#the only one who stuck by her side mind you so ofc she

[spliffymae]

THIS PART 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

meg baby, I promise we’ll all look the other way if you decide to strangle that chimera ant built bitch. I promise we won’t say nothing.

[onlymimiwastaken]

Warrior Penelope stuff cause I've been listening to too many EPIC genderbent covers, and I wanted to give my take on it (also cuz I kinda want to draw it one day)

- Ares as Penelope's patron, absolutely! But Ares didn't have a huge cult in Sparta, although he wasn't hated. So my lore take version thing is that ATHENA wanted to be Penelope's patron (she had already an eye on Ody kinda) but Ares saw his chance, got to it first and became attached to Penelope without wanting to admit it, also because she saw the good and useful in him. Athena still watches over Penelope (especially after her and Ares platonically break up, which she finds really stupid) and is the one who does her best to protect Ithaca while she's gone. She's by Ody's side while he misses his wife and is mostly the reason why the Suitors hadn't taken over yet.

- To get Ares to realize his mistake, Athena tricks him into helping Telemachus defeat Antinous in Little Wolf because free bloodshed, only to end up sensitized by Telemachus because holy shit, my friend's son is here almost dying to this ASSHOLE who thinks he's so much stronger than MY friend the queen and even me like who tf does he think he is. Athena makes Ares fucking rational for once. And maybe even Aphrodite, as well, gets some damn sense in his mind like "they love each other like you and I and my girl is doing her best to get home you're going to apologize rn"

- ctimene holds a claymore double her height with no problems

- penelope is more "cold ruthless" than Odysseus, in a way that she's still poised (until the end or when she's really brought to her knees which is disturbing) while doing merciless stuff. She's emotionless a lot more (just on the surface)

- Ares was the one to give Penelope the idea of going to war instead of Odysseus, for obvious reasons. And Pen is really a mastermind among the Greeks ofc

- Ares and Pen fought in their My Goodbye version because she "held back her power while her friends got devoured" "she didn't even fight Polyphemus, didn't even TRY to kill him" "hid behind her wits to get things done". Because when fighting Polyphemus, she knew that if she tried to kill Polyphemus while he was asleep, they'd be stuck in that cave forever (like in the real Odyssey). And knew that fighting while her friends got killed would slow them down and probably get more people dead. And when they ran away, she didn't go back to kill the Cyclops even if she could've because of yes, mercy, but also because she would've awakened all the other Cyclops and sailing away was faster, better. Ares deemed this cowardice. Crazy thing, since one of the most important things to him is courage.

- Ares overstimates Penelope's power. Like, yes, she's exceptional, but still HUMAN. With her limits. He hasn't dealt with a human personally in years so he doesn't understand this, so his expectations are ridiculously high, which ends up breaking Penelope.

- During 600 strike, Penelope can actually breathe underwater and not hold her breath for such a long time and be fine because she's half naiad (yes, they are fresh water nymphs but still). Also this may make her even stronger around water (to a certain degree, she's still very mortal)

- calypso is pansexual

this is already a lot, ill add more when i think about it lol (also if i realize any of these ideas don't make sense)

[myownwholewildworld]

masterlist

find me in ao3 | discord: arran.macleod

well, hello there! c:

i go by the name of arran in the world wide web, she/her, based in the uk and in my 30s era. i have been writing on and off for almost 20 years now on different platforms, but this is really the first time i venture into the fanfic realm in tumblr, so please be nice! >: probably you can tell, but my first language is not english but spanish, so if you spot any spelling mistakes, i apologise in advance lol

i've been obsessed with pedrito for quite a while now, so i thought ― i love writing, i love pedro, and, above everything else, i love love love drama, so why not give in and write some fics? i'm sure i'll find some like-minded people here!

i do appreciate any feedback you may want to share with me, as well as interactions (asks, reblogs, comments, likes, anything really!). also please feel free to drop me a message if there's something you would like me to write, i'm always open to suggestions ♡

please assume all my work is 18+, so mdni! do not repost, translate, nor use my work in any way without my explicit permission either.

i'll try to keep this masterlist as up to date as possible.

love,

arran xx

(find my work under the cut!)

🤭 ― fluff

😳 ― light smut

💘 ― explicit smut

💢 ― dark/sensitive theme

🤕 ― angst

🩸 ― graphic content (violence, gore, etc)

wherever you go

series masterlist - 🤭💘💢🤕🩸 status: ongoing. pairing: outbreak!2003!joel x f!reader. summary: after the events of 26th september 2003, you find yourself under the wing of the miller brothers. it's the older one who catches your attention, but also the one who drives you fucking crazy. you inevitably find yourself gravitating towards him while trying to navigate this postapocalyptic word you're stuck in, with more than one unpleasant surprise...

uniformed!joel one shots

series masterlist - 💘💢 status: ongoing. pairing: uniformed!joel x f!reader. summary: a series of one shots where we get to see the one and only joel miller and all his sides... as long as he's wearing a uniform, ofc. i'm open to any requests you may have, no matter how wild! check #uniformed!joel to see what's already been suggested. come along, don't be shy!

acta, non verba

series masterlist - 🤭😳💘💢🤕🩸 status: ongoing. pairing: conqueror!marcus x ofc!reader. summary: scotland, 83 AD after the battle of mons graupius. the romans have come up to the boundaries of their empire with a relentless desire to conquer the savages that inhabit the highlands. they won't rest until the Caledonian tribes are subjugated. Marcus Acacius is in charge of your clansmen's fate, but if such fate is similar to your family's, you know you need to do something about it. as the only living daughter of the tribe chief, your people look to you for leadership. power plays, treason, deception, rebellion, war, love, heartbreak, betrayal. and two souls, destined to despise each other, trying to navigate it all.

per aspera ad astra

series masterlist - 💢🤕🩸 status: ongoing. pairing: marcus acacius x emperor's daughter!reader. summary: when your husband dies in battle, his best friend is there to console you, to help you navigate your grief as he does his own. as you become close, feelings flourish. but your father, emperor Traianus, sees Marcus' romantic advances as a way to dethrone him.

the way to a great wide somewhere

read here ; easter eggs - 🤭💘🤕🩸 status: completed. pairing: beast!din djarin x f!reader. summary: cursed to spend the rest of his days in Mand'alor, Din Djarin faces a threat that may break his peace: you. -or- a retelling of the beauty and the beast story.

when the moon howls

read here - 🤭 status: oneshot/completed. pairing: javier peña x f!reader. summary: you meet javier in a café during your sabbatical. you see the man that no one does ― the one who is broken, defeated, crushed by his time as a DEA agent. so you make it your purpose to shine some light on his life, one pumpkin spice latte at a time. -or- the story of how you two fall head over heels for each other c:

when the grief howls

read here - 🤭💢 status: oneshot/completed. pairing: javier peña x f!reader. same couple as "when the moon howls". can be read as a oneshot. summary: javi and you go back to yours after your idyllic pumpkin patch date and he stays over. you comfort him when his demons catch up with him.

[soyeonsbabygirl]

Hear me out

So y/n broke up with her boyfriend not long ago, and minnie (g!p) tried her best to see her smile again, happy and all cute again. But nothing worked she cried every night in her arms how she hated her ex boyfriend and how she wishes she never met him, she hated that. She hated that her bestfriend cried so much over a stupid men, so she took her way and made her feel like she's the most important person in the world in that moment. She made sure to make her feel good and to forget about that stupud ex boyfriend wich she did bc minnie showed her all the stars that he couldn't do, she fucker her with nothing but love and a promise to keep her bestfriend the happiest person in the world. But she couldn't keep her feelings anymore and she let them spit out like a river and thats when they became a thing

Or

Minnie fucking y/n roughly but with a care so that she forgets about her ex stupud boyfriend and she confess to reader

(i'm sorry i needed to send this request it's stuck in my head since yesterday)

-the mimin x reader anon (also can i be your 🦤 if it's not taken?)

