well he could see now, and you quickly came into his focus. He wanted to scoop you up right then and there, smother you in kisses, and never let you go, but he knew to take things slowly now.

“Hello baby,” he said softly.

“It’s really you in there?” You asked quietly.

“It’s really me, baby. I promise.”

You slowly stepped towards him once, twice, until you were close enough to reach your free hand out to him, which he took in his. Even though his grasp now completely enveloped your entire hand, it was that same soft skin you knew and loved. Finally, you looked up into his unmistakable blue eyes, eyes you’d lost yourself in countless times, eyes that could pull you back from the brink of despair with just one glance. Yes, there he was. It was just like when you’d learned about how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, they change their appearance, but retain the same heart and soul they’d been all along. That was Steve now, your butterfly.

“Do you want me to tell you all about it?” He asked, but you shook your head.

“Not yet. Just wanna cuddle with daddy,” you whispered, and as you let yourself fall into his open arms, Steve smiled. Just like he would always be your daddy, you would always be his little baby.

[alaskan-wallflower]

kinda coincides with my previous post but within the parry community i kinda see a lot of discourse over “oh soul would be emotionally abusive!” “oh paul would be an absolute gentleman!” and honestly? i don’t really agree with either? at least not fully.

this is just my opinion btw you don’t have to agree with it and i frankly don’t care if you agree or don’t agree because this is a post solely for my own opinion to be stated but

with paul and darry being together, i think that paul would be somewhat emotionally abusive, but not intentionally. let’s look at soc home lives. again, socs aren’t depicted as having caring families, nor are they depicted as having a found family like the greasers do. and i don’t think paul is an exception. i think paul probably grew up with emotionally neglectful parents, and he grew up with parents who weren’t always there for him. i have personal headcanons about paul’s home life (i think his mom was kinda neglectful and wa star one to never tell him no while his dad did business and used to come home and would be emotionally abusive towards paul but anyway that’s obviously not canon, that’s just me) but i think that any and all emotional manipulation and abuse would be a learned behavior and something paul assumed was normal. look at all the socs . none of them are saints. none of them are gonna tell each other “maybe that’s fucked up” because it’s normalized to them.

i guess what i’m getting at is i don’t think paul would be an incredible boyfriend-not because he was abused, don’t think that in saying that, but i think that through both enduring said abuse and like bob, wanting to be told no, while also just being in the environment he’s in, he never really learned that his abuse was in fact, abuse, and carrying on those behaviors wasn’t normal.

obviously i think that given that darry lived with his parents and had a found family he recognized it right away and tried to work with paul but it kinda all just went to shit because paul gets REALLY defensive and such.

another thing i’ve seen is that people disagree on whether or not paul would get along with the rest of the readers and honestly i can’t really see it. again, paul hasn’t found a chosen family so he doesn’t really understand. the social class thing is also a big divisor and i think that darry wasn’t your stereotypical grease, which was why he got along so well with paul. however, i cannot see him getting along with someone like two bit or steve, who are your more stereotypical greasers. even long and sods like to them he’s a stereotypical soc and to him they’re just greasers. he’s never been kind to the greasers and i don’t think that the curtis gang is an exception.

again, this is just my opinion, you don’t have to agree, i don’t care if you do or don’t (don’t come at me though like i’m not looking to fight) but tbh this is just me looking into how these kinds of environments affect someone.

[fainthedcherry]

2024 Human Art VS 2019 Human Art !!!!!

AS PROMISED, HERE'S A POST WITH SOME NEW ART!!!

And also an art comparison, just to see, how much I improved in drawing the 2 bois <3

I'm MEGA tired despite having slept after work, but I WON'T let that deter me from writing a description!! YAPNADO AHEAD;

FINN AND MARCOOO. FINNANMARCO. BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE ACOUSTICALLY AND FERALLY YELLED ABOUT MY 2 FICTIONAL MEN WHOM ARE CLOSE TO MY HEART.

I'm SO glad, that in the new drawing, Marco finally looks like the twink he always was, but still enough meat on the bones to look NORMAL lmao, can't say that about the 4 other sketches of me trying to redraw this ref for years. xD (why yes, his wings took forever, why do you ask? /lh)

I'M MEGA SUPER DUPER GLAD, that Finn FINALLY looks like a chubby, wild bastard TOO, OH TOOTHPASTE MAN, HOW MANY HEARTACHES YOU GAVE ME OVER STRUGGLING TO DRAW AN ENDOMORPHIC BODY TYPE. BUT I CAN NOWWWWWWWwwww!!!!!

God this habit of loudly reading out my posts as I type them made me realise what a bad Schwarzenegger impression I do on accident bc I'm overly excited to post something after a month of silence SDKFSKLDG

ONE THING I ALWAYS WANTED TO DO. IS PUT EVERY DETAIL I NEEDED ON A BIG REF. SO I DID! I've drawn closeups of the boys's eyes, I've drawn Finn's tongue so that I don't need to constantly remind myself what his blush and flesh colours were sdfkldsgkl, I FINALLY denoted their heights, so people know that they're tall TALL dudes (and that Finn obviously will struggle w/ his lanky mfing legs, we LOVE giving a middle-aged man heart attacks once he reaches his 40's!!!)

ANNDDD ALSO SOME SIDE VIEWS OF THEM. The last side-view I had of F & M, looked REAL bad. Like, Marco's face looked WAY too stereotypically European (to my fault bc surprise surprise not many African people live in Europe so I had poor frame of reference but I've been fixing it via looking up images online instead, at least it helps but yeah, I have a hard time so far unfortunately💀), Finn's was just... B u c k e t. NOT LIKE HANDSOME BUCKET. BUT JUST BUCKET. IT NEEDED FIXING (fun fact I accidentally made Finn have the most attractive jaw shape for men according to beauty standards and I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I JUST WANTED THIS MAN TO LOOK S Q U A R E AND THAT'S IT, MINECRAFT STEVE HAS MORE RIZZ THAN MOST MEN OFFICIALLY).

OH YEAH ALSO A CLAW REF AGAIN FOR FINN!!! His old ref looks too cool for me to give up on it tbh even as dated as it is sfjklsdglk, BUT I felt like I needed to redraw them properly.

FUNNILY ENOUGH A PERSON I COMMISSIONED SAID I HAVE SOME REALLY CLEAN AND NICE LINEART. I wish I heard that 5 years ago when I was really insecure about my bad lineart skills xD, I don't use lineart anymore nowadays outside of reference-drawings like these I don't plan to redraw in the next years unless necessary soooo yeah! They're gonna appear much rarer unless I go off and about making more ref sheets of all of my Sonc OC's sfklsdgsdfksdg

This drawing took 5 days to make btw. Not the hours spent on this LOL. 5 days of my life I'll never get back tho bc I care too much about my babies and I feel they deserve proper refs sdfklsdglk

WHAT ELSE SHOULD I MENTION.....HOPEFULLY I PLAN TO DRAW MORE HUMAN REFS IN THE FUTURE INSTEAD OF STAY IN MY COMFORT ZONE OF SONIC OCS ONLY. I for years wasn't confident in my ability to draw humans, but I can do so NOW at least!!!!!!!!!! Even if I'm like...3 years too late to how I wish my art looked back then already dsklfdsg, I have some high standards I need to continue to knock down as my 2024 resolution sdfklsdg

^IT'S BEEN WORKING THOUGH AS YOU CAN TELL BC I'VE BEEN UPLOADING SOME BAD DOODLES AND SKETCHES, BEEN DRAWING MORE GARBAGE AND BECAME MORE INVOLVED IN MY BELOVED FANDOMS. I wanna continue doing so! It was the most fun I've had with art ever. I hope to properly meet more fandoms I left in the past bc I thought it'd be embarrassing to share my passion for a franchise back then. I EMBRACE THE CRINGE NOW AS AN ADULT AT LEAST EVEN IF 7 YEARS TOO LATE ON THAT FRONT TOO. We all age and mature ig but I just become more silly year by year,,, c:

Oh yeah if you also see this btw lemme know, whether the new watermark tiles are subtle enough to not be noticed!!!! I know, watermarks are annoying and nobody likes them, but ever since AI invasions, I REFUSE to put my work online without ANY form of proof that somebody took it from my page. I just want people to stop lying on the internet for cloud and pick up a pencil. It's not that hard smfh. The only time I could excuse AI art is w/ amputees man. That's the only time I could empathise with someone, who wants to be an artist but LITERALLY can't bc they got dealt a bad hand in life. I digress my AI hate can be rambled about some other day, I know I love yapping and writing essays about THAT topic for sure sfklsdklg

I chose to post this ref to my Tumblr first tho, bc I still wanna work on my drawing of Abbacchio,,,, he is quite dear to me and I'd love to put effort into a doodle of him that won't take too long. Like 4 hours or 5 hours tops. I still have yet to figure out, if his cute star shape on his head is a hat or part of his hair. Bc I CAN'T TELL TBH AND I'VE BEEN DRAWING IT AS PART OF HIS HAIR PATTERN BUT I THINK IT'S A HAT NOW EVER SINCE I LOOKED AT MORE ASBR CAPS OF HIM I TOOK FOR REFERENCES. xD

Also another side-note, but I've ofc reduced down the lankiness of the dudes I draw™, but I in result wanted to sliiightly make larger feet/hands bc my Sonic phase will continue to possess me 'til the end of time /hj, if you also wanna lemme know what you think on that, bls do! I am messing about with stylization still. I am finding my footing with stylizing humans sOOO yeah!!!! I hope to some day be satisfied with my artstyle change of '24! So far it's been really rewarding and eye-opening to me and my journey as an artist for my 7 years of existing on the 'net w/ my silly goobers I like to scream about to in the void <3

Once again, tagnado also incoming below bc I dunno how to properly tag my art so lemme throw in things I THINK are relevant to this post sdkldsgkl

See you hopefully tomorrow w/ a lil doodle dump if I get around to it!!!! : D

[fantomefawn]

Barely Tolerable ch.2

Take 2… apparently… I posted this yesterday but it’s being marked as m a t u r e?? For some reason this is literally a chaste little pride and prejudice harringrove au??? Anyway so I don’t believe too many people can see the original post. So we try again.

Whatever anyway sorry it’s taken so long I had just written 19 pages of a first draft for another chapter since I wanted to be further ahead with writing vs posting? (This is on ao3 as well btw) anyway 19 pages and then my doc force quit and when it recovered it had only save 2 pages so I had to rewrite the whole draft. It sucked. But like no use in crying over spilt milk. Re wrote it. Im good.

Many way chapter 2 wherein the Harringtons meet Ms. Cunningham and Co.

Please tell me your thoughts on my choice of characters. I’m so curious.

By all means let me think who else you think for cast in certain roles

It was nearly immediately that once the party has crossed the room onto the other end that the music was restarted, and dancing resumed. The new grouping standing away to look over the rest of the assembly, lording over them and looking down on them like they were peons.

“Oh, Robert Harrington, you must introduce her to the children!” Natalie had broken out of her own awe very quickly realizing that there were other guardians ready to circle Ms. Cunningham like sharks to a blood filled ocean, “It is the perfect time, let us be quick!”

Mr. Harrington’s face fell out of good humor rather quickly whilst Nancy puffed up in a preen not unlike a painted peacock her brother had called the others. Her being the closest to her parents physically she felt this might be her chance to be first introduced to Ms. Cunningham and her party, sure that she would for once be seen as the superior sibling she was, as she would finally be given the chance and the position to prove it.

Steve himself had Robin’s hand caught in his own grinning as he addressed his suddenly bashful sister, “Smile. Smile toward Ms. Cunningham. Smile”

Robin did her best and gave a beatific smile toward that end of the room where Ms. Cunningham and company were gathered. Her friend and siblings were looking fairly derisively over all of them.

It would be difficult to capture her attention in the pandemonium, but he wanted her to try, for some reason he was sure this would be her great love.

There was no one in the world he wanted such a love for the way he longed for Robin to find it. It pained him to admit how worried he was for her. He was well aware what the entailment in their family line for them meant and with her being the eldest and prettiest meant she was the one in the unlucky position to have all the pressure and burden on saving them all when their father inevitably passed. In his heart of hearts, he knew she would fulfill it honorably.

There was no one better than Robin.

He loved her so much he swore their souls were twins, and pieces of them belonged to each other, broken off at birth and floating away to fit into each other.

There was no one better than Robin.

It was not an opinion but a point of fact for him. He felt lucky because even if she was less dramatic about it, he knew she held him in the same regard.

There bond was undying, and the thought of Robin miserable because of the situation created by the entailment and hindered further by their parents was horrible and too much to bear.

Steve was lucky in that he was young enough that there wasn’t as much pressure on him and being so sure in his sister’s inevitable good fate to be both happy and successful in her mating meant he did not worry much about his own. He was sure somehow that he’d be taken care of if no love came his way.

He was determined to believe however that love would come aggressively looking for his prized soul mated sister. He was also rather hopeful it would be the Alpha Ms. Cunningham for whom even now he was only hearing good things about. The party had barely begun and before there could even be introductions, they were receiving word of her party and their personhood.

The Harrington siblings were particularly good at gathering information as they were perhaps the best liked family, thanks mostly to to Steve and Robin as well as their standing in the town being the wealthiest family prior to the arrival of Ms. Cunningham and her crew.

First impressions amongst everyone were quickly formed.

Ms. Cunningham as it turned out was good looking and gentlewoman-like. She was pleasant and possessed a cheerful demeanor and came across as having an easy temperament and an unaffected quality. Her strawberry blonde hair was a source for jealousy amongst the rest of those in attendance, she had dark blue eyes that held a certain cheer and a winning smile that endeared people to her. She was friendly and kind and lacked any pretension that was found amongst the company she kept.

Her siblings were elegant and clearly were into the latest fashions, which while beautiful stuck out poorly in the room and while some envied them, many did think them a bit gauche and altogether too much.

Both of her siblings were clearly older than her. The oldest being the Omega, the age difference a fair margin. She was brunette and petite with large eyes and and her smile could best be described as fake.

The middle sibling was a Beta boy with messy dark hair and a shock of freckles that galavanted across his face, his smile was shark like in manner. He was a person out for for blood. Whose blood they couldn’t quite tell.

