#she was shoved on the street because of a sale

[insomniumstella]

baby, she's all yours

bucky x fem!reader

warnings: free use (consent to be "used" anytime & anywhere), explicit language, fingering, oral (m! and f! receiving), a sprinkle of degradation, a sprinkle of breeding kink, dom!bucky, public sex, light spanking, daddy kink (i should be stopped). this one is bad, so it goes without saying, but MDI

word count: 1,240

author's note: this is a lil' story in celebration of kinktober, which time won't permit me to participate in, but my thoughts always wanted to. ➼ sharp, but oh so gentle

James was hesitant to explore the concept you described as free use at first, and maybe a fraction scared. The two of you had been dating for close to three years, and though things were great, the idea of you introducing free use into the bedroom days after knife play troubled him. His heart has always been heavy with the notion of being too difficult to love and too bothersome to deal with, but you made him feel enough; more than. Special in public when you would proudly hold his hand, and special in the comfort of plush sheets when you would let him cherish you — use and mould you into a drooling mess, obeying every demand. Was proposing a fresh kink a silent plead to advise him you have gotten bored? 

As it turned out, it was. Kind of. The itch beneath your skin urging you to explore foreign waters wasn’t boredom but rather lust. Fiery hot and addicting type of lust that ignited every nerve ending in your body around him. Still does. Introducing Bucky to free use was the best—and the most deliciously infuriating—thing to soothe your constant yearning for his touch. 

It caught you off guard, the first time he complied with the request. Steve had recently purchased an apartment in Brooklyn and organised a small housewarming celebration. You slipped out of the living room and into the kitchen once your glass turned empty, oblivious to the very needy pair of eyes studying you. The music muffled your soft moans then, as James fingered you against the blonde’s new refrigerator, suffocating the whines his thick fingers caused with passionate kisses. 

The second time it happened, it was winter. Powdery layers of snow covered the entirety of New York City, and, as the sun laid to rest for the evening, the streets seemed magical. James and you were rushing to Natasha’s birthday dinner, stopping by Bergdorf Goodman for a last-minute gift. Time around holidays is always strenuous, but the missions almost doubled last year, rustles of a deadly biochemical weapon dampening the joy of Christmas and stealing your attention away from getting Natasha a gift early. Bucky tackled the three bottom floors whilst you handled the other three, scouring the variety of fine jewelry and designer clothing. As fate would have it, a gorgeous sequinned dress piqued your interest, the colour of it overly harsh for the redhead’s complexion but perfectly complimenting to yours. James practically pleaded for you to model it, assuring nobody would notice you being late a minute or two. Desire waltzed in his eyes when you agreed at last, twirling around to present the garment and flaunt how well it flattered your curves. He shoved the two of you into the private dressing room once the sales associate disappeared to bring out a pair of matching heels, closing the curtains and hiking the dress up to your waist. “Be good for me,” he spoke, undoing his zipper and slipping the tip of his cock into your dripping heat, “you wouldn’t want employees to hear us, would you, doll?” You couldn’t think of the gift you ended up buying Natasha, but you can still remember sobbing into Bucky’s hand as his hips feverishly snapped into yours.  

Sometimes, that particular memory makes you wonder if introducing James to free use was a mistake — you’d be lying if you said it was because the thrill of being played with at times you least expect is exhilarating. The agreement caused many risky scenarios, though. There was that instance of Bucky between your legs, lapping at your core during a video call with your sister. The wooden desk shielded him from view as he relished you, but the grimaces on your features were a smidge more difficult to camouflage. “You taste incredible, baby,” Bucky mumbled, flesh and metal hands gripping the softness of your exposed thighs, before eagerly licking your clit. “Couldn’t ever get enough of this pussy.” You inadvertently moaned thrice during the call, disguising the sinful sounds by feigning coughs and attributing your strange demeanour to a common cold. “Tell her the truth,” James teased then, slipping a metal digit inside your needy hole, and you sneakily slapped his shoulder. The unsuspecting woman on screen continued to babble about her upcoming visit as you hit the mute button on your computer because the man below you had zero intentions of easing up. “Can feel you squeezin’,” he groaned, slipping a couple more of his metal digits inside. “Please end the call, peach, so I could fuck you atop this desk already.” 

There was also the time he got annoyed on a road trip, freeing his cock and guiding your head downward to silence your complaints about his driving on unpaved roads. “Be a good girl and put that mouth to better use,” he grunted as you licked drops of pre-cum off his skin. “Na uh, doll,” with his left arm on the steering wheel, James forced the entirety of his length into your mouth, “we ain’t got time for any foreplay shit right now.” 

Furthermore, introducing him to free use is the reason for your current predicament — being bent over the sink at a local bar with Bucky balls deep inside you. 

“Takin’ me so well, sweetheart.” James praises, catching your gaze in the grimy mirror before spanking your velvety hips. “My girl’s such a slut for me, letting me play with her in a random pub’s bathroom.” It’s more of an observation than dirty talk, and you bite back a moan, nodding. “Bet you’re always thinking about daddy’s big cock, wishing you could be bursting full of me forever, aren’t you?” A harsh spank lands on your scorching skin when you don’t immediately answer. “I asked you a question, peach.”

“Yes,” you sob, digging your manicured nails into the base of your palm. “Love it—,” another wail slips past your swollen lips, “love it when you use me, daddy.” 

The pace of his hips slamming into yours remains brutal as he studies your expression in the mirror. “Look at you,” he clutches your chin, the slight pain of it forcing you to peel your eyes open, “my baby’s so fucked out, she’s having trouble speaking.” The steady pulse of your approaching orgasm heightens as Bucky admires the whimpering mess that is you, leaning lower until the slight stubble on his jaw tickles your ear. “Should I let you finish, or should I leave you all desperate and stuffed full of my cum until happy hour’s over?” 

“Please,” you plead, “I’m so close.” 

“That’s too—,” James chuckles through a groan as his own orgasm bursts in syrupy waves, “—bad.” The rhythm of his movements falters and then stops, and if tears weren’t streaming down your face already, you would’ve cried at the loss of contact, feeling terribly empty without Bucky to keep you warm. Though you don’t say a word to him, he can sense your frustration, the weight of your emotions lingering in the atmosphere around you. Slithering his metal hands between your legs, he pushes the cum that leaked out back inside you, thrusting a couple times to soothe your disappointment before withdrawing his touch and shoving your discarded panties into the pocket of his jacket. “Don’t let it drip out if you want a reward when we get home.” A lazy grin stretches across his features. “I promise to make it worth your while.” 

[thequeenofuselessinformation]

So basically the entire character list of The ballad of songbirds and snakes is the exes from hell

1. Coriolanus Snow

-Mansplain Manipulate Manwhore

-Great hair and fashion sense

-Love bombs you

-Old money

-His (grand)mom hates you because her son can do no wrong so clearly you're the problem

-His favourite hobby is emotional and mental abuse

-Snitches on you when cheating at family board game night (he's deflecting that he's also cheating)

-Emotionally stagnant (narcissist with mommy and daddy issues)

2. Sejanus Plinth

-Loves you to bits, so does his mom (your waistline will never truly recover)

-Indecisive about where to grab dinner always

-New money and it shows in his insecurity

-Supportive asf

-Breaks up with you because he can't be with a non pacifist/vegan

-Daddy issues

-Condemns Shein hauls

-Identity crisis every other week, you'll have to talk him out of a buzz cut, jumping off the ledge or giving all his money to scammers (if you collect all the stamps you'll get a financial compensation from his dad on the wedding day)

3. Lucy Gray Baird

-Her Ex is a dick, will stalk and harass you

-Her family is a bunch of hippies, will make you eat with your hands, on the floor, while singing Kumbaya

-Sings you to sleep, braids your hair

-Almost poisoned you thrice cause she doesn't understand you shouldn't mix cleaning products together

-Old soul

-Thrifts, recycles

-Puts salt in your coffee after arguments

-Ghosts you after your make or break argument

4. Casca Highbottom

-Never asks about your day, his is always worse

-Drug addict in denial

-Weird beef with his old classmate's son (he never lets anything go)

-Dislikes people, which would be fine if you weren't included

-Always on some sardonic shit, probably a business major with a psych minor

-His pills take all the space in the shared bathroom, your makeup will be shoved in the far lowest drawer next to the TP

-His ancient ass coworkers hit on you at symposiums, he's too high off bathroom cocaine to stop them (or gets off, either way you're tired and want home)

5. Dr Gaul

-Devil Incarnate

-You somehow rizzed her up at a function and she's been showing up at your house ever since (you don't how but she has both the address and a key)

-Petting zoo type of owner

-She always smells like chemicals and latex

-Asks you unhinged "Would you rather" questions and refuses to drop it (makes your Would you love me if i were a worm ex cute by a long shot)

-Will perform experiments on you without your knowledge or consent

-Insists her pet snake shares your bed

-Freak in the streets and the sheets (the restraining order won't even go through cause she's in cahoots with half the Government)

-Definitely wanted for war crimes somewhere, the G in Geneva convention stands for Gaul

6. Lucky Flickerman

-A clown.

-His hair and skincare products take over the entire bathroom/vanity

-He can't dress to save his life, but he sure thinks he can

-Golden retriever boyfriend energy

-Steals your concealer, refuses to admit it

-Would you like to see a magic trick? What do you mean this is a serious fight, there's a quarter up your nose

-Impulsive buyer, has 13 snow globes of panem because they were on sale and looked shiny

-Even his pet thinks he's a dumbass

-Cries during movies

7. Tigris

-Yes she do the cooking, yes she do the cleaning

-Insecure about her appearance (critical, will cost you)

-Her family is a bunch of snobs

-Anything she touches turns into gold

-Her cousin can do no wrong, you have to accommodate everything for him or she'll die (and he never even visits, "just in case")

-Her grandmother is a package deal, I hope you like boomer propaganda and info commercials early on Sunday morning

-Empathetic asf

-Puts everyone's needs above hers (and unfortunately yours)

[steveshairychest]

Time travel au where Steve is the last one to go through the gate in Eddie's trailer, except when he comes out, he's not in his Hawkins anymore. Instead of being greeted by the sight of his friends safe and sound and Wayne's mug collection, he's standing in some random guys trailer.

He gets shoved out the front door and into the strange new world that is undoubtedly Hawkins, but not the Hawkins he remembers.

Everything feels wrong. The people look strange in their weird clothes and a lady across the park screams into a flat rectangle in her hand. The trailers look the same but there's something about them that's definitely wrong. Some guy blows smoke in his face while walking past and instead of the gross smell of cigarette he was expecting, it smells sweet, almost like strawberries. He's so fucking confused. He knows he's causing a scene by walking around gaping at everything, but what else is he supposed to do? Steal a car and drive off? He's never seen cars like this in his entire life!! Do they even work the same way?!

Maybe he has a concussion. Maybe this is his version of a vecna hallucination.

And then things only get more confusing when a little girl runs over to him and beams up at Steve like they've been best friends forever. "Hi, Mr Harrington! Why are you here?" She can't be older than 9.

Why does this little girl know him? He stares at her and his confusion must show because she tilts her head and frowns. "Are you okay, Mr Harrington?"

She keeps calling him Mr Harrington, is he a teacher here? Oh god, does that mean there's another version of himself running around here?! Wherever here is.

"I'm... fine. I'm just a little lost." He walks away before he scares the poor girl with his rising hysterics. Steve knows these roads like the back of his hand, he's driven them his entire life, but he takes a million wrong turns because there's suddenly so many new streets he's never even heard of. Where there should be a huge clearing, there is now a building so high Steve swears it touches the sky and the tree him and Robin used to have picnics under is now gone and replaced with a parking lot filled with more weird cars.

"What the fuck? What the fuck?!" Steve finally makes it to where his house should be and there's... nothing. It's just a block of land for sale. It tips him over the edge. He can't remember the last time he cried but right now he is balling and hiccuping as he stumbled down the street he grew up on. But it's wrong. It's all so wrong. People drive past and give him weird looks, a lady even stops jogging and takes out the tiny earplugs that play music so loud Steve can hear it, and asks if he's OK. "No, I'm not. This isn't real. This isn't real!"

It has to be vecna. He's got him. That's why he's stuck in this nightmare. "You have to play music! Give me your plug things! Make them play anything! Get me out of here." The woman refuses and does nothing but stand there in shock as Steve sinks down to the sidewalk and starts singing Everybody Wants to Rule The World as loud as he can.

"I'm calling 911. You need help." Steve doesn't hear her. He's singing so loud people are starting to come out of their houses to see what's going on but that doesn't matter to him. This isn't real. Vecna has him and he needs to get out.

When the ambulance pulls up, Steve's run out of tears. He's cried himself dry and he's resigned to the fact that any minute now, Vecna is going to snap his arms and legs. "I'm ready." He says quietly to no one but himself. He'd rather it be him than any of his friends. He knows they are probably watching him and trying to bring him back but it's too late. He can't hear the music they're playing.

"Steve?" A familiar voice drags him out of his own head, but it can't be real. He heard that voice take its final breath just mere minutes ago, he can still feel his drying blood under his fingernails. Steve lifts his head and there he is, it's Eddie, no doubt about it. His long hair is tied up in a bun and his eyes are sparkling with worry as he crouches down in front of Steve. It's then that Steve realises Eddie is in full paramedic gear and he's pulling all sorts of things out of a bag to check on Steve.

"Eddie, you're alive." He whispers in disbelief as Eddie checks him for any head injuries. "Where are we? How do we leave?"

Eddie pulls back and there's panic behind his eyes as he slowly helps Steve to his feet and gestures to his partner to grab the stretcher. "Steve, love, I need you to tell me what happened. Why aren't you at work?"

At work? What is Eddie going on about? And did he just call Steve love?!!

"Eddie, this isn't real. I need to leave. I can't stay here with you." He says it slowly so that Eddie understands. He may be some figment of Steve's weird dream imagination and he doesn't want to freak the poor guy out by telling him he's actually dead.

Eddie breathes in and out, his hands a little shaky as he helps Steve onto the ambulance stretcher. His partner helps get Steve set up in the back of the ambulance before they're driving off. Eddie reaches out and holds Steve's hand gently, the gesture surprising but not unwelcome. "Steve, baby, this is very much real life. You're in Hawkins. It's March 21st, 2023. Your name is Steve Harrington, remember?"

"Wait, what?!" Steve tries to sit up but Eddie gently pushes him back down. They hit a bump in the road and Eddie swears softly under his breath about his partner's driving. "It's not 1986?!" He's panicking. He can feel his heart rate spike and his breathing starts to quicken. Eddie tells him to stay calm and just breathe in and out but Steve can't hear him.

Maybe this really isn't Vecna. He'd be dead by now if Vecna had him and Eddie's touch feels too real to be a dream.

Before he knows it, his vision is going spotty and then he's out; the panic and absolute absurdity of it all finally getting to him.

"You'll be okay, Stevie."

Except this isn't the Steve Eddie knows and loves. His Steve, his darling husband, is currently having a dilemma of his own back in 1986.

[james-is-here]

This is for the Anon that wanted Seonghwa angst. I made it it's own post since the ask was so long but here it is. FYI, to any other Anon's, I openly welcome emoji anons. :)

Blogs: @demtttt couldn't tag you :/ @belladonna6-6-6

Tags: angst, Seonghwa speaks before thinking, talk of car crash, not much else i can think of.

"You're what?" "I'm sorry, Mn, I just-" "You're leaving me to go across the country? I-I can't live without you, Hwa." "Mn, you're sounding clingy, you can live without me."

You stared at Seonghwa, wide eyes slowly filling with tears as you stood from the swing set, standing in front of him. Your childhood park was empty and broken down, not really used anymore but the still standing swing set was where you and Seonghwa had most of your small dates and where you first met Seonghwa. "Take it back." "What?" "Take it back, you know how i feel about being called that, take it back." "You are though." "But you know that's how I show affection, it's not clinginess. How could you call your boyfriend clingy?" "About that..."

Inside he really didn't want to but he had to. He felt like he'd be kicked as a trainee if anyone found out. "About what?" You look at his eyes that are brimming with tears and watch as he removes a bracelet from his wrist. "N-No, Hwa, what are you-" It was the bracelet you made for him when you both started dating, a couples bracelet you called it instead of a friendship bracelet. It had beads with your nickname spelled out on it and yours had 'Hwa' on it.

"I-I think it's best if-" "Don't you dare break up with me." "It was hard enough facing our parents, I don't want anyone at the company to find out." "You're ashamed of me." "No, No, Not you-" "You said we'd be together forever, Hwa! Now your backing out just cause you're embarrassed that someone will find out that your gay?! That you have a boyfriend?!" "Mn, just listen-" "No, I see where I stand..." You take off your bracelet, snatching the other from Seonghwa's hand before pulling your arm back. "Mn, wait!" He wasn't quick enough to catch them as you threw them into the forest next to the park.

"Enjoy your life in Seoul." With that you run out of the park, shoving the low gate open as Seonghwa called out to you, one hand wiping your tears before you run down the street. "Mn!" He walked out the park a second later but you were gone.

A few days later, he was in Seoul, beginning his training and in his free time he tried to reach out to you but you never replied or he got a 'Message Not Sent' when ever he texted you. You blocked him, he realized. He really messed up and he can't even fix it.

He sulked as he closed the car door. He had just come back from his friends house which greeted him with a for sale sign, a red *SOLD* sticker made his chest feel tight. He was hoping he'd be able to apologize to you for what he did and how things ended. If he had to tell the truth, he'd say he still loves you.

He barely got to the door when his mom opened the door. "Seonghwa! Oh, honey, welcome home." "Hey, mom." "Well you don't seem very happy for debuting as a K-Pop Idol. What's wrong?" She steps to the side and lets him in, giving him a hug before bringing him to the dining room.

"What's wrong?" "I really wanted to apologize to Mn and tell him that all the dancing was worth it." "Mn? Ln Mn? Oh, hon, the Ln family moved out." "What?" He face fell as he stared at his mom. "Yeah...Actually, it was sold a week ago, they moved a month ago. Mrs. Ln told me they were moving to Shanghai because her mother-in-law's health was declining and they moved to help her father-in-law who's mobility wasn't the greatest." "They moved to China...." "Yeah. I'm so sorry Hwa..."

He felt so bad for what he did about halfway into his training. He regretted everything he said to you and he missed your hugs, your kisses, your gentle touch. How could he ever say you were clingy, what he did was unfair but it was already too late.

"I heard he visited the old dance club. Even until his last moment he was here he spent it dancing." "It's a good thing he's still dancing." "Yeah. Now come on, seemed like you needed a talk." "Where you taking me?" "Appa's out back. He doesn't know your here, silly." "Oh, right."

Years later, Seonghwa was rushing around backstage, running in and out of every room trying to find Wooyoung. He was told the boy was going to the bathroom but never found him.

They were at Music Bank for an award ceremony and there was a lot of idols there but there was one he just happened to bump into during his search and one he very much wasn't expecting at a k-pop event.

"I'm so sorry." "It's okay, are you looking for someone?" "I am-" Seonghwa pauses when he sees their face. "Oh my god, Mn!" He smiles widely, hugging the male and not even noticing the others confused expression. "I'm sorry."

"U-Um...S-Sunbaenim? You know me?" Seonghwa pulls back completely shocked. "W-What?" "I-I mean i-it's really an honor to meet you, Sunbaenim, I really admire you and I'm kind of nervous now knowing that you know me." "N-No, you- Don't you remember me?" "I only know that you're apart of Ateez. I really look up to you guys, I think you guys are so cool." "What...Sunbeam-" "Sunbeam? Oh! You saw my movie too!! You know my characters nickname, Oh my gosh, that's so cool." You gush, bouncing on the balls of your feet.

Seonghwa refused to realize that you truly didn't know him. He felt like he was floating aimlessly in space and his head started to hurt. "You don't know me..." "I do know you-" "No, me. W-We were childhood best friends, we...we were each others firsts..." "O-Oh, I-I don't...I don't remember any of my childhood, I'm sorry. I-I only know your from Ateez." You then see the smiling face of who you would say your best friend is waving you over. "I'm sorry, Sunbaenim, I-I have to go." He watches you walk away, crashing into a tight hug and laughing with your best friend, Felix.

"Hey, you looking for me? Sorry, got caught up talking to..." Wooyoung notices the far off look on Seonghwa's face and follows his gaze, watching as Hyunjin comes up to the both of you, giving you a hug and then whisking the both of you elsewhere.