Hi honey! Sorry it took me so long to reply to this but ofc you can be 🦤 Anon! (My first anon this is so cool whatt)

I can be a better boyfriend than him.

G!P Nicha Yontarak/ Kim Minnie x Reader

Minnie sighed as she heard you crying again. It had been 2 weeks since you and your boyfriend — who Minnie personally never liked — had broke up. He had cheated on you which caused you to break up with him. Minnie was upset to see you so upset but was happy that you had finally left him.

She had known for a while that he was a player but she never said anything since she loved seeing you happy contrast to how you were now.Ever since you guys had broken up she would hear you crying, especially at night which made her hate for him grow even more. She wanted to see you smile or better yet just forget him and date her.

She knew how to treat you better and knew what was best for you, she was your best friend but in her mind she was your girlfriend. I mean you guys have slept in the same bed cuddling more times than she could count and each time you guys would cuddle it felt more intimate than the last time even if that wasn’t the goal. You would always kiss her cheek sometimes being too close to her mouth almost as if you meant to kiss her, she would dream of how your lips would feel against hers multiple times often getting hard from just the thought. And when you wore her clothes it made her even crazier imagining multiple scenarios of you being hers and not having to share you with anyone else because you’d be hers and hers only.

One night she had enough, you were in her arms as she held you crying your eyes out. Sobbing saying how you weren’t good enough for him, how everything was your fault, you were just a terrible girlfriend. She got tired of it and grabbed your face kissing you, the kiss was filled with love and passion. She pulled away quickly when she realized what she did.

“I’m sorry- I-I should've asked first I didn't mean to-” before she could finish you pulled her back in to another kiss. This time it had more lust than passion, Minnie’s hands went under your shirt her cool fingertips against your hot skin sent shivers down her spine.

Her tongue dancing with yours as you guys made out on your bed. You both pulled away breathing heavily as Minnie flew to your neck applying kisses to it, you let out soft moans and sighs after each kiss she left. “M-Minnie…please..I need you so badly..” your voice was no louder than a whisper. Minnie smirked against your skin as she lifted your shirt off your body, moving down to kiss your collarbones muttering small praises about how pretty you were, how long she's been waiting for this, and how she loves you.

Minnie took your sweatpants off while you pulled her shirt off her body. “You know,” she said in between kisses “I can be a better boyfriend than him.” She pushed your panties to the side as she slipped a finger inside you smiling at how much you whined. She went back up to your face kissing your cheeks as she began to move her digit in and out of you.

You moaned with every thrust of her finger she made loving the feeling already getting obsessed with how her finger felt inside her. By the time she added a second finger she took in your facial expressions and how pretty you looked like this. Your reactions told her enough of how your ex treated you during sex, and it made her upset. She was gonna show you how much better she was as she sped up making your face contort to pleasure, your walls tightened around her fingers making you mewl.

She knew you were close but if anything that just made her speed up even more til she heard you let out a loud moan your orgasm coating her fingers as she pulled them out. She saw you panting with a wide eyed star struck look as if this was your first time and then came to another conclusion that upset her.

“He’s never made you orgasm? was that your first time ever orgasming?” your shy nod told her everything. The idea of her being the first one to make you orgasm made her harder than she already was, “fuck I need to be inside you right now.” she murmured.

You bit your lip as you looked at her “Do it. I want you to fuck me Minnie.” That was all she needed to hear. She immediately took her pants off as she rubbed her tip on your lips, “how many inches are you used to?” you were silent for a few minutes before answering “I think..5..” Minnie was a bit dumbfounded by this.

It made her feel happy that she was bigger than your ex boyfriend but also a bit astonished. Seriously what did you see him? it doesn’t matter now since she was gonna make you forget all about him. She pushed into you making you count each inch til she was fully inside you. She smirked as she saw your reactions, the way you gripped her hand trying to adjust to her size, the whiner your voice got the more she entered inside you, all of it was beautiful to her.

She was smiling when she saw you take all of her dick in your pussy, once she was sure that you were used to feeling of her inside her was when she started moving. Her hands gripped your hips as she fucked into you. “Fuck, you're so tight. Your pussy feels so fucking good.” you could barely respond only moaning as your vision blurred from each thrust. Minnie began taking up speed as she went deeper and faster inside you.

One of her hands held you down by her hips while the other groped your boobs roughly enjoying how they felt. She felt you get wetter and wetter with each thrust making her moans mix with yours, all the times she would hear you moan for your ex during sex she’d never heard you moan like this. She went rougher even as she felt you orgasm coating her dick, but she had no plans of stopping.

You began to cry from overstimulation as it felt like she had only gone faster when you orgasmed, at one point only driven by lust as she hooked her arms under your legs placing them on her shoulders. With this new angle, she was able to reach even more deeper inside you loving the new angle.

Your moans were so loud that anyone who were to step inside the apartment would be able to hear you guys , the sounds of her thrusting in and out of you echoed throughout the room as both of your moans got louder.

She watched as your walls began clenching on her cock indicating you were close, she was also close and got an idea as she leaned down to your ear “cum for me baby, cum all over my cock. I want us both to cum at the same time.”

She went faster and deeper til she moaned your name in ecstasy painting your insides white, she looked down at you as she stayed inside you slowing down her thrusts, at one point she pulled out a bit and looked at your face.

She was confused as she saw you had a weird facial expression but then saw your eyes squeeze shut tightly as a clear liquid shot out of you. Minnie had a shocked look on her face as she looked down at you. She just made you squirt. Not only was she the first person to make you orgasm but she was also the first person to make you squirt.

You were panting as you looked like you were about to say something but before you could Minnie latched her lips on your clit lapping up all your juices harshly sucking on your clit. You moaned loudly gripping the sheets and due to how sensitive you were you orgasmed again in her mouth as she lapped it all up.

She came up to your lips and kissed you as she laid down moving you to lay on her chest. Once you both caught your breathes she spoke, “Y/N, I’ve been in love with you for so long. I know you just got out of a relationship but can you please give me a chance?”

It was quiet for a few minutes which to Minnie felt like hours. You pecked her lips as you smiled. That was all she needed to hear as she held you impossibly closer to her.

-

This requested me think of boyfriend by Dove Cameron and now I can’t unsee it😵‍💫 I hope you liked the request lovey and I promise I’m working on that Mimin request💋💕

[chilschuck]

Can I maybe get a platonic thing where reader is dating one of Chilchucks daughters (probably flertom) but is also an adventurer themselves and join the party hoping to get their girlfriends dad to like them?

`✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ hi anon!!! ofc you can! <33 i hope this turned out okay, i wrote it in between clients at work, LOL. it’s short but sweet, and i had fun imagining chil being protective!

— CHILCHUCK (& FLERTOM): platonic!chil x gn!reader hcs.

꒰ warnings: ꒱ none! sfw + chil being protective dad, lol.

꒰ wc: ꒱ 627

✦ going insane bc tumblr deleted it right as i was about to post it. sobs. but i hope you enjoy it!! (;;w;;)

✦ When you first joined the party, it was under the guise that you just needed a group to help you get to the lower levels. Laios being who he is, was more than happy to get your help with the rest of the members.

✦ You had an ulterior motive, one you wouldn’t be revealing so soon: the goal to get your girlfriend’s dad to approve of you. Flertom had told you before that it was totally fine, and that you shouldn’t worry yourself too much over it. She loved you, and that’s all that should matter. Yet, you found yourself unhappy to know that not only did he not know of your existence in her life, but that he hadn’t given you his blessing.

