#talking on the phone at a reasonable volume is not rude

[daengtokki]

Kim Seungmin/gn!reader

wc: ~2.7k

rating: mildly angsty cheesy fluff (idiot enemies to lovers)

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ happy (belated) birthday to @thackery-blinks and our Seungmo ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

“I don't wanna see him...I don't like him, I think I hate him”

you what?

If anyone were in the room with you, they definitely would have heard her booming voice coming through the phone. You have to pull it away from your ear for a moment, but that’s all she has to say. For now.

“I said…” you rub your ringing ear and turn the volume down. “I said I hate him.”

hate is a big word, I'm not sure he deserves that

“He’s arrogant, and he's rude to me. Don’t pretend you’ve suddenly forgotten.”

you’re hyper-fixating…and maybe a little jealous because he’s cute and funny around everyone else. and he’s not rude, he can’t be rude if he never says anything to you

You can hear her laugh even though she moves away from the phone.

“Are you trying to piss me off? I’ll stay home tonight, and you know that’s not just a threat.” You will. You hate going out at the last minute almost as much as you can’t stand Kim Seungmin. “...such an asshole.”

excuse me??

“Not you, shut up”

he has a weird sense of humor…c’mon, you know what this is, right?

“Yeah. A congrats slash going away party for our favorite touchy kissy couple. Is it awful that I’m relieved I won’t have to be subjected to any more of their over-the-top pda?”

no, I won’t miss it…but you’re also chronically angry and single, so you might be more relieved—but that’s not what I was I referring to

“I’m ready, are you on your way?”

yeah, this lights been red for ten minutes, I swear…what’s with the selective hearing tonight? I’m coming in to make sure you’re dressed right so don’t wait for me outside

“I hear you, I just don’t wanna listen to your ‘Seungmin actually likes you’ theory again”

my hypothesis…I need more evidence

/ / /

She’s quiet for the first ten minutes of the drive, only because a perfect string of songs pop up on the playlist, but as soon as it ends, she turns the volume down…

“Are you ready to hear this?”

“No”

“Alright, so there’s literally no reason…none at all for Seungmin to not like you, or be weird around you, or less talkative, or just walk away when you enter the room”

“But he does all of those things”

“Right. Do you not read romance novels? Fanfiction?”

“What kind of fanfiction are you reading?”

She’s already exhausted of your aloofness…or just your refusal to accept anything more than what’s already in your head. But you’ve known him, known of him, for a few months now. He doesn’t give you anything aside from what you catch when he’s with others. You’re invisible when he’s in the room, and the more you think about it, the shittier you feel.

“Hello, you good? You might not read fanfiction, but you’re staring out of that window like the protagonist in very sad story. No, antagonist. You’re my antagonist.”

“I am not,” you sigh. Everything suddenly feels very heavy, and maybe it’s because you know you’re almost there.

“There wasn’t much fight in that. You better perk up, we’re almost there.”

/ / /

The first thing you see is him, and it’s not because you’re looking. Seungmin is leaning against the staircase bannister, arms folded loosely over his sweatshirt. He’s less than ten feet away when the two of you walk in the door, but he doesn’t move, and he doesn’t turn his head out of curiosity. You’re surprised he doesn’t sense your presence and walk away.

“Sorry we’re late,” she says, making sure to gently shove you forward in his direction. “But we brought gifts!”

Now Seungmin looks at the two of you. First his eyes land on her, but they quickly dart in your direction, and they linger much longer than you expect. As much as you don’t want to scare him off, you take the rare moment to look at him from such a small distance—just his eyes, though.

“It’s us, we’re the gifts”

Seungmin clears his throat and takes his leave, just like you expect.

“Well, go after him”

“Why would I go after him? Please, give it a rest…I’m already tired.”

“Okay, okay…I’m sorry. Are you good?”

“No.” They’re angry tears, but nobody else knows that. "Not really." To the other eight people in the room, tears are tears, and you don’t want them seeing you, but it's too much to hold back. “I need a minute.”

You shove through her and the next arriving couple on your way outside, but you didn’t really think beyond this. It’s cold out, and you’re not really dressed to sit around by the water, but that’s where you head on instinct. It’s empty back here, which is what you need right now, and the cool air on your warm, red, tear-streaked face. Why are you even crying? Nothing has happened, not really. Seungmin looked at you, and his stupid brown eyes sparkled and grew as they watched you for far too long. Why did he have to look at you like that?

The gazebo is what you typically claim when you’re back here. That’s where you go. It’s not exactly comfortable, but it’s pretty, and it keeps you mostly hidden from anyone looking out from the house.

A text message buzzes, but you take your time pulling it out and checking. All it’s going to be is someone, your friend, looking for you.

come back inside

“I’ll think about it” …you reply.

he never came back in the room, if that makes you feel better

“It doesn’t”

You get a few more minutes of peace and quiet, but you’ll admit that you’re already getting cold sitting out here. The wind is coming off of the lake and right at you, and every time a stray tear falls, it feels like it might freeze. This won't accomplish anything, you know that, but hiding from everything is so much easier. You might hate yourself for it later, but right now you feel good in the chilly air.

And then there's a crunch of footsteps. You ignore it. Someone has found you, but that doesn’t mean you’re getting up and going with them that easily. You've already decided this is where you belong right now, and you'll stick to that until you're dragged back inside. The footsteps stop...whoever it is doesn’t speak, though. There's only the sound of something being dropped close to you ear, and the footsteps start to retreat almost immediately.

It’s a coat, draped neatly on the railing. A black cotton one that looks vaguely familiar, and when you turn a little more, you remember when you saw him wearing it last.

“Wait!”

You almost trip as you get to your feet, and you’re glad he hasn’t turned to see you yet. But he does—he stops and turns. He looks like he wants to keep walking, though, and he does…Seungmin takes a few more slow steps backward as he watches you grab the jacket and hold it against your chest. His scent reaches your nose. You’ve never been close enough to him to know it, but now you do.

There’s nothing to say, though. You have nothing to say to him, or you do and you just don’t know how to put the words together.

Seungmin stops, and then takes two steps toward you. Is he having fun? Is he just playing with you? Tears start to brim again, and luckily he’s not close enough to see it. If you don’t figure out your next move, he’ll turn and leave and you might not get this much attention from him again.

“Did she make you come out here?”

“Make me? No, nobody makes me do anything.”

You’re glad he’s not close enough to see you roll your eyes. “Then what’s this for?” You look at his jacket, and when you look back to him, he’s taking two more big steps toward you.

“It’s cold.” He says flatly, and maybe waits for your response that never comes. “I saw you walking out from the bathroom window. By yourself.”

“And?”

Are you making him uncomfortable? He looks like he doesn’t know how to answer for his actions, and maybe he doesn’t. He’s never concerned himself with your actions before, but you also never do anything to bring attention to yourself. This was an overreaction on your part.

“And…"

Uncomfortable, maybe. Confused…probably. Maybe you should kick him while he’s stumbling over himself. “Why are you concerned with how cold I am?”

Two more steps, and now he can definitely see your puffy face. “Sorry, I'll leave you alone."

He can’t be serious. Does he want you to explain this to him? The look on his face does seem a little helpless, and you’ve never seen him look anything but sure of himself.

“This is the second time you’ve spoken to me in months.” This is also the first time you’ve been alone with him for more than a few moments.

“That's because you always seem to be pissed off. You always look angry when I see you. You don't right now...you looked upset when you walked through the door a little bit ago.

Your eyes drop to the ground in front of him, and you have to work hard to relax the scowl on your face. “I’m not angry.”

"So I never tried talking to you. I assumed you didn't want to, since you never spoke to me, either."

The first time the two of you met, you exchanged a brief hello, and that was that. You remember it very well. Seungmin took your hand in his and squeezed it so softly. His eyes were intense, but warm, and now you’re wondering if you were wearing your scowl when you first looked at him. Why could you have?

“Put the coat on, please”

You’re shivering. So is he. Seungmin takes one more step and grabs the baluster, and you think he’s going to come up here with you, but he doesn’t. You let go of the coat and finally swing it around your shoulders. The scent coming from it makes your knees weak.

“Thank you”

This time he steps up, and he’s at your level. Above it, actually. He’s looking down on you, and every bit of space closed between you makes you feel even weaker. Stupid, so stupid. Nothing is even happening. He’s just standing there, looking at you drowning in his warm jacket. You could curl up on the ground and fall asleep in all this warmth, but his stare is making you anxious.

“You look mad again”

“I’m not,” you pounce, and you force yourself to relax again. “I’m not mad. I…I’m just...”

“I have witnessed you smiling and laughing…not with me, but I always wondered why I couldn’t do it. I can never get anything from you.”

The conversation doesn’t feel real, but it’s real enough for the party guests—a few of them peer out through the kitchen window, thinking they’re being discreet.

Seungmin has made you laugh before, but only in your head. And he’s made you smile, too…as you’re drifting to sleep and thinking of him doing exactly what he’s doing right now.

“You do make me laugh”

“I do?”

“Yeah, don’t tell anyone I said that”

You make him laugh—Seungmin actually laughs, genuinely, and it sounds so much nicer than any laugh you’ve heard from him before.

“That’s not fair. They see you making me laugh right now.”

They do. Three people are by the patio door, probably wondering why he isn’t in there charming everyone. You managed to steal him away, and you wonder how long you can keep him out here with you despite your numb face.

“We should go back in, it’s cold. You’re cold.”

“I’m fine. I really didn’t wanna come tonight anyway, so being out here is better.”

“You’d rather stand out in the cold by yourself than hang out with everyone?”

“I’m not by myself”

He laughs under his breath, but his smile is a little bit wider. “So you’d rather stand out here with me than enjoy the party?”

Yes, you don’t say it out loud. How could you? The way you’ve played up your hatred for him to others, and your indifference to his face since you’ve met. It’s a little embarrassing. But it’s painful being around Seungmin…pretending you’re not upset every time you’re dragged to group outing is exhausting.

“I’m gonna take that as a yes unless you say otherwise”

Perfect. Saying nothing should be easy, but this time you open your mouth. “I can’t pretend I’m happy when I’m not.”

“You don’t have to”

“But I put on a mask when you’re around and make everyone think I’m unhappy, even when I’m not”

“You’re not?”

“I mean…I am, because you leave the room every time I walk in. But I’m not, because you’re still around, somewhere…and maybe I still have a chance.”

“A chance. So you don’t hate me?”

“No, but I don't want to get my heart broken," why are you spilling your guts to him? "So we should just go back to how things were before.” The words are just falling out of you, and looking at him like this and being with him, finally alone, makes you want to keep going until there's nothing left.

“No, we shouldn't. And I don't want mine broken, either.”

Seungmin is in front of you now, blocking you from everyone still hanging around the window. They seemed to be getting bored watching the two of you talk and do nothing else, so you at least feel like you’re alone with him again.

He reaches toward you, and you jump.

“Sorry,” he whispers and pulls at the collar of the jacket, “but if you’re not going inside,” and bends to connect and pull the zipper until it’s closed up to your chin.

You’re sure you look ridiculous in it—it’s already a little bit big on him. And no, you don’t want to go back in, because the thought of everyone staring at the two of you as you finally return…

“No, I’d rather go home”

“I can take you home”

“Everyone is in there waiting for you”

“The party will still be here when I get back”

“I don’t know you very well.” You pull the zipper down a few inches. “At all, actually.”

“Oh, you don’t want me to take you home?” He smirks. “That’s very smart and safe of you. I could be a serial killer for all you know.”

“I mean I don’t know enough about you to…ya know, like you as much as I do”

He laughs again…just a sweet, maybe a little embarrassed giggle. “So you do?”

“What?”

Seungmin is blushing. You’ve seen him do this before; the blush, the giggle, and the smile so big you thought his face would crack every time a someone flirted with him. It was hard to hide then—that horrible sinking feeling in your gut when you thought he might leave with one of them. But now he’s blushing for you, and nobody else.

“You've been skirting around the words the entire conversation, and you have to spell things out for me sometimes. I didn’t wanna make a move until you said it."

“Said what, that I want you?"

“Wow…yeah, if you wanna put it like that. You want me,” he laughs again, “I guess I want you, too.”

“Make a move, please.” You whisper through your chattering teeth, and turn your head as your heart threatens to jump right out of your chest.

“Please?” Seungmin smirks pulls the zipper down a bit more, enough that you catch the cold breeze on your neck and chest. And then he’s there, lips an inch from yours, and he stares. “Please.”

You close the space between you, cautiously press your lips to his. His return is just as hesitant, and you’re surprised at his shyness. The zipper comes down even more, and Seungmin doesn’t stop until the coat falls open again—now he has somewhere to put his arms. They disappear inside, and he squeezes tight and deepens the kiss. He kisses like you expected him to, mouth open, tongue gently asking to be let in, and you let him in. You’re finally warm again, and you’d like to be even warmer.

“Seungmin?” You touch his neck, and his skin is hot against your cold hands, but it doesn’t faze him. His mouth quiets you when you think of speaking again, and it pains you to pull him off of you.

“What is it?”

“I don’t want an audience”

He turns and sees the group of guests gathered near patio doors; his friends, yours…all either watching or pretending not to watch the show you two are putting on.

“You just want me, yeah?" His eyes sparkle as if he can do it on command.

“Just you.” Your teeth chatter again, no matter how hard you try to stop it.

“I don’t mind ditching them for a few hours”

“You don't?”

“Not if you wanna get warmed up"

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

it's finally here! one month late, and a couple thousand words more than i thought it'd be! happy leap yeap!

Here's my entry for Lex's (@thefreakandthehair) Spicy Six Winter Fanworks Challenge! I had dialogue prompt #22 "Guess we’re the only two without dates, huh?”

pairing: steddie | word count: 10,446 | rated: E | on AO3: hey you really turn me on

Why in the hell did he agree to this? It’s 20 fuckin’ degrees out and he’s outside?? In the snow?? Voluntarily?

If the boys could see him now.. “Who are you and what’ve you done with Eddie?”, “Since when do you do shit outside?”, “All this for Steve fuckin’ Harrington…”.

And that’s the rub, it is because of Steve. Hopeless crush aside, Steve is the reason he’s there. Why they’re all there in the first place.

When Steve got the call, Eddie and the other older teens of their world-saving group were just hanging out; movies, beer, snacks, a little weed, music playing low…all in all, a great kick-back. 

Then the phone rang.

It was relatively late too, 10 maybe?

Steve went to answer it of course, the conversation muffled through the living room and kitchen walls, but after a minute or so he came back. The long phone line stretched across the hall back to the hook in the kitchen.

“When is this again?” Steve says into the receiver, waving towards the sound system. Robin had scrambled up immediately, nearly falling back on her face to turn the volume down.

“Uh huh. And you and Dad won’t be there? Mm hmm.” he nods.

Eddie looked over to Robin first, eyebrow raised. She only shrugged, as does Nancy when he turned the look to her.

“And how many rooms?” Whatever the answer is causes Steve’s brows to shoot up. “Wow, okay, yeah we–” 

Eddie was closest to him, previously starfished out on the carpet, but had sat up and leaned back on his palms when Steve returned, so he could just barely hear the sound of another voice on the other end of the line.

“Yeah of course, that’d be great, we definitely will. Thanks Mom.”

Steve had sounded actually…happy to be talking to his mom. And here Eddie thought the Harringtons were objectively the worst.

“No, they’re going to love it, Mom, I promise.” another pause, “Nope. They’ll all be on their best behavior.” Steve glances down at Eddie, “We all will be.”

He scoffs up at Steve from his spot on the floor. Rude.

Steve only waves him off with a smile, “Yeah, the usual.” he says, “Rob, Nance, Jon, Jon’s friend Argyle–yeah, he’s the one from California, and Eddie.” Steve’s eyes flash down to Eddie again and his stomach twists sharply. Aw fuck, here it comes; the scolding, the yelling, the berating about how Eddie’s no good for him to be associating with, why are you stooping to his level, he’s a murderer, yadda yadda yadda.

“Yeah, he and Wayne are doin’ much better now, I’ll have to tell you about it next time, okay?” 

Uh.

What?