Her sister-in-law, Mrs. Perkins was a beta that looked like a gentlewoman but was decidedly not one and was lacking a certain sophistication the rest of the room expected. Her hair was more dramatically red than the Alpha and she was smaller than even the Omega sibling, Miss Cunningham.

Outside of Ms. Cunningham herself it was her friend Mr. Hargrove who gave the greatest stir amongst the lot of them.

He was perhaps an inch shorter than Steve based on the gossip, though that was hard to tell since Steve’s brown locks had buoyancy and natural inclination towards blatantly ignoring the concept of gravity it could be said it gave him some additional height. His blue eyes were piercing, and he was as pretty as Omegas were taught that they ought to be, regardless of his unimpressed demeanor. His dark gold locks were long and had a slight wave to them, they looked soft and gentle where his facial expressions suggested otherwise. His features, though set in a fashion exuding his designation, would have had everyone questioning his designation with the delicate beauty of them, but his build was give away to his designation. He was firm and even well covered by clothing it was clear his body was thickly built and stocky. Impressively muscled most likely. No slightness in sight. He was a standard of Alpha male beauty in that regard.

Slowly it was filtered around through the room that this high standing fashionable man had 10,000 a year.

If this number, that ran through the room was correct it placed him in the top one hundred wealthiest people in the country at the very least all without knowing anything else about his lands and holdings. Mr. Hargrove was immediately a more sought-after catch for the Mama’s and Papa’s of the town than Ms. Cunningham.

Every Alpha promptly pronounced him to be a refined man and all the Omegas and Betas declared him far more handsome than even the waifish elven like Alpha that was Ms. Cunningham.

This thought process lasted approximately half the evening before it had started to turn.

~

While Jonathan and Steve were still urging Robin to lure Ms. Cunningham in mentally with sweet smiles, that they hoped she would eventually see, Natalie Harrington decided she would not take it to chance and had made way to gather her two eldest and herd them over toward the Alpha of Cherry Lane.

The introduction would be made even if she had to force it because her husband would not bend as quickly as she wanted.

Steve and Robin gave each other looks but followed their mother dutifully. Steve had glanced around trying to find sight of his father, hoping that the man would rescue them by curtailing their mother’s less than perfect manners and what the repercussions of them would mean for Robin.

Thankfully, Steve could relax his stance a little when he saw his father, mouth drawn down in annoyance pulling along a sullen Nancy.

Her scent was strong and sour with upset like the grass and petitgrain finish of her natural scent had gone rancid, substantial enough he wondered if she had her tea that day. It seemed unlikely that she wouldn’t have drunk it but he knew Nancy was prone to aggressively strong emotions that could and would break through over even the strongest of brews.

She also didn’t care much to self-regulate her scent as she ought to. She was old enough to know better but it really was her only act of defiance. Steve often wondered sometimes if she just lacked a mind body connection since she willingly let her embarrassment steep the air when it happened. It was a skill one learned over time but generally by fifteen one had it under control and Omegas were typically learned by twelve lest it be unseemly.

Teas were always an added precaution and considered important for chaste Omegas of proper breeding and good standing. Only a little of your natural scent should be accounted for especially in mixed company unless properly mated. He felt she should be more careful and considerate of it since he was sure this was where Angela got this nasty habit of throwing out her scent. Steve raised his eyebrows at her, a suggestion she needed to take notice of how much she was projecting and perhaps a way of asking her if she could stop. It was unlikely to work. Nancy did so love attention, even if she wouldn’t admit it.

Nancy sneered at him, and he rolled his eyes not willing to deal with it and faced forward again, following like a duckling behind his mother and older sister and she came to halt in front of a smiling Ms. Cunningham and her coterie. He could smell Nancy and his father coming to round them out. Robin did a quick glance at Steve; her smile having gone brittle for a moment over the smell of their little sister before rounding quickly back to perfect at their full stop. Jonathan had looped his arm through Steve’s for moral support knowing full well this was mostly for Robin’s benefit but knowing his dearest friend would always worry most for his older sister. Robin’s face has smoothed over in the upset, wondering what was wrong with Nancy and also just knowing the awkward position they were in had pushed her into her more reserved tendencies.

Mrs. Harrington grinned at everyone in front of her, her smile making her look younger than she was and giving way to show what a sight she had been in her younger years. She gave a look at Sir James before glancing back and grabbing Nancy’s hand and pulling her closer to her and her siblings, squeezing tightly letting her know she needed to get herself together immediately and she would not take any disobedience. The scent rapidly smoothed out and softened as Mrs. Harrington faced them all once more.

Sir James knew his queue, “Ms. Cunningham, this is my eldest child Master Jonathan Hopper who you already know,” he smiled at his son and made a hand motion toward him, “This is Mrs. Harrington, Ms. Robin Harrington, Steven and Nancy Harrington.”

Each of the siblings made half bows in the direction of Ms. Cunningham at the mention of their names.

“It is a pleasure, that is true, and I have two other children, but they are dancing currently so you must excuse them for not being here for introduction.”

Ms. Cunningham was all smiles as she looked over the brood, it was very exciting to lay eyes on the Harrington siblings finally.

“I am delighted to make your acquaintance.” She was positively beaming at them, though her eyes had definitely wondered to Robin, she was enchanted by the family so quickly and so thoroughly that she was entirely unaware of her dearest friend looking like stone statue of disapproval and her elder sister looking absolutely shocked and appalled at her statement.

Sir James cut in once more, “May I introduce Mr. Hargrove of Lenora in California.” Steve bit his lip as they all bowed once more for Mr. Hargrove. His eyes were set on the floor as was proper, so he missed out on all that Jonathan was observing; Ms. Cunningham’s eyes were on his sister and Mr. Hargrove’s body was being slightly more directed toward Steve, something even the Alpha himself seem unaware of. He wasn’t looking at Steve, but the rest of his body had twisted to mirror him.

Had it not been for Ms. Cunningham and Robin looking so starstruck at each other the silent awkwardness that took over the rest of them would have been unbearable.

Thankfully the music coming to a close signaling the end of that particular dance coming to an end came upon them. The ensuing claps meant that most knew it was time to continue milling about. With a look from his mother and a hand squeeze from his father, he knew even without those silent messages he would be playing dutiful chaperone for his sister as the rest of the party left to mill about with others.

Robin’s freckled face was set in a sun beam smile as she gazed Ms. Cunningham, “How do you like it here in Hawkins, Ms. Cunningham?”

“Oh, very much.” Steve watched them ping pong back and forth with amusement his smile growing as her heard the breathy quality Ms. Cunningham’s voice had taken in response to Robin. He was worried they would all die there still smiling at each other with the way this was going.

“The Library at Cherry Lane, I’ve heard is one of the finest in the country,” Steve played with his hands as he opted to progress the conversation for the young, hopefully future couple, directing this statement at Ms. Cunningham.

“Yes, I fear it fills me with guilt,” Steve’s face started to fall thinking he’d perhaps misstepped, but the strawberry blonde Alpha was still all smiles, “I’m not a very good reader, you see. I prefer being outdoors.”

The Alphas face blanched a little as she looked directly at Robin.

“Oh, I can read, of course,” Robin’s smile grew more enchanted by Ms. Cunningham’s lack of grace and nerves, “And I am not suggesting you can’t read outdoors, of course.” Her nerves seemed to grow not lessen and her eyes grew bigger, clearly hoping the ground would swallow her up.

Robin was happy to put out her misery like gentle water to fire.

“I wish I read more, but there always seems to be so many other things to do.”

Chrissy Cunningham’s eyes scrunched with how big her relieved smile grew.

“Yes! Yes, that’s exactly what I meant.” Steve tuned out of the conversation a little just to give the couple a little space now that it seemed there was no real awkwardness to be found. He found his eyes wondering and noticed Mr. Hargrove and Ms. Karen Cunningham standing near them, the older omega clearly trying to entertain and entice the younger Alpha. He could hear her speaking to him if he tried heard enough.

“We are a long way from Starcourt Square, are we not Mr. Hargrove?”

That Alpha it seemed was not paying her the slightest bit of mind, his attentions were clearly in trying to surreptitiously spy on Ms. Cunningham and Robin’s conversation.

Steve hoped he was not set on trying to go after Robin, he really like Christine Cunningham, the Alpha was potentially just lovely enough to be worthy of breathing the same air as Robin, which was not something he thought often.

Steve’s attention was quickly drawn elsewhere by the squeals of his two youngest siblings, loud excited and unabashed. He turned his head to look at them, feeling in equal measure fond and annoyed at their lack of propriety.

~

There was a measure of unending chatter all around them so he was unable to tell what they could possibly be saying.

Angela had been clearly looking for their mother, Dustin following suite in equal excitement. She quickly jumped up and down when she had caught sight of her, Nancy and their father. Bypassing the other two without any care they went straight to their mother jumping up and down like eager puppies.

“Mama! Mama,” Angela grasped Natalie’s arm still jumping up and down in glee swinging their mother in a circle, “You won’t believe what we’ve just heard! I promise you won’t possibly believe what we are about to tell you!”

Angela and Dustin were so excited and focused solely on their mother that they either didn’t notice or didn’t care about the look of extreme derision sent their way by Nancy.

“Tell me quickly my little loves.” Natalie was all affection toward her youngest two.

“She’s going to take the veil,” said their father teasingly but no one paid him any mind.

“The regiments are coming!” This was said in perfectly squealed unison and their mother dropped her mouth in shock.

“Officers!” She held her children’s hands in her own, more excited than even they were.

“They’re to be stationed here the whole winter,” Dustin was speaking quickly a habit he always reverted to when in moments of intense excitement. Angela took to fanning herself with her hands in a dramatic show of her enthusiasm, “Stationed in the village just there!”

Natalie was nodding and murmuring the word officers under her breath all eagerness at the idea of more Alphas for her children to be with and for her to look at.

Angela spun quickly her bright blonde ringlets catching the air as she took her brother’s hand so they could jump and swing in circles together his own natural curls bobbing with the exertion.

“As far as the eye can see,” she spoke loudly, “we shall be surrounded by Officers!”

Mr. Harrington nearly jumped in surprise as he felt his wife’s hand attack his arm in quick slapping motions.

“Look,” she spoke gleefully, “Robin is dancing with Ms. Cunningham! Mr. Harrington are you paying attention to your wife? I am telling you that Robin is dancing with Ms. Cunningham!” When he looked over, he did indeed see that Robin was in a group dance with Ms. Cunningham as her partner.

His eldest was beaming out amongst the crowd, her light brown hair was was pinned back and he was impressed at the picture they made. Typically, Robin was considered fairly tall for a female Omega reaching 5’8 and somehow Ms. Cunningham was still a few inches taller than her which didn’t often happen with female Alphas of which there had been many. Robert had disliked how many had shown Robin admiration early on. Robin didn’t often get to feel small, not that his eldest needed to, she was strong minded and forward thinking just like Steve.

Still, it was lovely to see the Alpha look off to the side instead of facing forward as the dance called for just to stare down slightly at his daughter with awe. The Alpha was Steve’s height based on the difference between her and Robin and from what he could ascertain during their brief family introduction.

He was utterly amused over the fact that the Alpha nearly bungled the dance being stuck so enamored by his child. The fondness overtook his chest, and he couldn’t bear to watch it anymore lest his heart grow so big his body couldn’t contain it.

He blinked his eyes away hopping around the room looking over at everyone, he watched as Sir James was entrapping the new fashionable Beta couple in conversation. From where he was standing, he could make out the mischief in the man’s eyes and their own desperation to leave. This trait they shared was what made the friendship between Sir James and himself unbreakable. They were both of a certain level of discernment. Sir James was somehow more people oriented than himself, but that was the biggest between them as he saw it.

He continued over the room coming to observe the newest shiny Alpha standing around unsociable with his own eyes looking over the crowd, while the older Omega stood near him trying in vain to gain his affections and attentions. He almost felt sorry for her, but she seemed to be the type to look down on everyone in the room. He wondered how she could possibly be Ms. Cunningham’s sister, from what he could tell Christine was of impeccable character. Still while he couldn’t say there was much to recommend the company she kept; he also couldn’t bring himself to care much about them to continue thinking about them.

With that he let his eyes continue to drift until he came across Steve, a smile overtook his face as he saw him walking with Jon toward the punch bowl, both their faces smiling and laughing as they spoke, though he could see Steve’s gaze wondering over to Robin every so often to check on her.

~

Steve was sitting beneath in a small alcove with Jonathan as they watched all the couples dancing around, only in partial view of everyone. Steve was well aware of the ratio of Alphas, Betas and Omegas in the room and couldn’t bring himself to mind sitting out for a few dances.

From where he was, he could see that Robin was engaged with a Beta friend in a dance, while Ms. Cunningham after their first dance had been the loveliest social butterfly, ingratiating herself with the town.

“Jon, did you see how she admired Robin?” Steve was flush with ease and joy, while he was normally calm Jon could confidently say he’d never see his friend quite so pleased and near shaking from it.

“I did! Did you see the older omega who won’t leave Mr. Hargrove an inch to breathe?” Steve hummed not much care in it. The man while handsome was not his interest at this time. He was far more invested in the potential love match for his soulmate.

“No, I can’t say that I have. I’ve been a bit distracted,” Steve was a bit sheepish knowing that he was taking away from the conversation with his friend being unable to add to the gossip, so he straightened up determined to be a better friend to his dearest friend in the whole town, “Tell me everything I’ve been too remiss to notice. I promise you have my full attention.”

Jonathan squinted and hummed at him, his little nose raising into the air in faux distrust.

“I don’t know Steven; it seems you perhaps don’t wish to gossip with me” Steve laughed brightly at the teasing as he watched his friend turn his chin up in mock upset.

“Forgive me! Oh! great master of gossip, I beg for mercy at your altar,” he gave pleading hands toward his friend a winning smile plastered on, “I have disrespected the God of earthly knowledge, and I must repent.”

Jon barked out a laugh at his friend's theatrics.

“Fine, fine. I will tell you everything. Because I am a good friend and a good person, and I am willing to overlook and accept your penance since you are so endearing in your unending love for your sister.”

