#robin's is some house of leaves type bullshit

[turnthepagevn]

Asking for an explanation on the shadow dimension and why its all in caps when called THE VOID.

I mean, each sibling has their own version,and there are also some that coalesce. Y'know string theory? It's kind of like that. Rena doesn't have a shadow dimension that she chucks people into, but a dreamy, sparkling haze of colors. Rigel's feels like a liminal space. Sometimes Rena throws people in there for funnies, and they come out ranting about the backrooms. Robin's is kind of like a mirror of his home, but there are things that don't make a lick of sense in it; stairs leading to nowhere, windows on the second floor of what would be the library looking onto grass as if it was the ground floor. It feels bigger than it should be. House of Leaves type vibes.

As for why I sometimes write it in all caps?

Hee hee funny

[idyllicbarb]

Intentions

SUMMARY: He’s the next quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals, his family believes a wife will make his image look picture perfect. Your family wants you to get marry before you hit twenty-five, it’s the best match!

WARNINGS: kissing, cussing, angst, dirty talk, small smut, etc

NOTE: this is set in a covid free world + you and joe’s parents are evil in this book sorry!

“I have to get married? That’s bullshit!”

“Joseph Lee Burrow, you watch your goddamn mouth.”

Joe rolls his eyes before storming out of his family house to his Porsche. His parents just told him he has to get married before being drafted into the NFL. They want Joe’s image to be picture-perfect. Joe doesn’t get it, since he’s so young, just graduated college and finally getting a taste of adult-life.

You on the other hand, were dealing with parents who want you to also get married so early. Your parents got married soon as they hit college, but you’re not them. You didn’t want to be like your parents.

“I’ve found the perfect husband for you.” Your mother announces, you peer your eyes in her direction in irritation. What even is a perfect husband?

“He can’t be a perfect husband, mother. Nobody on this earth is perfect.” You roll your eyes putting your attention back on the movie you put on for your younger siblings.

“Non-sense, sweetheart. You’ll meet him at the event we have to attend as a family for a close friend of your father and I.” Your mother states before walking away leaving you to skull in silence. There’s no way that being a wife so early to a man who is nine times out of ten— a control freak is your new reality.

Groaning, you walk upstairs to your childhood bedroom and slam the door as hard as you can. “Don’t you be slamming anything in my house, missy!” You hear your father yell from the stairs.

You flop on your bed, “Fuck my life.”

It’s the day of the event. Which means you’re meeting your soon to be husband, the word husband rolling off your tongue makes you want to puke.

You’re standing in front of your mirror looking over your outfit for the tenth time. You didn’t want to walk out that door and meet somebody who’ll probably hurt you more than you’ve ever been in your life.

Your mother leans against your door with a smile on her face, “Look at you. Dressed as a young lady should be, are you ready?”

“Yes,” You grab your belongings and head towards the door before your mother grabs your wrist lightly. “Don’t mess up our family’s reputation, do you understand me?”

You tilt your head and laugh in annoyance before aggressively pulling your wrist away from your mother, “You care more about this family “reputation”, more than you care about how forcing me to marry early is affecting my mental health. Pathetic.”

Walking off to the family car, you huff and relax your shoulders. You were just now realizing today’s going to be a long day.

Joe was re-fixing the clothes his dad laid out for him. It’s stupid, getting married early. What if the woman is already in a relationship? What if Joe doesn’t get along with whoever this young lady is. So many questions with no answers is starting to tick Joe off.

“My precious son! Oh you look handsome, she’s going to love you!” Robin, Joe’s mother, squeals before giving him a big hug. Joe smile doesn’t match his eyes, he could never disappoint his mother.

“Thanks mom.”

“You seem nervous.”

“Pfft. Me? Nervous? Never.”

“Joseph. I know you, you’re my son. You’re nervous about today.”

Joe turns to look at his mother, “Only nervous because I don’t know this woman nor her family and this could go wrong quickly.”

“How can things possibly go wrong?”

“I’m probably not her type. She’ll probably think I’m some kind of slut when finding out that I’m thee LSU Quarterback. The woman probably doesn’t even want to get married, mom. We’re both young.” Joe explains before sitting down on his bed and playing with his bracelets.

“Your father thinks it’s for the best. I wish I could do more, but I can’t. I’m sorry.” Joe’s mother says before kissing his forehead and leaving him alone in his thoughts.

“Joe! Get down here now boy, our event is starting.” Joe’s father yells and Joe groans loudly. Reality’s starting to kick in.

Your family arrives a few minutes late, there’s plenty of cars outside the gigantic house. Your nerves start to kick in, any minute you’ll be meeting the man who is suppose to be your husband. Not paying any attention, the car door opens and you look up in startled.

“Now’s not the time to be acting delayed, Y/N.” Your father says harshly. You roll your eyes before stepping out the vehicle and fixing your clothing.

“I’m not acting delayed, I don’t want to be here putting on a front. Trust, I’m just as annoyed as you are, father.” You shoot back before walking side to side with your mother up the large stairs to the front door.

A few people greet your parents as you give a smile and wave, not knowing who any of these people are. You realize, you don’t know what your parents do outside of work. Whatever it is, it landed them to forcing you to marry a rich man with parents who are evil.

The door opens and you’re met with an older man whose wearing a suit. He looks familiar but you can’t figure out why, “Angie! Good to see you again. This must be Y/N. Your Prince Charming has been waiting for your arrival.”

You laugh, not really liking the joke. But of course, you can’t disappoint your parents. You and your mother step inside the house, “Why yes, it’s lovely to see you again as well, Jim. My husband is getting our other kids out the car, is Joe ready to meet Y/N?”

Joe? Your eyes squint around the house, looking at all the purple and yellow decorations. No, this cannot be who you’re thinking it is.

“Yes. He’s helping out in the back, we should all walk out there.” Jim suggests before looking your way, you nod and send Jim a smile before heading out to the backyard.

You stop in your tracks when you see the one and only, Joe Burrow. Yes, the same man who is LSU’s savior and predicted to be drafted in the NFL. No, he can’t be the man your parents want you to marry.

Jim calls Joe over, he pats Joe’s large shoulders before pointing over at you, “Son, this is your soon to be wife, Y/N.” Joe looks over at you and you almost feel your knees give out.

“Nice to meet you,” You say first holding your hand out for Joe to shake, in which he does but only for a short minute. After, you turn your eyes towards your mother she smiles at you.

“Well, we’ll leave you two to it, right Angie?” Jim says and your mother says something before walking off but you’ve muted her in your head. Joe stares in the direction of his dad for a bit before looking over at you.

You feel his eyes on you, “What?”

“You’re not going to say anything?”

“What is there for me to say?” You roll your eyes, already irritated by the heat and by this whole situation.

“No need to be rude, I just wanted to know you, well, I have to know you. Since you’re going to be my future wife.” Joe says putting on his famous Cartier glasses.

“Why would I be impressed of being the wife of a NFL quarterback? You’re going to have other women on you anyways.” You state before walking back inside the house to get some shade. Not even bothered enough to see if Joe has followed you inside, you go to find the bathroom to fix yourself.

Closing the door behind you, you stare at yourself in the mirror. “This can’t be my fucking life,” you mumbled under your breath. Fixing your appearance up, you head out the bathroom to come in contact with your father.

“How’s things going with you and Joesph?”

“I think you and mother have very low expectations of me. I will not be a NFL wife, are you insane?” You question your father and he laughs at the expression that’s plastered on your face.

“Sweetheart, it’s for a good cause.” Your dad says, attempting to reassure you.

“What exactly would that good cause be? I am so much more than a future wife of a NFL quarterback who is cheating on her.” You cross your arms in frustration, not realizing that Joe can hear your entire conversation from only a few feet away.

“Y/N.. how do I put it like this? It doesn’t matter what you think! It never once did, don’t ruin what your mother and I built for this family. Understood young lady? ‘Cause I could care a goddamn less about how you feel about things you’re creating in that mine of yours.” Your dad says lowly while staring directly into your eyes.

Your lips tremble as if you’re six years old again, you walk off down the hall so nobody will have to see the tears fall down your face. Joe turns his eyes when your father walks inside the kitchen, maybe now he sees as to why you’re upset. Joe doesn’t want you to be unhappy while he’s having a time of his life on the field. Your parents basically want you to be a stay at home wife.

Joe walks out of the kitchen in attempt to get his dad to cancel this whole ordeal.

“That I cannot do.” Jim says with a cigar lightly hanging out his mouth.

“Why is that?”

“Both parties involved already agreed to everything being set in place. You two get married and you have the best NFL career ever.” Jim says before taking a puff out of his cigar.

“This isn’t something that I want, dad.” Joe says gaining a laugh from his father.

“Quite frankly Joseph? I don’t give a damn about what you want. This is for our family and Y/N’s family. You and her can try to reason with us all you want, but ain’t not a got damn thing changing. Clear?” Jim tells his son before standing up out his office chair.

“Now, you get out of here and get that young lady to act like a wife to you boy! Quit trying to act different, I raised you better than this, Joseph.” Joe’s dad says before closing his office door on his son.

“Fuck it,” Joe says under his breath before walking off to find you. He has an idea in mind, only if you can cooperate with him.

You’re back outside standing off to the side scrolling through whatever TikTok you find amusing when a shadow stands in front of you. Turning off your phone, you see Joe smile, and it’s the kind of smile that you didn’t know you needed to see. Though his charming ways still don’t rub off on you in a good light.

“Yes, Mr. Burrow?” You question with a fake smile across your face. Joe feels himself almost go hard at you saying his name last but plays it off.

“I have an idea, only if you’re willing to listen.”

“Hm, maybe I am.”

Trying to take Joe serious as you sit in his Star Wars’ childhood bedroom is getting difficult. Cute to see that he’s never changed his room. He notices your small smile, “What’s so funny?”

“I think it’s adorable that your room is Star Wars themed.”

“Adorable? I bet your room is Dora or some shit.” He mutters sitting down in his gamer chair.

“It’s actually Princess and The Frog.”

“You look like a frog.”

“You look like Chewbacca.”

“Take that back!”

You stand up getting in the face of Joe, “Make me.”

“I wouldn’t say those words if I was you, not while being in my room with the doors closed and locked.” Joe smirks seeing you slowly back away, he gets up grabbing your arm softly pulling you into him.

“What’s the matter? You scared?” Joe teases.

“Never scared, I said make me, Burrow.” You shoot him a sinister grin not realizing what’s in store for you. Before you know it, Joe has you bent over his lap with your skirt down to your ankles.

“I should spank you, do you want that?”

“No..” You whimper feeling Joe trail his finger up and down your nicely shaved legs.

“Seems like it. You’ve been mean to me up until now, that’s not fair.” You put your head down only for Joe to lift it back up.

“I’ll be good to you.”

“You promise me?” Joe asks leaning closer to your lips, planting a small kiss on them before pulling back.

“Yes I promise.. kiss me again please.” You request, closing your eyes when feeling his soft plump lips on yours. It seems as if you’re in Heaven.

“I want to fuck you so bad right now, but you’d have to cover your moans and I don’t want that, mama.” Joe says pulling you up on his lap, your skirt still around your ankles.

“Maybe we can.. sixty nine?” You suggest, seeing Joe’s eyes go directly to lust. He takes his pants and shoes off in an instant, grabbing your hips placing your head directly towards his crotch area.

“I’m pretty big, just saying.” Joe brags before pulling down your panties slowly.

“I can handle you, trust.” You shoot back, squeezing his dick softly.

You don’t give Joe enough time to reply, because your mouth is already on his balls, taking them one at a night. Joe mumbles, “Fuck,” under his breath before kissing around your mound.

You both moan at the pleasure that you two are giving each other right now. Never did you think this day would involve you getting ate out from the back, and boy was Joe doing a damn good job.

You were still not giving his dick any attention, attempting to tease him but it didn’t work. Not while he’s leaving kisses on your pussy, making your hips buckle in response.

You finally move your mouth towards his dick, trailing your tongue up and down causing Joe to shiver in response. Him moaning on your pussy makes you do the same, you take Joe slowly, trying to get used to his massive size. He at some points hits the back of your throat while tears roll down your face, but you don’t care.

Gagging on Joe’s dick made you feel proud, you didn’t know why. Maybe it’s because of the way Joe’s moaning your name right now or how you can feel him about to cum in your mouth.

Joe stops eating you out, catching his breath, “Do you want to cum at the same time?” He asks and you give him a thumbs up, too busy in trying to him nut. Which Joe grunts under his breath before putting his mouth back on your pussy.

It doesn’t take that long before Joe’s cum is shooting inside of your throat and you’re leaving a wet mess all over Joe’s face. Swallowing all of his load, you turn to see Joe licking up everything you gave him. He sends you a shit eating grin, you slowly get off Joe, not until he’s pulling you into his side.

“You were right.” Joe blurts out after a minute of quietness. You hum in response, too lazy to actually open your mouth.

“You can handle me.”

You giggle before turning your head to see Joe already staring into you. Leaning down, he plants a small kiss on your lips.

“We can nap for a while, they probably won’t care.” Joe says rubbing your arm and you nod your head before tucking yourself into Joe, falling into a blissful nap.

It’s an hour later, you and Joe have rejoined the party. Fixing yourself up the best you could, your mother noticed something off about you, but she’s ignoring it.

You were currently grabbing yourself a drink when Joe slowly creeps up behind you, “Hey mama.”

You turn your head, giving Joe a meaningful smile this time. Kissing his lips softly, “Hi.”

“Our parents want to speak to the both of us.” Joe says before grabbing your hand and walking you over to where your parents are standing.

“Joe and Y/N! It’s great to see that you two have rejoined us.” Robin, Joe’s mother says with a smile on your face.

“Sorry, we got carried away with watching a movie in my room.” Joe tells his mother, not being able to look her in the eyes. You hide the laugh that wants to spill from your mouth.

“Well, it seems as if you two get along just well, right?” Your mother asks you, staring into you so that you won’t say a stupid response.

“Yes, we do. She means a lot to me, and I’m happy that you four set this up for us to meet.” Joe pulls you into his chest, you nod your head smiling at you and Joe’s parents. Yeah, this being your new reality doesn’t seem bad. Well, it doesn’t seem bad for you and Joe. You and his parents have no idea for what’s in store for them come draft season.

[griefabyss69]

Ample Fire Within

Hello everybody I hurt my feelings about Steve and so I've decided to inflict that on all of you as well <3

[AO3] [ Tip / Commissions post ]

Platonic Stobin - Rated: G - 1.7K

Angst with a happy ending It's short enough the full thing is under the cut!

"For all of the late night wishing on a star type of bullshit he does, when he's alone in the dark and doesn't even have to properly face himself, let alone anyone else, you'd think he'd be able to handle it when he finally gets what he wants."

You'd think that all of the near-death experiences and injuries and horrible secret knowledge they’d all had would make a group of people like, forthcoming about their feelings.

But when most of those people are hiding deeply under too many layers of irony, insecurity, and maybe an affected teenage distance, feelings come out in stupid little arguments and the decision to be as annoying as possible instead of like.

Talking about it.

The affection is just like that too – drenched in demands - and just like anything, Steve has to assume that being asked for shit means that someone somewhere cares about him.

If they need him, that means they'll think about him, remember him.

It means they won't leave and won't spit his feelings back in his face, drunk off of either expensive wine or spiked punch – he's since forgiven Nancy, and they're good friends, though she could never love him.

Forgiving his mom is something he thinks he'll get around to one day, if she ever gets around to deciding he exists again.

His dad is a lost cause, so he doesn't bother.

---

Robin's hand is tight around his, her nail polish alternating between a shimmery blue and a stark black. It works on her, makes her look cool in the way only she can be.

He studies the difference in their fingers, his nails are neatly trimmed out of habit, though the skin around them peels like he hasn't been taking care of the skin. Hers are doing pretty well, considering she's once again trying to fully kick the habit of biting them.

Despite how much smaller her hands are, he feels like the one who's protected, a bracing grip that keeps him grounded as some of his neighbors head out of the store, the sour feeling of being degraded by nothing but polite conversation about where he might go to school next year and “What are your parents up to these days?” sitting heavy in his guts.

"You want to pick the movie?" Robin asks, adding her other hand into the mix, squeezing his tightly.

He shakes his head, can't stomach the thought of having an opinion on anything right now, on being some kind of real boy who has to make a decision harder than breathe in – good – now breathe out.

She lets go of him to go wander around the shelves, and he misses the comfort deeply, but doesn't say anything about it because he needs to find a way to earn the next one, this one finished with it’s job even if it’s prematurely. He’ll find the next emotional punch he can take and will hope it makes someone notice he could use a hug or something.

He wants to think he's got people in his life now that notice him at least some of the time, really notice him, not like before when he'd sat concussed through his exams and managed to pass because the teachers didn't want to face down the wrath of Harrington Sr.

He tries not to mope, tries to shake everything off, and goes to poke fun at Robin for whatever movie she picked.

---

For all of the late night wishing on a star type of bullshit he does, when he's alone in the dark and doesn't even have to properly face himself, let alone anyone else, you'd think he'd be able to handle it when he finally gets what he wants.

But maybe it's the unexpected timing, or just the way he didn't think they'd ever be those people – but when Robin hugs him goodbye one night, the last one out of the house as Nancy waits up outside to take her home, she murmurs a quiet "Love you" into his shoulder and he only manages to hold himself together by a fucking hair until the door is shut behind her.

He wouldn’t have ever imagined that it would make him crumple to the floor beside the neat rack of shoes he never wears, but he finds himself flat on his ass with his forehead on his knees like someone's packing him away in a box.

Ugly tears already brimming and spilling down his face as his throat closes up around what might just be a banshee's wail.

He knows he's supposed to be happy, and he knows there's a part of him that is, but the rest of him is just hurt – there’s an empty hole that had dug through him until it had grown into a deep well of loneliness, and every little offering of care and attention and love drowns in it.

About thirty minutes and a big pounding headache later, his phone rings, and his voice is rough when he picks up.

