#replacement could also be a 'came back wrong' eddie.....

[byler-alarmist]

NEW Puzzle Tales Character Drop: WAYNE MUNSON!!!

A.K.A. Puzzle Tales decided to eviscerate me as a birthday surprise

They are so evil for this

Taken.....

I love that there's a purple character with Dodge, since usually it's red characters . Also, why is he purple? I'm noodling that one around in my head....

He deserves to avenge his nephew. Mete out that punishment, Uncle Wayne!!

Now the last one stands out to me a little....

🤔🤔

Oh, but if you really want to feel miserable, his activated power is him sadly waving a "missing" sign at the attackers.:

LITERALLY GET OUT OF HERE, GET OUT OF MY LIFE BEFORE I DIE IN PAIN

[steddieas-shegoes]

Came back wrong Steve, but it’s so subtle it takes them forever to notice.

It doesn’t help that he didn’t actually die. No one assumes you can come back wrong if you never went away.

But after everyone’s healing, and Eddie is definitely back wrong, there’s little things that start to add up.

Like he can see at night way better than ever.

He prefers his steaks rare now, but thinks it’s disgusting when Eddie needs to drink blood.

He had a slight tremor in his hand after the first run in with Vecna, but it’s gone now.

He doesn’t get migraines anymore.

He rarely feels like he actually needs sleep, but he can sleep if he lays down and closes his eyes.

It’s all just shrugged off.

Until they’re downtown shopping, him and Eddie and Robin and Max, looking for some new clothes for Robin’s internship. They’re on the sidewalk talking about which store to try next out of the few options they have, when a car’s tires screech and they hear honking and yelling.

Before anyone realizes what’s happening, Steve’s got the car stopped with his hands.

It was only a foot away from hitting all of them on the sidewalk.

Everyone’s looking at him like he’s grown two heads, including the driver of the car.

He wipes his hands on his pants, waves at the driver, and turns back to his friends and boyfriend.

“I think I’ve got whatever Eddie’s got but in a lower dose,” Steve says with a smile.

———

Later, after the chaos of explaining everything to all the kids and Hopper, who insisted on keeping an eye on him for the next few days, Steve and Eddie are in bed and talking about things that Steve can do that isn’t normal.

“Oh my god.”

“What?” Steve asks, suddenly nervous.

“That’s why you don’t need a break!”

Steve rolled his eyes.

“No seriously! I just thought it was your body’s way of keeping up with me. It’s just that you’re also at least a little inhuman,” Eddie kissed him. “This is great!”

“Is it?”

“Yeah! We can go all night if we want. Actually, we should see if there’s a limit-“

Steve rolled over and ignored Eddie’s rambling, but smiled fondly at the thought of sharing something with him like this.

Tomorrow they could test whatever Eddie wanted, but tonight, he was gonna let himself be grateful that whatever humanity had been lost was replaced with plenty of space to love Eddie and protect his family.

[ladykailitha]

Of Butterflies and Backstrokes Part 8

Hey guys!! We have reached the actual training part of the story. It's only taken us (looks up at the number in the title) oh about seven chapters. If I get anything wrong, send me a DM or an ask and I'll be happy to change it. No comments please. Thank you!

In this Eddie is a show off, Robin is a good best friend and Steve finds Eddie really hot.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

~

Eddie is led to a small room off the side of the two large pools. He had never been in here before, Murray preferring to clean it himself because it was so tricky and Eddie wasn’t going to be there long enough to need to know it.

He looked around. It was the same sea green and blue everything in the pool area was. And in the middle there was 8x15 ft. rectangle that had a large metal cover.

Steve went over to the wall and pressed a button. The metal cover slid off to reveal a pool about five feet deep. It really didn’t look that special.

Then Steve pressed another button and pool roared to life. Gone was the smooth surface, replaced by now churning waves. He hit the button again and waves sped up. And again and again. Eddie was entranced. Then the waves cut off and slowly the water stilled.

“Holy shit!” Eddie cried. “That was fucking cool!” He knelt by the pool and then swung his feet in. “So how does it work?”

“Show off,” Robin huffed at Steve and pulled up a chair next to the pool. “Just pretend I’m not here. I have to watch you guys because I’m the assistant coach or whatever, but Steve doesn’t need my help here. Not really.”

Steve came over and sat next to him, splashing his feet a little. “Basically there are jets that cause a current that you can swim against. The different speeds allow you to set how much you want to swim against. It’s really good for building endurance and stamina.”

He slipped all the way into the pool. “Why don’t you turn it on to three and I’ll show you?”

Eddie jumped up to just that, excited to see Steve swim for the first time in person. Robin got up to show him how to work it and then sat back down, pulling a book out of the pocket of the jacket she wore over her swimsuit.

He slowly turned the dial, watching as the water came up to speed. Then Steve started swimming. And immediately Eddie could see the difference in how Steve moved through the water than from how he did it.

He licked his lips as he watched this beautiful man slice the water like an otter. He wasn’t sure how long time passed, but far too soon, Steve was standing up and wiping the water from his face.

“Turn it to one,” Steve said, “and then come on in. I’m betting you’ll need it sped up but let’s ease you into it.”

Eddie went to go do as he was told and the eased himself into the pool next to Steve.

“All right,” Steve said, “just start swimming.”

“Just keep swimming,” Eddie sang and then did the little hum. He dived into the water and started swimming.

“I’m going to touch you,” Steve warned, “to help correct your stroke. I don’t want to startle you.”

Eddie tried not to tense up when Steve straightened his stomach, but it was hard. But thankfully Steve just chuckled.

“Ticklish,” he teased. “Good to know.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, grateful Steve couldn’t see his face. That was not why he tensed up. Was he ticklish? That was debatable. His friends and Uncle said yes, he absolutely was not. He just was sensitive. Which also wasn’t what the issue was here.

No, no, no. It was that hot guy, gold medalist, and absolute sweetheart Steve Harrington was touching him and his black Speedo left very little to the imagination. A boner would be more than an inconvenience, it would be a fucking nightmare.

But thankfully his brain had other things to focus on, like how by just adjusting his core, his strokes were stronger but took less energy.

“We won’t focus on types of strokes yet,” Steve was saying when his brain finally came back online, “just on building up your strength. Then after that we’ll see where your abilities lie. What events to you compete in in middle school?”

Eddie turned on his back and immediately kept swimming. He turned his head and winked at Steve.

Steve huffed out a laugh. “Show off!” he teased.

Robin snorted from the sideline and he stuck his tongue out at her.

“You have really good form for the backstroke,” he said turning back to Eddie, “and I’m going to assume that’s because your middle school coach only taught you how to do one thing well, instead of teaching you everything and then letting your natural talent decide where you fit best.”

Eddie got to his feet with ease as it wasn’t going that fast and wiped his face down. “You’ve got that right. But then he was dealing with twenty kids all screaming at him, so I really don’t blame him on that one.”

“Fair enough,” Steve said ruefully with wry smile. “At least you didn’t have two coaches butting heads all the time on what was the best technique, so...”

“Wait, really?” Eddie said, stopping from ringing out his hair in shock. “You had two coaches?”

Steve hummed. “Yeah. Technically three if you include middle and high school coaches but only two at a time. My private coach that my dad had me see when I was twelve and then my school coaches. They never could agree on what the best form was. So I made up my own. I did what felt right for my body. Both my high school coach and private coach tried to take credit for my gold medal by the way.”

Eddie resumed ringing out his hair. “Yeah, that tracks. So you graduate high school and prepare to take the swimming world by storm and then tragedy strikes, I bet they were positively sobbing for the cameras.”

Steve’s smile was bitter. “Right in one.”

“Everyone kept talking like he was dead,” Robin growled, “and not just that he had gotten hurt. I would’ve sued their asses, but Steve is nicer than me.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow at him, but he just shrugged. “I didn’t need the money and I certainly didn’t want the attention.”

“Yeah, okay that’s fair,” Eddie replied with a smile.

They keep working on Eddie’s stamina, slowly building up the speed of the pool, the more he swam the more strength he showed.

Steve looked up at the clock. “Well shit, we actually ran past time. So let’s hit the showers and get all this chlorine off of us.”

Eddie nodded and followed him to the dressing room, once they were all dressed and cleaned up they ran into a grinning Joyce. She had two boxes in her hands.

“One for each of you,” she said brightly, handing them their packages.

Steve and Eddie shared a glance but dug into their boxes. Steve managed to get his open first. He lifted the top item. It was a blue polo. He handed the box to Robin to hold so he could unfold it.

There in black thread lined with silver embroidered on the back was the name Harrington. His coach’s polo.

“There are four polos and a coaches jacket,” Joyce explained. “Every ‘team’ has a set of colors to compete under. Team Harrington will be black and silver.”

Eddie finally managed to get his box open while Joyce talked. Inside his box were four caps and Speedos, as well as two pairs of goggles. He picked up one of the caps and in silver was his last name Munson in bold letters.

“The program covers all equipment, too,” Joyce said with sly smile. “You lose anything or want something different, let me know we’ll get it for you. At first it might take a bit, but if you start winning...”

Eddie huffed, “Then suddenly all the doors open and the sponsors start piling in. I getcha.”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Joyce said.

“I got my own coaching polos too!” Robin said excitedly. “I didn’t get a fancy jacket though.” She pouted.

Joyce laughed. “When you be come head coach then you’ll get the shiny coach’s jacket.”

Robin still pouted but she was ignored. Steve and Eddie both thanked her for the gifts.

“It’s nothing,” she said, waving her hand. “I’m just glad they were able to come today, I was worried it might not get here until next week.”

They all bid her goodbye and walked out to the parking lot, where there were only two cars now. Steve’s rust red Bimmer and Eddie’s van. It looked older than he was. But he could tell Eddie was proud of it as he sauntered up to it.

“Other than than the jerkfaces,” Eddie said, opening the door to his van and jumping up on the step to swing on the door, “today was a good day. I feel really stretched out in a good way.”

Steve laughed. “Well I’m glad the gaggle of snobs didn’t turn you off. You’re already three steps ahead of the game as far as coaching you goes. You have good habits and better form. It won’t take long for you to get into competition shape.”

Eddie nodded, swinging back and forth on the door, like Gene Kelly in ‘Singing in the Rain’. “But the Olympics, man? That’s top tier shit.”

“From what I saw today,” Robin said, “yeah, real top tier shit. Because Steve is right. You got dealt a shit hand when you were forced to stop swimming, because you should already have been to the Olympics if there had been any justice in this world. But it is really stacked against poor people.”

“Yeah,” Eddie huffed. “I guess I’ll be seeing you guys again tomorrow?” He hopped back down to ground, scuffing his shoes on the asphalt.

“Yep,” Steve said with a smile. “Same time. This time Max will be joining us. She’s only going to be doing it two times a week. It’s all her mother will allow.”

Robin shook her head. “Girl’s got real talent and her mother thinks she’s too young to apply herself. I’m glad my parents weren’t like that.”

Steve reached over and gave her elbow a gentle squeeze. “Maybe once her mom sees how good she is, she’ll allow her to do more. But Max has time. She’s only eleven.”

Eddie nodded, rocking back on his heels and then forward on his toes. He chewed his lip for a moment before he launched himself at Steve, giving him a big hug. “Thank you!”

Steve staggered back a moment before wrapping his arms around Eddie. “You’re welcome. Everyone needs someone who believes in them.”

Then Eddie launched himself at Robin who was almost knocked over. She hugged him back, then he scurried back to his van. He gave them a shy goodbye before he drove off.

“He’s cute.”

Steve whirled on her with a shocked expression on his face. “Robin!”

Robin shrugged and started walking to Steve’s car, forcing him to jog to catch up.

“You can’t just say things like that,” he admonished, unlocking his car with the keycode on the door. “We’re his coaches now. Besides, I’m like six years older than he is. God!”

She laughed as she got into her side of the car. “I didn’t say you had to date him, dingus. I just said he was cute. You filled in the rest.”

Steve huffed as he slid into the driver’s seat. “Yeah, okay. I’ll admit that I find him very attractive, especially with all the tattoos. Dealing drugs must be pretty lucrative or else he’s got a sweet deal with a tattoo artist, because damn, he has a lot. At least four that I’ve seen and I think I saw the glimpse of another and I–”

Robin burst out laughing. “And you really, really liked it?”

Steve sighed and bowed his head. “I really did. I don’t think I liked tattoos on people before this point and now I’m drooling about it.”

Robin just patted his shoulder. “Just suck it up and drive.”

So Steve did just that, shaking his head.

~

Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

Tag List: CLOSED

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3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @justforthedead89 @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji

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9- @chameleonhair @sadisticaltarts @dreamercec @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @mac-attack19

10- @aol19 @eriquin @tartarusknight @gloomysoup @morallyundefined

[chaptersleftunwritten]

Cue the beat drop

Blurb: After Eddie goes missing, assumed dead, you replace him as lead guitarist and singer of Corroded Coffin.

Pairing: Vampire!Eddie Munson x Stranger!Fem!Reader

Warnings: Cursing, mentions of grief and death, mentions of trauma, mean-ish!Eddie, blood(?), possibly an inaccurate attempt at description of Kas from D&D. Fictional Corroded Coffin songs.

-

Trauma permanently alters the brain, and whether or not we are willing to admit it, it changes our lives and who we are. We never really get over it, at best we can make peace with it- grieve with it and try to put it to rest. But a large life disruption leaves a new normal behind and there is no returning to who we were before. Before this.

It had taken Gareth and Jeff two and a half years to muster up enough courage to paper up flyers all over town- every window, sign post and street lamp had one stuck and stapled to it. They were looking for their new lead guitarist and vocalist for Corroded Coffin- a legacy that Eddie Munson had left behind.

Being new to Hawkin’s came with a profound sense of oblivion. You were unaware of the history and all you knew were the rumours of what had happened a few years prior to your arrival in the cursed town. Words twisted and whispered from ear to ear. Elderly ladies clutching their Holy jewellery as they walk through the streets, mumbling prayers beneath their breaths. It was unsettling, to say the least. Oddly, though, there was something about Hawkin’s that called to you. A dark beckoning leading you from one place to here. Where you’ll remain.

-

‘Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.’ Friedrich W. Nietzsche

When you first read that quote, you never understood it. Not then. Not until you actually saw him. The abyss… staring back at you.

Corroded Coffin had soared in popularity. One of their singles, It Only Takes Six Feet, ended up on the Hot Top 100 billboard in the whole of America, sitting at #86 on the list. It was a song dedicated to Eddie, written by all of the members of the band. Of course you did most of the edits and redrafts but it was made by you all. For him. For the man who started it all.

After the stats came in, and the fans followed like metal headed soldiers, the rest was history. Corroded Coffin had its own army of ‘devil worshippers’ and their songs were playing across America on radios, stereos and TV’s alike.

It led you to here. Centre stage with blinding lights blurring your vision. Your lilac guitar slung over your shoulders securely, your hands supporting the weight. The audience is a single organism of moving, reeling silhouettes, who are screaming lyrics wildly back at you. The feeling is intoxicating. The way your voice echoes on the speakers, or how your body glistens and glitters with sweat and even the confidence radiating from your choice in outfit. Tonight felt electric. Everyone was paying attention to you…

You narrowed it down to it just being a really great gig, but things hadn’t been this good since you left Hawkin’s for a small out of state tour. Being back in the bands origin town created an atmosphere that was.. unearthly. Something darker and deeper than you could never comprehend.

Eddie really just couldn’t believe it. Hearing his own lyrics leave your precious little mouth. It seemed wrong- it was wrong.

He watched you with intent from the back of the concert hall, blending in with the shadows cast upon him as he hugged the walls.

No one paid him any mind, he was purposely invisible- seeking out your attention and yours alone. His eyes glow, flickering like a faulty light bulb between a thrilling onyx and a fierce maroon. He wanted you to clock him. To seek him out in the crowd. You and Eddie had never had the pleasure of meeting and Eddie planned to change that. After all, you deserved to know who you were singing about, right?

The fans adored you, and because of your reputation, your angelic voice and your looks- you invited in a wider spread of demographic. You expanded the band without changing a thing and it made you feel accomplished. You were proud of what you contributed and so was Gareth and Jeff.

It made Eddie giggle demonically to himself so see a photograph of him taped to Gareth's drum set. It was a decent picture to say the least, however he couldn't help but wonder why they were paying him so much tribute. Was it some sick and twisted way to promote the band and get more media coverage? Or were they really just as pathetic as he thought and still missed him.

Eddie preferred the 'sick and twisted.'

The hall falls eerily dormant to you as there is a brief pause between songs. The audience remain enthralled but their screams are drowned out but a high pitched ring in your ear. At first, you thought it was mic interference. You never understood it. Not until you actually saw him. The abyss... staring back at you.

Staring into you.

Despite being beneath the sweltering stage lights, your skin coats in an unavoidable freezing spread of goosebumps. Your breathing staggers outwith your control and your head blazes with fog. You can hear Gareth trying to speak to you from behind but you're bolted to the spot, your eyelids fluttering in sync with your heart which you are now suddenly over aware of thundering inside of your chest.

You move a hand to where it beats beneath the skin, clutching at the fabric of your sheer pink blouse as you fight the urge to collapse- but unfortunately for you, your efforts go to waste. Eddie made sure of that.

-

You come to a small flashlight being shone in your eyes and a worried paramedic frowning at you.

“She’s awake!” Gareth yells over to Jeff and both of them appear in your line of vision, they are a bit distorted figure wise but you recognise them nonetheless.

“You’re backstage. You’re in your dressing room, can you tell me which town you are in?” The paramedics voice feels like it is a thumping base inside of your head and you wince inwardly to yourself. Gulping thickly before you reply.

“Hawkins.” You bark rather harshly, your throat dry, “Water? Please?” Gareth nods and both him and Jeff leave the room to go grab you a refreshment. Trust those two to make a one person job into a two person job.

“You’ll be alright, it was probably dehydration.” With a click of a button the flashlight turns off and it is placed back in the medics equipment bag, “I’d recommend taking it easy for the rest of the night- but I know you young ones don’t really listen to anyone these days… so take some pain medication and drink some bloody water, please.” With a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders he exits the room, heaving a sigh and leaving you to recollect your fractured thoughts.

What the Hell happened?

“You collapsed. Is what happened, love.” His voice comes from behind you, a hissing in your ear like a serpents tongue. Which seems impossible because you are situated on a sofa which is pressed against a wall. Logically, no one should be able to get behind you.

Whipping your head over your shoulders frantically, your eyes shot wide with terror as you search the room, only for your gaze to land on him cackling in front of you evilly. The tiredness has been shaken from your bones and the adrenaline flooding your bloodstream is enough for you to jump and go straight through the ceiling.

You know him. You know this man.

“Boo?” He remarks with a sinister grin.