✦ Making sure not to let too much slip, you did your absolute best to get the man to like you. Whether it be staying out of his way while he worked or by showing your own worth, you worked extremely hard to get on his good side.

✦ Occasionally you’d talk about your girlfriend, mainly how much you adored her and that she made you really content. Chilchuck would hum, mulling over everything you said. It never occurred to him that you’d be talking about his daughter of all people, but he’d give you advice once in a while about certain things.

✦ Chilchuck thought you were a good asset. You stayed in your own lane yet brought about your own skills, something he valued. Your interest in his work made him a little happy as well, and it was nice to have someone around his daughters’ age in the party. It made him miss his own kids a lot.

✦ It had been a good while of you being in the party, and you felt it was finally time to show your true motive. You waited until Chilchuck was relaxed, enjoying a drink as everyone made camp.

“You know, there’s something I haven’t told you about myself,” you began, a tinge of nervousness in your voice. You had worked so hard to build up the reputation you had with him, and didn’t want to tear it all down in one sitting.

Chilchuck raised an eyebrow at you, taking a sip of his drink. His silence was a push to keep talking.

“I’m… My girlfriend is Flertom.” The words weren’t rushed, in fact they left you in an exhale of relief that they finally were spoken. Meanwhile, you felt the fear return to your chest when Chilchuck choked on his drink.

After his coughing fit, the half-foot banged on his chest, turning to look at you incredulously. “My daughter is your girlfriend? This whole time, it’s been her?!”

✦ After that talk, he didn’t speak to you for a little while. It was discouraging, but you tried your best to give him the space he needed. When you seemed down more than usual one day, he turned his attention to you and sighed.

✦ “You know, I’ve been thinking… I guess if you’re the one with her, it’s not too bad… You’re an okay kid.” You immediately perked up at his words, before he stuck out an accusatory finger at you.

✦ “But! If you hurt her, or break her heart, or anything like that, you’re gonna have to go through me. Got it?” His voice came out in a tone that had you glued to the floor, but you nodded as quickly as you could. You’ll definitely keep that in mind.

✦ Chilchuck thought back to the letter he had received, with how happy Fler had seemed with you. Well… He guesses that if it stays the way it is now… He’d be fine with it.

✦ For now.

[skyfallslayer]

Should We Stay or Should We Go? || Chapter Five - Part 2

-A ST Rewrite Feat. Steve Harrington x Henderson!OFC-

Part One || Series Masterlist

🎲Word Count: 22,544 (In Total)

🎲Date: 7/31/24

🎲Warnings: Heavy Angst; Heavy Language & Dialogue; References To Broken Friendship; Mental Strain/Breaking Down; Physical Fighting; Lying; "Death"; Funerals; Crying; Talks of Corpses; Being Drugged; Brief Alcohol Consumption; Unwanted Touching; Suggestive Dialogue; Suicidal Thoughts; Minor Blood; A Certain "Curse" Comes Into Play Early; The Byers Family's Mental Strain; Hopper Being a Great Cop & A Total Mess; Dustin Being a Gangster & A Overprotective Brother; The Harringtons' A+ Parenting; Steve's Emotional Damage & Signing Up To Be A Babysitter; Stephanie & Will Deserved All The Love, man. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

(And let me know if I missed anything)

🎲A/N: Heads up, Readers! This document is split between two parts. For some reason Tumblr said I reach my 1,000 space limit, or something like that and wouldn't let me post it because it's so long. PLEASE read part one first or this won't make any sense :) Enjoy!

-Continuing...-

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

Steph stares at her deadbeat Dad, scared, shocked, confused. Out of all the people her mind could conjure up for her to see today, it just had to be him, it just had to be the guy that ruined her and her family’s lives. As much as she wanted to look away, her gut was telling her not to (Just like the old days, huh?).

She swallows, trying not to get teary eyed in front of him. “This isn’t real. You’re not here.” She says, making him laugh, that same laugh that gave her chills. 

“Oh, but I am.”

“No you’re not. You’re a million fucking miles away.”

“So?” He shrugs, still smirking. “By all means, you still need me.”

Steph clenches her jaw and sends him the dirtiest look. “I don’t fucking need you. Neither does Dustin or my mother. I’m leaving.” But when she tried she couldn’t, her whole body was stuck to the chair, frozen. 

That seemed to fuel his ego a bit. “See? You still need me. Stay. Let’s talk. We haven’t done that in so long, munchkins.” He leans over to touch her forearm, sending another shiver down her body. “Talk.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“Stephanie! What’s wrong with you?” Will starts shaking her shoulders, not really sure what else he could do. “Stephanie! Stephanie! Stephanie!!!”

He doesn’t know what’s happening! She seems like she’s in a trance, but what kind of trance? How did she get into it? Who put her into it? And more importantly, how does he get her the hell out of it? 

“Stephanie! Come on! What happened to you? How do I…” He grabs the sides of his head. “What do I do? What should I do? What can I do? I…” He gasps, eyes widening. “Music…”

His coco orbs landed on what he had brought back, and he wasted no time to take his coat off and to dump out his brother’s cassettes everywhere. He starts shuffling through the pile, trying to find something he knew she liked. She liked metal, but Jonathan wasn’t a fan of that, so that rules out bands like Metallica or Dio, but she was a big fan of rock too.

Come on, Jonathan. You have to have something. Seriously, there has to be something he can play! Eagles, Heart, The Police… 

His heart skips a beat. Got it!

He recalls another band that was in her top five, one of them being Journey, And Luckily, his brother had the ‘Frontiers’ Album that so happens to have a song that was always on her mind. He pulled the cassette from the case and placed it inside the walkman (thank heavens her favorite song was the first one on set). Will replaced her hat for the headphones, and as soon as they were secured…

.

.

.

He presses the play button and prays. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Jonathan had everything he needed for their little hunting mission. His dad had left behind a few of his guns when the marriage ended, and his mom always warned him and Will that those would be used in emergency situations only. And in Jonathan’s defense, he should count this as an emergency. This… faceless beast was somehow responsible for the disappearance of his little brother, Stephanie, and Barb – and he’s not even sure if there’s more or not, but he’s hoping it’s stopped at them – and he needs to know why and where this thing even came from, and where it took them. He’s just hoping he can get those answers before finally slaying the beast. 

Now, he was just confirming with Nancy over the phone. “I was thinking we can meet in the area about an hour before sundown? Maybe get some practice in shooting? Unless you’ve… shot before?”

[ ‘No, no. I have not. Have you met my parents?’ ]

That got him to chuckle a little. “So, no? What are you taking as a weapon then?”

[ ‘I mean, I’ve got my old bat when I’ve played softball. I could trying seeing if I could sneak out a kitchen knife but…’ ] 

“That might be a little hard, especially since your mom’s in the kitchen all the time.”

[ ‘Speaking of, are you sure your mom can’t hear us?’ ]

“Positive.” Jonathan said, sparing a glance over his shoulder to the sleeping figure on the couch. “She’s sound asleep. I’ll have enough time to make an excuse if she does wake beforehand.”

[ ‘If you say so. I’m just a little nervous. I’m a little afraid to see that thing for real this time.’ ]

“Everything’s going to be fine. We’ll try to get answers, and if not…” He takes a deep breath. “We kill the faceless thing. End of story. At least… I won’t have to worry about it terrorizing my mom anymore, or anyone for that matter.”