“Thank you! You are a benevolent God, and I shall remember to let the others know when they enter your holy place that they have chosen correctly on who to worship as you are a generous God.”

“Well Steven, let me fill you in on the latest party of people in attendance,” Steve wiggled in his seat a little showing he was prepped to pay attention and nodded for Jon to continue as he took a sip of his punch, “The newest Alpha is nearly a scandal.”

“Oh my. Already! How so?”

“Well, he certainly isn’t keen to make any friends,” Steve just raised a brow, “He has danced with only his own party, just three times in total. Once with Karen Cunningham, once with Tommy Perkins and once with Carol Perkins. He accomplished all three dances in a quick succession and will not dance further. He’s refused introductions with any other Omega or Beta in the room and has thus far only spent time walking around in a cloud of judgement, speaking only to his own friends when he occasionally runs into them.”

“My word, how do you have time to learn and observe so quickly? Actually, before you tell me your secrets, please take note that I was correct about him owning the miserable half of California.”

“It’s a gift and a curse I will tell you. Seriously though Stevie, you can’t tell me you haven’t noticed how handsome he is. It’s a waste how much an Alpha so handsome and able has been so lacking thus far. I know there is still time left. Perhaps he is shy, but it is so hard not to compare him to Ms. Cunningham who has been extremely lovely to everyone.”

Steve nodded at Jon agreeing with all of his points but again while in some respects part of him longed to be seen by that very handsome Alpha the majority of him couldn’t bring himself to give much care toward the Alpha from whom he’d not seen much in the way of manners.

“He is handsome to be sure, possibly the most handsome Alpha I’ve seen yet but that doesn’t mean much when I don’t know if I can respect him,” he shrugged at Jon who looked at him incredulously, “What else have you learned about his party?”

Jon shook his head in disbelief at Steve’s seemingly uninterested take on Mr. Hargrove but forgave it for him simply being too invested in everything Robin and Ms. Cunningham.

“Well, not much to be said about the Betas yet, they haven’t caught my interest enough, but they do come across rather snobbish,” Steve nodded back with a smirk. The whole party minus Ms. Cunningham seemed rather snobbish, “I think the most interesting person maybe Karen Cunningham.”

Steve gave Jon a quizzical look. He didn’t understand what was so interesting about such discourteous pompous people.

“Honestly Steve, you ought to be more invested. If Ms. Cunningham turns out to be half as lovely as everyone thinks and gives into your hopes and desires and marries Robin these people will be your family and considering how close you two are and how close they are it seems likely your paths will cross quite a bit.”

Steve’s mouth gave a moue of dislike.

“Oh, I didn’t need to think about that. How awful. Okay, give me the whole lay of land. They are now all of them intriguing. Including those married Betas and her darling dearest friend Mr. Hargrove. Now what makes Ms. Karen Cunningham so especially intriguing?” Steve straightened up to show he was paying much closer attention and that he was very invested in the conversation. Jon smirked at his show.

“Well—” Suddenly Steve was squeezing his friend's hand tightly, big brown eyes wide as saucers going from Jon’s eyes to Mr. Hargrove and Ms. Cunningham who were walking near to them, in a conversation together. Jon went silent and gave his own wide eyes back to him in quick agreement that they needed to know what was being said and anything else could wait. They quickly pretended to still be in conversation.

Ms. Cunningham was all smiles at her best friend, “I have never seen so many pretty Omegas in my life! Really Billy, you should join the dances yourself. Really you must! I hate to see you standing around by yourself so stupidly. I am serious you simply must dance.”

Steve and Jon squeezed each other’s hand excitedly knowing she had been talking about Robin when mentioning the pretty Omegas. They watched the duo from their place in the alcove grateful they had a good vantage point while the other pair did not have as good of one. It was for naught because it was clear that Ms. Cunningham knew they were there and attempted to wave at them, but Steve and Jon gave a good show of looking engaged with themselves and their conversation after a brief wave. They gave each other a look to suggest they needed to be subtle.

They saw Mr. Hargrove scoff without looking at his cheery strawberry blonde friend.

“I certainly shall not. Chrissy, you were dancing with the only handsome Omega in the room. I will not dance. You know very well I find no pleasure in it when I don’t know my partner very well. At and even such as this… it would be more than can be endured. Your siblings are all engaged at this moment and there isn’t a single Omega it would not be a punishment to dance with.”

Ms. Cunningham clasped her hands together joyfully before telling her friend, “Oh! She is the most beautiful creature I have ever beheld.”

Steve bit his lip and stared at Jon his eyes huge while shaking their clasped hands in elation before quickly looking back to not miss even a minute expression on the pretty Alpha’s face and was warmed by the affection he saw on it and he watched her continue.

“Good God, Billy. I wouldn’t be as fastidious as you are for a kingdom. You shouldn’t be so quick to say that! There are so many Omegas here who are uncommonly pretty.”

Billy sneered at his friend before looking over the room his eyes landing on Robin, “I said you were dancing with the only pretty one here.”

Christine Cunningham was sparkling eyes and teeth at the thought of her pretty dance partner.

“She is an angel I swear. The most beautiful Omega I’ve ever seen. But you know Billy, her brother Steven is very pretty and very agreeable.” Jon knocked his shoulder rocking into him in excitement at her words while Steve scrunched his nose at being brought up but in their attempts to act normally, they both smoothed their faces and pretended to be in conversation whilst still stealthily eyeing the pair and listened in on them.

“Which one do you mean? Doesn’t she have more than one brother?”

Ms. Cunningham had clearly pointed out Steve but he was determined to act like they knew nothing and could hear nothing but Mr. Hargrove stared at him so intensely that had they not been able to see and hear everything he still would have felt it so he eventually raised his head and made eye contact with him.

They saw Mr. Hargrove’s face take on a small grimace, before looking away and his swift reply was cold, “Barely tolerable, I dare say, but not handsome enough to tempt me. I am in no humor to offer social standing to young Omegas slighted by other Alphas and Betas. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her pretty smiles. You’re wasting your time with me.”

Jon and Steve shared incredulous faces at the Alphas rudeness and vulgarity quickly before letting them fall away with something more affable. It was impolite to be so aggressive about an Omegas looks. To comment so freely was rather unseemly especially since he clearly thought that there was a chance Steve could hear him. It was done with purpose.

It was also somewhat untrue. Mr. Hargrove and Ms. Cunningham both had more money perhaps, but the Harrington’s were neither poor nor lacking in social standing. Steve and his sibling's future may have been bleak because of their dowry’s but that was due to poor planning by their fathers and an entailment that wasn’t made in their favor not because of lack of money or standing. To be sure in social rank they were above even Ms. Cunningham and her siblings and were considered Gentleman and Gentlewoman because of their father’s holdings and money.

Steve was not being slighted by anyone, he’d chosen to hide away as to not fill his dance card, knowing the assembly had a skewed number for designations and wanted his younger siblings and other Omegas to have a chance at dancing throughout the evening. Steve had never lacked for partners unless he chose for it to be so.

It wasn’t long before the walking duo parted ways and while Ms. Cunningham had taken his advice to heart and went to find Robin the miserable blonde stayed where he was to stew in silence.

Frankly, Mr. Hargrove deserved to be taken to task for the way he spoke. He wasn’t even the highest-ranking person here socially, financially was a different story, but socially his status in society was not the highest amongst them even if it was still impressive. He may have had a fair amount of money, but Sir James and his family were titled and even if they didn’t have as much money, they were still nothing to scoff at.

Jon was exceedingly upset on his best friend's behalf. Steve was one of the prettiest Omegas in the town only compared with that of his older sister. Jon could not boast to be particularly pretty, knowing he was a plainer Omega and he was getting on in age not like Karen but still growing to be older, but to be sure even more than Steve was pretty he was unreservedly kind and joyful and charming and loving. He had no doubt that because Steve loved him, he saw no feature as plain but as beautiful as Steve and Robin were themselves. He was generous and lovely, and he couldn’t imagine someone seeing Steve and saying he was plain. It was like a bad fever dream.

If Steven Harrington was plain, what did that mean for anyone else in the world?

It was clear to him that Steve while not admitting he was intrigued by the Alpha; he actually was even if he himself didn’t know it. He also knew his friend was not used to being spoken about so roughly especially not in plain sight or at an event. It was unthinkable. Steve was sarcastic at times and could be snarky as well but rarely ever would he slight someone unless it was well deserved.

“Count your blessings, Stevie. If he liked you, you’d have to talk to him.” It was whispered lest the Alpha in question hear him.

Steve’s face starting to give way to give him a halfhearted smile for just a brief before giving a loud cracking laugh, head thrown back over the whole thing.

“Precisely, as it is, I wouldn’t dance with him for all of California, let alone the miserable half.” They both laughed heartily at it. They were positively cracking up. He would pay no mind to the self-important Alpha who had glanced at them feeling wrong footed over their laughter. It was sure for Steve that he certainly held no friendly thoughts toward the Alpha and was determined to use him for entertainment by telling everyone this story in lively fashions. He would be spirited and playful since he delighted in all things ridiculous, and he couldn’t think of anything more so than this.

Steve paid no more concern to the matter and decided to oblige in some dancing himself with some of others at the ball. The exertion and hearty laughter and smiles gave him a pretty pink glow across his cheeks. He and Robin were unknowingly stared at by two different Alphas. Ms. Cunningham stared unabashedly at his sister, clearly enamored even while dancing with Jonathan who was simply amused as her near constant missteps and inability to multitask. Jon did give her credit though she was able to maintain a conversation while dancing. On one end of the room Mr. Hargrove stared at the brunette boy he has earlier insulted, face flat whilst he attempted to ignore the elder omega attempting to gain his attentions nearly draping herself on him as she barely stayed on the line of proper. He still wasn’t taking in the other boy entirely; he was just stewing in a perceived slight at the suggestion of dancing with him and his sparkling laughter.

By the time the party ended Steve found himself with the knowledge that Mr. Hargrove’s wealth had not been enough to sweeten him and endear him to the rest of the gathering. He also learned it was his mother being crossed that had caused the changeover into firmly disliked.

~

Ms. Cunningham was the talk of the ball in only the best ways, she was kind and gregarious. She was fun loving and not the least bit stuffy, she had danced for most dances and was even sad when it came to an early end, complaining she should like to never have it end. She also declared she might need to have one at Cherry Lane. While the hopefuls of the town wanted to hate Robin for being the one to gain her attentions when no one else could. They were all too happy for her and annoyed at just how happy they were when it meant their own chances were clearly dashed.

For Mr. Hargrove it seemed that it was not just Jon who had noticed his three dances and slights to the rest of the room. His character has been decided by the whole room as the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world. It was the wish of the whole room to never see him again. He was not rich enough to negate it all. The most violent on this team of people was Steve’s mother who had heard his slights against her son and would not let it lie. The town knew and while that was humiliating it was also vindicating to see just how upset everyone was on his behalf. He was beloved by the community, proving once again that Steve and Robin were the most well received persons in the town.

Even with the slight against one of her children Natalie Harrington was nearly on a cloud she was so high in her happiness. Seeing her eldest child so admired by the Cherry Lane party had been such a highlight for her. While Ms. Cunningham’s family had initially been rather standoffish, they have singled our Robin in attention.

Robin shyer in her delight was just as gratified by it, so much so it was palpable to Steve even if it wasn’t to anyone else.

Nancy was also quietly gloating; Ms. Karen Cunningham was heard mentioning that Nancy was the most accomplished Omega in the neighborhood, this was not enough to make her less upset as she had felt her mother had scorned her by leaving her with her father in order to go firstly to introduce Robin to Ms. Cunningham, not even thinking of her other children. Dustin and Angela had never once been without dance partners and as far as they were concerned that was all that mattered when it came to parties.

When the family returned to the Loch Nora, the village where they lived and were the primary inhabitants, they found that there would be no sign of immediate sleep. Their mother was far too excited and had to go over the events of the evening. It was with rueful resignation that they were to take seats in one of the living rooms and hear her ramblings.

Mr. Harrington had to admit part of him was sad his wife hadn’t found Ms. Cunningham wanting. Perhaps he would be sleeping if she had just been awful.

“Oh Robert! It was wonderful!” She was frantically pacing in front of all of them, strung up in elation, “It was the most brilliant night! Oh, to see Robin so admired by everyone was a dream come true. I don’t know how well you payed attention tonight, but she was looked at by everyone, and they all had something to say about her loveliness. Ms. Cunningham! Ms. Cunningham, Robert, she danced with her twice! Did you notice? I swear there was no one else in the room for her when she went to ask for the second dance.”

“I was there, Dear. I did notice.”

She paid her husband no mind and even less attention was given to her children who looked near sleep at they listened to her continued ramblings.

“I know she asked Mr. Hopper to dance, but to be sure even though I was initially furious over it I realized it was fine for she did not admire him at all, not that one could. She couldn’t part her eyes from Robin’s face. She danced with Ms. Holloway and then with little William Hopper and even once with Steve and the next was—.”

“If you have any compassion for my nerves, please take note that I do not care my dear to hear about dances that I saw in person. For heaven’s sake please stop talking of her partners. I am nearly wishing she had sprained her ankle.”

“For Heaven’s sake Richard anyone would think that our children were coming into a fine inheritance with the way you are carrying on.” She only had a moment to admonish him before she was back to speaking excitedly.

Dustin was yawning as Angela leaned into his side. Nancy had her head falling into her cupped hands she was so tired she couldn’t bring herself to hold it upright. Steve and Robin were leaned in together holding hands in solidarity.

“She was so wonderful! So exceedingly beautiful! Her smile though flawed was endearing. Her siblings were also lovely and charming. Such fashions! Have you ever seen such fine lace?”

“No! Absolutely not, Natalie. I won’t hear anything about the finery. I won’t do it. See to reason now.”

The eye she gave her husband was cold, she was not happy to have her fun so thoroughly dashed by him.

“Fine, well since you’ve ruined my mood I suppose I can talk about the other thorn in my side this evening. Mr. Hargrove. Did you notice the slight against your dearest Steve? I heard all about it. What a truly awful man.”

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose as he noticed his father stand at more attention, finally happy to listen to his wife speak. Robin squeezed his hand in commiseration sensing his unease rather than paying attention to what was going on and when he turned his head to look at her, she gave him a matching wince upon seeing one of his face, he knew she was prone to worry normally but was grateful her mind was not fully present for once.