"Hyung? What's wrong? Did Mn say something bad to you?" The male inhales shakily, his chest tight as he clenches his jaw to stop a sob from escaping. "Hyung, woah, what's wrong?" Wooyoung was suddenly directly in front of him when he heard a small whimper.

"Th-That was Mn...m-my friend from Jinju..." "Oh, your first boyfriend, right?" "Y-Yeah, h-he doesn't remember me..." "Well, there's may be a reason. Maybe your parents know?" "Uh, right, maybe...maybe they still talk to his his parents."

He pulled out his phone and Wooyoung stayed with him the whole time. When his mom answered the phone, he was greeted by a different voice. "Hello, Mrs. Park is unavailable at the moment, this is Mrs. Ln, can I take a message?" "Mrs. Ln?" "Um, yes, who's this?" "I-It's Seonghwa, ma'am." "Oh! How are you?" "U-Um, I-I'm currently at an award ceremony but-" "Oh, Mn is there too. It's so amazing that he's gotten to this point and he hasn't been doing it for long." "About Mn..."

He hears her sigh on the other end before speaking. "You ran into him, didn't you." "Yeah..." "Um, when we were in China with his grandparents...we were driving one day to go see his grandmother in the hospital and...we were being his grandfather along as well. Everything was just perfect until...well, some hot head sped a red light. We were already in the intersection and..." He voice choked up and Seonghwa told her to go at her pace. "It crashed into my father-in-law and Mn's side of the car. They were going 90 and..." She takes a deep breath before she says something else. "It's your son. Telling him about Mn." She must've been talking to his mom.

"They were going 90 and...I don't mean to dampen your mood but Mn wouldn't be at that ceremony today if it wasn't for the amazing team that fought to keep him alive." "What...Ma'am, what was the last thing he remembered?" "Oh...he couldn't remember anything before...before you left. I mean he remembered the dance club and barely any of his school life but...he only remembered his family. I'm sorry, Seonghwa, but he couldn't remember you."

He inhales sharply, staring ahead as he processes the information, now processing the scar that traveled from above his eyebrow to his upper lip. "The scar..." He whispered to himself. "Yeah, I'm glad that he embraces it. If he didn't, he wouldn't have followed his dreams." With a shaky breath he exhales. "Tha-Thank you, Mrs. Ln." "You're welcome, dear. Good luck, okay?" He hung up, his arm dropping to his side.

"Hyung?" "He...He got in a car accident...h-he lost a lot of memories he...he forgot me..." "Oh..." Wooyoung moved to wrap his arms around Seonghwa who was stock still. He wanted to apologize, to take him back but what can he do now?

He knows everything about you but how can he start over when you don't remember him? He doesn't know what to do, he feels stuck.

Wooyoung took him back to their seat where he almost remained motionless. He looked calm and seemed to be enjoying the different groups but inside he felt almost crushed.

He lost his Sunbeam and now his world feels dark.

[ashleycatchemm]

1-24: Finally Free

Part 24 of??

Pairing: Reggie x Reader, Luke x Julie, Alex x Willie

Summary: (Y/n) (L/n) has been able to see and feel ghosts ever since she was little, which made it hard to tell the ghosts from the humans. Everyone has always thought she was a bit crazy, even her best friends, Julie and Flynn. But when three ghosts with a love for music appear in Julie's garage, suddenly (Y/n) doesn't seem so crazy anymore.

Song: Finally Free (Julie and the phantoms)

Season 1 Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

♬♩♪♩♬♩♪♩♬♩👻 ♪♩♬♩♪♩♬♩♪♩

Pulling into my driveway I parked the truck and hopped out, leaving the door open for Arius to come out behind me. Once the black cat jumped out of the blue truck I shut the door behind him, a banging noise catching my attention from across the street. Looking over, at the big blue house across the street that's been for sale ever since I remember, no one has wanted to buy it, and when they do, something always seems to cause them to back out.

People have been saying that it's haunted, but I've lived here all my life, and I haven't seen or heard a single ghost from over there. My eyes drifted down to the man hammering in a new sign, only this one was different, it had the word 'Sold' written on it in big bold letters. "Hey Arius?" I didn't bother looking back at the black cat, eyes trained on the sign across the street.

A hum in response gave me the okay to ask my question. "Do you think there are ghosts in that house?" Nodding my head over to the house across the street, watching the man start to pick up the sign he pulled out before replacing it with the other. "I doubt it." Looking back at the cat, I noticed he disappeared, (e/c) eyes glanced around to catch any sign of the demonic cat, only to see him sitting next to me. Blue eyes glued to the house in front of us, tail moving in an annoyed way.

"Your grandmother cleared out that house ages ago."

My brows furrowed in confusion, "So then how did it not sell for years?" I shoved my hands in my pockets "If it's been cleared out for ages, how is it just now getting sold?" Arius didn't give much of a helpful response "I don't know." he turned around and started making his way towards the front door. "Wait." I stated, quickly following after him "What do you mean 'I don't know'? Aren't you supposed to know everything about my grandmother?" Sitting by the door, he growled out a response "I don't know, because I wasn't there."  Arius' temper seemed to flare up at the subject and that's when I felt it. The pang of emotional hurt, it wasn't big enough to get a reaction from me, but I knew one thing. It wasn't my emotion I was feeling.

No.

It was the demonic cat in front of me.

Arius' ears were drooped downward a little, tail wrapped close around him, the end being curled between his front paws. Sitting down on the steps of my front porch, I asked the question on my mind, not knowing if he'd answer me or just yell at me and go back to being closed off, either way, I need to know. "Why weren't you there?" He was silent for a second, tail whipping back and fourth in an agitated manor. After a minute or two, he finally spoke up "Once witches and warlocks get older, they start settling down. Having kids. Getting married. That sort of thing." I stayed quiet, not wanting to jump in.

If there are warlocks out there, then I wonder just how many more people there are like me..

"Eventually, there is a point in our lives where we feel we aren't needed anymore to our masters, so we would leave. No goodbyes, or farewells. Since demons get attached to their witch or warlock, we feel it's easier on us to leave without goodbyes. Breaks the bond faster."

I watched as the cat next to me looked up at the sky his blue eyes shining with an emotion I've never seen on him before, admiration? Maybe even love. His mouth opened a little, as if trying to smile, pointed teeth visible for all to see. "Your grandmother was different than the other witches and warlocks in your family. She could tell I was going to leave. She knew that something was off when she talked to me that night. She sensed it." Arius looked out in front of him at the house across the street, the same house that started this conversation.

"(G/n) engulfed me in the biggest hug, and begged me to stay with her. And so I did, because she was my weakness. Anything she asked of me I would do, all to make her happy."

Arius' expression seemed to falter "But then, it all turned to shit." His teeth bared in anger, claws gripping onto the front porch. "One of her sons got themselves into deep shit. And so your grandmother sent me away in order to protect her family from the ministry." His expression shifted into a scowl as he laid down, front paws hanging a little off the end of the porch. "I'm not mad at her for what she did. I know that they could've easily tracked me and then her family would've been in danger. I just... I wish there could've been another way. 36 years I spent with (G/n), and yet it still wasn't enough. I wanted a little more time with her." The black cat grew silent, not wanting to say anything else as he rested his head on his front legs.

I stared at Arius, having another aching feeling in my chest, it was the same as the last one, having not been my own emotions. Raising my hand up, I brought it over so that it was hovering over the demonic cat's head. I kept it there for a second or two, debating my choices, He'll probably swat at me. But in that moment I decided that I didn't care, because I felt like I should give him some kind of comfort, even if he does swat me away. Bringing my hand down, I gently rubbed his head, cautious of his movements, not wanting to get hit.

To my surprise, he didn't fight back, closing his eyes, Arius let out a small sigh in content. This bond has to start somewhere. Looking up at the clear blue sky a small smile crossed my lips, feeling good that I finally did something to help someone I'm glad it's starting here. And talking about Grandma no less. Looking back down at the black cat, he let out a small huff before shaking my hand off of him and sitting back up.

"So I don't know what (G/n) did to that house. She probably put a spell on it to keep the ministry from finding her. Or from finding her sons. Everything she did was to protect the people she cared about."

"Before she sent me away, she told me to look after you if something were to ever happen to her. Your mother was pregnant with you at the time. And, well, I could feel it. The bond. Before you were even born. I sensed that you would be a powerful witch and I could tell that (G/n) sensed it too. So now I'm going to train you the best I can, and look after you. But I can only do so much."

I nodded my head, understanding what he was saying. I can't keep running away from what I am. That means I'm gonna have to start cooperating with Arius. The black cat looked over at me, his usual bland stare on his face. I opened my mouth to say something but the noise of a ghost appearing caught my attention. "Hey (N/n)!" The boy clad in his leather jacket was quick to state, walking forward a little he pointed back and forth from me to the cat sitting next to me.

"Is this a bad time?"

I shook my head a little, a smile gracing my lips at just the sight of the ghost in front of me. "No. Not at all." Feeling the pull at my chest, causing me to stand up and walk towards Reggie. "Why?" The bassist in front of me radiated happiness as he met me halfway and grabbed ahold of my hand "We got to practice! Our first gig is tonight!" Dragging me down my driveway "Woah, Woah, Woah, Tonight?" I was quick to stop in place at the end of my driveway, causing Reggie to come to a halt as I pulled back on his hand.

The dark haired bassist in front of me tilted his head a little as if confused as to why I stopped him "And I thought Julie was all done with the band? She told me herself that-" Reggie jumped in, successfully cutting me off to answer my questions. "We all made up. But we have to hurry and practice because our gig is in a couple of hours." He pulled me a little bit along the side walk, only for me to quickly come to a stop once again. Still not processing the information.

"Wait Julie forgave you? When? And when did we get a gig?" Reggie rolled his eyes in amusement "What even-"

I was cut off once again, as Reggie pulled me toward him and wrapped a hand around my mouth. Faces inches apart, his award winning smile sitting on his face "I'll fill you in on all the details later. Right now we need to go, okay?" His arm sat wrapped around my waist, I felt my cheeks grow warm from the close proximity. I nodded my head in response, that being the only thing I could do, even if his hand wasn't covering my mouth, I don't think I would've been able to muster a single word.

Well, At least non that would make sense...

His hand left my mouth, finding my own once again. Gripping it tight, he pulled me along to go to Julie's. Looking back I caught sight of the black cat following close behind me.

I don't think he's gonna leave my side anytime soon.

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"Okay. What's with the cat?"

Alex had his eyes trained on Arius sitting on the couch, as Julie walked over to him. "I think it's cute" reaching her arm out to pet him, I was quick to jump in "Uh, Julie, I wouldn't..." the black cat was quick to jump up from his position on the couch. Hissing at Julie, his fur standing up, back arched, ears pulled back to show his agitation. The curly haired singer pulled her hand away in surprise, Arius was quick to make his way towards the other end of the couch, settling down. His eyes glanced at Julie, sending her one more growl before looking back at me.

"What's its problem?"

Alex questioned, seeing as how Arius almost hurt one of his friends. Picking up my rhythm guitar, I put the strap over my shoulder while speaking on the cats behalf. "He just isn't fond of most people. So don't try to force it." Arius growled briefly as I spoke, causing me to send him a look as if to say 'Behave' the black cat huffed while whipping his tail back and forth in aggravation, but overall growing silent. "Well, now that the cat conversation is out of the way..." Reggie grabbed everyone's attention as he walked over next to me, swinging his bass strap over his shoulder.

"Let's get started."

Julie nodded her head in agreement as her and Alex made their way over to their instruments.

"Right."

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All four of us were playing the cords to Finally Free as Julie sang "Marching on proud, Turn it up loud, cause now we know what we're worth." Luke suddenly appears in the chair by the coffee table, causing the four of us to stop playing. Letting out a small "woah" he noticed the four of us by our instruments. Standing up out of the chair "Julie." He stated, surprised to see her by the piano.

"Grab your guitar. We got work to do."

Luke started at her for a moment, mouth agape, only to let out a small chuckle as he grabbed his guitar, which stood by me. Walking over to Julie he asked "What made you come back?" Julie stood up from her seat "I realized how important music is for all of us. And we've lost so much already. We can't lose this too." Luke nodded his head a little "Thanks." He responded, only to ask "All right boss. Where we at?" In order to lighten the mood a little, letting out a small chuckle at his own question.

"Oh, and by the way, happy birthday."

Julie sat back down in her seat in front of the piano, a small chuckle passing her lips, again Luke stared at her in disbelief. Glancing over at the guys as if they would tell him how she knew, looking back at Julie a smile crossed his lips before making his way across the room.

"Let's take it from the pre-chorus." Julie stated

Alex banged his sticks together "One, Two, Three, Four." And with that the five of us started singing and playing, in order to practice for tonight.

♬♩♪♩♬♩♪♩♬♩👻 ♪♩♬♩♪♩♬♩♪♩

"You can't come with me Arius. We've already discussed this."

The black cat sat on my bed as I proceeded to do my make up for the gig. "I'll go in my human form."

"What about if Julie and Flynn see you?"

"I'll make up an excuse as to why I'm there."

Putting the mascara down, I turned around to face the black cat on my bed, the two of us stared the other down as if trying to silently win the argument. Letting out a sigh, I pinched the fridge of my nose all while stating "Fine. You can go" The demon determined to be by my side every second of everyday let out a small cheer before getting cut off by me "But..." his cat like eyes seemed to narrow in aggravation as I told him the terms of the agreement. "...You have to stay outside of the coffee shop, in your cat form the entire time. Got it?" My eyes narrowed back at him as if daring him to challenge my decision.

A huff of defeat passed through the black cats nose "Fine. As long as I'm there, I really don't care." The sound of a ghost warping could be heard, grabbing the attention of both me and the demon across from me. "Hey (N/n), you ready to go?" Near the door stood the boy that made my heart practically jump for joy, just from the sound of his voice. Reggie stood clad in his black tank top, biceps clearly being shown which caused my eyes to drift a little to look at them.

My bottom lip found its way between my teeth, all while my thoughts started to get impure. "(Y/n)?" The bassist's voice brought me back to reality, I was quick to let go of my lip as my eyes darted back up to his own. "You okay?" He continued, raising his brows as if to question my behavior. Shaking my head a little to bring myself back to my senses I sent him a small smile "I'm fine. We should get going." all while making my way towards my bedroom door, Arius hopping off my bed and following close behind.

Reggie followed me out the door to my room "The place isn't to far from here is you want to walk together." I started to walk down the steps as I explained "Reggie, if I walked down the street with you, people would think I'm a crazy person talking to herself." The sound of a ghost warping could be heard behind me, only for the dark haired boy to reappear right in front of me at the bottom of the stairs. This surprised me causing me to almost fall back, only for him to grab my arms and hold me steady, our noses inches apart. I felt my face grow warm at the proximity, feeling that tug from my chest, the urge to just lean over and capture his lips in my own.

"We don't even have to talk, just walk and hold hands or something."

Reggie's eyes went wide as he let go of me and took a couple steps back "I-I mean..." I could tell that he was frantically trying to come up with an excuse, but I didn't care at that moment. "not hold hands, but ya know..." because when I looked from his eyes to his hands, I realized how much I wanted to hold it in my own. "I just-" reaching over I snatched his hand in mine, effectively cutting off the dark haired bassist

"Let's go." I stated, all while dragging him towards the door.

Getting a small response of "Okay" from Reggie as Arius followed the two of us out the door.

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Once we got to the coffee shop, I was quick to try to let go of Reggie's hand, only for him to tighten his grip and pull on it a little, refusing to let go. Looking back at the golden retriever boy behind me, my eyes narrowed as if to tell him to let go. "I know. But, just let me hold your hand a little longer...Please?" I was confused, I didn't know why Reggie was acting like this, but tonight feels different with Reggie. I couldn't place my finger on the reason why.

Looking around at the people walking in, I noticed a lot of them eyeing me and whispering to their friends. Looking back at Reggie I leaned over a little to whisper "Reggie. People are staring." It felt suffocating to be standing there with him at the moment, knowing that what everyone was seeing, was that my hand was out in the air holding onto nothing, and I was talking to no one.

Reggie's eyes held an emotion I couldn't quite place, maybe desperation? "I don't care if they stare." The dark haired bassist took a step forward, bringing our interlaced hands up to his chest, eyes begging me to just hold his hand a little longer. "Please (Y/n). I just want your touch right now." I didn't know what to do, I took another glance around at the people and noticed more staring and pointing fingers. I looked down at Arius as if to ask him for some kind of help, only for him to hop on a trashcan and say one thing.

"He's a ghost. So be careful how you handle this. I will explain to you want is happening later. But for now, focus on taking care of this."

My eyes landed back on Reggie's, not knowing what to do or say, I just shook my head all while saying a quick apology "I'm sorry." Pulling my hand away, I walked off into the bustling coffee shop.

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"Hey did I miss anything?"

I asked Julie and Flynn as soon as I got over to them. "Nothing exciting, that's for sure." Flynn stated, directing my attention to the stage. There clad in all pink to perform with her dancing divas was the queen bee herself, Carrie Wilson. "Hope you all came to have a great time!" Carrie's obnoxious giggle left her lips as the crowd clapped. An annoyed growl left my lips from her appearance to ruin my night "Dirty Candy?" Julie asked only for me to jump in "How did she get on the list?" Flynn gave both of us a look, as if we should already know the answer.

"Her daddy made a call"

Crossing my arms across my chest, I stared daggers at the girl on the stage all while Flynn commented on Julie's outfit.

"Whenever I walk in the room, All the focus on me"

Carrie walked forward on stage, her girls joining behind her "The way I talk, the way I move, they all want on my team." I rolled my eyes at her cheap dance moves, not wanting to sit through this what so ever. "Not trying to brag, brag, but I'm flawless. I'm taking over your playlist. Ain't perfect but I can't miss. Yeah" looking back at the boys who suddenly appeared behind us, I noticed Luke smiling and enjoying the performance, Alex looked a bit antsy, and Reggie held a pensive look on his face, not seeming to interested in the girls dancing in front of him. Almost as if he was lost in his own thoughts.

He's probably just as confused about what happened as I was.

Looking back on stage I noticed Alex appear behind Carrie who was now on the floor, I covered my mouth as a laugh almost slipped past my lips. Julie seemed confused, looking back at the boys to see why he did that but Reggie just shrugged in response. Alex seemed lost  for a moment, only for the girls to stand back up as he started dancing with all of them, causing a small giggle in amusement to escape my lips.

When he was done he appeared back next to me, I sent him a smile and shook my head at his funny antics while Julie commented "You having fun out there?" Alex cleared his throat before coming up with an excuse "It's not my fault, it's my um..." he paused "It's my feet" I just shook my head while saying "Yeah, okay."

"Put me back in coach."

And with that Alex was gone, back to dancing on stage with Carrie and her crew. I felt a tap on my shoulder from behind as Reggie took Alex's spot beside me. "Can we talk?" I shook my head in response "not here Reggie." I glanced over at the boy next to me only to see his eyes narrowed in aggravation. "I don't care. We need to talk about this. Because what happened earlier was weird, you must have noticed that much. I don't know what's going on with me and, and  I'm confused-" I kept facing forward as to not draw attention I whisper yelled at him "Reggie!" Successfully cutting him off I stated "Not. Here." Saying it firmly worked to an extent. An angry scoff left his lips as he crossed his arms and went back to standing next to Luke.

The song was soon to end as Alex took in all the praises. Before warping back next to me a giant smile on his face "I uh... I was just... doing that for you guys" Reggie nodded his head "Mhm. yeah. You can stop smiling now." Alex chuckled at Reggie's comment. Julie grabbed our attention "Not gonna lie. That was... kind of good." Flynn nodded her head in agreement "Yeah. I forgot why I hate her so much." I scoffed while saying "I didn't forget my reason for hating her." I noticed her making her way over to us.

"Speak of the devil."

I stated all while receiving a glare from the bitch in response, I sent her a sarcastic smile all while flipping her off. Carrie ignore my actions and turned her attention towards Flynn and Julie "Hi girls. Um, isn't it past your bedtime?" Flynn looked between Julie and I "Now I remember." Before looking back over at Carrie. "If you're looking for Nick, he didn't come." Flynn and I both scoffed in response to her statement, knowing she was just trying to take a jab at Julie.