"Steve," Robin gasps, out of breath like she'd run to the phone. "What's wrong?"

He frowns, wondering if he sounds that bad.

"Nothing, why?"

"Oh, you just sound… And I'd thought – I just had a feeling in the car and then it got worse and I got worried and I'm sorry I'm sure you're so ready to go get your beauty sleep and I know we'll see each other at work tomorrow – but you sound terrible, Steve. Are you really okay?"

Robin's voice is as soothing as much as it picks at him, all the little threads he'd found on the floor to put himself back together get snatched back up by her soulmate premonition feelings or whatever, and he feels his sore eyes start to sting again.

"Rob, everything's fine," he says, heading to the sink, stretching the phone cord so he can get a cold glass of water. "Just took a little nap."

"Oh, that's good," She sighs, clearly relieved. "I guess… I'll let you go?"

Steve's heart feels full of something that aches, but maybe it's not really in a bad way. He can't tell right now, but he blinks and blinks and blinks until his eyes aren't threatening to un-convince Robin of his fine-ness.

"Yeah, I'll see you in the morning," he says, and pauses, digging his toes into the tile floor to brace himself. "Have good dreams, love you."

Robin's voice is warm and thready when she replies, the phone doing a bad job of replicating it but he can still imagine she's speaking into his shoulder again.

"Love you too, goodnight Steve."

---

He does more crying in the shower, though this time it’s more of a relieved thing.

The little worry in the background of his mind that Robin had said it accidentally earlier is gone – and the larger worry in the front of his mind that he'd somehow ruin their friendship by saying the same thing back at her is gone too.

He's almost excited to get to work tomorrow, though his self esteem hasn't been doing all that great lately, with summer vacation and everyone he went to high school with coming back home from college.

Logically he doesn't care about the judgmental questions and the superior airs they put on, as if surviving another year of schooling could hold a candle to the crazy shit he's survived, but it still like, hurts.

At least the store’s been too busy for them to be scheduled for solo shifts, so he's mostly just working his full day with Robin, and aside from the retail hell of it all, it's been kind of nice just getting to hang out together for hours and hours.

---

Robin's too good at reading him, and he regrets his excitement to see her so soon after his weird love induced meltdown on the welcome mat.

"Oh my God, you lied!" She hisses as he takes his place behind the counter, leaning beside her. "Clearly something was wrong last night."

He knows his eyes are slightly fucked up still, but he's had nights of bad sleep that had him looking worse, so he's truly confused for a moment, and lets her know that, his perplexed frown out in full force as she sets her hands on his shoulders.

"C'mon, the puppy dog eyes aren't going to work," she says, squeezing and shaking him a little bit. "You let me think I was an over-worrier! That I was thinking too much. Tell me, Steve."

He sighs, closes his eyes, and wishes desperately they weren't at work for this.

"Any chance of letting me talk about it in eight hours?"

Robin scoffs, and digs her fingers into the meat of his shoulders.

It's probably meant to hurt, but it's a pleasant pressure, his muscles feeling a little sore from all of the tension he’s been carrying.

"No, tell me now before we have to flip the sign," she says, the little crack in her voice betraying her whole pissed off act.

"Fine just. Don't laugh," he says, wondering if it's more pathetic to ask her not to or more pathetic to experience it if she does.

She raises her eyebrows, eyes lasered in on his as he opens them, and she just looks sad.

"It hurt, you know, in the car. I just… I knew something wasn't okay but I had no idea what it was, but I was sure it was something to do with you," she says, subdued.

The soulmates thing gets pretty freaky sometimes, but Steve's heard of this happening to like, identical twins. So why not him and Robin, honestly?

"Sorry," he says, swallowing around the lump in his throat. "Just uh, when you. Said you loved me."

Robin winces, loosens her grip on his shoulders.

"Not good?" She asks, and Steve frowns.

"No, it was good," he says quickly, doesn't want her to feel bad for saying it, or worse, take it back. "I'm…"

He thinks about it, the little bright spark in his chest that's been flickering, fighting against all of the heaviness and general stress he's been feeling. It grows a little stronger every time he sees her, and he hopes that one day it can be a proper flame.

"It's just been a while," he whispers, thinks that this isn't fair to even tell her. "Since someone's told me that."

It sounds depressing as hell, and truly, despite whatever his 3AM wallowing would have to say about it, he's been doing fine, has a full enough social calendar with his friends.

"Oh," Robin says, the way it hurts as plain as a clear day on her face. "Well, I love you."

Steve finds himself blinking back tears again, and the smile that sneaks up on him feels like the lightening of a burden, an unpacked suitcase.

"I love you too."

[yamadasvpx]

It Wasn't Supposed To Be Like This.... ( Robin Arellano X Twin!Sister Reader )

Type : Angst

Includes : Crying, Cussing, Brother/Sister Relationship, Family Problems, And Su!c!de...

!Don't Read This If You Have A Weak Heart, I'm Warning You!

....

" What Did I Ever Do To You?! What Happened To Our Promise... Remember! ", I Screamed At My Brother, Who Was Standing There, Once Again, Ignoring My Pleas.

We Used To Be So Close When We We're Growing Up... What Made Him Turn So Cold On Me For No Reason, What Made Him Hate Me... I Never Understood.

" Young Lady! ", My Uncle Walked In, Grabbing My Wrist, Before Getting In My Face.

" You Do Not Speak To Your Brother Like That! He's The One Who's Been Dealing With Your Bullshit Every Day For Years! Cut Him Some Slack Will You?! ", He Continued On, Making Me Gulp, Tears Pricking Out My Eyes.

" We're So Tired Of Doing Everything For You, From Raising You, Letting You Live Under A Roof, Having Clothes To Wear, Giving You Food Not To Starve To Death, For You To Be This Disrespectful - We Did Not Raise You Like This! ", He Shouted In My Ears, As I Could Feel My Heart Drop. Why's Everything Always My Fault... I Didn't Do Anything.

Robin Just Stood There, Not Saying Anything, Not Even Looking At Me. The Luggage At His Side. My Breath Was Starting To Get Shaky Each Minute Without An Answer From My Twin Brother.

They We're Planning On Going To New York For A 1 Week Vacation, Robin, My Uncle, Heck Even Finney And Gwen, But Me...?

Finney Was Looking Down, Feeling Bad, But Scared To Say Anything. Gwen Gave Me A Pitiful Look, Knowing How I'm Feeling, But Choosing Not To Cause Problems, And You Understood That. It Still Didn't Make It Hurt Less.

He Then Dropped My Wrist Harshly, Making Me Fall On The Floor, As He Called The Others To Start Loading Into The Truck.

" You Know How To Take Care Of Yourself, Make Sure The House Is Clean By The Time We Get Back, It's Not That Hard, Make Yourself Useful For Once ", He Warned Me, Giving Me One Last Look, Then Shutting The Door, Leaving Me On The Dusty Floor, Crying My Heart Out. The Engine Starting, And Then They We're Off.

Why Me...

....

Flashback :

9 Years Old

" Robin... Promise Me, That No Matter What, We'll Always Stay Close ", I Looked Down, Making A Frown Appear On His Face.

" Where Is This Coming From? ", Robin Asked, Taking My Fidgeting Hands In His.

" It's Just... You Never Know, Maybe Something Will Happen That- " I Got Cut Off.

" You're Not Getting Rid Of Me Baby Sis, I Won't Allow It ", He Bumped His Shoulder Into Mine, Making Me Shift Slightly, A Small Smile Appearing On My Face.

" I'm Older! ", I Stated, With A Obvious Voice, Making Him Snicker.

" By 4 Minutes ", He Joked.

" Still! You Should Respect Me! ", I Playfully Hit His Head, Making Him Burst Out Laughing, Making Me Follow In Suit.

" Okay Okay... In All Seriousness, I Promise, Your My Twin Sister, And I Love You, Nothing Will Ever Change That, Don't Worry ", He Reasurred Me, Pulling Me Into A Hug.

" Promise? ", I Asked Him, Making Him Nod.

" Promise ", He Clarified, Smiling Softly.

Oh How I Wish It Was True...

Flashback End

....

2 Days Passed Since Their Departure, I Didn't Have The Energy To Do Anything.

I Skipped School, Meals, I Barely Got Out Of Bed, Brushed My Hair, Face, Teeth, I Could Barely Do Anything Without Feeling Worse Than I Am.

My Friends Have Been Checking Up On Me Ever Since They Heard About It, They Knew How Hard My Family Was On Me, But Like Me, Didn't Know Why. So Whenever We Would Get Into A Argument, I Would Sneak Out And Spend The Night At One Of Their Houses, It Always Made Me Feel Better, But Also Making Me Feel Like I Was Burdening Them, Even If They Told Me Not To Ever Think That, That I'm Not A Burden, And I Never Was, I Was Always So Thankful For Them, Until Now.

" Hello? , A Voice Answered From The Other Side Of The Phone, I Just Stayed Silent, Making Sure To Take In His Voice For The Last Time. 3 Minutes Passed, I Still Didn't Say Anything, Mouth Closing And Opening, Wanting To Say Something, Anything, Atleast...

" Hello? Okay, If This Is Someone Playing A Prank On Us To Get A Reaction Out Of A Stranger, Then Find Something Else To Occupy You With, Bye ", Robin Hung Up The Call, Making Me Let Out A Sharp Breath I Didn't Even Notice I Was Holding In.

I Dropped The Phone On The Ground, Sniffling, Holding The G*n In My Left Hand, Slightly Shaking, Both From The Adrenaline Of What I'm About To Do, And From The Fear.

" I'm Sorry... ", I Whispered To Myself, Going To My Room, Sitting On My Bed, Taking In My Room For One Last Time.

I Knew What I Was Doing Was Wrong, But I Just Couldn't Do It Anymore, Not After Dad, Mom... I Couldn't. They Would Be Happier Without Me Anyways, They Don't Need Me. One Less Thing To Worry About.

I Heard The Phone Ringing In The Kitchen, But This Time I Just Let It Ring.

My Legs Crossed, As I Stared Into The Distance, The Silence Mixing With The Ringing Of The Phone. And Then...

I Did It... Pulled The Trigger, Falling Against My Pillow, Bl00d Spreading On The Wall, And Then, Ringing And Silence...

.

.

.

A Week Has Passed, They We're On Their Way Home, A Bunch Of Treats On Their Laps That They Got From New York, They Turned To The Side Of Their House, Immediately Seeing Many Police And Ambulance Cars Near Their House, The Area Blocked Out, This Made Them Anxious.

But When They Saw Your Friends Standing There, Crying Their Hearts Out, They Knew Something Happened To You, Or Maybe You Did Something.

" What Happened Here? ", Your Uncle Approached Them As Soon As They Got Out Of The Truck, Heading Towards The Police, Who Straightened Their Backs, Others Following Behind.

" IT'S ALL YOUR FAULTS, YOU MADE HER DO THIS ", This Confused Them, What Did You Do?

" What Did We Do? We Just Got Back From Our Vacation, Only To See Police At Our House, How Are We Supposed To Know?! ", Robin Yelled, His Hands Going Up And Then Down His Sides.

" YOU LEFT HER ALONE, ALONE TO FEND FOR HERSELF, SHE'S 13 FOR CHRIST SAKE ", Another Friend Of Yours Screamed, Pushing His Chest, Her Tears Not Stopping.

" Robin- ", Finney Started But Stopped Once He Saw A Body Being Carried Out Of The House In A Stretcher, Your D€ad Body...

Gwen Screamed, Falling To The Ground, As She Finally Realized What Happened.

" I'm Sorry... "

[saltyseagoat83]

oh girl you know I wanna know everything you can share about your Eleven/Gareth fic 😜

lol I know 😝

Okay. Here's what I've got for the overall plot for this one.

This one is set post-season 4. Vecna was successfully defeated. Sullivan and his goons were made to disappear, and higher ups decided to leave El tf alone after Vecna. Eddie survives, and Steve uses family connections to get his name cleared and charges pinned on Jason. The Byers clan plus (obviously) El remain in Hawkins aside from Joyce, Hopper, Jonathan, and Argyle going back to see what can be salvaged from the California house.

Mike starts getting back on his bullshit as things start calming down, and El... with some gentle encouragement from Nancy and Robin, and less gentle very fucking blunt encouragement from Max and Erica... permadumps his ass which makes him go into 'sulky little bitch poor me' mode. Erica, Dustin, and Lucas introduce El and Will to the rest of Hellfire. Instant liking, Eddie immediately adopts El and Will whether they join Hellfire or not. Some sparkage with Gareth and El. Will is a little salty at first over how Dustin, Mike, and Lucas had so readily joined the club when they didn't want to play D&D with him at all the previous summer but joins up anyway... after apologies from Dustin and Lucas b/c Mike's a brat and wouldn't acknowledge his wrongdoing. El is more hesitant when she's invited to try it out too because Mike lied to her yet again at some point prior when she expressed interest and told her D&D was only for boys (which made no sense to her because 'boy' vs 'girl' toys/play etc were never a thing at the lab). When she learns of the lie, she decides to join in out of spite. Mike is predictably a little shit about it, but it's okay because Eddie banishes him from Hellfire as soon as he finds out about the lie, until Mike gets his head out of his ass and makes amends.

Gareth increasingly dislikes Mike the more he learns little by little about how he treated El during their relationship and is determined to woo her and show her how a guy ought to treat a girl, especially one he's romantically interested in. He'd take his time, not wanting to rush her into anything like Mike did, and wanting to develop a solid friendship before actively pursuing her romantically. And El wants to show Gareth she appreciates it all and is interested in him too and starts reciprocating little by little in her own way, with advice from Joyce, Eddie, and Nancy mainly, and a bit from Robin, Steve, and Dustin. [Because we know Max isn't the sappy type, and Erica's got zero interest in dating anyone that we know of.] Not sure yet exactly how Gareth will find out about El's superpowers, but when he does he'll think it's the coolest thing ever and never make her feel like even a little bit of a monster/freak/abnormal about them. Ofc he'd keep the secret too, because he'd want to help her stay safe as best he can.

[pod-together]

Pod-Together Day 10 Reveals 2023

Mirdala Jetii'ad [text, audio] (Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types) written by vamprav, performed by DuskDragon39 Summary: When Obi-Wan Kenobi comes back from Melida/Daan he was grounded for a few months. Qui-Gon Jinn decides to call in the assistance of his estranged master to monitor his padawan while he goes off on another mission. That one decision changed quite a few things, starting when Master Dooku is called out to deal with a situation on the minor planet Galidraan.

The Amusement Park Job (Leverage) written by s0ckpupp3t, performed by dapatty Summary: Saving a group of high school kids prom? Piece of cake. Trying to not involve themselves in amusement park shennanigans? Harder than you'd think.

Lake Kane (Stranger Things (TV 2016), Firewatch (Video Game)) written by SSLeif, performed by Rambling_company and Elle_dubs Summary: It’s the summer of 1985, and construction of the New Mall expected in Hawkins has been Delayed. Steve Harrington, newly graduated, newly cut-off, needs a summer job. Hargrove is still in town, so Steve’s absolutely not going to lifeguard this year. Eddie Munson gets caught that one-too-many’th-a-time, and Hopper makes it clear he needs to find some gainful employment, ideally elsewhere, and Hop does not want to see Too Much of him this summer, Or Else. Robin Buckley needs a summer job, ideally something that lets her do college prep work at the same time… And the forest service is having trouble retaining fire lookouts in this one… mysterious… stretch of woods. . A Stranger Things/Firewatch AU

a work in progress (Ted Lasso (TV)) written by meyml, performed by roseszain Summary: “Were shit, weren't I. Me teachers, they always said I’d left me head out on the pitch.” Jamie drums his fingers on the table as his eyes scan Dr. Sharon’s bookcase. ** Jamie Tartt (Maybe Possibly Perhaps) Has ADHD

Star 69 (Deadpool - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types) written by nemorps, performed by Elle_dubs Summary: Wade's just trying to live his mercantile life to the fullest when circumstances leave him house-bound with nothing to do but watch TV and jerk off, so of course he calls his favorite phone-sex hotline. Peter's just trying to make it through college and superheroing in one piece. Thankfully, his job as a phone-sex operator allows him to work a schedule that accommodates both. It's all going swimmingly until a new soulmark shows up on his wrist out of no-where.

The Price a Man Pays [text, audio] (Dracula - Bram Stoker (Novel 1897)) written by estelraca, performed by artax_risen Summary: In a world where men have long been a minority, often sold to groups of women, Van Helsing will do anything he can to help his younger friend Jack Seward save his friends from an ancient evil.

Be by my side (Check Please! (Webcomic)) written by DesignatedGrape, performed by Amanita_Fierce and HowOldAreWe Summary: Kent: I wish you were here Whiskey: I wish I was, too. xx

Or, still separated by a thousand miles and an international border, Kent and Whiskey try to keep their relationship casual. Spoiler: they're not very good at it.

little echoes (Avatar: The Last Airbender) written by sulkybender, performed by Dr_Fumbles_McStupid Summary: “I think,” Zuko says slowly, “we may have angered the spirits.” Sokka scoffs. “Spirits are bullshit,” he says. “Okay,” Zuko says, “so what do you call this?” He waves his hand generally at them both, the state of them. Zuko is still on his back, half-incapacitated; Sokka is sitting up, but hardly better off. “There’s a rational explanation,” Sokka says. Zuko arches his eyebrow. “There is,” Sokka insists. “Stop that. Don’t smirk at me.” “So what is it,” Zuko says, smirking. Sokka thinks for a moment, wildly. “Static… electricity,” he says. Zuko bursts out laughing. “Okay, okay, I get it,” Sokka says, ears burning. “It’s a working theory.”

The Downpour (LEGO Ninjago (Cartoon 2011-2022)) written by legonerd, performed by ReformedTsundere Summary: The sword burned his hands.

What if Wu was wrong, and Kai wasn't the Master of Fire?