You always thought, when put in these situations, that your trigger response would be fight or flight.. but you are frozen as cold as ice, to the spot.

“This is the part where you try to run away but I ultimately catch you.” His voice is strained, like he is longing for a drink of water, “Cat and mouse, my favourite game.” His large hand finds his chest in a sentimental gesture, “Usually it would warm my heart- but I don’t have one anymore.”

Not anymore? Confusion wraps a noose around your mind. What is he talking about? And why does he look so familiar and yet so alien?

Noticing your rigid unmoving frame Eddie frowns mockingly, “Awh,” He starts with a coo, “You’re no fun.” His bottom lip pokes out before he is biting back a smile. Flashing what you can almost pinpoint as fangs…

“I recognise you…” Your weak voice sounds pathetic as it leaves your throat in the form of a gulp- starting strong and then fizzling out into a whisper. Eddie cocks a brow, his hawk like eyes narrowing in on you.

“I’d like to hope so, sweetheart, considering you were just singing my lyrics.” He leans against your vanity mirror, crossing his strong arms against his chest, not having a single care for any of the products he has just swiped off of the desk.

“Eddie?” Your eyebrows knit together tightly on your face, eyes pinching as you shake your head, “I must be hallucinating. This isn’t real.” You let out a breathy laugh, bringing your palm to your face where you run it down your skin semi-aggressively.

“I must’ve hit my head hard!” You continue to laugh, your mind reeling. Eddie stares at you- a mix of amusement and impatience dominating his features.

“That’s adorable.” He pushes himself from the vanity mirror and within seconds he is in front of you, pinning you down onto the worn leather of the decades old sofa, “I don’t know if I should find you cute or annoying.” His fingers grip your face with a punishingly tight force and you squirm beneath him, fear replacing every one of your comedic thoughts.

“Please,” you squeak out, hoping there is some humanity left inside of him. But you would be wrong to assume, “Eddie, please…”

Your feeble attempts make him snicker beneath his breath, his grip only worsening on your cheeks, “This isn’t a dream, baby. I’m real, I’m here- I may not be alive… but I bet this pain feels pretty human to you, doesn’t it?” He quirks his head slightly, like a psychotic interested dog and you wince, your fingers clawing desperately at his wrist to try and get him to ease up, “It’s a shame that you might have bruises left on this pretty face of yours. I can see why Gareth chose you.” His chest rises and falls with more distorted laughter, “Poor lad, he so clearly wants to fuck you… but you don’t want him, do you?”

The dark sounds of his strangled cackle fills the room, you can hardly breathe with his weight on top of you. He is too strong, so unwavering. It makes you question..

What is he?

“You’ve replaced me.” He clicks his tongue, evidentially displeased, “You replaced me- and you hadn’t even met me.” He brings his face dangerously close to yours, your breathing is erratic and uncontrollable and only now are you able to really hone in on his appearance.

His eyes are blown to an impure murky shade of black and his lips are crusted ever so slightly with a tinged shade of red. Spider web like veins have crept themselves up his neck and arms- the hue of them being a deep purple… almost like the veins are dead- void of any blood at all.

“That’s it, baby, take it all in.” His pointed tongue sticks out, the muscle meets your face as he licks a long strip from your cheek to the corner of your eyes. You hadn’t noticed the tears streaming down your face, but Eddie was relishing in the saltiness of the liquid, “Tastes good, but not really what I’m gunning for.”

His obsidian eyes settle on your neck and you can feel your pulse quickening. Your legs have entered the equation as you start to thrash more violently against him, coming up short.

“Eddie stop! Please! Please!” You’re wailing now, screaming for your life and it irks Eddie beyond description. Violently he lets go of your face, only to clamp his hand steadily across your mouth.

“Those aren’t the type of begs I want to hear, gorgeous.” Your fists pound against his hollow chest and he brushes your attempts at self defence off like it is nothing. He even fake yawns at your bratty behaviour.

“You sounded so pretty up there on stage, I just had to meet you. That’s why you had that little dizzy spell.. that was me, you following along?” He sniffs at your hair, his nose tickling down to the shell of your ear, “Call me obsessed- but I might be your biggest fan.”

Heaven opens the floodgates to your eyes and you are a quivering, sobbing mess beneath Eddie. Your limbs are much too tired to fight against him and you can see your demise approaching.

“I’m not going to kill you,” He answers your thoughts, almost like he can hear you think, “I’m just so fucking hungry.” Craning your neck off to one side Eddie nuzzles his face into the crook of your neck, his nose poking and prodding at your skin- right above your main artery, “I also want my position back as lead guitarist.” His voice is much gentler now, a breathy whisper against your flesh, “I’m sure we can find room for you somewhere though, hmm?” You can tell that his words have a demented double meaning and you muster up enough energy to try and push him off again.

Your limbs feel like jello, weak and boneless. Eddie feels as though he is made of steel. Weighty with effortless leverage against you. Your eyelids feel fluttery as you look at the dressing room door- hoping Gareth and Jeff are just outside.

You can see shadowy figures dancing beneath the crack in the door and you mumble out a cry from beneath Eddie’s palm, “They won’t be able to help you.” His words are punctured by his teeth piercing your skin- harshly but with surgeon like precision.

Fire scorches your blood at the contact and your eyes shoot open with furious panic. You can’t scream against his hand, but you try. Choking out sobs and knocking at Eddie’s body. He doesn’t give, if anything he sucks at your neck harder, growling lowly into your ear. All you know is pain, it’s all you know- no more fear, no more terror. Just pain. Agonising. Paralysing… and then..

Nothing. You go numb. Your body falls limp against the cushions, the hard wooden beam running through the sofa presses against your spine in an almost relieving way and you let out a large sigh through flared nostrils.

Eddie finishes with you, unhooking his talon like teeth from your veins and studying your expression closely, “You might feel a bit lightheaded, but you’ll be okay.” His fingers stroke against your cheek which is aching from his previous grasp, “You look so pretty… so exhausted.” With a clasped hand he strokes your hair back and away from your face, only to grasp it roughly and pull you up from the leather material which now has a very prominent outline of your body wedged into. You yelp out, your hands flying to the back of your head where you grab his wrist.

“Now go and open that door, and tell them we were having a quickie… maybe I’ll reward you later if you’re good.” With a knowing wink he pushes you away from him brutishly, slapping your ass and laughing as he watches you move on wobbly legs toward the dressing room door. You don’t understand why, but you listen to him. His voice is like music to your ears- and you’d do anything to hear him speak to you again.

And being the good, obedient, brainwashed girl that you are- you open the door to Jeff and Gareth, looking like your world just got rocked.

-

taglist: @colorful-white-ideas @littlered0000 @ali-r3n @daisy-munson @serenadingtigers

[mischiefbuckley]

THIS SCENE!!!

FIRST OF ALL WHAT DO YOU MEAN BUCK TESTED OUT THE RECIPE FOR THE LASAGNA 3 FREAKING TIMES TO GET IT JUST RIGHT FOR EDDIE AND CHRISTOPHER LIKE SO MUCH EFFORT FOR YOUR BEST FRIEND AND HIS SON FOR WHAT BUCK WHAT WAS THE REASON?!!! WHEN YOU HAVE NEVER SEEMED TO CARE OR PUT THIS MUCH EFFORT FOR ANY OF YOUR OTHER PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIPS YK AND THE SIMPLE ACT OF TRYING TO PERFECT A RECIPE THAT YOU GOT FROM THE FATHER FIGURE IN YOUR LIFE WHO YOU LOOK UP TO AND BAKING THE RECIPE FOR YOUR BEST FRIEND AND HIS SON WHO HAPPEN TO BE JUST HANGING OUT ON A RANDOM NIGHT AT YOUR APARTMENT AND SEEMED VERY RELAXED AND AT HOME ESSENTIALLY ESPECIALLY WITH YK EDDIE JUST SEEMING LAID BACK AND RELAXED AND EMPHASIS ON THE RELAXED PART BECAUSE HE IS NOT ANXIOUS OR ON THE VERGE OF A PANIC ATTACK OR ANYTHING BECAUSE HE JUST FEELS AT PEACE WHENEVER HE IS AROUND BUCK AND HE IS JUST DRINKING HIS BEER WHILE PLAYING A GAME WITH HIS SON WHILE WAITING FOR THE FOOD TO BE READY

SECOND OF ALL IT BEING BOBBY’S FAMOUS LASAGNA RECIPE LIKE THE FATHER/SON RELATIONSHIP THOSE TWO HAVE THROUGHOUT THE SHOW WILL ALWAYS GET ME LIKE IT REALLY IS BUCK HAVING THOSE PEOPLE AROUND HIM THAT CARE ABOUT HIM AND LOVE HIM BUT EVEN AS SIMPLE AS SHARING A RECIPE LIKE THAT IS SUCH A “FATHER” MOVE ON BOBBY LIKE THE PASSING DOWN OF A RECIPE TO HIS “SON” BUCK SO HE CAN COOK IT FOR HIS OWN FAMILY AKA EDDIE AND CHRISTOPHER 😭

THIRD OF ALL THE AGAIN IT IS JUST THE FACT THAT EDDIE AND CHRISTOPHER ARE JUST CHILLING IN HIS APARTMENT ON A RANDOM NIGHT DURING THE WEEK AND THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT YK HOW BOBBY DIDN’T OFFER HIM THE INTERM CHIEF AND HE KEEPS GOING ON WITH HIS RAMBLING WHILE ALSO PREPPING THE FOOD FOR FAMILY DINNER WHILE EDDIE IS JUST RELAXED DRINKING A BEER WHILE PLAYING WITH CHRISTOPHER WHILE WAITING FOR THE FOOD TO BE READY AND LISTENING TO HIS GUY GO ON AND ON

AND THEN CHRISTOPHER BRINGS UP BUCK NOT HAVING A COUCH AND ITS GAME OVER RIGHT THERE THE CAMERA PANS TO THE EMPTY SPACE WHERE THERE IS NO COUCH AND EDDIE STARTS GIGGLING

AND THEN BUCK SAYING “MY LAST TWO COUCHES CAME WITH GIRLFRIENDS” AND EDDIE REAL QUICK TO SAY “I THINK YOU MEAN YOU’RE LAST TWO GIRLFRIENDS CAME WITH COUCHES” AND BUCK LET’S OUT A SIGH AS HE SITS DOWN READY TO YK EAT WITH HIS FAMILY AND EDDIE REMINDS HIM THAT TAYLOR MOVED OUT 4 MONTHS AGO AND HE COULD HAVE REPLACED THE COUCH AND MY MAN BUCK SAYING “WELL, MAYBE I DON’T WANT TO PICK THE WRONG COUCH AGAIN” AND EDDIE TELLING HIM THAT “MAYBE THAT’S HOW BOBBY FEELS ABOUT INTERIM CAPTAIN” AND ENDING THE SCENE TO IT PANNED BACK TO BUCK’S REACTION TO HEARING EDDIE TELLING HIM THAT LIKE AHHHHH

THERE IS JUST SO MUCH IN THIS SCENE ALONE LIKE IT IS VERY DOMESTIC BUDDIE AT ITS FINEST WITH THE BUCKLEY DIAZ FAMILY ALL RELAXING FOR FAMILY DINNER 🥹🫶🏻

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buddie: Has Eddie realized the Buck and Kim parallels yet?

Buck and Kim (Shannon's doppelgänger) are MIRROR IMAGES of each other! Also, Buck's right in front of Eddie and Kim was positioned to be the mirror so he could see who he's been wanting since he moved to Los Angeles and the person he wants is Buck.

There were a lot of references to season 2 in 7x9 and I might expound on all of them at some point but this post is solely about the similarities between Buck and Kim and the familiarity Eddie sees when he looks at her since he's already found everything he wants and needs in Buck but won't allow himself to have.

Full disclosure: Before I delve into this, I must admit how much I hate this "Vertigo" BS storyline they gave Eddie and I've posted about it many times because IMO he deserves better than an emotional cheating arc. But since TM (showrunner) is hellbent on incorporating DK into these episodes, it doesn't appear there's anything that can be done except fast forward through them like I did early this morning when I finally watched the episode. One more thing, I HATED the way they let Chris see Eddie with Kim. He's traumatized enough and I don't know if it was done for shock value or WTF but that was low for 9-1-1 standards and it shouldn't have been included.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

In 7x9, the scene with Buck and Kim at the firehouse allowed Buck to come face to face with a doppelgänger version of the person (Shannon) who still haunts both Eddie's and Chris' lives. Also, she represents the person Buck believes will always stand in the way of him stepping all the way in with Eddie so he can become his husband and a second father to Chris.

Now, I'll be honest, I watched the scene with Buck and Kim three times for several reasons but mainly because I noticed the show was trying to illustrate more than just Eddie's cheating. The truth is Buck's and Kim's scene should have DEMONSTRATED TO VIEWERS how Kim is a direct reflection and a representation of everything Eddie's already found and built with Buck, i.e., future spouse, lover, coparent for Chris and the family he chose. Basically, Buck's his everything but Eddie won't allow himself to feel it (believe he can have him).

When Buck came face to face with Kim, he stopped in his tracks and his breath caught in his throat because he thought he was looking at a ghost. Kim reminds him of the woman he believes Eddie will NEVER let go of/get over so they can be together and I can prove it with the images of them facing each other.

Ever since the BTS pics were released of Kim/Shannon, I wondered why her hair was blonde instead of brown. I figured it might be related to something but at the time I didn't know what. Now, IIRC, in the early part of season 1, Buck's hair was reddish blonde but for some reason, he dyed it and it's more of a dirty blonde now. Some people debate over the color of Buck's hair; however I'm not doing that here since it's not the point of this post. Furthermore, several Buddie shippers have commented on the gray/white streak in Kim's hair and they did the research that it's a birthmark. There have been several posts on it and the authors of them have commented that it's on the wrong side for her head for it to mimic Buck but I beg to differ.

When they faced each other (reminder Buck was never shown talking to Shannon in season 2; he saw her but they never interacted in CANON) their birthmarks were aligned. His is on the left side of his head and hers is on the right side but when they're facing, they line up. Additionally, Buck's lips are pink and IIRC, Shannon never wore bright red lipstick but Kim did. Buck and Kim (Shannon) all have blue eyes and everyone who watches the show should know Eddie loves looking at Buck the same way he said he liked looking at Kim. If these aren't parallels that show Eddie has found everything he wants and needs in Buck, then the writers should be replaced because they wrote it like this.

Why are these things important?

They're important because for the entirety of season 7, the show has gone above and beyond to show viewers how Buck, Eddie and Chris are ALREADY a family. Additionally, their screentime also illustrates how Buck is already one of Chris' three parents and it began in 7x1.

The three pictures above show Buck, Eddie and Shannon sitting on the same spot of Chris' bed. Please note: this is not an illusion for Buddie Shippers, it's all right above in the photos and the show orchestrated this the same way they did Buck's and Kim's similarities.

Did the show do a good job of illustrating how Eddie wants to be with Buck instead of Kim? It's debatable especially for those who are CHOOSING not to see it but the intentions were crystal clear. Buck being face to face with Kim was INTENTIONAL and the show didn't do anything to deter the parallels and similarities between them, as a matter of fact, they highlighted them.

While Eddie and Kim were in the boat, he said, "Maybe I just like looking at you" but who has EDDIE ALWAYS GIVEN "HEART EYES" TO? BUCK!

Other than the pictures of Eddie and Shannon that Eddie keeps gazing at with longing, he rarely looked at Shannon with heart eyes.

The additional pictures below show how Buck and Kim mirror each other. When they're facing their birthmarks are on the same side. Also, Kim's even wearing a striped shirt which is reminiscent of the striped shirt Buck wore during the shooting but the differences are his stripes were vertical while hers were horizontal and her stripes are bolder/thicker. (Please note, she was wearing like three shirts/tops so it must have been intentional and her shirts were navy-blue and blue which is the same color as the Buckley-Diaz family color.)

Eddie loves everything about Buck and he loves him so much that he put him in his will and named him to be Chris' legal guardian. He gave Buck his heart years ago because he believes Buck wont break it like Shannon did. In 3x8, he told Bobby, Shannon broke Chris' heart (Eddie's heart) when she left but just like always, Eddie's choosing to see the good while ignoring all the bad stuff that was included in their relationship. She literally asked him for a divorce but after all these years, he's still searching for the perfect "woman" to fill Shannon's shoes when he already has everything he's searching for in Buck.

Some viewers think Eddie doesn't know he's in love with Buck but I beg to differ. I believe he does know but due to his religious beliefs, he won't allow himself to want him. Also, Buck believes Shannon will always be the person who blocks/prevents or stops him from being with Eddie since after all these years, Eddie hasn't moved on from her. However, Buck knows the truth about Eddie's relationship with Shannon because Eddie told him about it in 2x10 and it's evident Buck knows she abandoned them by the way he apologized to Eddie in 3x9 for abandoning him and Chris during the lawsuit.

The point of this post is to illustrate the way 9-1-1 allowed Buck to come face to face with Kim in an episode that's all about ashes. Also, the haunted look on his face (Shannon reappeared in Eddie's and Chris' lives in 2x7 Haunted) showed how Buck's not sure if he'll ever be able to be who Eddie wants since Eddie hasn't moved on from the woman he dated when he was 18 years old.

One good thing that happened in the $hitshow that's this raggedy ass storyline is, Kim/Shannon told Eddie he needs to "Let her go" and hopefully, he FINALLY WILL!

Before I end this post, I have to include my continued belief in my Buddie Crack Theory because there were even more things in 7x9 that furthered my belief in Buck still being in his coma dream. I haven't decided if I'll post the details yet because there are a lot of them and I don't want to do a long post, so I'll have to determine how I want to proceed with it.

[princessamericachavez]

I still can’t believe how unhinged the couch thing is.

In s5 we see that Taylor brings her couch into the loft even though Buck has one and they have a problem from the get go because both couches (aka their personalities, their lives, their wants) do not fit in at the same time. They are both too attached to their own individual lives and goals to actually share a life. There’s no space for both of them in that home.

Ok anyway moving on Taylor is gone and we have an empty space where she forced her couch into Buck’s space.

Anyway, my point is: 6x1 we have the whole couch conversation and it’s always been such an OBVIOUS metaphor for Buck and Eddie’s relationship that it drives me insane.

“You know, I think it’s weird that he’s struggling to pick a replacement when he has so many excellent options right under his nose.”

“Like you?”

“It’s like he’s choosing not to see them and everything they have to offer.”

In the same season where we now know that Eddie will be exploring his dating options and going out with other people?????? Are you kidding me???????????

Buck saying this while he cooks for Eddie and Chris???? While he offers food and comfort??? In a show that has consistently utilized cooking and feeding others as a clear metaphor for love and family?!?!