“Yeah, that’d be great if you don’t mind! Yep, Wheeler, Henderson, Sinclair,” He looks again at the other people in the room, they’re still just as puzzled as he is. What do the kids have to do with this? “I’ll talk to Hopper and Joyce, and I’m sure Ms. Mayfield would let Max go. Oh absolutely,”

Steve starts back into the kitchen, and Eddie can hear him all the way back to the hook. “No–Nope, it’s fine, I actually have a couple people over right now so I want to–yeah. Yep. Okay, love you too. Bye mom.”

Eddie looks around at the others; Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, even Argyle, though he’s not looking around wide-eyed at what all just occurred like the others are.

Steve comes back into the living room. “So…” he lets out a long breath, “How do you all feel about skiing?”

-x-X-x-

So yeah. Here they all are, at some ski resort up in Michigan. Boyd Mountain…or Bowie? Something with a ‘B’.

Turns out, Steve’s parents had a four-room cabin rental set aside as a perk for some deal they were trying to barter. It fell through though, and they wouldn’t be back from Colorado themselves until after the reservation would’ve expired so they offered it to Steve and whoever he’d like to invite.

They took care of everything too; got lift passes, boot and ski rentals set aside for each of them, even sent a whole ass passenger van to be dropped off in the Harrington driveway for them to make the drive; A huge 15 passenger one that even with the three extra seats, still barely held all their crap for the long weekend.

All of them piled into the van in the dark on a Friday morning, sleepy-faced and crusty-eyed; Robin as Steve’s co-pilot, and each of the rest of the older teens and the party piling in wherever they could (they’d fight about their seats when they woke up more, Eddie was sure of it).

The first rest stop on the way up went by without incident, but by time they stopped for late breakfast/early lunch at another, everyone was stir crazy. Sandwiches were passed out, gas was gotten, bathroom breaks were taken, and almost as soon as they got back in the van, Robin was snoring.

“Damnit, if I knew she was gonna tank like that I would’ve had someone else sit up here.” Steve had groused. 

“I’ve gotcha big guy, I won’t let you fall asleep.” Eddie said, now seated next to Dustin and El on the first bench behind the driver’s seat.

“Yeah, me either.��� Dustin agreed.

He was snoring an hour later, El leaning into him for her own nap.

“That’s cute.” Was the first thing Robin said after waking back up.

All in all, not a bad drive. The worst part was tramping through the snow to the cabin after they’d arrived.

“Goddammit Steve, How am I supposed to get through this week in only my jeans?”

Steve sighs, “Eddie, you have made the same argument ever since my mom called; and every time you did, I told you everything would be here for you.”

He finally gets the door open, shoving it wide for them all and gesturing them in, “Get comfy guys, I’m going to grab the cooler with our groceries.”

“I’ll give you a hand,” Jonathan says, following Steve back out to the van.

The large open main floor has a full kitchen with a raised bar counter and four stools, tall peaked ceilings, a fireplace on one wall with two couches and a rocking chair situated around it, and a sliding glass door to a balcony off the back side of the building overlooking the trees below.

There’s stairs too, a set going up and a set going down, and at least one bathroom here on this floor, off the kitchen.

Eddie wanders into the living room, picks out some pieces of kindling from the bucket on the stone beside the fireplace and a couple logs from the stack nearby, and busies himself with starting the fire while the party pokes around the place.

He glances over his shoulder when he hears the fake leather of the couch cushions squeak together, only to see Argyle has perched himself on the backrest, squashing a cushion beneath his feet.

The fire takes less than no time at all, and once it’s going and he’s re-situated the trifold metal screen back in front of the fire, he sits down beside Argyle’s shins and is immediately entranced by the flames.

Steve and Jonathan return not long after, lugging their things with the cooler hanging between them.

“So how do y’guys want to split up the rooms?” Robin asks aloud, ignoring the yelling the other teens are already doing about the same thing.

“I’m not picky.” Eddie shrugs, standing up to stretch again, deciding he really did not want to be sitting anymore.

“Me either sister, whatever you decide is cool with me.” Argyle agrees. “What’re the rooms like?”

“There’s a master up here!” Max calls from above them, looming over the log railing at the top of the stairs with El.

“We walked right past it, but there’s a room with a queen off the front hall there,” Jonathan says, shuffling his bag against the kitchen bar.

“Hey! Assholes!” Steve yells down the steps, the boys must’ve gone down there. “Go get your shit out of the van and we’ll head over to the main lodge!”

The four thunder up the steps, how any of them can understand any other over the other is beyond him.

“Will,” Nancy calls as he rounds the stairs last, “There are bedrooms down there?”

“Yep!” he grins, “Two rooms with queen beds, and a bathroom.”

“I don’t mind taking one of the queens,” Nancy says, “Robin, wanna share with me?”

Robin starts to splutter, still somehow not convinced that Nancy’s got a thing for her. It’s obvious to him, but he and Steve have both tried to tell her this. To no avail. Even after Jonathan and her had confirmed they’d split and that he was moving back to California with Argyle come spring.

Steve rescues Robin from her spluttering. “It’s only fair that Argyle gets next dibs, since he’s the one that’s offered to cook for us.” he says, lugging the cooler over to the kitchen to unload it.

He’d insisted on picking up groceries for their stay, saying “There’s a restaurant, sure, but that’d get expensive quick and we’ll have a full kitchen so why not?”

“Appreciated my man; y’wanna bunk with me, Jonny?”

Eddie follows Steve, leaning on the bar across from the fridge from him, “So where’s all my snow gear, Stevie?” he asks the back of Steve’s head.

“Eddie, I swear to God.” Steve huffs in return, bending down into the cooler at his feet to fish out a couple of cartons of eggs.

Eddie does not watch how the denim of Steve’s jeans pulls tighter over any part of him, thank you very much.

“Mom called ahead and has everything we might need set aside in the main lodge, we’ll go there first before we hit the slopes.”

“Oh my god, did you really just say that?” Eddie asks as Steve stashes away two jars of jelly, one strawberry, one grape.

“Say what?” Bacon and some packs of lunch meat are next.

“Like, that’s an actual thing that people say? It’s not just in the movies?”

Steve sighs, finishing off the groceries with a couple 12 packs of pop stashed on the bottom shelf. “What is just like the movies?”

“‘Hit the slopes.’? Really?”

“You’re super annoying, you know that, right?” he says, closing the fridge and pushing the lid back onto their cooler.

“Awe, c’mon baby, you don’t mean that.” Eddie coos, slipping around the counter to cup Steve’s face in his hands, “What happened to the man who loves me for my antics, huh?”

“Get off me, dude,” Steve laughs, batting Eddie’s hands away, his cheeks tinged pink.

‘Yes! Success!’ When did he decide he was trying to fluster Steve? Eh, whatever. No harm, right?

 “So, did you guys figure out the sleeping situation?” Steve asks the rest of the group, walking back around the bar.

Eddie follows, leaning back on the counter in his previously vacated spot.

Nancy nods, “Jon and Argyle will take the room on the main floor, us girls will take the two downstairs, you can take the master, and the boys will take the couches.”

The boys return with their bags then, and Mike immediately starts complaining about being relegated to the fold-outs. Eddie also hears Dustin and Lucas trying to talk him down, saying things like “Dude, that means we’ll be close to the fire!”, “We can throw things in it!,” and “We can make s’mores!”.

Steve doesn’t seem to hear them though, otherwise he’d be shutting that shit down. Instead, his face only scrunches in confusion, “What about Eddie?”

Nancy looks surprised for a blink, then disgruntled, like she’s pissed she forgot someone.

“I’ll just crash out here on the floor with these losers, no worries.” he shrugs.

Steve turns toward his voice, a deep crease between his brows. “That’s not fair.”

“I promise I’ll survive Stevie,” Eddie chuckles. At least he’ll be the warmest out here in front of the fireplace. “I’ve slept on worse, believe it or not, I’ll be sleeping like a king compared to then.”

Steve’s brows scrunch almost all the way together, then spring apart and settle into determined lines. “You’ll sleep with me.” he says with a nod, his arms folding across his chest.

A beat passes.

Eddie can’t resist.

He leans close to Steve’s side, “A bit presumptuous, Stevie darling,”

Steve’s face practically glows with the flush that appears in the next beat, mumbling something to himself as he walks to the door and starts to pull on his coat and boots.

Eddie pushes off the counter and follows, obnoxiously holding a hand up to one ear. “What’s that, sweetheart?” he teases, walking to his own tossed-aside boots, “I didn’t quite catch that.”

“We going to the lodge now?” he hears Lucas ask as he passes.

“Finally.” Mike adds, unhelpfully.

Steve huffs, standing up again and leaning close to Eddie’s cupped hand, “As if you hadn’t thought about it, darling.”

Four of the other ten are in their coats and boots and out the door after Steve before Eddie comes back online.

-x-X-x-

So here he is: outside. In the snow. With skis strapped to his feet. All because of Steve and his surprisingly generous parents.

He watches, amused, as Robin stands as still as she possibly can, arms spread wide, while Nancy helps strap her into her skis. As soon as the skis had gotten remotely close to being attached to her, it was discovered that no matter what section of ground they may be standing on, Robin would start to drift away. Sliding down some sort of unseen incline backwards, frontwards, and/or sideways.

Jon and Argyle are already almost to the closest lift, and Eddie watches as they do a weird half-jump onto the bench as it comes up behind them.

The gremlins had scattered after Steve’s ‘be careful’ lecture, telling them all when to be back to the van by, or back to the cabin if they will be coming off the slopes near there, telling them all to be safe and to keep to pairs or more so they can be radioed.

They’d all brought their walkies with them, and Eddie can see where the boys are still huddled together, swapping out their batteries.

He watches them split off soon after, Dustin and Lucas pushing off to where Max and El are waiting at the standing lift to the top of the training hill.

Mike and Will scoot off together in the opposite direction, toward the centermost lift a few dozen yards away.

“Guess we’re the only two without dates, huh?” He says as Steve slides to a stop on his own skis beside him.

He’d meant it jokingly, was probably going to follow it up with some jabs about being Steve’s wingman if he needed (there were already a few ladies he’d seen giving Steve some looks while they waited for their gear in the main lodge), but Steve shrugs and says: “I’ll be your date this weekend, Eds. Wouldn’t want you to feel left out or anything.” 

Eddie whips his head around to look at him, “That’s not–” he starts, but cuts himself off at the look Steve is giving him. His goggles have been haphazardly pushed up his face, trapping a few loose locks of Steve’s hair between them and the roll of his beanie, his cheeks are already bitten red with the cold, and he’s smiling so painfully sincerely under that damn teasing smirk that all Eddie can do is acquiesce.

“You better be the best date here then, Stevie,” Eddie chides, starting off toward the lift Jonathan and Argyle had disappeared up, “I won’t settle for anyone other than the bes–” he pitches forward suddenly, one of his skis sticking to the snow under it more than it should’ve.

Steve catches him, of course, and says “Will I get points taken off as ‘Best Date Ever’ if I make you go on the training hill?”

They do go to the training hill, lovingly called the Bunny Hopper, but he and Robin are thankfully saved from the embarrassment of actually being taught by the volunteers there; Steve and Nancy taking them to the slightly taller ‘big kid’ hill and teaching them there.

Surprising even himself, Eddie picks up on the motions and the feeling of being on skis easily. The whole ‘pizza’ thing about stopping was still iffy but the rest is no problem. Fun, actually.

“That was great, man! You’re a natural!” Steve beams at him, his grin lopsided from the meat of his cheeks being squashed under his goggles.

“I just had a great teacher,” he brushes off the compliment, elbowing Steve playfully.

Steve somehow grins even bigger, and Eddie’s heart stammers.

“You ready to go to the real hill now?” “This isn’t a real hill?”

He’s positive Steve just rolled his eyes under his goggles. “C’mon smartass, let's get in line for the lift.”

Eddie bows him forward, “After you, sweetheart.” 

He follows Steve to the end of the line; thankfully it’s not too long, now that it’s late afternoon and will be getting dark soon. 

Steve seems to notice this as well, lifting his goggles off his face again. “We’ll have to call the gremlins back sooner than I thought. It’ll be dark soon.”

“Stop reading my mind, Stevie.”

Steve looks over at him, squinting hard and pursing his lips (Eddie’s stupid lizard brain has a split second thought of those lips pursed around something). “Ugh! Ew, gross Eddie, what would make you think about that?!”

He feels his face blanche and scrambles to recover. “I was only thinking about our good friend Robin, Steve-o, you saying Robin is gross?” He pitches his voice higher and glances down the line to where he can see Robin and Nancy.

Robin flips her mitten up at him, and he can infer the gesture just fine, thanks.

“Shut up, asshole.” Steve laughs, pushing him out of the line on his skis.

They’re the next to hop up on the moving bench, and Steve’s…everything…seems to seize up as soon as they’re seated and on their way.

“Could you imagine?”

“Hm?” He’s still looking down anxiously, so Eddie scoots just a bit closer, pressing what he hopes is comfortingly into Steve’s side.

“If we could read each other's minds? If the bats biting us both somehow linked us together?”

It works a little; Steve tears his eyes away from the ground as it drops away from them, huffing out a short laugh, “I don’t think I would survive inside your head, it’d be even more chaotic than you already are.”

“As if your head would be any better.”

“Hey, my head is great!”

Eddie grins wickedly, “You get told that a lot, Stevie?”

Steve seems unphased, smirking slowly. “I do, actually. Why? You tryin’ t’see if it’s true?”

His cheeks start to prickle, “You offering, big boy?”

“Maybe I am,” Steve shrugs then leans closer, “Now the real question is if you’re gonna take me up on it.”

Eddie’s head reels in the couple seconds he takes to respond.

Where in the hell is all this coming from? Is it just part of the ‘date’ thing? There’s no fuckin’ way Steve is actually into him, is there? He’s always been flirty, just like Eddie is himself, but there’s no way there are any actual feelings behind it… So there’s no harm in playing along.

“I’m gonna have to now, aren’t I?” he grins back, “Gotta see if it lives up to the hype.”

Steve smirks, his eyes hooded. He’s good at pretending, he’ll give him that.

His eyes glance away, then back to Eddie’s face. The sultry look he’d been hamming up for his sake is gone, just an easy smile remains. At least this sudden flirting Steve’s decided to do isn’t going to ruin their surprisingly solid post-apocalyptic friendship.

“It’s almost time to get off, ready?”

Eddie looks ahead to where the couple on the bench before them are hopping off. They stand up off the lift easily and don’t end up in a heap, but he is starting to feel the anxiety Steve was feeling only minutes ago. How’s he supposed to get out of the way fast enough, isn’t there a drop? That looked way too easy.

“As I’ll ever be,” he gulps.

“Give me your hand.” Steve says, not waiting for a response and snatching up Eddie’s hand in his, “Okay, when I say so, you just gotta stand up. Ready?”

“Stand up, what do you mea—” he feels his legs lift a bit as the ground rises to coast under his skis, and it makes sense.

“Now!”

Wait, no! He wasn’t ready!

He stands just a breath after Steve, but isn’t fast enough, the lift continues up on its path and catches him again, forcing his butt back into the seat.

“Eddie, you gotta–”

He tries again at the same time Steve pulls him forward and he pitches forward, landing with an “Oof–” on top of Steve and forcing the breath from the other man’s lungs.

“Aw fuck, sorry Stevie!” He rolls off of him and out of the path of the upcoming lift chairs. “That went exactly as well as I thought it would.”

Steve wheezes out a breathless laugh, standing back up on his skis with no problem at all. Wait, how did he do that? How’s he supposed to get up with these things on his feet?

“Here,” Steve arranges his skis for him, putting one long side of each onto the snow, “Give me your poles, and push yourself up with your hands. You want to get your feet under you.”

He does as he’s told and walks his weight around on his hands to the fronts of his skis until he’s bent forward at his hips, standing straight out of the bend.

“...Huh.”

“Good job, man!” Steve grins, handing him back his poles, “Getting up on skis can be a bitch and a half; way to catch on quick.”

Eddie grins mischievously, deciding to be a little shit. “I dunno, you’d think my date would like seeing me bent over for him, huh Stevie?”

Steve just rolls his eyes, snapping his goggles back down with a smile, “C’mon, asshole, let’s get out of the way; the run to the right of the lift looked shorter on the map.”

Thankfully, the chair behind them had been empty, but the next one had a full four people on it and it was coming up fast.