Stones of the Soil - Rebuilding (Rubble) (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, A Stitch in Time - Andrew J. Robinson) created by BardicRaven and RisalSoran Summary: Waking from a nightmare, Garak remembers another dream. A better dream: Doctor Julian Bashir coming to Kardassi'ya - despite everything. Despite Bashir's Starfleet career; despite what happened to Kardassi'ya. But was it really a dream? And if it wasn't, what will the future hold - for himself, for Julian ... and for Kardassi'ya?

[thewritersaddictions]

The Adults: Steddie- Knowing Hell

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson

Pov: 3rd Pov

Warnings: Killing, Ghostface killer, smut, fluff, Robin, BJ's, shower sex

Summary: A year has passed since the fight with Vecna. Eddie and Steve have spent a whole hell of a lot of time together.

A/n- firefly-graphics for dividers

WC- 3.0k

Main Master List // Stranger Things Master List // The Adults Master List

The murders had stopped when Vecna died. That didn’t mean that the people of Hawkins still didn’t think that Eddie was a devil worshipper. The people who lived in Hawkins were jerks, assholes—the best of the worst types of people. The trailer had been vandalized while Eddie was trying to save these bullshit people. Eddie’s name was evident when they got top side, but he had nowhere to live. He didn’t want his uncle to be a part of the shit being rammed toward him daily. He was left all alone. All over again, that was until Steve, the jockey douchebag turned kid babysitter, mentioned that he could stay at his house. 

“Stay with you?” Eddie said back to Steve. Steve had pulled up to the older boy packing his things into the van. “Yeah, stay with me, don’t worry about my parents; they are never there,” Steve said. He tried to be accurate and sincere and understand that Eddie had nothing, just like him. Steve may live in a large, expensive house and drive a nice BMW that doesn’t mean that Steve is any happier than Eddie is. “Are you sure, though?” Eddie questioned as he stood at the back of his van doors with a box overflowing with clothes. “Yeah, I’m sure, Eddie, and if I didn’t, the kid would probably kill me over it,” Steve said nonchalantly, but that was true. Dustin, the kid, needed both of the older guys. He needed more than he unfortunately had. 

“Let me finish packing, and I can drive over,” Eddie says with excitement boiling over in the pit of his stomach. Eddie didn’t know what the feeling was, but it scared the hell out of him. He rushed back in. Wayne was gone working at the factory. He wrote him a note telling him that he wasn’t far. A friend of his, he guessed, was taking him in until he could get on his feet and leave, taking his uncle with him. 

Far away from Hawkins. Forever. 

Eddie graduated that year just like he had planned. He crawled out with the skin on his teeth and gave his middle finger to the people he hatred most as he walked across the stage. Then came the world. He was now living in Steve’s house, a guest room near Steve’s. He was living in the wealthiest part of Hawkins, yet he still felt like an outcast. 

Maybe it was years of living in the trailer park, being bullied by those at school, or simply not believing that someone could want him not to hurt as much as he had over the last few months. Regardless of all that, though, Steve and Eddie co-habituated quite well. Robin comes over, chatting up the boys about what she plans to do once she moves away and starts her college classes. 

The three of them share one last dinner together the night before Robin leaves Hawkins—a dinner filled with laughter, wine, and some leftover weed. Eddie compliments the chef for his outstanding cooking skills. Eddie can’t remember the last time he had a good-cooked meal, not that his uncle wasn’t a good caregiver; he just wasn’t that good cook in the kitchen. 

That night they all end up outside, sitting by the poolside. Lights glow from beneath the water as Robin takes a sip of her wine and a puff of the blunt being passed around. “So, what is your plan for when I leave you two behind?” Robin asks, unaware of how sad her words make Steve feel. Somehow Eddie catches the look in Steve’s eyes before Steve can even figure out what he will say. “I think you underestimate the two of us, Rob. We will do just fine. Not like we’re going to kill anybody if that’s what you’re thinkin’. Hell, been there, done that already.” Eddie is rambling but gets a sly punch in the arm from Steve at the mention of the ‘been there done that.’ 

Almost weekly, Steve and Eddie would sit out in the backyard. A blunt was shared between the two of them. “Do you even know how much I wanted to be like you in high school?” Steve says to Eddie one night. Eddie can’t keep the giggles in the back of his throat as he tries to blow out the smoke from the blunt. “What does that even mean, Harrington?” Eddie asks as he finally catches his breath once again. 

Steve takes the blunt from Eddie’s hand. Pressing the wet tip into his mouth. “I was just tired of being in that sorta of friend group. They only cared about me because I had money, and they liked that I threw huge pirates and didn’t care if they brought liquor with them or not.” “So you’re sayin’ that because I don’t ask about your money, I’m a good friend?” Eddie asks. Not clear about where Steve’s thoughts are going. “No, you jack-ass. I’m saying that I wish that iH ad left my friend group and been friends who cared about me and not about my money.” Steve said a little harshly to Eddie. 

Eddie stared at Steve for a moment. Steve’s cheeks were hot and red with blush, fluttering long lashes across his high cheekbones. “I would have let you join the hellfire club, ya know,” Eddie says. Taking the blunt back from Steve’s hand. Their hands brushed up against each other. “You would?” Maybe it’s the weed or the wine they had at dinner tonight. Maybe it’s that Steve finally feels comfortable nowadays. Eddie gives him comfort that Steve hasn’t felt in a long time. “Just because you’re cute right now doesn’t mean you’ll get all the answers you want,” Eddie says briskly between puffing the rest of the blunt. 

– 

Over the next few months, Steve and Eddie got closer and closer together. Sitting closer on the couch. Falling asleep in each other arms. Panic attacks, mixed with soothing words and touches. Those touches became more, and the panic attacks lessened until they finally disappeared. “You know that Tommy guy from school?” Steve asks one night when the two of them lay in bed together, wrapped in each other arms. “Hagan?” Steve nods into Eddie’s hold. Eddie runs his fingers through Steve’s silky hair and listens to Steve. 

“Hagan and I used to fight a lot.” Steve starts, “He was just such a fucking asshole. I mean, I remember being an asshole. At least most of it, I remember. I went out after the whole upside-down thing happened a third time, and I apologized to the people that I hurt.” Eddie hums, trying his best to calm Steve down. “God, he said so many fucked up things and never not once thought that he was in the wrong. I wish; fucking, I wish that I could just kill him and get away with it. We don’t need people like him or Jason on this planet.” Steve says. 

Eddie can feel Steve’s heart pumping faster as they lay there together. It sparks something inside Eddie. “I kinda wish that to Stevie.” Eddie says, “I wish a lot of things could happen, but I guess if you want something to be done about it, you have to do it yourself.” Eddie says; Steve looks up at him. His cheek was pressed into Eddie’s chest. Eye to eye, they come up with a plan. A horrible, dirty, disgusting plan that fuels a fire in them that neither knew they had. 

The plan takes rot in each other their brains. It’s all they can think about for weeks until one of them breaks. “You know we could do this, right?” Steve says to Eddie out of the blue. As if this is a typical conversation you have while making dinner. “Do what, Stevie?” Eddie asks, not fully understanding where the conversation might lead. “Do the killing thing?” Steve isn’t sure how he wants to phrase it. Because ‘the killing thing’ sounds fucking horrible, even when it comes out of his mouth, he knows it’s wrong, but the feeling he brings with it. The idea of just one horrible person being gone brings satisfaction to Steve’s whole body. 

“You want to kill him?” Eddie asks, at first horrified, then disgusted, and finally turned on by the whole thought. “Yeah, why not? Not like the town would be looking at the rich kid killing another rich kid. Hell, half the town isn’t even here anymore. So scared how the town is haunted and plagued with curses, we might as well give them what they already think is true.” 

Steve is wildly throwing his arms around, forgetting about dinner for a moments time. Eddie thinks, notching his head to the side. “You know you might be right,” Eddie says, giving into Steve’s diabolical thoughts. He would love to see Jason Carver finally get what he deserved after smearing his name, how Eddie would love to see Jason’s name smeared across the new stations in town like his own was. 

– 

The phone rings in the dark and empty house. Steve had promised that Tommy would be there to pick it up. It rings once, then twice, and finally, the phone picks up. “Hello?” Tommy asks into the phone. “Hello,” Eddie echos. “Who the hell is this?” Tommy asks angrily. The walkie that Steve had bought for the kids years ago is budded up to Eddie’s ear. He can hear Steve’s every thought and step. “Just keep him talking.” Steve had said to Eddie before he had left. “You called me,” Eddie says back into the phone. “I didn’t fuckin’ call you. You’ve got the wrong number.” Tommy’s rage-fueled his every word. “Well I’m sorry.” Eddie’s so nonchalant about it that Tommy lets him off. “No problem.” the phone clicks off. Eddie groans with frustration that can be heard through the walkie to Steve. 

“What just happened?” Steve asks. Eddie can already see the furrowed brows and hands on the hips stance. “He just ended the fuckin’ call, is all.” There’s an identical groan on the other side of the walkie. “Did you use that voice mod thing Dustin gifted me years ago?” Steve asks Eddie. “Umm.… no” Eddie can visualize the rolling of his eyes. “I’ll call back,” “Use the voice box thing,” Steve adds. 

The phone rings once this time. “Hello?” Tommy answers. A girlish, prettier voice answers him back. “Hello, is this Tommy?” Tommy’s following answer is much more excellent than before. “Yeah, and who might you be?” He asks; Eddie rolls his eyes. Off the top of his head, he thinks of a quick girl’s name. “Wendy,” Eddie answers. “Well, Wendy, how’d you get my house number?” “Well… umm, I asked one of your friends.” “Did ya?” Tommy drawls. It makes Eddie’s skin crawl with disgust. 

Tommy starts to walk around his house with the phone in hand. “He’s walking around the house.” Steve’s voice echoes into Eddie’s ear. “Was there something you wanted to talk about, Wendy?” Tommy asks, “I just wanted to talk with you… you don’t know me,  but I’ve…” You’ve what, Wendy?” Tommy asks. His voice is huskier and deeper. “I just I’ve always had a crush on you,” Eddie says regrettably. He can hear Steve hold back his laugh.

Outside the Hagan resident stands Steve. Laced in black head to toe. His face is covered by a white mask that makes him unbearably unrecognizable. Steve continues to listen in on the conversation between Tommy and Eddie. Wendy is a great character. Making Tommy feel all the things he likes to feel. This Wendy character makes Tommy the all-father of everything. He’s lovely in a way that nobody has ever made Tommy feel. 

Steve takes his chance. Tommy had never been an intelligent guy. Always leaving a window open for a girl to come crashing through it. Steve tried his luck; now Eddie’s questions and Tommy’s answers echoed in both of his ears. He isn’t sure how he managed to be so connected to Eddie, but now if this went according to the fucked up plan. Eddie and Steve would be connected in more than one way. “What are you wearing?” Steve hears Tommy ask into the phone’s end. Steve walks around the house carefully and closes the window behind him. He hadn’t grabbed a weapon, and he thought it best to grab one he got to the house. He followed the voice. Tommy was far from the kitchen, far from the large butcher knives that Steve had seen countless times whenever he had come over.  

“Oh, aren’t you a pretty girl?” Tommy’s voice rang through the house. Steve climbed the stairs where he figured Tommy had traveled in his conversation. Eddie’s voice rang out, “I could always come over.” Sweetly, almost an overdose of sugar laced his words. “How quickly could you be here, sweetheart?” Tommy’s voice is sicking to Steve and Eddie. “I could be there in just a few minutes.” Eddie’s voice echoes into Steve’s ears. He waits, and when Tommy rounds the corner.

The blood that smears against the wall and the large butcher knives makes Steve heart bound in the best way. His heart is pumping faster than he’s ever felt, and when Tommy slumps down to the ground—blood that’s falling down the wall and the floor into a large red puddle. Steve takes off the white mask, smeared with rich red blood. “Ste-ve?” Tommy’s broken and low voice asks. “Hmm… used to think you were the shit, you know. You were the only one that could understand me. The reality.” Steve says, brushing the sharp edge of the knife up against Tommy’s cheek, “The reality of it, Tommy, you were a fucking asshole, and now you’ll be just a blimp in the history of Hawkins.” Tommy and Steve stare at each other. When Steve plunges the butcher knife into Tommy’s chest, Tommy’s life disappears from his eyes. 

Steve walks home in the dark shadows of the night, and when he arrives, Eddie is ushering him in. “Steve?” Eddie’s voice is calm and so gentle. The knife got dropped at the crime scene; nobody will know that Tommy is dead until his parents get home. Eddie’s hands are wrapped around Steve’s cheeks. “Steve?’ Eddie mutters once more. Then they make eye contact. Steve’s eyes are lit like Christmas lights the night before Christmas morning. “Did you?” Eddie asks. Steve nods and leans into the touch of Eddie. Blood smears and mixes into Eddie’s clean clothes. “Talk to me, Stevie?” Eddie forces him, “I did. He’s… I…” Steve’s words get stuck in the back of his throat. 

Eddie walks Steve to the shared bedroom. Sheds him off the dirty, bloody clothes before turning the showers on and checking the water temperature to ensure it’s warm enough for the both of them. Eddie sheds himself off his own clothes. They lay in a mixed pile on the bathroom floor. “Steve, let’s get in the water and clean you off,” Eddie mutters to Steve, helping him into the tub and the spray of warm water. Eddie helps wash Steve’s body and his hair of the blood. When he starts to shampoo Steve’s hair, Steve moans at the feeling. “Do you want me to make you feel good big boy?”  Steve moans into the gripping feeling of Eddie’s hand around his waist. Eddie drops down to his knees. Steve had moved, the water hitting him with a constant stream of warm water. Eddie massages Steve’s thighs. Looking up through the water and thick eyelashes. Licking his lips before he kisses Steve’s thighs and belly.

Steve’s cock twitches at the feeling as the water turns back to the transparent color, and when Eddie’s mouth wraps around the tip of Steve’s cock, the moans that fall out of his mouth bounce on the porcelain and shower walls. “God, Eddie!” Steve moans out, grabbing the wet locks of Eddie’s black hair. Eddie sucks just the tip of Steve’s cock before Steve pushes the rest of his cock down Eddie’s throat. The burning sensation tears Eddie’s eyes before Steve starts to rock his hips. The tip of Steve’s cock hit the back of Eddie’s throat. The moans bounce like waves off the walls, hitting Eddie’s ears like delicious melodies. Eddie looks up through his lashes to Steve. His head is thrown back over his shoulders, and his mouth is left gapping open. The moans that fall out are loud and almost like listening to heaven; it’s hard for Eddie to keep up his tongue’s vigorous licking and sucking while focusing on Steve. When Steve reaches his climax, he pulls Eddie in and spills deep into his throat. “FUCK… god dam Eds. I’m going to.” 

The next day is quiet and off. The news station is on in the living room. The headline is in bold black letters. “Murder in Hawkins.” An older woman sits behind the desk at the news station. Dressed in a red pantsuit. “Just a year ago, the town of Hawkins dealt with the horrible murder spree of a manic who the police were never able to find. A year later, another horrible murder occurred in Lake Nora a few nights ago. The poor Hagan family has lost their only son. They are grieving and will be holding a candle vigil and funeral later this month.” The reporter ends her reading of the dialogue box in front of her. Steve looks over at Eddie. “I thought it would take longer,” Steve says. Eddie shrugs his shoulders. “You want to come sit.” Eddie offers, patting the spot next to him. “What do you want to do now?” Eddie asks. “I don’t… I don’t know yet.” Eddie can sense the change in Steve, but for now, he won’t say anything about it. “Give the news time to die down, and we can think about what to do next. That okay, Stevie?” Steve just nods and leans into the touch of Eddie next to him.

Completed on: 08/01/23

Posted on: 08/04/23

Steddie-

[op-sys-chaos]

Alfred explains Tim’s birthday to Jason and Damian in a cold, unfeeling manner. As if reciting a long-ago memorized quote rather than recounting a horrific thing done to a child.

Bruce sits there and does nothing.

Jason yells at both of them for it.

Bruce does nothing.

Damian stands up and tells Bruce that Tim is right and Bruce should have stopped Damian from trying to murder Tim. Damian didn’t know better then, but he does now and he wishes Bruce had taught him sooner.

Bruce does nothing.

Jason and Damian lock eyes and nod. Then they leave together. They go to a restaurant - not the Thai one, but one across the street, and they sit in the window where Tim and Dick can see them. Jason and Damian take a selfie, caption it “fuck Bruce Wayne,” and send it to the group chat. When Cass, who missed this whole event, expresses confusion, Jason replies “Turns out B fucked us over more than we realized. He hurt Tim deeply. And Damian too. Tim via some REAL fucked bullshit, and Damian by not teaching him not to kill fast enough.”

Damian adds “I have regretted trying to kill Tim since the moment I saw the harm in it. I am upset at Father for refusing to stop me sooner. Tim has far more right to be upset about it than me, though.”

Dick pulls out his phone and reads the messages, turning to the boys across the street and giving them a small smile. Tim reads it too, but his expression remains blank.

Babs texts back a minute later, saying “hacked the manor cameras and watched what happened. Jason, good on you for screaming at Bruce. You should’ve been far meaner about it, though. That was fucked UP of them to do it Tim.”

Tim’s phone alone pings with a direct text a moment later, giving him the link to Jason’s scream fest and telling him “next time Bruce pulls something like that I’m forcing my dad to adopt you instead of letting Bruce keep you.”

Bruce remains silent in the group chat too.

Jason and Damian are furiously typing. Tim glances at them across the street and sees it, and wonders what they’re typing. He finds out when, half an hour later, the most beautifully written apologies he’s ever seen arrive in his text inbox. Tim analyzes the messages; the two clearly asked for help from Dinah on how to make the apology sincere because they didn’t know how to say it. They even mention that they never said it before because they didn’t know how, and they would’ve tried if they realized how bad Tim was hurting about it. Jason says he was still calling Tim “replacement” as a joke at this point, and thought Tim knew. That he’ll stop now. Damian says the same about the casual insults; he didn’t know how else to act but sees how it’s wrong and will work harder on stopping.