And they even hammer it in again!!!

“What are you offering?”

“Right now, Bobby’s famous lasagna.”

I need to talk about thisssss. Because not only have we been presented with the idea of food as love and nurturing but also cooking as personal growth, about learning to nurture yourself and others and getting out of the darkness. Think about Bobby after joining the 118. But also think about Maddie being impressed by Buck “growing up” represented by Buck having learned cooking skills from Bobby. Think about Eddie going to therapy and swapping recipes with Linda and learning to be better and look after himself after getting chewed off by his dad for burning breakfast for his mom and sisters.

What Buck is offering is his own growth as a person. Is saying “I’ve put myself back together”. It’s saying “I’ve been working on myself for five years to become a better man”. It’s saying “it’s taken me several tries but I’m finally getting there.”

And of course after all that it’s when we go fully into the couch metaphor. It’s hard to say much about this dialogue that hasn’t been said before, but mostly I want to highlight that, for Buck, this metaphor is tightly tied to romantic relationships. “My last two couches came with girlfriends” and “maybe I don’t want to pick the wrong couch again”. But it’s also the fact that Buck picks his chair to take the couch’s spot for now. That is Buck. Buck being single.

The whole metaphor could’ve simply been about Buck realizing he doesn’t need a relationship to define him and who he is and that he should choose his own path and create a space in his home for himself. But if that was the case he would’ve just bought a couch for himself. The single chair represents his single path at the moment. The couch will be a romantic metaphor.

All of this to say that it’s absolutely unhinged that this is the last shot of Eddie we see in 6a.

And this comes after a) Buck called to give them the baby news, b) Eddie looked less than pleased at the reveal, c) Eddie hung up saying he was gonna try to get some sleep before taking Chris to school.

Except we see him drop the controller here. So he clearly kept playing. Even though he looked quite frustrated there. Fighting with himself. Anyway clearly something was bothering him.

What’s insane to me is that we cut immediately from this shot to Buck sleeping and the whole baby onesie shot. And I don’t think it could be any more obvious that we are meant to connect these two dots. Especially when we see them in the same montage as Henren and Maddnie sleeping together on their respective beds. And we know Buck’s whole donor thing was partly motivated by other things, like his need to be useful to others and save everyone, but also his eternal search for family and perhaps a call to fatherhood (even though he’s clearly not struggling with separating the idea as everyone expected).

Anyway, I do think having Eddie sleep on his couch rather than his bed was certainly A CHOICE. and it feels even more obvious when we know what happens in 6b.

I love that the Buckley’s brought up Buck’s lack of couch an episode before. HEY REMEMBER THIS? And it’s so much A Thing that we see that even Maddie gets it.

Which is so important considering the very. next. episode. we are going to get the most obvious callback to this metaphor in the shape of Buck finally finding rest and peace at Eddie’s couch?!?!?!

THEY ARE SO UNHINGED FOR THIS

And then they go as far as to have Buck point out “how did I pass out so fast?”

Like boyyyyyy you’re this 🤏🏽 close to figuring it out!!!!!!!

Anyway I cannot WAIT to see how they bring it up again and how Margaret’s couch finds its demise and especially knowing Buck’s very last scene of the season will touch back on the metaphor.

It will be so insane if they actually pull this off!!!!!!!

[deluweil]

I see people going about how Bobby was so unserious about the stache in Eddie's little one o one when, in reality,

1.How can you be serious with that mustache 😂

2. More seriously, that mustache is a manifestation of something, it is just a symptom to whatever is happening inside.

It is the reason behind the stache.

In term you ladies understand, that is like cutting one's hair after a breakup.

Eddie can only go bald so he went with that God awful stache.

Also that stache is covering his face, like a mask, it is masking something. It's like some singers hide behind their guitars like a buffer between them and the world.

I don't think that Eddie’s biggest problem is Christopher being gone, sure it hurts and sucks, like a limb missing.

But Christopher was an excuse for Eddie to ignore his own needs and issues and focus all his attention on the growing kid, who doesn't really need as much attention as he did before, at least, not in the same way.

I think this distance, while written terribly, is needed for both Eddie and Christopher to grow beyond the restriction of their home and relationship.

So of course I want Chris back, but I am glad Eddie can finally take a good look at himself and grow beyond being Christopher’s dad.

What Eddie was thinking that Kim or all those women that came before her could do was to replace Shannon so that Christopher would have a mother.

Which might have been semi valid when Christopher was still 7 years old. But that's not what he needs anymore.

Kim was the last straw for Christopher because not only did she look like Shannon, the kid thought that Eddie thought that a poor imitation of his mother could ever replace his true mother.

What Eddie should have done was talk to Christopher instead of letting a hormonal teenager go off into the west with his grandparents.

But since this didn't happen, mostly because I believe the writers are either horrible parents or just single and never really raised a teenager, both Eddie and Christopher get to build their own lives and figure out how they want or need it to look before getting back to the father-son dynamics.

So no, Bobby wasn't wrong in pointing to the stache, it is the symptom, not the problem, but only Eddie can know what it represents.

[suckerfordylansstuff]

New Journey (S.H.) Chapter 5 Season 4

Pairing: Steve Harrington x henderson!reader

Summary: Back to Hawkins for spring break. Y/n believed it would just be a quiet time to cherish with her loved ones, but one day in and another mess had already began.

Warnings: cursing

Notes: This chapter is slightly longer than the rest because I realized this season is going to be like... idk 15 chapters by the time I finish, so... yeah. Getting closer to the action so excited for you to see that. Enjoy this chapter and stay safe!💕

Chapter 4 << Masterlist >> Chapter 6

You arrived at Hawkins High quickly, rushing to get inside and find the rest. When you spotted Steve and the kids, you felt relief to see them alive. But that feeling was quickly replaced by dread as Steve was over Max who was lying on the floor.

“It was here. Right here.” the redhead explained to you after she got off the ground and calmed herself down. She was looking forward to a wall in front of you, searching for something that clearly wasn’t there.

“A grandfather clock?” Nancy asked.

“It was so real. And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just… I woke up.”

“It was like she was in a trance or something. Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy.” Dustin’s face was filled with worry, even though he wanted to mask it. Hearing his words made you all imagine the worst about your dear friend.

“Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Miss Kelley for help. Uh, they both were having headaches, bad headaches that wouldn’t go away. And then… then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They’d wake up in a cold sweat. And then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their pasts. And these visions, they just… they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually… everything ended.” Max explained to you and the girls who had missed their part of the plan.

“Vecna’s curse.” Robin stated.

“Chrissy’s headaches started a week ago. Fred’s six days ago. I’ve been having them for five days. I don’t know how long I have.” you immediately opened your mouth to argue but Max shot her hand up, stopping you before moving on “All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than 24 hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so… looks like I’m gonna die tomorrow.”

Before any of you could say anything, clanging began echoing through the halls. You tensed up and looked at Steve to see his next move. His eyes fell on you and without hesitation took the responsibility in his shoulders.

“Stay here.” he told all of you before picking up a lamp that was next to him, leaving the room and you behind. You knew that he was never scared to confront anything that came your way, but he also knew that none of you ever listened to him, so it was a matter of time before he heard footsteps following him.

You were right behind him, ready to assist him in any way possible. You focused on the noises, the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer to you. Steve lifted his arms and the lamp, ready to strike when he saw the intruder round the corner you were in. However, a yelp fell from your mouth the moment you saw the face before you was a familiar one. Luckily, Steve’s reflexes were quick so he stopped his movement before he could hit Lucas, who started screaming along with the rest of you.

“It’s me!” the poor boy exclaimed, his voice heavy as he panted.

“Lucas?” Nancy asked out of pure confusion.

“It’s me!”

“Jesus. What’s wrong with you, Sinclair?” Steve yelled at the kid.

“I’m sorry.” Lucas exhaled deeply, trying to find his breath.

“I could’ve taken you out with this lamp.” your boyfriend cried out, clearly shaken up over this.

“Lucas, what are you doing here?” you asked, trying to find some answers to this whole mess. Why is he here? Did he follow you?

“I’m sorry, guys. Sorry. I was… I was biking for eight miles. Give me a second.” he held up his finger to you, as he took deep breaths in and out “Shit. We’ve got a code red.”

“What?” Steve asked, the lamp now on the floor next to him.

“Dustin.” Lucas walked up to your brother “I’ve been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they’ve gone like totally off the rails. They’re trying to capture Eddie, and they think you know where he is. You’re in terrible danger.” your eyes opened wide at his words.

“All right, yeah, that- that definitely sucks, but we’ve got bigger problems than Jason right now.” Dustin looked over at Max, Lucas quickly following his eyes. You watched as the boy’s face fell and the realization hit him the moment he saw the girl he loved. Something was wrong and it was far bigger than Jason.

After last night’s crazy adventure, you returned back to safety but this time you spent the night at the Wheeler’s basement. It was kind of weird being here without Mike. You kept trying to reach out to the rest in California, but the line was always busy. Dustin blamed Joyce’s new job.

So, since you couldn’t find anyone else to help, you figured it was up to you to solve this mystery. Just like old times you thought.

Nancy and Robin had talked with you early in the morning about what they were planning on doing. You nodded as you listened to the plan “Your only job right now is to inform the rest about what we found. Easy peasy.” and sure, you would have agreed with Nancy’s statement if you weren’t dealing with three boys who share three brain cells.

“Okay, be honest. Uh… You guys understand any of this?”

“No.”

“Pretty straightforward.”

You were showing Steve, Lucas and Dustin, the newspaper article you had found at the library, and your brother, being the group’s, know-it-all decided to showcase his smarts to the rest who clearly weren’t having it, especially your boyfriend. He was pacing back and forth as he read the papers in his hands, while you were sat in the armchair, the kids on the sofa next to you.

“Oh, straightforward, really?” Steve asked Dustin impatiently.

“Well, what’s confusing to you? So far, everyone Vecna has cursed has died, except for this old Victor Creel dude Nancy found. He’s the only known survivor. If anyone knows how to beat this curse, it’s him.” Dustin explained as you sat and listened to their conversation, waiting for a moment to let you explain your findings.

“Yeah, that’s assuming he was cursed, Henderson, which we don’t even know. How can Vecna have existed back in the ‘50s? It doesn’t even make sense.” Steve said, mostly to himself as he scratched his head, trying to make sense of what you told him.

“As far as we know, Eleven didn’t create the Upside Down. She opened a gate to it. The Upside Down has probably been around for thousands of years. Millions. I wouldn’t be surprised if it predated the dinosaurs.”

“Dinosaurs? Okay, what are we-” Steve was ready to argue with him when Lucas’s voice cut him off.

“Okay, okay, but if a gate didn’t exist in the ‘50s, how did Vecna get through?”

“Oh, and how’s he getting through now?” Steve pointed at Lucas, continuing on the question.

“And why now?”

“And why then? Just pops out in the ‘50s, kills one family, and he’s like, ‘Eh, I’m good’. And poof, he just disappears. Just… gone? Only to return 30 years later and start killing some random teens? No, I don’t buy it. Have you guys thought of anything?” your eyes landed on Steve when you realized he was asking you something, but you were quick to turn down his hopes over an explanation.

“Not anything that you haven’t said right now. I mean, it makes sense that this is connected to the Upside Down, you can’t explain it any other way. But how is it connected? How he came into our world now and then is something we haven’t solved. I just- I don’t know…” you sighed and shrugged your shoulders, accepting defeat.

“See, Henderson, it’s 3 to 1. Straightforward, my ass. You know, honestly, a little humility every now and then, it wouldn’t hurt you.” your eyes followed Steve who moved to sit on the armchair opposite to you, pointing his finger at Dustin.

“Sorry.” he said, but you could tell he didn’t mean it.

Silence filled you for a moment before Dustin’s interest picked up again when his eyes fell on Max “Any idea what she’s writing?” you and the rest followed his eyes and watched the said girl, hunched over the desk in the basement, writing on papers without ever stopping “Did she sleep?”

“I mean… would you?” Lucas asked him.

Just then the door at the top of the stairs opened, revealing Nancy and Robin who had just returned after perfecting the plan you had come up with.

“Okay, so… We have a plan.” Nancy announced, passing to you the 2 folders she had on her hands. After checking out their work, you handed it to the rest of the group.

“Thanks to Nancy’s newspaper minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame.” Robin started explaining enthusiastically. She was leaning on the staircase while Nancy sat on a stool next to her.

“I’m now Ruth.”

“And I’m Rose.” Nancy and Robin told you one by one.

“Ruth?” Steve questioned as he looked over one of the folders.

“Nice GPA.” Dustin started which made Nancy smile.

“Thanks. So, we called Pennhurst Asylum, told them we’d like to speak with Victor Creel for a thesis we’re co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics-”

“To which they said no.” Robin cut in, her words making you scoff.

“Can’t imagine why.”

“But we landed a 3 o’clock with the director.” Nancy informed you.

“Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor.” Robin continued the plan.

“And then maybe we can rid Max of this curse.” your friend’s eyes fell on Max’s figure.

“Yeah, about that? We’ve been doing our Victor Creel homework, and, uh… we got some questions.”

“Lots of questions.” Lucas agreed with Steve’s statement, to which Nancy and Robin could only nod their heads to.

“So do we. Hopefully, Victor has the answers.”

“Wait, wait, wait a second.” Steve said immediately after Nancy stopped talking. Confusion had filled his face as he pointed between the two of you “Uh… Where’s ours?” he held up one of the folder’s, chuckling as if he missed a vital piece of information.

“Steve. We’re not going.” you explained to him as a matter of fact.

And with this simple sentence, chaos erupted. You were now following behind Steve, who was following Nancy to her room to get prepared for the plan, arguing about his place in the group.

“You guys are outta your mind if you think I’m babysitting again.” Steve’s voice was loud as you stepped inside Nancy’s room.

“We need to keep them safe. What don’t you understand about that?” you argued back, your hands on your hips. Nancy was ignoring the situation as she started searching her closet.

“I know, but why does it always have to be me?” his body was now facing you, throwing his hands around with exaggeration.

Suddenly Robin came through, which pulled your attention from the arguing “Oh my God, you have a Tom Cruise poster. You have a Tom Cruise poster.” her smile was sly and aimed at Nancy who immediately got flustered.

“That’s old. It’s just. Can you please not touch anything?” you shook your head, removing yourself from that conversation, and returned to the one that mattered to you.

“Steve, what is the problem? Please, just say what you’re thinking for once.” you pleaded him, and after a moment of stuttering he pulled his thoughts together.

“I just- I can’t- I can’t do anything here to actually help. Do you feel like you’re helping?”

“Max is in danger, Steve. There is no way she’s staying here alone without an adult to help her. You don’t think that’s important?” you looked up at him. You knew you sounded like a mother scolding her child, but when he’s acting like a kid not getting his way, your behavior was called for.

“No, of course I do, but I do kind of want to get out into the field just once. You know maybe I can truly help with the asylum director. Maybe, like, turn on my charm.”

“Not the kind of charm we need.” Nancy interrupted you, which made Steve turn his head to her, a frown on his face.

“Ouch.”

“No, I just… I did a little digging last night, and it turns out this Dr. Hatch is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Harvard visiting scholar, okay? This is a lifelong student of the world, and if we’re gonna win him over, we’re gonna have to convince that him we are too. That like him, we are true academic scholars.”

“Holy shit. There’s a little ballerina in here.” Robin was once again in her own little world, making Steve scoff.

“Academic scholar? She’s giving you an academic scholar vibe? Yeah.” he said sarcastically making Nancy shrug her shoulders.

“Well, Y/n refused to join so we didn’t really have a choice.”

“You would have gone without me?” Steve whined at you.

“Did you miss the part where I said no?”

Before you could continue disagreeing, Nancy took your attention by holding up a pink dress she had pulled out of her closet “But it doesn’t matter because anyone will look the part with this…” the silence made Robin look up and stop her snooping when she realized the dress was meant for her.

“Oh, please, tell me that you’re joking?”

Steve had never felt more defeated as he sat on the couch, squished between Dustin and Lucas, trying to find something to focus on except for Max who was sitting right opposite of them, still writing.

“I know you guys are staring at me.”

“What? Sorry?”

“You said you needed something?”

“Just hanging out.”

“Yeah.”

You all told her at once, grabbing anything nearby to act as if she didn’t catch you staring at her. You busied yourself with a yo-yo that was lying on the floor.

“How do you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna, I don’t know.” you could see from the corner of your eye that Max was now out of her sacred chair and was walking towards you, but you were still focused on the very tangled yo-yo on your hands “You can look at me now.”

You let out a breath, letting the yo-yo fall from your hands back on the floor and lifting your head to watch her from your seat on the armchair.

“For you. For you. For you. For you, and, um, you.” you frowned when she began handing each of you letters “Oh, and, um, give these to Mike, El, and Will. If you can ever get a hold of them again.” she handed the rest to Lucas. You stole a glance at the guys and began opening the letter when Max’s voice stopped you “Hey what are you doing? No, don’t. That’s not for now. Don’t open it now.”

You lifted your hands up as if you surrendered to her demands when Dustin spoke up, asking the very thing you were all thinking “Don’t. Okay. I’m sorry. What is this?”

“It’s, um… It’s a fail-safe. For after… You know if things don’t work out.” your mouth fell open after hearing her words, your defense, or better denial, walls lifted up.

“What? Max, no.” you shook your head.

“Things are gonna work out.” Lucas tried to reassure her as well, but you quickly realized that this wasn’t what she was looking for.

“No! No, I don’t need you to reassure me right now and tell me it’s all gonna work out, because people have been telling me that my entire life and it’s almost never true. I mean, of course this asshole curses me. Should’ve seen that one coming.”

You teared up at her words, because even if you didn’t want to believe it, even if you knew all of you would do anything in your power to help her and keep her safe, the Upside Down was cruel, never showing mercy. You feared that her words were true and her fate was sealed, but till anything happened you were okay with being in denial. Just for a moment.

Max’s gaze traveled along the basement, finally landing on one of the radios on the table. She grabbed it and turned to ask Dustin a question “If we go to East Hawkins, will this reach Pennhurst?”

“Of course. Yeah.”

“Wait, why are we talking about East Hawkins?” you waited for an answer to come after Steve’s question, but instead of words, Max responded with a look on her face that made you incredibly anxious “No. No. No!”

“Max, we’re not going anywhere.” you stood up, trying to stop the kids from getting ready, but before you knew it you were running after Max who had walked out the basement door and headed straight for Steve’s car.

“Max! Max. Seriously. Seriously, we’re not joking, okay? I’m not driving you anywhere.” Steve’s tone was firm, but Max’s was firmer.