“Slight my Stevie did he?”

“I didn’t care for him either, Papa. So it’s of little matter.” Steve was smiling at his dad as he said it, keeping his voice quieter to not bring attention to himself from his sleepy sister at his side.

“Another time, Steven. I would not dance with him if he should ever ask you. I can assure you that Steve is losing nothing by not suiting his fancy. He is the most disagreeable, horrid pompous man I’ve ever had the displeasure to meet. So superior and conceited. He is not to be endured! He thought himself so fine, walking around so sourly. Not good enough to dance with he said! I wish you’d been more aware so you could have dressed him down. The most detestable man.”

“I believe, Mama, I can safely promise you never to dance with Mr. Hargrove”

With that rant she had lost her steam, meanwhile her husband was chomping at the bit in anger on his child’s behalf. But it was no use now. His wife was done, and the children were dismissing themselves to bed.

Unsatisfied indeed.

~

Back at Cherry Lane, Karen Cunningham was feeling quite fine indeed. She was being handed a cup of tea and she started walking around still in her elegant dress.

“So,” she said her voice overly cheerful voice, “None of the Hawkins Omegas could please you Mr. Hargrove?”

She was looking at his as walked his way, always ready to try and entice him.

“Not even the famous Harringtons?” Her younger brother cut in and the two shared a laugh as she sat next to him.

“Well,” their little sister started, “I never met with more pleasant people or prettier Omegas and Betas.”

Billy grimaced, “Chrissy, you astonish me. I saw little beauty and no breeding at all. The eldest Harrington Omega, I will grant you, is very pretty.” The two siblings drinking their tea were snickering and smirking into their cups.

“Oh! A fine concession. Come on, Billy! She is a fairytale figure come to life. Admit it!”

Billy gave her a flat look.

“Robin Harrington is a sweet girl,” Karen cut in, only somewhat insincerely, her brother side eyeing her, “But my god their mother! You know I heard Steve Harrington described as a local beauty! What do you say to that, Mr. Hargrove?”

William wasn’t looking at them, fussing with a new book he’d found in the room, “I would sooner call their mother a Wit.”

The Siblings and Carol were in hysterics laughing and calling hims cruel.

Chrissy was not amused in the slightest.

“Billy, I don’t understand why you go through the world, determined to around displeased with everything and everyone in it.”

Billy gave his best friend a flat look, “I will never understand why you are in such a race to approve of everything and everyone you meet.”

“Well, you won’t make me think ill of Miss Harrington, Billy.”

Karen cooed at her little sister, “Indeed he shall not, I shall dare his disapproval and declare she is a dear sweet girl despite her unfortunate relations. I wouldn’t be sorry to know her better.”

The husband and wife in the room nodded their heads in agreement.

“No, nor would we,” Carol said speaking for the both of them, “I am sorry Mr. Hargrove but you see, we aren’t afraid of you.”

“Big bad wolf that he is.” Said Chrissy with a laugh.

“I wouldn’t have any of you so,” Billy said choosing to ignore his best friend’s addition.

While every sibling was lucky enough to have their own rooms much of the time Steve and Robin could be found together having fallen asleep together cuddled together like kittens. Either of their rooms would work but it was likely to happen at least a few times a week. It happened so frequently that their wardrobes held each other’s clothes, so they never even had to concern themselves with leaving each other for even a moment if they did not wish it.

This evening had called for it, a session of giggling gossip and shared thoughts away from anyone else in the surety of each other’s presence. They lay in Robin’s bed, semi sheer sheet pulled over their heads blocking all but the golden glow of the candlelight seeping through so they could still see each other. They lay on their sides facing each other, tired but somehow inexhaustible with the need to speak about this evening.

Robin was blushing something fierce, enough that Steve knew if there were better lighting her freckles would stand out brought forth from the vermillion glow staining her nose and cheeks. She wouldn’t even meet his eyes and her little face was quite solemn.

“Ms. Cunningham is just what a young Alpha should be,” she paused seeming to try and remain collected instead of increasingly overwhelmed by the subject of which she was speaking, “Sensible, good-humored, lively; Truly, Stevie I don’t think I’ve ever seen such happy means! So much openness and her manners were so-”

“She is also beautiful, and conveniently rich.” Steve was happy to cut her off and make light of the situation with some teasing if it meant his Robin would return to less anxious spirits, “which a good Alpha should be, if they can be. Her character is thereby complete.” He ended with a grin as his goading has clearly worked and she rose to the bait of his interruption.

“You know perfectly well; I do not believe marriage should be driven by a lot of money!”

“I agree entirely! Only the deepest love will persuade me into matrimony which is why… I will end up an old spinster.” His words were said in both seriousness and silliness in equal measure as he nodded his head at his older sister.

“Do you really believe she liked me, Stevie?” Her blue stared so earnestly up at him, his heart nearly broke at her even possibly doubting how much the Alpha had been clearly enamored with her, “I was so flattered that she asked me to dance a second time. I never expected such a compliment.”

“Robbie, she danced you twice. She only danced with anyone else because it wouldn’t be proper to hog you the whole evening. When she wasn’t dancing with you, she was staring at you the rest of the time including when she was dancing with other people. I can’t believe you didn’t expect such a compliment. I expected it for you. I suppose this is why you and I are so different. Compliments always take you by surprised and i’m never surprised by them. How could she not ask you for a second dance? She clearly noticed you are ten times as pretty as anyone else in the room and about a thousand times lovelier.”

He was smiling and giggling as she tried in vain to hide her own smiling face in her pillow.

“You know, Robin. I think I give you leave to like her. She is very agreeable, and you’ve liked many a stupider person,” He ignored her admonishing use of his name and continued on, “You are a great deal too apt to like people in general, you know. All the world is good and agreeable in your eyes or at the very least they all have the potential for it.”

There was one person he thought his sister might find increasingly difficult. He purposefully avoided speaking of Mr. Hargrove and he knew she’d tuned out their parents' downstairs in favor of daydreaming of the Alpha who’d stolen her heart whilst dancing.

“I just don’t want to be hasty in making poor judgements about someone, but I do always say I what I truly think.” He noticed that she did not say the word feel.

“I know you do,” he petted her bangs, “It’s that very thing that makes you a wonder. Truly someone with your good sense, being so honestly blind to the foibles and follies of other people! Incredible. You are genuine in thinking the best of people. I think many people say they do but… I think most people just like to think well of themselves and how they view themselves. You truly think the best of people. There is no doing it simply to think well of yourself. You have a gift for it truly. That being said… do you like her family? Their attitudes certainly do not match hers.”

“Perhaps not at first, but they all become more nicer when you speak with them. Miss Cunningham is to live with her sister and to manage her house. If I’m not mistaken, we are going to find her to be a very charming neighbor.”

Steve listened to his sister in silence, because he was not convinced. He sincerely doubted Karen Cunningham would be a good or charming neighbor. Their behavior at the assembly hadn’t been likely to please in general; with a quicker sense of observation and a less flexible temper than his sister and judgement far more unaffected by any attention to himself he was very little likely to approve of any of them.

“I’m sure you’re right Bobbin.”

Robin played with her fingers as Steve attempted to make eye contact, when it finally it happened, he was still smiling at her winningly with mirth until eventually Robin was rubbing her hands down her face and shaking it giggling as it was clear they were both thinking of a petite enamored Alpha.

They laughed and laughed until they fell asleep holding hands like otters, tuckered out by their own joy.

~

The Cherry Lane party were all very fine that was true, none of them deficient in good humor when they were pleased, nor in being agreeable when they chose but they were also impossibly proud and conceited. Ms. Cunningham’s older siblings were rather handsome and had been educated at one of the first private schools in London for Betas and Omegas and each had a fortune on 20,000 that they brought with them.

They also clearly spent more than they should have and spent time only with those of higher rank then themselves, most likely to further pretend that they too were as high ranking. It was clear to most that they thought themselves entitled to think well of themselves and disdainfully of others.

They were a respectable family from the north, a circumstance more deeply impressed on their memories than the fact that their sister’s fortune and theirs had been acquired through trade.

Ms. Cunningham as the Alpha inherited the amount of nearly 100,000 from her mother who had intended to purchase estate but had not lived to see it done. Ms. Cunningham intended to much the same as her Alpha mother, and sometimes made choice of her county but as she now provided with a good house and liberty of a manor, enabling her right to shoot game on the property, it was doubtful to many that knew her and her temperament well that she might not just spend the remainder of her days at Cherry Lane and leave it to the future generations to bring rise to the family rank.

Miss Cunningham and Mr. Perkins were clearly anxious for their younger sibling to have an estate of her own; though they were by no means unwilling to preside at her table even though she was only a tenant. Mr. Thomas Perkins has married a Beta like himself who was more social status than wealth and was less likely to think of his wife’s house as his own, and only when it suited him. Steve felt it was very obvious they were social climbers, that even with Mr. Perkins’ inheritance they were still needy enough to prefer living with Ms. Cunningham.

Ms. Cunningham had only been twenty-three, just two years past coming of age that she was tempted by a chance recommendation to look at Cherry Lane. She has spent only half an hour looking into it, felt at peace with what the owner said and took it immediately.

Between her and Mr. Hargrove there was a steady friendship in spite of a great opposition of character. Ms. Cunningham had the fortune of being Mr. Hargrove’s friend for years, having met through school, being so close in both age and designation. William Hargrove found Christine Cunningham endearing for the fact that she was easy going, open and easily led, because of the latter quality he found himself thinking of Chrissy as a younger sibling he’d needed to help guide for fear of that quality being abused by others. Meanwhile Chrissy found that she held Billy in the highest regard, his opinion and judgement holding the greatest standing in her mind and his reliability was second to none. There was an understanding in her mind, though not his, that he was superior, she was by no means deficient, but Billy was clever.

He was also haughty, reserved and difficult to please, and while his manners were well bred, they were by no means inviting. This was the one area that Chrissy was superior. She was sure to be liked wherever she appeared while Billy seemingly did not much care, if and when he left great offense.

There was a stark difference in how they spoke about the Mirkwood assembly, but it was sufficiently characteristic for each of them. Cunningham has never met with more pleasant people or prettier Omegas and Betas in her life. Everyone had been the kindest and most attentive toward her. There was no standing on formality, no stiffness, sooner rather than later she’d felt accustomed and acquainted with the whole room, and as to Miss Harrington, she could not dream of an angel more beautiful. Hargrove on the other hand merely had seen a collection of people with whom there was little beauty and no fashion, with no one he felt the smallest interest and from none received either attention or pleasure. Miss Harrington, he acknowledged to be pretty, but she smiled too much.

Thomas Perkins and his sister Karen allowed it to be so—but they still admired her and liked her and stated that she was a sweet girl who they were willing to know more of. Miss Harrington was so established as a lovely Omega, and it was from these commendations that Ms. Cunningham felt so inclined to think of her as often as she pleased.

~

Within a short walking distance of Loch Nora was lived the Hopper family. Sir James Hopper had formerly been in trade in Forest Hills where he had made a tolerable fortune and had risen to the honor of knighthood by his address to the Queen. The distinction had perhaps been felt too strongly. It has given way to disgust for his business and to his residence in a small market town; he simply quit both of them immediately.

He removed his family from their small home and the town and placed them in a house only a mile away from Forest Hills, that he promptly named Mirkwood, where he could think with pleasure at his own importance if he so chose. Thankfully he wasn’t as prone to it as he once supposed he would be. He would readily admit that he was happy to be unshackled by the business and enjoyed being only occupied in being as civil or uncivil with all the world as he pleased.

While he had certainly been puffed up at is rank it didn’t make him high and mighty in the slightest. He stayed far more kind than perhaps one would think of someone with his rank. He was mostly inoffensive but could be fairly gruff, still friendly and obliging and to many persons surprise, clever and his presentation at St. Mary’s had made him courteous.

Lady Joyce Hopper was a very good kind of Omega, she was compassionate and caring, clever but able to hide the degree in order to make others more comfortable in her presence. She was not the type to put a person ill at ease or make them feel poorly about themselves. She was truly invaluable to Mrs. Harrington even if she hadn’t found it in herself to say that out loud. The Hopper family had two children. The eldest being a sensible, intelligent young Omega of about twenty-seven, and who was Steve and Robin’s very dear friend.

The day after the assembly it was apparent to everyone that it was necessary that the Omegas should all meet up and discuss the ball. So, the morning after the assembly brought the Hoppers over to Loch Nora for gossip and dissection of the evening’s events.

“You certainly had a good evening, Jonathan,” Natalie was nodding in his direction a while stirring cream into her tea, “Ms. Cunningham danced with you last night.”

Jonathan nodded at her show of attempted subtly in fishing for compliments for her own child.

“Yes! Though I must say she seemed to prefer a certain partner over anyone else.”

Mrs. Harrington straightened up preening and ready to take the invitation for what it was.

“Oh, you must mean Robin, I suppose because the Alpha did dance with her twice,” Natalie was nearly vibrating with glee, an incredible juxtaposition against her falsely modest tone, “It certainly did seem as if she admired her. Indeed, I rather believe she did—I heard something about it—but I hardly know what—something about Mr. Newby.”

Steve and Robin’s faces both suggested they were sighing internally, and Jonathan couldn’t help but smirk in their direction. His own mother looked as though she was already developing a headache. Jon’s amusement was aggressively obvious to his friends who gave him twin looks of annoyance. They resembled each other so much in that moment Jon nearly choked on his tea in mirth.

With a sigh heard only by the younger Omegas in their company, Joyce cleared her throat knowing it was up to her to offer something up to continue the overture of conversation. She sometimes longed for the day she could lord something over Natalie.

“Perhaps you mean what I overheard between her and Mr. Newby; did I not mention it to you? Mr. Newby asked her how she liked our Mirkwood assemblies and if she thought there were a great many pretty Omegas and Betas in the room, and which she thought was the prettiest? Her answer was immediate—Oh! The eldest Miss Harrington, beyond a doubt there cannot be two opinions on that point.”