“‘Sides,” He says, pushing off toward the top of the run, waiting for Eddie to scoot in next to him at the crest before leaning in and murmuring low into his ear, “I’d rather wait ‘till we’re alone to bend you over properly.”

Steve’s a good 20 feet away by time Eddie comes back to himself enough to follow.

They get about an hour and a half in on the hills, a grand total of six wipeouts under Eddie’s belt, and a couple others under Steve’s, with one successful landing off one of the jumps on the main drag to finish off the day.

“Didja see that?!” Steve yells, pulling down the balaclava he’d unceremoniously added to his getup about an hour ago.

“Hell yes Stevie!” Eddie calls, breathless, still coasting to the bottom of the slope after him. “You landed it!”

“I landed it!” 

Steve holds his arms open as Eddie once again fails to slow himself down properly, and catches him at the bottom in a crushing hug. His cheeks are flushed with adrenaline, bitten with the cold, his eyes bright in the setting sun and smile nearly as beautiful.

Damn he’s pretty.

Courteous as ever, Steve waits until Eddie’s arranged his feet the right way again before letting him go to spin the pack off his back for their assigned walkie.

Steve radios the party, and everyone is packed away in their van a scant ten minutes later. The older teens had already made it back to the cabin, letting themselves in off a run near there, so it was only the similarly flushed and excitement-filled younger teens babbling away in the back seats.

There’s overlapping stories of their own wipeouts (including one Robin took that Max swears was hilarious), Dustin insisting he saw a brown bear through the trees at one point, and all six debating whether or not they’d want to go to the main lodge for the waterpark tomorrow instead of back onto the hills.

They are still debating amongst themselves when they pull into the driveway. “Alright dorks,” Steve calls over the bickering, “Go inside and hang up your shit next to the fireplace so it can dry out.”

Eddie follows the troop into the living room and watches them pile all their outerwear together on the two hooks closest to the stone fireplace, then tear off downstairs where he heard there may have been a Nintendo stashed in one of the bedroom dressers.

Jonathan and Robin start methodically re-arranging the coats and snow pants on the hooks so they’ll dry easier, while Argyle pushes up off one of the couches to start on dinner. 

“C’mon Eds, get comfy,” Steve says, coming up beside him and gesturing to the loveseat directly across from the roaring fire. Eddie can already feel the burn of it across his frigid skin, “I gotta make sure I get you unthawed before I get you into my bed.” Steve murmurs into Eddie’s ear.

And isn’t that a whole new type of torment. They will actually be sleeping in the same bed tonight…the next three nights!

Steve turns back to the kitchen when Eddie drops cross-legged onto the sofa, and the tingling feeling in his cheeks has nothing to do with the fire.

It’s half from Steve’s scarily earnest-sounding flirting, but also about half from the look Robin is giving him while she takes the spot next to Nancy on the other couch.

“What? What’s the look for?”

Robin shrugs, picking up what must’ve been her discarded book from the end table between them (which she’s got the already read half curled backward around its spine, like a heathen), “Nothin’ at all, Eds.”

His face is burning hotter than the fire by the time Steve returns.

He passes them each a mug of cocoa, then flops down on the floor in front of Eddie’s knees. 

“What’s cookin’ good lookin’?” Eddie asks, surprised at the nonchalance he was able to muster up. He reaches forward and tugs on a lock of Steve’s hair without even thinking about it (and ignoring the muffled giggle coming from somewhere to Robin’s left. Oh great, Nancy’s in on his torment too?).

Steve lets out a contented hum, dropping his head back to lie heavily in Eddie’s lap, “Argyle’s whipping up some burgers.”

Eddie leaves his fingers in Steve’s hair, absentmindedly pulling them through a few tangles left behind by his hat.

Steve’s head lolls around in Eddie’s lap with the motions of his fingers for a whole thirty seconds before he snaps it back up, “Oh–ugh–wait, don’t do that,” Eddie pulls his hand away immediately, an apology on his tongue, but Steve continues, standing up and saying, “I’m all gross and sweaty, man, at least let me take a shower first. Be right back.” Steve grins, and heads upstairs to the master bedroom.

Eddie blinks into the space left behind by Steve’s departure, then Nancy is standing as well; “That’s a good idea,” she says, unfolding from her spot at Robin’s side and walking around the back of the couch, “I’ll be back up soon.” She gives Robin’s shoulder a squeeze, and heads downstairs.

Not a full five seconds pass before Robin says, “So...Steve’s super into you.”

Eddie balks at her, his eyes darting around the room automatically. Jon’s helping Argyle chop up toppings for their burgers, the two of them paying less than zero attention to him or Robin, there’s a yell from downstairs followed by laughter, the sound of a shower starting from the open balcony to the upstairs bedroom..

“You can’t just say shit like that, Birdie.” he whispers, his tone harried.

“What, the truth?”

“He is not into me.”

She nods in sarcastic understanding, “Ah, so you’re into him.”

“No I’m—” she levels him with a look. He sighs, glancing around at the no one around them, “Okay fine, yes, I am super into him. But he is not into me.”

Robin shrugs, going back to her book. “You don’t have to believe me, but I think he is. And I think you should make a move.”

“Make a mo—He’s straight as fuck, Robin!”

She gives him a glance, her brow furrowing for a split second then smoothing out. “Did he tell you that?”

“He didn’t have to.” he says, sinking back against the cushions.

She doesn’t say anything else, and he goes back to staring at the fire.

“If you make a move on Steve, I’ll finally make a move on Nancy.” she says a handful of minutes later.

He processes that slowly, takes a deep breath, then shoves his hand towards her without looking over.

She takes it, giving it one hard shake.

As soon as he takes his hand back, Argyle lopes into view with a plate in his hand, “Food’s ready my dudes.” He says, sinking into the armchair closest to the glass balcony door.

Robin snaps her book shut and sets it down on the little end table between them (the cover curls back up immediately, the poor thing), standing up and heading into the kitchen. 

Eddie has just let his feet fall to the floor and has scooted to the edge of his seat to stand up himself, when Argyle yells out “Nice tits!”

“Whose tits are out?” Eddie asks, following his gaze automatically. 

Argyle goes back to his plate. “Steve’s.” 

Uh…Yeah…He can see that for himself now.

Steve is standing at the railing of the upper floor in nothing but a towel. One hand is flipping Argyle off, and the other is preoccupied with scrubbing a second towel over his damp hair.

The towel wrapped around him is slung low on his hips, and Eddie’s eyes start to roam on their own.

Steve’s stomach is solid yet soft-looking with all its faded pink scars, and it and his chest are still as hairy as Eddie remembers; strong shoulders, solid jaw, dusty lips that pull up into a smirk, all of him is so fucking perfect.

“Hurry it up, dingus, food’s ready!” Robin calls, startling Eddie out of his gawking.

His face goes hot with embarrassment, chancing another glance up to Steve and hoping he didn’t get caught…

Steve winks at him, then turns out of sight, disappearing just as his hand comes down to grab the towel twisted around him.

His face burns, and doesn’t stop burning until long after Steve returns from upstairs.

He makes up a burger for himself, and once each of them have theirs, they call the rest of the hoard upstairs. The six teens all but destroy the remaining burgers, two whole bags of chips, and would have gulped down at least one whole 12 pack of Coke if Nancy hadn’t relegated them to one can each.

Steve’s about to herd them back downstairs when El pipes up and says that they’ve decided they want to go to the waterpark in the main lodge tonight instead of tomorrow. Surprisingly, Steve agrees to drive them over there on the condition “you shitheads are careful, and are ready to go as soon as the pools close at midnight. Got it?”

“Agreed.” they say in unison, splitting off in all directions to grab their swim stuff.

“I’m surprised at you, Stevie, letting them go off on their own.”

He just shrugs, “There’s lifeguards.”

The troops are back in the living room within ten minutes, and in their boots and out the door in 12. 

Once they’re out the door, Robin goes back to her book, Jon and Argyle step out onto the balcony to smoke, and Eddie follows Nancy into the kitchen without even thinking about it, grabbing up the hand towel hanging from the oven door and placing himself to her right.

“Thanks,” she says, handing him the first wet plate from the mess of suds in the sink.

They work in silence for a few minutes, listening to the crackling of the fire, the clanging of silverware in the sink, the muffled voices of the two on the porch.

“Nancy?”

“Yeah, Eddie?”

“If I–If Ste–” he wasn’t sure how to ask this, how to even approach the topic, “Robin said—”

“He’d be lucky to have you Eddie, and you him.” She says, not looking up from the sink.

“How’d you–?”

“Robin tends to ramble when she's nervous, have you noticed?”

He stares down at her, dumbfounded. Her lips quirk into a smile. “She’s like that around me a lot, actually.”

“I’ve noticed.”

They fall back into silence again; on the last plate, she says, “Robin’s already had this conversation with Steve about me, so I only assume it’s fair that you have it with me about him.” She passes the last plate to him and pulls the drain from the water. 

“Just remember Eddie,” She pauses and turns to face him, one hip cocked over to lean on the edge of the counter. “If you’re gonna go for it..Steve loves with all of him at once. Don’t take it for granted.”

He sets the dried plate onto the rack beside the sink as she passes behind him, patting him on the shoulder as she does.

He wants to take a moment to process all that, but just his luck, Steve returns then, passing in behind him where Nancy just left to grab up a six-pack.

Steve hands one to Eddie as he leaves, “You okay, Eds?”

“I’m good, thanks Stevie.” he says, fixing his face into an easy smile.

The six of them lounge around the rest of the evening, slowly sipping on their drinks while they play cards in front of the fire, but there’s a catch: Eddie’s going absolutely insane.

Steve’s touching him everywhere. His thigh and foot are sitting comfortably under Eddie’s own thigh where it’s crossed above it, his arm is draped across the back of the couch behind Eddie’s shoulders and methodically twirling long lengths of dark hair between his fingers.

Eddie’s been doing his damndest to ignore it, and succeeds, actually, for short periods of time while they are playing Uno, but every time Steve leans back from dropping his next card on the coffee table, he casually puts his arm back where it was, and grabs up a new lock of Eddie’s hair to torture him with.

And each time he does, Robin gives him the same knowing look.

It’s. Agony.

He wants to relax, wants to scream, he wants to swing his leg over Steve’s lap and press him into the cushions with heated kisses, he wants to haul the other man upstairs and throw him onto the bed…be thrown onto the bed.

Finally, Nancy calls it, breaking their little bubble to stand into a long stretch around nine. Steve hops up off the couch after Robin to gather up all the rest of the cans, and Eddie helps Jon and Argyle pull apart the couches enough to fold out the beds for when the goblins come back.

He escapes upstairs after a short goodnight to the two, Robin and Steve are still bickering in hushed tones about something in the kitchen, and pulls out his bag. He’s fishing out a new pair of boxers when Steve finally gets upstairs, shutting the room’s double doors behind him and heading into the ensuite.

He left the door open in his wake, so Eddie grabs up the rest of his things and follows. He drops his pile of stuff onto the closed lid of the toilet and shucks his shirt unceremoniously, tossing it to the floor.

The glass door of the huge half-walled stone shower squeaks softly on its hinges when he opens it to start the water, squeaking again when it swings closed. He reaches up to a shelf above the toilet to pull down one of the provided towels, turning to hang it on the hook beside the shower.

It’s while he’s turning back to the hook that he chances a look at Steve.

Steve, frozen at the sink with his toothbrush hanging listlessly in the air and a glob of foamy toothpaste slowly drooping off his lip, is staring. 

Unabashedly.

At Eddie’s bare torso.

Eddie caught and cataloged this in the split second it took Steve to realize Eddie was staring back, but it was enough. 

The flirting had been one thing, a natural, goofy continuation of their friendship that led to their ‘date’ today, the soft touches and hair-playing had been another, something Eddie could explain away just as easily. Steve is a touchy guy once you get close to him, and had been with Eddie since they’d gotten closer after spring break.

But this?

He’s looking at him with the same wide-eyed look Eddie’d given him earlier: gobsmacked and slightly hungry.

Steve turns away quickly, spitting into the sink and mumbling something under his breath while he finishes rinsing out his mouth. 

Eddie snorts, shaking his head and finally hanging up his towel.

“Oh, what, now you’re gonna be all shy?” he grouses, twisting around to scowl at the back of Steve’s head. Steve looks over his shoulder to glare at him in return, his cheeks glowing red. “Really? The guy who was joking about bending me over only a couple hours ago? The same guy who was winking at me in nothing but a towel earlier?”

Steve flushes darker, and it irritates him to no end. “Honestly Steve?” Eddie starts, turning back to the shower and pretending to fix how his towel is hanging, “If you’re into me, just do something about it. Otherwise, just…back off, okay? I’m super into you but I can be a big boy about it because honestly, I’d rather keep you around as a friend if nothing else and—”

His rambling is cut off by the click of the bathroom door closing.

Eddie lets out a long breath, “Yeah.. that’s about what I expected.” Robin was wrong.

He takes a moment to collect himself, but just as he pops open the button on his jeans, Steve’s voice breaks through the sound of rushing water.

“Were you being serious?”

“Jesus H. Christ!” Eddie yelps, spinning around to face the man who’s still very much in the bathroom with him. “What the fuck, Steve?”

“Were you?” he asks, pushing off from where he’d been leaning back on the door.

“...About what?”

“About how you’re ‘super into’ me?” he grins.

Eddie crosses his arms across his chest defensively, “You don’t get to be an ass about it, Steve.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Steve says softly, reaching out to unfold Eddie’s arms. His fingers follow the length of them and grasp Eddie’s in his, “I wasn’t trying to be, promise; I’m just surprised is all.”

“Surprised?”

“Well yeah,” he shrugs, “The super hot metalhead you’ve been mooning after since March confesses he thinks you’re also super hot? That’s kinda hard to believe.”

He can feel Steve’s shirt brushing faintly against his stomach now. “I never said you were super hot.” he manages to say.

Steve catches his eyes, smirking at him with an obnoxious head tilt, “Didja have to?”

“Shut up..” Eddie snorts out a laugh and pushes lightly at Steve’s chest; he’s laughing too. “Okay, okay, now leave me alone so I can shower.” he says, pushing a bit harder this time. “I’ll be out soon and you can do with me what you wish.”

Steve’s leaning his weight against him, fighting going back to the bedroom, “Or…”

“Or?” Damn, he’s heavy what the fuck!

“I could, maybe, if you want..Icouldgetinwithyou.”

Eddie stops pushing.

Steve scratches at the back of his head in embarrassment, “I mean, I’ve been wanting to get you naked for months now and there’s a perfectly good reason right there, and I think it’d be nice to shower, y’know…together.. and wow, I am being super awkward, actually..so I’m just gonna…yeah.”

Steve gestures over his shoulder toward the bedroom but he doesn’t even move to turn before Eddie is pulling him back the other way.

He lets him go a couple steps away from the glass shower door, “Better get t’stripping big boy, can’t shower very well with clothes on, can you?” he winks, then faces away from Steve to finally shed his jeans (and for his own sanity).

Eddie can hear the split second it takes for Steve to start pulling off his clothes, taking another second for himself before pushing his jeans and boxers off his hips.

He had been trying to be in the shower under the spray before Steve was even out of his clothes, but one of his legs got caught, then he had to pause further to pull off the stubborn sock that decided not to come off with his jeans.

Which of course led to him nearly toppling over.

He caught himself on the wall, but not before Steve’s hands caught him around the waist too. “Careful, Eds.”

Oh fuck. Steve’s hands should not feel that good against his skin..also, dammit! He was trying to be all suave and cool by getting in under the water before Steve could see him fully, and now his bare fuckin’ ass is out for all to see…

Eddie laughs to himself.

“What?”

“Nothin’, I just thought I’d be…better? At this?”

“At what?”

“Stupid fuckin’—” Eddie finally gets his sock off, then sighs, “I dunno, being sexy, or mysterious I guess? Coy maybe?” 

“Why would you need to be any of that?”

Eddie shrugs, stepping out of Steve’s hold and into the shower and under the spray, staying faced away from the door while Steve follows.

“Are you gonna look at me?” he asks, voice devoid of anything but concern.

Taking a breath, Eddie steels himself and turns to face Steve in the large shower.