“If you two think I’m going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that is Mike Wheeler’s basement, then you’re out of your minds. So, either take me where I need to go or you’re gonna have to tie me down, which is technically kidnapping of a minor. And if I live to see another day, Steve, Y/N, I swear to God, I will prosecute.” she failed to open the car door, which made her even more frustrated “Open the door.”

“Uh, no.” Steve was assertive. You, not so much.

“I know a good lawyer.” Max glared at you. She knew you were the easy one to crack, especially when deep down you knew she was right.

“Open the car.” you told Steve, making him whip his head to stare at you.

“Y/n?”

“She scares me.” you explained and nodded towards the car, silently telling him to open it. He looked into your eyes for a second before sighing and doing as he was told.

“Henderson, that super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst.” you got inside after he unlocked the car and placed yourself in the passenger’s seat “And you’re wondering why I wanted to go on team Pennhurst. If I’m gonna be bossed around, I would prefer it not be kids doing it.” Steve was mumbling under his breath, his words winning a chuckle out of you.

“Drive.” Max demanded.

“Fine!”

The first stop you made was to her and her mom’s trailer. It was easy to get there now since all the cop cars, ambulances, and reporters had disappeared. You waited longer than you would have liked but when you were ready to go search for her, she appeared as if out of thin air, instructing you to start the car without any explanation as to what had happened or where you were now heading.

She just kept giving you the directions as you went along your way. By the time you had realized where she was taking you, you didn’t know if it was the right choice to come here, but if this was what she felt she needed, then it was the correct one.

“I feel like I’m gonna throw up just sitting here.”

Just because it was the right choice didn’t mean it was easy for any of you. You couldn’t even imagine how Max was feeling.

“Yeah, me too. It’s been long enough.” Steve agreed with you, already taking off along with you to check on her.

“Please, just give her some time.” Lucas told you, but you wouldn’t listen, worry taking control over your body.

“I have, all right, Sinclair? I’m calling it. She wants to get a lawyer, she can.” Steve answered for the both of you.

As you walked up the mill, you began calling out for her “Max? Sweetheart, is everything okay?”

“Time to giddy up, Max, yeah?” you crouched before Max, Steve’s body a little behind you. He stood there waiting for a response from the redhead, but all he got was a gasp and a cry for help coming out of your mouth.

Vecna had Max.

That’s all you could think about. Panic filled you as you and Steve tried to snap her out of the trance he had put her in. Watching Max’s still body and her blank eyes made your insides do flips.

Steve eventually calls out for the kids to come and help. After seeing that shaking your friend’s body is unhelpful, you tell Dustin to go and quickly call Nancy and Robin, to see if they have found anything useful.

It wasn’t long before your brother returned, carrying something in his arms. He let the stuff fall to the ground, in front of Max. It was then that you realized he had brought you Max’s Walkman and some of her music.

“What is this?” Lucas questioned, unable to guess how this would help at all.

“Her song. What’s her favorite song?” Dustin asked him, his voice raised.

“Why? Why?”

“Robin said if- if she listens- It’s too much to explain right now. What’s her favorite song?” Dustin was yelling at this point, making your brain go blank.

“It’s here. It’s right here! I got it!” luckily Lucas found the tape, and passed it to Steve, who put it in her Walkman. You placed the headphones on her head and signaled for Dustin to hit play.

You waited for something to happen but still tried calling out to her. However, when her body began lifting up in the air, you all lost your voices. You stood up, your eyes never leaving her levitating body. You yelled out her name again and again, desperately trying to wake her up.

After feeling like you were screaming for an eternity, Max’s body surrendered to gravity and fell to the ground, quickly coming out of the trance scared and panicked. Lucas took her into his arms to calm her down.

“Hey, Dustin, this is Eddie the Banished. You there? Dustin, can you hear me? Dustin?”

Your eyes fluttered open when a voice interrupted your slumber. You lifted your head up, trying to focus on the voice. You were sleeping uncomfortably on one of the armchairs, while Steve was sleeping even more uncomfortably on the floor next to you, his back supported by the armchair.

It wasn't hard to let sleep take over you after the eventful day you had yesterday, but the sleep felt short, so you were cursing the person who was right now interrupting your one moment of calm.

“Earth to Dustin.” you looked around the room to locate the noise and when you realized it was coming out of the walkie-talkie, you rushed forward to answer Eddie, careful to not knock Steve’s head.

“Yeah, Eddie, it’s Y/n.” your voice was harsh, so you slightly coughed to get it back to normal.

“The other Henderson! Hey. Um, I’m gonna need a food delivery, like, really soon, unless you want me going out into the world.” Eddie told you but you shook your head at his words.

“No. No, no, no. Don’t do that. Stay there, and we’ll come as fast as we can.” you heard a groan from your right and you looked over to see Nancy waking up due to your talking. You gave her a quick smile before focusing back on Eddie’s voice.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, um… can you pick me up a six-pack? I know, it’s stupid as shit, drinking right now, but uh… cold beer would really calm my jangled nerves.”

You opened your mouth to agree with his request, but Nancy spoke up, catching your attention “Hey. Where’s Max?” your head whipped around to look at the couch Max was supposed to be sleeping on, finding it empty.

“Sure, um… I have to go…” you turned the radio off and shook your brother’s body.

“Dustin!” the boy just groaned “Wake up.”

“What?” Dustin asked, his whole body jerking him awake. In the process, his head rolled back and hit the TV making him groan again. You rolled your eyes, Nancy taking the detective role.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on Max watch?”

“Yep. Yep, yep, yep. Sorry.” Dustin rubbed his eyes, forcing himself to wake up.

“Okay, well- Then where is she?” you questioned.

“She’s right there.” Dustin answered quickly, for a moment thinking you were dumb for not seeing that Max was right there, but his eyes widened when he saw the makeshift bed empty, realizing he had screwed up “A second ago. I swear, I just dozed off for…” he checked his watched and cringed “… an hour.”

“Shit.” you exclaimed and got up to look for Max. Nancy followed behind you. Your first thought was to get out of the basement and search the entire house. Luckily you didn’t have to get more stressed, because when you entered the kitchen you saw that Max was as safe and sound as she could be at the Wheeler’s residence, sitting with Holly at the kitchen table, drawing.

“Morning, girls. Everything okay?” Karen, Nancy’s mom, asked you. She had the sweetest smile on her face. You nodded your head at her question even though it was a lie.

“Yeah. Yeah, everything’s okay.” Nancy answered her mother. Dustin was now with you after exiting the basement, looking at the breakfast Karen had prepared.

“I think it’s so sweet that you guys are sticking together like this.” the woman told you, but your attention was focused on Max who had just noticed you.

“Could try sticking together at a different house for a change.” you ignored Mr. Wheeler’s snide comment and headed over to the table, sitting opposite Max and next to Nancy.

“Hey.” the girl said after removing the headphones from her ears.

“Hi. You okay?” you asked with a soft voice.

“Just couldn’t sleep. People kept blasting music in my ears for some reason.” you both chuckled a little at her joke “But Holly let me borrow some of her crayons. We’ve been having fun, right, Holly?” the little girl hummed but was clearly not paying a lot of attention to the three of you, focusing on her own toy.

“Is this… what you saw last night?” Nancy pointed at the red drawings filling the wooden table.

“I mean, it’s supposed to be. I thought it’d be easier to draw it out than to explain it, but… not so much.”

“Is that?” Nancy couldn’t finish the question, just took the drawing in her hands. You leaned over to take a look, your eyes widening when you realized who she had drawn.

“It was like they were on display or something.” the girl could not shake the memory from her mind, seeing Chrissy and Fred’s bodies like this was unforgettable “And then there was this red fog everywhere. It was like a dream. A nightmare.” Max explained, her eyes almost distant.

“Do you think it was on purpose? Trying to scare you?” you asked her.

“With Billy? Yeah. But when I made it here… I dunno, something was different. He seemed surprised, almost.” you took a glance to your left and saw Dustin sit next to you, his plate filled with pancakes “Like he didn’t want me there.”

“Maybe you infiltrated his mind. He invaded your mind, right? Is it that big of a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his? Like Freddie Krueger’s boiler room.” Dustin suggested and Holly’s head lifted up, his words catching her attention.

“Freddie Krueger?” the small girl questioned.

“He’s a super burned-up dude with razors for fingers. And he kills you in your dreams.” Dustin told her like it was not a big deal to say something like that to a girl.

“Dustin! Seriously?” Nancy told your brother who, after taking a look at your scolding face, realized that what he had said was wrong.

“Sorry. It’s a movie. It’s not real.” he said to Holly and quickly got back into the matter at hand “Just… think about it. What if you somehow unlocked a backdoor to Vecna’s world? Like, maybe the answer we’re looking for is…” he took one of the drawings in his hands “…somewhere in this incredibly vague drawing. God, we need Will.”

“Yeah, no shit. But I tried them all this morning and it��s the same usual busy signal.” Max complained.

Dustin placed down the paper he had grabbed and your eyes landed on it while the rest talked. Something about it felt familiar to you, and when you realized how, a gasp fell from your lips.

“Nancy?” the girl hummed at the mention of her name “Doesn’t this look like…” your finger pointed at the sketch. Nancy grabbed the paper when she saw it.

“Is this a window?” she asked Max, who nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Stained glass with roses.” you told Nancy, the gears already turning in her head.

“Yeah. See? I’m not so terrible after all.” Max said.

“Yeah, well, it helps that we’ve seen it before.” Nancy began aligning the papers to make out the image you had in your heads. She took one of the markers from the table and lined out the outlines of the house that had formed from the drawings.

“It’s pieces of a house.” Max said in realization.

“Not just any house. It’s Victor Creel’s house.” you looked at them, your words widening their eyes.

You stole a glance at Nancy, before you both got up from your seats.

“Where are you going?” Dustin asked Nancy, his mouth full of pancakes.

“Waking the others.” Nancy answered him.

You made your way back to the basement, your first stop being Steve.

“Get up. Get up. Get up.” you shook his shoulder. A groan left his lips.

“Just five more minutes.” he tried to sway your hand away, but you continued to shake him.

“Now.”

He recognized the seriousness in your voice so he opened his eyes, even if the light hurt them “Hey, what’s the matter?”

“We have a lead, so we need to go. Now!”

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[wheels-of-despair]

The First and Last Breakup of Eddie Munson and Evil Woman Pairing: Eddie Munson x You Summary: Once upon a time, two stupid teenagers fell in love. And then they broke up for a stupid reason and spent a whole week doing stupid things because they're stupid teenagers. Contains: A little Evil Woman backstory, a brotherly reveal, misery, idiots in love but being little bitches about it, a happy ending. Words: 5k

SATURDAY

You'd been at some fancy ski resort in Colorado with your father, his shiny new wife, and their two replacement children for seven days.

It felt like seven years.

You only had two precious weeks of winter break before classes switched over for the spring semester, and you'd wasted half of it with people you hated. (And your brother, who hated them just as much as you did.)

But after seven long days of listening to your father's fake laugh, your step-mother's snippy comments, wishing you could drop-kick her brats through a window, and picking tiny trees off your overpriced and underwhelming food, you were almost back home. You didn't typically care for plane rides, but this one wasn't bad at all. When you landed, you'd have someone waiting for you. (Other than your mother. Who you also loved. And were very excited to see.)

You were a little disappointed when you came through the terminal and didn't see him there. You'd kind of hoped he'd hitch a ride with your mom to maximize your remaining Eddie Time over break. But you recovered quickly, gave your mom a big smile and a hug, and called shotgun. (Suck it, bro. The united front only applies in hostile territory.)

You took turns filling her in on how much it sucked, how dumb your step-monster was, and how annoying her brats were.

He wasn't waiting for you at home, either.

"Have you heard from Eddie at all?" you asked as you dumped a pile of dirty clothes in the laundry room.

"Nope," your mom answers, sorting the lights from the darks. "Then again, I'm not really in contact with any teenagers who don't belong to me."

You glance at your watch. "His uncle's probably sleeping now, maybe I should ride over and see…"

"Go on, be back by dinner," she rolls her eyes. "You can bring Eddie with you if you want. I'm making your favorite."

"I should abandon you more often," you joke, dodging a dirty sock she'd tossed at you on your way out.

Eddie's van wasn't at the trailer. Or the arcade. Or the diner. Or any of his favorite places. You drove around town for what felt like half the day before finally giving up and going home.

"Find him?" your mom asks from her place at the stove. You shake your head. "Maybe he got the day wrong?"

"Maybe," you shrug, leaning against the door helplessly.

"Who knows what that little weirdo gets up to when you're not around to keep him in line. You'll find him. For now, why don't you go wake your brother up for dinner?"

You dropped the keys in the bowl by the door and went to do as you were asked. He'd passed out almost immediately after he walked in, happy to be back in his own bed. You envied him.

Dinner was nice. It would've been a lot nicer if your thigh had been pressed against Eddie's, and the scent of his body wash had mixed with the smell of your first decent meal in a week, but it was still nice to be home.

You called him after you knew Wayne would be at work. Three times. No answer. Where the hell is he?

You tossed and turned all night, imagining the worst.

SUNDAY

The next morning, you returned to the trailer. His van was there this time. You knocked on the door next to his bedroom. And then escalated it to a bang, since Wayne wasn't home yet, and Eddie sleeps like a rock.

"Eddie! Wake up!"

Finally, you hear him shuffling around. The door opens a crack.

"Honey, I'm home!" you grin, waiting for him to open the door and pull you in, maybe even kiss you all the way to his bed before pulling you under the covers to warm you up. There was nowhere you'd rather spend the rest of your vacation.

"Hey," he mumbles. "Hang on."

He closes the door in your surprised face and emerges a minute later, wearing an open coat over his bare chest. He'd shoved his feet into a pair of untied boots. His flannel pajama pants are bunched at the top of them. Isn't he cold? He drops onto the sofa on the porch and lights a cigarette.

The coldness of his actions hurts worse than the frigid winter air. What the hell? You've only been gone a week. Had seven days been long enough for him to decide he was happier without you?

"What are you doing here?" he asks, blowing smoke out of his nose and not meeting your eye. Did you do something wrong?

"I wanted to see you," you squeaked, suddenly feeling like an idiot. Are you being too clingy? Did you break up and forget about it?

"Aren't you sick of slummin' it with me?"

"What?" You're not sure you actually made a sound, but the cloud of condensation coming from your mouth indicates that you did.

"You know what I mean."

You shake your head. You don't know where this is headed, but you know you don't like it.

Eddie takes a deep drag. "How long are we gonna keep playing this game?"

"What game?"

"This. You and me."

You have no words.

"We should just get this over with and call it off now."

Your jaw drops.

"Ed…"

"Just go home," he barks, dropping his cigarette into the bucket he uses as an ash tray and going back inside, slamming the door behind him.

You don't know how long you stood there, staring at the door. But eventually, a chill shakes you, and you feel your body drifting back toward the car. You somehow find your way back home. You don't think you blinked during the entire drive.

You drop the keys in the bowl, kick off your shoes, and walk to your room like a zombie. You fall on your bed face-first, not even bothering to take your coat off. And then the crying starts.

MONDAY

That was harder than he thought it would be.

Eddie had thought things were going well. He'd found a girl who was funny, pretty, had good taste in music and movies, and most of all, was willing to put up with him.

It all began to unravel the night you left. He thought it was a little weird, announcing that you were jetting off to some fancy resort with the parent you hardly ever spoke of, like it was no big deal. You'd hardly mentioned it at all: "Oh, by the way, I'm gonna be gone for a week. You gonna miss me?"

Eddie realized he was running low on goods the day before your departure, but decided to prioritize; his supply run could wait another day. After a long goodbye that earned both of you several groans and eyerolls in your driveway as you held up the trip to the airport, he dropped by Rick's to resupply. Those college kids home for the holidays needed a lot of help putting up with their families. When he arrived, Rick and his friend Jimmy were bagging up a new shipment.

Rick asked where Eddie's other half was. Eddie may have bragged on occasion about finding someone perfect, because Rick was a cool guy who would appreciate a cool girl.

Jimmy, on the other hand, was a dick. Eddie didn't particularly want him to know anything more than he absolutely needed to about his personal life, but Rick had asked, and they both sat there waiting for an answer.

"She's with her dad for a week," he'd said tensely, hoping that would be the end of it.

"He live nearby?" Rick asked.

"New York, but they're in Colorado for now."

"Damn, man, that's a hell of a trip," Rick said, taking a swig of his beer.

"Yeah, she'll be back in a few days. Is that something new?" Eddie gestured to an off-colored bag of buds to Rick's right, trying to change the subject. The phone rang, and Rick got up to answer it with a groan, leaving Eddie alone with Jimmy.

"Munson's gone and got himself one of those little rich girls. Didn't think you had it in you, buddy."

"She's not a little rich girl."

"She's on vacation in Colorado. Lemme guess: Some fancy ski resort with a name you can't pronounce?"

Eddie blushed. Jimmy smirked.

"She treat you like a pet poodle? Feed you? Buy you treats when you're a good boy? Make you pose for a nice picture together so she could take you with her? That's to show daddy, bud. Maybe she'll get a new BMW for dumping your scraggly ass."

"Ease up, brother," Rick drawled, coming back into the room.

"Hey, man, I'm jealous!" Jimmy held his hands up in a gesture of surrender and laughed that grating laugh of his. "She got an older sister? Hell, what's her mom look like?"

"Shut up." Eddie growled.

"Here," Rick shoved a few plastic bags into a duffel bag and tossed it at Eddie. "Don't listen to his drunk ass."

But he did.

He let it eat at him for days as he sampled some new product and fixated on your four months together. Every time you'd argued about who was going to pay for dinner, or for a movie, or for the next arcade game. The way you stroked his hair and rubbed his back. Every time you'd packed something extra in your lunch for him. The patches and buttons you'd bring him back every time you visited the city with your mom. The way you claimed to love his grungy clothes and out-of-control hair and said his tiny, cramped bedroom felt like home. Maybe it really was too good to be true.

Didn't make it hurt any less, though.

TUESDAY

Eddie was woken by a frantic banging on the door. It was so intense, it rattled the walls. He grumbled, pulled himself out of the bed he'd hardly left in days, and flung the door open angrily.

"What the hell, Gareth?"

"What the hell did you do to my sister, Munson?" Eddie could practically feel the heat radiating off of the red-faced drummer standing at his door. Jeff was leaning against his mom's car by the road, arms crossed, looking like he wished he was elsewhere.

Eddie sighs. "It's for the best."

"Did you cheat on her?"

"No."

"Were you abducted and probed by aliens, and now need a little alone time to reflect on life?"

"No."

"Then what the fuck?!"

"We're from different worlds," Eddie shrugs, feeling the cold morning air seep in.

"The fuck does that mean?"

Eddie sighs. "Just let it go, man. It's done."

"The fuck does that mean, Eddie?"

"It means you spent your winter break skiing at some resort in Colorado, and I spent mine selling weed in the woods."