I have to kill this thing. I have to make it up to my Mom somehow. He didn’t realize how quiet he went, and wasn’t sure how long she was calling out his name for. “Uh, sorry. W-What did you say?”

[ ‘Hour before sundown, right?’ ]

“Yep. I’ll meet you there.” 

[ ‘Kay. I’ll see you there.’ ]

Jonathan hangs up the phone, sighing and heading back to his room to make sure he has everything – completely unaware that a certain someone was actually awake.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Later that day, both Powell and Callahan finally decided to check on their boss who had failed to come into the station this morning. They pulled their car in next to his, not really seeing much out of the ordinary so they went for the front door.

“Hey, Chief!” Callahan called out, before knocking. “Hello? Whoa!-”The door was practically pulled from him, and out came their Boss who looked a lot worse for wear.

“Jesus, Chief. You all right?” Powell asked, concerned.

“What are you doing here?” Hopper asked, pistol by his side with an itchy finger.

“We tried calling, but–”

“Yeah, the phone’s dead.” He snaps, missing the way his two pupils backed up a bit at the sight of his weapon and tone. 

Callahan tries to steer his trigger finger away with a conversation. “Hey, so Bev Mooney came in this morning all upset. Said that Dale and Henry went hunting yesterday… and they didn’t come back home.”

“She thought they were on another binger, but she’s not so sure now.” Powell adds. 

“I think this whole Will Byers, Stephanie Henderson thing has everybody on edge.”

Hopper’s heart sank a bit. “Where was this?”

“It was at the station.”

“No, no. Where did Henry and Dale go hunting?”

“Oh. Uh, out near Kerley.”

Hopper felt himself go paler. “Mirkwood.”

“What?”

“O-Okay. You go back to the station. I’ll take care of this, all right?” He explains, and tries to go back inside.

“Are you sure?” Callahan asked, worriedly.

Hopper nods and opens his door back up. “Yeah, leave it.”

“Oh, hey. Uh, they found Barbara’s car.”

“What?”

“Barbara Holland’s car.” Powell specifies. “Seems she ran away after all. Staties found it late last night at a bus station.”

“Funny, right?” Callahan jokes. “They keep doing our job for us.”

No, definitely not funny. Hopper’s jaw clenches and he nods. “Yeah. It’s funny.” He says, heading back inside and mentally cursing. 

“Is he off his meds again?” He asked in a low whisper. 

Powell shrugs. “He’s been spending too much time with Joyce Byers. That’s what I think.”

“Maybe he should stick with the Henderson woman. I heard they were friends through high school.”

“Yeah…” He scoffs. “Like she’s any better.”

Callahan gave him a look. “What do you mean?”

“Let me just say she was… quite the wild card back then.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

When the doorbell rang at the Wheeler house, the family honesty wasn’t sure who to expect.

Except the three boys who had bolted out of the basement knew.

They had loosened their funeral clothes a bit since they arrived here, and were trying to act like everything was A-Okay! And totally not suspicious when the rest of the family sees who their mysterious guest is.

“We got it!” Dustin shouts, surprising and stopping Karen in the hallway.

Karen halts her son, confused. “What? Did you guys order pizza or something?”

“No! Uh, we, um…” Mike was fumbling his words a bit, fueling his mother’s suspicions more.

“We asked someone to come over. From the funeral. Uh… A teenager from high school.” Lucas explains.

“Yeah. W-We got to talking to him, and we really think he could help us with this history project that is due in a few weeks.”

“He’s actually a friend of Nancy.”

“Oh, really?” Karen asked, and spoke of the devil.

“A friend of mine?” Nancy said, halfway down the stairs, clothes changed into something more cozy and warm.

“Who’s the friend?”

And that’s when Dustin had opened the door, pretending to be overjoyed. “Steve!”

“Steve?” Nancy said, coming completely down the stairs now. “W-What are you doing here?”

“Uh, well, I had the chance to talk to them early, and sounded like your brother and his friends needed help with a school project.” Steve replies, hoping he sounded convincing. “Hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t, I’m just… a bit surprised, I guess.”

Steve smiles, and holds his hand out for her mother. “Hello, Mrs. Wheeler. I’m Steve Harrington.”

“Steve Harrington?” Karen said, shaking it. “I feel like I’ve heard that name before.” Her eyes trail to Nancy who was looking away with a nervous laugh. 

And I just made it awkward. He brushes it off quickly. “Uh, I won’t be long, Mrs. Wheeler, I’ll just go over a couple things with the boys.”

“Oh, take your time. It’s nice that they actually asked for help once.”

“Thank you. Alright, kids–” He smacks his hands together. “Let’s go.” He makes a mental note to talk to his girlfriend later, but as right now he doesn’t want her to get involved with whatever this was. He follows the kids to the basement, but a few steps down, Mike stops him.

Mike makes sure his family wasn’t around to hear this, and starts talking in a low tone. “Before we go down, there is something we have to tell you.”

“Which is?” Steve said, raising an eyebrow.

“To make a long story short, the night after Will and Stephanie disappeared we decided to go looking in the area her car crashed, and we found someone.”

That’s not concerning at all, Wheeler. What was this kid getting at? It was making him a bit nervous. “Someone?”

“Yeah. She’s–” Mike sighs, and gives him a stern look. “You have to swear you won’t tell my parents, or Nancy, or… anyone for that matter. Do you understand?”

“I… understand.” He holds his hand up. “I swear.”

“Good.” The kid nods, satisfied. “Come on.”

Steve follows him down, and that’s when he notices the girl on the couch. A young girl, probably not much older than twelve was sitting there in a Mötley Crüe band shirt, jeans and a pair converse on the floor; Along with a plaid jacket too. That outfit looked… quite familiar.

“Is that…” He begins, gesturing to the redhead who was trying to figure him out too.

“This is Eleven, or we call El for short. She’s…” Mike trails off, thinking. “We don’t know where she’s from, all we know is that it’s from a bad place. And she has powers.”

Now that got his attention. “I’m sorry, powers?”

“Yeah. Like… Magneto.”

“Magneto?”

“Yeah. Like from the X-Men.”

“Uh…”

“Oh, my god.” Dustin says, throwing his head back to his obliviousness. “How were you and my sister friends?”

“Hey, we had other things in common.” Steve pushes back, hands on his hip like a stern mother.

“Oh, yeah?” Dustin squares up. “Like what?”

“You’re really going to quiz me right now?”

“Yes! I am!”

“Dustin, man, come on. We don’t have time for–” Lucas said, sitting up straighter from his spot on a chair. But of course, his friend wouldn’t listen (and they all accuse him of being the stubborn one).

“What is her favorite color?” Dustin starts, getting an eye roll and a sigh from his ‘opponent’. 

“Seafoam green.” Steve replies, going along with it.

“Favorite band?”

“It’s a tie between Journey and Metallica.”

“Favorite ice cream flavor?”

“Mint chocolate chip, however–”

“Ah, ha!” The youngest Henderson jerks his thumb at him, like he caught him in a lie. “Wrong! That’s not her–”

“But, but, but!” Steve cuts right back in, taking control. “I wasn’t finished. She says that’s her favorite, because she’s too embarrassed to tell everyone that her actual favorite is bubblegum, which no one, and I mean no I know besides her, likes that flavor. Correct?”

Dustin makes a face like he’s been kicked. “Damn it…” He mumbles, pacing off to find something to do.

“Ice cream?” El said, and it took Steve a second to realize she phrased it as a question.

“You never had ice cream?” He asked, and she shook her head. “Where the hell was she living before?” Then he stops himself. “D-Doesn’t matter! We’ll discuss that part later, maybe over some ice cream, but for right now, why am I here?” 