Steve’s expression is calm, open, but skews slightly into concern under Eddie’s gaze.

The long lean lines of his torso are just the same as the other two times he’s seen them, but they’re close now, and in good lighting too; Eddie can see a few other scars other than the ones from the bats, others he’s gotten over the years protecting the heard of goblins they’ve been co-parenting since last September.

He watches rogue droplets of water slough down the now-damp hairs on his arms, his legs, his chest, the ones that follow the path of darkening hairs down his stomach to his—

Steve steps closer, sharing the warm, wide spray of the shower with him.

He lifts his hand and brushes the damp hair back from the scar that marrs Eddie’s face and neck, stepping forward fully and cupping the puckered flesh in his palm when the hair settles wetly behind his shoulder

Eddie feels time stop for a brief moment. 

All of Steve is pressed into him and they line up perfectly, like they were made to share the same space. Steve’s other hand slides onto Eddie’s hip and it tugs him closer. Steve's half-hard length slots into place beside Eddie’s own, into the crevice where his crotch meets thigh.

Eddie shudders a breath at the feeling, opening his eyes to study the planes of Steve’s face and the way he is seemingly drooping forward into Eddie’s orbit. 

Steve’s smiling softly at him, the soft spray of water reflecting off their chests is misting up onto his cheek and lashes. His eyes are so much more green than he’d thought before, besides how little of the color he can see around the much larger pupil.

“Gorgeous.” Steve says, his voice is breathy and low, full of admiration, of longing…and it takes Eddie out of his reverie.

“Wha?” He says, eloquent as ever.

“You’re gorgeous, Eddie.”

Then, Steve’s lips are on his, tentative and sweet; soft, but becoming heady fast. 

The next time their lips meet, it’s punctuated with a short huff of air from Steve’s lungs when Eddie spins them, pressing Steve into the stone wall beside the shower knobs. He parts his lips to mumble out an apology, but Steve’s tongue decides to fill the space instead.

The hand Steve had on Eddie’s jaw snakes down to grab hold of his other hip and pulls him even closer, using the both of them to roll Eddie’s hips into his.

Their tongues slide languidly against the other, the fast pace they’d been building into falling off in exchange for slow, sanguine kisses instead.

Eddie lets out a shaky breath when they do part, blinking across the short distance between them at Steve’s kiss-bitten lips for only a second before letting his eyes fall shut with the exhale.

“Steve…is this—Is this real?”

Steve breathes out a shaky laugh of his own, “Why wouldn’t it be real, Eddie?” He asks, gently tracing the length of Eddie’s nose with his.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve had this exact dream before; are you sure I didn’t snap my neck during one of those falls earlier?”

The younger man laughs fully this time, and Eddie relishes in the slippery feeling of the wet skin of Steve’s stomach rippling against his own. He can’t help but grin in response to both the laughter and the funny feeling, his eyes opening without a second thought.

Steve looks like he’s floating, his face soft and dripping with a bright beaming smile..

“Do you need me to pinch you?” Steve asks, finally coming down from his brief fit of laughter.

“I don’t know if I want to find out this isn’t real.” Eddie grins in return.

One of Steve’s large hands leaves his hip then, snaking around to pinch the underside of Eddie’s asscheek.

He sucks in a short hiss of pain and lets out a soft whimper of something else (holy shit, when did that become a thing??) in the same breath.

“Okay…” he gulps down a mouthful of nothing, “Not a dream.”

“Not a dream..” Steve repeats. 

There’s a beat, two full breaths of more nothing before Steve spins them around and pushes Eddie back into the cold stone instead, his arm wrapped around him and up to cup the back of his skull protectively against the tile.

He presses a thick thigh between Eddie’s and does three things almost simultaneously.

The first, a second before the other two: He locks his heavy-lidded gaze on Eddie’s; two and three: presses the thigh between Eddie’s legs up, and pulls the hand at the back of his skull down along with a fistful of dark curls.

“Aahhh—ohhh fuck, Steve…” The sting from his scalp pulls a moan from his exposed throat, and Eddie scrambles to grab hold of something.

His nails dig into the slick skin of Steve’s back automatically, and he opens his mouth to apologize the same moment Steve latches onto his neck with a low groan of his own.

The hand not tangled in Eddie’s hair is starting to pull him down in waves against Steve’s thigh and hips, both of them hissing in pleasure with each pass of the other’s length against theirs.

“Mmmm, Eddie..” Steve moans, unlatching from the bruise he’s sure to have left on Eddie’s throat to lave his tongue and lips against his jaw instead. “Baby, you feel so good against me.”

“AAaahh—mmm..”

“Ooh, and you sound so sweet..” His lips trail down from his jaw back to the definitely sore spot on his neck, one that he prods lightly with the tip of his tongue before continuing on to nip at the taught skin of his collarbone, kiss lightly over the skin of his scarred pec, finally landing tongue first onto Eddie’s remaining nipple. 

The reaction to this is immediate; Eddie arches his chest further into Steve’s mouth. Steve, the sonofabitch he is, suctions his lips away from Eddie’s flushed skin in response.

“Hhnng—what the actual fuck, Steve?” Eddie glares best he can though the panting, “Get that mouth back over here.”

Miraculously, Steve obliges, sliding forward into a saccharine kiss and pulling Eddie away from

the wall and back under the spray of water.

“C’mon Eds, tilt your head back before the hot water runs out.”

Eddie just gapes at him, at his dick, both their dicks, still standing at attention, back up to his face.

Steve just purses his lips together as if holding back a grin and tugs Eddie’s head back by his hair again, soaking the strands through under the water.

He lets Steve turn him this way and that, reveling in the feeling of the other man’s hands in his hair, slick with soap on his skin, the gentle nudges and pulls relaxing him further into this weird world where Steve’s totally into him and also they’re naked in the shower together.

Finally, when Steve tilts his head back for the final time to rinse the conditioner out of his hair, Eddie decides to be a little shit, pushing his hips forward to clash their (still half-hard) dicks together.

“What are you—really? A sword fight?”

Eddie lets out a long cackle, “What? You knew what you were getting into with me, didn’t’cha Stevie?”

Doubt crashes into Eddie’s chest the instant the words escape his mouth.

He did, didn’t he? He likes him for his antics right? Oh fuck…How long would it take for Steve to get sick of his shit?

Despite Eddie’s near-crushing doubts, Steve smiles and says, “That I did.” easy as breathing, then pulls Eddie flush against him in another heated kiss.

Steve walks him backward after a moment, and Eddie drops his hands behind him to feel for the inevitable press of cold stone on his back, shuddering when it finally makes contact.

His gasp from the cold tile only seems to egg the other man on, hunching down to grip him around the backs of his thighs.

Eddie’s legs lock around Steve’s waist in panic, but pleasure shoots through him with the motion too, the horny thrill of being picked up so effortlessly along with the pressure of Steve’s stomach against the underside of his dick.

“Mmph—Steve holy shit,” he’s only just managed to thread the fingers on one hand into those sleek brown locks when he has to stifle down a long groan with a bite to his knuckle. “Hnngh–Steve, Steve, you gotta—oh fuck..”

The muscles of Steve’s stomach bunch under him as he grinds up in slow, torturous rolls..

“Oh, fuck—” the words spill out of his mouth, loud and long; his palm snaps up to hold them in as Steve pushes his shoulders into the tile behind him and leans back, leaving Eddie’s body balanced between strong thighs and shower wall.

The tile hits hard on the back of his skull when Steve wraps one of those hands of his around both their lengths. Eddie manages to look down, only to knock his head back again at the sight. 

Even with the added height of being on top of Steve’s thighs, their heads are exactly level, disappearing over and over again into the water-warmed skin of Steve’s fist.

Steve hunches forward again, pressing kisses into Eddie’s sternum. “Gorgeous.” 

“Steve...” he whispers in return, grinding as much as he can against the length slotted along his.

Again, too soon, Steve is pulling away, releasing his grip on them both.

“What’s wrong?” Eddie asks, already moving to drop his legs back to the floor. 

Steve stops him, hoisting his legs back around him and lifting him off the wall. “I’m taking you up on your offer.” He says, twisting off the now-cold stream of water and carefully stepping over the lip of the doorway through the glass door.

“My offer?”

“You said that after your shower, you’d come back out here to the bedroom and I could have my way with you.”

A half whine, half moan curls out of Eddie’s throat to his utter embarrassment.

“D’ya like that idea, sweetheart?” Steve says, grinning mischievously. 

Eddie manages to scowl at him as they leave the steamy bathroom, and is dropped down onto the mattress soon after. 

“Aw shit!”

“What? What happened?”

It’s cold as shit, that’s what.” The air-cooled temperature of the covers against his skin has him breaking out in goosebumps.

Steve winces, “Sorry, I didn’t think about that.”

What was calm and collected confidence flickers off his face, and Eddie can’t have that. “Jus’ come over here and warm me up, big bo–wait,” He sits up and stops Steve when only one of his knees has made it onto the bed. “Lemme look at you.” 

He looks down at Steve, and yep. Big Boy is very accurate. He’d felt it against him already, Steve’s too-gorgeous-to-be-real dick; he’s longer for sure, cut and curved up like something out of a wet dream. 

“Oh, definitely big boy,” Eddie grins, looking up at Steve’s somewhat embarrassed expression.

“It’s nothing special.” he shrugs, his cheeks heating up as he climbs up Eddie’s damp body. He lowers himself down lay between his legs, his dick slotting itself beside Eddie’s once again.

He hunches over to kiss lightly up the scars on Eddie’s left side, lips brushing along the healed edge of the biggest one. It tickles, then it doesn’t, then does, then doesn’t, his lips pressing halfway onto skin and halfway onto puckered pink flesh.

“Steve..”

“Yeah baby?” he responds after a few more kisses.

“You’re giving me more goosebumps.” Eddie says, somewhat breathless.

Another kiss, “Mmmm.. You’re welcome.”

That shocks a laugh out of him, “You’re such a dork.”

Steve takes one of Eddie’s hands where it lays on the mattress, lacing their fingers together and pressing them back into the mattress beside his head.

“Says you.” he affirms, locking those ridiculous hazel eyes on his.

Eddie’s about to crack off another one liner, say something to…all that, but it’s completely erased from his mind when Steve ducks his head down to find his nipple again.

“Oh fuckin–nnng..” his hips buck up hard into Steve’s, who presses down into him in return.

He can feel it when Steve grins against his skin. “Shut up, asshole, that fee–ee–els so good.”

“Hmm, tell me about it, baby.” He’s grinding down slowly now, adding to the exponentially increasing Steve-addled brain fog he’s currently experiencing.

“Ahhh—I want to but–”

“But what?” Steve’s breath over the spit-slick spot on his chest sends a chill through him. 

“Oh fuck–If any of them hear us, we’re never going to hear the end of it.” he tries to warn around another stifled moan.

The Menace is undeterred, swirling his tongue around the little nub open-mouthed and hot once more before moving upwards, trailing his lips up Eddie’s breastbone until he’s sucking kisses into his throat once again. He continues up along the length of his neck until he reaches his ear, “Then you’d better keep it down, huh?”

Well that didn’t help. He lets out a long moan in response, clamping a hand over his mouth way too late.

“You sound so good though,” Steve says, continuing his slow grinding, “I can’t wait to get you alone so I can fuck you properly.”

That pulls another moan from behind Eddie’s palm. “Jesus H. Christ,” Eddie bucks his hips up as much as he can, but Steve's palms move down to hold him in place.

“Can’t have that now, can we?” Steve chides, trailing his lips down his stomach as he slides back to the edge of the bed, his eyes locked on Eddie’s.

“Wh–Why not?”

“Because I’d prefer,” a kiss above his belly button, “to choke,” a kiss below, “on my own accord.”, then swallows Eddie down in one go.

“Oh fffuuck—”

Steve hums in agreement around Eddie’s dick and the vibrations course up his spine to rattle around in his brain.

“Oh shit, Stevie, that feels so fuckin’ good.” He breathes, twisting his fingers into Steve’s hair.

In response, Steve starts to bob his head, swirling his tongue around Eddie’s on the upstroke, and sucking with fervor on the down.

“Steve, sweetheart–fuck–if you keep going I’m gonna—haah—”

“And what if I want you to?”

“And what if I want to to-together?”

Steve releases him with a wet pop, kissing his way back up to Eddie’s lips, humming in satisfaction when he reaches them, like kissing Eddie is the best part of all this.

And doesn’t that make his head spin.

“All you’d have to do is ask.”

Eddie pulls Steve back to his lips and bucks up into him again. “That’s me asking.”

Steve grins down at him and re-starts his slow, tortuous pace.

He’s rock hard against Eddie’s thigh, and this is getting fuckin’ ridiculous.

“Alright, you know what,” Eddie pushes his hips up hard and flips them over, straddling Steve’s thighs in no time at all.

“Holy shit—“ Steve blinks up at him in astonishment, like he’s surprised that he’s been flipped so easily.

 Eddie grinds down onto Steve, “You don’t get to tease me like that, big boy.”

“Is that so?” He chuckles, then groans when Eddie wraps his hand around their lengths. His hands grip onto Eddie’s thighs, squeezing tight to match the hold on them.

Eddie fucks forward into his fist, pulling his hand down to meet each thrust and watching as Steve’s head drops back onto the mattress.

He lets out a long groan. “Eddie…”

“Yeah, Stevie?”

Eddie runs his fingers over both their heads, adding to the slight slip of pre with a well aimed glob of spit that makes Steve hum out a short breathy moan as it makes contact with his head.

More noises of appreciation are pulled from the man under him as he rubs the pad of his thumb through the mess and under the head of Steve’s cock in small circles.

“Mmhm oh fuck..”

“You like that?”

“Mmhmm,” he nods dazedly “Keep moving though, feels so good, Eds.”

“You got it, sweetheart.” Eddie grins, wrapping his palm around them again and pushes forward into his fist.

Steve’s head drops back onto the pillow beneath him, “Just like that Eddie, fuck.” 

He gives them a few more strokes, then Steve’s hands start to move; his warm palms skirt along the wiry hair on his legs, one traveling around to grab onto Eddie’s horribly non-existent ass, and the other comes up to his remaining nipple, pinching it between two digits.

That did it. The hot coil of pleasure already broiling in his stomach twists even tighter. “Ahh—Stevie..I’m so close, Jesus Christ…”

“Me too..”

“Yeah? Well c’mon sweetheart, give it to me.”

A scant two passes of his hand later, Steve shoots hot across his stomach, and Eddie follows a half stroke later. 

He sinks down to the bed against Steve’s heaving ribs, tucking his shoulder under the other man’s arm.

After a few more breaths, Steve pulls Eddie into him and presses his lips to Eddie’s still-damp forehead.

“Ew gross, don’t do that, I’m all sweaty.”

“Don't care.” Steve mumbles softly into his hairline.

In return, Eddie wipes his soiled hand off on Steve’s stomach.

“Ew! Gross!” Steve laughs, shoving Eddie away with no actual intent behind it.

A few minutes later, Steve breaks the comfortable silence. “So,”

The word sinks heavily into Eddie’s gut. “So?”

When Steve doesn’t continue, Eddie turns his head to find Steve gazing at him with soft eyes, and even softer smile.

It morphs into a teasing smirk. “Did it live up to the hype?”

—--

One snooze and another heated shower later, Eddie crawls back into their bed and gets comfy while he listens to Steve pull his clothes back on to go down to the main lodge for the hellions.

He hears a short shuf when Steve’s leg skirts around the end of the bed. “I’ll be back in 15,” he says, kissing the damp hairs on Eddie’s temple. “Go to sleep, Eds.”

“Hmmm…” he hums in return, cozy as ever, and is out as soon as the door clicks shut.

Too soon, the sounds of the shitheads scrambling into the house interrupts his dozing, the door to the bedroom squeaking open not long after.

“Eds? You awake?”

Instead of answering, Eddie simply opens his arms.

He listens to Steve strip off his clothes, beckoning the man forward again when he feels the end of the mattress sink under the other man’s weight. 

“I’m comin’, I’m comin’, hold your horses.”

“My horses have been patient enough.” Eddie grumbles as Steve finally shuffles between the sheets and into his waiting arms.