Tim isn’t ready to forgive them. He tells Dick as much, and Dick nods. “I get it,” he tells Tim. And realizing that the time is right to speak up, he finally apologizes for the “giving away Robin” incident. He tells Tim the truth; it was Alfred. He didn’t know how to say it before now, not wanting to shatter his brother’s view of their pseudo grandfather. But now? Now he knows he can say it. And he does. And still, even though it’s not on him, Dick apologizes.

Tim forgives Dick a lot faster.

Bruce still is silent in the group chat.

The meal ends, and Dick pays for him and Tim’s food. Then, Tim walks across the street and walks up to the hostess stand. He doesn’t speak to his brothers, but he hands over his card and asks to pick up their tab.

It’s not forgiveness. Not by a long shot. But it’s a start.

—

The bats, besides Batman, don’t go out that night. They don’t even return to the manor.

Bruce Wayne goes out to work the next day and Alfred goes out to get groceries. They come home to find themselves locked out with a note on the door that says “no jerks allowed” in purple crayon.

Bruce nods and heads for a safe house instead, Alfred in tow. The two sit down and brainstorm. Within two hours, a car catalogue arrives at the manor, with a handwritten note that says “what we should’ve given you for your sixteenth birthday. Pick any one you want, if you want.”

Tim burns it and sends Bruce a video of it burning.

Too little, too late.

—

Jason comes up to Tim the next morning with a handwritten note. He gives it to him. It says “IOU literally any favor you ever want, as long as it’s not doing the dishes”

Tim laughs and pockets it. He uses it an hour later to get Jason to come and get him the remote from two feet away, even though Jason was across the house. Jason does it. Tim smiles. Jason passed his test. Jason smiles. Tim took the step and was willing to ask.

Damian gives Tim a painting that evening. He’d been working on it for months now, but finished it in a rush that day because it was needed now, not on Tim’s birthday. It’s a portrait of Tim and his team, smiling and laughing. Tim hangs it on the wall in his room with a smile.

That evening, since Alfred is still banished, Steph and Jason cook. Damian and Jason eat at the kitchen counter and serve the other three at the table. After a minute, Tim walks in, grabs their plates silently, and puts them at the end of the table. Not their normal spots, not across from him. But at the table nonetheless. It’s a start.

The only bats on patrol that night are Batman and Spoiler. Gotham newspapers can’t stop reporting on Batman being covered in purple glitter the next day. People keep asking what he did, especially since some reported hearing Spoiler shout “Justice! For Gotham!” as she pelted him with glitter bombs.

Cass returns from her away mission the next day. She breaks into Bruce’s safe house, says “I’m disappointed in you,” and leaves before he can say anything. She tries very hard not to laugh at the glitter still clinging to him as she does it. She comes home, gives Tim a massive hug, and refuses to leave his side for the rest of the day. She also hands him a small journal she’d written. She’d kept observations of when her siblings were having a hard time, and she’s marked instances showing how guilty Jason and Damian were feeling around Tim.

Knowing the apologies were sincere, Tim’s leaning more towards forgiveness. He’s not there yet. Not by a long shot. But he is more sure that they’re genuinely remorseful.

—

Tim goes on a mission with his team two days later. Kon mentions how Jason reached out to him to ask for advice in apologizing to Tim. Not realizing Jason had asked more than just Dinah, Tim smiles. At that, Kon also mentions that Jon said Damian asked him for help too. Knowing how hard asking for help is for Damian, Tim’s soft smile widens further. The others ask what’s up, and Tim tells his team.

Bart hears about the birthday thing and makes Tim a promise. If time travel shenanigans ever happen again, Tim can call Bart and ask him to verify them, and Bart will drop everything to check with the Speed Force. Tim appreciates it, and promises to call.

Cassie promises to punch Bruce the next time she sees him. Tim appreciates the thought but asks her not to.

Bruce receives a call the next day. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash have proposed a motion to put Batman on Justice League probation. If he cannot get his act together, he cannot be a league member.

Bruce protests the probation. He sends a message asking to be reinstated as a full member, saying this is a misunderstanding.

Black Canary calls him and verbally rips into him for THIS being the thing that gets him off his ass.

After she hangs up, she puts forward a motion to have other league members take over Batman’s duties training the Gotham crew. They all agree, and Batman is removed as a mentor and emergency contact on League files.

Bruce calls to protest this too, even harder now. The league take turns yelling at him, having heard from their protégés about what happened this week in Gotham. He doesn’t know how to respond. So he doesn’t.

Dick gets assigned Superman as a mentor. Jason is assigned Wonder Woman as a mentor, to his delight. Cass gets Green Arrow to learn how to do distance fighting rather than just her short-range expertise. Tim is assigned to Flash because of his detective work pairing well with CSI work, which he’s okay with.

Damian, meanwhile, is assigned to Black Canary, who offers to train him in social situations rather than combat. He accepts enthusiastically after hearing her plan, telling her that he wishes someone had taught him sooner, saying how maybe he never would’ve lost his brother Tim’s love and trust if he’d had these lessons. He would have considered Tim a brother far sooner too. Tim, who Damian doesn’t realize is in earshot, beams. Damian considers him a brother? He’s never said that to him or around him before.

Their emergency contacts are all each other.

The League doesn’t tell Bruce this, but his reinstatement depends on one thing and one thing only. Forgiveness from his children.

Every. Last. One of them.

—

Soon, Bruce is allowed back into the manor, but none of the kids stay there. They decided they can’t keep him out of the house, but they don’t have to stay there. They also take all of their stuff out of the batcave, relocating it to Tim’s safe house (with his permission).

Alfred, a week after Bruce’s banishment from the League and the day after he returns to the house, arrives at Tim’s doorstep with a box of cookies and an apology. A good, sincere apology.

Tim doesn’t forgive Alfred. But he does accept the cookies. And he does let Alfred drop by to hand over homemade dinners every once in a while.

—

A gala rolls around. Everyone notices that none of Bruce’s kids are there. He claims they’re all busy.

That excuse only works twice before people start asking questions.

At the third gala, Bruce shrugs and says nothing at all, brushing past the question. His kids have all been seen in public, just not with him, so rumors start to fly.

Dick, with his sibling’s permission, goes to a newspaper and gives an interview. He tells the paper that his siblings are all mad at Bruce over family drama and refuse to go to galas until it’s sorted because they didn’t want to harm Bruce’s public image. He’s still a good guy and the charity work he does is still important, Dick says. Bruce just needs to learn how to give proper apologies when he makes mistakes, especially big ones, and all of his kids are trying to teach him that lesson, hence them staying away from galas.

News spreads like wildfire. The city still loves Bruce, of course. But they’re all aware that his parenting skills leave something to be desired. They start talking about the importance of mental health and teaching kids, especially boys, about vulnerability.

Bruce is proud of his city.

But he still hasn’t spoken to his kids.

—

Jason and Damian have gone above and beyond for Tim recently. Being the brothers he always wished they’d be to him. He wishes he’d spoken up sooner. And they tell him that they wish they’d gotten the kick in the pants they’d needed to get their shit together sooner too.

Slowly but surely, he forgives them.

—

Alfred is still on thin ice, but whenever Bruce is out of town, the family will go over to have a nice, Alfred-cooked meal.

—

It’s been three months since Tim spoke up for himself. Bruce still hasn’t said a word to his kids. He’s tried to send Tim gifts occasionally. Tim burns the letters and donates the gifts to charity.

Jason, Damian, Dick, and Cass refuse to speak to Bruce. On patrol, they steer clear of him. Babs warns Tim in comms if Batman is approaching so he can leave if he wants. He always does. The only time they’ve helped him is when he was about to die. Jason stepped in and killed all of the bad guys. He later told Tim that he made sure he was the one to save Bruce because he knew Bruce hated Jason’s methods. Tim cackled at that.

Bruce doesn’t go off the deep end like he did after Jason’s death. He has learned that lesson, after all. But he’s not as efficient alone, especially since Babs won’t help him anymore either unless it’s life or death. He can’t help but miss his gaggle of kids. In trying to keep part of his family close, Bruce lost all of his kids in the process. All because he never learned how to say “I’m sorry.”

—

Six months have passed since Tim spoke up. Everyone in the family is closer. Except for Bruce. He’s still not on the League roster, and they’re doing fine without him; any time they’ve needed him, they call his kids instead. They don’t like involving kids but refuse to let him return for his kids’ sake. He keeps trying to get them ti let him come back. They keep telling him to put that energy towards fixing shit with his kids.

J’onn eventually gets sick of it. He knows from seeing Bruce’s mind how much the man regrets it but also sees how much Bruce struggles with remorse. So he gets Clark to drag Bruce to the Kents. They spend a week teaching him how to parent, to apologize, to own up to his mistakes.

Meanwhile, J’onn shows the Batkids how Bruce feels. Tim isn’t ready to forgive Bruce. Damian is for his grievance with Bruce, because he knows that Bruce couldn’t teach him what he didn’t know how to teach. But he still wishes Bruce had recognized it and gotten help teaching it. But Damian holds out on forgiving Bruce until Tim’s ready for it.

After a week with the Kents, they help him draft an apology. He can’t bring himself to say it. He mails it to Tim instead. Tim sends Bruce a video of him burning the letter, same as always.

Tim’s closer to ready to forgive Bruce. The letter was actually very sweet. But until Bruce can verbalize it, Tim won’t know he’s made enough mental progress to never pull that shit again. So he’s still holding out.

An apology without change is manipulation, after all.

That’s the breaking point for Bruce. He cries to Clark, saying how badly he fucked it up and crying about how much he misses his kids.

Clark lovingly tells him to get his shit together. Not to stop crying, mind you, but to let himself cry more. “Get your shit together and stop trying to hide from your emotions, Bruce,” he says. Bruce decides “fuck it” and asks Dinah for therapy.

—

After a month of therapy, he’s finally capable of it. He goes to Tim and offers a groveling apology. For everything, not just what Tim brought up. Bruce apologizes for his behavior after Jason’s death. He apologizes for letting- no, making Tim feel unsafe in his own home. He apologizes for all of it.

Tim tells Bruce he doesn’t forgive him, but this is a start. Bruce accepts that answer with grace, telling Tim he’ll keep trying to make up for it. That helps Tim forgive him a bit more.

At the next Wayne gala, Tim attends. Bruce nearly cries from joy when he sees Tim walk into the room. “Bruce finally learned how to apologize,” Tim tells the gala attendees who ask with a grin. “I went to therapy,” Bruce responds when people ask how he did it. Tim stays away from Bruce the whole night, but he’s there, and it’s a start. Bruce texts Tim to thank him for attending and for giving him another chance. He celebrates Tim’s appearance in his next therapy appointment. Dinah congratulates him, but there’s still more work to do. Bruce tells her he’s excited to do it. This is what he wants; what he needs.

Gotham’s mental health program gets a lot of funding from the Waynes and everyone starts getting invested in therapy, after people start learning how much it helped their beloved Bruce Wayne.

The following gala, all of Bruce’s kids (including Steph and Babs) are there. Bruce doesn’t even mind when Steph pranks him or Jason glares at him from across the room. They’re there.

—

Tim has forgiven his siblings; they’ve made an effort to make Tim feel like their brother, rather than their target.

Tim has forgiven Alfred; he’s continually apologized to Tim and insisted on helping Tim avoid Bruce until Bruce got his shit together.

Tim’s still working on forgiving Bruce. But the more the man goes to therapy, the more he sees what he did wrong, and the harder he works to fix it. Not just with Tim, but with all of them.

—

One year after Tim yelled at everyone, the family is whole again. They have a dinner with their old seating, and Tim is actually okay with it now. After all, those aren’t his attempted murderers anymore. Those boys have made constant effort to be Tim’s brothers, and they’ve earned that title.

Also, Bruce is allowed back on the JL, and insists on counseling for all of them. The JL agrees, seeing how it helped Batman.

Things may not be perfect. But no person ever doubts their place in the batfamily again, and no one harms another family member without instantly apologizing and making up for it.

They’re a family. Thanks to one little conversation.

"I'm angry at you" Tim forces out.

It's been a long time coming, the words that have been circling his mind for years. Rotting the back of his throat.

Jason is Bruce's son in a way that he will never be. It's just a simple fact.

Maybe he could have picked a different time maybe a family dinner wasn't the place, but he was the one that spent year's of his life having to dodge bullets and murder attempts. He had to spend month's in physical therapy after the tower.

The place he felt safe was ripped away because Jason who is traumatized he hasn't forgot that fact, decided to hunt him down and hurt him.

Maybe Robin isn't a child, but Tim Drake was.

He turns to Bruce who's face is of course blank he's the one who wants Jason here yet not an emotion in sight.

Turns back to look Jason in the eye the man who's sitting next to Damian sometimes he wonders if Alfred does it on purpose a way to remind Tim that his murderers will always have something he doesn't.

He will look him in the eye he will not falter today.

"I was a child, I should have never been the exception to your rule. Say what you will about Robin being something else but you didn't care about Robin you cared it was me"

Silence it's funny how comforting it can be.

"I should not have to sit at the same table as two of my attempted murderers and pretend that it's ok. You are both traumatized I understand that but it will never be an excuse for traumatizing me. I see the Red hood and Robin in my nightmares."

He turns to look at Dick who as always is to the right of him once again pointing to Alfred doing this seating on purpose.

"You are a hypocrite who has never shut up about drying but goes out his way to kill another Robin."

He sees Alfred step forward closer to Bruce he wonders what the point is will he say anything, not likely but why move he almost asks yet if he doesn't finish he never will.

"This was your home first it still is, but I have bled and given more than you will ever know to secure my place here. So Bruce I do not ever want to partnered with either one of them in the field. You or Dick are the only options. You will not argue with me this is me laying my boundaries which I am entitled to."

He stares at Alfred loosing the blank look to let some of the anger out. He wants him to know.

"You will also never again force me to sit at a dinner table across from them again. Whatever British Passive-Aggressive gesture this is. You have no right to do. I will never forgive you for my birthday."

Dick goes to interrupt he doesn't let him.

"Bruce and Alfred have my full permission to discuss the psychological torture they put me through as my birthday present. But from now on none of you get to treat me as if I am some replacement or placeholder. I am a person with feelings, I will not be treated like a doormat."

He makes eye contact with each of them Alfred, Bruce, Jason and Damian.

Before turning to Dick for the last part.

"You are the only person here who has never deliberately hurt me, your my brother and I love you. I want to spend more time with you and I am specifically requesting that you come with me when I leave this table. We can get dinner or hang out but I need you to leave with me."

----------

Bruce is speechless.

How did he do this, his child is sitting at his table trembling and he can't move.

His child who just spent ten minutes defending himself and he is doing nothing.

Dick interrupts what he can admit is a pity party.

"Your my brother, I will happily follow you to the ends of the earth and if we leave now we can go to the Thai place that you like."

He can't let them leave he has to say something.

Tell Tim that he loves him, that he can fix this that this isn't the end. That it matters but before he can there gone.

His boys leave.

His precious sons, one loyal to a fault and one hurt beyond measure and what did he do nothing.

What he always does nothing.

[headkiss]

you love me?

pairing: steve harrington x fem!reader

summary: you and steve quickly became best friends, and robin helps you both realize some things. (it’s best friends to lovers).

word count: 1.8k

warnings: a couple swear words, two idiots, it’s really just fluff.

a/n: this is my first fic so pleaaasseeeee bear with me!! i’m super nervous to post it ahhhh. i hope it’s not too bad but i’ll get better (hopefully). feedback is appreciated!! also i didn’t really proof read it so sorry if there’s any mistakes!

༄

If someone told you a couple years ago that you would end up being best friends with the Steve Harrington, you would have laughed in their face. If they told you that you would fall in love with said best friend, you would have laughed even harder.

It wasn’t unknown that he hung out with certain crowds of people, crowds you were never a part of. While you weren’t an outcast per say, you did keep to yourself. You were often seen with your nose in some random book, headphones on your head, strolling through the halls without paying attention to the world around you.

When Steve and Nancy got together, you often watched them from afar. Wondering how his egotistical self ended up with the respectable girl-next-door type like her. You were definitely not jealous.

You watched Steve fall in love with her. And the people-watcher in you noticed Nancy distancing herself from him. But what did you know, really?

It all started at Tina’s Halloween party. You showed up dressed as your favorite musician; you decided to go at the last minute after getting bored of sitting around in your room all night.

Time passed slowly at the party. You were sipping on punch, letting yourself drink considering you were within walking distance from Tina’s house. You did what you normally did: people-watching and observing the crowd.

You couldn’t help but notice some commotion coming from the kitchen, so you walked over to see what was going on. And there they were. Steve and Nancy, the picture perfect couple having an argument. Nancy ended up with a punch-soaked shirt and she pushed passed you drunkenly to head to the washroom, Steve following in her wake.

“I’m sorry,” he had whispered to you with a small frown after he had seen his girlfriend shove you out of the way.

He had never spoken to you before, and all you could manage was a small smile in his direction before he walked off after Nancy.

A few minutes later, you saw Nancy leave with Johnathan Byers, and before you could really think too hard about it, you decided to try and find Steve.

He was sitting on the back deck when you found him. Head in his hands, shaking ever so slightly, and sniffling to himself. Your legs moved before you realized, and next thing you knew you were taking a seat next to him.

“Hi,” was all you managed to say. He lifted his head to look at you. His beautiful brown eyes shining with tears he refused to let fall.

“Oh, um, hi?” He seemed confused because he didn’t think anyone would really care about where he was, or what happened to make him upset.

You quickly tried to explain yourself, “I know this is probably really weird but I saw Nancy leave the party and I figured something must’ve happened. I dunno, um, I guess I wanted to check on you. We have a few classes together, not that it matters! I just didn’t want you to think I’m some stranger-“

“I know you’re not a stranger,” and to your surprise, he spoke your name softly. He talked quietly, almost small. Like he was afraid if he tried to use his voice too much, it would break with emotion.

“Oh good! So, are you okay?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what the fuck just happened in there. She just kept saying the word bullshit. That we were bullshit. That she never.. she never even loved me,” he cut himself off after that. Feeling odd about talking so openly to someone he’d never really known before that night.