Gareth rolls his eyes so hard, Eddie can only see white.

"Is that seriously what this is about?"

Eddie shrugs and wishes he were wearing more clothes.

"You broke up with my sister because she went on vacation?"

The breeze picks up and blows a gust inside. Eddie shudders.

"Are you the dumbest motherfucker on the planet?"

Eddie didn't know how to respond to this. Not that Gareth would have given him a chance anyway.

"Do you think we wanted to go? Our dad is a Grade-A Douchebag. I'm legally required to spend two weeks with him a year. Yeah, legally - he took Mom to court when we decided we didn't want to see him anymore. Awesome parent, right? My sister doesn't even have to go, because she's 18, but she does because she doesn't want me to suffer alone. We hate his fucking guts. We hate his bitchy wife and their snot-nosed kids, we hate every second we have to spend with them. We weren't off skiing and sipping cocoa with Chad and Buffy! Do you know what she did the entire fucking time we weren't being forced into Family Fun Time and photo ops? DO YOU?"

Eddie shakes his head.

"She laid in bed and read The Lord of the Fucking Rings. I've been trying to get her to read them for years, and she always puts it off. But she knows how much you love them, and she wanted to be able to talk to you about it. She laid there and read all three. Took notes like she was gonna be fucking tested on it! FOR YOU, JACKASS."

Eddie's heart sinks into the floor.

"She doesn't give a shit about money or fancy vacations or any of that crap. All she wanted was to come home and be with you, and you fucked that up."

"Shit," Eddie breathes.

"She's been holed up in her room for two days because she thinks you left her for someone else, you idiot. I had to practically waterboard her to get her to talk."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you need to be saying that to."

"I know," he whispers with the last of his air, feeling like a deflated balloon.

"Then go fucking do it already. She's at home. In bed. Listening to the same fucking song over and over again. If I have to hear it one more time, I swear to God, I'm going to take the tape, stomp it, and feed you the shards. FIX IT."

Gareth turns and stomps off the porch. Jeff shoots Eddie an apologetic look and gets back in the car. He stands there and watches them drive away.

Maybe Eddie Munson really is the dumbest motherfucker on the planet.

* * * * * * *

A knock on your door pulls you out of your trance. You'd woken up early today, on your last day of winter break, and decided to quit moping and do something productive. So you alphabetized everything that could be alphabetized. Your tapes and records were finally in order - you'd even rediscovered some albums you'd forgotten you owned, which was nice, because you were sick of hearing Eddie in everything. You now sat in your bedroom floor, surrounded by all the books you'd pulled off your shelf.

"What."

"Eddie's here," came the muffled voice of your brother. He'd stayed at Jeff's the night before; you hadn't even realized he was home yet.

"I don't care," you lied.

You can hear him sigh through the door.

"He brought flowers."

"I hate flowers."

You hear a thump on the door, as if Gareth has banged his head against it.

"I'm letting him in. Just listen to him. You're both making me fuckin' miserable."

You bristle, but lean over and press stop on your tape player. Might as well get this over with.

"Hey, uh… you gonna let me in?"

You glare at the closed door, hoping he can sense it.

"Okay. I'll stay out here. I, uh… Look, I don't know what I'm doing here. You know that. You're the only one I ever… I thought you were… whatever. Doesn't matter. I'm sorry."

A few days ago, you might've taken pity on him. Opened the door, fallen into his arms, shed a few tears.

But you're out of tears. You'd let that unfortunate interaction fester like an open wound. You'd spent the last few days going over every possible scenario for the sudden change in the boy you thought you loved. It hadn't occurred to you until day two that maybe he'd come outside for his little speech because there was someone else inside. Why else would he come out into that cold December morning in his pajamas to smoke half a cigarette and dump the old ball and chain?

And this is the apology you get? You wasted the last of your winter break crying over this asshole. He dumped you. And he can't even tell you why? You reach over to your tape player, press play, and turn up the volume. Immature? Maybe. Better than opening the door and ripping him to shreds, or worse, taking one look at those big brown eyes and collapsing in his arms like some weak Victorian damsel? Probably.

Eddie eventually walks out without a word, leaving the supermarket flowers on the kitchen table.

WEDNESDAY

The first day back was always an easy one; figure out where you're going, receive a pile of papers warning you of the work to come, try to plan the best route to each class. Although for you, that route would now be the most efficient; not the one that would allow you to steal a few seconds here and there with Eddie Fucking Munson.

Of course you had first period together.

You sat as far away from him as you possibly could; he was sitting in the back left corner. You took the front right. Close to the teacher's desk. You were here to learn, after all.

A pretty-boy wearing a Cubs jacket asked if the seat next to you was taken. You smiled and gestured for him to sit. Cubs Guy made small-talk about the workload, and you smiled at him like his stupid comments were amusing to you… all the while, hoping Eddie was watching. You refused to turn around and check.

You finally caught a glimpse of him after the bell rang. Some little blonde had taken the seat next to him. He was talking and gesturing to her with a big dumb smile on his face. You wanted to smack it off.

You said "excuse me" to Cubs Guy as sweetly as you could before sliding past him and practically running into the hallway to get away from them.

Your next class was uneventful… but you saw him in the hall after third period. Standing at a locker that wasn't his. With the tiny blonde who'd sat next to him that morning. Was that her? Was that the one he left alone in his bed while he took a few minutes to come ditch the old bag?

And then he looked up and caught your eye. You stood there, frozen, screaming inside… and watched that smirking motherfucker reach forward and flick one of that tiny cunt's dangly earrings. You could practically hear her giggle from the other end of the hallway. You wanted to rip her earrings out and pierce his balls with them.

Instead, you ducked into the nearest bathroom to let some angry tears fall.

* * * * * * *

He knew it was an asshole thing to do. But in his defense, you started it.

He knew the new girl would never speak to him again as soon as the first popular kid noticed her and pulled her into their own clique. They'd warn her away from trash like him - just like they tried to with you - but he suspected that this one would fall for it.

But for now, cute little Kimmy didn't know any better. Didn't know what her classmates thought of him and his Satanic hobbies, where he lived, what was in his lunchbox, how much he loved the girl who spent first period chatting animatedly with some douchebag in the front row and refusing to look at him.

So he offered his services. Told her how to get to each class. Met her at her locker with the promise of escorting her to lunch, where he was sure he'd lose her to the first jock who decided to rescue her from the clutches of the freak.

That's when he made eye contact with the one who mattered.

You were standing in the middle of the hall, completely still. The crowd parted and flowed around you like water. You were finally looking at him. It was the first time he'd looked into your eyes since the day you left for Colorado.

Before he knew what he was doing, he reached down to the bubbly little blonde in front of him and gave her dangly plastic earring a playful flick, never breaking eye contact with you. He wasn't sure exactly why. Payback for first period, maybe? Would it make you jealous? Mad enough to stomp over and yell at him? Hit him? Cram him into Kimmy's open locker? He'd take anything at this point.

But you turned on your heel and disappeared into the crowd.

Shit.

THURSDAY

"Hi!" Cubs Guy greets as he plops down on the low brick wall next to you. You can't stand eating in the cafeteria anymore. Where he is. You'd rather brave the cold and eat outside.

"Hi?"

"I'm Paul. From first and third?"

"Hi, Paul from first and third." He smiles. Why are his teeth so white?

"I thought you looked lonely, so I decided to drop in and say hi. How are you today?"

"I'm fine," you lied, faking a smile. "Thanks for checking on me." You can leave now.

"You used to hang out with Munson, right?"

"Yeah," you murmured.

"Finally realized how annoying he is, huh?"

You faked another smile and contemplated sticking your plastic fork in his eye.

"Have you started The Great Gatsby yet?" he asked.

"Just a few pages. The 20s aren't really my thing."

"Mine, either. Outlawing alcohol during the rise of jazz? That's just cruel!" He grins, and you're surprised to find a genuine laugh bubble from your throat. How long has it been since you actually laughed?

You spent the rest of your lunch period chatting about the reading list, your other classes, and what you did over winter break. It was surprisingly not terrible.

"Listen, are you seeing anyone right now?" he asked.

As if on cue, Eddie and Grant walk through the doors closest to you. You turn your head toward Paul and focus on him before you accidentally make eye contact with Eddie.

"Nope, why do you ask?"

Paul dazzles you with that brilliant smile again. "Would you like to go out with me tomorrow night? You look like you could use a night on the town."

You can see Eddie out of the corner of your eye. He's still by the door, watching. Grant shifts awkwardly. "I'd love to!" you chirp. You doubt Eddie knows what you're agreeing to, but you hope he catches the enthusiasm on your face. Even if it's fake.

"Awesome! How about dinner and a movie!"

"That sounds great!"

You glance toward Eddie, but he's gone. You see Grant retreat into the door they just came out of before it

You hate yourself.

* * * * * * *

Well, Eddie was right about one thing: Kimmy was history. The cheerleaders had swallowed her up the second she stepped into the cafeteria yesterday. Now she sat on the edge of her seat in first period, as if the guy who told her how to get to the gym and the trick to getting her locker open would snatch her up and throw her on an altar the second the teacher turned her back.

But he was used to that.

It was you ignoring him that hurt.

He thought maybe his little earring stunt would make you mad enough to threaten him. Attention is attention. But you hadn't even looked at him since. You sat next to that dickhead whose name he didn't even know - did you know it? - and quietly took notes. Were you just copying the board, or were you writing to whatshisface like you used to with Eddie? The thought nearly broke him.

But what he saw at lunch really did.

He didn't know where you were; only that you weren't sitting next to him. He ate quietly for a change, letting Jeff steer today's discussion toward some horror novel he was reading. He didn't have the energy for a rant or a lecture or even a pointed taunt. He let the conversation carry on like he wasn't even there. At least it was probably easier on Gareth this way, who reluctantly remained at the Hellfire table.

Eddie got up and headed to the van for a midday smoke. Grant followed. He wasn't sure why. Does he look so bad that they're afraid to leave him alone? They walked through the hall silently.

When he came through the doors, he saw you sitting on the brick wall with that asshole from first period. Alone. Smiling. Together. "I'd love to!" you chirped at the meathead. Eddie doesn't hear his response, but your words echo in his head. Did you just agree to a date? With someone else?

He storms back the way he came, not seeing anything but the blur of fluorescent lighting through the tears trying not to fall.

FRIDAY

Part of you felt bad about agreeing to a date just to spite Eddie.

The other part decided to put on makeup and wear some of the clothes your father and step-monster had bought for you, since Eddie would be there for band practice when Paul picked you up. ("No children of mine are going to run around here looking like ragamuffins!") Poor Gareth, being the new guy, couldn't exactly call off practice on account of relationship drama.

Your brother takes one look at you and rolls his eyes. "Really?" You shrug, and he goes out to the garage to wait for the rest of the guys.

Now the feel-bad part is in the lead.

But there's no time to change now. You look at your watch, grab your purse, and go to wait by the front door. Most people approach your house from the front for the first time, before they learn that you typically use the back door by the garage to come in and out. But while you're watching the front, Gareth yells your name through the back. "Your date just pulled up."

Fuck.

You clack through the house in your stupid heels, feeling like a kid playing dress-up. This is stupid. This is so fucking stupid.

When you get to the back door, you take a deep breath before opening it. You need to appear cool, collected, and uncaring that you're going to have to walk right past Eddie.

"Hi!" Paul greets again, just a few feet away from the door.

"Hi," you smile. Paul's a nice guy. You're going out with him because you want to. Not to hurt the person you actually care about. Like he hurt you.

"Ready?" he asks, offering his hand to help you down the lone step. You force a smile and take it, but let it go as you walk past the garage together.

"Have her back by ten, or she'll turn into a pumpkin!" Gareth yells.

"That's your little brother?" he asks quietly. You nod. "Gotcha, chief!"

You wish you were dead.

On the street, Paul opens the door of his shiny new car and waits for you to settle in before he closes it.

He jogs to the other side, slides in, and starts the engine. A pop song is playing on the radio. The car's interior is spotless. Not a single candy wrapper or empty drink cup is in the floorboard. No overflowing ashtray. No personality whatsoever. You smile at Paul and reach for the seatbelt, but your eyes linger on the open garage in the sideview mirror.

The boys are watching Eddie. Eddie is watching you.

You're vaguely aware that your date is yammering on about something as he puts his car in gear. Your eyes were locked on Eddie. Paul pulls away from the curb and eases his car down the street at a sensible pace. Eddie begins to shrink in the mirror, and you feel your heart shrinking with him.

Is this really how it ends?

No more listening to him curse as he tries to learn new songs, or playing with his hair while you watch movies, or sharing milkshakes at the diner, or writing notes in class, or browsing the discount bins for new music, or making plans to do nothing together whenever your schedules allowed. You knew you should be paying attention to the guy you were on a date with, but your only thought was Eddie. The boy who didn't want you anymore. Give it up, girl. He's moved on.

And then, you saw it.

He reached up with the hand that wasn't gripping the neck of his guitar to swipe at his eyes.

"Stop."

"What?"

"Stop the car."

"Did you forget something?" Paul asks, still moving.

"Just stop!"

He slams on the breaks and looks at you like you're crazy.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this." You grip your purse in your left hand as you fumble for the door handle with your right, unable to take your eyes off the metalhead in the mirror.

"Are you seriously ditching me for that fr--" The door slams before he can finish his sentence.

You walk back down the street and toward your open garage as quickly as your stupid heels will allow. He stands and stares until you reach the end of your driveway. Your eyes are locked on his; he's all you see.

He tries to pull off the guitar that's been hanging idly during your staring match, but the strap gets caught in his hair. Jeff helps him out of it, and holds it while Eddie walks toward you. First in a daze, and then with purpose.

When he picks up his pace, your tears begin to fall. You're sobbing by the time you're in his arms again. And so is he.

There's a flurry of choked 'I'm sorry's and 'I love you's. Your lips meet in a wet, frenzied kiss. Your hands tangle in his hair. His arms squeeze you tight. You've got your Eddie back. Nothing else matters.

When you finally pull away, you wipe your eyes on the back of your hands and look at the black smudge they left behind. You look up at Eddie bashfully.

"Bet I look gorgeous right now," you joke.

"You do," he says, tucking your hair behind your ear with a smile. "You know how much I love raccoons."

"Shut up," you laugh, giving him a gentle shove. He wraps his arms around you and pulls you to him again. After a moment of holding each other tightly, you reach up to cup his face. You bring him down for another kiss, then rest your foreheads against each other.

"Don't ever leave me again," you whisper.

"I won't."

[swiss-mrs]

EVERMORE: Chapter One

Eddie Munson Fic - Evermore Directory - Word Count: 7.4K

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Music blared through Eddie’s ears as he stared out the dingy bus window. “It's for the best, kid.” Wayne's voice echoed through his mind. “You know I care for you, son, but I have no clue how to handle this.” His uncle's sorrowful and concerned expression was drilled into Eddie’s mind.

It's been three months since his return, six since his ‘death’. The world has fallen into autumn, red and brown leaves adorning the trees that pass in a blur. “You'll master your powers and meet others like you. I'll miss you all over again, man.” He could still feel Dustin's tears soaking through his shirt.

Eddie wasn't completely alone on the bus. Aside from the driver, there was a girl, probably around 15, sobbing in the back of the bus, and a boy who looked no or older than 12 or 13 towards the front of the bus, staring out the window in a similar fashion to Eddie. His eyes were dry, but he didn't really look happy to be on this bus ride either. 

Eddie was sat in the middle, a good amount of space between both the others. According to his watch, they were about 11 hours into their 13 hour drive. He glances over his shoulder to find the girl passed out against the window with dried tears on her face. He turns to look in front of him to find the boy still staring out the window blankly. He wondered if either of these children went through the same thing he did. Did they also suddenly gain mysterious, super natural powers they can't seem to control? Did they too do something unforgivable to put them here? He sighs and averts his eyes back to the window. The morning sun was peeking over the skyline. Did they always do night pickups? Was it to hide their shipments?

Eddie's leg began to bounce as they neared closer and closer. ‘Welcome to Vermont’ the sign read as they passed. He knew this was the best choice but that couldn't stop his heart from feeling betrayed and bitter.

Over the last three months, he was plagued with night terrors and migraines. It made him detached and irritable beyond belief. He lost count how many times Wayne was unfortunately on the wrong end of those lash outs. Every time, Eddie felt a pang of regret immediately after, but that didn't keep it from happening again and again.

Eddie was never this bad. He'd always been a good kid despite what everyone thought, despite his transcript. Wayne had no clue what to do when Eddie came back a full 180. The last thing he was expecting that day was to find his dead nephew alive and passed out on their front porch.

Wayne genuinely thought he might’ve been hallucinating. All the exhaustion had fleeted, and he rushed Eddie inside to keep him from prying eyes. It was a miracle no one saw him. When he woke, Eddie was too weak to actually explain himself, not that he even had answers to give. Eventually, Wayne just said to hell with it, and simply catered to his kid. Never in all of Eddie's years had he ever known Wayne to take a day off, but for Eddie, he took several. Three days and nights were spent aiding Eddie back to health. He fed him when he was too weak to lift a spoon and held him when he cried from head splitting nightmares. By the morning of day four, Eddie was at least able to make it to the bathroom and back on his own. Wayne made sure to have some food prepared for Eddie in case he got hungry during his night shift and told him to call if anything went wrong. He'd be back in a heartbeat.

As the weeks went by, Eddie became stronger and stronger, more than before. His night terrors didn't stop, but he was at least able to stop screaming and crying himself awake.

It was just two weeks ago that Eddie had done something he couldn't forgive himself for. He hurt Wayne.

He remembers the dream like  a real memory. He was taller, bigger, but, somehow, he also felt lighter. He remembers looking down at his hands and seeing his pale fingers were replaced with slender, dark gray appendages. His blunt fingernails were now black sharp claws. His back felt heavy, like someone had strapped 300 pound weights to his shoulder blades. He remembers looking down at his body and being horrified. He's a monster, a real monster. His breathing started to pick up, and he began to feel lightheaded, a dull thumping in his mind. Though he was panicked at the sight of himself, there was this itching in the back of his brain. Something was there. He had felt an urge he'd never felt before. It was dark and malevolent. It scared him. What's happening to me?! He began thrashing about at the stale air around him, an unfamiliar roar coming from within him, rumbling through his chest. It was so boisterous that it rattled his own eardrums.

He was shaken out of his dream by the sound of his uncle's voice, “Christ!” Eddie's eyes rip open, and he immediately realizes his back on the ceiling. As soon as the realization hits, he falls to his bed, bouncing off and onto the floor with a heavy thud. Still in his panicked state, he yells, scrambling to back away from an invisible horror in front of him. Wayne made the mistake of rushing to his aid.