It took a bit to get him up to speed about the past few days, leaving him with a spinning head, and asking more questions that needed to be answered.

“Holy shit…” He mutters, rubbing his temple. “Holy shit. So… you guys are all convinced that Stephanie and Will are stuck in another dimension? All because El took you guys to his house and said they were there but couldn’t see them?”

“Correct.” Lucas said, with a nod.

“And it pretty confirmed it when you heard Will over the radio explaining that?”

“Correct.”

“That’s… insane, but… it makes sense.”

“So you’re saying you believe us?” Mike asked, genuinely surprised.

“Look, like I said earlier, when the evidence was laid out about what happened to them, It didn’t really sit right with me, you know? And–” Steve fiddles with his hands again. “And Stephanie, I mean she knew the Quarry pretty well, so I thought it would have been odd that she would have fallen in like that, even if she was being chased. And Will… he sounds like he’s a smart kid too.”

“He is.” Lucas said, a bit of sadness there.

“He’s really smart.” Mike adds.

“That’s my point.” Steve agrees. “So, if what you’re suggesting is true, and they really did end up in some dimension, whoever found or knows, or even is responsible for that to happen to them, they must have planted the fake bodies to take the heat off the case. I mean, let’s be real here. Kids get kidnapped to another dimension? Who’s going to believe that?”

“So someone had to open that gate to the Upside Down, realize what happened and wanted to cover their asses.” Mike turns towards Eleven who seemed like she wasn’t fully into their conversation. “Do you know where the gate is?”

She shakes her head. “No…” 

“Then how do you know about the Upside Down?” Lucas asked, as she looked away in shame.

“Hey, uh…” Steve leans in to whisper. “Not to budge into this spat, but uh, did I break Henderson?”

Now all eyes were on him, and he was pacing around in a small circle with something in his hand; He looked like he was in deep thought too.

“Dustin, what are you doing? Dustin?” Mike tries, and gets irritated. “Dustin!!”

That seemed to do the trick because he stopped. “I... I need to see your compasses.”

“What?”

“Your compasses. All of your compasses, right now!”

Of course Lucas and Mike decided to humor him a bit and start searching for what they had, while Steve locked eyes with El who looked just as confused as he was. She seemed painfully shy, but that wasn’t going to stop him from trying to get on her goodside.

“Hey–” He whispers. “I think he’s the nutty one.” And he makes a goofy expression that got her to smile. Good enough for me.

And he stands up to join the boys around the table who had all the compasses laying out. 

“What’s exciting about this?” Mike asked, unamused. 

“Well, they’re all facing north, right?” Dustin points out.

“Yeah, so?” 

“Well, that’s not true north.”

“What do you mean?” Lucas asked, slightly intrigued. 

“I mean exactly what I just said. That’s not true north.” He looks between them like they’re crazy. “Are you both seriously this dense?” His friends shrug and he sighs. “Steve?” And all hopes go out too when he shrugged. “Wow. You’re useless.”

“Gee, thanks, Henderson.” Steve said, trying not to strangle him yet. 

“So, the sun rises in the east, and it sets in the west. Right?” Dustin points towards the left wall, east. “Which means that’s true north.”

“So what you’re saying is the compasses are broken.” Mike said, clarifying. 

He sighs again. “Do you even understand how a compass works? Do you see a battery pack in this?”

“No.”

“No, you don’t. Because it doesn’t need one. The needle’s naturally drawn to the Earth’s magnetic North Pole.”

“So what’s wrong with them?” Lucas questions.

“Well, that’s what I couldn’t figure out, but then I remembered.” He perks up with a grin. “You can change the direction of a compass with a magnet. If there’s the presence of a more powerful magnetic field, the needle deflects to that power. And then I remembered what Mr. Clarke said. The gate would have so much power–”

“It could disrupt the electromagnetic field.” Mike said, smiling.

“Exactly.”

“Meaning, if we follow the compasses’ north…”

“They should lead us to the gate.”

And the boys begin praising Dustin for figuring that out–

.

.

.

Why El was looking like she heard the worst news ever.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Jonathan fixes his jacket and slings a bag over his shoulder as he comes out of his room when he notices what time it was (He could even see that the sun was starting to change color). But as soon as he reaches where the hallway meets the kitchen, he sees his mother sitting at the table reading over some paperwork.

His heart skips a beat a bit, and as he calmly tells himself to stick to the script. “Y-You’re up.” he says, getting her attention. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to wake up tonight.”

“Yeah, I guess that service really took a lot out of me.” Joyce replies, setting what she was reading down to look at him. “Heading out?”

“Y-Yeah, um… a classmate who was at the wake wanted to cheer me up. I-I was going to turn it down, but I thought it could take my mind off a few things.”

“Oh, well that’s good.”

“Yeah.” He nods. “I’m going to head out.” He says, turning to leave.

“Okay.” She said, crossing her arms. “Does your outing include guns?” That got him to stop. “I noticed you raided your father’s old gun safe.”

Jonathan bites his lip for a second, before turning around with a dry laugh. “It wasn’t like he was going to use them any time soon.”

She raised an eyebrow, stern. “I thought you didn’t like shooting?”

“I thought it would be nice to pick it back up. You know, just in case that thing comes back.”

“Well, that’s actually rather thoughtful of you, Jonathan.”

“Uh, thanks, mom.” He sends her a quick smile and starts leaving again. “I’ll be back.”

“Alrighty.” She says, standing up silently. “Is that before or after you kill the faceless thing?” This time her son couldn’t hide his shock when he turned around, and she couldn’t really hide her irritation either. “You really need to learn whether someone is fake sleeping or not.”

He swallows. “Mom–”

“Who were you talking to?”

“Mom, it’s not–”

“Jonathan, you will tell me who you’re going out with right now. I am not playing any games.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Despite their agreements to go out to look, Dustin was still salty enough to try to get Steve to leave. His first attempt was to try to go get him to see Nancy, but that backfired when she apparently had left for something. The second was when he pointed out to Steve that he still had his suit on, and tried to get him to go home and change – But the teenager proudly declined, and saw right through his crap, and said he can just take his jacket and tie off and he’ll be fine. His third attempt was a bit later on in their adventure, when the temperature started to drop and so did the sun in the sky, he tried again with the clothes, pointing out that dress shoes weren’t exactly made for hiking – this attempt was just flat out ignored.

“Dude, just let it go.” Lucas said, since he was partnered up with him (Now, he’s lucky that they lived close enough to actually change out of their funeral clothing. He can’t imagine how Steve’s doing it). “He’s going to be helpful whether you like it or not.”

“Yeah, sure.” Dustin said, sarcastically. “What? Because he’s carrying a bat around? Who carries a bat in their trunk?”

Lucas rolled his eyes. “Dude, drop it. It’s actually kind of relieving that someone else brought a weapon too.” He waves around his slingshot furiously to make a point. 

“Whatever…”

He sighs, and takes a glance at his compass. “How much further?”

“I don’t know.” Dustin shrugs. “These only tell direction, not distance. You really need to learn more about compasses.”

“I’m just saying. How do we know when we get to the gate?”

“Uh, I think a portal to another dimension is gonna be pretty obvious.”

Lucas sighs again, this time glancing back at the others. Mike and Eleven were paired together, while Steve was a few steps behind them keeping guard out. But his focus was more on the girl that has been suspiciously wiping her nose every few minutes. 

“Do you think she’s acting weird?” He finally asked in a lower voice.

“You’re asking if the weirdo is acting weird?” Dustin said, confused.

“I mean, weirder than normal?”

“I don’t know. Who cares?”

Meanwhile, Eleven was remembering a few scary things from her past, and the guilt and fear was starting to eat away at her. With a shaky hand, she tugs on the boy’s sleeve. “Mike.”