After hearing that, you asked, “do you wanna go for a walk with me?”

And ever since then, the two of you were inseparable.

Somehow you were roped into fighting evil from other dimensions, knowing someone with super powers, and becoming a babysitter for the crew of kids involving Nancy’s brother, Mike, and his friends.

It was about a year later, and you and Steve had survived the ‘mall fire’ that took lives.

Now, you, Steve, and Robin were working together at Family Video to make your money, having lost your previous jobs at Starcourt.

You and Robin were stuck watching Steve attempt to flirt every shift. Always claiming he was “just helping the customers in need!” and you didn’t bother to analyze the small pinch in your gut, the frown that would cross your features, every time he would report back to you with a smile and a date for the night. You were definitely not jealous.

“So when are you gonna tell Steve you’re in love with him?” Robin decided to sneak up on you and ask as you watched him acquire his next date.

“What? Robs I’m not in love with him.. We’re just friends,” you immediately responded. You were just friends. You would never forget that.

“Well maybe if you didn’t stare at him all frowny every time he flirted with someone else, I would believe that.”

“I do not stare at him all… frowny. Do I?”

“Yeah actually, you do.”

Well, that put things into perspective for you. That night, after closing up at work, you really thought about what Robin said. Did you love him? Fuck.

You realized why you had always watched him flirting with others. Why you often spaced out doing so. You wanted it to be you. Hell, you might have had feelings for him when he was still with Nancy. Why else would you have observed them so much? Why else would you have felt so compelled to speak with him at that party.

Holy shit, you had it bad.

Meanwhile Steve had been crushing on you ever since he saw how protective you were over the kids on the fourth of July at the mall. How willing you were to throw yourself between them and danger. How the thought of you getting hurt terrified him so much he could feel it all over.

He knew that going on so many dates wasn’t the best idea. But he didn’t know how else to get over you. He thought, maybe if he dated a lot, he could finally find someone that made him feel a fraction of what you did.

He couldn’t go out with you. You only saw him as a friend, he knew it.

No matter how often Robin would try to convince him that you felt the same way he did, he wouldn’t believe her. Why would someone as special and beautiful as you want someone like him? Impossible.

The next day at work, Steve noticed you were acting weird. Why were you acting weird around him? He was your best friend.

Your mind was whirling. You couldn’t relax around Steve. You loved him.

When the store was quiet, Steve found the time to corner you, “what’s going on with you today?”

You turned to look in his direction, avoiding his gaze, “what do you mean? Nothing’s going on.”

“You’re acting weird. You know you can talk to me, right?” He ducked his head to try and get you to look at his face. He was worried. Why couldn’t you look at him?

“What? I’m not being weird. I’m just, um, tired.” And with that you walked away from him and putting your headphones back on, leaving him confused and even more concerned than before. Did he do something wrong?

“Robin is she okay? She won’t even look at me, I don’t know what to do. What do I do?” He was panicking. Just a little.

“Steve, how many times do I have to tell you? She’s in love with you. And you go on so many dates she doesn’t think she has a chance, you dingus. You need to confess.”

“No. No, Robin, I can’t.” He sighed, looking over to where you were stocking shelves humming along to whatever song was playing in your headphones. He couldn’t help but smile at the way you bopped your head to the beat.

“You have it so bad, Harrington. But so does she,” Robin gave him a small shove, “Tell her.”

He planned it out in his head all day. How he was gonna drive you home like usual, walk you to the door like usual. But, instead of saying ‘bye, sweetheart, see you tomorrow!’ he would tell you the truth.

He would tell you he loved you. That he has for months.

The ride home was silent on both ends. You were both overthinking for the same reasons. Doubting that the other would have the same feelings. Doubting that they ever would. Terrified to be honest and raw, despite all the secrets already shared between the two of you.

Steve walked you to your door like he always did, but instead of wishing you a goodnight, he took a deep breath, scratching the back of his neck anxiously. “So, actually, um, I wanted to tell you something? If that’s okay?”

“Of course it’s okay, Steve. You can tell me anything.”

He looked down at his feet, “promise me you won’t hate me after this?”

“I could never hate you, Steve. You’re my best friend.” And I love you, but I know you don’t feel the same. All I want is for you to be happy. Even if that can’t be with me.

“I know it’s gonna sound crazy but I don’t go on these dates because I want to. I, uh, I go because I need to get over this one girl. Because I love her, but she doesn’t love me, or at least, I don’t think she does.”

“Oh,” was all you could reply to that. Feeling your stomach drop. He didn’t want you. Why would he?

“This girl. We first spoke over a year ago. She was really quiet before that. And I was too damn stupid to talk to her. She’s really pretty. Like super pretty.”

Were your eyes watering? Oh god, you were gonna cry if he kept going. Steve noticed your eyes welling up, gently grabbing your chin to make you look at him.

“Listen to the rest, sweetheart. Okay? Just listen… She’s amazing with kids, even when they’re absolute pains in the ass. She’s the best friend someone could ever ask for. She’s also a really great coworker. She checks on me when nobody else does.. I, um, I’m talking about you. If you couldn’t tell. Or if you were doubting-“

Before he could finish speaking you rushed forward, grabbing his face in your hands and kissing him. You pulled away quickly, smiling your beautiful, teary smile, “I love you, Steve Harrington.”

He had never smiled so widely in his life, “really? You love me? I love you. So much, sweetheart.”

You nodded in confirmation, cheeks aching with how big your grin was, “I love you, too, idiot.”

And with that, he kissed you again. The two of you intertwined under your porch light. Time seemed to freeze around you both. Nothing mattered except that moment, right there.

He pulled away once more, not before placing several small pecks on your mouth, nose, and forehead. “Sooo.. can I come in and cuddle my girl, or what?”

How could you say no to that?

[canceramorem]

. So at this point in the love game I hadn't heard from the lovely Scarlett Marie. It was a hot summer that year too...

So July and August were horrible for me. I was still an emotional hostage of this women who came into my life like a category 5 Hurricane. Yeah she fucking had me in a whirlwind of bullshit from Asheville to fucking Fayetteville. Warrants in both cities for stealing like less than 20$ worth of items, i got bonded out on one and moved to catch a new one 30 counties away. That was in December and January, here it was , fucking late July and August. Between Asheville and Fayetteville I was playing " catch me if you can , I'm the fucking J Pizzle gingerbread man". I had identical charges in two different counties , four hours away from each other. One thing Jey Pizzle does not do is voluntarily turn himself in. And for people that do- you're stupid! I tried that one time in Florida, actually it was right after my daughter was born. You know what the "Honorable " Judge said? When I suggested turning myself in should be rewarded with a little leniency, that fucking asshole said , "well you should have done that any ways" , and then the fuck held me on a bond that I could not afford. Well its safe to say, that I will never turn myself in, nor will I ever look at a judge with anything but disgust. Only God judges me mother fuckers, A judge is nothing but a fuck- head cop with more earthly power than God. And do you know how much a judge makes a year? When they retire, they make fucking bank , like $250,000 a year AFTER they retire. And guess who pays for the Judges Salary? Yup, you got it right, Jon Doe and Joe Blow. Fucking fun dummies. The whole system is designed to make crazy money and pay these judges so much money, and they are usually fucking asshole smart asses too,. Try saying a word to one and the court cops will fuck you up. Yeah , "your honor"- go FUCK off. One time I was in a counselor/confidential type setting trying to fight my case using one of my trusted defenses. And I was not in a good mindset. I said something about the judge and something about an explosion, just wishing his house would blow up. That fucking counselor rat-bitch ran to the phone and next thing you know, The Marshall's came , threw me in a big black Suburban , and drove me two hours away from that particular judges "court" (like they own it - bastards) the next morning I was arraigned and they said i could get 48 months for threatening one of those cock sucking Judges! They ended up dropping it, because what most people don't realize is that if you are not sober, you can use the intoxication defense. These little bullshit charges were such a

pain In the ass. I would have to get back to Asheville from the "Ville " (Fayette) and I would lose all my good gear and shit because when they picked me up in the park there by Bartlett Arms, I had hid my stuff with Robins stuff. I brought her to Gary because she was looking to make some money , fucking trickin . Gary sends me to the store to get something , it was a fucking cock-suckin , cock- BLOCKING, setup. He didn't answer his door, had Robin in there and I was a sitting- fuck duck- there in the park. Two cops swooped in out of nowhere, ran my name and it was a wrap. Two weeks later, I was released, it was like this- i am arrested,

From there , about a week in Buncombe Jail, and then Cumberland county came to get me and I was out in like three days from there. Finally got the old little bullshit charges gone and done . But the events leading up to that ,well , it just goes to show just how strong the love curse Marie had on me is.

I wondered if I would ever see her again. It was like part of me was missing. I couldn't go anywhere or look at anything and not be reminded of her. It fucked things up in other areas as well. I was the laughing stock of all of my friends. They would team up and say , oh yeah, I just saw her car hopping up by Ingle's, I'd be across town somewhere trying my hardest to get to ingles, hoping I'd catch you. You weren't there, and people, just said shit because they couldn't love as much as I did you. But it was all just cruel jokes. You had left the state and I knew it , because , like I said, I had that empty feeling. And I honestly believed and still do, that we are twin flames.

Down on the French broad river, I was hanging out with Chris and a guy named Straps. Now Straps and Marie had a fling or something going. Before I got with her. I knew about it and it was all good . As straps was there with his new white girlfriend. Her name is Robin. Both he and Chris were trying to get rid of Robin, I guess they just got sick of her, I don't really see how. I mean , Robin was pretty cool. She really was. Like so many people that end up in Asheville, Robin apparently had been living in or from the Charlotte area. So had straps. His real name is Taquis (Tah-Qweez). He was in his mid Thirty's and looked like a young version of T-Pain. Its funny, because I love real gangsters , not posers. " Be true to yourself and you will never fail' . So straps as it seems is some sort of gun expert. Hence the street name ' straps'. You know , like when someone is "strapped " up. Etc. Supposedly old dude straps is known for his ability and knowledge of real -life guns, I guess pistols , I am not sure. I do know this - there are three things that Jey pizzle loves with a passion in life. And jeypizzle , when he likes something, he goes over the edge learning about it and mastering it.

1)- Español, or in English, the Spanish language. This is probably my most valuable asset. Spanish has not only-got me fed, got me paid, got me laid, got me out of trouble, its something that no one can take away from me, its fucking cool, I love it, I know it I really honest and truly am so fluent in Spanish, that I have had Spanish people roll out the red carpet for me. Yeah, I love Spanish. Me encanta Español. I'm an expert at it.

2. Guns- Ever since I was a little boy, I have wanted a motherfucking Ak- 47. I have owned dozens of firearms in my life and know how to pretty much build my own from stuff at the metal machine shop in any high school. As a matter of fact, I had to take a five hour hunter safety course when I lived in Missouri, just to get a deer tag to go hunting. My very first gun was a .22 short Ruger revolver, 5 shot side corral loader , it was black a had plastic white handle. I was 19 years old in Miami Florida, ( MIAMI NOT CHARLOTTE!). My buddy Dan gave it to me. He said if I didn't take it, he was gonna kill someone with it. I gladly took the pistol present. In the nearly half a century I've been alive, I have shot thousands of different guns. Never have I stolen a gun , nor have I ever disrespected firearms. Yes, I am a Marksman, and expert at target shooting as well. I just love guns. So when I got the chance to talk to The so called expert about guns, " Strap" - this fool, didn't even know the difference between a .22 long rifle or a .25 center fire cartridge. So we discussed Marie, I had to know every little juicy detail I could . He said he felt bad for her, and I believed him. After seeing straps in action ( trying to give himself a shot of some of the shit I cooked ). I knew that Marie was right. He most definitely had a head injury alright. Its called mentally challenged, wanna -be bad ass , wearing red -like a blood , but sporting a blue L.A. Dodgers hat ( arch enemies in the gang world). He was shaking uncontrollably and had what appeared to be having seizures or something similar, he was convulsing at the mere sight of what I consider "mediocre dope". Don't forget, Pizzle had mastered the art of the clandestine cookout, "Shaking" it up, with excellent yield. I use only the best ingredients, the shit they had for me to use was leftover dollar tree trash. Point is , he had threatened me one time when I was with Marie at Bartlett Arms , because we didn't hear him and his white girlfriend at the time , Lay Lay. They were at the gate trying to get in and he mumbled something to the effect , that he was gonna drag me. I didn't say shit, it was about 8 months or so prior. Straps, had nothing bad to say about my Boo Marie, or I probably would have mopped the train tracks with his head. Just because of the time he showed out in front of lay lay and marie at Bartlett. Anyhow, he's alright . I just couldn't believe that he actually like, had Marie , like hanging out with him . I am sure they fucked, but i dont understand why white , good looking chicks, not just Marie, why they buy into this bullshit story of him and his knowledge of guns and the street. Because as a real man, he couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag, I could beat him on every level.

The third thing in life that I have the most passion for is this woman , Yes, the same one who had -ripped my heart out, threw it on the ground , stomped on it three times , then put it in backwards, ripped it out again, and then puts it back in the right way and gives you a kiss on the cheek afterwards, while calling you 'Sweetie '. Yeah, that's what the pain of this heart break-separation/leaving pizzle/Marie takingoff/ - felt like.

We met at the most unexpected , and probably needed time in my life. I don't want this make anyone look bad, but yeah. I have a tremendous amount of passion for this woman, and only for her. I love you Marie. With passion, compassion, all ...

So after a couple days I was like fuck this shit, I need to have sex, It was hard for me to even talk to other girls because of the love curse and spell I was under. The truth is, that I was gonna bring Robin out of the river and up to Love Mountain, where Marie and I had stayed for a while, I had to do something, because it was so unfair what Scarlett Marie had done to me, I really, really am dying at this point. Dying heartbroken is horrible.

I mean , goddamn man, I was so worried about you, it literally made me sick , worrying about you. I didn't have any closure what so-ever. I wanted to know so much more about her , I wanted to grow old with her, and have good , normal , non- homeless times with Scarlett.

Mainly , I just wanted to know if what we had was real, because the feeling we shared was that of a 'Gone with the Wind ' type romance. The reality of the whole sordid , confusion, was that the only type of "romance" we had was "Bad Romance" (Lady Gaga song). 'Gone wth the wind 'feeling , but Lady Gaga- "Bad Romance " reality.

, Pizzle had it bad( lovesick/heartbrokeness), because their was no getting out of Marie's Love Curse , I say that because, here i was , literally with Robin, in the river , both of us naked, and maybe could have- fuck that- SHOULD have- had sex, but Jey Pizzle, was so infatuated with Scarlett Marie, that he didn't even do anything , but tell Robin that she had a nice body. Then gets dried up and dressed. And saves Robin from the river and boredom of being stuck there with nothing, by bringing her to Gary. So , yeah, pizzle really was faithful. Not even trying to do what the average man would have done, which is at least try to have sex with Robin. Instead, he does some things that a "fun dummy" would do. Making bad decisions in the name of love is fucking stupid. A man can get so fucked up in his head over a woman , that he might as well be a crash test dummy. Because he will be headed straight for a dummy mission if he thinks a woman really "needs " him.-Better off crashing into a brick wall head first. A fucking good time never hurt no one, yeah right , try being a fun dummy- you'll be blinded by the fucking love light, more like a fucking police flashlight as they are ruining your life, " in the name of love", while she's " making love " to someone else.Youre ass will be in jail , and she'll be under the bridge on Gillespie street in the Ville having threesomes with two dudes while smoking crack. You know how you can tell most women are lying, Their lips are moving! There are some Good ones out there though, and addiction shit ain't no joke for some people. I got some friends that have stay in TROSA. That shit ain't no joke . They have to be held accountable for every lie and all about how telling(snitching) is the way to quit crack cocaine. It's called "behavior modification" a two year rehab. What do you know about that?....

She left and I was so fucked up in the head, I had no game . and to make matters worse. I still had a lingering arrest warrant in Fayetteville , from when I was there the winter before. When Marie Boo and I were in our " misdemeanor outlaws" phase. Well, I had gotten caught stealing food, flashlights and whatever else she wanted. We used to go in anywhere, and whatever she wanted, I'd fucking get it one way or the other. It is wrong to steal , but she made it seem like it was legal to go "shopping " , which equates to shop- lifting. I got popped in Fayetteville while I was already out on p.r. in Asheville for the same shit- stealing, ( For My Boo). So, Marie did get me out..i n the past January, It was like 60$ or something, but the fact she got me out, well I don't think she even knows to this day, what I would do for her, which is ANYTHING! But I was gonna try and do what any normal man would do , which Is get laid. But i am not any normal man. As she once told me, "You're different from the others" . Well, you shall see how that works out for this "love fool", fucking fun dummy J pizzle...

[pcrkiss]

A BRAMBLE ROSE.

name: doris arcine purkiss age: twenty four birthdate:  december 8th. (☼ sagittarius) gender & pronouns: cis-female. she & her. blood type: halfblood house: ravenclaw sided with: neutral occupation. experimental spagyric alchemist

aesthetics — plant mom™, mad scientist but make it hippie, gold jewelry, alchemy periodicals stacked high, color coded notebooks, golden hour, dusky rose palleted macaroons, gel pen hearts drawn around portraits of paracelsus, multipage astrology charts, honey & lemons, standing with heart shaped glasses on infront of a 'no loitering sign', flower fields, shelves full of brightly colored glass bottles, midnight sidestreet kisses, sky writing, ex-boyfriend exit surveys, apology letters for “how i behaved during scrabble”

A SUMMARY.

+ Open Minded. Studious. Imaginative. Reliable. Audacious. - Tactless. Overly Romantic. Bad Judge of Character. Extravagant. Biased. Doris is a force of nature. Not like a hurricane — more like the sun: usually warm and relaxing, but under certain concentrated conditions fires start. Passing glances imprints the perception of a girl gentle, fanciful, easygoing —  sometimes this impression is right on ( Doris is indeed a girl who loves sugar frosting and pink roses, who takes astrology too seriously, who falls in love often and to typically disastrous results). And other times... it's not.