Stepping towards Carrie, Julie was quick to stick up for herself "That's not why I'm here." The sound of the microphone was quick to grab everyone's attention.

"Ok, it looks like we're closing the night out with one more group, Julie, (Y/n), and the fat ones"

The four of us turned towards Luke in annoyance while the girls in front of us laughed. "Really?" Alex asked.

"Yeah man, my Handwriting sucks."

The four of us rolled our eyes as Julie and I went to walk on stage, but not before I angrily bumped my shoulder into Carries.

Julie was quick to make her way to the piano, as I grabbed the rhythm guitar "Hi, it's actually Julie,(Y/n) and the phantoms" looking around she noticed no one was really paying attention, taking a glance over at me I motioned for her to continue. "Okay." She stated into the mic and started to play the piano. "Hearts on fire, we're no liars, so we say what we wanna say." I played my rhythm guitar as I continued the next line of the song "I'm awaken, no more takin' so we push all our fears away." The two of us started singing together "don't know if we'll make it cause we're falling down under, close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder." Julie now sang alone.

"I wanna fly, come alive, watch me shine"

The boys appeared playing their instruments as Julie got up, bringing the microphone with her, I stood in the back behind Luke as the two of them sang. "I got a spark in me, hands up if you can see, and you're a part of me, hands up if you're with me, now till eternity hands up if you believe, been so long and now we're finally free." Julie started singing by herself while she hit a tambourine on her hip.

"We're all bright now, what a sight now coming out like we're fireworks"

I sang the next part alone "Marching on proud, turn it up loud, cause now we know what we're worth"

Julie and Luke sang the next part together as I went back near Reggie "We know we can make it when we're not fallin' down under, close my eyes and feel my chest beating like thunder." All while Julie and Luke stared contently at each other "I wanna fly, come alive, watch me shine" Reggie and I leaned into our mics as we sang "ooooh" while Julie and Luke sang the Chorus "I got a spark in me, hands up if you can see, and your a part of me, hands up if you're with me, now till eternity, hands up if you believe, been so long and now we're finally free"

Reggie suddenly jumped over to Luke's Microphone and sang with him, I felt a jolt of pain corse through my chest for a second as I watched Reggie's every move, I could feel the pull on my chest getting stronger and stronger with each passing day, and it doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon, considering the effect it's starting to have on Reggie. That's the only explanation for his behavior earlier, but the only way to be sure is to ask Arius.

"I got a spark in me, hands up if you can see, and you're a part of me, hands up if you're with me, now till eternity, hands up if you believe, been so long and now we're finally free"

Julie and Luke now sang alone, meeting halfway Julie sang "I got a spark in me" she leaned the mic over to Luke as he echoed "I got a spark in me" the way Julie and Luke were staring at each other made me look back at Alex and Reggie for answers "And you're a part of me" Alex just shrugged with a small smile "And you're a part of me"as Reggie shook his head a little as if to say that he didn't know either.

"Now till eternity"

"Now till eternity"

"Been so long and now we're finally free"

We all started playing our instruments again as Reggie, Luke and I all sang the chorus while Julie sang in the background "I've got a spark in me, hands up if you can see, and you're a part of me, hands up if you're with me" Julie sang "Yeah" as the rest of us continued "now till eternity, hands up if you believe, been so long and now we're finally free."

Reggie, Luke, Alex and I went back to doing the "oooh" as Julie sang "Finally free, yeah" Luke and I jumped in at the end "Been so long and now we're finally free" everyone stopped playing as Julie let me have the last note.

"Finally free, yeah..."

The crowd went nuts as they all cheered and applauded, the five of us took a bow as the boys disappeared. The crowd continued to cheer as walked over next to Julie she stated "Thank you, we're Julie, (Y/n) and the Phantoms." I was quick to grab the mic from her and state "Tell your friends." Before walking off stage with Julie.

♬♩♪♩♬♩♪♩♬♩👻 ♪♩♬♩♪♩♬♩♪♩

Once we got off stage Julie ran over to Flynn excitedly, engulfing her in a hug as the two of them giggled and squealed in excitement. I leisurely made my way over to them, only to get dragged into the hug as well. Once we all let go Flynn stated "You two were incredible!" To which Reggie smugly replied "Yeah we were." While looking back at Alex and Luke who were currently sitting on the bar.

"Hey, Hey! Whoever Carrie was trying to impress is headed our way!"

Luke was quick to call out to Julie and I, as the two of us turned around to see a women in a pants suit headed in our direction. "She looks all business" Alex commented and Reggie started to panic, asking "Wait. Who should do the talking?" Then once realizing what he said he quickly fixed it "Right, Julie and (Y/n)." Julie glanced back at Luke for support, only for him to say "You got this." The women was quick to grab ahold of my hand to introduce herself.

"Hi I'm Andi Parker, and I would-"

"Julie."

Our attention went from Andi to the man that said Julie's name, which just so happened to be her father. Andi looked back at the man behind her "Dad." Julie stated, not sounding to happy.

"It's time to go."

Ray didn't sound to happy but I couldn't let us loose this, it could be our big break and Reggie would be upset if I didn't try. "Mr.Molina, if we could just have 5 minutes to-" he cut me off, not wanting to hear anything I have to say. "No. Julie is going home. And I'm calling your uncle." I scoffed and shook my head "seriously? What did I even do?" Andi finally spoke up deciding that this was a bad moment. "This seems like a bad time, so I'm gonna take off, wonderful performance, the both of you." She stated, looking from Julie to me before taking her leave.

"No! Wait!"

Luke yelled but of course she didn't hear him. She couldn't. Luke went to go chafe after her, but let out an exasperated sigh after realizing it wasn't gonna work.

"What did you do? You brought my daughter out here on a school night, to entertain your band fantasies."

"Dad!"

Julie said and was quick to speak up before things go south "She didn't drag me out here, I left by myself." Ray shook his head in disappointment "we'll talk about your punishment later. For now I have to get you both home." Turning towards me he stated "And don't think you're off the hook yet missy. Just because you live in that house by yourself doesn't mean you get to go home scott free. I was told to look after you and that's exactly what I'm doing by giving your uncle a call." I felt trapped in a hole, unable to climb out. I hated my uncle. And I hated that I could loose the freedom that I currently had.

He's definitely going to come down here now, and when he does I'm screwed.

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The Taming of Man: chapter Six - Dragon Shifting!Katsuki Bakugou x F!reader

Holy crap this one is long for me (Heh heh, that's what she said), Usually each chapter is about half of this length! I hope you enjoy the extra reading material, and I hope you enjoy the large amounts of plot growth to come!

Words: 4,715

This is incredibly based on the song The Willow Maid by Erutan, I highly recommend giving it a listen for the best experience.

Warnings: Cursing, reader is She/Her and will be AFAB in later chapters, Katsuki is practically naked for a sec, [reader is attacked, reader is tied up, reader is manhandled, reader experiences loss of vision]-> none of these are inflicted by Katsuki

The walk all the way to the market was slow, but not too long. You both walked along the dirt roads, people in carriages passing you on both sides. You couldn't take any carriage, or even a dragon, because it was too risky. That was basically a one way ticket to getting caught.

Before long, you could smell spices and meats in the air, you could hear the bustling of the people, you could see the crowds moving through stalls placed by street vendors. "Stay close to me, You don't wanna get lost here," Katsuki ordered, holding his hand out for you.

You instead took his arm, using both hands to grasp onto his left triceps, and in turn making him feel quite strong. Something about you holding onto his arm with your delicate hands made him feel prideful. He needed to stop getting so worked up around you, it pissed him off.

The two of you breeched the "entrance" of the market, Truly the entrance to town as the vendors put up their stalls next to the street every weekend, nearly blocking the businesses that had actual buildings. The yelling from each and every salesperson was rather overwhelming to you, being someone who had never experienced this kind of market.

"Capricornus meat, fresh from the docks!"

"Bread! get yer bread! only 3 drac!"

"fabrics and textiles! new sale! starting at 10 drac!"

Everywhere you looked there was someone trying to sell you, or rather the general populous, something. That's when you realized...

"Uh, Katsuki?"

He was busy walking through, looking around at the stalls but seeing nothing that impressed him. "What," he asked, not looking down at you and clearly distracted.

"I don't have any money."

You forgot that you were in a whole new universe, that had different currencies and certainly no exchange for your money. Even if your money did work here, it had completely slipped your mind when you were getting ready to leave, so you had none of your own.

Katsuki just scoffed, continuing to walk and drag you with him. Stopping wasn't an option in places like these, not when the groups of people were ever moving. "So? 's not like I expected you to." You might not have anticipated this, but the second he thought of going to the markets he also came to terms with the fact that he'd be paying for whatever you got. It wasn't a big deal, he was the prince, he definitely wasn't short on money.

"Really? Thank you," you said gratefully, smiling up at him. He pulled you out of the way of an oncoming woman, scowling at her for nearly plowing you over. "yeah yeah, just watch where you're going," he huffed, scolding you.

As the two of you moved, many merchants seemed to find you an easy target. A man wearing gold in every possible way shoved necklaces in your face, calling out, "A pretty girl like you must have pretty jewelry," in a sing-song tone. You just politely declined, Katsuki yanking you away before he could continue trying to sell. Similar things happened with a woman selling tapestries, a man doing tattoos, and a couple selling food.

Each and every time you declined, they'd scowl at you as if you just cursed their firstborn. Everything was...well, it was too much. Katsuki could see this on your face, the anxiety from the big crowd and loud noises, and firmly said, "Let's go in there." Before you could even look to where he gestured, he already pulled you into the shop, one of the few buildings that was still open at this time.

You were both greeted by an older couple, a brunette woman wearing plenty of rings and necklaces and a blonde woman wearing an extravagant purple hat. "Come in," The brunnette woman welcomed, her voice quiet and gentle, before the Blonde woman remarks, "Oh, Addy, look at them! what a cute couple," excitedly. You laughed, instantly much calmer than before, while Katsuki grimaced. "We're not a couple," he barked, to which the older women laughed. "Please, have a look around," the woman called Addy said warmly, Gesturing to their little shop.

Apparently, Katsuki had led you to a dress store. There were plenty of different handmade clothes to choose from, as well as accessories like hats, jewelry, and bags. "Wow," you cooed, pulling your hood down and releasing Katsuki to look around.

"My, aren't you pretty," The blonde woman complimented, walking right over to you. She instantly took your face in her hands, examining it and smiling. "You know, I bet you'd look fantastic in red...or blue...or maybe green," she laughed, turning to Katsuki. "You 'ought to count yourself lucky to be in the company of such a beautiful young lady!"

"Connie dear, you pry too much," Addy gently scolded, shaking her head. Connie just waved her off, sighing. "Well, If you need anything at all, please let us know! I'm Constance, but you can call me Mrs. Connie, and the party pooper over there is Adelaide, but you can call her Mrs. Addy." You nodded with a laugh, thanking her and beckoning Katsuki to come and look with you.

He did so begrudgingly, Following you around the store as you browsed. "If I find something here, I won't have to wear the cloak you gave me," you said sweetly, looking up at Katsuki as you flipped through dresses on racks. "I guess," he grumbled, something in him wishing he could keep you in his cloak a little longer. Something about the way the fabric swallowed up your body was...cute to him.

Every dress you could see had similar features, usually modest to hide from the beating sun but with a thin fabric to allow ventilation. You picked out two dresses, a green one and a red one, comparing them side by side. "Which do you think," you asked, turning your head to Katsuki. He sighed and thumbed at the fabrics, eyes flicking between you and the clothes. Why was he giving this any real thought? It's not like he cared...

"Red." he didn't sound too enthusiastic, but in truth he wanted to see how you looked in one of his favorite colors...plus, he agreed with the fabric wench. Red would suit you. You examined the dresses again, before nodding and smiling. "I think you're right." You turned to look for one of the two women you saw earlier, and thankfully Adelaide was right next to you two, adjusting hats on mannequin heads.

"Mrs. Addy, Could I get this one, please?" She turned her attention to you and nodded, taking your hand and leading you away. "Let's get it tailored," she said softly, looking towards her wife and nodding to the back of the store for her to help.

Connie followed, giving a mischievous smile to Katsuki for God Knows what. Now he was all alone in the main area, with nothing to do but look around. He couldn't just walk out either, even thought you'd probably take a while, because if something happened he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

"Damn idiot...now what'm I supposed to do..." he muttered, examining the different accessories that were available. He noticed a necklace with a delicate gold chain and a gold dragon pendant to match, the charm holding two little rubies set in for eyes. You'd look beautiful with it around your neck, especially with that dress...Katsuki groaned and shook his head, what was he thinking?!

"So, tell me, how do you feel about that boy," Constance asks, gently pinning the dress together to fit your body.

"Connie," Adelaide laughs, reprimanding her but also curious about your response. "He's just a friend," You quickly responded, your cheeks warming as you stood stock still for the couple dressing you. "Ahhh, that's what I said when I met Addy," Constance giggled, making Adelaide sigh while shaking her head, a blush on her own face.

"of course, times were different then, Didn't have so many opporitunities, and-" She was interrupted by Adelaide- "She get's it, darling." You giggled, watching the women work in the mirror with focus you wished you could have in your own job. "It's not like he'd like me back...Y'know, i-if I did like him."

Addy shook her head, standing straight up and giving a look that said really? "He'd be lucky to have an ounce of your affection," Connie scoffed, taking out her sewing needle and beginning to alter the dress.

Katsuki was sitting on a Bench in the main area, able to do nothing but wait, before Adelaide popped out with a soft smile. Constance followed soon after, saying, "She's all set!"

Katsuki Stood up, hands in his pockets as he looked towards the curtained fitting room. You confidently walked out, a smile on your face and your old clothes in your hand. "What do you think?"

He froze, taking in the sight of you. The dress was a bright, fiery red, with an empire waistline defined by a gold belt, a V-neck, and angel sleeves. There was a slit right down the center of the skirt, your legs fully able to breath, and fully able to be seen by him. What did he think? How could you ask that, knowing how good you look? "G-good," he grumbled, looking askance and clearing his throat.

You giggle a little and walk over, handing him his cloak to put in his bag. He takes your dress too, knowing you probably won't want to hold it. "Just good," Adelaide asked teasingly as the two of you walked to the counter to pay, making Katsuki turn beet red. "Just lemme pay," he mumbles, setting down a drawstring bag of Drac. Adelaide sifted through, counting out the necessary amount.

While she did that, Constance slid up to the counter with a deck of beautifully detailed cards in her palm, a cheeky grin on her face. "You know, there's a free card reading with every purchase~"

Adelaide rolled her eyes with a smitten grin, both in love with and tired of her wife's shenanigans. Katsuki scoffed, ready to go, but you smiled excitedly. "Let's do it!"

He scowled at you, saying, "Why should we?"

"Why not?"

"...fine."

Constance giggled and began shuffling the cards, humming to herself. Fanning out the deck, she asked you to both to pick a card, and you both picked one on opposites end of the deck. Flipping them over, she smiled widely and held the cards up. "Ah, star crossed lovers, yet your souls are intertwined!"

You and Katsuki were both completely flustered, you doing a better job at playing it off. "O-oh," you laughed airily, Katsuki getting his bag of money back while, for once, keeping his mouth completely shut.

"Connie, please, these kids have had enough," Adelaide sighed with a smirk, waving you both away and bidding you adieu. You both walked back into the intensity of the market, your hands returning to Katsuki's arm.

...

"It's not like I believe in that stuff anyways." "I've always taken those things with a grain of salt."

You laugh, both of you floundering to find some excuse not to believe her. Surveying the area once more as you walk, the scent of food becomes more and more enticing to you. Your stomach growls, especially at the sight of a food stand having what looked to be the juiciest goat leg you've ever seen, seasoned and fried to perfection.

"Let's go there," you suggest, pointing at the stand and looking up at Katsuki. "There? The food'll be too spicy for you," he scoffed, a smile barely showing on his face. "I happen to like spicy food," you huff, clearly some level of offended.

Katsuki grins and laughs a little, the discomfort he felt just moments ago now gone. "Fine then," he chuckled, taking you up to the vendor and ordering. "Two legs of lamb...and two waters," he told the man, handing him a total of 30 drac. He handed him the food almost immediately, and Katsuki handed you your meal while the two of you leaned against a wall to eat. He took a bite of his leg ferociously, he was hungrier than he thought, and his eyes stayed completely locked on you to see your reaction.

Watching him eat it so easily brought some comfort to you, surely it couldn't be that bad...you gingerly brought the meat to your mouth, biting down and chewing thoughtfully.

"It's not so bad," you remarked, shrugging and going in for another bite. Then, suddenly, the spice hit you full force, causing you to cough. "Holy shit," you spluttered, patting your chest. Your lips, tongue, and throat were all on fire, your face was hot, and your eyes were watering.

Katsuki burst out laughing, one of those genuine cackles that were hard to pull from him. "Here, idiot," he laughed, handing you a water skin and watching you chug it as fast as possible. "It won't stop," you groaned, fanning your face with your hand and sniffling.

Katsuki just kept laughing and laughing, doubled over with his hand on the wall for support. "I fuckin' told you," he howled, taking the lamb from you and holding it with his own in one hand. He gave you the other water skin, and you drank it all without question, the pain finally subsiding.

"I'm gonna be sick," you griped, wiping sweat off of your face. "You'll be fine," he chuckled, his laughing at your expense finally calming.

"I'm still hungry," you mumbled, wiping your mouth and once again looking around for food, this time something tame. Katsuki kept eating his lamb, knowing he'd have to eat yours too. He wasn't about to let perfectly good food go to waste.

"Well find somethin' fast, we don't have all day...and listen to me next time."

He was right, you didn't have all day, you'd definitely have to leave in at most an hour in order to be back by sunset. The both of you continued walking nearer and nearer to the center of town, your hand on his arm as you searched. A stand selling goat kebabs caught your eye, a mother and her child at the front of the short line. The kid was no older than five, his hand gripping his mother's dress as he sniffed and coughed a little. Poor thing probably had a cold.

He sneezed loudly, and to the surprise of you and only you, a burst of flame released from his mouth. You didn't know Dragonborne could breath fire, at least not in human form. Nothing caught on fire, everything here seemed to be nonflammable, and Katsuki only looked over because he noticed you stopped. "Wanna go there," he asked gruffly, to which you just nodded and smiled. there was still so much you had to learn.

The two of you waited in line, only a few people ahead of you, and 10 minutes later you had a full belly. Continuing to walk, you saw a glassblowing shop, the man inside easily manipulating the liquid glass with his bare hands and flaming breath, shaping beautiful vases and sculptures.

Katsuki noticed your eyes linger, and almost asks if you want to go check it out, before his attention is caught by the sound of a beating drum. You are immediately interested, eyes tearing away from the glassblower to find the source of the sound. A crowd is forming in a circle, so you decide that following the crowd is the best course of action. "Let's go see what they're looking at," you say giddily, your excitement making Katsuki blush a little.

"Whatever," he sighs. He already knows what it is, but supposes it wouldn't be bad for you to see. Taking you to the mass of people, pushing through to get nearer to the front, you finally see it.

A lump of purple fabric lie on the ground, surrounded by people beating drums and humming a low tone in unison. The mass of fabric begins to move, and you realize it is indeed not just fabric, but rather a woman wearing a lengthy and massive cloak, the edges adorned in gold bells. She slowly rises, hands gripping the very top corners of her cloak while her shoes are quickly and rhythmically tapping against the ground, hips swaying simultaneously, the bells jingling to the music.

Underneath her cloak was a short top and long skirt of the same color, all to accentuate the movement of her hips and belly. She shakes her hands, all the while rising slowly up and above her head as she leaves her crouched position, the cloak now looking as if it were the wings of a flying dragon, rippling in the wind.

Suddenly, she shoots her hands to one side, the half of the ensemble that she pointed to chanting "Hah" loudly. She repeats on the other side, all while continuously tapping her wooden sandals against the ground on the balls of her feet. Her gesturing becomes faster, moving back and forth between each side so the chanting becomes more and more frequent.

You had never seen someone dance in this way...all of her movements were concentrated in the very center of the circle, not once did her feet leave the spot she tapped against, her arms and hips doing most of the talking. The dancing was different at home, when your people danced they danced with lots of flourish, spinning and swaying and taking up as much space as possible. "It's so different..." you mused. "It's..."