Joyce couldn’t even be upset that it was never her own child that got this attention for she dearly lovely Steve and Robin. They seemed for all the world to have gotten only the good qualities of their parents and none of the bad. Better still, even better traits that seemed to come from neither of their parents at all, making it a true wonder at their loveliness.

Mrs. Harrington was aglow at these words, while Steve grabbed Robin’s hand under the table comforting her seeing her determined stare at the table knowing full well she did not enjoy the spotlight that was somehow always thrust onto her.

“My word! Well—it certainly sounds very decided doesn’t it? I mean that does seem as if—But—However it may all come to nothing you know.”

Robin’s eyes grew increasingly saucer like as she stared harder still at the cup of tea on the table like it would divine someway for her get away from the situation, she was stuck in.

Steve pursed his lips at her discomfort before silently making eye contact with Jon. Jon raised a brow rather quickly in question before Steve swiftly slid his eyes over toward Robin slid them back to Jon and raised both brows. Jon subtly tilted his head in question before Steve dropped his eyes down to wrist acknowledging himself and a nonexistent dance card and then back to Jon. Jon gave a subtle nod before he took a sip of tea.

“My overhearings were more to the purpose than yours Steve,” said Jon as he poured himself grabbed a cookie from the tray on the table, “Mr. Hargrove isn’t as worthy a voice to listen to as his friend, is he? Poor Steve! To be barely tolerable.”

Natalie Harrington put her cup down harshly, liquid spilling out and jostling the table. It was enough that everyone at the table looked up at her. She was furious at the reminder of such an odious Alpha. Steve was her least favorite child, but still her child and she did love him for all the headache he caused her. She would never forgive that awful Alpha, she silently vowed to herself. She coughed lightly and put her hand to hair as though to perfect it. She gave a strong resemblance to a cat grooming itself after feeling undignified.

“I beg you Jonathan please don’t put it in Steven’s head that he should be irked by abuse. He is a loathsome disagreeable man and it would be a misfortune to be liked by him. Mrs. Henderson told me last night that he sat close to her for half an hour without opening his lips.”

“Are you quite sure, Mama? Are you sure she wasn’t mistaken?” Robin looked conflicted, having just fully taken in the fact that the Alpha had been abominable to her brother, she sat there fisting the fabric of her skirts, crumpling wrinkles into it with anxiety over the situation, “I swear I saw Mr. Hargrove speaking with her.”

Their mother harrumphed inelegantly.

“Yes, because she finally asked him how he liked Cherry Lane, and he could not help answering her, she made sure to let me know he seemed very angry to be spoken to.”

“Miss Karen Cunningham told me that he never speaks much unless he is among his most intimate friends. According to her with them he is always remarkably agreeable and charming.”

Steve and Jonathan exchanged looks at Robin’s words. That was certainly not the Alpha they’d seen last night.

“I’m sorry sweetheart,” their mother was scoffing as Joyce looked like she was trying to find God in her teacup, “I don’t believe a word of it. If he was so very agreeable as a person, he would have spoken with Mrs. Henderson. I can guess how it was though. Everyone said he was eaten up with his own pride, and I dare say he heard somewhere that Mrs. Henderson doesn’t keep a carriage and thought she had come to the ball in a taxied carriage.”

“I can forgive him for not talking to Mrs. Henderson,” said Jon in his quiet tone, “But I do wish he had danced with Steve.”

Steve just gave him a look over his teacup and Robin once more looked deeply conflicted.

“Another time, Steve,” his mother then grimaced at the thought, “I would not dance with him, if I were you.”

“Oh, I assure you Mama, I can safely promise you that I will never dance with him.”

“His pride,” pondered Jon aloud, “doesn’t offend me that much. Not as much as I suppose it normally would because he sort of has an excuse for it doesn’t, he? It’s not a wonder that so very fine an Alpha, with family, fortune everything in his favor really would think highly of himself. He kind of has the right to it?”

“It’s true,” Steve conceded with a nod of his head, “and I could easily forgive his pride, had he not wounded mine. Still you are right, the very rich can afford to give offense wherever they go. We need not care for his good opinion.”

His mother’s face was downturned in righteous indignation, “No, indeed!”

“Perhaps,” Steve continued his musings, “he is not so handsome at all.”

“No! Quite ill favored. Certainly nothing at all to Ms. Cunningham.”

Steve smiled over at Robin who was blushing.

Nancy once again couldn’t help herself and had to make her opinion known at once even if it was late and the subject was due to change. She prided herself on the solidity of her own observations on the matter, never mind it was simply regurgitation of her some lectures she’d read.

“Pride,” she spoke firmly, “is a common failing. Everything I’ve read on the subject has suggested is as common as breathing is necessary. Mankind is particularly prone to it, and there are an incredible few of us who do not hold dear the feeling of self-satisfaction on some scale or another, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different things, though they are words used synonymously. A person can be proud without being vain. Pride equals more to our self-opinion while vanity is what we want others to think of us.”

While she was not exactly incorrect it was still annoying have a walking talking sermon always at the ready.

“If I were a rich Alpha like Mr. Hargrove,” declared William Hopper, “I would not care how proud I was. I would keep a pack of hunting dogs and drink a bottle of wine every day.”

Every other young Omega in the room choked on either their food or drink in unexpected mirth, excepting Nancy who choked simply in shocked disgust.

“Well, then you would drink a great deal more than you should,” said Mrs. Harrington with a surprisingly indulgent smile, “and if I were to ever see you, I would take away your bottle immediately.”

William laughed pleased to have cut the tension down so thoroughly, he continued the argument and protested that she wouldn’t. It was a verbal tug of war that lasted until the visit ended.

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

HI HELLO EXCUSE ME I JUST SAW THE TAGS ON YOUR LAST POST ABOUT THE POTTERY SHARDS VERSE? HE GASLIGHTS CAPTAIN AMERICA?? AND YOU CUT IT OUT????? DO YOU CARE TO ELABORATE???? I love love loooove your pottery shards and acts of... verses sooo so so much btw absolute masterpieces. It is so hard to find anything about Jack Murdock but he is just so interesting please. Also pottery shards??? mwah i love it. I usually avoid mcu stuff bc peter is always stripped down to some spineless kid, but he is SO MUCH MORE. plus it's so funny like god

It wasn’t in pottery shards. Explanation below the cut.

The scene came from a fic I have planned and partially written but no idea if I’ll ever publish. The idea was that Bucky, post Winter Soldier, ends up recovering with the vigilante community of New York, which results in Peter Parker becoming ferally protective of him. This Peter is extremely productive, mildly insane, terrible at communication, and a total ride or die. Every adult in his life is terrified as to what he is doing at any given moment, because it could be anything, and Peter will not tell them until it has already happened. he just keeps doing things and he will not fucking tell them what those things are. 

as a side note, bucky in this AU adores peter to his dying breath, and he has never been more stressed out in his life. it’s like a tiny steve who has the power to fling himself off buildings and is even worse about sharing relevant information in a timely fashion--and steve let the army fucking experiment on him without letting his good ol’ pal bucky know that his last enlistment attempt worked. bucky has aged a thousand years since meeting peter. he would be stressed all day, every day, seven days a week, but he gets to time share his stress with frank castle, which alleviates some pressure. 

Bucky hadn’t reached out to Steve at this point—who was tearing apart the world looking for him—and Peter was a very firm believer in bucky’s right to heal on his own timeline. So, when Steve spots Bucky near one of their old haunts in Brooklyn, he’s elated, and Bucky is less than elated.

Peter, who was coming to meet bucky, takes exception to this fact.

He just sort of gets in Steve’s way in the street, acting like a random passer-by, and Steve, in his rush to get to bucky, grabs him by his bare forearms to move him out of the way when Peter keeps getting in his path. This is, of course, exactly what Peter wants, because he immediately activates his stickiness and Steve now physically cannot let go of this obvious child.

Peter immediately proceeds to give an Oscar winning performance of “terrified child in the process of being kidnapped, please, please, this isn’t my dad, someone save me.” He tries to fuck off immediately after, but he gets snagged by Sam and dragged into Avengers tower for questioning as to what the hell he just did, how the hell he just did it, and how is he involved with bucky.

Peter decides the only way out is through and that he just has to lean into the kidnapped child thing. He just. Immediately starts gaslighting the fuck out of everyone. He didn’t do anything, that’s insane, their theory is that he can, what—become sticky at will and somehow force captain America to drag him around by the arms? he’s fourteen and an honor student and he wants his aunt, oh god is he actually kidnapped by the avengers. He cries. It’s mildly humiliating.

It’s also extremely convincing, because like. He’s fourteen and an honor student. he’s crying. Why would this random child have any affiliation with the winter soldier? And what could he have done to make Steve grab him by the arms and drag him around—become sticky at will? That’s insane.

So he convinces everyone that Steve saw someone who was just a bucky lookalike on the street, snapped, had a nervous breakdown, lost control of his own strength, and almost kidnapped a fucking child. Including Steve. Steve also thinks he had a breakdown and almost accidentally kidnapped a child. But, good news, Peter really really doesn’t want to be on Ellen as the kid who almost got Datelined by Captain America, so he’d love to just go home and never talk about this ever, please and thank you. they really lucked out of a lawsuit, if you think about it. So he manages to gaslight them into letting peter go with their profuse apologies, and they’re actively making plans to ship Steve off to a wellness retreat on one of Tony’s tropical estates, because obviously the stress of hydra and looking for bucky has just been too much for him. He snapped and almost caused the most difficult to explain PR scandal ever. 

This, of course, all fails, because Peter accidentally unlocks his phone with Face ID while they’re giving him back his stuff, and a photo of him with Bucky is his home screen. He is very high intelligence, very low wisdom.

“Huh,” says Peter, into the damning silence. “I almost gaslit my way out of that like a girlboss.”

And then he immediately shoved his phone down his pants and announced that he would personally make sure that anyone who went after it would never be allowed in a school zone again. It devolves from there.

I loved it. It was so funny. It was peak chaos. Peter will never apologize for his actions. Foggy tries to get him to, and Peter says “I’m not sorry and I would do it again” and Foggy has to be like “HAHAH kids say the darnedest things please don’t press charges.” Matt keeps having to leave the room to laugh. Karen gets all teary-eyed with pride whenever Peter does does anything illegal, so she’s useless at scolding him. I had to scrap it in the end because it was a very big narrative point—Steve finding bucky again—that could be used in much more effective ways. It was devastating but made for a stronger plot.

I fully agree—a lot of fandom makes peter like, pretty spineless and helpless. I think there’s a big difference between making him young and making him a damsel which a lot of fanfiction misses. I, personally, like him insane. Ironically, pottery shards peter is probably the tamest peter i have in my drafts. 

Jack murdock was this lasting point of interest for me where I desperately wanted a fanfiction where he lived and there just really wasn’t a lot of options. Lying by Omission by deniigiq was really the only thing that had fun with an alive Jack murdock, but I really, really wanted a Jack who just managed to survive canon. Roscoe Sweeney taking Matt instead was the obvious choice, which—it has such fascinating implications for guilt that I was obsessed. I’m glad you also like it.

I’m glad you’re enjoying pottery shards and acts! Thank you for the kind words!

[sarahowritesostucky]

Hello~ Huge fan of the way you write ABO, especially Hydra Sanitorium and CAfOE. I've been wondering, though - could/would you give a little more detail how Steve ended up in an A/A marriage in CAfOE? I know his line about "rules for thee", but it's so interestingly off-beat (to me) with the rest of his characterization. Are A/A marriages considered same-sex marriages, or do the same categories of LGBTQIA apply in your ABO 'verse, and secondary sex is a different category? That is, Steve was/is "straight" in this context because he was married to a woman. And ditto for Peggy, running the girls' school. How did the presumably very conservative parents of their students feel about it?

Psyched about the new update, btw. I adore Peter, so I'd been waiting for him to show up!

Oh my GOD here 🥇🏆just take it: the award for best, most engaged fan question. What a flippin' awesome question to wake up to!

Yeah Peter is this adorable little wiry, hyperactive, chibified boy that lives in my head for omega characterization. Conservative parents of students would have no issue with an A/A relationship, and I'll explain why.

The same rules of LGBQIA do not directly translate here. Much less importance is placed on primary gender (m/f), and most placed on designation (a/b/o). O/O is the only designation that would overarchingly be considered "gay" or dysfunctional somehow and thus discouraged - and that's b/c of the intense bio need omegas have for alphas. Even still, o/o has often been permitted as a background activity, just so long as they don't start identifying as only wanting other omegas. Historically, A/A relationships have not been viewed the same way.

(The context I'm discussing here is the cultural context of Europe and US from about 1600s-1940s/50s. Here is a post where I talk about other world cultures and time periods, as well as discuss the cultural traditions in the west regarding older alphas being paired with younger omegas)

So the first thing to understand about this 'verse, is that A and O is pretty uncommon. Like 0-10% of the population can be A or O in most places, and probably 5-8% of the world's total population is. Most people are beta.

Second important point: Alphas do not have the same level of biological need for omegas as omegas do for them, so they have more options and flexibility for choosing their partners.

Thirdly: you need to remember that A's and O's are viewed very differently int his world, and this affects what is socially acceptable for them. Omegas are viewed patronizingly as needier and a little biologically dumber than anybody else (b/c they are); they are people who need to BE taken care of. Whilst Alphas are viewed as ultra competent. Therefore, o/b or o/o relationships have never been well tolerated or taken seriously, whereas A/A relationships always have.

In many cultures - including in the west - it is perfectly normal for an A/A pairing to happen. Polygamy of a shared omega spouse between the two alpha spouses would've been a common arrangement, historically and leading all the way up into the 1940's(US)/50's(Europe).

The arrangement of two alphas marrying and being equal-plane partners, then adding an omega third into the mix (kind of like a really, really smart pet/nanny/prostitute, all built into one) whom they would care for and raise their family with together, was a very common social construct in the past.

In Peggy and Steve's marriage, part of the breakdown was to do with this issue--both in changing opinions about it, and miscommunications about wants and expectations.

Hope that helps! 💖Sarah.