-x-X-x-

“Dude! What the hell happened to your neck?! Did you get attacked by a vampire?”

“Henderson, you are way too loud for how early it is.”

“It’s 10 am, Eddie.”

“Exactly.” the barstool creaks as he climbs onto it, gratefully accepting the plate of eggs and bacon Argyle passes him.

“Leave him alone, guys.” Steve says, coming up behind Eddie on his stool and kissing his cheek as he passes into the kitchen with his empty plate.

There’s three whole seconds of silence before the younger teens burst out into a cacophony of various outbursts.

“Aw, what? Eddie! Steve’s way too lame for you to be dating!”

“Steve, did you fuck my DM?!”

“I fuckin’ knew it. I told you they’d get together, didn’t I? Dustin, you owe me 10 bucks.”

“I don’t owe you shit, Maxine.”

“Holy shit, congrats guys.” Lucas is his new favorite… Will and El too, nodding along to Sinclair’s assessment.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough; All those heading back to the waterpark better be ready to go in T-minus three minutes otherwise I’m leavin’ without you.” Steve calls out over the noise.

The complaints follow him out of the kitchen and into the tiny laundry room off the entryway.

“Why don’t you guys get yelled at?” Eddie grumbles, poking up a forkful of egg.

Robin snorts a laugh, “Because none of us are sleeping with the babysitter.”

okay, some notes:

steve's mom is a lawyer in this canon and she's the one who paid for eddie's legal counsel/helped with clearing his name after s4

wha?? steve harrington has good parents?? insanity

"canon" hawkins is about an hour outside of indianapolis so i used shelbyville, indiana as my base and from there to boyne mountain is about a 7 hour drive. if they left at 6 am from hawkins, they'd get to the resort around 1 or 2 and have a good couple hours to ski before it gets dark again at 6 (daylight hours in the midwest during winter are a bitch.)

i did way too much research into the ski resort i based this at, only to realize that neither the cabin itself OR the waterpark were there in the 80s. so...let's all just pretend, okay?

the map above is a trail map of the resort from 1985

when i asked my husband what i should add to 'my most recent blorbos' he said 'nice tits!' so that's why that line lmao

who'da thought this'd go from skiing to shower sex? cause i didn't

i got stuck on the smut part of this for way too long and i am so glad i am a) done with it and b) that it actually turned out relatively coherent.

on that note though, i have been looking at this damn fic for so so long that i don't know if it's actually good or what. 'cause to me, it's complete garbled garbage

the title of this is from 'Object of My Desire' by Starpoint

lex i am so sorry this is late ilysm 🫶

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for telling my step dad no one wants to hear his private phone calls and to go to a separate room when talking?

Mostly just what the title says. Other important information:

- When he takes a phone call, he will mute the TV. usually, it's not even something he wanted to watch, but something someone else turned on. doesn't matter. He mutes it.

- phone calls last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.

- he talks loud, so unless other people have earplugs or headphones in, we can only hear him and whoever he is talking to (phone is not on speaker, however, the phone call that sparked this AITA was almost entirely on speaker)

- he gets daily phone calls from his daughter (my step sibling) around dinner time, so its not even during a convenient time. he will still take the call, though.

there's a few reasons why no one has mentioned it to him yet, ranging from not wanting to be mean to knowing how he'll respond. he's taken other comments we've made about his behavior as personal insults, when we only try to explain what is making us upset or annoyed (like him leaving the TV volume too high and it giving me headaches, or him not pushing in his chair and cleaning up his table spot after dinner). additionally, my mom super struggles with my brother not calling or visiting, so she doesnt want to ruin the relationship that my step dad has with his daughter that has her calling every day.

the final straw for me is that my mom gets daily calls from her brother (my uncle) and weekly calls from a friend. she takes the majority of these calls in her bedroom, to not be rude, but also because my step dad has specifically told her talking on the phone while he's watching something is rude.

so, knowing my mom won't defend herself, WIBTA for telling him its rude to mute the TV to talk on the phone, especially when we're still watching or about to eat dinner?

What are these acronyms?

[jewbeloved]

May I request for Butters, Cartman aaand Kyle with s/o who listens to metal music? 😁

Cartman, Butters, and Kyle with a s/o who likes metal music🎸🎹🎶🎵💖

Warnings: None

Gender: Neutral

❤️ Eric Cartman 🩸

I can just imagine you always wearing your headphones and listening to loud metal music through the speakers.

You were of course being a complete distraction to Mr Garrison when he's asked you to get rid of your headphones and pay attention.

You didn't hear him because your headphones were plugged in lmao and that made him more irritated.

Cartman thought this was also funny as well, but he was kind of annoyed whenever he was speaking to you and you can't even hear him because of your headphones.

You probably even blast the music through the big speakers you have in your room and all your neighbors and friends can hear it-

Expect a few people and some of your friends yelling/begging you to turn down the volume or they just ask you to turn it off instead.

Cartman didn't mind it since he could just sleep in his attic instead. (He asked his mom to make the attic walls soundproof)

When he finds you tired out on your floor after making a huge wreckage through the whole neighborhood, he would just take your headphones and listen to other musics that he likes on it.

I also think he might just find out the music you listen to all the time and repay it on a small speaker and slip it into Kyle's room where he can't find it and the music will just start blasting outta nowhere ruining Kyle's beauty sleep.❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

💚 Kyle Broflovski 🧃

The gif is his reaction whenever he hears your loud music waking him up out of his sleep.

He really doesn't mind you playing music through whatever device you have, but when it comes to you turning up the volume to maximum and the sound of the music can be heard through the neighborhood, that's when he will be quite annoyed and upset at you.

And even when he's trying to talk to you but you're too invested into your music, he might get even more upset than you think.

He just doesn't want to grab your device or whatever you're using to play your music because that would be very rude of him, but....he just wishes that you would take a break from blasting music all the time.

He got sick of it later on.

When you were on the playground invested into your phone playing the same metal music you always played. Kyle snatched your phone out of your hands without hesitation.

You looked up at him and gave him a 'What the hell?' look, You reached to try and grab your phone back but Kyle hid it behind his back.

You could see tiny bags under Kyle 's eyes.

"Y/n. We need to talk"

Kyle understands that you love metal music a whole lot, but I think it's time for you to tone it down a little and realize that there are other things around you besides just your music.

You guys talked for quite a while.

It's good for him that you promised to not spend too much time listening to music and realize that other things are also around you as well, like him. You haven't abandoned Kyle for metal music have you?

You gave him a big kiss and other reassurances for the rest of the day to make it up to him💚💚💚💚

💛 Butters Scotch ⭐

He wouldn't be too worried about you listening to metal music since he supports anything you do. But...he has certainly noticed how you stop paying attention to him whenever he tried to cling onto you or speak to you.

Cartman has taken advantage of this and tried to manipulate Butters into thinking that you probably would see other people that likes the same metal music that you do. Maybe that's the reason why you're starting to ignore Butters constantly.

Knowing how Butters can be gullible when it comes to Cartman lying to him very often about stuff like this, Butters has been very stressed after hearing about what Cartman said.

You don't actually plan to see other people besides Butters....right? right??

He tried to get into the same music that you liked hoping it would be enough to impress you.

And whenever you're not listening to your usual music, you noticed a strange difference in how Butters has been showing you all these different types of metal musics all the time, he barely even talked about anything else.

You were just about to ask him until you overheard Cartman talking and snickering to himself, he probably was the reason why Butters is all of a sudden like this.

You got extremely angry and gave Cartman a bloody nose.

Just when Butters was about to show you something else that was related to metal music, you immediately pulled him close to your chest and hugged him.

"You didn't need to get into the same type of music like me all because you thought that I was going to leave you for some people who liked the same music like me Butters..." Butters looked at you with a shocked face and tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

He immediately started crying while nuzzling into your neck and you kissed his forehead, rubbing his back gently as he cries.

"And don't worry, I made the fatass pay for trying to take advantage of this between us"💛💛💛💛

27 requests....I really haven't organized myself have I?

[broccoliboix5peepeeman]

Birthday Reveal

The moment Shoto was inside, he shrugged off his coat and kicked off his shoes. He then lowered the bag full of presents to the floor, albeit delicately, before making his way to the bedroom; he didn't bother tidying up.

Birthdays were fun, now that he actually celebrated them, but they were also exhausting. Shoto figured he'd be used to the attention, considering his upbringing and hero ranking, but honestly, he couldn't have been more wrong. His family had been doting - always trying to make up for lost time - while his friends made fun of him good-naturedly, and while he enjoyed the company, it was all very overwhelming.

But Shoto had to admit, as he quickly changed into his Deku-themed pyjamas, his exhaustion was paired with disappointment.

Izuku had been at work all day.

Sure, they co-ran "Our Power" agency together, so it made sense that they had to cover for each other with holidays sometimes - especially when Izuku insisted on keeping their relationship a secret for safety reasons, despite Shoto's solid counterarguments - but it was Shoto's birthday and Izuku still hadn't come home!

He checked his phone, hoping for another notification updating him on the situation, but alas, all he could see was the text from three hours ago - when Izuku's shift was supposed to finish - saying he'd been called out.

With a sigh, Shoto finished his night-time routine and climbed into bed.

He knew he shouldn't worry. Izuku was the number one hero for a reason. He could handle anything... yet Shoto couldn't fall asleep. As selfish as he felt for wanting his partner here with him, they had a duty to Japan - he didn't expect Izuku to forgo that just to appease him - but that duty was dangerous. Three hours of overtime due to call-out was never a good sign.

His phone buzzed.

Shoto was almost embarrassed by how quickly he grabbed it, only to be dismayed to find that it was only Uraraka.

Uraraka [21:25]: Hey I know you're moping bc you thought it was Deku messaging you,which is dumb bc I'm cooler than him 😤

Uraraka [21:25]: Anyway, turn on NHK Hero news live right now

Me [21:25]: K ☹

Shoto opened the browser on his phone, snorting when a notification popped up from Uraraka, calling him a "rude bitch boy, you'll thank me later". Once he had the station up, he turned on the volume and clicked play.

The screen loaded, showing Izuku in his hero suit, smiling as he spoke to a reporter. They seemed to be talking about the villain encounter, but it wasn't hurried or frantic; it was almost leisurely. Shoto frowned.

'Okay, Hero Deku.' The reporter looked at her watch. 'You requested this interview and it is now officially nine thirty. You said you had an announcement to make?'

'Ah, yes!' A deep flush painted those freckled cheeks as Izuku rocked on his feet. 'So, as you know, Hero Shoto's birthday is today!'

He heartbeat quickened at the direct address, and he swallowed heavily.

'As one of my best friends and co-owner of our agency, we usually spend his birthday hanging out in some form, but unfortunately that wasn't possible today.' Izuku continued. His hands were fiddling with each other in front of him; he was nervous. 'So I thought I'd give him one of his presents now, now that I know he's watching this.'

His partner turned to the camera, and suddenly, his smile reached his eyes, crinkling at the corners. It was a fond smile; the kind only Shoto was privy too.

'Happy birthday, Shouchan.' His voice quivered slightly, but was laced with affection. 'I know you've wanted this for a while, but I've been too chicken to do it. That changes today, because you were right... about everything. So... to quote All Might, I am here!'

He paused, exhaling slowly. 'I am here... to tell the world that I love Todoroki Shoto! He is my partner in life, and I feel so blessed to wake up beside him. We're in a relationship and have been for a while now, and I can't wait for us to grow old together.'

Izuku grinned dopily at the camera - Shoto was sure he was making a similar face at his phone - before realising where he was.

He then coughed awkwardly. 'Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Thank you for taking the time to listen to this announcement, but I have a boyfriend to get home to, and I'm already three hours late.'

Before anyone else could speak, emerald lightning shone as Izuku launched himself in the air; the camera focused on him flying off into the distance, like a shooting star. The reporter was gobsmacked, while her microphone picked up the cries of the excited fans who had gathered around to watch the interview in person. Meanwhile, Shoto buried his face in a pillow, hugging it close to his chest as he rolled around the bed.

It was finally out there. Everyone knew about them. He was finally able to love Izuku openly.

It was the best present.

A loud thud sounded from outside, followed by a key opening the front door. Clearly, his partner was keen to see him, and Shoto wasn't complaining. However, as soon as the door slammed shut, he heard a squawk, followed a clatter and a bang.

He shot out of bed and into the corridor, where he found Izuku sprawled out across the floor, having tripped over the shoes Shoto had left out earlier.

'You good, my love?'

'Never better.' His partner grumbled against the tatami. 'Anyway... Happy birthday, baby cakes. I hope you liked my present.'

Shoto tipped his head back and laughed.

'I loved it.'

[ouranbutworse]

Anime-Manga Comparisons, episode 26

This episode is especially hard, since it covers so many volumes, so let’s just get it over with before I cry any more.

It starts off with Kotoko’s shrine and Haruhi leaving to head to school without eating breakfast, pretty quiet start, so I thought I’d talk about Tamaki announcing he’s leaving the host club in the manga.

There's a lot of build up to it, like Honey and Mori graduating and the rest moving up a grade, then they fight and Mori wins, just to tell Honey he can’t bring the rabbit with him to college, Haruhi and Tamaki share an almost kiss, Haruhi goes to her dad for advice, and Shizue allows Tamaki to move into the main mansion, also laying off all the staff from mansion two. Pretty harsh! At least Kyoya runs to talk with Shima. The music room also gets closed for renovation, and Tamaki avoids Haruhi at every turn, until they finally all meet up to eat lunch together and Tamaki drops the ball and tells them all he’s leaving, putting Kyoya in charge, and that Haruhi can quit if she likes. They’re not at all happy about it.

Looking back at the anime, Eclair randomly points out that Kyoya is the third son in his family and will never be the heir, how fucking rude of her! She also knows of Haru’s debt, and demands an audience with our dear Natural Type. The way Haruhi questions if Eclair is jealous feels like a call back to the first episode with Ayanokoji, but Eclair doesn’t get angry. The rest of the club worry about Tamaki and Kyoya has to wrangle them up to do their jobs, then thanks Haruhi and tells her that her debt has been repaid and she’s free to leave, if she likes. Even he sounds a little sad about that. Yoshio returns to make a speech at his back, saying he’s wasting time, and Haruhi defends him, calling him amazing.

Eclair wears her opera glasses in the shower. That’s that about that. Also there’s a shower in the music club? We get another flashback to when she was talking to Haruhi, she asks if she’s his lover, and when Haruhi denies it Eclair says that means she must mean nothing to him. That implies all the hosts are either nothing to him, or all his lovers. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s kissed them all on the mouth. Eclair throws his phone in the fishtank because she’s so jealous of all his lovers. Yoshio appears to discuss his company being bought out by Tonnerre. He also mentions that he did consider giving Kyoya the company, but now he’ll never have it. The clock strikes forebodingly, and Eclair asks for a favour.

The rest of the club are all dressed in pretty silly, but nice outfits, though I will give one criticism that they should all be wearing their rose colours. Kyoya calls Shima, and she tells him that Tamaki is leaving for France. Hikaru cries and says “It can’t end so suddenly!” and I cry because it’s true.

I’m comparing the entire chase scene to volume 17 of the manga, chapters 76 to 79, but to be clear, these episodes came out in september 2010 and the anime finished in 2006 of the same month, so I think Hatori liked the chase so much she wrote it into the manga, which I can’t blame, it’s pretty awesome.

The build up to the car chase is that Shizue, having been usurped by Yuzuru for control of their company, is depressed, and Tamaki is trying to cheer her up while resenting his father, leading to Anne-Sophie visiting but Tamaki refusing to see her. It’s also revealed that everyone at school knew he was an illegitimate child and the club was hiding that for no reason, Kasugazaki reveals it to the class 1-A trio, and Ayame reveals it to Kyoya in their class, and then all their female guests band together to offer to help Tamaki. We also see concern from Shiro, Kasanoda comes up with Reiko, who offers a curse doll from Nekozawa that should bring Tamaki great fortune, and an appearance from two students who look vaguely familiar (they’re apparently other sports team captains from earlier) who ask Kyoya about Tamaki, and when he asks why they’re not at uni, one slaps him on the back. Haruhi tears up as she thinks of how Tamaki came alone to Japan, but has touched so many people since being there.