She is the friend you call when you feel like you have been treated unfairly by higher powers ( Doris is notoriously known among her year-mates for the time a lazy investigation of performance altering potions usage got a friend of hers kicked off the Ravenclaw quidditch team and she retaliated by storming into the Headmaster's office armed with League bylaws and writing the Daily Prophet to report the school's negligent handling of a case related to a handicapped muggleborn seeker ). The one you take with you to buy a car because even if she knew nothing about automobiles the night before, come afternoon at the dealership she's a walking issue of Motor Trend magazine and isn't having any of the car dealer's bullshit about considering the Lexus over the Honda because of "what great transmission it has".

She is not the friend you call to help paint your kitchen, because what would begin as a simple change from dark blue walls to robin's egg will turn into a reorganizing of cabinet space, inclusion of an aesthetic gallery wall, and eight hours buying all new storage containers to match the changed color scheme. In short, Doris is intense, she is dedicated, she is idealistic. She is by no means an activist, too laser focused on her own ecosystem to worry about the world at large, but she has very firm ideals about how her world and the worlds of those she loves ought be and is relentless in ensuring that it be so.

A BACKSTORY.

growing up ...

Her father, long-time hence a smoky wisp of wistfulness and a handful of sense-memories to her mother, managed to be a great and long shadow to live in for the entirety of the Purkiss life-span by virtue of possessing magic. Wealthy debutante Rebecca Purkiss did not - muggle born, muggle bred, magic had stole in silver-quick and taken away any possible happiness in normality with a man in possession of extremely long fingers and distant-dark eyes and a tread silent enough for him to slip out of bed and leave in the night without even waking her from sound, sound sleep. He left behind a daughter, Doris, who was thereafter reared on romantic stories about her father, whose disappearance Rebecca attributed to some grand inescapable responsibility that called out from that secret otherworld.

Only the good remained in her idealized retrospection. Memories of walls washed in starlight with just a wand and a word. Of a bird whose plumage was pure flame before it flared and died and returned a chick inside it's mother of pearl cage. Of drinking a tincture that let her wear another woman's face and running through the night in Monte-Carlo right under the noses of her controlling parents. Those unbearably beautiful moments were best friend and dark lover and horrible influence all three: the woman sought out magic with the greedy, needy hunger of the desperate, for the gates of that glimpsed-at world to swing open once again. Magic frittered the money through her fingers; the mundane muggle kind of magic, rather than the real stuff: crystals and palm readers and spirit healers. The clatter-sway of too-heavy gypsy charmed amulets around her neck was the counterbalance to Doris learning to walk and learning to run and learning to believe and imagine and hold tight to beautiful unrealistic things even in the face of opposition. She learned from mother to give her heart away recklessly, to love what she liked and scowl at what she did not, to romanticize mystery.

Later comes a bigger tragedy than father's leaving: illness takes Rebecca when Doris is nine years old. So close, just two years shy of the day mother had always been dreaming of. Doris is placed into the care of her Uncle and Aunt, slotted in amongst their brood of five, displaced and  feeling more like an orbiting satellite than system body to a family that is hers but not really.  ‘Orphan’, her cousins' old money aristocratic playmates called her — although somewhere out there there’s a father, one who didn’t even leave a surname shucked behind him like abandoned snakeskin, only a daughter skidding and drifting in his wake. She is not like her prep school relatives, all champagne charm and pressed proper; too head in the clouds, too enthusiasm inventive, too blunt truth opinionated.

“What are we going to do with that girl?” her Uncle wonders after the third time an instructor sends a letter home from boarding school extolling on her sin of being bright but unrealistic and resistant to correction. Doris was her mother's daughter in the straightness of her spine, how her shoulders were thrown back, her chin raised as if daring anyone to try and tell her "no". Her aunt, at least, is more flexible: “Let her be. The world will have enough to say about who she ought to be without us getting involved.” Uncle and Aunt don't know she is well equipped for the world that finally comes knocking when she's eleven years old. The long awaited birthright folded into a letter with no postage pressed to the corner. It is addressed to Doris Purkiss, witch.

She likes Divination and Magical Theory, chocolate frogs and exploding snap, the taste of pumpkin juice as a young girl and a little later the warm bite of fire whiskey. She falls deeply in love with Alchemy and Herbology and often is found napping near the mandrakes on warm afternoons. Despite her blunt and brusque nature and a lack of finesse in Defense Against The Dark Arts, she was dearly loved by the bulk of the Hogwarts faculty. She had, of course, her detractors. Slughorn despised her from the time when she turned down his repeatedly insistent invitations to join the Slug Club by calling him "a flaccid yes-man coated with so much jaded self-worth". Argus Filch considered her, quite frankly, a menace and would have instated corporal punishment for her alone if not for the constraint of the Headmaster. And she became her own Head of House's archnemesis after the Quidditch debacle.

during the war ...

Out of Hogwarts she settled into a townhouse in Little Norton, paid for with her portion of Purkiss inheritance. A French style abode; high ceilings and skylights to let in the light and black iron spiral staircases and cozy greenhouse in the garden. Doris found initial gainful employ with the Wizarding Examinations Authority, drafting test questions for the Magical Theory and Alchemy portions of the N.E.W.T.s. The only ones whose dissatisfaction with her choice of career outpaced the academy 7th years who had to answer her essay queries was the Department of Intoxicating Substances, who in the years immediately following her leaving Hogwarts, had issued her no fewer than eight citations for new alcoholic substances developed as a byproduct of her experimentations with alchemic fermentation. The W.E.A. was an unburdensome job, which left her ample free time to engage in magical research and development, the nature of which was not always mundane enough for the Ministry's peace of mind.

Of course her transgressions became a comparative drop in the bucket as The Dark Lord's stranglehold of terror continued to tighten about the beating heart of Britain's Wizarding World. Fear was everywhere and though Doris wasn’t an exception, she claimed no allegiance anywhere. Vehemently rejected the doctrine espoused by the Dark Lord's followers, but hadn't the discipline and temperament to invite induction into the Order's clandestine ranks. Even the Ministry was a leery lukewarm enemy, courtesy long held tendency to buck against authority and those ever increasing reprimands from regulatory arms of the DMLE.

She channeled her efforts not into cause or country, but into those (good or ill) who claimed corners of her honeyed heart. And if she recognized the tell-tale signs of under eye weariness and old wounds on precious friends like the Potters, she did not waste time asking questions she knew they couldn't answer but continued turning up at door arms full of board games for best friend dinners and kept things-as-normal track of birthdays and anniversaries rather than letting them fall to the wayside behind the prioritization of war waging and perhaps she slipped a few extra herbs to heal and sooth into the home brewed wine she handed out amongst her social circle.

in the present ...

When the war ends and Voldemort falls at Dumbledore's feet and the flames of open war were doused it should be, it seems like, it sounds like victory. But Doris knows there's no such thing as equilibrium and change is constant, inescapable bedfellow. Battles may have no longer been wholescale, all consuming, at yet it seemed like conflict continued to creep. For Doris, this moreso than fires in fields and blood letting pricks her sense of danger, for the tensions that eased into everyday like by inches (small but inexorable) feels like the tide before a tidal wave. She had sneered and bit at institutionalized systems often enough to understand that more than grand cowled evil, it's the attrition of bloodless bureaucracy that can shred the fabric of a society.

[artxyra]

Guess who has another request! So, Damian and Marinette have been secretly dating for a long time. No one noticed until it was family game night and Damian didn't show up. Alfred then tells Bruce to check his bank account only to find that Damian took a small amount and helped in buying a house (could be an apartment or any resident) and an engagement ring a few months ago (btw the fam is looking at it too). Alfred then says that they are invited to a wedding, Damian and Marinette's wedding.

Damian never would have pictured himself being the type of guy to walk along the Seine with his beloved at three o’clock in the morning on a Saturday morning. In fact, he absolutely knows that would never have happened if it wasn’t for him meeting Marinette on that faithful day. Gotham Academy decided that having a pen pal from another country would help with their language and low and behold is how he met her. They were twelve at the time and over the years the genuinely fell for each other. He was there when she was massively crushing on the person she now views as a baby-older brother, and she was there to listen and respect his choice, unlike some people he knows. She means the world to him now, so why did it feel like he was forgetting something.

Well for starters, back in Marinette’s bedroom, a single black phone was constantly going off.

“Hey Baby bird, where are you? Game night is about to start, and your check-in time was thirty minutes ago.” A worrisome Dick Grayson speaks into the phone as he leans against the doorframe. Behind him, his wife, Kor’i holding their little girl, Mar’i, who was trying to sway her way out of her mother’s strong arms.

“You still can’t reach him?” She asks finally setting Mar’i down on the floor allowing her to room off.

Dick sighs as Bruce walks in with Mar’i holding onto his leg squealing in delight.

“Isn’t past her bedtime?” Bruce asks picking up Mar’i from his legs causing the small girl to pout and softly glare at her grandfather.

Kor’i laughs and takes Mar’i from him and begins snuggling her daughter. Dick rubs the back of his neck and looks everywhere but at Bruce.

“Eh, it’s game night, so we thought why not.” He answers as Timothy Drake staggers into the room with a cup of coffee in hand.

“Tim, we talked about this. No coffee after eight o’clock.” Tim could barely comprehend whether it was Dick or Bruce scolding him, it was probably Dick. He grunts and sips the beverage longer than intended to.

“Has the demon spawn show up?” Jason asks walking into the room tossing his knife up and catching it continuously.

“Yes, where is Damian? He’s usually the one that is strict when it comes to punctuality.” Bruce looks up finally taking notice that the core of his children is here but the one related to him.

“Did you call his phone, I’m sure the kid is somewhere in the manor?” Jason says as he throws himself to the couch. Alfred reprimands him for having his feet prompted over the armrest.

“If I thought he was in the manor, I would have gone to get him. And yes, I have called his phone, several times in fact but he’s not answering.” Dick huffs as Kor’i pats her husband’s back calming him down slightly.

“If I may interrupt, Master Richard?” Alfred places down the deck of cards, that were for tonight’s game and turns to the man of the house, “Have you checked the young master’s bank account lately?” Alfred waits patiently for the gears in Bruce’s head to turn.

After a moment of silence, Bruce pulls out his phone and checked the accounts he can access. On the account statement, he notices a large amount has been withdrawn just under the maximum limit only for it to stop just a few days ago. The last major purchase that was from his own doing was from a jewelry store. A few months ago, Bruce had received a message about an expensive item being brought from the bank. After going to the store and spoke with the salesperson, it was concluded that Damian came in to pick up a customized diamond ring that had cost nearly $20,000 dollars before the tax. When Bruce had returned home, he and Damian got into a heated argument causing him to bench Robin as a punishment. Damian complained but let it go the next day.

“Uh…” Bruce couldn’t find the words to say what he thought next.

It was Tim who takes the phone of the man’s hand. His eyes widen at the amount that was missing. It wasn’t a noticeable amount compared to how much they make but damn, Damian.

“Who was the last to bug the kid’s phone?” Through the caffeinated high, everyone is surprised to see Tim giving out a proper response to this mess.

“I believe that will be unnecessary, Master Tim.” Alfred digs into his jacket and pulls out a handful of decorated envelopes. He hands them each out. Everyone stands confused as to why Alfred the most class of them all hand them upside down envelopes.

“Pretty!” Mar’i squeal trying to reach for the envelope. “Look, Daddy, it has Unca Dami’s name on it.”

It was then that those with envelopes flip it over and sees the words “Damian & Marinette Wayne” decorated in elegant letters.

“WHAT THE HE—HECK?” Jason is the first to scream what is on sans Alfred and Mar’i’s mind. It turns out that Jason had open the envelope to be greeted by an image of Damian holding a woman (who is perceived to be Marinette) underneath the Eiffel Tower with the words “You are invited to the wedding of Damian al Ghul Wayne and Marinette Dupain-Cheng” in bold cursive lettering. Underneath that is information regarding the times and location along with RSVP details.

“Shall I pack your finest clothes?” Alfred offers clapping his hands together acting like he didn’t just throw his charges underneath a moving bus.

It took a solid three minutes for them to get their brain to work and immediately the Wayne manor is filled with yelling of all kinds. It’s amazing that Mar’i didn’t learn a new swear that night.

So fast warding to the Wayne family arriving in Paris, to look for the person that apparently can hold a damn girlfriend then turn fiancée away from the family. That information slapped them so hard that Batman threatened that if anyone and he means anyone try to commit a crime while he’s away he is willing to let the Red Hood goes after them with no restrictions. Yep, Gotham’s large intense crimes went down real quick after that.

So, image the people of Paris seeing the one and only Bruce Wayne walking down the streets in the direction of Paris’ favorite bakery.

Being the main location tied to the Dupain-Cheng family name, it was a no brainer that they decided to look for Damian there. When they reach the bakery, they were greeted by a sight that anyone would have met Damian would call bullshit on.

“Can I take—well shit.” Damian Wayne, himself standing behind the register in colors that one wouldn’t believe.

“Hey Little D, you wanna tell us why we’re just receiving a wedding invitation.” Dick asks.

Well Damian had two option: (1) come clean and explain everything or (2) call for Sabine or Tom to work the cashier so that he could run to out here and drown himself in the Seine. Apparently, the second option is out the window. No one wants to deal with an angry Marinette.

“Hey, Dams, I’ve finished the commission, you need any help with the store?” Marinette asks appearing out from the entrance hallway to the bakery’s upstairs.  

“And you must be the blushing bride. How did Demon spawn snag a literal ray of sunshine?” Jason asks checking Marinette out before deciding that he will protect her at all cost, Damian better not mess this up.

Marinette smiles as she quickly blinks allowing her mind to transmute the sight before her.

“Don’t answer them, Angel, they were just leaving.”

“No, no, his question caught me off guard. Perhaps, I should go and finish unpacking. It was nice to meet you.” Marinette rushes the past her soon-to-be extended family.

“So, tell us more.” Tim speaks as he makes his way over to the coffee machine and pours himself a cup.

“I swear I will end you where you stand.” Damian growls out before proceeding to tell his family everything he believes they need to know.

Permanent Tag List: @vixen-uchiha​ | @i-is-mysterious | @kuroko26 | @maribat-is-lifeblood |

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[extremelyblackandwhite]

handmaid - 29

PAIRING: mob!sebastian stan x ingenue!reader

WARNINGS: age gap

A/N: when you quote west side story you do know things are not about to get any better *nervous laughter* hope you enjoy this chapter x

NEXT CHAPTER

The environment was calm with baby blue and white walls. The only sounds existing in the room being that of the machines beeping and the small breathing sounds coming from the two people in the bedroom. It was quiet, very quiet, but the quietness only contributed to the peaceful nature of the hospital bedroom. 

The slight beeping of the door being opened caused the attention of the French woman to leave from her newborn daughter to the man who had just came in holding a bouquet of white lilies. 

     - I didn’t know what type of flowers would be suitable for someone who just gave birth. - he smiled, taking a seat on the cushioned chair by her bed. - How are my girls?

    - I am alright. Ella’s just been sleeping, I think that’s all she does. - the baby sleep peacefully against her chest, lightly suckling on her mother’s pinkie finger without a single care in the world. - Do you know when we can go home? It’s becoming a bit tiring to be in here. 

   - Robin. - the man sighed. - It’s safer for you to be here than to be home. We cannot return home until we’re certain that no harm can come to you or to Ella. 

   - But we got extra security besides ... I sense something bad is coming.

   - That is just your “momma bear” coming out. You’re safe here, there’s staff and security everywhere. 

   - I hope you’re right. - she sighed, looking at the baby. - I really hope you’re right. 

Y/N stared at him with the sort of curiosity one does whenever confronted with a hard choice. She could just end it, she could just put a stop to it and spare Gwen the pain and shame of being cheated on before she even got married, spare Sebastian and her the childish illusions that everything would be okay. She could just end it, she could just run away and start somewhere new but something always stopped it. Turns out, she couldn’t just end it, she couldn’t just stop falling more and more in love with him, she couldn’t just pretend she could just leave and things would be alright. So once again, she’d rather pretend that everything is alright, everything’s fine. 

She took a step towards him, her shoe front hitting his ever so slightly before she wrapped her arms around him, hiding her head in the space between his shoulder and neck, inhaling his cologne. Sebastian relished and relaxed in her embrace, kissing the crown of her head in means to comfort her.

     - Stay. - he mumbled through her hair, holding her tightly in his arms as if she would fade into air if his grip loosened. Y/N on the other hand was again trying to convince herself that there was a place for them, somewhere in time a place where there could be together without any other external factors. Nevertheless, that place filled with quiet and open air seemed to be nowhere near as breaking through those thoughts were the distant sounding laughter and chatting of people inside the dinning hall celebrating his engagement. Her gaze moved from the room to his face, to his beautiful eyes who stared into her with a look of pure naive hope. - Angel, I ...

    - Mr. Stan? - the two of them left the embrace as someone got closer to the balcony, calling out for him. Her gaze left his to stare at her shoes, shifting her weight from side to side as one of his lesser associates came into the balcony, giving the handmaid a dirty look. - There are some people inside trying to congratulate you. 

   - I’ll be right with you, I just need t ...

   - No, it’s alright. Go. - Y/N interrupted him, giving him a simple characteristic smile. She didn’t want to be the reason why he got himself in trouble and she also didn’t want to make it seem like they were intimate to the rest of the world. Sebastian, however, took a double take, wondering if he should stay and finish his sentence but the associate keeping on calling made him leave her there in the balcony.

The handmaid just sighed, leaning against the railing of the balcony, head heavy with various concerns that probably should’ve weight on her decision back when she decided to get together with him. Before she could decide what else to do, Mr. Dubois had joined her in the balcony, offering her one of the champagne flutes that seemed to float around the party. Despite not being in the mood to drink, she decided to accept it anyway. 