[meowstix]

alright so as i mentioned i was listening to some warrior cats videos (specifically moonkitti) and that kinda got me just like, thinking about things. and this one thing i mostly just thought about bc well, of course as i'm warrior cats-ifying kai i'm thinking about "hey what would a bsb warrior cats au be like" and this kind of came up in my brain somehow. and i mean i guess this might be a kind of obvious statement i wouldn't know since i have like half the fandom blocked but. actually i don't know how to start this so i'm just gonna jump right into it.

kai and max have one very specific thing in common and it's that they were, as one might put it, nepotism hires, and their not-bba teammates hate them for it. the weird thing here is that neither of these cases are ever actually resolved, the ppb team's distaste for max just kind of Goes Away at some point, and neo-borg as a team has the singular defining trait of being edgy in place of any kind of arc or story.

i'm starting off with max because he's the one i thought about first, and honestly the thing with him is kinda like. after the ppb team seemed to be on decent terms with the main gang by the end of the first season it's definitely like "oh okay so that didn't apply to max apparently", though i think it's pretty safe to say that rick Also being there played a part in it. overall the ppb in g-rev is kind of odd honestly, like i just kind of wonder if something happened during their inexplicable (atleast in-universe) absence during v-force seeing as how one of their members is out due to a broken leg and two other members look completely different. i kind of forgot where i was going here ngl which is why this post is only partially about them, just know i was thinking about this because of the warrior cats au and well. getting mad that a pair of Outsiders TM got a position and you didn't is an extremely warrior cats thing to do. i saw a post the other day about various football-themed names being valid do you think steve would have one of those. next paragraph

anyway would you look at that! the day i finally talk about the fandom-beloved white boys as a whole! speaking of that i'm just gonna start this by saying that like. i swear to god the whole dynamic the fandom gives them was bought from a five below. and that's all i'm saying on their dynamics with anyone besides kai.

moving onto the actual reason i'm talking about neo-borg, i really like, cannot stress enough that kai is Not friends with them or even close. in an ideal world he would have some kind of comradery with yuriy but we do not live in an ideal world, or else people would talk about characters other than neo-borg. we actually get a pretty good idea of the dynamic in s1, and aside from not having someone ordering them around it's basically the same in g-rev. the dynamic in question is that there is a noticeable rift between kai and the others, who only really tolerate him because they have to. kai, meanwhile, doesn't actively dislike them but also doesn't care to try to make things better. i could go on a LOT about what the dynamic could have been, and infact i actually have before so go read that post.

i don't have a conclusion for this. 100% willing to elaborate on the warrior cats au btw

[asbealthgn]

2, 16, + 77 for the fic writer asks! (for 77, choose any of your fics!)

thank you! questions are here

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

definitely write as i go! i have vague ideas for what i want to have happen at some point but i don't really plan much out. if i do it's just a really bare outline that i don't necessarily even stick to

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

there's like three i'm actively working on right now? there's hey, where did we go? which i'm working on the most and posting, then there's a darker monster!eddie one that i've been working on here and there. i may start posting that at some point when i have more of it done but i'm a little uncertain on it since it'll be pretty dark compared to anything else i've written. then i also have a pure smut fic that i'm working on that may very well never see the light of day bc i'm still embarrassed about posting smut O.O oh and i guess my big bang fic should also be counted on there? the first draft is pretty much done so i probably won't touch it again until after artist claims. then i also have several wips that i haven't touched in months so i doubt they'll ever get finished.

77. Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from [Fanfic Name] story/chapter? 

thank you for this question! i'm just going to copy and paste a scene from one of the fics i'm the proudest of (near wild heaven) (spoilers for it btw):

Steve looked over at Eddie, who was focused on the water below. The setting sun caught on his face, turning him golden. Steve didn’t think he could take it anymore. He was thinking of Robin over the phone, saying “Tell him, dingus.” He was thinking how he didn’t want to go the rest of his life without Eddie knowing how he felt. He was thinking, God, Eddie is so fucking beautiful.

“I love you.”

Steve felt his breath leave his body as time slammed to a halt. He saw Eddie blink, like in slow-motion, then look at Steve.

“What?” he asked. 

The words were out there. Steve couldn’t be a coward now. He had to do this. Eddie had to know. 

“I love you,” he said, “I’m in love with you.” He saw Eddie’s mouth open slightly but he barreled on because he had to say this now or he was never going to be able to. “I’ve been falling in love with you for the past five years, God, maybe even longer. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, not since the first time we kissed.

“I love how you are with the kids, I love your voice when you sing, I love your hair, and your rings, and I love your music even though I hate your music, and I love how fucking smart you are, and I love—God—I love you, Eddie.”

Eddie was looking at him in a way that made Steve’s stomach plummet. His expression—Steve realized it was the same exact way Robin had looked at him when they were curled up on the floor of that bathroom at Starcourt. 

“Steve,” Eddie said, voice soft and heartbreakingly gentle and all Steve could think was Oh, God, please, no, this can’t be happening again—

“Steve, I’m sorry,” Eddie said. And he sounded so deeply and genuinely sorry. Steve felt a pattern of fissures forming on his heart, spreading out through his whole body. “I don’t…” Eddie went on, “Listen, I care about you so much—”

Steve bent over the railing and put his head in his hands. “God, Eddie, don’t,” he groaned.

“No, listen,” Eddie said, putting a hand on his back. “I do, okay? I really fucking care about you. You matter to me, so much. I just don’t… I can’t give you that.” 

Steve lifted his head just enough to look at Eddie. His brows were knit together, face pained in the twilight. 

“I’m sorry, Steve,” he whispered.

The fissures in Steve threatened to break open. He took a shuddery breath and tried desperately to hold himself together.

thank you for the questions i love doing these!

[robinsteves]

leah is SO joyce coded!!! i think shelby would like nancy the most tho

leah’s anxieties, and her refusal to back down from them, are so aligned with joyce byers that it almost personally hurts my feelings— don’t forget how almost everyone doubts them. if anything, it’s like people go along with their theories out of pity (until eventually proven wrong, of course). I forget who on here described it as a “category 5 woman moment” but I now headcanon that faber has that exact phrase, verbatim, written down about 20 times in leah’s file

I feel like shelby would be the biggest stranger things enjoyer out of all the girls. I can’t decide if she’d be someone who generally watches a lot of tv, I’m leaning towards no, but I could eaaaaasily see, like, becca being someone who did, and so she picked it up from her as a recommendation. obviously she would like nancy, she’d definitely think shes super fucking cool, but I’m not sure who her overall favorite would be? shes probably closest to will on an emotional basis but, like I concluded with leah, that doesn’t mean he would be her favorite. I think the only one of the girls who would inarguably prioritize what character(s) they connect with the most in media is nora. maybe martha too? the rest would try to ignore their emotions and focus on who they find funny or cute instead because #repression. or they just truly would not give a fuck and only watch something to be entertained, which is kinda how I view fatin… wow I wish I was normal like that. anyway, it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if steve was shelby’s #1. I can hear her being like “hes so sweet now!!!!” lol. or el <3

[mitskikissme]

I need to talk about this or I'll explode but bad habit but steve lacy is such a sanuso song. I'm going rabid rn.

I wish I knew you wanted me???

That's definitely from sanjis perspective maybe post timeskip

Here's my hc( mind u I'm in water 7 rn and have not caught up to op yet!!) Spoilers for water 7!!!!!

Okay so usopp most definitely admires sanji and his strength and how he seems very sure of himself the way he presents himself to others the way he talks the way he fights everything!! (I actually think sanji is pretty insecure but is vry good at covering it up. But usopp doesnt rlly see that and just sees him as this super cool suave dude) bro definitely has a crush on sanji for sureee

But usopp also seems very insecure and believes hed obviously never have a chance so even tho it hurts him he comes to terms with the fact that nothing is ever gonna happen there. Like when u have a crush but ur like yeah no way in hell am I ever confessing <3

Anyway sanji is most likely oblivious to all this lmao. He definitely treats usopp better compared to other male characters and I think its because deep down he likes usopp too he just doesnt know how to process those feelings cos man is repressed as hell😭. So he thinks yeah that's just normal friendship definitely doesnt mean anything that I'm always worried about him and enjoy his company more than anyone elses and make snacks specifically for him and take into consideration what stuff he likes or wants to protect him in fights or takes time to ask about his hobbies and is genuinely interested in what hes doing and believes in his abilities even when usopp doesnt believe in himself.

Also listen during water seven when usopp and luffy are fighting the fact that sanji kicks them both and looks so genuinely scared and hurt that luffy implied usopp should leave makes me so insane. And personally I never thought sanji would be the voice if reason I expected him to be like yeah usop let it go and stop trying to disobey your captains orders so It threw me for a loop cos sanji was so adamant on not letting usopp leave and was standing up for him. I am foaming at the mouth btw Anyway

The 2 yr timeskip happens and usopp gets jacked but also matures and grows and I love him so so much he realizes so much about himself and oh yeah also crush on sanji? Bros over it. Hes moved on and is okay being friends and just personally dealt with his feelings and grew in such a healthy way for himself. Like yes it hurt, change and growth are painful but inevitable and time passes. Feelings change and that's okay.

Sanji grows and matures too and comes to accept alot of things about himself and is more comfortable in his own skin and identity! And he starts to realize zamnn usopp has also grown and changed and bettered himself and has such a lively air to him and overall is more confident!?

Then maybe someone in passing (like zoro) mentions something like oof too late loverboy that ship sailed so long ago hella missed ur chance. And sanji malfunctions!!!

Hes like um what?????!?!?!

They're like um yeah it was so obvious hed always follow u around like a lost puppy and sanjis like um this is news to me bruh???? Anyway it hits him that yeah he had a chance. As in had!! Not rlly anymore and he has to come to terms with that.

AND SO I TELL UUU

'I wish I knew you wanted me' also " were you not too good for me my dear?" Like come on its writing itself tbh. I feel the song is in sanjis perspective thinking about how he never realized usopp feelings and how he genuinely cannot believe that usopp had feelings for him considering how much more insecure he was pre timeskip and how he sees usopp as such a caring and loving person and is actually a little bit jealous of how emotions seem to come so easily from usopp. So maybe if they were both mature and not so emotionally stunted/ repressed/insecure in themselves, maybe just maybe??? Something could've happened there.

This is all just my hc so take it with a grain of salt LMAOO. I actually like to imagine them happy but oof I'm a sucker for angst!!

[ronance4everbrainrot]

So since @corgiplays basically already did the time line thing and put all that stuff together, I don't really need add anything, but I'm bored and imma try to write out some situations.

This one is Nancy and Robin in the bathroom (long intro? with Flashback) after Steve started being distant. (also it's gonna be long. TW: scraped hands/knees ??)

✨✨✨

[Today's Monday btw]

"Bye mom..." Robin says as she leaves the house with the warmest outfit she could find, which wasn't much. [I don't know much about clothes, so it's basically her S4 outfit, the one with the black jacket, but a bit more appropriate for Winter but also not much change]. She walks over to her Bike while thinking to herself 'Has Steve been avoiding me? I mean he doesn't have to hang out with me all the time..but that's basically what we did everyday since summer.. but he's been canceling our plans for a week know and I've been waiting for him to pick me up, which he always does and he doesn't really have to but he didn't even give me a heads-up that he won't drive me. Like, at least tell me so I want be late, dingu-' "SHIT!" Robin slips up,surprisingly enough she catches herself, she looks around to see if anyone saw that, luckily for her, no one did. 'yea, there is no way I'm gonna survive this, but I'm gonna be even more late without my bike...ugh!'.

She gets on her bike and put on her helmet, she knocks on it twice 'safety first'. She takes off and tries to go as fast as possible on the icey street and sidewalk. 'it's gonna take some miracle for me not to fall'. while on the road she realizes she forgot her walkman so she can't listen to her language tapes.

She angrily thinks about it for a few minutes but gets cut off when she nearly slips up 'Holy shit!' she panickes for a second but she didn't fall 'oh thank god! Steve is so lucky he graduated already, or I would have smacked him with my helmet for making me ride to school! ON A BIKE! IN WINTER!!!' Robin was furious, angry tears forming in her eyes. Why was Steve avoiding her?

//

They were hanging out at the Wheelers again. It was earily December on a Friday and even though Christmas is like weeks away, they are already planning to celebrate Christmas together at the Wheelers. Even the Byers while come over the breaks!

[I just had to, El and Max needed each other in S4 so they get some time together! Which also makes Max come out to Robin after El leaves again (sorry my elmax heart just forced my brain to write this lol)]

So the mood was over the top. Even Robin was excited! Her first Christmas with friends and dare she say family. It's also her first Christmas with Steve! She may not have much money and Steve basically already has everything, she got this amazing day planned! If she thinks about it to hard it seems like a date, like date date, but she doesn't, because Steve knows.

Her gift is basically a hang out at first (but they do stuff Steve suggests or wants) but she also saved up a bit to get basketball tickets for the game that is before Christmas. Which, honestly, is great, because then she gets to spend Christmas with the others together, too.

[I know nothing about Basketball games/tickets so idk if they play in the winter, but they do now]

Robin was so excited about this day that she told Nancy about it. Nancy was very surprised and impressed that Robin thought about all that and got jealous (you know why), but happy nonetheless, thinking Robin is such a good girlfriend.