Skipping ahead a bit, Haruhi meets up with Yuzuru in his office and then runs down to meet the club and tell them that Anne-Sophie is returning to France the next day, since she’s still in the middle of her treatment. The hosts are not pleased that the chairman is causing so much trouble to the people around him, but still come up with a plan to get past the security in the Suoh mansion, rescue Tamaki, and get him to the airport to say goodbye to his mother.

In both, Honey and Mori are the ones who take the leads to the mission, kind of. They're the ones who fight off the Black Onion Squad in the anime, and in the manga they round up all the workers from mansion 2 who were let go, and then look over blueprints to figure out the best way into the mansion. In the anime Mori is the one who tells the twins how to get to the airport on the carriage. After a few different failed attempts at getting into the mansion, manga Mori decides to simply grab Haruhi and jump through a window, shielding her as they crash through it. I like his style. The twins come in with a helicopter, but then the heli has to land due to dense fog, so Renge gets them to land and offers her boat, and then Kuze offers his boat and they both argue, and then the sports team captains offer their car, and it turns into a big argument. There’s a worry that Tamaki won’t make it in time, but he decides to take Kuze’s boat, asks Ayame to update him on traffic, tells Kyoya to meet him with his car, and tells the other guests to cheer him on, which they do happily. Kyoya and Kasanoda team up to get the police and the syndicate to block off the road and get Tamaki to the airport in time. Haruhi thinks about how if she never met the host club she’d never know what it’s like to want something with all her heart,, as she runs with Tamaki hand in hand into the airport, and they finally catch up with Anne-Sophie. So really, the chases aren’t similar at all, since the manga was all about getting to the airport and the anime is about stopping him from getting there… Does that mean I don’t have to watch the rest of it? No? Damn.

Back in the anime, the carriage topples over and Hikaru ends up breaking his arm and crying about how the club has such a profound effect on him. We see a flashback of Haruhi leaving for school without breakfast, and Ranka stopping her from leaving, telling her some things can’t be changed, but that she has to be brave. I think that guitar riff has some kind of evil curse on me.

Tamaki jumping to rescue Haruhi is obviously a call back to the beach episode, where he does the same thing, but on a grander scale, as finales tend to do, he even carries her the same, and of course her line mirrors Tamaki’s from the first episode, in the fountain.

While the club dance with Haruhi, Yoshio and Yuzuru reveal Tonnerre dropped out of buying the company and Kyoya bought it and gave it right back to Yoshio, claiming he doesn’t want it anymore after all the years of it being dangled above him, this is interesting because in those peeks to the future we saw in the manga Hatori said she left his ending open ended on whether he did take over or not, in the animeverse it seems clear that he doesn’t want the company after all. This is also reminiscent of him telling Honey in the manga that he found something more precious, though that was about him letting his feelings for Haruhi go in favour of Tamaki being with her instead. Both of them playfully argue about each of their sons marrying Haruhi, Tamaki repeats the same line about Ouran Academy and the host club, and Haruhi thanks us and bids us goodbye. Now let's move onto season tw- oh.

Episode 26… and this whole series.. Is over!

[misqnon]

op chapter 1063(???) dump IDK I HAVE THE PHYSICAL MANGA NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME AND NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE GO BY VOLUME. it's volume 105

ignore the shitty phone pics

Luffy what are you talking about <3 genuinely I'm scared its going to be something very bittersweet about his lifespan or something...but maybe it's also something like just. Dismantling the order of things. Ending world hunger. Actually, that sounds reasonable snsndj

ITS FUN SEEING HOW DIFFERENT CREWMATES REACT THO...only chopper, sanji, Franky, and Brook react outwardly positively, so what do they all have in common mindset wise...much to think about

I REALLY LIKE THIS INCLUSION ‼️‼️‼️ KUROZUMI OTAMA....SHES GOOD!! SHES PROOF YOU CANT JUDGE SOMEONE BY THEIR FAMILY!! but oda's response on what people's reaction would be in wano is so sad,, suddenly got so Real

I don't have a lot to say here just look at him. I love franky so much (also feminist king not even Mentioning that he's surprised vegapunk is a woman/that he didn't know she's a woman or *anything* just goes straight to WOW I REALLY RESPECT YOUR WORK) even tho vegapunk is a dude actually (but he doesn't know that yet)

they are so . hot

and thank u for putting robin up on the same level as zoro. as she deserves

THIS IS SO FUCKING RUDE AKZNWKZNDK IM LAUGHING

BLACKBEARD HAS KOBY *AND* PUDDING BRO....FEAR.JPEG

Makes me feel like we will return to Pudding as a character when they eventually raid/fight blackbeard but man I cannot handle the possibility of more hints towards sanji/Pudding romance 😭

[entropywritez]

CHAPTER THREE of An Unwanted Inheritance: Speculation and Prediction.

~ 1k words. Armani goes to the library, peoplewatches, and talks a little to the reader about his mother.

Libraries are living things. Not in the poetic sense humans referred to them long before properly interacting with faeries, but quite literally alive. Faren rushes through their walls. They get angry when their insides grow stagnant. It’s for this reason, among many, that it only costs thirty cents for a library card, and late fees are only five cents. The libraries need to be entertained. 

Despite how easy it is to describe them as looming, gloomy affairs, the library was also the best place to be if it was summer, you hated the heat, and had friends who at the very least wanted to check out the periodical section.

Alex and I sighed with relief as we entered through the airlock, allowing the cool, paper-scented air to wash over us. We stood just like that in the lobby for a moment, before going about our business. 

I returned the books I’d already finished to the re-shelving cart. Alex approached the librarian at the counter to check on a book he had on hold. He and I both looked at the summer recommended reading display in the middle of the lobby. We dragged each other to look at the nonfiction section for each of our separate interests. We flipped through an encyclopedia of fungi together, gawking at mushrooms and mold and close-ups of spores. Alex checked the flyers section for a fiber arts competition he’d heard about at the post office once and never again. I checked the flyers section for a doll exhibition I wanted to visit. We checked the physical media section for music we could copy onto our computers and move to our phones. We checked out our books. We found a cozy spot to sit, right between the reference and romance sections. We read.

Peace is easy to disturb, when it is found in a place everyone else has access to. 

After the first ten pages of a terrible novel I picked up, someone sat at one of the worktables parallel to ours. 

I looked up briefly. 

Behind Alex’s head and the remarkably large, square book he was reading, I caught sight of overstyled blonde hair. 

I promptly looked back down at the novel in my hands and hoped the stranger from Dad’s shop hadn’t seen me. 

Alex lowered his book just enough to look at me. “What is it?” He whispered. We were already whispering, it was a library after all, but this was a whisper for secrets instead of a whisper for volume. 

“Guy I met at the shop. Horrible. Don’t need to talk to him.”

He didn’t need to talk to me, either. I watched him check something out at the counter, talking just too loud with the librarian. He left promptly, leaving behind the smell of manly-scented products. 

Alex and I made eye contact. “Suppose he just recently moved in?” He asked.

“I hope not. I barely said ten words to him, and he managed to be rude throughout that whole conversation.”

“Impressive. Maybe he’s a tourist.”

“Maybe.”

Dad clapped a hand on my shoulder to greet me. I jumped, slapping my book shut. “Saav’est. Thanks for bringing me lunch, ‘Maa’ni.”

I looked up at him, shrugged. “No problem. I was going to stop by the shop anyway.”

“I thought you were going to hang out with Alex today?”

“I was. He had to go home to do more post office work.”

“He’s a busy kid.” 

Dad sat down next to me on the couch I’d migrated to—an old leather thing someone donated. “Watcha got to read?”

I held up the cover to show him. He examined it, nodded. “Seems interesting enough.”

I shrugged. “Keeps me entertained.”

He nodded again, offering no response. He didn’t need to.

I didn’t know what to do with my hands. I didn’t know what to do with my eyes. I stared straight ahead and squeezed one hand between the book’s pages. 

“It’s been a year,” I said.

I wanted him to respond. I wanted him to offer something fatherly and warm. 

Dad inhaled deeply. “The wounds will heal, but they will leave scars,” he recited. Scroll seven, chapter three: The Crow and her Chicks. 

I nodded. My vision grew foggy and wet. It didn’t feel like I’d done much healing at all, really. Every time I opened my web-mail to learn that the police had done nothing to find my mom, my mom, I was scratching the scabs on my knees.

He sat up straighter and pulled me into a one-armed hug. “We love her still.”

I nodded again.

I was seven years old. I watched my mom kiss a man I’d been reluctant to call dad in a kitchen that wasn’t familiar to me as he stirred a pot of something I had never tasted. I couldn’t remember any other kitchen, or any more familiar food. My mom smiled at me. What a wonderful man we’ve found ourselves, my ‘Maa’ni. When you cut the first syllable off my name, it meant priest-ruler in Faelic. She wasn’t religious, but she said the name suited me.

Dad clapped my shoulder again and stood. “Curry for dinner?”

“Sure. Sounds tasty.”

I was fifteen now, sitting in the same kitchen, watching the same man cook the same dish. The room felt too large without her.

My dad and I knelt in front of the stone idol we’d erected in her name behind the house. The Fae and the cicadas and the crickets sung all around us. We left an offering of a few beads, a few pieces of soap, and a bowl of curry. Dad prayed aloud for the both of us, his voice echoing into the warm, sticky night. 

I stood in a field, the same Star I’d always known reclining before me in his throne of gold and iron. The wind whipped my hair left and right, little droplets of water stinging my eyes. 

The Star grinned, took a draw from his long, thin pipe. “Your luck will come in due time, Maa’nin’en.”

I jolted awake in bed, squeezing my stuffed wolf. I groaned and rolled over to go back to sleep. Stars were so… You know. Starrish. All cryptic.

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

INTERIM: Nijitarai - Love is Hard for an Otaku.

Context: I didn’t exactly have a plan to slot this chapter into this arc of the story anywhere, but I realized I did promise to do something with the subplot with Iroha and Ryota. There wasn’t anywhere in this arc that I could include them though, and they’re not even remotely central characters. Hence, today I’m gonna bring you a bonus chapter, just so you can see what’s going on with those two.

[London, 01:09]

...

*After working the previous nights shift at Club La Vitesse, Iroha returns home, gets undressed and goes to bed in her temporary apartment. 

*buzz*

H-Heegh...

*buzz*

*Her sleep is disturbed when she suddenly feels her phone buzz next to her. Drooling, she rubs her eyes and looks at the glowing screen.

Huh...?

*The name on the screen reads “Mitarai, Ryota.”

RYOAAOUUGHTAAGGH!!!??

*Iroha shoots awake in an instant, falling out of her bed and collapsing to the floor. Luckily, despite her abnormally loud exclamation, Syobai continues to sleep like a rock in the room next to her. 

Uuuh...

(Answer you twit! You can’t just leave him hanging!)

*She reluctantly answers her phone.

H-Hell...o...?

Hello Iroha-chan. Is...now a good time?

U-Uh...sure...what’s up?

Nothing...just...I wanted to hear your voice.

M-My voice!? What do you mean!? A-Are you drunk!?

W-Well...this IS something I should be saying over a drink, but...if I did, it’d be pretty rude of me.

Actually...you know what, screw it...! Iroha-chan...

Can I come and see you?

...!?

C-Come...Come and SEE me!? A-At THIS hour!? All of a sudden!?

N-No, no, it’s ok, we can just talk tomorrow. It’d be a hassle for you to come all this way anyway.

Ah...about that...I’m actually outside your room right now.

*SPLUTTER!* *GAG!*

WHAT THE FUCK DUDE!?

I promise, this won’t take long...This really isn’t something I should be saying over the phone.

Please, just give me 10 minutes.

Um...

*Iroha frantically looks around the room, spotting herself in the mirror.

(Iroha Nijiue’s Top 3 reasons why she is LOSING IT RIGHT NOW! Number 3 - Already took off makeup and looks like a mess!)

(Number 2! Already in home mode and in her pajamas and looks like a complete slob!)

(Number 1! She’s flustered, rash, and is ABSOLUTELY gonna say something she regrets!)

!!??

*She suddenly spots the lamp on her bedside table on the floor in pieces after she accidently knocked it over.

(Honorable mention: Destroyed items from shock of him calling so suddenly and now she’s panicking about that!)

Ryota: Iroha?

...

*inhale...*

*SMACK!*

*Iroha takes both her hands and smacks both sides of her face. She immediately starts rummaging through her drawers and wardrobes at a quickening pace.

Just give me 10 minutes! N-No, give me HALF AN HOUR!

T-Take as much time as you need.

[Almost an hour later...]

Hooo...

*Ryota continues to stand in the freezing cold, rubbing his hands together and blowing warm air onto them.

*click*

Huh!?

...

*The door to the room opens and Iroha steps out. She is wearing a bunch of clothes that she threw together quickly, being mismatched and a little underdressed for the cold. She also didn’t have the time or ethic to reapply her makeup.

Sorry I made you...wait so long...

...It’s ok...

We should uh...find somewhere to talk...

Yeah, I don’t want to risk waking Syobai up. Somehow, he stayed sleeping while I was screaming and getting ready.

Screaming?

Uh...

N-Never mind...where do you want to go?

...

...

...

...

Ryota-kun...wouldn’t a café have been better than a kids play-park?

*Sure enough, Ryota and Iroha sit together on a pair of swings in a playground.

I know, I’m sorry...but really I just wanted to find a place where we could talk alone...It won’t take long anyway...

Sure...Not suggesting anything at all, huh?

Hey, I’m here too you know?

You sure are. And why are you? What is it you want?

(WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A DICK TO HIM!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOOOOUUUU!!??)

*Ahem...* Well...the reason I came here today is because...

I...

...

I...brought you something!

Huh?

*Ryota suddenly hands Iroha a bag. She opens it and finds a compact volume of Manga inside.

No way...! Is this the latest volume of “A Gofter turned out to be Super Strong!”!?

Sure is.

This manga isn’t commercially available here in London to my knowledge, and I know you would probably be sad if you missed the latest chapters...

So I brought an extra copy! I was looking for an opportunity to give it to you but...you’re usually pretty busy with work in the evening.

This is awesome! Thanks Ryota! Th-Thank you so much!

Aha! D-Don’t worry about it It’s nothing!

Ahahahahaha! Hahahaha! hahahaha! Hahaha...

Haaaah...

*They start laughing together, but it takes no longer than 6 seconds for the awkward mood to return.

Well...you were right...that did take a lot less time than I thought...

I’ll uh...head back now...

W-Wait! Don’t go!

EH!?

*Ryota grabs Iroha by the coat and holds her back.

Wh-What?

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhh...

Whyyyy don’t we...play on the swings a little more!? We did just get here!

Huh...!?

Here we go! Having fun! So much fun! This is fun! WOOHOO!

Ryota, stop, I’m gonna be sick!

*Ryota sits Iroha back down on the swings and starts repeatedly pushing her back and forth.

...

(Calm down Mitarai...! I know this is tough for both you and her, but tell her what it is you wanted to say. Deep breaths...)

...I’m sorry Iroha-chan.

It’s fine...My vertigo is worse than I thought though...

No, not about that...Though I am sorry for that as well.

Huh?

I...wanted to apologize...about what happened back in Japan...

Chances are you already forgot about it, but...just in case you didn’t, I just wanted to say it’s ok to.

...

It was my fault anyway. I just...figured I wanted to say goodbye that way...

I’m not quite sure why I felt this way, but...maybe I just thought it would be better to say it then than never have a chance to...

...

*Iroha stands up and faces him.

What the crap are you talking about? How am I supposed to do that...!?

H-Huh?

I can’t do it Ryota! You KISSED me! I’ve NEVER been kissed before, much less on the lips! Not even my own parents kissed me!

I’ve always been easily led on, and I fall in love too easily...Especially with people who don’t like me the same way back. 

I don’t know what you were hoping to achieve or imply when you did that, but I CAN’T forget about it! So what the hell am I supposed to do!?

...!

*Ryota stars back at Iroha, his face stunned and glowing red.

I know it sounds ridiculous. I have no knowledge or experience in romance or flirting, and yet I have a job as a prostitute...

Uh...I’d argue a hostess is a bit different from a prostitute...

It’s a bit more expensive, but that’s about it, isn’t it?