Katsuki didn't want to hear it. He knew what you would say, the same thing everyone else said. That it was too crude, too sinful, too provocative. He opened his mouth to combat you, to come to his culture's aid and tell you to just shut up, but then... but then he saw your face.

Your eyes were wide, glistening with wonderment, your lips slightly parted in awe and your hand on your chest as if your heartstrings were being tugged out of your body.

"Beautiful," you murmured, watching intently. "Isn't it beautiful," you whispered to Katsuki, not looking away for a second.

"Yeah...beautiful," he muttered, eyes drinking in your appearance, memorizing each and every detail of that face, that expression. Why the hell did this keep happening? It's like every time he was with you, something incapacitated him. He couldn't think right, he couldn't see anything but you. It made his stomach to backflips, it made his heart beat in his throat, it made his hands heat up.

"Can we go put money in her bowl," you ask him, bringing him back to reality. Her dance was almost done, and next to her there was a bowl people were dropping money into. Katsuki took two drac from his bag, pressing them into your head. "Go yourself," he grumbled. He figured it'd look weird, the two of you walking up there, like a couple. He was sick of people assuming you were, he didn't want anymore of that.

You shrugged and took the money, pushing through some of the crowd to get to the little wooden bowl.

Katsuki watched you from afar, keeping his eyes locked onto your form, the flowing fabric of your dress trailing behind you, before someone bumped into him. "Watch where your goin," Katsuki huffed, before turning and seeing...Kiri?!

"Woah, sorry about- oh, hey bro!" Kirishima smiled at Katsuki, a bucket of veal in his hand. "What the hell are you doing here," Katsuki asked gruffly, arms crossed. "I'm getting Versengen a treat, it's almost his birthday...what are you doing here?"

Katsuki scowled, cheeks involuntarily going pink. "Why the hell do you care, I can go wherever I damn please!" Kirishima immediately picked up on the way Katsuki went on the defensive...and the intense scent of roses and honey lingering nearby. "Ok, ok," Kiri said nonchalantly, nodding and looking towards the dancing woman. "And you're totally not on a date with that girl, right?"

"We're not on a date," Katsuki instinctively shouted, promptly giving himself away. "So there is a girl," Ejiro shouted excitedly, punching Katsuki in the arm.

Walking through the crowd was a deceptively difficult task, pushing past people and squeezing through gaps. You finally reached the bowl, dropping the gold coins into it and smiling at the lady as she made her final steps in the dance. Proudly walking away, you once again pushed through people, being spat out in front of an alleyway...

So, this definitely wasn't where you were before. It was ok, you just had to look around for Katsuki's hair, and after a moment of scanning you could see it peaking out above the sea of people. Smiling, you took a step forward to get back into it, before getting yanked back by a pair of hands.

You tried to scream, but another hand immediately covered your mouth. "Heh, Look at her...She's gotta be a noble," a raspy voice chuckles, before another, slightly squeakier voice says, "probably sell for a pretty penny, huh?"

Oh. Hell. No. This isn't how you were going out. Kidnapped by some rando and sold? You weren't going down without a fight. Stomping on the foot of whoever had you and biting down on the hand that covered your mouth, you were released just long enough for you to yell out.

"There's no girl, there never was a girl, and there will never be a girl, so shut up about it," Katsuki barked, pissed as hell that Kiri wouldn't believe him.

"KATSUKI!"

"...No girl," kiri asked, cocking his head to the side...but Katsuki had no time to argue anymore. You were in danger. He muttered, "holy shit," before booking it in the direction he heard your voice. Kirishima followed, just in case he'd need backup.

"Stupid bitch," one of the guys shouted, grabbing you once more and holding you still despite your kicking and squirming. "Get the ropes," he ordered, and the other guy did just that. Your wrists were tied behind your back, your ankles tied to your wrists, and your arms tied to your torso. A black mask was tied over your eyes, a piece of fabric tied around your head to cover your mouth. You were tossed to the ground, your arms hitting a wall of the alleyway.

You couldn't see, all you could do was hear and feel. It was unnerving, you didn't know what was going to happen to you...Until you heard Katsuki's voice.

"Hey! Get the fuck away from her!"

Footsteps...two pairs of them.

"what do we do?" one of the kidnappers.

"Grab the girl and run," the other responds.

footsteps running towards you, stopping directly in front of you...but it wasn't a kidnapper...you knew because amidst the smell of garbage from the alley was the smell of musk, smoke, and caramel. It was Katsuki.

"Touch her and you die!"

then, something strange. The sounds you heard, you can't describe them, but you could feel Katsuki's presence grow larger. Then you could hear the sound of much, much bigger footsteps, planting down in front of you, accompanied by vibrations and wind generated with what seemed to be large wings fanning out. you leaned forward, wanting to touch what was before you to confirm your suspicions. Your cheek hit the mass before you. Just as you thought. Scales.

"oh fuck-" a guy shouted, cut off by the great, screeching roar of Katsuki Bakugou in his dragon form, so loud your ears began to ring. You wished you were able to cover them, but all you could do was shrink back into the wall.

Now everything was muffled, like the Footsteps running towards the entrance of the alley, only to be stopped suddenly.

an unfamiliar voice was speaking, the loud protesting of the criminals insinuating that the two men were grabbed and picked up.

You could feel Katsuki's once great form shrink, and you could barely hear him panting afterward. Then, a little clearer now as the effects wore off, you could hear the rustling of fabric, accompanied by his grumblings about his clothes being torn.

"Hey, can you hear me," he asked, his tone sharp, yet carrying some amount of gentleness. You suddenly felt his hands on your face, before he pulled the mask off of your eyes and the fabric out of your mouth.

"Uh-huh," you mumbled, blinking as the light finally found your pupils. Katsuki was crouched before you, a look of concern thinly veiled by anger on his face. He was rather naked, that cloak he let you borrow wrapped around his waist, his chiseled muscles on nearly every part of his body completely displayed to you. "You ok? Did they touch you," He asked, that second question with a tone of worry and slight wrath.

"O-only to tie me up," you answered, squirming in your bindings. Katsuki brought his hands around you, reaching behind to take off the hogtie they put you in. When he couldn't immediately undo the knots, he just impatiently ripped the rope in two anywhere that was keeping you bound.

sitting up and rubbing at your wrists and ankles, you looked up at Katsuki with gratitude. He looked back down at you, his brow furrowed. Were you judging him or something?

"what," he asked gruffly, pulling back from you and sitting on his knees.

You came in fast, giving him a big hug around his neck and pressing your face into his bare shoulder. "Thank you for saving me," you whispered, a tear rolling down your cheek.

You weren't a big crier, you don't spend your entire life with an emotionally manipulative mother without learning how to not cry, but this was a lot for you. You were almost kidnapped, and Katsuki, this man who was so adamant about not getting too close to you, saved your life and took care of you after without question.

Katsuki sat there for a moment, about to let you hold him for a few seconds and pull away without him touching you back just like every time, before slowly bringing his arms around you. He wasn't very good at hugging, he had no experience at it, but he knew you needed it right now, and you needed it specifically from him. You wanted him to hug you.

He put his left arm around your waist, and his right arm under your arm and over to your shoulder, holding you firmly despite how nervous he was. His cheek was pressed to your head through no fault of his own, but as he slowly breathed in the scent of your perfume, his entire body seemed to relax. When was the last time he felt this at peace? He can't recall...but he knows that any time he asks that question in the future, he'll definitely remember this.

You slowly pull away, surprised to get even the tiniest bit of resistance from Katsuki, before wiping your eyes and smile. "Gah, look at me," you laugh, flicking the tears off of your hand. "We should probably head back...and get you some clothes on the way."

Katsuki looks down at himself, realizing he was practically naked. "Last time I save your ass at the expense of my dignity," he scoffs sarcastically, meriting a giggle from you.

"C'mon, we can go back to that dress shop, they have masculine clothes," you offer, standing up and smiling down at him. He stands too, grabbing his bag and grimacing at the thought of walking all that way like this. "Why even bother, might as well fly," he scoffs, not even registering the fact that the idea would be so appealing to you.

"Really," you ask excitedly, having never flown on the back of a dragon before.

"Well don't lose your shit over it..." he grumbles, blushing at your happiness. Even with his apparent annoyance, He'd be giving you a ride back in his dragon form. Like hell he'd disappoint you, not after you smile at him like that.

Maybe it was time to do a little thinking about all this, about how he really felt.

Maybe he was realizing pining after you wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be.

Maybe your smile was worth it.

ahhhhhh feelings <3 Thank you so much for keeping up with this story, your support is everything to me, and as always, let me know what you thought about this chapter!

Taglist: @sky-angel101 @the-galaxy-fiend @chixkadee @ssplague @sappho-the-kitten-tamer @andysdrafts @daria-rona

[squishy-lombax]

Umbrella (Fowlham fanfic)

Believe it or not, I've never written a fan fiction before! I hope you enjoy my first attempt! I decided to go with a comfort fandom of mine, RC9GN with a pairing I think is cute and sadly did not have much scene-time; FowlHam. If you're here from my Secret Trio comic book, this fic takes place before the events of my comic. Side note: I head-canon Randy with ADHD and Theresa with Autism. Reminiscent of the relationship that my partner and I have in real life. So hopefully I represented the disorders well.

It was an over-cast day when McFist's new McSneak shoes went on sale. The forecast said it would rain, so all those in line held umbrellas. No one was willing to miss the release of these new shoes just because of a little rain. Randy Cunningham was one of those lucky people waiting in line. Well, if you call standing in line for hours since the butt crack of dawn with the threat of rain "lucky." His best friend, Howard Weinerman, was there too; although, he came hours later with snacks.

Following the sound of groans and curses, "Th-thank *gasp* honking *gasp* cheese I found you Cunningham," Howard exclaimed as he shoved his way in line next to Randy, "Let me tell you! If I had to fight off one more toddler before finding you, I would have given up!"

"Well maybe I wouldn't be so far in line if you had gotten here on time," Randy greeted his friend, grabbing a bag of chips from his arms.

"Just be thankful I kept you updated. Do you know how hard it is to text when one of your hands looks like this?!' Howard said forcing a McCheeto dust covered hand up to Randy's face.

"Hey! Watch the hoodie, you shoob!" Randy retorted as a mild slapping match ensued.

The violence stopped as quickly as it started when the first drops of rain began to fall. There was a brief commotion as people extended their umbrellas. Randy grabbed his umbrella and found that opening it when one hand was occupied by a bag of chips was difficult. After fumbling for a few seconds he eventually turned to Howard for assistance. Howard obliged but kept a smug smile the whole time. Howard reached his dust covered hand over and pressed the release button. With the power of teamwork, the umbrella opened. Randy rolled his eyes as Howard added "see, it's pretty difficult when you're burdened with the best snacks borrowed money can buy".

"Okay, but did borrowed money," Randy air-quoted, "buy you an umbrella?"

Howard was unable to continue their battle of wits as the rain began to downpour. The umbrella-less Howard ducked under Randy's inconspicuous Ninja-themed umbrella as their playful argument was momentarily forgotten.

Rain has a funny effect on people. It has a magic that can cause a whole crowd of excited people to fall into a silence. Only something so powerful can make Randy and Howard quiet for more than two minutes. Howard licked his fingers of the McCheeto dust before popping open another bag. Randy, his bag of chips forgotten, began to disassociate as he stared out into the steady shower. The puddle forming in a nearby pothole caught his eye first. Then, a splash created by a car as it nearly hit a woman at the bus stop. Until he settled on a soaked Theresa running across the street. "Wait- a soaked Theresa running across the street?" Randy did a double take before his mind could wander to the next moving object. Yup, that was Theresa. She was without an umbrella and carrying what he thought was a grocery bag.

Nudging Howard, "Do you think I should help her?" Randy asked.

"Help who, bro?! You can't just change subjects on me like that, you know this!"

"Oh, sorry, Theresa. I mean- Theresa is across the street and looks like she needs help." Randy explained, pointing to where the girl was now walking after making it successfully to the other side of the road.

"Cunningham, you just stood in line for four hours and you're about to leave because you don't think women can hold bags?!"

"What?! No- that's- can't you see she is soaking wet?" Randy responded, arms flailing in the general direction of said drenched girl.

"Well, luckily she's already wet. Otherwise, that fall would honkin' suck!" Howard stated, desperately trying to stay under the moving umbrella.

"Fall-?" Randy muttered as he turned back to look at Theresa, who was currently on the ground and frantically trying to scoop up the contents of her dropped bag.

Randy wasn't sure if hisNinj-stincts kicked in or what, but he found himself handing Howard's snacks back and hopping over the crowd barricades he spent hours behind that morning. Making it to the busy street, the man-on-a-mission didn't bother to wait for the crosswalk sign. Instead, snapping his umbrella closed, Randy weaved his way through traffic. He began jumping between cars, narrowly avoiding splashes, and finished off with a roll over a hood. Only for him to pop the umbrella back open over Theresa's head.

Theresa was crouched with a can of soup in her hand, staring up, wide-eyed at Randy, who was desperately trying to look cool and not winded. This pose was held for a few seconds too long, as no words passed between the two. The awkwardness snapped Randy back to reality as his thoughts ran rampant: "What the juice did I just do?! Did anyone see that? No one thinks I'm the Ninja, right? Anyone could have done that! Why would they think I'm the Ninja? I just wanted to help a friend! Maybe I should say something to her- have I not said anything to her yet?! Okay, she's standing up now. How long has she been staring at me? What should I say? Hm, I forgot how tall she is-"

"Thank you," Theresa spoke.

"Soup."

"Huh?"

"The soup in your hand- I mean, I'm here to help with the soup- I mean the groceries!" Randy blurted.

"Oh, thanks. Uh- I already said that-" Theresa trailed off, her free hand pulling at her wet hair as she looked down at the scattered food.

The next few seconds were spent picking up the groceries. Randy, for reasons he didn't understand, was trying to avoid eye contact with Theresa. Instead, he was trying to focus on saving the items in the deepest puddles first. The bread was thankfully protected by it's plastic covering. The cans were fine too, although their labels would probably warp. However, some fruits and vegetables were bruised or smashed. The umbrella balanced in his elbow, Randy dropped the items in the rescued grocery bag that Theresa held out. With the task finished, Randy was forced to acknowledge Theresa again. Her hair was a disaster, but it appeared as though she attempted to smooth it while Randy wasn't looking. Her mascara ran down her face as she gave a small smile between blushing cheeks. She wasn't wearing her usual school uniform. Instead, she was wearing a small pink T-shirt and a black knee-length skirt. Of course, both were now wet and clung to her body, but Randy used all his Ninja strength to direct his eyes back to her face. She had a knowing look in her eyes, which caused Randy to blush.

"Thanks again for the help," Theresa said. "I have to get going now, though."

"In the rain?" Randy asked, still sheltering them both under his umbrella.

"I mean, I kind of have no choice. Unless you were offering to walk me home?"

Randy was struggling to read the situation. He hadn't intended to walk her home, but then again, he wasn't exactly sure what he intended when he abandoned Howard and ran across the road. Glancing back in that direction, Randy made out the shape of Howard, flailing his arms around and presumably cussing him out for leaving him alone without an umbrella. Randy's hesitation to answer must have faltered Theresa's confidence, for she began to move around him to carry on her way.

"No wait!" Randy reached out and grabbed her arm. "What kind of helpful hero would I be if I let you walk home in the rain?" "Nice, saved it!" He gave himself a mental high-five.

"Great! Uh- I mean- if you're sure" Theresa said, looping her arm with his, removing the choice of backing out.

The body contact was enough to short-circuit Randy's brain, causing him to completely forget about Howard and the new McSneak shoes. "L-let me take that bag for you," Randy added as he took the semi-heavy grocery bag on his other arm. "So, um, where do you live exactly?" He asked, realizing he didn't know. Theresa's blush deepened at the gesture and answered, "It's in that neighborhood near the cemetery, a few more blocks away."

They walked in silence peacefully as they enjoyed the rhythm of the rain. At least, that's probably what it would have looked like to any stranger seeing the "couple" walking down the sidewalk. In reality, Randy's mind was in turmoil. Mainly because he didn't know what was going to happen after all this was done. Theresa clung to his arm as if he was her lifeline, but her face was obscured by her bangs. Their relationship, if you could call it that, was complicated. They could be considered friends, but they weren't close, nor did they know each other well. Meanwhile, Theresa's crush on him had been obvious since day one. Randy, with his life already so hectic, didn't act on her advances one way or another. Did he like her back? Of course he did, but why hadn't he asked her out yet? The idea was almost too overwhelming. Having a girlfriend would wonk up what little semblance of routine and free time he had left. Stringing her along made him feel like a total shoob though. Is that what he was doing? He didn't even know.

Biting his lip, he looked down at the bag he was carrying. Having to go out and buy his own groceries was a relatable feeling to him. With his dad out of the picture and his mom away for business most days, average household chores were left up to him. Well, as many household chores a teen boy with a secret double life can accomplish. It made him wonder why Theresa was doing the job of a parent, too. Again, they didn't know each other very well. It was worth a shot to ask...

"Sooooo, who's all this for?" Randy broke the silence in a normal and not at all awkward way.

"Me...?" Theresa answered, seemingly brought out of her own thoughts.

"All of it?" He joked as he heaved the bag like it weighed a ton.

"N-no! It's for my grandma, too!" Theresa flustered, the joke seeming lost to her.

"Oh, cool, you bring food to your grandma?"

"Kinda. You can meet her if you want," Theresa replied absent-mindedly.

"Oh, ho-ho. I'm meeting your grandma? I am speed-running through this relationship!" Randy teased. "Why the juice did I just say that?! Man, I really am stringing her along-"

"W-what?! I mean- sure, b-but I haven't told her about you yet or anything, so it might be weird..." Theresa trailed off. Ugh, she was so cute when she was flustered. "Why are you having these thoughts? You're the Ninja! The Nomicon would chew me out for this..."

The cemetery was coming into view, but Theresa didn't say when to turn and they kept walking. The rain had become a gentle drizzle and made for perfect cemetery weather. Surprisingly, there were a few people inside standing near some headstones. Although, Randy may have missed them if it wasn't for their large umbrellas. It was a nice moment despite the dark subject matter. Randy's mind drifted again as he thought about other, more fun, dates Theresa and he could go on. He had to quickly remind himself this wasn't a date though. "It could be," a small voiced whispered in his mind. After all, if he had time to stand in line for four hours just for a pair of sneakers, maybe he did have time for a girlfriend. He just needed to take that plunge and stop using his Ninja life as an excuse not to get on with his own life. He tightened his grip on the umbrella handle, bracing himself as he tried to think of what to say-

"Hm, I think I could make this work..." Theresa was mumbling to herself.

"Make what work?" Randy asked, snapping out of his trance.

"I just feel bad because I've of been stringing you along. I'm pretty busy, what with my baton practice and taking care of my grandma. It's difficult to find time just for friends, better less a boyfriend!" She replied matter-of-factly, "But you're right, maybe we should make things official" She finished, finally looking Randy in the eyes. Her big, beautiful eyes, surrounded by black smudge that used to be mascara.

Laughing was probably not the response she was looking for, but Randy couldn't contain the irony. Umbrella in one hand and groceries in the other, Randy had to keep himself from doubling over as his sides ached from the laughter. Theresa, on the other hand, broke away from his arm and looked like she was going to pass away where she stood. "W-wait, is that not what you meant?! You were just joking, weren't you?! Oh my Ninja, I'm such an idiot!" The poor girl looked like she was about to cry at this point.

"No, no, it's not that," Randy breathed between laughter. "I just felt like I was the one leading you on! I never really told you whether I was interested or not. Meanwhile, you've been all over me."

"I have?!" Theresa's whole face was as red as the Ninja's scarf.

Theresa's response made Randy's mind temporarily blank as he tried to figure out whether she was joking by asking that or if she was genuinely unaware that the whole school knew about her crush on him. Luckily, she was able to snap his mind back before it ran away from him again. "Wait, so you are interested, right? I mean, in being girlfriend and boyfriend?" her words trailing off.

Ho-boy, the question when asked so directly made the whole situation overwhelming. Randy wasn't sure if he was happy or not that he left the Nomicon at home today. If it was here now, it would definitely be buzzing and he'd have an excuse to leave. But it wasn't here. It was just him, Theresa, and the steady tapping of the rain on the umbrella. "You gotta say something, anything!"