“Yeah?”

“Turn back.”

Mike blinks, puzzled. “What? Why?”

“I’m tired.”

He sighs. “Look, I’m sure we’re almost there. Just hold on a little longer, okay?” He says, making her stop.

She worriedly looks at the way they came from, practically aching to start running away from all this. She knows once they find out the truth, they’re going to be mad.

“Hey.” Steve calls out softly, standing right in front of her. “You okay?”

Her eyes scan his face, seeing how genuinely worried he was for her, despite they met only hours ago (Why weren’t the people she grew up with this kind to her?). She nods subtly. “F-Fine.”

“Fine?” He asks, getting another nod. “Okay.” He wasn’t fully convinced, but he wasn’t going to push. “But your nose is bleeding.”

She perks up at the news, and quickly wipes it away. She just gives him a quick smile before jogging to catch up with the others, Steve’s concern only growing a bit stronger.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

Stephanie felt like she couldn’t breath. She suddenly felt like she was a kid again, practically having to be on her toes whenever he was around. Right now, her father seemed pretty ticked off about something, something that she was going to have to continue to push back on and try to get away. 

“You ratted me out.” He hissed, arms crossed in disappointment. “You and that little rich friend of yours.” 

She tightens her jaw again, her hands managing to make a fist as she glares. “I never ratted you out.”

“Oh…” He whispers, realization creeping across his features for a few seconds. “So it was him, huh?”

Fucking prick. She bares her teeth at him, angry herself. “Steve did what any friend would have in a situation like that.” 

His eye twitched. “By selling me out!!”

“You got child endangerment and illegal gambling. You’re lucky that’s all you got.” She says, raising her tone. “He decided to be a good person and respect my wishes, respect my dignity, and save me from some humiliation from every fucking school kid – to save my mom the guilt, and Dustin some confusion.” Steph scoffs. “Selling you out? You got fucking lucky, Pal.”

“Pal? I ain’t your pal! I’m your fucking father!” He points at himself furiously. “I raised you!”

“Mom raised me! Not you!” Now she felt the tears start to sting, but not from sadness, no, these were angry tears. He opens his mouth to speak, and she cuts him off. “And don’t you dare say you raised Dustin! You were never there for him. Never there for any school events, or the time he tried to play hockey. For fuck’s sake, you were even there when he was born!!”

“I WAS BUSY!!”

“Busy fucking GAMBLING! You were always doing that!” She scoffs again. “You were never our father, you were never his father. When mom wasn’t there it was me. It was always me, it was never you.”

“I was always there for you.”

“Oh, please…”

“We hung out, you can’t deny that. We always did something every week.”

“Oh, yeah, take your child to a black jack table and let them watch as you bet money we don’t have. Yeah…” She rolls her eyes. “That was a wonderful father-daughter bonding moment.”

“Stephanie–”

“Don’t say my name.”

“Stephanie.” His face softens. “Munchkins, you have to understand, what I did, it was necessary. I was on my way of making the big bucks, and moving us to the hills with beautiful and big houses your mother and I always dreamed of.”

“That was a lie you just love feeding to mom.”

“Stephanie–”

“Stop.” She snaps, calming herself a little. “I don’t know what this is. I don’t know if I hit my head a little hard, or that weird monster that keeps following me is doing this but…” She shakes her head. “You’re not real. You’re in prison. And if this is just some sick joke to get me to forgive you, it ain’t going to work. I hate you, and I will always hate you. Period. Now–” She manages to push herself off the bar stool to stand. “I’m leaving.”

Stephanie doesn’t want to bid him another thought or word as she turns and starts heading for the exit as her father starts yapping away.

“You hate me, I get it.” He sighs. “I hate myself as well. But… I know you hate yourself too.”

That got her to stop. It got a nerve that she was trying to hide.

“Deep down, you hate yourself. A lot apparently.”

“I don’t hate myself.” She replies, turning around.

“Oh, yes, you do.” He said, standing up too, a gleeful look on his face. “You see, you’ve hated yourself for quite a while, and it didn’t start after the whole… broken friendship thing, no… it’s been happening for a while.”

“You’re…” She swallows, shaking slightly (She was unaware of the room growing darker and more suffocating). “You’re crazy.”

“This whole self hatred thing has been going on and off throughout your life. There were so many key moments that made you think that way.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “You’re fucking crazy–”

“There were so many times that made you stop and think, ‘Hey. Why don’t Steve’s parents like me? What’s wrong with me? Why am I not good enough?’ Hmm…” He moves closer, the abyss growing around them both more. “Ring any bells? Remember when you thought that and tried to change?”

“That’s…” She touches the side of her head. “That’s ridiculous. I… I just thought maybe I should change a little, wh-what would it h-hurt? Right…? I…”

“See? It’s in there? It’ll always be there.” He taps his own chest twice. “There will always be that hatred in your heart that you can’t get rid of.”

“I… I c-can get rid of it.”

“You can bury it, but you can’t get rid of it. It’s your genes, it’s engraved in your bones, sewn into your heart.” He smiles. “Think about it, even after your friend ended everything, sure you were mad at him, but you were more mad at yourself than anything.”

Her eyes widened, shaking. “S-Stop…”

“You were so mad that you thought about…” The abyss grows more and pulls them closer together. “Ending it all for everyones’ sake.”

She felt like something was grabbing a hold of her now, pushing on her lungs and in her throat, suffocating her. She felt her eyes sting and burn, and her father’s started to change into something or some else. 

“And you…” He laughs, the pain in her body intensifying. “Probably should.”

He starts extending his arm out for her, bruised fingers coming over to ghost her face and–

It was like someone had opened the shades and let the sunlight in. Everything felt warmer and lighter, the pressure was suddenly taken off her body. She gasps with relief, her father’s hand pulling back as she hears a familiar song playing in the distance. 

.

[ ♪ Here we stand

Worlds apart, heart broken in two. Two. Two.

Sleepless nights

Losing ground, I'm reaching for you. You. You ♪ ]

.

|| STEPHANIE!! ||

Her eyes widened, turning around to see some kind of opening in the distance. “Will?” She croaks, and she swears she can see him too.

|| STEPHANIE! WAKE UP! PLEASE! || 

Wake up? I’m asleep? She couldn’t believe it. She really was stuck in her head.

|| STEPHANIE!! ||

“I–” She swallows and takes a step. “I’m coming.”

Her father frowns. “You can’t leave.” He says, snatching her by the arm. She shutters at the sudden voice change, scared again. “We haven’t finished talking.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“You told me you weren’t going to do anything stupid! You promised me, Jonathan!” Joyce yells, as her son shakes her head.

“W-We’re not going through this again!” He said, almost laughing.

“Not again? What do you mean?!”

“Mom, seriously!” He points at himself. “Let me do this! Let me find this thing!”

“You want me to allow you to go find some wild, dangerous beast that could possibly take you away or have you killed?” Joyce scoffs. “You’re out of your mind!”

“I’m not out of my mind! I am stopping–”

“You’re not going out there!”

“Yes, I am!”

“No, you’re not!”

“Yes, I am.” He says, as his expression was something that no one could pinpoint. “Let me prove this to you.”

“Prove what?” She asked, throwing her arms out. “What so desperately do you have to prove? Prove that this is the stupidest–”

“Let me prove to you that I AM SORRY!!”

Between that sentence and the front door being pounded on at the same time, Joyce was definitely lost for words. But she continues to stare at her son, trying to see if something would come out before another set of knocks came about.