Feeling a grip on his shoulder in the midst of his screaming panic, Eddie swings an arm around, clawing at the perpetrator. “Ah!” His uncle's voice rings out in pain. Eddie's eyes snap up to the source, finding Wayne falling back, clutching his chest. Blood escapes his skin, staining the torn front of his shirt. Eddie stares up at his shocked uncle in terror.

“Wayne!” He yells, full of concern. He reaches out to him but is immediately taken aback when he sees the black, blood soaked claws on his hand. The tips of his fingers were shade gray as if halfway turned into the monster he was in his dream. He screams in horror at the sight of his own hand.

“Son!” Wayne's voice yells. Despite the blood rising down his front, Wayne closes in on Eddie, gripping his shoulders to grab his attention. Eddie's eyes find Wayne's, and he stops screaming. Tears immediately fill his eyes, and his uncle painfully brings him into his chest, holding him tightly. As Wayne rocked side to side, Eddie could feel the warmth of his uncle’s blood smear on his face and neck. Eddie sobbed uncontrollably, struggling to breathe as his heart pounded irregularly in his chest.

Eddie closes his eyes and leans his head against the bus window with a dull thud. He could feel his eyelashes dampen at the memory of that night, an all too familiar anxious drumming behind his ribs. This is for the best. He repeats in his head. He can't allow something like that to happen again, ever. 

Before he knows it, the bus is passing a ‘Welcome to Jericho’ sign then not too long after driving through a black metal gate that reads ‘Nevermore Academy’ at the top in a gothic font. The bus pulls to a stop into the driveway.

Wordlessly, the driver exits the bus after opening the doors for the few passengers. Eddie takes in the new location through the window. There's an older, dark skinned man with dreadlocks conversing with the bus driver, giving him a friendly greeting with a smile. Are those horns? The man helps load the few bags that were in the bus's storage compartment into a trailer on the back cart of a small vehicle. They give each other their farewells and the bus driver goes to tend to the bus while the man hops in the car to drive away.

“Hey, mister?” Eddie's gaze switches to the little boy who was now standing in the aisle looking at Eddie. He takes one of his wired earbuds out.  “It's time to get off.” The boy says timidly. Eddie nods and stands up in his seat, towering over the kid. The little boy turns to rush off the bus as Eddie puts his backpack on. He glances around the bus to realize it's empty. The girl must've already got off too.

Eddie trudged down the aisle, ducking a little to avoid bumping his head against the roof of the bus. He walks down the stairs, slowly stepping off the final one as he takes in a deep breath. The air here was a bit chilly, crisp, but it filled his lungs graciously. He walks up to stand beside the two younger kids. They stand in a line, in front of a tall platinum blonde woman dressed in a monochrome, light gray outfit. She began to speak a ingenuine speech, no doubt repeated a million times to every new arrival. Eddie tuned her out, just taking in her appearance. Her eyes were a piercing blue shade, and her lips were colored red, highlighting her smile. Her teeth were white and perfectly aligned. She had an unreadable aura around her. She reminded Eddie of a shark. Her sheer existence is just off-putting.

It seemed like her speech was coming to an end as she then gestures to a student beside her. “This will be your mentor, your guide, Mr. Sheridan.” She averts her eyes to look down at the young man standing next to her. He could easily be around 18 years old, most likely a senior or something. His dark brown hair was cut short and styled perfectly. He had blue eyes, defined lips, and a strong jawline. Judging from his looks, his neat appearance, and ironed stiff school uniform, he must be this school's ‘The King’ equivalent. He held a tight, polite smile. “Mr. Sheridan here is a great student who will ensure to take good care of you. You truly are in good hands.” He looks up at the official looking lady with a bashful grin before looking back at the three. He nods to the younger kids then looks over to Eddie with a curious expression. Eddie looks deadpan at the guy and the student turns to address the full group.

“It is an honor to meet you all.” His English accent rings out. Eddie fights the urge to roll his eyes. “I will be your go to informant to guide you and get you accustomed to the ins and outs of our daily life here at Nevermore Academy.” Jeez, this guy sounds like a douche. Eddie thinks, using the second scripted speech to get a good look at the building and grounds from where he stood. “Please, follow me.” Eddie's attention is brought back to the senior as the kids next to him start moving.

“Welcome to Nevermore, dear students!” The lady calls out as they walk passed. Eddie ignores the spiel getting rambled off about how their first days will be laid out, instead looking around at the campus as they walk through. He's enamored by the sights the school offers. It's something straight out of a book. His chest can't help but feel a little giddy.

The campus seems strangely empty for being as large as it is. As if reading his mind, the young boy raises his hand to ask a question, “Excuse me, Mr. Sheridan?”

“Please, my name is Matthew or Matt, for short.”

“Where are all the other students?” The tan boy asks. The student, Matt, gives the shorter kid a kind smile and nods.

“Good question.” He chuckles, “Classes are in session right now. You three arrived kind of mid-day for most of us.” He looks down at his silver, expensive looking watch, causing Eddie to subconsciously do the same with his much less expensive, rubber one. 10:36 AM. Eddie drops his wrist. “Actually, this class period should be releasing some students here in about the next 15 minutes.” He looks back up at the trio with a polite grin. “We're making pretty good time. Our first stop is going to be the administrative office. We'll get your schedules. You'll get fitted for your uniforms, and we'll get your dorm keys.” He turns back around with a motion to continue following him. Eddie trails behind a little, not necessarily in any hurry.

Matt opens up the door to the office, holding it ajar for the trio to enter ahead of him. Oh, what a gentleman. Eddie fawns sarcastically in his head. Matt nods cordially at him as he passes, following behind Eddie as he enters. “Matthew, my boy!” A deep voice booms, naturally demanding Eddie's attention.

“Good morning, Professor Shaw. How are you? I have our new arrivals here.” The blue eyed boy turned to gesture to the new students, all of whom were staring at the horns atop the older man’s head. Man, this guy looks something straight out of DND. His deep skin tone complimented his golden irises. He stood quite a few inches over everyone else and was obviously built sturdy underneath his neutral toned, professional attire. 

“I see! Hello, young man.” The older man directs at the little boy. “M'lady.” He nods to the teen girl nicely. He then turns to Eddie. “Mr. Edward Munson. I presume?” Eddie's brows raise, shocked to hear his name come off the older man's tongue. Great, I'm already known here by name.

“Eddie, sir.” He corrects. The man raises his brows slightly and gives a frown of approval, nodding his head.

“Eddie it is. Pleasure to meet you. Pleasure to meet you all.” His attention is brought back to the other two. “I'm Professor Gardnal Shaw. I primarily work here in the admissions office, but I am also the teacher for Intro to More class, a course you all will undoubtedly be attending.” He smiles proudly. He lifts a hand towards the right side of the huge office. “If you would please, follow me.” He leads the way to a portion sectioned off behind a heavy velvet curtain, Matthew second in line. The teenage girl was next then the little boy after her. Eddie towered over the both of them from behind. His eyes are forward, but he catches the young boy in front of him timidly glancing back at him. Eddie offers a ghost of a smile, not wanting to make the kid any more nervous or uncomfortable around him. The boy's eyes widen when Eddie's eyes catch his gaze. An awkward smile sneaks onto his adorable face as he quickly turns to face forward. Eddie holds in a laugh, curiosity overtaking him. Wonder what this kid got himself into.

As the group passes the threshold of the curtain, they are met with an older, glasses wearing woman. She looks like the nicest middle aged lady you’ll ever encounter the way her face lights up at the sight of new students. “Students, this is our lovely seamstress, Ms. Glenda. She will be assisting you with your uniforms.” Mr. Shaw announces with his hands clasped together in front of him.

“New arrivals!” She exclaimed excitedly.

“Good Morning, Ms. Glenda.” Matt adds. She turns to him with a kind grin, her eyes crinkling at their corners.

“Well, good morning to you, Matthew. Very dashing, as always.” She compliments, motherly. The young man blushes, his bitten back smile extenuating his cheekbones. She turns her attention back to the new faces before he can come back with anything. “Now, who do we have here!” She adjusts her little, wire rimmed glasses and squints at the three. “A stunning young lady, an adorable little man, and quite a handsome young fellow, hmm.” The three all have their respective bashful, avoiding glances. “You,” All three lift their heads, but find her attention on Eddie specifically. Eddie's heart picks up slightly, nervous of what she may say next. “You, young man, are a bit older than the normal new arrivals I'm used to seeing.” She lifts her chin to look down the tip of her nose through her falling glasses. Eddie's brows furrowed in confusion as his eyes flit from one face to another, awkwardly glancing at each person in the room. Before he can open his mouth to say anything, Mr. Shaw buts in to take over.

“Sir Eddie here is the first of many to come. Our academy is expanding the age range of our admissions to include those who may have found changes later in life.” The man eloquently clarifies, giving Eddie a comforting grin. Great, ‘first of many’. Even amongst ‘outcasts’, I'm still an outcast.

“Ah, I see. Well, that's wonderful news.” The older lady says, voice full of warmth and welcome. She grins softly. “Well, let's get you all fitted! You've got a lot more to do today!” She smiles widely before pulling each new student in one by one to get them situated with uniforms.

The next two hours were spent in the office, getting uniforms, schedules, and supplies. Following the admin office, Matt guided them around campus, giving them a tour of the common yard, the libraries, showing them different wings for the different studies offered before finally leading them to the massive cafeteria.

The café had two levels. The main floor held a buffet spread of rotating foods, vending machines, and several rows of tables. The second floor was a balcony that had additional seating overlooking the main floor. On the far side of the cafeteria was floor to ceiling windows, presenting a mystical view of the Vermont countryside. “Alright, I think this is a perfect time as any to take a break and get some lunch.” Matt announced, looking down at his watch to see the time as 12:45 PM. “Take an hour to relax and eat. I'll be back to collect you three around 1:45, so we can head to the dorms for you all to get settled in. For now, help yourselves to whatever you’d like.” The uniformed guide clasps his hands together, gives them a nod, and walks away.

The two kids glance at each other then at Eddie. The teenage girl walks off first. The little boy glances back to Eddie after watching the girl walk away. He looks like he wants to say something, which Eddie raises a brow to, but ultimately, he scurries away.

Eddie sighs and follows suit, assembling himself a plate of food that appears too appetizing to be a school lunch. He spots an empty seat next to the massive windows on the main floor. He’s one of the only few not wearing a uniform, so on top of his obvious age difference, his attire makes him stand out like a sore thumb. This causes him to catch a couple curious glances from some passing students, nothing he isn’t already used to.

As he walks to the empty table, he gets a pretty decent idea of different cliques. Even in this world, high schoolers aren't too different. On top of grouping up by sport or ‘status’, one of the obvious differences is that some are separated by species.

Eddie had to use everything in him not to stare at some of the more obvious ones, some with unnaturally colored skin tones, some with horns, others with tusks for canines. It was incredible to see in person something he’d only ever imagined or seen in movies and books. Man, what the guys would say about this. He shakes his head, looking down with a small chuckle. He successfully makes it to the targeted seat without issue. He drops his bag to the floor beneath him and starts eating, “Mmmm.” Holy shit. The food here is just as good as it looks. He hums to himself. After that first bite, suddenly all the hunger his emotions were hiding came to the surface. His stomach growled, begging for more. He scarfs down half his plate before something out the corner of his eye catches his attention.

Outside, several feet down in somewhat of a courtyard he’d had yet to tour, there was a group of students. Are those real? The thing that caught his eyes was the glimmering of metal. The afternoon sun reflecting off steel weapons and shields. Eddie drops his hands to the table to watch the commotion going on outside. There were stairs that led off the slide of the cliff that held the main school building. There were two students walking down them with trays of food. On their uniform jackets were added emblems that took up most of the space on their back panels. It was difficult to get a clear view of the royal purple embroidery from this far, but from what Eddie could tell, it looked like a sword with wings where the cross guard should be.

Eddie’s brows draw closer together as he squints to try and get a better look at the group below. All of the ones sparring had taken their jackets off. The others that were seated and eating were too small for Eddie to see their jackets any clearer, but he does notice one person in particular. 

Atop a boulder on the edge of the courtyard stood an observer dressed in the same purple and black striped uniform jacket and black pants. This observer had a golden sash hanging across their torso, fastened together at the hip, something only seen on royal families. They seemed to be yelling out orders or instructions ever so often. Standing next to the boulder was another onlooker.

This person had short brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and a hard gaze. Their white button down shirt was tucked into their black uniform pants. Even from this distance, Eddie could see the white long sleeves were struggling to contain their crossed, muscular arms. Jesus, who are these people? Eddie looks down in shock. Eddie’s eyes are back on the golden sash student as they hop down from their high point to go up to the two sparrers.

Taking one of the swords as they talk, they ready themselves for what seems to be a demonstration. Eddie watches as they start swinging the sword around, immediately catching the attention of all the other students around. They can be seen talking as they move so fiercely. Each swing of the sword is incredibly controlled and impactful. The fight is intense, yet the observer is basically floating, light on their feet, still talking. Everything done was talked through and masterfully executed. You definitely had to be their leader.

Without much difficulty, you were able to disarm your opponent, turning to the one you assumed the place of with a nod, handing them back their sword. Some of the students watching even clapped. Eddie looked on in disbelief at the scene that just unfolded. Wow. He looks down at his half empty plate. Those look like real heroes.

The rest of his lunch was spent taking bites of his food as he looked out the window, utterly intrigued. A cough of someone clearing their throat brings Eddie out of his trance. He whips his head around to see Matthew the Guide looking down at him. “Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time I take you to your dorm for you to become acquainted with your new roommate.” He says with a small, kind, and a little awkward smile. Eddie raises his brow and nods.

“Whatever you say,” Eddie stands, bringing his backpack up with him. He stands an inch or so above Matt. He cocks his head to the side and gives him a sarcastic grin. “Dashing young fellow.” Eddie says, mimicking Matt's English accent. Matt's small smile drops a bit. He sighs, a small glare squinting his eyes.

“We’ll be waiting for you over by the doors.” He turns and strides away. Eddie huffs out a puff of air. He picks up the remnants of his lunch and drops it off at a trash can on his way to where Henry and the other two new kids stand. “Alright, now that we’re all here.” He smiles sarcastically at Eddie before turning to the other two with a more genuine smile. “Let’s head to the dorms.”

Matt leads the three to the different student housing areas. They dropped off the teenage girl to her building, Matt handing her off to that building’s dorm manager. Next was the young boy Eddie would come to know as Anthony. He was dropped off at his door as he, Eddie, and Matthew all stayed in the same building. Once he disappeared behind the door with his new roommate, Matt and Eddie were left alone. “Come on.” Matt says, walking away without sparing another glance at Eddie. Eddie’s lip turns up in a grimace.

“Hey, man. Careful with the attitude.” He bites back, catching up with Matthew. He scoffs.

“Me? You’re the one with an attitude, young fellow.” Matt gives Eddie a hard look. Eddie is stubborn with his defiance.

“Whatever, man.” Eddie scoffs and looks away.

“Listen, I understand if you are not necessarily happy to be here, but you don’t need to be rude.” Eddie’s brows raise in disbelief.

“I’m not being rude, and don’t act like you know anything about me. You’re the one who gave me a weird look the second I get here.” Eddie shoots back. Matt sighs.

“Like Shaw said, we don’t usually get new students over the age of 16, so I was just a bit caught off guard. I admit it may have not been very welcoming, but I don’t think that should get me on your bad side before we’ve even gotten to know each other.” Matt goes on.

Eddie glances over at the guide through his peripheral. They enter the empty elevator, heading up. Matt stares forward with his jaw clenched, obviously annoyed that he has to be in an enclosed space with Eddie. There’s a few seconds of silence after the doors close before Eddie sighs.

“Look, man.” Eddie starts. “I’m sorry. These past few months have really turned my world… upside down.” Eddie frowns with a thousand yard stare. Henry spares Eddie a glance over his shoulder. Eddie rolls his shoulders back, bringing himself back to reality. “I’m used to being Eddie ‘The Freak’. Ironically, even here I’m a freak among ‘freaks’.” The way Matt doesn’t even bat an eye at being called a freak is a bit strange for Eddie. “I guess, I just came in swingin’, preemptively judging you too early.” Eddie tilts his head. “You kind of remind me of this one guy, ‘The King’ of Hawkins. He was a pretty big asshole to ‘freaks’." Matthew nods understandingly. “But, what do you know, he turned out alright when I met him again later.” Eddie sighs, “Sorry.”

“You know, you should realize something,” Eddie looks up, eyes on the back of Matt's head as he stares forward. “Nevermore is a school just like every other, but most people here are coming from a place in your shoes. Sometimes people here forget, but outside these walls, beyond that gate, we’re all just freaks, monsters,... evil to the rest of the world.” Matt looks down the bridge of his proud nose with a familiar distant stare. The elevator doors open and Matthew walks out without missing a beat.

They pass a few doors before Matt speaks up again. “I am your ‘mentor’,” He halts in front of a door, turning to Eddie, “I am not your enemy.” He looks Eddie in the eyes with determination, trying to get through to him. “You should know, even if we are not meant to be ‘friends’, I am still an ally. If you need help with anything, you can reach out to me.” Eddie holds Matt's gaze, unsure of what to say next. He’s never gotten an actual warm welcome before. Matt's lips form a thin line as he gives Eddie a tight smile before nodding once. He lifts a hand to knock on the door they are outside of.

There's stumbling and a commotion on the other side of the door. Eddie’s brows crease in suspicion at the noises, but Matt just sighs and rolls his eyes. The door swings open revealing a young, dark skinned boy with wide, shocked eyes. He was huffing like he just ran a marathon, undoubtedly from stumbling over stuff in the room to get to the door. “Junior.” Matt says in a warning tone through gritted teeth and an annoyed smile. Junior avoids Matt's eyes by awkwardly staring at anything on the floor.

Eddie glances between Matt and the kid, Junior. Matt turns to Eddie, “Eddie, meet Junior,” He turns to gesture to the kid. “Your new roommate.” Matt raises a threatening brow at Junior. “Junior, meet Eddie.”

“H-Hi,” The kid’s voice cracks awkwardly, “Come- Come on in.” Junior turns to walk away from the door, going further into the room. Eddie glances one last time at Matt. Matt looks over to Eddie with a sigh and raises his brows.

“Good luck.” He mutters as he walks away. Before Eddie can follow up with Matt's concerning final words, Junior starts rambling.

“Here, over here is your bed, obviously as it’s the empty one, and over here is mine, obviously. Um, I moved some things around, but you’re more than welcome to move anything around how you’d like, I mean, as long as, you know, you leave my side of things alone, unless you want this side, we- we can figure something out that works for both of us. Over there,” he turns to point at a door next to the one Eddie just entered through. “That- That’s the bathroom. It’s pretty nice, we have a tub, shower, sink, toilet, everything needed, and, uh,” Junior keeps rambling as Eddie slowly walks through the space.