"LET'S. Go. To. Your. Grandma's." was apparently the strategy he was going with.

"Sooo that's a yes, then?" Theresa hummed, taking Randy's arm back into her possession.

"Mhm," was all the reply she got, but it was enough. Theresa's ability to read social cues may be wonk, but poor Randy was a total open book. Including that silly little secret he kept about being the Ninja. Despite her messy hair and ruined makeup, Theresa beamed the whole way to Grandma's.

[synthy-sizer]

You could take the short path of launching yourselves straight up, or maybe even crashing through the window, but it only feels right to go the slow way. Two sets of footsteps shuffle up the steps. Your shoes making contact with creaking stairs and crunching shards of glass and debris are once again the only noise in the tall stairwell. Every building, every street echoes. The whole world has abandoned this derelict city and moved out, leaving everything feeling like a nearly empty warehouse on the final day of a clearance sale. That must be how they thought of it, too. Always in it for the money. You and Lust pass by one entrance after another. Some doors are barricaded. Some are ripped off their hinges, and the beam of your flashlight reaches into a deep abyss. And of course, there's everything in between. Shattered windows, plywood…sometimes you can't believe that even at the end of the world things just continued. That when a glass door shattered someone would come in and put plywood over it to keep people from cutting themselves on the broken glass. Why even fucking bother? In a few more years every living being would turn into a monster and the only source of light in the dark would be the iridescent multicolored glow of an angel.

Finally, you reach the 13th floor. “This is it.” Lust looks at you. “Are you ok?” Is anything ok? “I think so. Let's try not to stay here too long.” You roam the familiar halls. Memories you've worked to suppress float to the surface, and you do your best to force them back under the waves. Your fingers trace the old walls, causing old paint to chip and fall from the lightest of touches. The doorways to old classrooms beckon but you refuse to look at them, much less indulge their invitations. Lust follows you silently. She's never been here, because you didn't want her to be here. You're sure she's curious, but she politely follows your lead and doesn't explore. It already feels bad enough exploring here, like touching an open wound. Exploring the old rooms would be like shoving your fingers into it.

Finally, you reach the place you've been aiming for, the only reason to come here at all. The wall of fame. Most of the plaques have fallen now, trophy cases have been toppled and reduced into piles of glass, and old tacky banners and words taped to the walls have long since faded and fallen, resulting in a patchy mess of missing parts. You bring your attention to one of few plaques still hanging on the wall. You know it well. The 1985 graduates who earned the prestigious right to a fast track working at Apollo. The students who showed the most potential in science and development fields. Engineering, coding, genetic engineering and biology. Looking back, perhaps the latter half should have been a sign. But how would you have known? You look down the list of names, until you see one that feels like a knife to the heart; Avery. You pause for a moment, and take hold of the shotgun you always keep on your hip. You step back, point the barrel at the plaque, and fire. There's a spark of hot, orange light for a split second and a loud boom as it fires, and the plaque explodes in a wave of shrapnel, as does the wall behind it. The barrel is still smoking as you wordlessly shove it back into its harness. Lust watches you quietly for a while before speaking up. “Do you feel any better?” You think you do. “Let's go to the roof.”

You both dangle your legs over the edge of the roof. After the suffocating atmosphere of the building and its contents, the open air feels incredibly refreshing. “Hey, thank you for coming with me. And for respecting my boundaries.” You feel for her hand. “And for knowing what I wanted more than I did, I guess.” Her fingers lock in yours. “You're welcome.” Evening is creeping in. You can see the sky starting to turn orange. “Do you think it'll work?” “I think so, yeah. We've put so much into the rocket. So many hands have touched it now. There's no way it won't work.” “You know I don't just mean that. Using the megastructure feels like a long shot.” “It's all a bit fuzzy I guess, yeah. But we don't have a choice other than making it work.” You glance at the moon hanging in the sky. “Why haven't you told Sofia about what the megastructure actually is, anyway? And what it's doing?” “Because I'm scared, Lust. I'm scared of hurting her like that.” “I thought you wanted her to be ready. Didn't you get upset that she was scared of using a gun?” You sigh. “Maybe I'm softer than I thought I was.” She laughs. “I never thought we would have a chance to raise a kid. Fate has a twisted way of making that happen, I guess.” You sit in silence for a while longer. “We need to get back soon. Final preparations and all that.” You nod, and your heart races. “Hey, Lust. I know we've had trouble talking about it, but if we don't get another chance…I…uh...” You're choking on your words.

She hushes you. “Don't worry, I know.”

NEXT

PREVIOUS

[momentokori]

Storm in a field of flowers. Pt. 10 previous part---next part

“Well we still need something to do for the day.” Elaine spoke up, Roy sighed. “I guess I can walk around. But if my legs give out i’m blaming all of you!” Everyone just ignored his threat. “Okay, so what about the park?” Rai suggested. “Wait which one?” Robert asked, “The one that’s close to the school. Or..wait no closer to the store.” “That one corner store?” He asked, Rai nodded. “No I don’t like that one. It’s always full of little kids or old people.” Elaine chimed in, “There really isn’t anywhere to go in town is there?” She finished, getting some nods of agreement. “Wait- that candy store!” Rai suggested with a wide smile. “I think there’s a sale.” She finished, everyone seemed to like that. Especially Elaine, she had practically jumped out of her seat. Everyone just stared at her for a minute. “What? Let’s go grab some candy to eat while we’re walking around town!” She said it like it was obvious. “We need to change,” Rai was right, they were still in the clothes they had slept in. The only issue was Roy, Ross, and Elaine didn’t have any of their clothes. The solution they came up with was for Elaine to wear something of Rai’s while the boys wore something from Roberts closet. They all agreed, except for Roy. “No, no no no! I don’t like the way his clothes feel. They feel too heavy on me, plus he keeps the tags on.” He complained, so they all thought for a moment. Rai snapped her fingers and ran off to her room. Leaving all of them confused. Elaine pointed a finger in the direction she went, Robert just shrugged as a response. She came back quickly with clothes that looked identical to Roys. “I was gonna wait till your birthday to give it to you. I just bought it for something like this, you know, so you don’t have to wear something you’d be uncomfortable in.” She handed him the clothes and walked off with Elaine to her room. Ross and Robert looked at Roy, when they saw him just standing there they decided to go to Roberts room to get a change of clothes.

It took about twenty minutes for them to get ready, well, for the girls to get ready. The boys had been done in ten minutes. “Why do girls take so long to get ready?” Robert groaned, then the two girls had walked out. “Why do you take so long?” Rai complained, two of the boys looked at Robert. He shrugged and muttered something about how she doesn’t normally give into her appearance. Everyone began to walk out instead of Rai, she stayed behind and shoved Radford off the couch before running outside. They were confused when she ran past them, until they saw Radford try to throw something at them from the door. Then they all had to run off to avoid whatever he was throwing, they all met up at a stop sign at the end of the street. Rai was laughing so hard she was lying on the ground. Elaine started to laugh with her, making fun of how she sounded like a spray bottle when she laughed. The boys just watched, Roy and Ross still gaining their breath. “WHY?! Why did you wake him up? There was no need!” Robert yelled out, “That’s the point! It was funny!” Rai could barely answer because she was laughing so hard. “He’s gonna yell at you when we get home, you know.” “I know, but I don’t care. I’m not scared of him.” She had managed to stop laughing after a minute and stood up to continue their walk.

[biscuits-of-bagend]

DnDoc, A Man's a Man #6 - Honest Man's Aboon His Might

Part 1 Part 5

Previous stories: DnDoc, Coming Home DnDoc, Space Band

Song lyrics in Scottish Poetry Library Paolo Nutini performance of the song

It occurred to me after I'd posted the previous part that I should probably clarify that Fergusson is fictional. Burns's wife Jean Armour, the song, the Glasgow Magazine and Burns living in Dumfries rather than Ayrshire at the time are all real though.

---

The Doctor closed the gap between them and grabbed the edge of Rogue's shirt. He scrunched it up between his fingers, breathing slowly through his nose.

   "That… was unfortunate timing," he said eventually. He gestured with his head towards the gang of young lads, who were now following the commotion along the road. They probably couldn’t see from their vantage point that the unhappy soul was Burns, and they certainly wouldn't have known he was the author of the song they were still occasionally singing.

   "Doctor, what can we do?" said Ruby. "If we used the element of surprise, maybe we could spring Robert and get him back to the TARDIS. I know it would change history but surely they'll just think he went into hiding or something."

   The Doctor paused for a moment, then shook his head and said, "The mystery would probably help with sales, so Jean and the children would be well-cared for. That'll be his first concern, much more than for his own life. But no, I don't think that would work. Burns is the most famous poet in all of Scotland, by your time, but he isn't a legend. He's not like Bonnie Prince Charlie sailing over the sea to Skye. If we made him disappear mysteriously…"

   "Ah," said Ruby. She looked to Rogue. "Everything went a bit wonky last time we made a legend."

   "What legend?" asked Rogue.

   "Me," said Ruby.

   "Yes, so, I've learned my lesson," said the Doctor. "No more accidentally making snow fall when a biological mother and her long lost daughter think about each other. Huh… I wonder if we would ever have found Louise if I hadn't accidentally taken Sutekh there. Anyway, right, come on. We're losing them."

   They'd fallen behind Burns and the lawmen as they'd conferred. But now the Doctor had them speed along the road, talking very quickly at them as they went.

   "The sonic screwdriver has been buzzing away in my pocket the whole time you two were talking to him," he said. "Between seeing The Earthlings and singing with Robert Burns - what a wild twenty-four hours - I think the sonic cloud inside is about ready to explode. So you take this-" He thrust the screwdriver into Ruby's hand. "- and both of you sing to it, okay? As much of that song as you can remember. And other songs, Earthlings songs, Linkin Park songs, whatever you can think of. When it's ready, unleash it."

   "Doctor, what-" Ruby stuttered, looking down at the sonic screwdriver in her hand as she tried to keep up with him.

   "Sorry, I have to catch them." The Doctor pointed to the outskirts of the town they'd just reached, and the spire of the town hall. "Sing!"

   The Doctor sprinted away, but after a quick glance at each other Rogue and Ruby followed him. Ruby's stomach was starting to twist as they reached the cobblestone streets, which was partly a stitch from running, but mostly dread. What was he going to do?

   They caught up with the crowd just before the doors of the town hall, and the Doctor had shoved his way into the centre.

   "Sir, I cannot let you do this!" he shouted, looking to Burns. Then he turned to face Fergusson. "Mr. Fergusson, sir, please listen to me. I wrote that song! It was me. I asked Mr. Burns to use his name and his contacts with the Glasgow Magazine but not a word of it came from his pen. He is trying to protect me because he thinks he will face a more lenient sentence than I, but he is the one with a family to feed, not me. And I am the one who caused this mess. It must be me who takes responsibility. Please, sir, let him go."

   Fergusson looked straight to Burns. "Is this true?"

   Burns opened his mouth but met eyes with the Doctor before he said anything. The Doctor stared at him, like he was trying to press his will onto him through sheer intensity.

   "Yes, it is true," said Burns. "My friend here is an honest man, perhaps too honest."

   Fergusson took a long, deep breath, then shoved Burns to the ground one last time. He took the Doctor by the arm himself and dragged him into the town hall.

📜📜📜

Ruby grabbed the shirt sleeve of the gaping Rogue and pulled him into a side alley between two rows of houses.

   "I know this is rich, coming from me," said Rogue. "But why the hell is he putting his neck on the line for this guy?" His voice cracked slightly and Ruby could feel from the wavering of his shirt that he was trembling. He'd searched for the Doctor for so long.

   Ruby let go of his shirt and smoothed down the crease she'd made. "Because he's the Doctor."

   Rogue pressed both his hands against his face, took one shuddering breath, then lowered his hands and said, "Okay. Yes, you're right. And he told us his plan, so we know he's not just sacrificing himself."

   "Exactly," said Ruby. She lifted up the screwdriver to show him its vibrations in her palm. Ruby had very early memories of a mobile phone her mum had had. If you'd left it on a hard surface, it would dance around in a circle whenever it started to vibrate.

   "It feels so strange, how in some ways you know him so much better than me. But of course you do. I've spent a total of four days with him, at most. The rest of it was all just in my imagination," said Rogue.

   "It's like in the Sims," said Ruby. "My green bar with him is full - that means friendship - but your pink bar is ahead of your green bar."

   "And what's the pink bar?"

   Ruby raised her eyebrows at him like when she had teased the Doctor back on the TARDIS.

   Rogue smiled despite himself and managed to get a couple of tears out, releasing some of the tension. He wiped them away and said, "Okay, how much of that song can you remember?"

---

Part 7

@off-traveling-in-the-stars @casavanse @monster-donut @randomwholocker (let me know at any point if you no longer wish to be tagged in each post)

[resident-gay-bitch]

Sunflower Boy

love comes back around, always

warnings: domestic violence, child neglect, blood, bruises

This was the worst day of Eddie’s life, ever. 

And no, he wasn’t being dramatic, it actually was. 

Eddie had been left alone in his house for three days - give or take - with no food, no running water, and no air conditioning. 

He was ten. 

A couple of days ago his dad got a job, he was like, a car salesman or something, and apparently it had gone super well, because he called Eddie and told him he was gonna be late. He was going for a beer or two. 

He never came home. 

Eddie’s mum was working too, though, that was more against her will. She would have preferred to be there with her son, however, her dad made sure of otherwise. Eddie didn’t know what his mum did, he just knew she wore really pretty clothes and makeup, would leave the house looking almost sick, and would come home smelling of alcohol, sweat, man, and something else kinda musky Eddie couldn’t exactly pin point. But she had left for a job, her longest one yet, up in Indy five days ago, and she wasn’t scheduled to come home until tomorrow night. 

Eddie was scared, hot, alone, and hungry. 

He didn’t know the way to Wayne’s house, or have his number and they didn’t have a phonebook. His neighbour across the hall, Mrs. Wittleson was a right bitch and hated Eddie and his parents. He couldn’t go to her. His neighbours to the left were scary, their apartment always smelt weird and in the middle of the night, right on the other side of Eddie’s wall, he’d hear screaming and moaning and slapping and sounds of pain. He was pretty sure they killed people or something. His neighbour on the right Mr. Crucks was a creepy man with a weird moustache that always offered him candy and looked at him funny. Eddie’s mum made him promise to never, ever, never talk to the man under any circumstances. Eddie never dared disobey his mum like that. The neighbours across the hall, beside Mrs. Wittleson, were away on holiday, and the other apartment was empty. Mould problem. 

So Eddie was stranded. 

He was worried for his dad, and so he did the only thing he knew to do. 

He called the cops. 

They’d asked him to explain his situation and he had told him how his dad went out to sell cars and never came home after celebrating the deal with a few beers, how his mum had been away all week on business, how the water bill was well overdue and he couldn’t even flush the toilet! He explained that it was so hot, and his mum said he wasn’t allowed to go into the ‘garden’, under the sprinklers for a cool down unless she was there because of that weird old Mr. Crucks. He said he hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning, because his dad was supposed to bring home the money so Eddie could go food shopping the other day, but he hadn’t yet, and he didn’t know how to call his uncle. 

Eddie was just hanging up the phone when his dad walked through the door, “Yes, thank you sir, I will- I can do that. Okay, thank you sir. Goodbye.” 

“Who ya talkin to?” 

“Dad!” Eddie grinned, the phone on the hook, “I was just calling the cop-”

“Whaddya say?” His dad marched over to his son, grabbing him tight by his little wrist, “Cops?” 

Eddie’s eyes were wet, “They… they were helping me find you.” 

“You fuckin- what’d ya tell ‘em?” 

“You hadn’t come home since your sale, and that I had no food, or anything.” 

“Fuckin idiot!” He smacked his son across the face, “You know we don’t call the pigs here.” 

“I didn’t know what to do.” Eddie sobbed, cradling his cheek, “I’m sorry, dad, I- I can-”

“You’re in big fuckin trouble, boy.” His dad shoved him up against the wall, a hand around his neck, “Y’ve fucked it all up, just had to fuck it all up.” 

“I’m sorry.” Eddie gasped, crying, trying to pry his dad’s hand away from his neck. 

“Whaddya fuckin sorry for. Useless little shit. Shoulda left you and your mother on the street”- 

Look, I won’t get too deep into it, but that ‘conversation’ went on for a little longer before they were distracted by red and blue flashing lights lit up the apartment. Eddie was terrified. He thought he was done for. He thought he was gonna get locked up and thrown in the can because he did something wrong. He didn’t know what, didn’t have the slightest idea, but his dad was scaring the shit out of him and Eddie thought he’d turned himself into a criminal by accident. So he did what he was taught to do when those lights flashed a little too brightly. 

He ran. 

He slipped out of his dads grip, right as the officers knocked on the door, and he slipped into the bathroom. He climbed up on the counter, kicked open the little window that always jammed, and wiggled his way out. His dad followed him in, trying to pull Eddie back inside, telling him he needed to face his consequences. But Eddie slipped free, and the window was too small for his dad to follow. 

Eddie fell into the dirt behind his apartment, and he ran. 

He ran for miles. 

It was hot, and he was tired, and hungry, but he ran. Hoping to bump into someone or somewhere he knew. 

He didn’t stop running until he realised that the houses flying by were nice. Like, really nice. Fancy and big with tall gates and green gardens. 

He was on the nice side of town, a place where he most certainly wasn’t welcome. Eddie slowed, letting himself wander the nice suburb, trying to find his way out of the maze of pretty houses. He hoped he wasn’t spotted here, no doubt some woman with a pearl necklace would call the cops about it. Then he’d be in even bigger trouble. 

He found a playground, by the woods. It was old and looked pretty rusty. There was another one, a better one on the other side of the field, Eddie could see. But that one had kids on it, over here, he could be alone. 

The sun was hot, the air was warm. 

This was his worst summer ever. 

He sat on the swing, rusty and squeaky, but he didn’t care. He sat on the swing, and poked around his face, feeling for where he was hurt. His vision was a little blurred, though, he wasn’t sure if that was from the black eye he was sporting or the tears. 

Maybe both. 

Eddie sat, and he looked up at the sky, at the sun with squinted eyes, and hoped it burned him. 

“Hi.” a little voice came from beside him. 

Eddie looked over to see a boy standing at the edge of the swingset. He had golden brown hair, rosie cheeks, a warm smile, and a yellow shirt under some overalls that were unevenly cuffed at the ankles. 

Eddie thought he might just be the prettiest boy he’d ever seen. 

“Hi.” Eddie said back, his voice small and quiet, hoarse from crying. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. 

Eddie swallowed and nodded his head. 

“Are you sure?” the boy asked again, “You look hurt.” 

“Just… had an accident.” Eddie offered, “Doesn’t matter.” 

“Okay.” The boy nodded, “Do you have any friends?” 

Eddie looked at him, thought for a moment, and shook his head, “Not really.” 

The boy smiled, “Me either… Well, I have one friend, but he’s kind of mean. We’re only friends because our dads are business partners, so we see each other at all their fancy events. Our mums say they are best friends too, but my mum secretly hates his mum.” 

“Okay.” Eddie had said, and looked back to the bark under his feet. 

“Do you want to be my friend?” 

Eddie looked up at him again, “Why?”

The boy furrowed his brow, “Because you look sad.” he shrugged, “Everyone deserves to have a friend when they are sad.” 

Eddie thought for a moment, letting his eyes droop, “I suppose.” 

The boy smiled, “Well, we can be friends then. I do like your hair, you look like… uh, I don’t know his name, but he sings that song, open your eyes and seee, i’m just a poor boy… la la la meee, easy come easy go… ahh…” he looked around a little awkwardly, hoping Eddie would catch on, “Mamaaa just killed a man….”

“Oh.” Eddie nodded, “I think I know him.” 

“Yeah.” The kind boy smiled. 

Eddie furrowed his brow, “We don’t look the same.” 

“But you both have long hair.” He giggled, “It’s cool. Rockstar.” 

Eddie couldn’t help but grin wide at that, it hurt his face, but he grinned anyway, “Thanks.” 

“No problem.” The boy sighed, “Can I sit next to you?” 

“Sure.” Eddie looked at the rickety swing beside him, “Here, have mine, that one looks broken.” 