I’m pretty sure Yoruko Kabuya wouldn’t be happy to hear you say that.

It’s not like Mr Ouma lets you sleep around with people. You said yourself you had no experience in romantic or sexual relations.

Good...point...

Guess that means I’m pretty bad at my job, huh?

Iroha...

...!?

*Ryota suddenly puts both his hands on her shoulders and pulls her close.

I...I don’t quite no how to feel now that you’ve told me all of that...

To be honest...I was actually trying to muster up the strength to tell you to forget about me kissing you...

Because it was making me sad.

Sad?

It was dumb...and I know I shouldn’t have done it without your consent, but...

I don’t regret it. And I won’t forget it either.

That’s...unnaturally confident of you.

If you don’t regret it, why did you want to apologize in the first place?

I’m scared.

Of what? Losing me?

Losing US.

...?

Losing what we already have.

Future Foundation is a dangerous business. Every time I go out into the field to assist, my life is in danger. 

You and I are similar in so many ways Iroha. Not only do we share interests, and not only are we both kinda recluse...but we both feel guilt for what we’ve done in the past, and how our actions and the deaths of those we care about still haunt us.

A lot of people I know definitely have their own trauma, but...you’re one in a million. I think you’re the only person who can really understand my own troubles.

But that’s far too selfish of me. I want to keep being your friend, but it hurts me knowing it’s for a reason like that.

I don’t want to keep using you as an emotional crutch, but...I don’t want to lose you either.

...

That’s how I honestly feel. If you hate me for it, I don’t blame you.

You dumbass...!

Eh!?

*Iroha grabs Ryota’s collar and starts shaking him.

The only thing that’s making me angry is the HYPOCRISY of your words! You’re scared of taking any more steps forward, but YOU crossed the line first!

I-Iroha-!

You have given me so much happiness! You gave me my favorite manga! You talk about things I like with me! You made me realize that I’m not alone in the world outside the High Roller! And you think you’re the BAD GUY!?

Iroha-chan, wait-!

I! AM! IN! LOVE WITH YOU!

!!!??

And I’m not saying that because you’re my first kiss. Ever since we had that talk about our pasts way back when, I started to develop feelings. I never told you because I’ve already had enough of heartbreak...

Guess you know now though...I...oh crap...I just told you I love you...Oooooh Goood...

...!

...

Look...It doesn’t give you a good reputation if people find out you’re going out with a hostess...so if you turn me down, I won’t blame you.

But I love you Ryota. And I want to be YOUR girl. And YOUR girl alone!

...Is that ok?

...

...

Yes...! Please...! I want to be with you too...

...!

*Iroha leaps into his arms.

...

...

Uuuh...Are you two ok?

Did something happen?

*Despite finally getting their feelings off their chests, the awkward mood between the two skyrocketed instead of dissipating.

[drjdorr]

for the asks game, answer any or as many as you'd like! sage ⇢ what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is? // ivy ⇢ what are your ‘tells’ for your emotions and moods? how can someone tell you’re happy, annoyed, upset or tired? // palm tree ⇢ do you have a fictional villain you shouldn’t like but love regardless?

Sage: I'm a sucker for a good story and if written well can certainly invoke some strong emotions, and this of course extends to comics and I do sometimes find myself drawn back to certain comic pages/scenes/ect over and over again because of the feelings they invoke so I'd say comics(particularly some web comics)would be the most touching for me. As to why, I guess because ontop of words you can really Show a scene better than could easily be described(a good example is being able to see the absolute joy in Chapter 4-02 HRT Comic by irl_donut on webtoons. Like it would be so much harder to describe that absolute casual joy than how it was shown in the comic)

Next up, ivy: this one is a bit harder given my life time of trying to bury my emotions my whole life(would not recommend, very unhealthy and making this whole self discovery thing so much harder than it had to be). I feel I'm probably more snappish and rude when tired because my filters don't have the energy they need to stop that. When really exited I tend to talk louder if I recall, probably because I'm not focusing on volume regulation. When upset, emotionally tired, or just generally done I will often try to go to my room if able to recharge, if for whatever reason I can't(now a days it's usually self imposed because of moral obligation, which is a nice change of pace from the old days) I might try and occupy myself with my phone. I've also noticed I'll sometimes gently bump my head against or reach out towards things on my computer when I feel a longing or whatever.

Palm tree: villain I'm not supposed to like but do villain I'm not supposed to like but do. How is this a harder question than the emotions question? The issue is most of the villains I like are villains you are supposed to be able to like in some capacity. Artemis Fowl, his name is on the cover for a reason. Doofenshmirtz, every one likes him, I'm not special for that. Dsmp Techno(rip Technoblade), he was, in my opinion, the most interesting person on there and beloved by the community. Vilgax(particularly but not exclusively original series), have you seen him, he's a giant cybernetic monster of a villain, what's not to like? Angron, admittedly I'm not to into him so much as the interesting chain of events that led him to being the monster he is. Honestly alot of the "villain" factions in 40k are pretty neat, necrons are cool robot undead whose tech is basically magic, orks are... orks, the various facets of the chaos gods, ect. Darth Vader, man is the face of the setting for a reason. The list goes on but I can't think of any villains I enjoy in some manner who aren't meant to be like to some degree.

[systems-overloaded]

wanted to use aac some today, downloaded an app, and tried to customize some. was able to use it in the car with my mom, but felt too nervous to use it with a worker at a store when i asked for bathroom code.

then got all overwhelmed when in the store, and asked my mom to pick me up, and then she parked the car like LITERALLY half way out of the parking spot and into the street. i hate when she does stuff like that. i didnt have a pre done phrase in my text-to-speech app. so i told her verbally, "pull the car up, youre halfway in the street" and she said something but i had earplugs in, probably "its fine, ill just be here for a minute", and i was already unraveling at this point, prior to this type of anxiety-panic-stressor, and said "no, pull the car up, youre halfways in the fucking street and you know i cant handle that" then she just ignores that, and asks other questions about where were going next or whats the plan and now im super stressed and on the verge of full on melting down. so i end up forcing out something like "idk you need to pull the fucking car up its rude as hell and i cant fucking think, just pull the car into the fucking parking spot". and shes like "right now?" like shes so confused about it. and im forcing out a yes, feeling like each word is literally causing doom and actual pain sensations throughout my body. (often trying to talk doesnt work well. it feels like i cant control my muscles or my mouth, and nails are being scraped throughout my nervous system. the whole body, from the inside out, just like slicing open my nerves in a literal sense. sometimes i actually end up vomiting, often just into my mouth but sometimes full on, because what i assume is a mix of nausea, pain, and physically forcing air out of my body so hard to get words out) and she finally pulled the car up into the parking spot.

i took some deep breathes and realized our previous plans are done, no way can i handle that. i need to just go home.

its so hard, i just... im overwhelmed still, injured myself with my fingernails unfortunately, but im breathing a bit better, and were on the way home. but i also just feel so tired and exhausted and honestly depressed. why do i even speak, put all this effort info communication, if its not even heard, if im not even recieved?

even outside of this exact interaction, ill speak and itll be so hard, but i put in that effort you know? and then she wont hear me, and ill have to try and repeat it and then she still wont, so then after sometimes repeating it 2-3 times, forcing words out, and sometimes deadass almost externally crying, i end up basically yelling it, bc i cant speak it again, so i just need to be loud so i dont have to try and repeat again (sometimes it not a conscious thing but i do it for that reason, and sometimes its because i just cant control the volume of my voice and am acutely stressed as fuck). and then she gets upset i raised my voice, but thats the only way i can get her to hear it. and if i just yell outta no where, or come across certain ways when im having meltdowns i absolutely apologize later and try to explain, so intents are understood. but i feel something not-good (unsure exact feeling) about when she acts all offended that i raise my volume when ive already repeated sometimes 2-3 times increasingly getting louder, and she said she couldnt hear me????? like WHAT, shell literally ask me each time to be louder, and i get louder?? (sometimes i cant and i just give up or shake my head and end up trying to text her or something but ugh. and even then, she often doesnt look at her phone or read her texts, or she reads and forgets and im just so tired)

other times it just seems like... ill speak, and shell say something back that matches, but then shell either have not processed it at all, or forgetton immediately or something. and it feels like i wasted so much (very precious and very limited) energy, and i just caused percieved/felt damage to my mind/body, to speak because thats the only way ill be heard... and then to still not be heard.

i dont think shes doing it on purpose. i think she has ADHD with some autistic traits (like having "broader autistic phenotype" but not being autistic), and that she probably has auditory processing issues she doesnt fully realise, or her brain is just scattered everywhere often. (some alters who are more detached to her, and view her as a woman who lives with us, rather than a mom or even someone weve known all our lives, literally call her "ditsy" and "scatterbrain". which... rude for sure, but not inaccurate.)

i guess this is just a vent blog now huh? i dont have anyone else to say this too, alters pulled us out of therapy, and i dont have money for a new one right now, nor would many-within agree to it.

im so tired. im so done, i just want to be at peace. theres this tangled up ball of pain deep in my chest, aching and bursting and all pulling at each others wounds, and it physically hurts, like strong chest pains. and it feels like im about to simultaneously cry, vomit, and choke, while having both a partial seizure, as well as physically twitching in ways that could be a PNES. i just wanna rest and be done and be at peace and not be constantly overstimulated and overwhelmed.

i have sensory meltdowns and shutdowns almost everyday, from simply within my own bedroom. i really cant handle this, and i dont know how to manage it.

[the-interidiot]

Random thought blurb, non-fandom related

rating my teachers

(red rates teaching skill, blue is personal opinion)

1st Period - 2/10 6/10

English. He hasn’t spoken to us in about a week and doesn’t really teach a lot - he gives us words to write on the board every day and then just lets everyone on their phone. It’s an stress-less first period, though I feel like we’re not learning much.

2nd Period - 4/10 3/10

Marine Biology. It’s a common opinion I’ve found this teacher is frustrating. She assigns us about 2-4 papers a day, and doesn’t tell us what to turn it, getting mad when we turn in notes. She’s also very unsociable and doesn’t allow kids to leave her class for any reason, including nurse.

3nd Period - 8/10 7/10

Art. She’s very big on individual help and really pushes the kids in the class both with notes and art, which is incredibly useful. She’s blunt and some people do find it rude, but I think it’s very helpful. She balances the amount of artwork/notes we do well.

4th Period - 10/10 8/10

Geometry. I don’t agree with this teachers personal ideals, as his ideologies are rather bigoted (he’s racist on his public video game account he shared with the class), but he’s an AMAZING teacher. I hate math, and I’ve never left that room feeling confused. Makes his own notes and doesn’t call kids dumb for asking questions.

5th Period - 9/10 10/10

Theater. We do a mix of notes and stage work as I’m in the advanced class, and my teacher is great at her job. She’s respected and fun, and never makes class boring whilst also keeping it education - even if we’re just doing note work. And we’re allowed to use the loudspeaker in the room to play any song we want, as long as it’s theater. (I am limited to one Hatchetfield song every two days.)

6th Period - 6/10 1/10

English. She’s not a BAD teacher teaching wise - though she’s incredibly judgmental and very loudly announces students lower level questions. Her main issue is she’s INCREDIBLY rude, to me especially. I wish I could say it was because I did something wrong, but it’s because of personal opinion sadly - another kid decided to randomly tell her I was trans and she became incredibly rude and loud about it.

7th Period - 8/10 8/10

Technical Engineering. Great class, she doesn’t teach us stuff in the traditional sense - preferring we figure out assignments on our own using the open, unrestricted AUTOCAD engine, but she and a handful of assistants are always available for help, and they’re all super non-judgmental of coding skill. They also allow all food in class, and we can talk as long as the volume is low.

[guqin-and-flute]

The Most Public Private Meet-Cute [Episode 4]

NHS: hello everyone my name is nie huaisang

Background Person: hiii huaisaaang

NHS: and fun fact about me is that i grew up around lan xichen and i know exactly what his type is

NHS: ON A COMPLETELY UNRELATED NOTE here is my dear and very single friend who desperately needs love and affection and probably a hug meng yao

MY: oh hey that’s me

NHS: say hi meng yao

MY: uh ok how weirdly specific sure thing

NHS: the stage is set i give it 2 minutes

MY: hello my name is meng yao and i’ve brought you a box hope u like it there’s a pot in it

MY: uhhh ok some things about me i’m adorable i get bullied frequently i eat dry bread and my dimples are deep enough to hold all my war crimes see? *ping*

Asshole 1: did someone order some loud and publicly cruel narration about your tragic and slightly damning backstory??

MY: no?? ?

Asshole 1:  too late

MY:  ugh do you allow returns

Asshole 1: WOW THIS DUDE SUCKS

Asshole 2: yeah totally and his dad fuckin hates him rolled him down the steps of jinlintai like a fuckin slinky

MY: well this feels a bit unwarranted

Asshole 1: naaah his dad would have to actually CARE to hate him

WWX:  damn this is brutal hope this doesn’t foreshadow any major plot component that might outline the problem with the idea of reputation vs honor in our society and the place hearsay and gossip plays in the perception of the value of a person that would suck

Random Background person: sure would especially if it greatly impacted you as a person

Asshole 1:  i love shitting on people with u bro

Asshole 2: awww bro

JYL: rude

JC: wow

WWX: jfc

MY:  this is fun so glad i came

LXC:  .......hm.

NHS: 10...9...8...

LWJ: xichen  n  o

Asshole 1: ANYWAY FUCK THIS DUDE

LWJ: u need to stop and not for the reason u think

LQR:  CAN U READ THE ROOM PLEASE AND SHUT THE ACTUAL HELL UP what do you think this is? some kind of high school?? who do you think you are?? children? ? nONSENSE

Asshole 1:  oh shit i thought talking at regular volume in plain sight of a silent room gave me anonymity

Asshole 2: oh no me too what an unforeseen outcome

LQR: anyway, now for-- oh god oh no what are u doing r e s i s t, boy

LXC: [i_need_a_hero.mp3]

Random Lan: love this song

LWJ:  jfc here we go

JC: is this a kissing book?

MY:  sure could use a hug

WWX:  ur gonna get more than that dude

JYL: aww good for him

LXC: why hello.

MY: ho- (where is the saxaphone music coming from)

MY: -ly- am i in slow motion ur very tall did u know ur very tall

MY: shit hey.

LXC: hey :)

LXC:  o h .

LXC:  good god i have gravely miscalculated my investment in the situation what did i come down here for again

MY: hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh u have a mouth i have a mouth what a strange coincidence

MY: i humbly present my body BOX my box this box right here it’s really cool it has a red thing in it it’s for u or maybe the grandmaster i can’t really remember anymore  or feel my legs fuck

LXC: oh yeah the reason i came down here theoretically i should at least pretend to care about what’s in the box

Ambience: [Careless_Whisper_on_Flute.mp3]

WWX: HOLD THE PHONE that’s allowed?? i don’t have to sword fight the gay feelings? he’s beating me at public homoerotic subtext chicken this cannot stand i have to up my game

Pot: I’m a metaphor or something it’s not really relevant at this point is it?

LXC: nope so anyway i could probably fit you into my pocket and cherish you forever thoughts? i’m thinking gentians for the wedding

MY: i can’t feel my face currently but yes to all

MY: ur touching my hands again

LXC: oh trust me i am VERY aware

NHS:  :)))

LWJ: can i go?

Random Lan: probably not

LWJ: ugh i have my own gay shit to deal with

Random background Guy: taking notes for my fanfic

MY: message very fucking received

MY: we are bowing now because we are very polite and definitely not experiencing a life changing sexual awakening in a crowded room

Random Background Person: u guys know people can hear u, right?

LXC: yes very polite definitely nothing gay and certainly no lifelong connection that could potentially end in horrific tragedy for the both of us thank goodness

NHS: guys i didn’t mean elope right fucking now

MY: did u like my box?

LXC: it’s the best box the most adorable box I’ll keep this box forever in my heart

NHS: dude it’s not for u it’s for ur uncle

WWX: i cannot BELILEVE i’m losing public gay chicken i’m gonna get lan zhan a box

BONUS:

Random Asshole 2:

yeah technically he’s zixuan’s brother but jgs treated him like shit what’s ur raction to that zixuan?