It’s shockingly spacious. Once he passes the entryway, the place expands into a large, square room. This is nothing Eddie expected for a dorm. The full-sized beds are on opposite sides of the room with enough respective furniture for two people. Each side has its own bed, dresser, desk with a lamp and chair. Junior has a foldable, wooden divider next to his bed, blocking his bed from Eddie’s. On either side of the room were two archways leading into an extra individual area. Without being too nosy, Eddie could see that Junior’s side has a plant and a bookshelf. His side seemed a bit barren.

Eddie back glances at Junior’s side, finding it an odd mixture of neat and messy. The younger’s clothes were filling a dirty laundry hamper to the brim, but there was not a trace of anything on his floor. His mirror was squeaky clean, but his dresser had different, mismatched knickknacks littered over the top. His desk had papers spewed all over with multiple open books, but the chair was tucked in and pens, markers, and pencils were organized by color and size in a storage container. His bed wasn’t made, but he had shiny shoes neatly lined under the bed frame.

The rambling kid himself was set up in a similar fashion, his appearance is pristine, his white shirt tucked into ironed pants, shoes shined, necktie tightened and perfectly aligned, but man, the kid would not take a breath. “It’s nice to meet you.” Eddie interrupts whatever he was on about. Junior comes to a complete stop, turning to Eddie with raised brows.

“Sorry, I forgot my manners.” He shoots out a hand with his chin lifted high, back straight as a board in perfect posture. “Junior Shaw. It’s a pleasure to meet you, mister.” Eddie slowly reaches out to shake Junior’s hand. He raises a brow with a small smile.

“Shaw?” They shake hands for a bit too long due to Junior not knowing when to let go.

“Yeah… He’s my dad.” Junior tilts his chin down to hide his face. This is the first time Eddie notices the small horns growing atop his head, just barely peeking out in his thick dark hair. Eddie nods as his smile grows. “Oh.” Junior drops his hand. “Sorry.” The awkwardness of the kid makes Eddie’s heart swell. It’s oddly comforting. “Uh…” Junior trails, seemingly trying to fill the silence but not knowing what to say.

Eddie walks off, heading over to his side of the room. His eyes immediately land on the bed, seeing his new uniforms and his old suitcase. That was fast. He runs his fingers gently across the striped fabric. “Oh!” Junior says abruptly, grabbing Eddie’s attention. He turns to see Junior running to his dresser, picking something up, and turning to rush up to give it to Eddie. “Here.” He hands Eddie a small welcoming gift. It was a gift basket with some pens, pencils, notebooks, and other miscellaneous school supplies. On top of it all was a purple card with gold writing on it. ‘Welcome, Edward!’ it read, causing Eddie to bite back a small smile. “I know,” He raises a brow looking up from the basket to Junior. “It’s kind of cheesy, but my dad said giving you a welcome gift would make you feel more… welcome… yeah.” He says. Eddie gives him a kind smile.

“Thanks, kid.”

“Welcome.” He says before walking away to go to his desk and sit in the wooden chair. Eddie takes a seat on his bed, next to his uniforms, and places the welcome gift beside him on top of the neatly folded clothes. “So, uh…” Junior starts, “You’re kind of old…er… older. Older than the usual new students.” Eddie chuckles and nods.

“Yeah, so I’ve heard.”

“Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude. I’m just curious, is all. Sorry.”

“No worries. I’ve been getting it all day.” He tilts his head. “You know I’m not old. I’m only 19, going to be 20 this year.” Junior nods without looking up at him, instead focusing his eyes on the papers on his desk.

“That’s cool. My dad told me we’re taking in more students, probably opening up a new department or something like that. So, how’d you end up here?” Junior asks absentmindedly. The question takes Eddie off guard a little. What is he supposed to say? He turned into a monster and attacked his uncle after dying in battle in an alternate dimension. Would that make sense even here? Junior takes Eddie’s elongated silence as a sign. “Hey, don’t worry about it. You don’t have to tell. Told you, I’m just curious, probably too much for my own good.”

“I… acquired some new… powers?” Eddie thinks of how to word an explanation without going too in depth. “So, I got sent here to try and help… control them.”

“Oh, an Acquirer. That makes sense.” Eddie tilts his head in intrigue at the new title, but before Eddie can ask for clarification, Junior bombards him with some questions. “Have you looked at any of your classes yet, seen any clubs, you know, if you’re into that? Were you in any clubs or sports back when you were in your old school?”

“No,” he chuckles, “No sports. I’m not a sports guy.” Junior nods. “But I did have a club I was leading, called Hellfire.” Junior turns in his chair to look at Eddie with a curious look.

“Hellfire? What was it about?” Eddie’s eyes light up a bit, now that’s a question he loved to answer.

“Well, it was a mystical gathering of the most daring and creative minds.” Eddie began with a smirk and squinted eyes, enjoying the familiar innocent curiosity on the young boy’s face. “Creatures of all kinds, from all over would gather to travel together and fight great battles, solve fantastical mysteries, and establish their title as heroes.” Eddie says in a theatrical tone, drawing Junior’s interest. Eddie chuckles, shaking his head and looking down. “It was a club where I would host DND campaigns after school.” He smiled, reminiscing. Junior raises his brows and nods.

“Oh, I’ve heard about DND! Sounds a lot like Slayers, just minus the tabletop portion.” Eddie lifts his head to the smiling boy.

“Slayers, huh?’ Junior nods.

“Yeah, Dungeon Slayers Club, officially, but we just call it Slayers for short. It was kind of inspired by DND, but you know, we’re the actual ‘creatures’.” Junior explains. “It takes all the fun of DND and brings it into real life. We really train and fight and go on quests and everything. It’s really fun.” He beams.

“Is that the club with the emblems on their backs, the group of students out in that courtyard during lunch?” Junior’s brows raise.

“Yeah. I wasn’t there during lunch today. Usually, the lunch gatherings are just us hanging out during our break. The real club takes place after school.” Junior says matter-of-factly. “First official meetup of the season is tomorrow.” Eddie nods.

“Think I can come and check it out?” Junior's brows raise again, and his eyes go wide.

“Oh, uh, I don’t know. I mean, we’re always welcoming to new people, at least they were with me. I was the last person who joined, but, uh we’re not really the most popular group.” He rambles. “Slayers doesn’t really have the best reputation. It’s kind of…infamous? Most of the other students see us as a paranoid bunch of…well, losers, like end of the world preppers or stuck in the past people or whatever. I don’t know if you’d want to start yourself out by associating yourself with us. You- You may want to check out something else like the fencing team or- or something” He says bouncing his gaze around in one of his awkward antics.

“No,” Eddie stops him, “I want to check it out.” He says firmly. Junior, though a bit shocked, becomes excited.

“Oh Okay, well, tomorrow then, I can bring you with me to the club during lunch so you can meet some of the members and maybe we can get you to talk to the leader. They’re awesome.” Junior begins with a glint in his eye. “They’ve been heading Slayers for, like, the last four years, been in the club for even longer. They’re so cool, really.” He says seriously, nodding his head. “If the world ever did come to an end. They’re definitely someone you’d want on your side. They’re, like, really amazing. They can out fight and out smart anybody, I swear.” He nods in approval. Eddie smiles. I wonder if this is how they talk about me. I hope so. Junior turns back to the homework on his desk, “They’re a great leader. You’d like them, 100%.” He nods again.

Eddie and Junior sit in a comfortable silence, the loudest noise coming from Junior’s pencil against paper. Eddie stands after a minute or two and begins unpacking his things, organizing his half how he wants. “Do you usually study in silence, or is it just cause I’m here?” Eddie asks as he closes his last drawer and turns to look at the back of Junior.

“No, I usually work this way. Sorry if that’s weird, but- but don’t worry about me. If you want to play music or watch something, don’t worry about me.” He lifts a hand to wave dismissively. Eddie nods and walks away from the dresser.

“You know, I think I’m going to do a little exploring.” Eddie announces as he heads to the door. Junior lifts his head.

“Oh, do you want me to come with? I could help show you around.” He offers, but Eddie shakes his head with a wave of his hand.

“No, just continue with your work. I’ll be fine. I’m just gonna wonder and get familiar.” Eddie says with a small smile. “Be back later, kid.” He turns to leave without another word.

As soon as Eddie is outside of the dorm building, he decides to just pick a direction and start walking. He walks around the campus, again getting some looks from passing students as he’s the only one out of uniform. He leisurely wanders around, eventually stopping in an outdoor hallway that surrounds a small courtyard in the middle of one of the buildings. As he stands there, he stares at a familiar stranger’s face.

You were sitting at the end of a wooden bench at one of the picnic tables. In front of you, sat on top of the table was a boy with ivory skin and brown, fluffy, curly hair. He was slim but obviously muscular and had a killer smile that you couldn't help but return. Sat beside you was the same onlooker he saw earlier, the one who stood beside the boulder at lunch.

She seemed a bit more relaxed and was leaning on her elbows that were rested on the table in front of her. Her brown waves were loose from their little ponytail and now let down, cropped at her shoulders. She was also looking up at the boy who was talking, quite animated, about something Eddie couldn't quite hear.

Though you didn't know of his existence and he had never spoken a word to you, Eddie couldn’t help but admire your smile. It was easy to get distracted by you. Aside from being a total warrior badass, you were simply gorgeous. The shine in your eyes, the way the world around you brightens with your smile, the curves of your nose, the creases of your face as it contorts with laughter. This is the leader of the ‘infamous' ‘loser’ club? It was confusing. Eddie couldn't comprehend how anyone could not like whatever had your stamp of approval. You and your personality screamed positively infectious and contagious. It was plain to see. Even from a distance, Junior’s fanboying over you made total sense.

Eddie stood in the shadows of the hall just watching you and your interactions with your friends. He couldn't help but feel a bit envious. Abruptly he winces, flinching at the all too familiar feeling in his brain.

The sharp migraines he'd gotten ever since waking up in that place have started to dull, feeling more akin to an unreachable itch or a fuzzy static. He didn't know if the pain was weaker or if he was just building a tolerance. Eddie sighs, opening his eyes to see you and your friends standing and collecting your things. Before any of you can notice his presence, he takes his leave, disappearing out of the courtyard corridors and closing in on a new found back exit off campus.

Eddie walks along the road that leads up to the campus before he makes his way into the wooded area that lines the pavement. Once he feels he's gone far enough, the buzzing itch returns. He groans, annoyed at the feeling.

He knows he's alone out here, but he can't help himself from looking around him to see if anyone is watching. Once he decides the coast is clear, he kneels down, closes his eyes, and takes a few deep breaths, slowing his heart rate. He reaches a hand out and rests it on the massive trunk of the fallen tree he'd stopped in front of. He takes deep breaths during the entire exchange, feeling the wood beneath his fingers shift.

The feeling of a numb rush floods his veins as the headache dissipates. He knows that means he's done right. He opens his eyes, seeing the newly opened glowing gate. Again, he looks around him before looking back at the portal. Every time he opens a new door between worlds, that area in the back of his brain tells him he's done something right, but his heart still makes him feel like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar, constantly scared he's going to get caught doing something he's not supposed to.

One of these new found powers of his was the ability to open passages from this world to the other. At first, it felt wrong. There were so many bad memories there, but he'd always felt compelled to open these doors. Now, it's more so akin to a guilty pleasure, something he knows he shouldn't enjoy, but he can't resist. It calls to him. Plus if Vecna is dead, what is so wrong about it?

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Evermore Tag List (OPEN):

@ali-r3n  @mother-oshun @madelynraemunson  @starmilks @ohmeg

Swisslist (General Tag List):

@rosecentury @solacedthistest

[wildlife4life]

Fucking Inspirational Seven (+) Sentence Weekend

I have been tagged all through the weekend and I really did want to post on the actual days but I made those days for my daughter and insuring she had a magical 4th birthday. Party was fantastic and she is a very happy tot! To make up for the previous days, I have combined them all into this one, along with all those who have tagged me! @wikiangela, @loserdiaz, @thekristen999, @disasterbuckdiaz, @giddyupbuck, @hippolotamus, @fortheloveofbuddie @thewolvesof1998 @try-set-me-on-fire @jeeyuns @spotsandsocks @monsterrae1 @lover-of-mine @watchyourbuck @devirnis @jesuisici33 @exhuastedpigeon @theotherluciferr Thank you all so much and I look forward to all your works! Also this is me tagging you for Seven Sentence Sunday.

Maddie took a step back and turned her body just so, blocking the several photographers capturing pregame photos. Most of the time they moved on after photographing Evan linking his pinky with hers before pulling his older sister into a tight hug. A wholesome family moment, exactly what NFL and the sport world loves to see. But they also want to see every players dirty little secret. There was nothing dirty about Eddie and Evan's secret love. To a large portion of society though, it was wrong and in professional sports world, a single shot of that love could mean the downfall of everything Evan has worked so hard for. So ever since Maddie came back into her brother's life, joined the little family he built with Eddie and Christopher, she made herself the shiny shield. Look at me, look at the star quarterback's big sister. The woman who inspires him and has supported his football dreams since peewee league. Look at her and not at the shadows of a closeted bisexual man who loves an openly gay fireman. A quick peek of her surroundings, Maddie notices the dwindling sideline crowd and lessened attention on the quarterback. Catching Eddie's eye, she gives him a small nod and he steps up to Evan's towering form, grinning broadly. "Watch for that double high safety Buckley." He states with a wink. Evan's cheeks went slightly pink and Maddie can’t help but wrinkle her nose. She knew that look on her brother's face all too well and somehow Eddie had made a simple play reminder sexual. Ew. The quarterback chuckles, "Yea of course. Thanks man." He reaches out and thumps Eddie's chest over his heart three times. Eddie's giddy smile softens. With his own fist, Eddie hits the pads on Evan’s chest in the same place. Thump, thump, thump. Three taps meant I love you. He pulls his hand back and Eddie hits the center of his own sternum once. And the lone tap to his chest was a poor replacement for a kiss good luck. Maddie witnesses the same gestures between the two lovestruck men at every game Eddie attends and it breaks her heart every time.

Hope you all enjoyed! I promise I will be getting back to writing this week and if you want to see previous NFL Buck posts and snippets, go here!

Tagging those I didn't tag up top (no pressure): @alyxmastershipper @forthewolves @spaceprincessem @rogerzsteven @ladydorian05 @eowon @911onabc @911-on-abc @lizzybizzyzzz @cowboydiazes @cowboy-buck @cowboy-buddie @brokenribsdiaz @buck-coded @housewifebuck @bekkachaos @bvckandeddie @glorious-spoon @elvensorceress @bigfootsmom @transbuck @honestlydarkprincess @eddiediaztho @buddierights @athenagranted @rainbow-nerdss

[littlespoonevan]

What is the couch theory? 😅

oh anon, where do i start!!!!! this is possibly my favourite subject of all time so apologies in advance if this gets rambly askdjfh

okay so the couch theory goes all the way back to s5 of 911. at the start of 5B buck asks taylor to move in with him, right? and because she brings all her stuff with her it means they have double of everything, including two couches. so buck gets rid of his and they keep taylor's

however in 5x18 buck and taylor break up so she moves out and, of course, takes her couch with her

when we meet buck again in s6 a few months later he still hasn't found a replacement couch. over family dinner with eddie and christopher, chris makes a joke about it (like father, like son) and buck tells him and eddie that, "he doesn't want to choose the wrong couch again" heavily implying he means he doesn't want to choose the wrong romantic partner again (he also says his last two couches came with girlfriends since ali presumably helped him pick out the first one when he moved into the loft in s2).

the episode ends with buck moving his armchair to the place his couch used to sit and sitting down with a smile on his face, suggesting he's content on his own for now and thus, the couch theory was born:

buck's next couch/romantic partner will be the Right one

so we go through the whole of 6A with no couch developments and no real allusions to it be tHEN in 6B after the lightning strike buck's parents comment on his lack of couch and his mother decides she's going to buy him a couch (which is the adult equivalent of getting him a new bike when he hurts himself but that's a different post)

so margaret buys buck a couch but obviously, it's all wrong. because buck didn't choose it himself. it's not comfortable, he can't relax on it, can't fall asleep on it. and in an episode where buck is feeling smothered by everyone's attempts to check in on him it doesn't offer the comfort he needs so what does he do???

go to eddie's house of course!

and you'll never guess what happens, anon:

buck falls asleep on eddie's couch in about five seconds flat!!!!

to say 911 had me by the throat at that point would be an understatement lmao

bc that means eddie's the couch, right?????? what other implications could there possibly be when buck has been using his couch as a metaphor for a partner and he falls asleep on eddie's couch so quickly, suggesting he feels safe and comfortable there??? i said it that time but it would literally have been less suggestive to have him sleep in eddie's bed than it would've been to have him sleep on the couch at the point skdjhf

(and none of this is even getting into the fact that when buck wakes up eddie is the first person buck is honest with in the episode about how he's feeling after the accident, further cementing the idea of him being buck's safe space)

anyway by the end of s6 kameron gives birth on buck's couch and effectively ruins it meaning it's time for him to get a new couch again. now this is where everything falls to shit and i WILL be bitter about this for the rest of my life lmao but basically because of the fear of cancellation s6 sort of pivots in the last few eps and the finale makes an attempt to give each of the characters a mini happy ending in case it really is the overall series finale. and buck's 'happy ending' was to ask natalia (who he'd recently started dating) to help him pick out a new couch

now my personal opinion?? i Hated that. not even from a buddie perspective, just as someone who is very dedicated to buck's seasons long romantic arc and the couch theory, i thought it was really weak and far less satisfying than if he'd just ended the season single. especially bc the point was buck was supposed to pick the couch himself. but!!! some people are suggesting he still doesn't have a couch in s7 (though it's hard to tell since all the shots we've gotten have been in the kitchen) so i am privately holding onto the hope that the couch theory lives on aksjdfh

TL;DR the couch is eddie. eddie is the couch 🛋️❤️

[kumquatqueenb]

I have a fic idea,

what if instead of in season 5 when Chimney was tortured and Hen had to watch; Buck was tortured and someone had to watch. all while the others are breaking down trying to find him. Buddie ofc could/would happen but what do you think?

Ok so first of all, let me just say, I immensely enjoyed the Hen&Chim arc in season 5. Anything featuring their bestie-ism and unwavering support of each other is something that I would sell my soul for.

Second of all, ok, I am running with you on this fic idea, potentially in a different direction than what you originally intended, but I am running ok?!