“It’s okay-”

“No, it’s okay.” Eddie hopped up, and sat himself down on the broken one before the boy could protest, “You look too fancy to sit on broken things.” 

“I am not fancy.” the boy took a seat, “Hey, you warmed it up for me. Thanks.” 

Eddie giggled, “You have done your hair all nice, and your overalls are clean.” 

“All clothes are supposed to be clean.” 

“These are clean.” Eddie pointed to his jeans, “Got them out the cupboard this morning, but they have a paint stain on them here, and a ketchup stain on them here, and something else here.” 

The boy giggled, “My nanny hates stains.” 

“You have a nanny!” 

“Yeah, don’t you?” 

Maybe if he had a nanny, all of this bullshit would have been avoided and Eddie wouldn’t be a wanted criminal. But, he supposed, he never would have met this boy. 

“No, I don’t have a nanny.” 

“Oh.” the boy furrowed his brow, “It’s probably for the best, my nanny is a butthead.” 

Eddie laughed, “A butthead?” 

“Yeah.” the boy groaned, “She’s always telling me I need to brush my teeth for longer and eat my carrots. I hate carrots!” 

Eddie laughed some more, “You’re so fancy.” 

“Am not.” 

“Y’are.” Eddie smiled, “I only brush my teeth in the mornings, and most of the time, I just have microwave mac ‘n cheese for dinner or spaghettios.”

“Cool!” The boy grinned, “I wish I could have spaghettios for dinner.” 

Eddie sighed, finding himself frowning a little, “Spaghettios are not that good three times a week.” 

The boy pouted, “Maybe we should swap.” 

“I think so.” Eddie grinned, “Though, I’d probably get smacked for not being fancy enough in your house.” 

Steve shrugged, “My nanny doesn’t like smacking.” he sighed, “Mum and dad don’t even notice when I’m bad anymore.” 

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Eddie asked, “I wish my parents didn’t notice when I mess up.” 

The boy huffed, resting his head against the chain on the swing, “I suppose.” 

“So…” Eddie kicked the bark under his feet, “What’s your favourite song?” 

“Uhm,” the boy perked up, seemingly a little cheerier now that parents were not a topic of conversation, “Honey Honey by ABBA.” 

Eddie broke a grin, “That’s one of my mums favourites.” 

“Really?” The boy had wide eyes. 

“Yes.” Eddie nodded, “My favourite is… Immigrant Song by Led Zepp.” 

The boy looked confused. 

“You’ve never heard it, have you?” 

The boy shook his head. 

“Maybe you can listen to it, it’s so metal.” Eddie suggested with a sweet smile, “Maybe you will like Led Zeppelin.”

“Well… you’re cool, and you like them, so probably.” the boy shrugged, his kindness easy. 

Eddie hadn’t gotten such kindness from kids at school before. 

“How old are you?” 

“I’m nine and two quarters.” the boy answered, proudly, Eddie noticed he was missing a tooth. 

Wait, isn’t that just nine and a half? 

“I’m ten, almost twelve.” 

“Poop.” the boy sighed, “Means we won’t have class together.” 

“Oh.” Eddie looked to the ground, but his chest bloomed with warmth at the idea of this boy wanting to have classes with him, “We… never mind.” 

“What?” the boy had asked, eyes wide and sparkling. 

He was very pretty. 

“Maybe we could play at lunchtime.” 

The boy smiled, “Obviously.” he hopped up off the swing and started to climb the tower, “We could play lots of games. Do you like superheroes?” 

“Yeah.” Eddie smiled, following him up the tower, “I love superheroes.” 

“I wish I was superman.” the boy smiled, sitting down at the top of the old metal slide, it was probably burning hot, but he had long pants on. Eddie could see his matching mismatched rainbow socks, “He’s so cool.” 

“Yeah.” Eddie agreed, unable to help the smile he got when the boy slid down, letting out a giggle, “Batman’s cool too though. I like bats.” 

“Ooh, yeah.” the boy smiled, watching Eddie slide down now too, “He’s so cool… Maybe we can go as Batman and Superman to Halloween together.” 

Eddie stopped at the bottom of the slide, looking up at the boy, “You want to go to halloween together?” 

“Yeah.” He nodded, “I know where all the best houses are to get the biggest candy bars, plus, Miss Lorane across the street loves me and always gives me triple.” 

“Cool!” Eddie hopped up, he never got too many treats on halloween, most of them were from his mum. 

The boy rushed over to the seesaw, and Eddie followed, “Do you want to play superheroes now? Or would you like to play something else?” 

“Hmm…” Eddie thought superheroes did sound really fun, but he wanted to know what other games the boy had, “maybe.” 

“We could also play… cafe, and pretend to make food with the bark. Or we could play astronauts and climb to the top of the tower like it’s our rocket ship…” the boy hummed, letting his eyes wander, until he got an idea, and he got excited, “or maybe we can play doctors!” 

“Doctors?” Eddie asked, quirking an eyebrow, and his face hurt again. 

“Yeah,” the boy smiled, nodding rather aggressively, “I can make you all better.” 

Oh. 

Eddie felt his heart grow three sizes. 

“Okay.” 

The boy smiled, hopping off of the seesaw before dragging Eddie over to the tower. He sat him down under the shade of it, right by the slide, and got to work doctoring Eddie. He put on a funny voice, pretending to be a doctor of course, acting as if he had a stethoscope and everything. Eddie couldn’t help but smile as he watched the boy. The boy whose smile was as bright as the sun and who’s heart was as big as the sky. He was dressed in a warm yellow t-shirt, and perfectly clean denim overalls, and rainbow matched mismatched socks with stripes and polka dots under his sneakers, and he radiated kindness and warmth. 

Eddie really liked this boy. 

After they finished playing doctors, and Eddie’s face felt a little better, his heart feeling a lot better, they sat on the overgrown grass. They talked and talked and talked about stupid boy things, and picked at the grass and laughed. 

It was nice, Eddie thought, to have a friend like this. 

On the worst day of Eddie’s life, after he’d been abandoned for three days, starved, overheated, beaten, and sent on the run from the cops, he’d been sent this boy. Eddie thought he must have been an angel. He had to be. There was no other explanation about it. 

“Oh! Look over there.” the boy smiled, jumping to his feet and running for the treeline, “Daisies!” 

Eddie raced after him, both of them stopping at the patch of pretty white daisies with centres that matched the kind boy’s shirt, “What about them?” 

“Do you not like flowers?” the boy asked, leaning over to pick one, “My friend doesn’t like them either, says it’s weird for boys to like flowers. But my old nanny taught me all about them, she was so nice, but mum fired her because she always had her boyfriend around and wore shirts that showed too much skin apparently.” 

“Oh.” Eddie swallowed, “No, I just… I’ve never really thought about flowers much before.” 

“Hmm.” the boy smiled, handing his picked flower to Eddie before grabbing another, “Do you like these ones?” 

“I suppose.” Eddie shrugged, “They are pretty.” Not quite as pretty as you, though. 

The boy grinned, “Have you ever made a daisy chain?” 

Eddie shook his head, “I don’t even know what that is.” 

The boy gasped, squatting down to pick basically all of them, “You’re crazy, weirdo.” 

Eddie felt his stomach drop. Of course he’d fuck it up. He always fucked shit up. 

“I have to teach you.” The boy handed Eddie a bunch of flowers and went back to picking more, “Only weirdo crazy people don’t know about daisy chains, and we can’t have you being one of those any longer. You’re too cool for that.” 

Eddie smiled, all warm and fuzzy inside. 

Eddie couldn’t make daisy chains. 

His hands trembled too much, and he just couldn’t get it. He gave up after a while, happy to just watch Steve make his. He picked the petals of a couple of flowers he’d fucked up. 

“What’s your favourite flower then?” Eddie had asked, curious to learn more about this sunray of a boy. 

“Hmmm.” he had hummed, “I think… sunflowers.” 

“Why?” Eddie asked. 

“Well, I do like yellow the best. It’s so happy and bright.” the boy fiddled with the flowers in his hands, “And, did you know that sunflowers will follow the sun? They actually turn to look at the sun throughout the day, so they’ll always be in the light.” 

Eddie thought that was perfect. Sunflowers for this sunshine boy. Sunflower boy. 

“How about you, what flowers are your favourite, do you think?” 

“Uh…” Eddie wasn’t sure at all, other than sunflowers now, but he couldn’t very well say that, “I’m not sure.” 

“We’ll find you a favourite flower.” he smiled, lifting his daisy chain up to the sky to look at it, “I’m all done.” 

“Wow.” Eddie inspected it, the perfect circle of pretty white flowers with yellow centres, “It’s wonderful… how did you do it?” 

The boy laughed, “Magic.” 

“You’re so cool.” 

The boy smiled, cheeks tinted pinker, “It’s for you.” 

Eddie felt his heart jump into his throat, his eyes widened and he looked at the boy, “What?” 

“I made it…” the boy offered, both hands holding the crown out, “for you. I thought it would look nice in your hair.” 

Eddie’s chest felt impossibly tighter, “Do you think?” 

The boy smiled, and giggled in a honey sweet way, and leant forward on his knees to plant the chain on Eddie’s head, fixing it into place to make a crown, “Hey, it looks so pretty on you.” 

Eddie felt his cheeks go pink, “Really?” 

The boy nodded, “It suits you.” 

Eddie grabbed all the daisies from his lap and the ground around them, gathered them into a bunch and shoved them into the Sunflower boy’s chest (nicely of course). The boy giggled, and Eddie was infatuated with him. 

“What?” he had asked, holding the bunch of flowers, some of them facing the wrong direction. 

“For you.” Eddie had said, picking up the few flowers that dropped and handed them over as well, “Thank you.” 

The boy giggled, “You don’t have to give me these!” 

Eddie plucked one, the prettiest one he could see, and stuck it behind the boy’s ear, “There, now… pretty.” 

The boy bloomed pink, “You think I’m pretty?” 

Eddie nodded, “You’re prettier than all of these flowers and more.” 

Okay, so apparently Eddie was a little romantic. 

Sunflower boy turned pinker and dipped his head. 

“I think my favourite flower is a daisy.” Eddie had smiled. 

The boy looked up at him with soft eyes and a kind smile, “Perfect.” 

They both laid back on the grass, the bunch of daisies clutched in the boy’s hand, resting on his chest. They watched as the sky turned from blue to dusky orange and pink. Their pinkies intertwined between them, only a few sweet words said. 

Eddie thought he might be in love. 

“I have to go home.” his Sunflower boy had said, voice quiet and calm, “I’m not allowed to be out after dark.” 

Eddie frowned, “Okay.” 

“We can play at school though.” The boy smiled. 

Eddie felt a pang through his chest, “Do you mean that?” he’d asked, his eyes wide and pleading, “Not many people like me at school.” 

The boy smiled wider and held up his pinky, “I pinky promise to play with you every day at school.” 

This was definitely love, “Really?” 

“Of course,” he waggled his finger, “you’re my best friend.” 

Eddie locked his finger around his Sunflowers, offering his warmest, most genuine smile. 

There was silence for a moment, before Sunflower spoke again, “Would you like to come for dinner? You can eat my carrots.”

Eddie positively lit up, “Yes please.” 

The boy grabbed his hand and they ran. They ran through the field and down the streets, watching the sky disappear to darkness and the street lights switch on. Eddie held the crown atop his head and the boy clutched the daisy bunch tight. They laughed as they ran, or more so, giggled. 

Eddie wanted to hold his Sunflower boy’s hand forever. 

He was going to marry this boy. 

In the distance, Eddie heard the faint echo of a siren. His heart dropped. He stopped in the middle of the street, the boy stopped with him. Eddie looked around, frantic. 

“You okay?” the boy had asked, his hand holding Eddie’s a little tighter now. 

“Uh… yeah.” Eddie had said, right before his eyes fixed on a cop car down the road, “I need to go.” 

“What?” the boy had asked. 

Eddie turned to face him. He didn’t want to leave the boy. He didn’t ever want to say goodbye to this boy. Sunflower boy was his entire world and Eddie knew he loved him. He was positive. He’d never felt anything like this. 

Which is exactly why Eddie had to leave. 

He was wanted for crimes he didn’t know if he committed, he was in trouble, bound to get locked up. His dad had told him he was in big trouble, that he had consequences to face. Eddie just hoped they had a separate jail for kids. And this boy, his Sunflower boy, sweet and soft with a smile Eddie wanted to kiss away. Well, he was too good for a delinquent like Eddie. He was more deserving. Eddie wanted to keep him safe, to protect him from his rotten life. He wanted to keep his Sunflower blooming, facing the sun, and keep him in the light. If he’d stayed, and the cops found Eddie, they’d take his sunflower boy too no doubt. Lock him up for being Eddie’s accomplice or something. Cops were pigs, as his dad would say, always making up bullshit, looking to lock anyone a little rough or different up. 

Eddie couldn’t risk his flower being hidden from the sun. 

“I just… I have to go.” Eddie had said again, trying to pull away. 

But the boy didn’t let him go, just held him a little tighter, “Why? I don’t want you to go. I thought we were friends.” 

“We are…” Eddie said, “But I have to leave.”

“But why?” he’d asked again, eyes pleading for him to stay. 

“I just… I can’t explain it.” Eddie tried to pull away.

“I want you to stay.” His voice was wet, higher pitched, like a wine but sadder, “I’ll make you another daisy chain, if you’d like, or… we can have dessert. Anything you want. You can sleepover, if you like!”  

Eddie frowned, “I-” he heard the siren much closer, “I can’t.” 

“Please.” He’d pouted, and it broke Eddie’s heart. 

“I need to-” he saw the cop car come up the street, and Eddie’s heart jumped out of his throat, “No, this is weird! Yo- you’re… weird. I need to go.” he yanked his hand away, and he ran, daisy chain clutched to his chest. 

*

Eddie hugged his knees, looking down at the grass by his feet. He didn’t feel much, not really. Just… emptiness. Emptiness and content, almost. 

He had a few things to cross off his bucket list still. He thought he’d have a good few years to get through them, and under much different circumstances. But, he’d just have to make do with what he could. 

Eddie looked back over his shoulder at Steve and Robin, sitting, talking with Dustin and Erica. He could cross a couple things off now, with that lot, if he wanted. Just little things, fun things, meaningful things. 

But he thought he’d start with the big two; do something brave and a little stupid without running from the consequences, and tell someone special the story he’d never told anyone before. 

“Hey, Steve?” He’d called out, forcing himself to before he backed out again. 

“Yeah, you okay?” He’d replied. 

“Yeah.” Eddie nodded, waving his hand out, “Can you c’mere for a sec?” 

Steve nodded his head, saying a quick something to Robin before making his way over to Eddie. Steve sat down in the grass beside him, in the field, looking up at the bright blue sky. It was calm out. The world felt warm. 

“What’s up?” Steve asked, bumping his knee into Eddie’s. 

Eddie took a deep breath, “I just… I wanted to cross a few things off the list before I kicked it.” 

“Ed-”

“Okay, I know, talk positive.” Eddie sighed, “Just… let’s be real for a second Steve, I’m either dying down there, or getting locked up for life which is just as bad. I don’t wanna die, I really don’t, but I’m being realistic, okay?” 

Steve huffed, “Stay alive, we can get your charges dropped.” 

“Yeah.” Eddie nodded, “Maybe.” 

“We’ll try- Dustin will try.”

Eddie smiled, “True.” he shrugged, “But still, just in case, I wanna cross a couple of things off.” 

“Eddie-”

“Humour me, Steve.” he looked at Steve, eyes pleading, “C’mon.” 

Steve sighed, “Okay.” 

Eddie smiled, “I… I wanna do something bold and brave. Something that’s probably a little dumb and might get me hurt, even though it’s right, and I won’t run from the consequences of that.” 

I want to come out to you, a well known queer puncher. 

“And I wanna tell you something…” Eddie swallowed, “I wanna tell you a story, something that happened to me when I was a kid. Something I’ve never told anyone, ever, and that I was saving for a special someone.” 

“Ah…” Steve glanced at him, “I- I’m your-”

Eddie glared at him, “No.” yes, “But out of everyone here, you’re probably the specialist.” Eddie shrugged, “A fallen king, hanging out with a bunch of nerds, fighting interdimensional monsters whilst maintaining glorious hair… That’s special, Steve.” 

Steve laughed, “Okay, yeah.” he nodded, “Go on then.” 

“Okay,” Eddie sighed, “So, when I was-”

“Wait, what’s the brave thing?” Steve asked. 

“It’s in the story.” Eddie nodded, “You’ll have to wait to find out… but you’ll know.” 

“Okay.” Steve smiled. 

Eddie took a deep breath, “When I was a kid… about ten, I had, what I thought was, the worst day of my life. Now, it was pretty fuckin bad, I’ll give you that, but I think I’ve had worse now.” 

Steve shrugged, “Probably.” 

“Now, Stevie, I’m trusting you with this story, yeah?” Eddie raised an eyebrow, “I’ve never told a soul this, and I don’t plan on telling anyone else, okay? Not even Wayne. It’s special.” 

“Yeah, okay.” Steve smiled, lifting his little finger, “Pinkie promise.” 

Eddie felt his chest tighten. 

“God.” Eddie groaned, linking his pinkie with Steves, “Add that to the list of things that make you special.”

Steve laughed. 

“So, I didn’t know this at the time really, but my dad stole cars and shit for a living. I mean… you know… he taught me how to hotwire and… but anyway, he stole cars and then sold them for drug runs. A few days prior to this stories beginning, my dad worked a job and got paid really fucking well, so he decided to go on a three day bender down the pub.” Eddie shrugged, scratching his chin, “My mum, I really didn’t know this at the time, was a sex worker. She didn’t wanna be, she worked as an escort, she was kinda forced into it. My dad owed a bunch of people a bunch of money and so they kinda just… used my mum as collateral. Five or so days prior to my tale, she went up to Indy on a ‘business trip’. Basically, she was keeping this one guy company because dad owed him fuckin buckets and she was forced to. So this left me alone for three days. The water stopped working, it was hot, I didn’t have food or money to get some… I was stranded, alone for three days. And, my dad, he got this payout, but spent it all on drink rather than his kid, or to get his fucking wife out of the situation she was forced into because of him.” 

Eddie rubbed his eyes, and Steve listened carefully, taking in every word. He rubbed his hand up and down Eddie’s back, over the smooth cool leather. It made Eddie feel a little safer. 

“I was worried. I was hungry. I was alone.” Eddie sighed, “So I called the cops, asked them to help me find my dad. Right? It’s what kids are taught to do.” 

“Right.” Steve nodded. 

“So I hang up, right as my dad get’s home. I told him I just talked to the cops, and he… he was not impressed.” Eddie took a deep breath, “We had a strict no cops rule in our apartment, but I didn’t know what else to do. Dad started yelling, telling me off, he… he beat me.” 

“Oh, Eddie.” Steve hummed, his hand on Eddie’s forearm. 

“The worst he’d ever done, at that point.” Eddie said, “We saw the cops pull up, and I thought… I thought they were gonna arrest me, because I’d done the wrong thing by calling them. And so I ran. I duct out the bathroom window and ran for miles, not looking back once.” 

“Sounds freeing.” Steve looked out to the sky, “I wish I could run like that.” 

“Yeah.” Eddie looked out with him, both of them taking in the feel of the wind for a moment. 

“Is that it?” Steve asked, voice gentle. 

“No.” Eddie shook his head. 

“Okay.” Steve smiled softly, “Take your time, Ed’s.” 

Eddie ignored how the nickname squeezed at his heart, “I found myself in unknown territory, sat myself down on a broken playground.” Eddie couldn’t help but smile at the memory, “I hated everything in the world. I was ready to run away and never face anyone ever again. But then this… boy just appeared out of nowhere. He appeared and he made everything better.” 

Eddie laid back into the grass, looking up at the soft sky as it began to set. Steve laid back with him, both of them taking in the feel of the world around them. 

“He had a sweet smile, and he wore the cleanest overalls I’d ever seen. I don’t remember much about him, my brain blocked out most of that week. But I remember him.” Eddie nodded, “He… he asked me if I was okay, if I wanted a friend. And we played. He made me a daisy chain and I thought he was the most perfect boy in the whole world. His favourite flowers are sunflowers, you know. That’s how I know him, call him my Sunflower boy.”