JZX: think i’m gonna stick with haughty silence, if i’m honest

Random Asshole 2: that seems on brand

[more brief summaries because yeah]

[jeannereames]

Actually, this is true for MANY uses of a cell phone in public, including conversations. I realize a lot of younger folk hardly ever bother talking on the phone, but...

Don't share your private phone calls with all and sundry by speaking loudly. Even if you don't care, the party on the other end might. If you've got to take a phone call, move away and speak softly.

I don't need to hear the details of your dinner plans, or your business dealings, while I'm grocery shopping...or doing anything else. I'm trying to concentrate on my own business.

This also goes for (as the poster above notes) your favorite Tik-tok, etc. It's a courtesy to keep the volume down.

Goddammit, do not stop in the middle of the aisle/hallway to read or make a text (or answer the phone)! Step out of the damn way, please. (The number of people I've almost accidentally run down because they stopped dead with no warning....)

Stop texting/looking at your phone walking across a parking lot or down a sidewalk for the same reason. There ARE people around you, you don't exist in a void, and taking up space like that is just bloody rude.

This has been your PSA for the day. Thank you for your attention. (ha)

i'm literally begging people to relearn how to use earbuds and headphones. i don't wanna hear your fucking tiktok while im waiting for my flight.

[babydaddyleorio]

How they would act on a plane

These are very much crack headcanons because I needed something to help me escape my writing plateau lmao

                                    How they would act on a plane

Chrollo

-If he’s sitting next to a girl? Oh he’s flirting the whole plane ride.

-Literally won’t shut up and tells her this very extravagant story trying to woo her, the whole time eyeing the necklace that’s placed on her neck.

-Also did I mention that he’s in first class? Yeah he definitely tied up some guy in the bathroom and “borrowed” his ticket.

-He’ll order drinks for him and the girl and will secretly pay for them with her money.

-A true finesser.

-Even the flight attendants love him. He has so many numbers now.

-If he does happen to sit by himself, he’ll probably read a book while listening to classical music.

-He refuses to sleep because he feels like he has enemies everywhere watching him.

-like please you are not the main character Chrollo take the damn nap. 

Shalnark

-He's on his phone the whole time but he’s so obnoxious with it. He purposefully has his volume all the way up just to annoy everyone around him.

-He’ll play games like candy crush and laughs super loudly If he makes a match and groans sadly If he runs out lives.

-The old man next to him wants to bang his head against the chair in front of him because he literally won’t shut up.

-Doesn’t put his phone on airplane mode.

-Probably hacks into the plane. Literally will make the bathroom have the occupied sign on the whole plane ride so no one could use It.

-Has a needle in the pilot’s neck just for fun.

-Also has the plane doing loopity loops in the sky and everyone is screaming for their lives while he’s just laughing evilly.

-Claps when the plane lands.

Feitan

-He just reads the whole ride.

-If you accidentally brush his arm he gives you a death glare.

-He has to jump to reach the overhead because it’s too high.

-He woke up way too early so he’s in a “I hate everyone” type of mood.

-Hisses when the person beside him tries to open up the window.

-He accidentally sits next to an escape exit and when the flight attendant asks him If he’s ready to save others just in case something happens he’s like “....No.”

-Refuses to change his answer too

-Listens to music on his playlist and silently pretends to be in a music video.

Franklin

-Takes up all of the space and squishes you.

-You wonder how the hell his earlobes got that long and he would say something smart to you like “It’s rude to stare.”

-Well excuse me...

-Someone in front him will lean back in their seat and their hair covers the movie he’s watching. 

-Is scared to move it so he just sits there like “😐”.

-All the drinks are too small to fit in his hand so he awkwardly sips from the straw that’s poked in his apple juice box.

-Someone ends up leaning their head on his shoulder while they are sleeping.

-Doesn’t know what to do now and is frantically looking around for help.

Machi

-Knitting or sewing the whole time.

-Do not try to talk to her. She won’t respond.

-Has a window seat because she likes to peacefully look at the clouds and city lights as she’s sewing.

-Also to imagine Hisoka falling from the sky without a parachute.

-Ah, so tranquil.

-Doesn’t like riding on planes because they’re kind of scary. She would never tell anyone that though. 

-Wanted to sit next to Pakunoda but instead got stuck sitting next to a chihuahua who won’t stop yapping at her the entire ride. 

-Has to stop herself from yeeting it out the window.

-The dog will see he’s not getting through to her, so he’ll slowly raise his leg up and Machi will literally start screaming at what he’s trying to do. 

-Yeah she hates her life.

Shizuku

-You can hear pierce the veil blasting from her headphones.

-Binky has its own seat for some reason.

-She goes to the bathroom and once she sees that It’s occupied (kudos to Shalnark) she will turn to go back to her seat but already forgot where she sits.

-The type to bring a book that she never reads.

-If the person next to her is watching a movie, she’ll change It simply because she doesn't like It.

-There’s one flight attendant constantly flirting with her and she gets a lot of free drinks because of them.

-Of course she never catches on and forgets who they are every time they try to talk to her.

Phinks

-Will argue with the flight attendant about how expensive the peanuts are.

-After like five minutes, he finally buys the peanuts and once he’s about to eat them the turbulence becomes so strong that It makes them fly everywhere.

-He has to resist the urge to punch the air.

-Phinks has to have an aisle seat because he gets paranoid easily.

-Phinks will try to go to sleep but there will be a kid constantly kicking the back of his chair.

-He will turn around and would be about to throat punch the kid when suddenly he sees how hot his mom is.

-Simp mode activated.

-He’ll try to flirt with the mom but the kid will notice and he ends up “accidentally” squirting his drink in Phinks face.

-Yeah It’s on sight when he gets off the plane.

Nobunaga

-Watches a movie, probably one dealing with samurai. 

-Somehow got past security with his Katana?

-Most likely because of Shalnark

-Ate really bad airport food which messed up his stomach.

-Feels sick and tries to hold It in, but you can tell by his face that he’s struggling. The old lady beside him stares with wide eyes once she hears his stomach literally start beat boxing.

-He runs down the aisle clenching his cheeks and knocks harshly on the bathroom door, but he sees that sign says occupied.

-Nobunaga is shouting at the non-existent person in there to hurry up holding his stomach.

-Shalnark Is eating popcorn and laughing at Nobunaga as he watches him through the security camera.

-Goes to ask the flight attendant for hemorrhoid cream

Pakunoda 

-Is really nice and will talk to you If you start a conversation with her

-Has earbuds packed for the altitudes and offers you some as well

-Turns her brightness down as she reads smut on her phone. Literally turned her whole body and everything so no one could see the words.

-Her face is so red as she stares at her phone and the flight attendant is so concerned that they ask if she’s okay. Pakunoda jumps so high and almost chucks her phone once she sees them standing over her, scared that they’ll see that she commented “😩💦” under the fanfic.

-Brings homemade snacks and sandwiches that no one wants 

-Has a window seat because she wanted to look out the window and see how small the land is below her

-Unlike Machi, Pakunoda has a cat sitting next to her and the cat absolutely loves her.

-Will probably steal it 

Uvogin

-sleeps the whole ride with a mask over his eyes and a neck pillow that he swiped from someone earlier.

-He snores sooo loudly and everyone around him is irritated because they can’t go to sleep because of It

-He would eat all the food on the plane

-Is the type to laugh very loudly at the movie playing or give commentary about each scene that’s happening

-Didn’t bring any luggage with him and… yeah...

-His head touches the ceiling of the plane and Its really uncomfortable 

-Has no Idea where he’s going but got on the plane anyway

Hisoka (honorable mention)

-Somehow sits in first class with Chrollo and once Chrollo sees him he almost loses his shit

- “This seat is taken.” Chrollo would say while staring straight ahead but Hisoka ignores him and sits down anyway.

- “Do you not enjoy my company?” He’d tease while licking his lips.

-Chrollo immediately gets him kicked out.

-So now he’s stuck in economy with the rest of the troupe. None of them let him sit with them either.

-Finds an empty seat and sits down In it and starts laughing to himself because he’s plotting on how to get back to first class.

-The person sitting next to Hisoka is legit terrified and they side eye him the whole ride while clutching their bag to their chest.

-Will trip people walking down the aisle with his bungee gum.

-He would purposefully take his time to get his bag out, creating a long line for no reason.

-Whole time doesn’t even have a bag.

-Is banned from ever riding a plane again.

[babyboiboyega]

I can explain (Shangqi x f!reader)

Shangqi x f!reader

Prompt: “When everything’s going wrong, the mere thought of you makes it right.” + never wanting to pull away kiss

Content: a little angst, but more fluff

Word Count: 1.6k

Babyboiboyega’s Marvel Masterlist

A/N: this is my first ever time writing for Shangqi (or Shang-Chi), and I already have a lot of other ideas for this incredibly loveable character.

I hope you all enjoyed this!

A heavy sigh left Y/N’s mouth as she unceremoniously dropped onto her couch. The feeling of her limbs relaxing into the cushions almost prompted a moan of relief to follow the heavy sigh. It did, however, make her eyes flutter closed as she leaned her head back.

Y/N had been thinking of this moment the entire day. The moment when her week ended and her weekend began; a weekend of not having to deal with rude, angry-at-the-world customers who decide to yell at her because a privately owned publishing warehouse doesn’t print the book that they want. Or the customers who don’t check their emails for their tracking information and then get mad at her, for some absurd reason.

Another sigh leaves her mouth, and this time with the sigh goes her thoughts of work, entering the empty air for the weekend. 

But being off on the weekend didn’t exactly mean being absolved of texts and calls from fellow coworkers, ranting about customers, or even management. So when her phone’s ringer went off, signaling a new incoming text, she simply kept her eyes closed. She certainly had enough time to read and reply...but maybe later.

The text had already migrated to the back of her mind in the span of a few seconds...and then her phone went off again. This time, two quick “dings” sounded through her apartment. 

Her eyes opened before she slowly sat up, her phone coming into view. Before she could spare another though about her phone and it’s notifications, her hand quickly reached for the remote and pressed the power button.

She managed to flip through a few channels before her phone rang once more, and this time it was accompanied by a few knocks on her door.

Completely disregarding the fact that it was almost 11 at night and she hadn’t been expecting anyone, and being fueled by her now very obvious annoyance, it only took her a few strides to reach her door. In all honesty, she’d had no idea what she was going to say to whoever was on the other side of her door; but whatever had been ready to leave her lips died as soon as she opened the door.

“Shaun?”

She hadn’t been able to control the volume and surprise in her voice, and she saw his grimace in response. She couldn’t find it in herself to care if he didn’t like the volume in her voice; the very next emotions she felt surge through her body was...well, it was a cross between worry and anger. 

“Y/N...hey.” He had a sheepish smile on his face; one that showed off his dimple. One that she had to restrain from returning. But then she remembered the last time she had seen that same smile and the last time she had even heard from him. Her eyebrows raised incredulously.

“‘Hey?’ ‘Hey’?? That’s all...that’s all you have to say to me after being gone for...a month? And some weeks?” 

She could hear the hurt in her own voice, and it made her want to cringe at herself.

‘He could have been doing more important things than worrying about you’ is all that went through her mind.

Her arms crossed self-consciously in front of her.

“Please, let me explain. It’s… it’s actually crazier than you think.”

The hesitance on her part came from her nagging thoughts that flipped between “he was genuinely busy” and “he’s about to make up some absurd excuse for why he hasn’t spoken to you while also letting you down gently”.

“May I come in?” His eyebrows were raised as he gently asked for her permission. Y/N quickly nodded and stepped to the side before her thoughts could scare her too much.

His eyes stayed on her as he stepped past her, entering her apartment. She took a second to take a deep breath before closing the door behind him. 

She briefly wondered how her face looked as she turned to face him. Did she look as hurt and worried as she felt? Could he see her feelings on her face?

“I’m sorry for disappearing for...as long as I did. And I’m sorry for not reaching out at all during that time. But I can explain why.”

His eyes followed her figure as she walked slowly around her kitchen counter. He made no effort to hide the pleading look in his eyes, and he only began talking when Y/N raised her eyebrows from across the counter. 

“Okay. Just...bare with me.” Y/N’s eyes narrowed and more questions filled her mind as she watched him take a breath as if he were bracing himself. 

Y/N hadn’t known what to expect when he had started talking, but she definitely wasn’t expecting a story filled with martial arts, trained assassins, ancient organizations, soul-sucking demons, and dragons. 

Even after he had explained everything, his eyes watching and waiting for her reaction, she still couldn’t find the words to express herself.

Her body was frozen in its same position, and her eyes were wide and staring right at him. As the silence stretched between them, he couldn’t help grimacing slightly once again.

“Also, my name isn’t really Shaun. It’s Shangqi.”

That last piece of information seemed to finally shake Y/N out of her stupor, as she blinked quickly and let out a quick breath. 

“I...I don’t know what to say.” In all honesty, all of this was kind of making her head spin, and it was evident in the way her breathing picked in just the slightest. 

“W-What exactly do you say to someone who’s just saved the world? ‘Thank you’? ‘I owe you my life’- because, I guess, technically, I do owe you my life. Because of you, I still have my life- or my soul.”

At her rambling, Shangqi’s expression shifted from one of wariness to relief to a little worried. It had only just crossed his mind that he was worried that she wouldn’t believe him, and not worried about how she would receive the information.

She believed every word that had just come from his mouth, simply because she knew that he wouldn’t lie about something like this. She knew that he wouldn’t lie to her… at least she hoped he wouldn’t.

“You don’t have to say anything. I...I just needed you to know why I was gone. The thought of letting you go one more second thinking I just...left you was driving me crazy.”

A humorless laugh forced its way through Y/N’s lips. 

“Yeah, thinking I had driven you away was driving me crazy too.”

Before she could even regret her words, her eyes were drawn to Shangqi, whose head was shaking quickly. In a few steps, he had walked around the counter, coming to a stop a few feet from her. 

“That was never the case, I swear. You could never drive me away, not even if you tried.”

At the minuscule smile that appeared on her face, he risked taking another step forward. 

From where he stood, he could smell faint traces of her favorite perfume that had slowly worn off during her day. Her favorite perfume had quickly become his favorite scent, simply because it reminded him of her. 

From where she stood, she could easily see the faint signs of exhaustion on his face. No doubt from the strains of the last month and a half. It made her want to reach out to him. 

“Every second, from the moment we left, all I could think about was coming back to you. Even while staring into the face of a-”

“A mega soul-sucking demon?”

The quiet laugh that left his mouth seemed to weigh on her body, but not with pressure. Instead, all she felt was warmth, and it coursed through her veins with the power of 11 suns.

“Yes,” there was laughter in his voice as he responded, “even while staring into the face of a mega soul-sucking demon.”

As he spoke, he had gradually moved forward until taking a deep breath would easily have their chests brushing against each other.

Y/N couldn’t keep the tremor out of her voice as she spoke, her eyes flickering between Shangqi’s.

“You...you really thought of me when you were saving the world?”

Her eyes fluttered closed as his hand raised and gently cupped her cheek. Soon after, she felt pressure from his forehead connecting with hers. Without hesitation, her own hands lifted, coming to grasp at his sides, desperate to pull him closer.

His breath fanned across her face as he spoke, and it made her hands tighten.

“When everything’s going wrong, the mere thought of you always makes it right.”

His words were quickly swallowed by Y/N’s lips pressing against his with fervor. The hand that was on her cheek gently titled her head back as he kissed her back with just as much passion, while his other hand wound around her waist. They both pulled at the other, as if they couldn’t get close enough. 

The warmth that had been coursing through her veins quickly turned into leg-numbing electricity the longer their lips were connected. Her eyes were closed, and so were his, but they could both see the other’s face behind their lids, surrounded by the stars their presence created. 

The only thing that could pull them apart was the need for air, and even then, as their foreheads connected and their lips stayed hovering over each other’s, they breathed the same air.

Shangqi’s words were shaky as he spoke, his thumb rubbing circles into her skin.

“You make everything right.”

**********

Once again, I hope you all enjoyed this! I would take requests for this character, but I still have a ton of requests for LOK....

But maybe sometime in the near future!

In the meantime, I would appreciate it if y’all would interact in any way with this! Comments, criticism, questions, etc would be amazing, as would reblogs, but even just liking this helps!

Stay safe, y’all!