[I just re-read Corgis post and Nancy thinking they are dating is in November so I'd say late November and Steve somehow, because he's stupid, didn't want to say the they aren't dating, so he just avoids Robin, so this is the start when he also avoids her even if they would be alone, because before it was just with Nancy a few days later it's with the kids and now it's just with Robin alone already]

The game would be in a week on the weekend, and even tho Robin never really cared for basketball, she's excited! Also Steve has been kinda weird lately, at first it was just with Nancy, she thought for a bit that it was because she may think they are dating but then he starts acting weird when around the kids, too. Now that she thinks about it, he has been avoiding her since the beginning of the hangout. So the tickets and so were also kinda there to smooth things out between them (she think she did something, like talking too much or being too mean with the jokes, idk, but she doesn't know what she did so she can't really apologize....but well she didn't do anything)

After a few minutes of asking around were Steve is. She finally find him walking down the stairs (don't worry, he was just on the bathroom, nothing to do with Nancy) and she snatches him my the arm to drag him into the kitchen. "Steve" she turnd around to look at him with a serious face "I have to ask you something" Steve tries to stay calm but is screaming on the inside, thinking she was gonna bring up him avoiding her. Luckily Robin was just joking with the serious thing and a smile was on her face "Soo, I got this idea for next week, like a hang out, but outside of hawkings, cause it's kind boring here. And well since it's outside of Hawkins I wanted to ask like a week before so it's not that spontaneous" Robin starts getting nervous about her gift idea and starts rambling "and funnily enough it seems like a date, but you know, it's not" then Nancy walks into kitchen and both her and Steve's eyes widden at what Robin says next "but it's also funny because normal the guy would plan the date or at least I thought so and-" Steve cuts here off "I'm sorry Robin but I- I am busy with something! Yea um, my dad didn't really tell me what I have to do, because you know he's an asshole, but he asked me to help with something so I'm sorry, but I can't go" Steve is surprised he came up with that, considering the panic he has of what Nancy must be thinking hearing that sentence out of context. [STEEEEVE NOOO 😭]

//

[Damn, how long is her ride to the school, also sorry not sorry for all the interruptions 😅]

Now that she thinks about it, she still has those tickets and the game is in 4 days 'I better give them to Lucas and Max... At least someone gets a 'date'...' she thinks bitterly. She just now realized that her vision is kinda blurry and a tiny sob sound leaves her body.

'Oh..' She quickly shakes her head and tries to whip her tears away with one hand, which normally would be easy, riding with one hand, but since it's very icey. She loses control of the bike and crashes into the hard ice/concrete of the street."woAH-" She hold of her hands and try to stop the fall but that makes her scrape her hands and it hurts like hell, the sleeve of her favorite jacket also tears. Her knees are no better. "shit.." she hisses out "holy shit- that hurts" she whispering through gritting theet.

Fortunately and unfortunately, she was already near the school. Which means she doesn't have to go far, but the others saw her fall. She stands up and looks down in embarrassment, but also so no one can see here tears building up. She uses her bike as support and tries to hide the limp while walking forwards the bike stands. She tries to ignore the laughing jerks and put the lock on the bike.

Robin doesn't even care that the warning bell rings, signaling that she has to go to her class soon. She just pushes through the wave of student standing in her way, and goes to the nearest bathroom. One of these students, however, was Nancy Wheeler and she just saw a very distressed looking Robin pushing her way through people and going into the bathroom.

When Nancy walked into the bathroom. She was not expecting a crying Robin, washing blood of her hands while standing on shaky legs with blood on her knees and holes in her clothes. "Oh my god, Robin! What happened?" she asked, her voice full off concern, but also gentle trying not to spook her (which failed), as she takes slow steps forward.

Robin jumps up and almost lost her footing but luckily Nancy caught her arm, which calms her down a bit, after realizing it's Nancy. "N-Nancy?" she asked with a shaky voice. Nancy just smiles gently at her "Hi" [Don't you dare 👀] Robin blushes and smiles back a bit "Hi.." [you did not just pull a nick and Charlie 😪 lol]

Robin quickly came to her senses and remembers the state that she's in (Note to self, don't be gay in Indiana🎶) and blushes even more but out of embarrassed because Nancy had to see her like this. "Uh- um.. W-what are you doing here?" she asked trying to sound like she didn't just cry a second ago. "Well, I saw you were looking distress when you pushed passed me so I-" Nancy started but was then cut off by an even more embarrassed and apologizing Robin "Omg! I am so sorry! I- I didn't mean to push you o-or anything! I just kinda fell of my bike and I scraped my hands and knees! And- and I thought I was gonna be late, since Steve didn't care to say that he wouldn't drive me to school today! And when I fell, I wanted to clean myself off before I went to class! So that's why I pushed you! I am so very sorry tho! I didn't mean it on purpose! I mean I kinda did- but in the sense that I would have pushed anyone and not that I specifically wanted to push you! I-.. I should stop talking know..." Robin ended her a forced chuckle.

Nancy stands stunned for a minute. "You came here... On a bike?..in the winter?" she asked. "Um..yeah?... I mean, I knows it's weird, and kinda dangerous" she jokes and hold out her still bleeding hands "but I didn't have any other way of transportation, since that dingus, Steve, has been seemingly avoiding me" she rolls her eyes, trying to look more annoyed than hurt.

Nancy, however, saw that look of hurt in her eyes, but looks back down to her hands wanting to make sure that's taken care of first "Let's get them properly cleaned, then we can talk later" as she gently takes Robin's hands in her own, leading them under the water. Robin hisses in pain. "Hey, it's okay, I know it hurts, but we don't want it to get infected." Nancy looks around the bathroom but realizes that there is no first aid kit. She quietly curses and looks back at Robin. "Ok so, I have a kit in my car. You're going to stay here and wait, ok? I'll be right back" she leaves in a hurry, giving Robin no chance to answer.

Without the short comfort of Nancy's hands or just Nancy's presence, she can't distract herself from the pain of the knees, which started shaking again. 'Shit shit shit shit' She's tries to steady herself by placing her hands on either side of the sink but her scraped off skin started burning and her arms began to shake as well aswell 'Shit shit, ok ok, clam down, I'm just gonna slowly sit myself to the ground' she takes a deep breath and easys herself down to the floor 'Oh God, I don't want to know how stupid this looks' she thinks while one arms starts slipping and she bangs her forehead on the sink "FUCK!" she squeezes her eyes shut and collapse to the floor. Rubbing her forehead she quietly says "Can't get any worst than this"

Why did she have to say that.

"Oh God! Are you ok?!" The panicked voice of Chrissy Cunningham, yes the Chrissy Cunningham, the new Queen of Hawkins High reaches her ear. 'Huh. Both the old and new Queen in one day. What a jackpot' she thinks for second. "Uh- ye-yeah!" her voice cracks 'I hate myself' she tries to smile but it looks more like a grimace. "O-ok, um, do you need the school nurse? I- I can get her if you want?" she asked while playing with the sleeves of her cheerleader jacket. [I love Chrissy 🙏] Robin clears her throat "Yeah, I'm okay! It's totally fine! But thank you! I just-Uh- I um- I was just-"

Then suddenly the door opens which makes both girls jump. "Ok, so I got the rubbing Alcohol and the bandages, also cotten balls for the alcohol." Nancy came in, listing things she put into her bag. "Sorry I took so long, there just were these stupid-" she finally looks up and saw a surprise Chrissy. "Uh-.." It feels like an hour of awkward silence when Chrissy broke the ice. "Um-..Hey" she shyly smiles at Nancy "I was gonna get the school nurse, but seems like Robin's already has you". She says it in such a casual way that it makes Robin blush. Nancy seems speechless "Uh y-yeah.."

Another awkward silence, which Chrissy breaks again. "So, seeing as you have everything under control, I should probably go.." She starts to nervously play with her sleeves again. This time Robin answers "Yeah...thanks for checking up on me tho, others would have probably called me a weirdo or would have laughed seeing me like this" she gave a short laugh. Chrissy frowns at this "well ignore this people, they are just mean jerks" and then she sweetly smiled at Robin "If you ever need help and Nancy's not here, you can gladly come to me" Robin was starstruck and just nods her head grinning back like an idiot. "O-ok!" Chrissy just gives a nod back and leaves while waving "See you around"

There was, yet again, another awkward silence, more from Nancy's side this time. Nancy clears her throat "So...that was something.." Robin still starstruck, quietly wonders "how did she know my name?" "Did you say something?" Quickly shaking her head she comes back from her trance "n-nothin- ARGH" she holds her head. Nancy rushes to her side "what is it? A headache? Did you fall onto your face?!" Nancy quickly checks her head for any injuries but finds non "N-no, i just...I hit my head on the sink..." Robin starts "and I guess shaking your head after hitting it, isn't the smartest move" she chuckles bitterly.

Nancy then noticed that Robin was on the floor "How did that even happen?" she asked, while helping Robin up and making her sit on the sink. "Well when you left, you couldn't distract me anymore so my body decides to remember that its hurt and then my knees started shaking and I tried to hold myself up but my arms also started shaking and I slipped and then I hit my head on the sink and then Chrissy came and-" Robin's cuts herself off with a yelp "Hey! Give a girl a waring, will you!" while pulling her hand away.

"Sorry, I thought maybe your talking would distract yourself." Nancy says, while not looking like she's sorry. "Now give me your hand" she hold out her own hand. Robin carefully places her hand into Nancy's and tries not to blush at the gentle and soft yet rough hand.

"Ok, this is gonna sting" Nancy says, as she carefully dabs the cotten ball with rubbing alcohol on the scraped off skin. Robin tries to focus on Nancy's hand rather then the stinging pain. Nancy quietly curses again. "look like you cut yourself on a rocks" she grimaced "that's why there's still so much blood coming" she looks up at Robin's eyes "but don't worry, I'm gonna bandage it up and it's gonna heal in not time" she tries to resure her. Robin just nods and keeps staring at Nancy's face while she look focused on the task at hand. (badum tch) 'She looks so cute when her brows are furrowed in consentraction, especially when she's trying to figure something out or come up with a plan.......I'm being creepy aren't I....omg....don't tell me Steve knows....is that why he's been avoiding me?....omg....he knows I'm in love with Nancy, doesn't he! Shit shit shit!!! No, that can't be it, he would have said something!...wouldn't he?....I-.. '

"-bin!? Are you ok!?! Why are you crying!? Hellooo?!" A very very concerned voice if Nancy broke her train of thoughts "Huh- W-what?" Robin focuses her eyes and is face to face with and even more worried looking Nancy, who has both her hands on both of her cheeks. With gentle looking eyes Nancy wipes the tears off with her thumb. Robin didn't even notice that she started crying. Nancy must have noticed that she's focused again "Hey, hey" her voice somehow calm "It's okay, it's done, you're ok" she says while still stroking Robin's cheek with her thumb. Robin slowly looks down at her hand and sees that it's bandaged, she looks back at Nancy's eyes. "Are you ok?" Robin nods. "why did you start crying? Was it because it hurt?" Robin shook her head "No? Then why did you cry? If you're ok with talking about it, of course."

Robin looks away from her eyes to think and decides to tell her. Nancy has her suspicion but she wasn't gonna bring it up herself. "I- I think steve has been a-avoiding me.." she quietly says. "And why would he do that?" 'does it have to do something with me finding out they are dating?...I hope not...' Nancy thinks to herself. Robin looks at her not bandaged hand which stopped bleeding since there is no deep cut there. [You know, just to clarify] "I- I don't know. Maybe because I talk to much? Or I've hurt him with my joking insults? Or he just decided he doesn't want to be friends with me anymore! Since that was everyone apparently does when they are friends with me! There is something wrong with me!" she started laughing quietly "of course he would want to get rid of me someday! I knew I shouldn't have set my hopes up with this friendship. The kids are also just gonna leave me."She tries not to cry 'I've cried enough today ugh, why can't I just be normal! why do I have to be so dramatic' "I'm sorry...I- I didn't mean to dump this all on you. I'm just being dramatic. You can l-leave now, thanks for your help" Robin says while looking to the side, waiting for Nancy to leave.

Nancy was speechless. She couldn't believe what she just heard. While her speech Robin pulled her hands away from her face, so she places them back to where they were and turn Robin's face so she faces Nancy. Robin looked surprised "Wha-" Nancy shuts her up. Robin's feels pressure on her lips.

Nancy's finger is placed ontop of her lips so she can't talk.

[The way I was laughing and cringing at the same time while writing this! 😭🤣😂😅😪 I'm so sorry! It was so much funnier in theory! 😭😂]

"No. You've talked enough." Nancy said while she staring at Robin's wide eyes 'Wow, I didn't know her eyes were so blue...it's like you could drown in them...'They kept staring at each other eyes and then Robin, the idiot, starts leaning forward, still starting into each other's eyes. To her own shook Nancy also starts leaning forward, while slowly dragging her finger down her lips. A set of eyes flicker down to the others lips....they lean closer and closer and then....

DRRRIIIIIIINNNGGGGG

[You know when the build up is like that, it has to be interrupted]

They jump apart. Robin panicked and flustered. Nancy panicked and confused. "ohwhOASHIT-" Robin starts falling of the sink but Nancy holds her by the shoulders so she doesn't fall and pulls her back up "phew....Heh...man.. I need to stop falling so often..." Robin tries to easy the tension and smiles awkwardly yet still cute "yeah..heh" They awkwardly laugh. Nancy still has her hands on Robin's shoulder so she quickly pulls them away and somehow pushes against her knee which makes Robin hiss in pain "Oh God, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to I-" Robin starts laughing "You trying to copy me, Wheeler?" "I-" Nancy pouts 'omg she's adorable' "I was just trying to apologize" She looks down at Robin's knees "And they also still need to be taken care of"

She looks around for the cotten balls and the rubbing Alcohol and then looks up "This is gonna sting." "Yeah yeah, i know." "Well I wanted to give a girl a warning" "Oh, right" Robin snorts "Didn't think you would rememb- AAHShit!" Nancy just smirks and continues the process "You are full of surprises, Wheeler. I didn't know you were suck a jerk." Robin smirks down at her "I am not a jerk." Nancy says, not looking up. "Sure sure". Nancy presses down hard onto the other knee, which makes Robin let out a few curse words "Ok ok! You're not a jerk" with a pleased smile, Nancy continues her task.

After a while of cleaning up injures and bandaging them, Robin finally stands up on her own. She wobbles a bit but it's fine "How about I drive you home? I don't think you're in a good condition to go to school" Robin dramatically gasped "Omg! Is THE Nancy 'the Priss' Wheeler going to skip school!?" "Shut up or I'm going to make you walk home." Robin make the mouth sip motion "Good. Now let's go before-"

The school bell rings again

"-the bell rings...um..well we can still go, but now there is a higher chance of people seeing us" "What, don't want to be seen with me?" "You know what I meant! Now shut up or I'll really make you walk home" Robin hold her hands up in surrender. "Lead the way, Wheeler"

✨✨✨

I don't know what happened with their dynamic at the end, but I like that dynamic and Nancy found her in a vulnerable moment so that's why she didn't act like this at first... Idk.. Also they are basically forgetting the stuff before the almost kiss 😭😂 idk if it makes sense but well they both just pushed it down ig... Hope you enjoyed!