Eddie chuckled to himself, feeling happy with the memory, “He was so kind. Too kind, even. I thought my brain had made him up entirely. He’d just come to me on my worst day and fixed it all. He wore bright yellow and smiled warm and made me a fuckin daisy chain, Steve.” Eddie turned his head to look at him, “He was my first love.” 

Steve’s eyes widened a little, “You…” he blinked a few times, “You’re gay?” 

“Please don’t punch me.” Eddie muttered. 

“Why would I-” Steve swallowed, “I promise, I won’t.”

Eddie smiled, “Thanks.” 

“Keep talking.” Steve said low.

Eddie felt his spine tingle, “He invited me back to his house, for dinner. I wanted to go. I did, I loved him, I knew it. I never wanted to let this boy go again. And he was beautiful. I remember… we were in the middle of the road, and he had daisies in his hands and hair and… I loved him.” Eddie looked back up at the sky, “But I heard a cop car down the street, and they were looking for me. I thought they were going to arrest me, lock me up, and I didn’t wanna risk my Sunflower boy. I promised myself I’d make sure he always got to see the sun. Didn’t want him getting in trouble just for being nice to me… a supposed criminal.” Eddie chuckled, “Funny how things come back around.” 

Steve smiled, “Maybe you’re not as innocent as we thought, Eddie.” 

Eddie couldn’t help but blush, “I told him he was weird, because he didn’t want me to go. I told him… I was mean to him, Steve. But I didn’t know what else to say to make him let me go. I didn’t want him to know I was a criminal. I wanted him to remember me as the boy who liked daisies because they looked pretty on my Sunflower.” Eddie sighed, “I just hope he’s doing okay. I think about him every day, you know?” 

“You do?” Steve asked. 

“Yeah.” Eddie nodded, “He helps me through my hardest times. When things are shit, I just remember his sweet little voice saying hi.” 

“That's… cute.” 

“Mhm.” Eddie smiled, “After all was resolved, and mum got home, the daisy chain started to wilt. I went to mum with it, crying. Didn’t tell her why I didn’t want it to die, just that it was very important to me and that I needed to keep it forever and ever. She helped me pick the biggest, prettiest, most alive flower from it, and we preserved it.” 

“What?” Steve looked at him. 

“Yeah.” Eddie nodded, “We pressed it, then she turned it into a pin for me, put resin or some shit over it and a safety pin on the back.” Eddie opened up his leather jacket on his left, showing Steve the inside, “I keep it over my heart, so he’s always close to me.” 

“That’s beautiful.” Steve managed to say after a moment of silence. 

“Mhm.” Eddie closed his jacket, pressing a hand over his heart, “Just hope he’s got someone there for him now, like he was for me. Hope I didn’t shove him into the closet or whatever. Everyone deserves a Sunflower, especially my boy.”

“Your…” Steve trailed off with a whisper, “I think he does, Eddie.” 

“Really?” 

Steve nodded, “He’s got you, keeping him close.” 

Eddie frowned, “He probably hates me.” 

“I think he’d understand, if you explained it to him.” 

“I hope so.” Eddie sighed. 

“What would you say…” Steve wondered, “if you ever met him again?” 

Eddie chuckled, “I’d probably plant one on him.” 

Steve laughed, “What?” 

“Yeah!” Eddie nodded, “I’d give him a kiss. That’s all, just a kiss, thank him for keeping me sane all these years. Let him go on his way.” 

Steve sighed, “You’re wonderful, Eddie.” he smiled, hooking his pinkie with Eddies, “Promise I’ll never tell.” 

*

Oh god, it hurts. 

Everything really hurt. 

His body felt like fire and his blood was cold. 

Death wasn’t what he thought it would be. 

“Love you, man.” He managed to choke out, holding Dustin’s hand dearly. 

“Love you too.” The younger boy had managed to splutter out. 

Eddie’s face was sprinkled with tears and slobber and probably snot, but he was too close to death to care. 

“No, no, no, no!” He’d heard a voice shout from afar, “You idiot!” 

“I’m sorry.” Eddie whispered, but only Dustin had heard him. 

“Oh my god.” Nancy pressed a hand over her mouth, turning away, “Dustin-” she grabbed the boy, pulling him into her chest and stroking his hair, “Shh, it’ll be okay. It will be okay-” 

“No.” Steve whined again, this time he was on his knees, beside Eddie, holding his limp body, “Eddie…” 

Eddie smiled up at him with reddened teeth, “Hi, Steve.” 

“What did you do?” 

“I played hero.” Eddie managed to choke out, “I never liked… listening to peoples… rules.” 

Steve squeezed Eddie a little, “Idiot. I fucking hate you.” he cried a little harder, “Why… you said you’d live. We… we’d get you- I’ll get you out.” 

Eddie shook his head, “No-”

“I’m getting you out, Eddie.” Steve readied himself to stand, pulling Eddie with him. 

But Eddie groaned, let out a piercing cry of new found pain, more blood leaving his body. Steve put him back down, crying more. He couldn’t save him. 

Eddie smiled again, and it broke all of their hearts, “Thanks for listening, Steve.” He moved his frail hand around until it found Steves, and he squeezed with all his might, “Before… in the clear…ing. Thank you.” 

Steve shook his head, “You… you-” Steve sobbed, his hand wiped the blood from Eddie’s cheek, “I needa tell you something too.” 

Eddie nodded, “Course.” 

Steve forced himself to smile through the tears, “He’s me.” 

Eddie didn’t quite catch on. 

Steve wove his hand under Eddie’s jacket until he found the daisy pin, “Sunflower. He’s me.”

Eddie’s eyes widened, “I-” he smiled softly then, “Makes sense. You both had… lovely hair.” 

Steve laughed, “I always remembered you, Eddie. Always.” 

“Trying to make me feel bad?” Eddie joked, but his frail voice made laughing harder, “I’m dying here.”

Steve cradled him a little closer, “I remembered because you were the only boy in Hawkins with hair that long. And on that day, you were wearing a Garfeild shirt, and you wore it on the first day back at school.” Steve wiped his cheeks with his shoulders, “I didn’t talk to you because I thought you hated me.” 

Eddie’s eyebrows creased, “No…” he sounded so broken, his hand squeezed Steves again, “No… no, I loved you.” 

Steve nodded, “I know. I know now.” 

Eddie coughed and sputtered up some blood. 

“Shh.” Steve soothed, “Relax, Daisy boy.” 

Eddie smiled. 

“You broke my heart, that day, Ed’s.” Steve smiled, “My first heartache. I loved you too.” 

Eddie’s smile grew a lot sadder, “You broke mine too.”

“How?” Steve scoffed, “You did that to yourself.” 

“I know.” Eddie chuckled softly, ignoring the pain it caused, “But later. In your freshman year, you were so kind, at first.” he took a moment to breathe, “So pretty. Y- you were a slut, you know?” 

Steve laughed, “Yeah.” 

Eddie nodded, “Always made me… jealous.” 

“You had a thing for me in highschool?” Steve asked. 

Eddie nodded again, “You were such a dick, but I loved you.” Eddie turned his head towards the three huddled beside him, “Hated you, N- Nancy.”

Nancy laughed, “Yeah?” 

Eddie smiled, “You sucked… took him.” 

Steve genty took Eddie’s cheek, turning him back, “You hated me in highschool.” 

“I hated… King Steve.” Eddie smiled, lifting a hand to press on Steve’s heart, “Not you.” 

Steve sobbed some more. 

“Broke my heart… with every girl.” Eddie swallowed, he didn’t like the taste of blood much, “Guess we’re even.” 

Steve nodded, “Yeah, guess we are.” he looked down at him for a moment, shaking his head, “Fuck, Ed’s. Why’d you do it?” 

“Didn’t wanna run.” He pushed out. 

“I hate you.” Steve sobbed. 

“I know.” Eddie whispered, cupping Steve’s cheek, “I know, Sunflower.” 

Steve cried a whole lot harder, “You did shove me in the closet, you know?” 

Eddie felt his heart breaking, “I did?” 

“So far.” Steve nodded. 

“I’m sorry.” he couldn’t control the tear that slipped out, “Stevie, I’m sorry.” 

Steve chuckled, “Doesn’t matter now.” he stroked Eddie’s hair, “But maybe, if we’d known better back then, things could have been different.” 

“You think?” Eddie asked, eyes close to closing. 

“I know.” Steve leant down, pressing his forehead to Eddies, “Woulda been loving you much longer.”

Eddie hummed, eyes closing to feel Steve better, “Sunflower.” he’d whispered. 

He felt Steve’s body shake, “I hate you, Eddie.” his voice was so broken, “Why’d you have to do it? Why’d you have to play hero?” 

“I’m sorry.” Eddie opened his eyes. 

“No.” Steve sat up again, teeth gritted, “No you don’t… you don’t get to do that! You can’t do this to me, Eddie.” 

“I’m so sorry.” Eddie felt his body shake too, more tears falling, “I don’t want to die, Stevie, don’t let me die. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” 

Steve couldn’t see much, just red, “I love you.” 

Eddie tried to speak, but the crying shook his lungs and forced up more blood. 

“I don’t know what to do, Eddie. I don’t know what to do.” 

Eddie looked at him weakly, his hand slowly moving to hover over his heart, “T- take it.” 

Steve shook his head, “Take what?”

“M-my hea…rt, Stevie.” Eddie smiled, “‘Nd the d- daisy.” 

Steve closed his eyes, and nodded his head, “I’ll wear it every day.” 

Eddie smiled, “Love… you… Sunflower.” 

“No.” Steve shook Eddie’s body, “C’mon, no… please! Just need a little longer, Eddie, I’ll get you out of here.” 

Eddie smiled softly, “M’okay, baby.” he was barely whispering, “M’okay here.” 

“No.” Steve whispered back. 

“You’ve got me, Sunflower.” Eddie let his eyes close, “S’all that matters.” 

“I can’t let you go, Eddie. We need more time.” 

“Give me a kiss, Steve?” Eddie smiled, eyes unable to open again. 

Steve leant over, tears slipping off the end of his nose and onto Eddie’s. He pressed his lips to his Daisy boys and kissed him. He cried, so hard, and Eddie couldn’t kiss back, not really. It wasn’t anything like it should have been, but it was theirs, and that’s all that mattered. When Steve sat back up his mouth was red with Eddie’s blood, and Eddie had stopped moving. 

sorry not sorry x

don’t forget to reblog! comments are always welcome as well, i love to read about your thoughts and ideas <3

thanks for reading!

here is a little pic i drew for this :)

[suiana]

Tw: rape, assault, a gun, fighting, yelling, and just overall a traumatic experience

Oh by the way all the diologs are translated from Spanish :]

Ok it was a normal tuesday, I was happily at work fixing up a small gift of flowers we weren't gonna use , and give it to someone v e r y special when all of a sudden, 3 men come RUSHING into the store.

I of course get starteled and let out a yelp. Then they hear me and start trying to make small talk with me all about how "The plushes and whatches here are so expensive that they probably cost half your salary!"

Cue weird ass laughter from them.

So I'm starting to get really uncomfortable because I was alone with these weird people. That's when the first one breaks and gets a (fake) lilac tulip from the gift I had almost finished.

He asks me "How much for this?"

To which I tell him "Oh these flowers are not for sale, they are apart of an arreglo for someone"

He gets visibly frustrated and says "Well I want it so how much for it"

I state again "It is not for sale sir, so please choose something else"

He then tells me "I want the flower and your number"

The others chime in saying stuff like "You're so lucky he likes you" "She's so cute we could just take her out right how" "She seems really weak" "she won't put up a fight"

I begin to become a bit afraid so I write down my old number (that's no longer in use) on one of the buisness cards we have on display at the front desk to slide to him and procede tell them "If you're not going to buy something that is for sale or place an order please leave sir"

The man then takes the card, shoves it in his pocket, and walks around the desk to my side. Keep in mind thoughout all of this I have a pair of scissors at arms reach and a pen in my hand.

He yanks me by my hair and covers my mouth, and begins undoing his pants while the other two guys start to grab some stuff.

I let out a blood curduling scream and start trying to fight back, but it all happened so fast that before I knew it he was moving onto my shirt trying to cut it open with a little navajita that he had. He did manage to rip it half way and cut me a little in the process

I stab his arm with the pen and rush to grab the scissors. He grabs his arm and yells to the men to get me.

They had their hands full with stuff so they (thankfully) couldn't grab me then and there.

I run out to the street screaming for help. Out there are a total of like 15 people out and about. The cowboy next door hears this comotion and grabs his gun and comes out to see people recording me getting beat up by 3 men and them cuting my clothes off.

I am FIGHTING for my LIFE whilst everyone aroynd is on their phones telling the men to either stop or hit me harder. I am in the process of being draged back into the store all bloody, bruised, crying, and squirming to get out of their grip.

The cowboy shoots one of the men in the leg who was trying (and failing miserably) to remove my binder he beings shouting and screaming in pain, and afterwards the cowboy starts fighting to other two.

I grab the shop's phone and call the police. It takes them like 2 minutes to respond (wow thanks athorities) and another 30 minutes to get there when the station is like 10 MINUTES WAY MAX!!

Though out all of this, one of the men escapes the cowboy, stealing his gun and running to me, he grabs my and points the gun at me.

The yells "O TE VAS O LA MATO ALA VERGA"

Which is just saying "or you leave or im fucking killing her"

The cowboy says "Dont hurt her!"

I'm trying to escape this man's horrifingly strong grasp, and in the mist of this I bite his chest man titties. He yelps shock. (I did make him bleed a little at the cost of losing two braces)

I get shoved to the ground and hit my head on some broken glass that was caused by the men droping shit.

I'm bleeding from my head and he grabs his navaja and slices my binder off bit by bit whilst the cowboy is forced to whatch this go down finnaly being restrained by the other two.

We're all yelling, I'm overwhelmed, my top half is out in the open for anyone to see, there's a man ontop of my trying to rape me, a random ass cowboy is trying to save me, my makeup is absolutly ruined, my head is spinning and driping with even more blood, and the police are taking forever to get here.

This mother fucker then moves onto my hands and tying them up with his belt so I stop hitting him.

I at this point almost accept defeat. But no I couldn't just let him get his way!!

I'm far too stuborn for this!

I CAN'T let him!

No!!!

And I didn't.

I kicked.

I screamed.

I hit him with my elbows.

I did everything in my power to stop him.

Until the police arived at last.

And with all my might, I kicked him in this crotch once again. That was until they pulled him off me.

They rushed me and the cowboy to the hospital and kept us there for idk how long anymore. I was close to dying. Having lost so much blood

My mum was called, and my sister took them to see me.

They were hysterical.

I had to tell them to be quiet. Everything hurt by that point.

The doctor said I was almost ok. Nothing serius go damaged. But I needed a blood transfer. My boss was also called by my mum and she said she would pay for everything.

The police had to remove my family from the room so they could question me before everything. And I told them everything.

The doctors were outside telling my family about the blood and how they could not find anyone to donate at the moment so I was probably not going to make it unless one of them did.

So while my family was deciding who, my sister stood up and said she would. She was taken to be tested to see if she would be able to. And she was. So they drew the blood and the rest is a blur.

When I woke up I was so afraid. I yelled my Lex's name. I screamed for my mum.

And with teary eyes they rushed into the room. My mum cried, and thanked god as my sister just stared.

She just look at my body. At the buised. The cuts. My face. She didn't say anything. She just cried. So that caused my to also cry.

She told my mother while I wad asleep that she could not bear the thought of her little sister going through this. Seeing me in a hospital bed a few steps fron death's door. It broke her.

We both knew in our hearts. That she was worried every second since that phone call. She would not say it to me. It is unusual for us to show afection to eachother. My mum always hated that. But that night I spent in the hospital, she never left my bedside.

When I said I couldn't sleep she c r a w l e d on the bed and joined me. I said "Ew wtf [insert her name] get off 👺" anf she didnt. She just huged me. And we fell asleep like that.

My mum even got a photo the next morning of us there XD

And yeah, that's the story of how I almost got raped and was a couple steps from death's door 😃👍

-De anon

bro that must be so traumatising are you okay now??? wtf those passerbys are shit why didn't they try to help??? bro if you ever want to talk or smth just message me because that must be fucking traumatic. I'm glad you're alright now though

[noxexistant]

RAAAH ROMEOOO HEADCANONS 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️💨💨💨💥💥💥💥🦅🦅🦅🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

romeo oh romeo mi ángel

thank u so much for asking for him <3 here are some baseline characterisation hcs to get us started

send me newsies writing/headcanon/art requests!!

first and foremost: a sweet kid. we see that he’s social - and, importantly, social in a consistently positive way. he’s always smiling and is always good-natured in the interactions he initiates. even his famous flirting seems to be entirely without the motivation of interest, and he’s totally unperturbed by rejection, and i like to think it’s just an excuse to initiate conversation. it gives him an in, rushing up and telling girls how pretty they are or whatever else - plus he gets to compliment them, which often gets them smiling, and sometimes it gets him a sale. nothing but wins. (except for every time it earns him scoffs and glares and sometimes even a shove as they move past him, but he brushes all that right off.)

he is, also, at least fairly naive. he goes running to the cops during the fight with the strikebreakers, desperate for their help. like he has no idea that the cops aren’t on their side. he’s loud and scared and totally open with his emotion, and he goes down hard when the cop hits him. which begs the question - why doesn’t romeo know, like the rest of the newsies do, that the cops aren’t to be trusted? in my opinion, it implies that romeo has a family, hasn’t been raised on the streets or anything like that, to have to have learned the hard way that cops can’t be trusted. maybe he’s a bit sheltered, at least in comparison to the rest of the newsies. i definitely headcanon him as being close with his mother, who he calls “mama”, and also having some siblings. probably younger, seeing as it sure seems like he hasn’t had the influence of older siblings teaching him certain harsh truths. he considers himself the coolest older brother, helping provide for his family.

relating to both his social habits and perhaps his naïveté (or just blind kindness) - he waves and smiles at morris, unprompted, during sales. it’s one of my favourite background details from the proshot, and we unfortunately don’t get to see morris’ reaction, but we see romeo look up at him on the balcony, smile and wave, and then kind of pout/shrug and give it up, so we can only assume morris probably just glared back or something. romeo doesn’t seem particularly scared or put off though, almost similar to how he reacts when katherine rejects him, and i like to think it’s just sheer determination. particularly with morris, at least that early - before everything that happens during the strike - romeo firmly believes that he could worm his way into even people like the delanceys, just by being persistent and kind, and believes that that’s what’s needed. people are mean because they’re sad, so by being nice, maybe he can make them less sad and make them be nice!

also: romeo isn’t his real name - it’d be a little too perfect if it was, i think - but he absolutely does not understand the joke of the nickname. when katherine mockingly calls him “romeo” to brush him off in jacobi’s, he rushes to jack and asks, “how’d she know my name?” implying he didn’t get katherine’s joke, so he doesn’t get the joke in general either. he’d be so excited if someone explained it to him, though - the other boys gave him his name after this cool, handsome flirt from a play? awesome! so, he and the juliet girl get together in the end, right? …right?

[cornerofhell]

Alrighty now that we've got Eddie's backstory, may I present his girlfriend/life partner:

Annabelle Diane Jackson was born to a middle class family in one of the many towns in New York. Her father, Leonard, was the chief of police, and her mother, Florence was a stay at home mother

Neither of them were very fitting of their roles

Leonard was corrupt and an abusive alcoholic, and Florence turned a blind eye thanks to her addiction to the drugs Leonard provided her from his job.

Annie was constantly wanted to be silent in the home as if she didn't exist, but the perfect angel out in public. When she wasn't she was hit, and chastised by her mother on "why can't you just do what Daddy says"

As Annie grew older she started to try to find any reason to not go home. Library stays for "studying", helping with bake sales, just walking up and down the streets, whatever kept her out of that god forsaken house.

The more she got out, the more she met people on the streets. Hooligans, as many would call them, but Annie thought they were wonderful. Misfits like her who understood bad homes. The more people to talk to, to listen to her, to include her in fun. Drinking, smoking, smoking pot, all the while treating her like a true person.

And with new friends she began to rebel more, getting more snappy, less fearful of her father's hands, wanting to be treated better...

Of course the abuse just got worse but to finally have a purpose - to have people who cared... It stung a tiny bit less. Just a little.

And when she turned eighteen, she was kicked to the curb. "You're not our- MY goddamn problem anymore. Become a whore for all I care. Just get the fuck out."