As she makes her way to the door, Jonathan blurts out her name. Part of him was afraid what would happen if that was Nancy; If he thinks his mom is mad now, he could imagine when she puts two-and-two together. He calls her out again just as she opens it, both of them startled by who it was.

Hopper had his finger up in a ‘shushing’ motion, and was holding up a sign that the son couldn’t read until his mother moved out of the way. The sign read: DON’T SAY ANYTHING.

The Chief locks eyes with Jonathan, silently telling him to stay quiet too as he shuts the door. His blue orbs glanced around the room, mostly focusing on the many strings lights that were up.

Oh, Jesus. He thought, realizing this was going to take some time.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The sun was halfway set when the boys arrived at an old, abandoned scrap yard that was up in the hills. When they got about a quarter of the way inside the place, one of them noticed something terrible.

“Oh, no.” Dustin said, after triple checking his surroundings.

“‘Oh, no?’ What’s, ‘Oh, no?’, Henderson?” Steve asked in a teasing way, which will fade in a second when he realizes how serious this was.

“We’re headed back home.”

“What?” Mike perks up. 

“Are you sure?” Lucas asked, not buying it.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Dustin points to the sky. “Setting sun, right there. We looped right back around.”

“And you’re just realizing this now?”

“Why is this all on me?” 

“Because you’re the compass genius!”

Dustin sighs. “What do yours say?”

Both boys glanced down at theirs and replied, “North.”

“Makes no damn sense.”

“Maybe the gate moved.” Steve asked, trying to think what would be most logical.

The boy frowns. “No, I don’t think it’s the gate. I think it’s something else screwing with the compasses.”

“Maybe it’s something here.” Mike said, gesturing to their surroundings.

Dustin shakes his head. “No, it has to be like a super magnet.”

“It’s not a magnet.” Lucas hiss, bitterly, his eyes landing on the only girl with them. “She’s been acting weirder than normal. If she can slam doors with her mind, she can definitely screw up a compass.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Steve said, half stepping between them, trying to cool him down. “Why would she do that? Isn’t she your friend?”

Lucas ignores him, and swats his arm away. “Because she’s trying to sabotage our mission.” He starts stalking towards her. “Because she’s a traitor!”

“Lucas, what are you doing?” Mike asks, fearfully.

Steve tries to deescalate him again. “Hey, Sinclair, maybe cool it before–”

“Can it, Steve!” He snaps, stopping right in front of El who’s guilt started sprouting full blown. “You did it, didn’t you? You don’t want us to reach the gate. You don’t want us to find them.”

“Lucas, come on, seriously–” Mike rushes up next to him. “Just leave her alone!”

“Admit it.”

“No.” El whispers.

“ADMIT IT!” He snaps, scaring her enough to grab her arm and show off her jacket sleeve that was stained bright red. “Fresh blood. I knew it.”

“Lucas, come on!” Mike says, smacking his hand away from her.

“I saw her wiping her nose on the tracks! She was using her powers!”

“Bullshit! That’s old blood. Right, El?” And Mike’s stomach sank when she didn’t say anything. “Right, El?

“It’s... not…” El chokes back on tears, her lip quivering in shame. “It’s not safe.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After unscrewing a hundred goddamn light bulbs later, Hopper was satisfied enough to realize that the Byers’ household was untouched by the unknown.  

“Okay.” He breathes, and collapses into a chair, the adrenaline he’s felt all day has finally given out. “Should be okay, I mean… I can’t guarantee it, but it should be okay.”

“What the hell is going on, Hopper?” Joyce finally asked, still keeping her voice a bit quiet. I mean, all she and her son could do was wait and let the Police Chief raid her house to get some kind of answer. 

“They bugged my place.”

“Bugged?” Jonathan asked, confused. “What do you mean?”

“They put a microphone in the light.” Hopper sighs, the mental strain finally hitting him hard. “It’s because I’m on to them and they know it. I don’t know…”

“Who?”

“I thought they might be watching you, too.” He shakes his head, shutting his eyes for a second. “I don’t know, the CIA, the NSA, Department of Energy... I-I don’t know.”

“You gotta explain this to us.” Joyce said, getting an agreement from her eldest. “‘Cause we’re not–”

“I went to the morgue last night, Joyce.”

That got their complete attention now. “...What?” She muttered, feeling like she was losing her breath from his words.

“It wasn’t him.” Hopper replies, getting teary eyed.

Jonathan had to hold up his mother who looked like she was about to faint from the news. “W-What do you mean?” He asks, heart pounding in his ears.

“Will’s body, it was a fake. His and Stephanie’s. They’re both fakes.” He stands up to make sure he was looking her in the eye to tell her these words, “You were right. This whole time, you were right. I should have believed you. I am so sorry, Joyce.”

“Oh, my god…” Joyce sobbed into her hands, as her son took a step back to process. “Oh, my god. I mean… w-why though? Why the fakes? Who made the fakes?”

“I don’t know.” Hopper replies, upset himself. “Like I said, someone bugged my place, I don’t know who though. Although…”

“‘Although’… what?

“I saw…” He swallows. “I saw something really strange last night. At the lab.”

“The lab?” She tilts her head. “You went to the lab?”

“I snuck in. I ended up getting punctured with a needle that knocked me out. When I woke up in my trailer, I think the people at the lab were trying to make it seem like I went on binger. My whole table was trashed with beer cans and pills. Bastards.”

“Well what did you see?”

“It’s…” How does he explain this? “First, I ended up in a hospital setting, you know, white walls, beds, cold temperatures. But then I went down lower and… I saw it.”

“Saw what?” She asked, nervously.

“I don’t… I don’t know what it is. It look like a plant, it was on the wall, it was gross looking and sticky and–”

“Was it like a bubble? And it and like a red hue to it and it was pul–”

“Pulsating?” He asked, getting a nod. “You know what I’m talking about?” But before he could get an answer, the teenager had finally spoken. 

“So it really is that dangerous…” Jonathan whispers, eyes landing on him.

“What?” Joyce asked, her son started shaking his head.

“Fuck.” He mutters, and starts grabbing his hair. “Fuck…”

“What, Jonathan?! What?”

“Nancy and I both agreed to go look for that thing!” He spills, all distraughtly. 

“Wait.” Joyce blinks a few times, trying to wrap her head around what she just said. “Nancy? That’s who you were talking to?!”

“What is going on?” Hopper asked, looking between the two.

“We wanted to find out what happened to Barb.” Jonathan explains. “Nancy… she… she saw that thing when she went to Steve’s house, she–”

“What? What thing?”

“She saw it too?” Joyce cuts Hopper off, intrigued by this shocking news. “What… what were you guys going to do?”

“We were going to kill it!” Jonathan replies, truthfully. “W-We… we agreed to meet at the spot Stephanie’s car was found and… shit.”

“Jonathan–”

“I fucked up.”

“Jonathan.” She pressures, trying to calm him down a smidge. “Maybe she’s by the road. She wouldn’t go exploring on her own. Right?” But her son sends her an un-assuring look that deflates her confidence. “...Right?”

Jonathan frowns, trying to hide how scared he was now. “We need to find Nancy, now.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“What did I tell you?” Lucas explodes. “She’s been playing us from the beginning!”

“That’s not true.” Mike pushes back. “She helped us find Will and Stephanie!”

“Find Will and Stephanie?” He scoffs. “Find Will and Stephanie? Where are they, then?” He starts walking around the place to make a point. “Huh? I don’t see them.”

“Yeah, you know what I mean.”

“No, I actually don’t. Just think about it, Mike. She could’ve just told us where the Upside Down was right away, but she didn’t. She just made us run around like headless chickens.”

“All right, calm down!” Dustin says, cutting between them.