Edit: OMG I TOTALLY FORGOT! I wanted to say that the tear on her favorite jacket is the reason she has the "Handle with care" thing on it.

You can look at this post and suggest something I should write!

Lots of love!! ✨😭❤️✨

[underoostarks]

Can you do the prompt “you’re gonna hurt yourself”? I love your work btw!

I Won't Heal You

Summary: Tony has a different way to show people how he likes them.

Word Count: 724

Warnings: fluff, a bit of cursing and mentions of wounds, bruises, injuries.

A/N: This is so overdue, I'm really sorry. I copied the wrong thing and posted the unedited one I'm so sorry. 

A/A/N: This will also be my entry for @lovelyavengers‘s writing challenge!

You're a healer. You've been blessed with the power of healing ever since you were born. Your parents have found out about it first when you were 4, you had your first wound from falling because of playing too much with your friends and when you mother came back to get the first aid kit, your wound had already disappeared and no any signs as if it there wasn't any in the first place.

When you finished college, that's where you found out that you could also heal other people and many years later, from healing your neighborhood, you're now under SHIELD and is helping the avengers.

For the past couple of months, you've noticed that Tony has been the one to always seek for your power. Well, you knew that guy is reckless and isn't one to being careful but you're getting worried every after mission he has gone to you. It's like he's doing it intentionally which concerns you more.

You've gone from your reverie when you've heard the sound of Quinjet landing. You've prepared yourself, ready to help who's injured and in need.

The first that came to your sight is Clint, feeling more tired than he usually look which made you worried, not only by his condition but the fact that Tony isn't the one to greet you like he usually does.

"You good?" You asked Clint, holding his shoulder, looking at his body to see any major injuries and wounds that needs to pay attention.

"Yea, nothing serious. Just a bit sore than usual." He flashes you his smile which you returned.

"Then I'll have you in my clinic."

After leaving Clint to go to your clinic, you've focused on the remaining that's going down. You feel like you've heart stopped as you see an injured and unconscious Tony laying lifeless in the stretcher, being carried by Thor and Steve.

You rushed to their side.

"What happened?!" Worry and panic can be heard in your tone.

"We're getting outnumbered, he got hit while trying to check the whole parameter." Steve explained but your mind stays focus on Tony.

—

You stayed beside Tony after healing all the other Avengers, though you may have healed him, he still needs rest due to the accident that happened to him. And while waiting for him to wake up, you've fallen asleep as well, with your head resting beside his hand.

Minutes later, you've waken from your nap by the touch of someone's hand in your head.

"Oh, you're already awake." You muttered as you rubbed your eyes and wipe the side of your lips in case of any signs of drool.

"Don't worry, there's no drool, you just snore a little but that's it." He chuckled as you take a glance of his body, checking to see if he's already okay or not. "I'm already healed, no more bruises. Thanks to our wonderful healer." He said, proud and amusement laced in his voice and as much as you wanted to take his compliment, you've already had enough of his shit.

"You seriously had the guts to laugh right now? to joke around?" You snapped which took Tony by surprise. "I've felt nothing but wariness every time you step your foot at the Quinjet because I'm afraid you're so reckless and careless that even my power can't heal you."

"But you always do, right?" He tries to assure you, his hand trying to reach yours but you avoid his gesture.

"You're gonna hurt yourself very badly one day and I won't heal you anymore." You said, stern. You've had enough of his attitude and you don't want to be a part of it. "Either you try to be care--"

"I'm sorry." He muttered, which cuts you off. "I know it's childish. Really. But I can't help it."

"What do you mean? Do you want me to set up an appointment to--"

You got cut off again the second time around.

"That's the only way I could think of to catch your attention. You're always busy healing other people, I can't even catch you freely walking around the compound, either you're healing us or you're in the SHIELD headquarters doing work."

"That is quite possibly the dumbest thing you’ve ever said and I've heard in my entire life, why would you do that? I thought you're a genius?"

"Can't you see it? I've liked you for a while now."

[laylamva]

Miitopia Nuzlocke!

Okay, so I’d been doing a Miitopia Nuzlocke for a month and decided to chronicle it. Spoilers…I didn’t make it. 

Rules

If a Mii falls in battle, they’re gone for good (Unless it’s the protagonist).

I will only use the Life Sprinkle on the protagonist.

If the whole party falls in the same battle, everyone will still be counted as alive.

If a Mii is resurrected by another party member, they will be counted as alive.

If the dead Miis cost us the final boss, only then will I go back to level them up.

When a Mii dies, I will change their hair color to white, their eye color to black, and rename them “Spooky Ghost” to keep track of who I’ve lost (and also to make me feel better about sentencing my beloveds to death).

I will draw random characters from Mii Maker for every major character and decide party jobs by spinning a wheel.

The Nuzlocke ends after the main story. I cannot bring myself to care about the post-game.

If the protagonist dies on their own, the Nuzlocke is aborted.

Sabrina Raincomprix is protag/safe gorl.

WALUIGI x TEMMIE OTP (they’re the lovey-dovey couple)

Sassy Child Elmo pretending to be a dragon foreshadows Dominic.

Lenny

Dark Lord Chloé Bourgeois is fun to voice

Sabrina’s a chef.

Simone Soleil! Male Pop Star.

Before you look him up, Simone’s an OC. I put an OC in here. Help.

Every time I have played this game with Spotpass on, the freaking blobfish Mii always weasels its way in! (It’s the Nintendo Fangirl)

Got the new Zelda amiibo. Wonder if it’ll give me a costume?

IT DID!

I changed Sabrina’s eyebrows to match the Zelda wig…she looks exactly like me.

Leon Kuwata, Ultimate Mage AU

AU where Genocider Syo is a good guy who unkills people

I almost lost the Danganronpa characters, but we lost the fight.

Simone’s dead. But it’s okay, because he’s a spooky ghost.

I actually made up a “Farm Upstate” story to make myself feel better about Miis dying. “They’re not dead, they just turned into ghosts because of a cosmic paradox and can’t leave the inn as a side effect!”

Leon is at war with the moles. And also Sabrina, apparently.

On a related note, Sabrina Raincomprix and Genocider Syo BroTP???

I made Teruteru Hanamura the King. If you’ve seen all his Free Time Events, the calming fruit mission hits different.

And Sonia Nevermind is the princess. Can you tell what my current hyperfocus is?

Why does the wheel keep giving me Pop Star things? Simone’s been dead for three sessions it’s time to move on—

General Sonia killed Leon and Syo. My entire first party is DEAD.

Sabrina’s a warrior now.

Maya Aida from Glitter Force Doki Doki is my Imp.

One time when I was playing this game, I tried making a Starlow Mii from scratch, but then I realized it looked like someone different. Someone better. And now it’s all come full circle as Tonker Bell joins us as the Airheaded Cat!

Sabrina just got the Bee Armor. Suck it, Chloé!

Genie of the Lamp The Master World’s End Club

Homura Akemi as the Dancing Guide? Imagine Homura being happy.

Steve from Blue’s Clues: The Kind Thief

Steve and Tonker Bell BroTP!

tonker bell just died.

If we’re going with the “Sabrina dumped Chloé” narrative, I feel like even with two kind party members, Sabrina would keep chanting until the genie was sealed again.

Crap I bought Tonker Bell something

I LOOK AWAY FOR ONE SECOND AND NOW MAYA’S DEAD OH GOD—

Steve’s the only one left.

Ugh, scratch that.

OK, Sabrina’s on her own. If she dies, game over.

Why am I listening to Dodie music while I’m doing this? It’s making this sadder.

WHY IS MY FIRST FIGHT ALONE AGAINST HOMURA???

AND SHE’S A PAINTING I’M BONED—

I lost. The Nuzlocke is over. RIP.

So…yeah. I plan on doing this again on the Switch later, but that’s gonna go on YouTube…as soon as I can figure out how my capture card works. BTW, “Spooky Ghost” didn’t fit in the text box for Mii names, so here’s what I named them instead:

Simone: Sun Ghost

Tonker Bell: Disbelief

Maya: AngelHeart

Steve: At College

Syo and Leon were taken away before I could give them ghost names, but if I did, they would’ve been called 11037 and Genocided. And I didn’t name Ghost Sabrina because the Nuzlocke ended. But, hypothetically…Vanisher.

[idunnoficsorsumthing]

Wild Child: Brandy

Based on Lucy Spraggan’s Last night.

AMAZING SONG BTW ya’ll should listen to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzcytiq8ZOo&ab_channel=lucysVEVO

Masterlist

Warnings: ALCOHOL, uhmm dumbass drunk stuff.

If you by any coincidence see two of the same post idk how tf that happened.

Brandy

Stumbling out of Tony’s jet with Nat and Wanda after the three of you went to Vegas. The sun was burning your retina, you wished you hadn’t been so plastered that you remembered the events of the previous night. Though you wanted the night to be special because it was girls night, the fact that things got slightly out of hand… was an issue. 

You knew what had happened the previous night had been a nightmare, but it was too funny to be too upset about it. 

Bucky had been on mission, so you hadn’t seen him yet and it made you nervous to see him. You had made a mental note to never drink brandy anymore as it made you corny and do dumb stuff. 

You knew using your powers was illegal, but the amount of alcohol coursing through your veins didn’t care. Probability, lies, and intentions was what you could sense, if not straight up smell on a person. The roll of the dice with your left hand gave you the biggest probability of success. So that is what you’d whisper to Nat as she rolled. “Y/n” Wanda whispered to you. You look at her. “What?” you asked, taking another sip of your drink. “They are watching us.” she said: “We’ve won too many times in a row.” you look around you, and shrug. “What do they want to do?” You said louder than you wanted, swinging around your glass spilling some on the person next to you. “Oi!” the man exclaimed. You just let out a laugh. “Okay baby let’s get us a day at Ralph Lauren.” she said with a laugh. You grabbed her arm to turn her body ever so slightly to the right. Nat threw the dice on the table. You are eyes drop to the dice, a six, quickly your eyes search the other one. Another six. You let out a happy ‘yes’ throwing your arms around Nat’s neck. “We did it!” You exclaimed. The two of you gathered more of the chips from the table. “Guys! We need to leave now.” Wanda said, as you look at the security man making his way towards you. You grabbed a half empty brandy bottle from a nearby table and started running. The other two girls followed you as they were laughing, causing the other security guards to be alarmed too. 

Good news, they didn’t catch Nat, and Wanda. Bad news, they had you, and they gave you a ban to their casino. Good news you were now sitting on the curb with the brandy bottle. Bad news, they took back most of the chips. So in total you had like a hundred dollars worth of chips left. Wanda and Nat had gone to see if they could exchange the chips they had while you were sipping on the liquor. You decided to call Bucky to see how he was doing. You rang his phone once, he didn’t pick up. You rang it again, and this time after a while he answered the phone. “Doll, I am kind of in the middle of something.” he answered. You frowned as you held your phone up so he could get a good view of him. While he was a disaster when using facetime, as he held his phone low, and you could see up his nose. “In the middle of you WHORE?” you slurred, waving around the phone, people around you had started to look. You saw Bucky roll his eyes. “Did you have a little too much to drink again?” he asked. “Where is Nat?” he asked, knowing that from the three of us she must be the most responsible one. “I don’t know. They went to get more booze.” You tell Bucky. You could see yourself in the little square in the corner, your mascara was starting to smudge under your eyes because you had been profusely rubbing them. “Look don’t do anything stupid.” Bucky warned. You saw Steve appear behind Bucky in the shot. “How can she, you kept all of the stupid?” Steve said, you laugh loudly. “Buckyyyyy” you whine. He raises an eyebrow. “Yes doll?” he asked. You pout your lips which you know works. “Marryyy meee noww pretty pleaseee.” you begged. He laughed. “I’m supposed to ask you,” he answered. You shake your head, while he nods his head to disagree with you. “ NOWoooooo.” You whined. “go bother someone else.” he said: “Love you.” he ended the call. 

You huffed out in anger, and tried to find Wanda, and Nat. It took you only 25 minutes and the rest of the liquor to find them. “I want to get married.” you whine as you hit your head against Wanda’s arm. “Ow honey, I’m sure Bucky will ask you.” She said, you shake your head. “HE SAID NO.” you exclaim. The two girls looked at one another, and then back at you. The three of you were now sitting at the bar with cosmo’s in hand. After Nat’s 5th shot, she was officially a cosmo girl. “I’d marry you.” Nat said, shrugging her shoulder, you abruptly looked up. “You would?” you ask her. She nodded. “LEt’s dO IT.” you said excitedly. The three of you ordered another round of shots, before deciding what to do the rest of the evening. 

Somehow you had to explain to your boyfriend that you accidentally married your best friend in Vegas yesterday… You could've thought about more pleasant things to do, like sleep on a bed full of needles. When you arrived home you had taken a shower to freshen up, and patiently waited for Bucky to come back from mission. Suddenly the door slammed open. “YOU’RE MARRIED?” Bucky said loudly. You profusely shake your head for no apparent reason because he knew the truth. “Not really.” you explained. He glared at you. “I can’t trust you anymore.” he said, he stood in front of you with his arms crossed. “What? Why? It was a drunk mistake!” you tried to defend yourself. You got up from your seat, though he still looked down at you. “You betrayed me the second you asked Sam to be your best man.” he said, he shook his head at you disapprovingly. “Wait what?” you asked him. You let out a loud laugh. “You’re not mad?” you ask. He held your face with his hands. “I am mad, when i said go bother someone else. I meant for the night, not for the rest of your life.” he said, he gazed into your eyes with a piercing look, one that you could never forget about because it would always make you laugh. “Well, maybe you should’ve put a ring on my finger then. But, alas, I am a taken woman.” you shrugged, but the smirk on your face told a different story. He stepped closer to you, you shifted, moved to the left out of his way, as your back pressed against the wall. He placed his arm above your head against the wall, “Oh is that so Mrs. Romanoff. Because I heard from Tony your annulment got through.” He said, you gaze into his stupid blue eyes biting your lower lip. “Are you going to say hi to me?” you asked. He smirks, pressing his lips on yours pulling you into a passionate kiss. “I told you not to do anything stupid.” he reminded you, a shrug came from you before you wrapped your arms around his neck, pressing your body against his.