And out she did. She grabbed the few things she was allowed to leave with and ran like hell. She wanted nothing to do with her old town besides the friends she made. She was homeless, but she was free.

She changed her name- Donna Jean Angelo, and ran off with some of her friends. Donna wanted to go anywhere away from New York, and after travelling about over the years, after the friends split their ways, doing what they could to put food on the table, even stealing, Donna ended up in New Jersey.

She was twenty-seven, living in a shitty apartment, working as a waitress, and stealing and pickpocketing what she had to from those higher up.

She met Eddie in the diner she worked at, and often saw him there as a recurring customer, sometimes with a man and a woman, sometimes just the man, sometimes alone.

The night everything really changed though, was a night like any other... Donna having tripped by a group of bratty teenagers, who had already been making fun of Eddie rather blatantly about his shaggy demeanor, and he was alone today.

Her manager began yelling at her immediately for shattering the plates, and quickly turned to Eddie but- "Nah, it's alright. She... It wasn't her fault. It was those little assholes."

Donna was surprised warmly by the defense of her, but stayed quiet, because like hell was she getting yelled at again.

Later that night, when Donna got off her shift, she passed by a dark alleyway- one she heard noises coming from-

"-you fucking shithead. Don't ever fuck with her again, you hear me? I know someone who could make you hurt a lot worse-"

Upon closer inspection, with the small light of the moonlight, it was.... That Customer. Eddie. With one of the teenagers, who now looked to be almost pissing himself...

Probably because of the gun that Eddie held to his throat.

Eddie's head snapped up and his eyes showed a look of horror at being caught, just enough for the teenager to shove him off and take off running away.

Donna stood frozen, the two of them staring at each other once Eddie recovered from his fall. She'd seen plenty of men with guns, it was New Jersey for Christ's sake...

But never one who fought for her honor like this. And someone adorable too.

"you okay?"

[autumnbrambleagain]

Yhelm p4 - readmore for full story

"So what's in the box?" Yhelm asked. It was a risky question, always, especially when a box was locked, and especially when no one told you what was in the box. It was the sort of question you weren't supposed to ask if you wanted to be a good little hive-worker, but Yhelm was an adversary, and so she couldn't resist asking the stupid questions.

Belham laughed, and his ghostly fire rippled around his bare skull. "That's a secret."

"Right. And what am I telling the people who will stop me at the door because they don't know me and then they see a mystery box I can't explain nor fit into my bag?"

"Haha! They won't see the box. If they see the box you already failed."

"Prim'ent, I can't fit it into my Inventory, it isn't Mine. And I don't have any Mystery spe--"

Belham laughed again, which meant he was either in a good mood or a terrible one. "Go see my neice. Around the block. The little shack, half the roof gone, can't miss it. Tell her to shove it up Figments' pussy for me. Rub a coin on the door. Be nice to her or I'll skin ya."

"Riiight."

--

Yhelm had seen this shack before. A dilapidated former-house, attached to the back of the Guild headquarters. The street here was little more than an alleyway, and only a fishshop opened up into it. The whole stretch of dirt smelt terrible and people only ever used it as a shortcut. The shack, it was abandoned and maintained only as a buffer between the streets and the Guild's building. No one could sneak in through the back, if the back was a dangerous shack permanently threatening to collapse on your head. Yhelm had never even bothered going inside. No one ever had. The idea of going inside had never--

Wait a fucking minute, she thought. The idea of not going inside was still really persistent in her head. The more she stared at the rattly door, the rotting wood, the bending frame, the more she was convinced there was no reason to go inside. Except Belham had told her to come here? And as she thought about that, as she thought of a reason to go in, the urge to go get some coffee, instead, filled her, and she actually took several steps towards Afternoon Sale's cafe before she stopped.

"Son of a fuck that's magic," she said to herself. "This place is warded to the breacher-moon and back." As Yhelm realized that, she remembered she was supposed to meet Madrigal at--no. No, she was not. Although she was starting to wish she was, she was wanting to accept the house's excuses to leave, because this was not alleyway-level magic. This was professional-level. This was academage-level magic.

This was better-than-Yhelm-level magic.

Yhelm took out a ten-want coin and rubbed it on the door.

Oh wow the spell instantly passed by her and it was so THICK she could feel it squeeze tight against her face on its way by. Her glasses actually got knocked askew. But now the feeling that she had somewhere else to be was gone. She was clear to enter. Oh Bad Boy. Deep breath.

The door opened on a rattling hinge. She took a glance behind her and everyone who was walking this underused street seemed to not notice her, or the house, at all. In this part of the out-city you ALWAYS made sure you let everyone you could see KNOW you could see them. You made eye-contact with everyone you passed. That's how you signaled yourself as a hard target. No one was returning her looks. Yhelm could hardly imagine what sort of academage was waiting inside. She was imagining a powerful lamplighter, up to some Very Bad Business, if the wards were this strong. She was expecting the entire shack to just, open up into a fully furnished mansion.

It was absolutely not a mansion.

The inside of the house was stale and moldy smelling. Ardent-light filtered in from the ruined ceiling, forcing everything into a chiaroscuro of spotlight and shadow. It was an utter mess. The walls had collapsed in places and taken some of the ceiling with it. What space was still available had been turned into a hoarder's fantasy. Countless piles of boxes, drawers removed and lying naked and stacked, baskets and crates, everything filled to the absolute brim with junk. At a glance Yhelm could see and smell bits of old food and bone, scraps of cloth, pottery, candles, tools, strings, keys, marbles, paper, and plants, all dead.

A pile of rags in the corner suddenly stood up and began stumbling over to Yhelm. It had the gait and profile of a free person but the uncoordinated, wandering steps of a drunk. Yhelm kept herself very close to the door as they approached. This could not be Traversekin. Was this some homeless who had found their way in? There was an over-sweet smell of rot, thick and cloying, to the thing. Diseased? It was wrapped head to toe. Yhelm thought maybe, maybe leaving--

"Ah. He ll o." The figure stopped in front of her and tried so very hard to stay standing. It tilted its head, but the eyeslits in the sack it was wearing were so small Yhelm couldn't get a good--look--oh no the face. The bit of the face that was protruding was a mummified, shrunken muzzle. Oh no. A Half-Dead.

Not like Belham, who was born Dead naturally, but a poor thing that had been born alive, who had died, and had been forced back into existence. Only bits and pieces of who they once were remained, most of their Story had been taken up by Meadoe already. She had studied the concept in the Cazirizahd but they'd never made one. She'd seen them, but never had to, talk to one? Her teacher had compared them to dementia victims. It was considered Slightly Impolite to do this a person's corpse. That didn't stop acedamages creating them as servants. And she was apparently chatting with one.

In a collapsing shack, warded so well no one would probably hear her if she shouted.

"H-hello," Yhelm said. Her voice was Not Cool right now. Shameful. What would Bad Boy think! "I'm looking for, a, uhm. Is the, the owner of the,"

"Aaaah," the mummified dog rasped. "Aaah! You are for magic?? Lils HAS!!" Lils, that was her Name, she tilted her head the other way. "A a a h. Wait. Who sent ? ? Lils' shop is exclusiVE. Referral?"

Oh no, Yhelm thought. The Half-Dead wasn't the Traversekin's servant.

It was the Traversekin.

This shouldn't even be possible.

"How--how are you a--" Yhelm took a glance around the room. This wasn't junk. These were components. Some of the piles of junk were completed ritual installations. Some of the piles of junk were incredibly complex ritual installations. "Who are--"

"Yess, who?" the half-dead asked. "Refffferal. You need. Lils is only by referral. Lils. Lils makes a threat." And now a floating knife was pointing Yhelm right in the face.

"Gh--Belham Pio!"

Lils made a heart-stabbing squeal and the knife fell out of the air. "Unnncall! A good good. Good good. It is, come with." Lils started to lead Yhelm in, stumbling shakily but somehow managing to not knock into any of the piles of junk. She stopped suddenly to paw at one particular mass of Things--Yhelm could make out several mirrors, a tube, and a rabbit pelt? A ritual installation? "Ahh. Yhelm. Machato? Guild. Finisherman!" A Knowing installation, of course. She really was magic. "Very welL. What does Yhelm wanT?"

Yhelm followed Lils to a relatively clear spot, where the Ardentlight came in strong and dusty. The half-dead freeperson wobbled back and forth as she listened.

"Y-yeah. Uh. Belham wants, we have this box we need to deliver, but, and." Yhelm, okay, you're talking to a corpse but you're talking to Traversekin and a fellow criminal you can be cool. Can't you be cool? "Yeah. You make rep-forms? We need the box obfuscated so it can be smuggled past security. I imagine the same sort of thing you have for your house, scaled down? It's very impressive, by the way."

Lils was--this was smiling, right? Could she even really move her mouth? Maybe it was the angle she held it in the light? "Th ankyou! You speak lIKe TrAveRSekin. ArE you under his green eye too?"

That was maybe the most coherent sentence yet, Yhelm thought. Maybe the little bits of Identity that remained were all tied to magic? So talking about it allowed for more coherent speech? Maybe!? "I'm an acedamage. I trained in the Cazirizahd. My focus is on thesis magic, though."

Lils nodded her head--was it just having trouble staying upright?? "Rare. Other, other cuSTomer s, do not understand. They are AFraID of: Lils; Lils' Magic; her workSHOP. Lils SAW it. You arE afraid? But you Can see it. Her hard work. OTHer cuSTomERRs, they think it is, Messy junK. You complimented? Lils' magic? A pEER. You underSTAnd!"

Yhelm did. "Your customers don't treat you like the green-light you are, huh? Yeah. I understand that. Most people don't get the amount of effort that goes into learned magic. Or they see what you are and focus on that and not the skill you have. It's--it's probably not comparable to being half-dead, but I get a taste of it as an adversary. No one takes an adversary academage seriously. We're not 'supposed' to do magic. So you either get people who don't take you seriously no matter how good you are--"

"ORR peopLE who sAY, aAAH! YoU can, do this. EvEN thoUGh you should not be abLE to. AnD they are. Imm pressed? BuT it hurtS?"

"Because they're still looking at you as half-dead first, and judging your magic on that. It's, what, condescending? I hear it sometimes. Oh wow, an adversary academage? Good for you! As if we shouldn't be able to do it."

"Conpraschrending," Lils struggled to say. "Lils has the maGic for uncle. ShE will assemble. SymboliSM of: ignore. WANT to ignore is moST important Part? To hide it, yu cannot say to them, Do Not Notice me. OR they will. You say, yoU don't WANT to be boTHERed. The shooRtest distance."

Lils went to work straight away. Even her motor-controls seemed increasingly more stable as she worked. She dug out bits and bobs, here and there, chattering as she went. "Lost. Coins. BY nature, they hide. Are mIssed. Cloth from a beggAR. You do not want to notice such a man. You do not wanT they to sEe if you have. Mold scrappings. What is easier: to clean a mold. To ignore a mold. And pretend it won't be? GreEnlight will burn out as Ardent sleeps. Is time?"

"The device will last until night? That's enough time," Yhelm said. She followed Lils all about the workshop, watching her work. A small part of her still marveled at a half-dead being capable of magic. That shameful part of her still fell to that same condescending thought-pattern of 'good job, you did this even though I thought you shouldn't be able to.' Even having been on the receiving end she caught herself thinking it. But the majority of Yhelm was simply impressed. It was not by half-dead standards, it was by anyone's standards that Lils was a skilled witch. Yhelm didn't realize how much she missed watching other people do magic. Representational forms, too, to take the symbolism of objects and force them together so the symbolism became real, it was such a tactile thing. Why hadn't Yhelm taken more courses in it? This looked so innately satisfying.

"So you call Belham your uncle?" Yhelm asked, once the thinking part of the work was done and Lils was waiting for glues to set.

"Yess. Lils was once as. As one does to make a Lils. To take, unbury to make. To have, a slave. And then they died. Lils was plUndered and sOld. Unclle saw Lils at Dock to auctIon. And made purChase! Lils was boughT. And Lils remembered some smaLl, things. Such as greenlIght. And so Lils was useful! Lils is! But Uncle onlY wanted Lils SaFe! But. Not. Not. Not not a child? You see Lils? Not a child? Not. My own, Shoppe. Lils'. Lils can remember. It was like this. Not servanT or pet now. Lils. Magic."

Someone had probably created her to be a half-dead servant and died? And she was taken and sold in Flyhhnemonia? And Belham took pity on her (!?!) and bought her, but Lils didn't want to be a pet or servant anymore so she convinced him to let her open up a shop?? As far as Yhelm could follow it?

"How much of your--I'm sorry, that's, probably rude."

"Ask."

"How much of your life do you remember?"

Lils looked at Yhelm. This close, now, sitting next to one another, Yhelm could see through the tiny slits, and beneath the sleeve of her mask, that she absolutely did not have any sort of eyes at all anymore. Which was still, kinda creepy? But she was getting used to the smell faster than she'd thought she would. It smelled like a dry, late-fall forest. It was almost nice.

"Dying Lils remembers. Sllow. Off of a tree was for Lils. By rope. Slllow. Dyying is so bad. It is so feaRful. Lils remembers: thinking about, how Lils life, was ending. But Lils remembers thinking, but not the memories. Not the rest. Lils remembers the magic, but not to whEre come learn. And all thoughts, hard. It's. Hard. It's so hard. Were people Lils miss? People miss Lils? To unknown. WhYYY Lils had to hang? Who made Lils to die? dOn't know. Evennow. Lils forget? Forget customers. Forget days. SeasON. Unclle alwayS worry. WorrY someone will dO hurt to Lils. IT is why, a referral only. Only referrals. Why the wards."

Yhelm said the universal words of comfort, as first spoken by Bad Boy to Princess Flyhh endless time ago. "That sucks, man."

Lils rasped a wheezy laugh.

"I'm surprised though? I've never seen that side of Belham before."

"you liVe! And Uncal must feed on a fearful. And you. you uncLe sees, as person. Lils unCLE SEES only peT. pOOr Lils. ProtecT Lils. Indulge Lils. Lils has a MagiC! But not Uncle even. Uncle sees Poor LIls. But. But Lils needs a helping. All is too much. So Lils needS him for to helpINg. AlwayS helPing, so he cannoT see. OnlY evEr sees: Poor Lils. Not a magic."

"That really sucks, dude," Yhelm said, escalating it to the second highest level. Only 'That really freakin' blows, buddy' was more powerful. "I guess parents can be like that though. They saw you when you were at your weakest so how can they ever take you seriously as a person? My family barely speaks to me because I'm not doing what they think I should be doing." Which was a gross oversimplification but that wasn't important right now. "But you don't have the luxury of being able to survive on your own? So you can't get out of that shadow. It's something he can hold over you forever as proof that you really can't be, can't be looked at as an equal."

Lils just nodded along in agreement.

"He doesn't talk about you, either. With the security he had you put up on yourself, being referral only. I guess he's trying to protect you. That's fine, but." Something inside Yhelm was stirring that was ancient and primal. The element her kind had been wrought from was throbbing inside her, hot and yellow, and telling her to do the stupid thing. "We studied half-dead in the Cazirizahd. You aren't going to get better staying locked up. The more you do, the more chances you have to rediscover your Identity and become more stable. This isn't even helping you in the long term, being locked up. How about after I finish this job, another day, we go out somewhere?"

"Outside? Lils is a bad idea outside. Other people have a fraid. They are used to a Dead. Born Dead. A silly skelETon ghost. Lils isn'T that. Lils remINds you: you dIE. You become, Lils."

"Cool, but consider this. One, it's Flyhhnemonia, the City of Love, and even at its worst it's not bad. Two, your uncle is someone everyone around here is afraid of. Three, you'll be with me, and people know me. Four, it's Flyhhnemonia, there's weirdos on every corner. Five, it's your life, but only if you live it how you want to."

Lils tested the glue. Everything had set into place. She had created a sort of bag, woven through with scraps and bits and with little coins dangling off on strings. She slipped the box inside, closed the flap, and the spell went live. Yhelm had to force herself, immediately, to remember that the box was still right there. To remember she had to leave with it. To remember to drop it off. Remember. The box kept trying to slip away, to push her thoughts away from it and onto something else. Even knowing it was there she could barely think about it. Oh wow Lils was powerful.

"Yyhelm. Lils has poor memory? CannOT. But LilS knows. Old, old. AdverSARry, coaxEs freEperSON into trouble. IntO disobeDIence. The fIrst Story Meadoe toLd with Badd Boy."

"And look at how it worked out for them."

"Hah! Gods. Iiis. Iis worse than being God. Take box. No paYMent for uncle. Yhelm makes the deliVery. Later, another Day we go Outsidde. Togethe r. Lils will rememBer Yhelm. WillL not forgeT Yhelm. Will try. Lils will TRY so HaRD To remEMbeR YhelM. PleaSE do NoT be upSET. If Yhelm is bacK. Lils doeS not remEmbER. It is SO HARD. It is so hard. It is sO haRD to do."

Yhelm took the box. She almost immediately forgot she was holding it. "Don't worry. If I come back and you don't remember, I'll just convince you all over again. I'm an adversary. I wouldn't be doing my job if I was not creating delinquency."

"Yes! It is GooD. A good. To be and for gooD. ArGent SmILEs you, greensiSter."

"Gentsiles, gre'ster."

[wrencatte]

Hi! All your snippets of the wip game make me want to read more - so I throw "if the sky came falling down" in and am excited to learn more about it. Stay safe & thanks for sharing your writing 🙌

^_^ I'm glad!! Sorry this response is so late! So! if the sky came falling down was going to be "what if Cass and Jason met on the streets as kids before Jason got taken in by Bruce?" I honestly didn't have much of a plot minus angst, but the little bit i did write was fun!

He tucks his hand inside his pocket quickly but discretely, keeps his strides casual and unhurried as he walks past the cashier. The woman behind the counter glances up briefly, flickering from his face to his hidden hand, then back again. Jason looks at her out of the corner of his eye, tries not to tense up. Her eyebrow raises and she grins before she very deliberately looks down at her phone, even goes as far as turning her back to the sales floor. Jason falters, heart skipping a beat, then very quietly grabs a bag of chips off the nearest shelf. The cashier doesn’t turn back around, just jerks her head towards the door.

Jason hurries his steps, bursting out of the corner store like someone’s chasing him. He hates stealing, but his pockets are as empty as his painful, cramping stomach. Sometimes survival means you do things you don’t wanna do – and this is better than some of the alternatives he’s had to take before.

The air is cold and biting. He tucks his chin into the collar of his hoodie, fiddles with the edge of the chip bag. It crinkles and he gets a little giddy at the thought of eating salty, crispy chips. It’s been ages since he’s had some non-soggy chips.

It’s the little things in life, yanno?

Jason ducks into an alley and pulls out a granola bar as he walks towards the fire escape that’ll take him to his…apartment is being generous, but it’s an apartment and, well, it’s his in a way that he doesn’t own it, isn’t paying rent, but he’s the only one squatting in it so that means it’s no one else’s, ‘kay?

He peels back the wrapper, can’t help the little grin at the sight of chocolate chips – but just as he’s about to take a bite, he hears a rustle.

Quickly, he shoves it into his pocket again, whirls around to face the intruder. (His apartment, his alley, yeah?)

And stares.

Because there’s a girl, about his age, staring at him wide-eyed from where she’s tucked herself between a trashcan and the wall, a relatively clean garbage bag under her, bundled up in the comfiest coat he’s ever seen even though it’s ragged and worn.

She’s pale and exhausted looking, shadows under her eyes, a smudge on her cheek.

Her eyes flicker to where his hands are shoved in his hoodie then back up. And she looks away, acknowledging he has food, but not going to ask for it.

Jason doesn’t even hesitate. He can’t. It’s not in his nature.

He’d snatched five granola bars and the bag of chips and only debates for half a second before he’s shoving in her face four of them – one bar and the bag will be enough to hold him over for a bit.(Plus he already opened one of the bars.) He would give her the chips, but they are salty, and he has the advantage of a few water bottles stashed up.

She doesn’t take them. Jason huffs and shuffles closer to quickly drop them in her lap then turns heel and throws himself up the fire escape before she can do anything like throw them back. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s gotten into a hot-potato back-and-forth with someone else about supplies and he’s not really in the mood to deal with that right now.

Jason bypasses his window and heads towards the roof.