    - So, a handmaid? Pardon my curiosity, I have never met one in my whole life. What does it entail?

    - It’s the same thing as medieval time handmaids. You’re by the heiress’ side making sure she’s happy. - it was an over-explanation of what her job truly entailed but Y/N didn’t have enough time to completely go through what being a handmaid truly was like. - You mentioned the Deschamps. Excuse me asking but I’ve been in this environment since I was younger and I never heard about that mob family.

   - Oh they’re not a mob family. The Deschamps aren’t part of the mob however they are rich, they had money even after the French Revolution. They own more New York real state than the Stans so they normally make an appearance at every single event. 

   - I thought the Stans owned all of the Upper East Side. 

   - They wished. - he scoffed. - I remember a time when one of the mob families tried to get an engagement with a Deschamps. Can’t remember her name, though. Rosemarie, maybe.

   - Never heard of it. - Y/N shrugged. - Enjoying the party so far?

   - I didn’t expect Genevieve Forrest to be that frivolous. It’s nothing like her father. 

   - She’s young. 

   - You can only blame so much on age, Miss Y/N. 

The talk was mostly void of interest, just a polite dance she used to do with anyone and everyone who spoke to her. Once the part became too much for her to handle, she took back to her bedroom sitting down in her bed with various questions going through her mind. Her eyes quickly gazed over her laptop laying on top of her suitcase. She shouldn’t, this was just putting herself deeper and deeper down a hole that kept bringing her more sleepless nights. Yet, as per usual, Y/N did not stop herself and soon enough she found herself with her laptop on her lap, Google on as she typed that very spoke about name. Deschamps. As she finished typing that name and pressed enter several pictures showed up along with a bit of information. Turns out Mr. Dubois was right, they were rich, filthy rich and by the look of it, mostly based in Saint-Nom-La-Bretèch. As she went through the pictures, one of them caught her attention as in the picture stood quite a big crowd of people but one woman in particular standing at the front shared a significant resemblance to the Robin woman that had kept showing on Sebastian’s and Mr. Forrest’s attic. However, the golden necklace that now laid in the middle of Y/N’s collarbones was missing from the woman’s neck in the picture.

Curiously, Y/N clicked the link connected to the photo which led to an article about the acquisition of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. The picture on the article had a legend and as she went through, she reached the name of the only woman in the figure; Rosemarie Deschamps, the eldest daughter of Michael Deschamps. Surprised, Y/N closed her laptop forcefully, hiding behind her duvet like a scared child. It was just in her mind, it was just in her mind, she didn’t need to know, why did she need to know. Even if she was related to the Deschamps she was probably a bastard child whom the Forrests took pity on. 

With those thoughts, she dozed off to sleep. Between all of this and her relationship with Sebastian she didn’t exactly know how she could sleep peacefully and throughout the night she kept somehow waking up in cold sweats. When she finally managed to have more than just a few minutes of sleep around sunrise, a loud knock followed by her name being screamed in a high pitched female voice took her right off her sleeping state. Great. Through her sleepiness, she mumbled for however it was at the door to come in. In came Gwen dressed like a Givenchy model in a harsh shade of green and white. 

    - Y/N, I need a favour. - she sat on the edge of her bed. - I have my wedding dress fitting today but I really can’t be asked besides Christian and I were thinking about going for brunch. 

    - We’re not the same size. - Y/N mumbled against her pillow, sleep trying to fight through her awareness. 

    - Just check if the dress is okay. C’mon Y/N. - Gwen pulled the duvet away from her. - Please, I covered for you.

   - Okay.

Gwen clapped in excitement before pulling the handmaid up to her bedroom which was filled to the brim with people carrying needles and threads along with various swatches of fabric. Before Y/N could question what was happening, she was brought by one of the woman to stand in front of the mirror while another one opened a white box pulling out Gwen’s wedding dress. Gwen was nowhere to be seen, probably already left and before Y/N could even check for that, the dress was being pushed down her, sitting a bit too loose. Her eyes glued to the mirror as she saw herself in the wedding dress, the white fabric almost glistening with the light. It was a beautiful dress, mostly made out of fabric.

  - Genevieve, we need to spe ... - Y/N turned around at the different voice that came from the door. Sebastian was leaning against it, almost sure his eyes were playing tricks on him as he observed Y/N dressed in bridal fashion. - Angel, what are you doing here?

  - Gwen asked me to cover for her. - she didn’t even lie anymore, instead facing him with the truth that he would probably hear from everyone else. - Is it important?

  - PR bullshit, if you ask me. - he took a step towards her, fully inspecting the gown wrapped around the handmaid. - You look stunning.

  - It’s not my dress. - she forcefully smiled, not sure if she should cry or not. It wasn’t everyday that you get dressed in the wedding dress belonging to the woman who’s about to get married to the man she was hopelessly in love with.

Yet again, she kept digging herself a hole which she wasn’t sure she could ever come out from. 

tag list: @lilya-petrichor​​ @xoxohannahlee​​ @irespostthingsiwanttoseelater​​ @nikkipea​​ @madisonpillstrom​​ @cevans98​​ @thelostallycat​​ @sideeffectsofyou​​ @anxiousdreamersworld​​ @captainchrisstan​​ @lookiamtrying​​ @sarge-barnes-sir​​ @stuffforreferences​​ @thebadassbitchqueen @sebastianstansqueen​​ @nsfwsebbie​​ @strangerliaa​​ @emzd34​​ @everything-is-awesomesauce​​ @dreams-in-blxck​​ 

[pretend-writer]

Goodnight (Stranger Things)

Summary: Steve witnesses his crush, Y/N arguing with her boyfriend Billy while at a party. 

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x reader, Steve Harrington x reader, Robin Buckley x platonic!reader

Title Reference: Goodnight x Cher Lloyd

Word Count: 1.1k

Warning: party, alcohol, swearing

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

POV

With a red solo cup on one hand, I tried to grab onto anything that I could with the other. Being at a random house party that Billy dragged me to was one thing, I was so drunk I felt like I was going in circles.

The pool caught my eye as I was walking down the stairs and I was suddenly so intrigued to step outside. Maybe it was the alcohol talking but it felt as though the crowd in the house was starting to suffocate me. I needed some fresh air and sitting by the pool sounded good.

As I opened the door to the backyard, I heard lips smacking loudly. It was my boyfriend, Billy making out with a girl. My heart dropped as I witnessed the man I love cheat on me right in my face.

'Did you really leave me in the fucking house to cheat on me?' My anger came out as I was too pissed to go hide and cry.

Billy turned around and walked over to me. 'I couldn't be bothered babysitting you. You're fucking drunk out of your mind.'

'That doesn't give you the right to go try to fuck some girl.' I threw the rest of the drink I had in my cup into Billy's face. 'You wanted to come to the party knowing you were going to be with some other girl, huh?'

'What kind of bullshit, no!' Billy grunted, wiping the drink off of his face. 'Don't you ever do that to me again.'

I clenched my fist, 'It's more where that came from. Billy, how dare you! You're so fucking pathetic, I can't believe you.'

'Oh, you're angry now but you're so drunk that you're going to forget it ever happened.' He shook his head. 'Y/N, you're going to crawl back to me tomorrow. Just watch.'

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

Steve POV

I saw Y/N wobbling to the backyard, I tried to keep an eye out for her as she was pretty drunk. If it wasn't for her dating Billy, I would of helped her. Last time I was talking to her in the school hallway, Billy shoved me in the lockers and told me to fuck off.

Especially having a crush on her since we've became lab partners, I wouldn't want to jeopardize their relationship nor do something to get her in trouble.

Even if Billy was a fucking asshole, I respected her relationship. Hell, maybe he was a different guy when he was with Y/N. Or so I thought until I saw them having a heated argument outside by the pool.

'Isn't that Y/N?' Robin elbowed me on my side as I start to worry about Y/N. Of course I knew it was her but I couldn't tell her that I was eyeing her the whole time we been at this party. Robin added, 'We should go help her.'

My heart told me to go save her from that fucking prick but I cared too much to try to butt into their relationship. It was bad enough Billy was always onto me whenever I would talk to her, I wouldn't want to be in Y/N's business like that. 'Couples argue all the time, I wouldn't want to pry.'

'You're right, you're right.' Robin sighed as she turned around to get another drink from the fridge.

Then I saw a girl with hickeys on her neck coming in as their argument escalated; I could only assume Billy was with her outside before Y/N got there. The assumption suddenly made my anger take over my body and without thinking, I stomped outside.

'Harrington, what are you doing here? Can't you see I'm having a conversation with my girlfriend?' Billy's hair and shirt was wet from when Y/N swirled a drink on him.

'I can see you're being a fucking dick.' I chuckled, 'I saw the girl you were with so clearly you're in the wrong. Apologize to her.'

Billy shook his head, 'Stay out of my goddamn business.'

Grabbing Y/N's hand, I pulled her behind me. 'It's my business now so you either apologize or get the fuck out of here.'

'Steve, you okay?' Robin came out rushing as she stood by my side.

'You leave with your girlfriend and leave mine alone.' Billy approached me, trying to shove me to the side as he reached for Y/N.

'Get off of us!' I shielded her away from him, making sure he doesn't lay his hands on her.

'Stop!' Robin screamed as she pushed Billy into the pool. The three of us watched the water splash, 'Oh my goodness.'

Y/N's eyes widened as she watched her boyfriend fall into a pool. I did feel bad that we shoved Billy but she didn't deserve to be treated the way he did. She slowly backed away from the poolside, 'Should we run?'

'Uh, yeah.' Robin grabbed Y/N's hand and stormed away towards the front of the house, where she parked her car.

I followed the two, looking back every now and then to make sure Billy wasn't following us. I heard him grunting as we left so at least I knew he wasn't dead or drowning.

Robin helped Y/N into the back of the car as I finally caught up to them. Getting into the passenger seat, Robin took off.

After buckling up, I turned around to check up on Y/N. Turns out that the alcohol immediately caught up to her as she was already asleep.

'You like her don't you?' Robin asked me, not taking her eyes off the road.

I licked my lips as I watched Y/N sleep soundly in the backseat. Just looking at her pure face as she lightly snored made my heart full. It was so unfortunate that Billy had to ruin everything. 'I do, a lot.'

'Why haven't you ever told me?'

'Would it have mattered? She's dating Billy and I'm some random classmate from Biology. She doesn't care about me.'

As I turned back around to face the front, I felt Robin stare at me. By the way she looked at me, I knew that she sympathized with me.

It was more than a crush with Y/N, she made me feel different. Even if we only talked in Biology, she never made me feel stupid about something I didn't know in class. I felt some type of comfort with her, something I've never had with anyone; Not even with Nancy.

Whenever she wakes up in the morning, I hope she remembers everything that had happened tonight. She needs to realize how much of a dick Billy is to her. Y/N doesn't deserve any of this and I wish she knew that.

I wish she saw that I could treat her so much better and give her the love she deserves. But this was all just a dream because lets face it, I'd never get to be with a girl as special as her.

[oflur]

What do you consider the most important event of your life so far? The most impactful memory is the week of Christmas when Mirana lost both her parents (or who she believes to be, at least) in a house fire. 

Who has had the most influence on you? Amara Diaz née Pérez - her mother. Mira inherited many of her favorite hobbies from Amara, such as reading, mythology, and stargazing. Amara was incredibly caring, and while Mira does a poor job of showing it, she is very protective over anyone she cares for. 

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Mira once managed a page 2 story in the San Francisco Chronicle, but it was written under the name Isabel Perez. 

What is your greatest regret? Her greatest regret is triggering her pyrokinesis. 

What is the most evil thing you have ever done? From her perspective, murdering her parents. 

Do you have a criminal record of any kind? Nothing listed other than a speeding ticket, but she has committed arson and numerous counts of trespassing. 

When was the time you were the most frightened? Waking up in the ashes of her childhood home. 

What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you? She once got caught staring at a bartender, and when asked why, she fumbled and said she was wanting to ask for a job application. This is how she met her current roommate Logan and ended up working at Neon Nights. This may not be the most embarrassing memory, but a recent one. Also, drunk texts. 

If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why? She would easily change Amara not being alive. 

Is your character an optimist or a pessimist? Mirana was never an overly positive person/dreamer, but she generally considered the glass half-full. In recent years, she is very much a pessimist. 

What is your most treasured possession? Her most treasured possession was a bracelet from her mother that Mirana had engraved in remembrance of Amara. This was recently lost, leaving her current treasured possession a house plant from her roommate, Ilana. 

What is their favorite fairy tale? She has always enjoyed the story of Robin Hood. 

Do they believe in happy endings? For herself ? No. 

Do they believe in love at first sight? Absolutely not. 

How would your character court the person of their dreams? Mirana is entirely action-oriented and present-focused, and is very unlikely to plan out courting someone. Instead of romantic confessions, sappy poetry, expressing romantic intent, etc. she is much more likely to react in the moment with little to no advance thought for her actions. 

What makes your character embarrassed? Not much can embarrass Mirana. 

Have they ever been bullied or teased? While often teased, she has rarely ever been bullied. When growing up, she spent her time mostly around other Seraphs, where she was seen as a prestigious legacy of the Diaz family. 

How do they display affection? Her love languages involve acts of service, sharing food, banter, and physical touch (this last one she currently has banned herself from). 

What do they consider beautiful in others personality-wise? Mirana admires others who openly show they care for others or are unafraid to be vulnerable, perhaps because she can’t manage to do so herself. 

What do they consider ugly in others personality-wise? She despises people like her father, who use people for personal gain or have no regard for harming their loved ones. 

What is their idea of perfect happiness? Being able to be human instead of a witch (as she thinks she is), never being able to harm someone ever again, starting life over again in a place where no one has ever heard of Seraphs or Witches or Vampires, living somewhere warm where she can lie in the grass and watch the stars, with a large library to read from, and a bustling nightlife where she can dance the night away unnoticed. 

Is your character religious? She grew up in a Roman Catholic family and attended church every weekend for nearly eighteen years, but has not attended Mass except for on occasions on her mother’s birthday. She considers herself Agnostic. If there is a power above, she believes they’ve done a horrible job and looking out for her.

How would your character describe themself in one word? Spontaneous. 

How would your character describe themself in three words? Spontaneous, curious, hilarious. 

Is your character quiet or loud? When she does speak, she can easily be loud, especially when laughing or in a boisterous mood. 

How vocally expressive is your character? Highly. Mira has difficulty keeping her opinions to herself. 

How bodily expressive is your character? Highly. Her facial expressions, despite her efforts, often give her away, and she is always moving unless cozy on the apartment couch. 

What type of music does your character like? Indie, occasionally Salsa, some Pop, anything to get her out of her head. 

What emotion does your character evoke in others? Probably anger, humor, annoyance. 

What is your character’s goal in life? To pay penance. 

Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity? No. She lost her virginity at 16 to her childhood best friend and boyfriend at the time. 

What are your views on sex? She views sex as a fun activity, whether with a serious romantic partner or one night stand with a stranger, but is no longer sexually active as to not wanting to accidentally set anyone on fire. 

Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love? She’s never witnessed anyone actually in love, other than possibly with her best friend, but even then she considered love in general to be mostly bullshit. 

In general, how do you treat others (politely, rudely, by keeping them at a distance, etc.)? Does your treatment of them change depending on how well you know them, and if so, how? Mirana generally keeps everyone at a distance by attempting to not share any personal details or seem particularly interested in them. She often tries to push people she finds herself caring for away with sarcasm/lies. Those who don’t fall for her bullshit that she grows attached to will find she is still just as snarky, but can also be goofy and enthusiastic. 

Who is the most important person in your life, and why? Her childhood friend Max is one person Mirana considers herself to have undying loyalty to, as she was the only person in her previous life, so to speak, to find her again. 

Who is the person you respect the most, and why? Mira respects Ilana highly, despite not showing it well, as Ilana is kind and generous and open and never seems to give up on wanting to be Mira’s friend. 

Who are your friends? Do you have a best friend? Describe these people. Mirana would not list anyone as a friend if asked, as caring about people would only lead to eventually destroying them, but she does have a small handful of people she has met since her return to New York that she regrettably is beginning to care about. She would describe them as chaotic. 

Do you have a spouse or significant other? If so, describe this person. Her last significant other knew her under the alias of Isabel Perez when she lived in California. He met her in journalism school, was a photographer, and asked very few questions about her past, which was ideal. Despite dating him for nearly six months, Mira moved back to New York with nothing more than a one line text.

Have you ever been in love? If so, describe what happened. While not in love with the previously mentioned significant other, she did love her and Max’s childhood best friend. They’d been in her life so long that the transition to a romantic relationship was mostly accidental, but it lasted nearly two years before she ended things abruptly after losing her parents. She has not seen them since. 

What do you look for in a potential lover? Things Mira finds attractive: confidence, witty banter, spontaneity, adrenaline, assertiveness, independence, affection. 

How close are you to your family? To her knowledge, Mira has no biological family remaining. She was incredibly close to her mother, and essentially wished her father dead. 

Have you started your own family? If so, describe them. If not, do you want to? Why or why not? When younger, Mirana liked the idea of one day having two to three kids, always jealous of her friends with siblings and a decent babysitter when she needed to save money over the summer. Currently? She’s terrified to touch another human, much less a child, so no family of any sort is a much better plan. 

Who would you turn to if you were in desperate need of help? This is the existential question. She is in desperate need of help, and hasn’t managed to trust anyone enough to let them decide whether to help her or turn her in. 

Do you trust anyone to protect you? Who, and why? She hasn’t had enough self-preservation to be concerned whether anyone would protect her for a long time. Protectiveness mystifies her, as she of all people doesn’t deserve it. 

If you died or went missing, who would miss you? As this is her third attempt at a new life, other than possibly Max, she would say no one. 

Who is the person you despise the most, and why? Overall? Her father, for being an abusive asshole to her mother. Alive? Herself. 

Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict? She loves arguments. 

Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations? While not exactly a follower, Mira rarely shows interest in leadership roles. 