So to set the scene, we’ve got Buck who somehow got kidnapped, I haven’t figured out why or how yet, but it happened. The rest of the 118 finds out, don’t know how either, but they did, and now they are consequently freaking out. Bobby is stressed but trying to keep his cool so he can keep the rest of the team functional so they can do whatever is necessary to get Buck back. Hen and Chim have a full crime board set up trying to put the pieces together. Eddie is going back and forth between helping Hen and Chim with the crime board and just generally spiraling over potentially losing the love of his life.

Things are not pretty, but there is still hope! Something that Bobby has been fervently reminding them of.

“118! Heads held high, we are going to get through this! We will find him!” Bobby calls to his coworkers gathered around in Buck’s trashed loft.

“Yes Cap.” Hen and Chim parrot dutifully.

Eddie is staring somewhere middle distance and not at all paying attention.

“Hen, Chim, make sure Eddie is breathing please.” Bobby sighed, running a hand through his hair to try and deal with his restless energy, “And nobody start panicking, I’m going to call Athena and she’ll know what to do.”

“Did anyone turn on the TV?” Eddie asked, voice so blank that it tore Bobby’s attention from where he was scrolling through his phone to get to his wife’s contact.

Bobby turned and found that the TV was showing a staticky screen, which was weird because Bobby could’ve sworn it had been off when they’d entered the apartment.

“Uh, that was off before, right?” Chim asked, panic creeping into his voice as he glanced around the apartment nervously, “Eddie, Buck hasn’t mentioned his place being potentially haunted lately, right?”

“Obviously not. Ghosts aren’t real.” Eddie said, gaze still fixed unwaveringly on the TV.

“Look, it’s fine. It’s just some static.” Bobby said in his calmest voice, “I’m sure we just… missed it, when we came in.”

“Right. A group of first responders who are all trained to take in an entire scene in seconds all just… missed it.” Hen said, eyebrows raised to show her skepticism.

She was right, of course she was, Hen was rarely ever wrong, but for the sake of keeping everyone calm and rational he really didn’t need her poking holes in his explanations. In fairness though, Hen being overly critical and suspicious was her own way of panicking in these types of situations. Sometimes he just forgot that because she rarely ever panicked.

“Either way, it’s fine.” He said, taking a deep breath as he turned his back on the TV to face them, “It’s just some static, it isn’t going to hurt us.”

It was right as he finished his sentence that they all gasped and rushed past him to huddle around the TV screen. He whipped around to see what had startled them so much and found that the static had been replaced. Now, displayed across Buck’s flat screen was Buck himself.

He was tied to a chair that was bolted down to the floor and he was gagged with what looked like some cloth and duct tape. He had also clearly been beaten and there was blood and bruises all over him.

“Jesus, kid.” Bobby muttered as he darted forward to get closer to the screen like the others. “What did they do to you?”

“I’m going to rip whoever did this to shreds.” Eddie muttered darkly, and the others just nodded along.

“Bobby, it’s time to call Athena.” Hen said, not daring to take her eyes off the screen, “Buck doesn’t look great, we need to get him to a hospital.”

Bobby didn’t bother arguing with her, instead unlocking his phone which was still in his hand and tapping the call button on Athena’s contact. The phone rang once in his ear before Bobby was hearing Athena’s ringtone.

That made no sense though, because Athena wasn’t here so why would her phone be?

Hen straightened, shooting Bobby a puzzled look having also recognized the ringtone as her friend’s. “Bobby, what-”

Hen cut herself off as there was a sudden movement on the screen. There was a gloved finger being ticked back and forth in front of the camera in a ‘no no no’ motion. Then the camera was swinging sickeningly fast and the screen showed a new person sitting in an identical chair tied up and gagged.

It was Athena. She looked decidedly better than Buck did with no visible injuries and enough wherewithal to glare at the camera with enough fire to melt the world. The gloved hand came back into view, holding Athena’s phone this time with the screen lit up showing an incoming call from Bobby. The hand waited a minute, probably to give them enough time to see what he was holding before it pulled away and then the phone was smashing against the wall by Athena’s head.

To her credit, she didn’t even flinch, her fiery gaze unwavering on whoever was behind the camera. Then suddenly the image froze and then the screen turned black once more.

It was dead silent in Buck’s apartment before Chimney asked, “Uh, Bobby? Is it time to panic now?”

“Yes.” Bobby breathed out before he could think better of it, panic clawing its way up his own throat as his breaths turned shallow and ragged.

He couldn’t do this, not again. He couldn’t lose his wife and his kid again, he wouldn’t survive it this time.

“Ok, woah! No one panic!” Hen called, snapping her fingers in front of all their faces as forcefully as she could.

“Bobby, calling your wife obviously isn’t going to work.” Hen pointed out, “So now it’s time to call mine.”

Cue Karen coming in and kicking ass with her investigative skills and her ability to create investigative computer programs. Then we get Bobby&Eddie double teaming saving the people they love while Hen&Chim provide back up. Maddie comes in about halfway through when Chim panics and tells her what’s going on and she gets dispatch to help Karen&Co with her investigation. Buck is super injured by the time they got to him, Athena is ok but incredibly pissed because she wasn’t rly the target. The kidnapper knew the 118 and knew that Athena would be able to find them cause she’s awesome so they just kidnapped her too as a precaution. Unfortunately they underestimated the rest of the 118. But anyway, happy tearful reunions for all and plenty of buddie, Bathena, Henren, and even a bit of Madney content.

Anyway, tysm for this ask, this was fun to write :)

[eds6ngel]

my way of life ! ˚ ♡ ⋆｡˚

summary: six months into your relationship, you teach eddie how to help change your stoma bag -- a huge part of your everyday life.

warnings: gn!reader. modern!au? (i don't know the history of stomas). mentions of illness. mentions of hospitals. mentions of procedure. mentions of food. mentions of scars. swearing. established relationship. fluff. comfort. eddie being a gentle bean and extra supportive!! [1.9k].

authors note: hi everyone!! i thought i'd take it upon myself to do a lil bit of education and write a fic which is very important to my life. i got a stoma fitted last year and have always had fears of relationships since then. so for my one year stoma anniversary last week, i thought i'd write a fic of eddie learning about how to change a stoma bag as well as everyone reading to gain a little bit of knowledge. hope you enjoy and hopefully learn something!! by the way, this is my way of changing my stoma bag. i do not speak for all ostomates and our bag change routine can vary from person to person!!

ulcerative colitis. noun. : a chronic disease in which abnormal reactions of the immune system cause inflammation and ulcers on the inner lining of your large intestine.

stoma. noun. : an opening on the abdomen that can be connected to either your digestive or urinary system to allow waste (urine or faeces) to be diverted out of your body.

“Okay, could you pass me the can of spray over?”

Living with a long-term health condition was not the easiest. You got taken into hospital at the age of seven when you started having violent nausea. You couldn’t stomach a thing, even water was an issue by the end. After running many different tests and scans, it turned out your colon had become super inflamed, leading to your diagnosis of ulcerative colitis. Usually, it can be kept under control, but you were unfortunately too far gone, your colon on the brink of bursting from its inflammation, which could have led to your potential death.

So, after emergency surgery and a wonderful three weeks in the hospital, you returned home with the end of your intestine permanently sewn onto the outside of your body with a bag attached. You were thankful it wasn’t anything too harmful, if anything, you could still live a regularly normal life. Yet, there was always one worry at the back of your mind. Future relationships.

The worries starting coming in at the age of thirteen, as soon as you hit puberty. All your girl friends were gushing about boys, kissing and dating, whilst you contemplated whether anyone would even want you. That was until you met Eddie.

Eddie Munson was well-known around the town of Hawkins as the residential freak. He was accused of sacrificing teenage girls to young children, even babies to the Devil. Yet, he was always confident within himself, never letting that label drag him down. And that confidence made you fall for him hard. And at the time, you didn’t realise that the metalhead was also eyeing you lovingly from a distance.

After years of pining, you two finally got together. You couldn’t hide your condition, especially in the way that it limits the types of foods you can eat. When you were sat at Benny’s Burgers for your first date, Eddie ordered a basket of fries to share between the two of you, but when they came with the skin on, you sat there munching away at your salad-free burger, avoiding the food that could potentially cause you a lot of pain.

After freaking Eddie out for not touching the fries, feeling as if he did something wrong, you went on a mini rant all about your condition, leading to Eddie not caring in the slightest and ordering you two baskets of onion rings in replacement.

You always assumed that your extra planning would become an issue at some point in time, but it never did. Eddie would call you up, ask you out on a date, and follow up telling you the place name with the food available and accessibility of the venue. The first time he did this, you sobbed down the phone at his caring nature, the words of “I phoned the place and they have a disabled bathroom and lots of pasta options, so it’s not a problem for you,” still ringing in your ear to this day.

Today was your bag change day. As the years went by, you went from changing your bag every single day to every four days, much more manageable in your hectic high school schedule. However, since you sometimes got the odd bag malfunction, either through tears, overflows or the material not working correctly, you decided to teach Eddie how to change your bag with you, as it’s always better to have two people than one in an emergency.

Eddie hands you over the can of spray, you shaking it and taking off the lid, “Okay, so what I do, which I’ll probably do myself anyway, is just grab the corner of the sticky part and spray at it. It doesn’t take much, I can usually do a quick spray, peel it back, and then repeat. Pretty much how you would use any spray to peel off anything in life.”

Eddie mumbles an “Okay,” watching with intent as you spray and peel, taking the bag off and throwing it in the waste bag you had sat next to you. “Right,” you begin, “Now, one of these dry wipes, I’ll just stick over the top of the stoma, just in case it becomes active and wants to release anything. You never know with this thing,” you softly laugh.

“Okay baby, your time to shine,” you say to him, Eddie fully ready to become a helping hand, “Take one of those dry wipes and dunk it in that warm water for me, and then just wring it out like you would any old towel.”

He copies your steps, the dry wipe becoming wet as it absorbs the water, Eddie grabbing it in the palm of his hand and squeezing the water out. You smile at him, passing him back the can of spray, “Great, now you see this residue here?” you ask, pointing to the black ring on your stomach where your stoma bag had been placed, him nodding as you continue, “We need to remove this. So, just spray the wipe for me and then gently scrub off the residue.”

He wraps his hand underneath the unfolded wipe, gripping it in a comfortable position and spraying the end, leaning over, his tongue poking out in concentration, as he tends to the black residue. He places one hand softly on the side of your stomach, scrubbing away at the stain, before looking up to you with the biggest doe-eyes, softly asking you, “Is that good?”

It was a bit rough, some patches still having some residue, so you encourage him to spray multiple times, one attempt usually not enough to tackle the entire black ring, and how it could cause a slight rash if you scrub too aggressively, something you learnt the hard way.

“Next job, we need to actually clean the stoma itself, because it’s always a little yucky,” you tell him with a laugh, “So, just wet another wipe and then we’re just gonna wipe all that crap away, okay?”

“Seems pretty simple,” he shrugs, dipping another wipe in the water, ringing it out as you lift up the dry wipe and discard it in the waste bag. He attends to your stoma as carefully as possible, you giggling as you say, “The actual stoma doesn’t hurt baby, it doesn’t have any nerve endings.”

“Oh,” he lets out, “That’s kinda badass.” You laugh at his statement, nobody ever complimenting you in that regard before. It was a strange compliment, but it was Eddie, so not only was it very him, you also enjoyed every bit of it.

Two wet wipes later, and the stoma is clean, him discarding the dirty wipes in the black, waste bag and you putting a fresh dry wipe over the stoma. “Okay, the final two steps are kinda a ‘watch and learn’ type of thing. So, I’ll just talk you through it if that’s okay?”

He smiles, “Of course my love, teach me the ways of the stoma bag changing,” he dramatically acts, pressing a quick peck to your cheek. You laugh as you ask, “Could you pass me that yellow-coloured ring please?”

“As you wish, m’lady,” he speaks in a posh accent, bowing and holding out the ring between both of his hands, as if some sort of luxury.

“Thank you, kind sir,” you replicate him in his voice, peeling off the two plastic outers, “Right, so you kinda just mould this, I suppose. You press it down,” you demonstrate, using the base of your fingers to increase the area of the pelican ring, pressing it down so it is flatter, and stretching it slightly. “Now, you just put it right around the stoma,” you state, placing the ring perfectly snug around the red stub.

“How did you even get that right first time?” Eddie asks in a confused manner, questioning how you placed it around your stoma so perfectly.

“Practice makes perfect. How do you manage to play Master of Puppets with no mistakes?”

“You know what? Good point,” he says with a grin, “So, what is the final step to this perfect routine? I assume it is this wonderful thing,” he says, holding up your black stoma bag between his fingers, shaking it with a content smile on his face.

“You would be correct,” you confirm, taking it from his hands, “Again, peel off the plastic back. A lot of excess plastic in this process,” you laugh, taking off the back and throwing it in the waste bag for a final time. “Now, watch and learn baby. I fold this part, so the hole is split down the middle, I line the bottom of the fold up with the bottom of the stoma, and boom! Fold it over so it fits around it and we’re done!”

“Is that seriously it?” he asks, checking to make sure there’s no more extra steps.

“Uh huh,” you brightly say, “That’s all. I just press down on it to make sure it sticks to my skin well and then get dressed like any other normal human being.”

“Hey,” he points a finger at you, staring into your eyes, “You are normal, okay? You’re no different to me than any girl who wouldn’t have their beautiful red, stubby intestine on the outside of their body,” he presses a kiss to your forehead, grabbing the waste bag, tying it up and heading out to his kitchen to throw it in the trash.

“You know, you’re the only one making intestines sound like gorgeous things,” you giggle as he returns to his bedroom, running up to the bed and jumping on top of you, playfully nibbling at the skin on your chest and littering kisses all over your face.

“They are beautiful! Why on Earth are you suggesting otherwise?” he questions, laying his head on your stomach, directly next to your stoma bag.

“Because they are gross!” you exclaim with a laugh, “You haven’t touched the thing! It’s so odd!”

“Well,” he places a kiss on your stomach, “Whenever I next see you change this thing, I wanna touch it. Prove to you it isn’t that gross.”

You stroke his hair as you look into his chocolate brown eyes, whispering out an “Okay.”

“Besides,” he vocalizes, stroking the scar that covers right down the centre of your stomach, “You have this beautiful, badass scar that I get to worship every time you take your shirt off. One of the most gorgeous things about you.”

“Thought the actual stoma was the most gorgeous thing?” you tease.

He looks up at you, pretending to think, “Hmm, stoma comes a close second. The scar definitely takes the top spot.”

“I agree,” you say, softly laughing as you kiss the crown of his head, leaning up as you lift yourself off of his bed. You head over to his closet, his trailer now becoming your second home, half of your clothes now filling up his space, “Now, what should I wear today?”

You always found it easier to change your stoma bag in just your underwear, so in typical Eddie fashion, he is enjoying the view of your ass currently on display, him asking you seductively, “You got that cute ass skirt I love you in hiding in there?”

You turn around, copying the smirk that was situated on his face as he lays down on his front on his bed. God, this man was gonna be the death of you.

i really hope you enjoyed this and learnt something new!! up to an estimated one million people in the usa have stomas, so you never know when you might meet someone with one!! remember: it's an invisible disability (or chronic illness for that matter), so you might have already met an ostomate without knowing it!!

[slashingdisneypasta]

For when you want... I thought of something very cursed while closing last night. What would happen if the world of Who Framed Roger Rabbit went through a Dorothy Must Die scenario.

Don't ask me where this came from, I don't even know how it'd work 😭 but what I briefly thought of last night was that, for some reason, the world of toons gets blocked off from humanity (maybe they were considered too dangerous after the story of Theadore Valient got out?). And Doom, instead of trying to enact his plan to replace Toontown with a freeway, decides this is the perfect opportunity to take over and control the toons instead. So basically, Doom is DmD!Dorothy (I did not need the image of Doom in the gingham dress, but my brain went there 😭)

This was mainly imagining the Toon Patrol as the DmD trio, admittedly 😅 being Doom's enforcers and striking fear into the residents of Toontown in this AU. Psycho and Greasy are like Scarecrow, being the two most feared of the patrol for similar and different reasons. Smartass and Stupid could be similar to the Lion, being more on the dumb side, but also not questioning Doom and happy with his position as his seargent. That leaves Wheezy most like Tinman; deep down, he knows that all this is wrong, but he doesn't try to stop Doom or Smartass for his own reasons. They use DIP to scare the citizens into obeying these new laws, but they're far more grusome and dangerous here, just like the trio are in DmD. Can you imagine that bubble gun Tin's soldier used on Indigo, but with DIP?? (Ngl, I've been having fun imaging Greasy as the Scarecrow in particular).

I'm not sure who Amy Gumm would be, probably Eddie if he ever decides to visit the tunnel again or somehow got a job that required him to get close to Toontown and he got captured. Or it could be an original character. But Jessica and Roger are part of the rebellion to take Doom and his patrol down, along with various other characters. They're war torn and traumatized, but they're still kicking.

I have no idea why I thought this, but here you go 😅😅😅😅

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS!! Especially Scarecrow!Greasy, oh my g o d. Let me just- let me just- *gets out copy of Dorothy Must Die, which is heavily sticky-noted and thick from rereads already, and starts reading through all of Scare's bits imagining my favourite weasel* ... would it be crazy of me to write fanfiction of this concept!?? XD

YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ME.

The only thing 'cursed' about this is Doom in gingham 🤣🤣🤣 But its all just ��👌👌 Perfect! This was such a gem to wake up to XDD

I also love Stupid getting a main character part for once!! We too often let him fade into the background and this weighs heavily upon my soul, as I'm sure it does yours 😰Lion!Stupid would be so adorable!! Lion!Stupid developing a particular interest in a servant at the palace; them of course becoming his Favourite. Lion!Stupid struggling between his sexual appetite and his hunger for blood, licking and sucking and tasting his S/O any time that they're intimate; whimpering when they bleed because he got too rough with them; wanting to eat them. He wants to tear them apart and feast on their flesh, feel his teeth sink into their fat. Lion!Stupid feeling curious about this desire- because he loves them, doesn't he?? He doesn't understand. Lion!Stupid going to his good, old, most trustworthy, most intelligent friend Scarecrow!Greasy asking about it. Scarecrow!Greasy saying basically that he doesn't blame him- Stupid is an animal, after all. And that Y/N... is a delicious little morsel~ Do what feels right, Greasy tells him absentmindedly, going back to his work (Greasy never did alot the Lion much of his precious time, anymore, since Dorothy came back. Sometimes Stupid wondered why everything had changed). Follow your excellent, leonine instincts. Lion!Stupid returning to his lovers bed that night and doing exactly as his good comrade told him. Lion!Stupid eating what he loves (Lion!Stupid never losing the perfect taste off his tongue). Tin Woodman!Wheezy giving him a word of advice, later; that old friend of ours is crafty and cruel, Stu. Everything's different, now. 'ts best if ya don't trust any of us.