Do you like interacting with large groups of people? Why or why not? Mira enjoys the thrill of a crowd and being nameless, but she would probably not enjoy having to interact with all of them. In a large group, she’s probably narrowed her conversation down to one or two people nearest to her. 

Do you care what others think of you? No, unless they’re someone close to her, Mirana generally does not give a damn. 

Have they ever lost a loved one? What happened to them, and are they the same as they were before they lost them? As mentioned earlier, Mirana lost both her parents when she returned home from Seraph training for Christmas holidays and attempted to defend her mother, but in terror and rage accidentally activated her phoenix abilities. She has not been the same since, living in guilt and self-imposed solitude.

Has your character ever been hurt or betrayed by someone they thought they could depend on? What happened? Not particularly. She tries not to depend on others. 

Does your character have a deep and/or dark secret? If so, what is it? She hasn’t told Logan she sought her out on purpose and got the job at Neon Nights to try and meet the Supreme of NYC and learn how to convince/manipulate her into removing her powers. She hasn’t told anyone that she is to blame for her parents’ death. Only Max knows about her father not being the glorious Seraph the Seraphs believed him to be. Only a few coven members believe she is a witch, but she hasn’t told them she’s unable to do basic spells and is starting to believe she is something else (a demon? cursed? some monstrous mutation?). This may or may not be all of them. 

If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do in the time you had left. 1. Destroy her father’s headstone 2. Travel to Europe for her mother’s dreams. 3. Somehow manage to recover her mother’s bracelet from the Atlantic. 

What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death? For not being a complete and utter monster. 

What three words best describe your personality? Mirana is stubborn, tenacious, and inquisitive. 

What three words would others probably use to describe you? Blunt, hungry, sarcastic. 

[wefoundloveunderthelight]

Marco’s Home for Lost Boys

Read on AO3 - Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Tagging:

@lfh1226-linda

Chapter 5: Grief

Summary:

“I’m in. Let’s go get your dad’s stuff back.”

“Em, maybe this is a bad idea.”

“Bullshit, if you can do it, I can do it. Besides, I asked to do something exciting.”

Notes:

Warning for Character Death and also violence.

6 months later

“Come on Ems, one more?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to get me drunk,” she giggled.

“Only if it’s working” Neal slides the glass toward her.

Her laugh was sloppy and loud, a snort escaping her nose.

“One more!”

She tosses the shot glass back as the warm liquid burns down her throat.

“You are so hot.” His hands are on her hips, pulling her toward him. She drinks in his lips, tasting of whiskey and peanuts.

As if on cue, her phone begins buzzing on the table beside them.

“You probably shouldn’t answer that in your condition, Ems.”

“Hello Captain!” She giggles into the phone.

“Swan, you need to come home.”

“Well, I’m quite busy right now sir…”

“Emma...”

“And honestly I don’t feel like coming home so I don’t quite think I…”

“Emma, it’s Marco. He had a heart attack. They did everything they could, but…”

Emma feels like the whole world has started humming in her ears, her knees buckle under her, phone slipping from her hand onto the table.

She can’t comprehend what Neal is saying on the phone to Killian before he hangs up and picks her up off the floor.

“Ems, Jones is going to come pick you up. Lets just sit on the couch until he gets here. I’ll go get you some water.”

This can’t be happening. Marco can’t be dead. Not her Papa.

She’s an orphan again.

~

Neal opens the front door on the second knock and he immediately smells the whiskey on the boy’s breath. Killian pushes past him to find Emma sitting on the couch, staring at her feet, a glass in her hand.

He grabs the glass and sniffs it to find it is water, but she smells like she rolled in a barrel of booze.

“Underage drinking? Bad form, Cassidy.” He scowls at Neal standing in the doorway.

“Save the lecture Jones, we were just having a good time.”

He looks down at Emma, “Swan, you alright? Can you walk? We gotta go.”

She stares straight ahead, and he kneels so that his eyes meet hers. “Hey,” her eyes meet his. “let’s go home ok?”

She blinks, recognizing him for the first time since he walked into the room.

“He’s gone.” She whispers and his heart breaks for the second time that evening.

“I know, love. Can you stand?” His hands cup her elbows as he stands and pulls her with him. She wobbles on her legs and leans into his chest.

“Seems like a real good time you two were having.” He peers over at Neal. “We’ll talk about this another time.”

He ushers Emma outside and opens the door to David’s truck, helping her into the seat.

Climbing into the truck himself he sighs and looks over at her. “I’ll try and cover with your brothers as best I can, but you’re gonna need to shower when you get home to wash the smell of alcohol off.”

~

The hot water numbed her face, standing under the stream in the shower. Killian had moved her quickly through the house and past her brothers before they even got the chance to console her or realize that she was anything besides utterly broken with grief.

The next few days went by in a blur.

The house was buzzing with activity with Arthur and August returning from college for the funeral. Robin shut down his bar for the week to be at home and help with the arrangements.

It was weird having so many people at home. Even though she knew it was only temporary.

Soon Arthur and August would go back to Boston and Seattle, Robin would go back to working 7 days a week at the “The Sleeping Lion”, David was on his way to building a life with Mary Margaret and she was sure overheard the two of them whispering about him moving out in the near future.

Killian was hardly around anymore either. He began working as a Boat Captain on the “Jolly Roger”, a tourist attraction where you got to sail with pirates on a real pirate ship, guyliner and leather included. But even when he wasn’t working, he was always out doing “something”.

It would just be Will and her. They had just started their senior year in high school. She was a couple months to her 17th birthday. What was she going to do now as everyone was leaving her?

She did everything she could during those few days to ignore the shouting in her brain. She packed up boxes in her father’s room, cooked dinner for her brothers, cleaned up the messes they left behind while they ran here and there trying to prepare for their father’s funeral.

She did everything, except cry. No matter what she did, the tears wouldn’t come.

Even as she stood in front of her Papa’s gravestone, rain coming down and bouncing off the freshly moved ground, David’s arm wrapped tightly around her, she found no tears.

Once they returned home that evening, she was starting to feel like she was suffocating. She wanted to yell at the next person who apologized for her loss and asked her how she was doing.

I’m fine.

“Swan, you should eat something.”

“I ate.”

“Swan.” She looked up into his narrowed blue orbs. “I happen to know you have not eaten anything since breakfast, and that was a piece of toast.”

“Geez, are you keeping a tracker or something? I’m sure I ate today.” She tried to push past him, but he held firm and his hand wrapped around her arm.

“Emma, I know there is a lot going on in that pretty little head of yours, but you need food if you wish to remain on your feet.”

She reached over and grabbed a cracker and cheese off the tray in front of them and shoved it in her mouth. “Happy now?”

He rolled his eyes but allowed her to move past him toward her room, slamming the door behind her.

Run.

E. You busy? I need a drink!

She clicked her fingernails on her phone waiting for the response which came quickly.

N: Come on over.

Emma grabbed her jacket, lifted the window upward and jumped to the ground outside. She was across town in her yellow bug in no time and running up the stairs to Neal’s home.

After the second knock on the door, it opened with Neal’s father standing in the frame.

“Emma, I’m so very sorry about your father.”

Emma smiled weakly. “Um thanks, Mr. Gold.”

“Please come in, my son said you would be stopping by.”

Neal appeared behind him and Emma stepped into the house.

“Please ensure you and Ms. Swan are responsible.” He nodded at his son and pulled on his jacket. “I apologize but I have business to attend to and cannot stay to entertain.”

“Oh well, it was nice seeing you.”

When the door closed, she turned toward Neal. “Um is he cool with me being here while he’s gone?”

Neal laughed. “Yeah, he even gave me a nice bottle of whiskey for us to share.”

“Woah.”

“Yeah, he can be cool sometimes. So, what do you say we crack this thing open?”

Emma was finally feeling a bit less claustrophobic being in Neal’s house. No one to mill about or force food upon her. In fact, Neal hadn’t even asked her how she was doing.

She grabbed the glass from his hand and quickly tipped her head back, feeling the warmth hit her stomach immediately. She grabbed the glass and poured a second shot.

“Woah, not messing around.”

“I just need to drink and not have people ask me how I am.” She sighed.

“Ah feeling suffocated then?”

“How do people think I’m doing?” She rolls her eyes. “Oh, I’m just fine, I’m great, who needs a father anyhow, I’ve done it without one before.” She parroted.

“Woah, Emma.”

“Don’t, Neal. I don’t need someone to comfort me. Just someone to pour the damn drinks.”

“I can do a lot more than pour your drinks.” His hand lands on her thigh.

She stands up and starts pacing the room, grabbing the bottle of whiskey and taking a swig. “I want to do something exciting.”

“Well, I was just trying to do something exciting but you’re now over there and I’m still sitting here.”

“Not sexual. Exciting, dangerous. Something that reminds you that you are alive.”

“Ok I think you’ve had enough to drink.” He tries to take the bottle, but Emma yanks it away from him.

“I’m serious. I just want to feel like I’m still here.”

“Well, I do have to do an errand tonight that might fit in that category.”

“Errand? How does that even fit in the category of exciting.”

“Well, it’s not exactly a… shall we say legal errand.”

Emma sits down next to him wide eyed. “Neal what are you talking about?”

“Never mind, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

She takes another long drink of the whiskey. Why would Neal be doing something illegal?

“What exactly is this errand for?”

“Ems, I shouldn’t talk about it.”

“No, I want to know. Maybe I’m interested.”

“That’s the thing Em, you are not the type to be interested in this sort of thing.”

“Hey, I can be the type.”

“That’s the whiskey speaking.” He pauses. “Look, it’s not a big deal, I just have to pick something up that was taken from my dad.”

She stares at him. “Oh my God someone stole something from the pawn shop?”

He nods. “Uh yeah, something like that. And my dad asked me to get it back for him.”

“Well, if it belongs to your dad, then whoever took it should just give it back.”

“Exactly but well, they don’t actually want to give it back, so I have to kind of…” He looks at his feet, as if he doesn’t want to proceed. “I gotta go steal it, Em.”

Shit.

Her phone buzzes and she looks to see that she has missed a lot of messages.

K: Everyone is going to bed.

Will: Are you going to sleep all the bloody time now?

K: Are you alright in there?

David: I know you are taking this hard Princess but know that we are here when you want to talk.

Will: I was going to come talk to you, but Killian is being an arse and told me to leave you alone. Just checking to see how you are doing. I’ll talk to you in the morning.

K: I guess you aren’t coming out of your room anytime soon so...

K: Goodnight, Swan!

She takes another long swig. “I’m in. Let’s go get your dad’s stuff back.”

“Em, maybe this is a bad idea.”

“Bullshit, if you can do it, I can do it. Besides, I asked to do something exciting.”

“Ok but, you can’t tell anyone we did this ok?”

“Well duh.” She jumps off the couch and puts the whiskey down. “So, do we wear all black or?”

He laughs, digging into a small cabinet and putting something in his jacket pocket. “Nah what you are wearing is fine.”

She frowns. “Oh bummer.”

He grabs a black beanie from the cabinet and tosses it to her. “Fine, wear this so your hair doesn’t stand out so brightly. It can be your disguise.”

She giggles and pulls the beanie on, not sure exactly what the hell she is getting into. But she needs this. She needs to feel like this isn’t the end of her. That she is still breathing, and life goes on.

~

He can’t stop tossing and turning in his bed. His mind won’t turn off. It’s been a whirlwind for the last week since their father had passed. Everyone had stayed busy to ensure that all the tasks were completed.

Grief was tricky.

Everyone had a way of coping with it. Robin and Arthur had thrown themselves into work by getting all the details and chores done, August was slowly drowning himself in a bottle, David chose to drown in love by spending every moment with his girlfriend, and Will had cried until there was nothing left. He had been taking it hard after having found his father on the floor of the kitchen.

For Emma, she seemed to choose avoidance. He had barely seen the girl cry since their father’s passing.

Killian found that for him, grief was about figuring out your next move. Where it would take you from that exact moment in time.

And his next move was going to take money and a fair share of it if he was going to get his own place with Milah and ever have hopes of buying that ship.

He was already working 5 times a week at the harbor as a bloody pirate captain on the “Jolly Roger”. He got to wear some authentic leather pirate gear and he had to admit he looked dashing in the guyliner. But the job wasn’t going to get him the ship he needed to get out of here.

So, he got desperate.

He knew working as bag man on the side for Gold wasn’t exactly a hero move. Tossing his lot in with Gold was suicide to many who had done so before him. But Gold paid him double what he was making on the Jolly and offered him an extra bonus a few times to muscle some blokes who had refused to pay what they owed Gold. Gold was a private man, so his services had stayed out of the public eye which was exactly how Killian had wanted it.

Besides, as soon as he had the money he needed, he was done with Gold. He wasn’t proud of what he was doing, but it was a means to an end. And he would leave this town as soon as he had the money he needed anyway.

Everything he had planned was moving along except for one piece.

Emma.

Emma had gotten herself involved with Gold’s son, Neal.

Killian needed to make sure she got away from him before he left town. Neal was trouble. He was cocky, reckless, and selfish. Traits that were only going to get Emma hurt.

But he didn’t know how to tell Emma the truth about Neal without exposing himself to his own lies.

He looked over at the clock, 1:15am.

He groaned and pushed his covers off, sitting up on the bed and rubbing his eyes.

Maybe he could drown himself with that bottle for a little bit. Maybe it would allow him to find sleep.

Tugging on his boxers, he quietly padded through the house and opened the cupboard door, pulling the bottle of rum from the shelf.

“Can’t sleep either?”

Killian almost dropped the bottle to the ground at the sound of David’s voice.

“Geez, mate, not a good idea to sneak up on a man in the dark.” He stepped forward to see David sitting in a chair by the fireplace, a drink in his hand.

“Guess we had the same idea.” He held up his glass, the dark amber liquid swirling at the bottom.

“Aye.” Killian took the seat opposite with his own glass in hand, taking a sip of the liquid.

“Can’t believe he’s gone.” He sighed.

“What will become of this place?” David continued. “Everyone will be graduated adults next year.”

Killian’s raised his brow. “You really think Will is going to graduate?”

David laughed. “We’ll get him there.”

“Aye.” He nodded and then took another drink.

“We should probably talk about that though. You know, Will and Emma. They are both almost 17. Old enough that they will let them still live here, but I guess one of us will need to be their guardian until they graduate.”

“Hadn’t thought of that, but I haven’t the means to move out yet anyway.”

“Yeah, I was actually going to talk to everyone about this before Marco passed but,” He paused. “I had planned to move out in a month. I’m going to start working at the station for Sheriff Graham and they offered me a place close by in town.”

“Oh, wow that’s great news, Dave.”

“It was. But now.”

“No, you should still stay on your plan. Besides, I know you and Mary Margaret would love some privacy now and then.”

“Well, there is that.” He smirked.

“I’m happy for you, mate. You deserve happiness.”

“So, do you brother.”

He swirled his glass before taking another sip. “I’m a pirate captain five days a week, what more could I ask for?”

David stood to refill his glass. “You make a good point there…” he paused at the window. “Did Emma go out?”

“No, she’s where I left her hours ago, brooding in her room.”

“No, she’s not.” He turned, gesturing to the window. “Bug’s gone.”

~

This was the dumbest idea she had ever had.

Emma’s hands were numb from standing in the cold. Neal was hunched over the door, with small tools sticking into the lock as he jiggled them, but nothing was opening the door.

“Do you even know what you are doing?”

“Of course, I do, but I can’t do it with you yammering in my ear.”

“It’s just that you’ve been at this for a while and the door is still closed. I thought the point of this mission was for us to get inside.”

“Ok smart ass, you think you can better?”

She laughed. “Um no. I mean. I’ve never broken into anything in my life.” She stared at the tools sticking out of the lock.

Live a little Emma.

“Ok fine, move over.” She shoved his hands away from the tools. “So, what am I supposed to do?”

“I was joking.”

“Just tell me what to do.”

“Ok that wrench there, you push that in. Then take the pick, you need to move the pins around until they click into place and you can open the door.”

Emma pushed with her hands and could feel the pins moving around like a puzzle in her head. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt lost in her thoughts when she felt the door push.

“Ems, you did it, you’re a natural.” He beamed.

“Great, I have a future in criminal behavior.”

He pulled her up to him and kissed her before tugging her into the dark of the building.

“Just stay here ok. I’ll be right back.”

“Wait Neal, you aren’t just going to leave me here are you?”

“I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the black and Emma stood silently in the corner of the shop they were in.

Suddenly she heard voices coming from the direction Neal went.

“Neal?” she whispered.

She stepped forward into the dark. “Neal?”

Suddenly she heard his voice and saw him running toward her, “Run Emma, Run.”

Emma turned to leave but felt something grab her from behind. She kicked backward, making contact with whatever had grabbed her, knocking them backwards, the shimmer of something long and silver in the man’s hands.

Neal ran past her, grabbing the door and yanking it open. “Emma let’s go.”

She tripped as she tried to run to the door, falling into something that caused her to land on her knees. She knew she would have bruises tomorrow. Dragging herself up, she stumbled forward in the dark before hands grabbed her ankles and she fell forward again. “Neal! Help!”

“You can’t steal from me.” She heard a gruff voice coming from the man holding her ankle and she kicked at his hand with her free foot. It was enough to free herself and she clamored to her knees and onto her feet to grab the door handle, yanking it open.

Just as she stepped into the alley, she felt a pain in her side, a burning sting that made her scream out in pain. She shoved as hard as she could with her hands at the man standing behind her, a long silver knife falling to the ground as his back hit the concrete wall behind him.

Run Emma, Run!

She didn’t look back; she didn’t stop running until she got to the road. She looked around and realized she was completely alone. No man trying to grab her. And definitely no sign of Neal.

She knew she needed hide. To get out of the open. She looked around until she got her bearings and headed toward where she had parked her car on the back street.

She expected to find Neal at the car, but he was gone.

He left me.

She pulled the door open and locked the door behind her, looking around to make sure no one had followed her.

She breathed heavily, her hand clutching her side which was still burning. When she pulled back her hand, all she saw was blood.

And then everything went black.