“I’m siding with Henderson on this one.” Steve says, eyes batting back and forth between the two. “Let’s just take a moment to breathe, and figure this out.”

“No!” Lucas yells, not listening to this. “She used us, all of us! She helped just enough so she could get what she wants. Food and a bed. She’s like a stray dog.”

“Screw you, Lucas!” Mike yells back. 

“No! Screw you, Mike. You’re blind… blind because you like that a girl’s not grossed out by you. But wake up, man! Wake the hell up! She knows where they are, and now she’s just letting them die in the Upside Down.

Mike balls his hand in a fist, trying to contain his own anger. “Shut up.”

“For all we know, it’s her fault.” Lucas says, jerking his thumb towards her.

“Shut up.”

“Sinclair–” Steve warns. 

“We’re looking for some stupid monster… but did you ever stop to think that maybe she’s the monster?”

“I said shut up!” Mike shouts, and tackles him to the ground. 

“Stop!” El yells, worriedly. 

“Knock it off, you idiots.” Dustin says, as he tries to get close.

“Stop it!”

“Oh, my– Wheeler, get off!” Steve says, and tries pulling the boys off one another. But for being only kids, they were putting up one hell of a fight to stay on top for dominance. 

The shouting between Steve and Dustin went back and forth, and all their efforts to stop it suddenly ended when the girl behind them screamed ear piercingly. All of them could only watch helplessly as Lucas was flung off, hitting the ground hard, and landing against one of the scrapped vehicles. 

“Jesus Christ!” Steve shouted, and raced over to the boy. 

“Lucas! Lucas!” Mike yells, shaking him on the shoulder. “Lucas, are you all right?

“Lucas.” Dustin says, doing the same. “Lucas, come on!”

“Hey, hey! Careful with his neck!” Steve urges, moving their hands away as carefully examines the boy. “Shit… come on, kid.”

“Why would you do that?” Mike snaps at Eleven, who was trembling again. “What’s wrong with you? Huh?!” He could believe she would do something like this. "What is wrong with you?!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“What’s wrong with you?” Stephanie croaked, trembling at the way his voice changed into something almost demonic. He know longer sounded like the man who was supposed to be her father. “Why do you sound like that?”

Along with the voice change, his whole demeanor seemed different too. The way he stood, the way he smiled and his eyes seemed dead, yet controlling. 

“Admit it…” He whispers with fire on his silver tongue. “You’re tired, you really don’t want to live anymore.”

Her throat started to feel tight again, her body was aching too. Whatever was holding her down earlier was trying to latch onto her again. “I-I…”

“You don’t want to live anymore because everything’s gone to shit.” He gestures around, still having that stupid smug on his face. “Your long friendship with Steve is over, crushed because you were an embarrassment to him.”

She shakes her head. “N-No.”

“Even after what happened at the dance, it meant nothing to him. That he didn’t love you like you thought he did.”

“St-Stop it.”

“You try to fill the gaping hole by hanging out with your brother, but he’s growing up, he’s got friends when you don’t have any. He’s already pushing you away to be with them. You’re an envious freak.”

“I’m not.” His jabs were like sticking an imaginary knife in her heart, and for some reason, deep down, she knows his jabs have some truth to them.

“Your own mother knows you’re in a rut, knows you’ve been lying to her, but you don’t want her help. You love the abyss.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about–”

“And you… are failing to keep your promise to the boy.” He says, making her gasp. “You told Will you were going to get him out, but you don’t even know how.” It was another stab to her heart. “You’re having doubts.” And another. “You’re having thoughts about how you’re never going to get out.”

“N-No…” She whispers, on the verge of tears once more, and he wasn’t done with his troubling words. 

“How you’re thinking in what way the No-Face beast will get you both. Do you let it take a bite out of you first, and let the boy be a desert? Or…” His expression grows sinisterly. “Do you let it take the boy first as a mercy kill?”

Stephanie sobs, tears rolling down her pale cheeks. “N-No… No…”

“I think… that’s what you think is best. Let the boy’s suffering end quickly.”

“N-No…” She shakes her head before grabbing the sides of it. “I… I…” She sobs again. “W-Will…”

|| STEPHANIE! || 

He calls out again, but it’s barely audible, and the music is starting to sound distant again.

“I… I don’t know… I don’t know…” Stephanie said, brain feeling like it was going to melt with everything going on. 

“Come.” Her father beckons. “Let it all go.” He opens his arms out wide, like he is asking for a hug as the abyss grows back around them, blocking some of the light. “You can rest, my dear daughter.”

Then the room sprinkled with a little red, and the sound of an old grandfather clock chimed around in an echo. The sound… seemed scary, but strangely welcoming. It was telling her to find it, and she almost wanted to.

“Let all go, Child.” He urges, his voice now echoing as well. “You know you want to.”

She wants to, she really wants to. But something was keeping her from doing that, something inside was telling her to stay away. 

“But–” She managed to say before ‘Separate Ways’ was turned up to max volume. She screams, her head pounding as the room gets brighter again, along with Will’s voice.

|| WAKE UP! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP! || 

“Will…” She says, looking at the opening before her head was magically moved back in her father’s direction. 

“But don’t you want to leave it all behind?!” He screams. “The bad memories? The times you were called a freak? The times you were forgotten or ignored? Unloved? The times that people told you you weren’t good enough for him?”

That was another piercing to her aching heart. “B-But, Steve’s just–” 

|| STEPHANIE! WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?! WAKE UP! || 

Will. She needed to get back to Will. She didn’t need all this crap to be happening!

She tries to stand her ground as firmly as she can. “What is going on?”

Of course, he ignores her question and presses on harder. “Don’t you want to be free?! Give in! Forget all the bad times you’ve had! Give in!” 

“But–”

And then she feels like she lost the opportunity to get the upper hand.

She gasps harshly as she feels something wrap around her throat, squeezing it tight. She feels her body freeze, and something grabbing onto her limbs to hold her place. Her father, or whoever he is now, looked even more deranged as he gave her look like he was trying to shatter her mind. And maybe he was, maybe he really was the one responsible for the tingling feeling inside, the feeling like her whole life force was being drained. She swears she can hear Will screaming her name again, but the hold on her was drowning out most of her senses. 

Her father, the being, grinned even wider as his hand reached out to hover over her face. “Now… Give in, dear child.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“Stephanie!” Will cries out in desperation, giving her another shake. Why isn’t the music working?! It worked for me!

This can’t be happening. This can’t be how he loses Stephanie. What was he supposed to do if she ended up dead? And what would he tell her family? Tell his family? How will they even believe him?

“Stephanie, come on! Wake up! Please!” He felt his own set of tears start rolling down his delegate cheeks. “I don’t want to lose you!”

I don’t want to lose her. I don’t want to lose her. I don’t want to lo– His pleas were cut off when her body slipped away from his hands. In something he’s only seen in horror films, he watches the teenager start floating into the air. 

Way, way, way up into the air.

He couldn’t even jump up to touch her, grab her to pull her down as she was descending up into the night sky, limbs jittering like they were trying to spring free.

Will didn’t know what else to do but scream her name.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Lucas wakes up in a flash, his friends sighing with relief, and the teenager silently thanking the universe he was alright (He wasn’t sure how they were going to explain this to anyone if he didn’t wake up soon).

“Lucas.” Mike says, happily. “Lucas, you okay?”

“Lucas…” Dustin begins, watching him slowly prop himself up, mind wandering. “Lucas, how many fingers am I holding up?” He holds up three. “Lucas, how many fingers?”

“Hey…” Steve begins, reaching out. “Let me see your head–”

“Get off of me!” Lucas snaps, swatting everyone away.

“Lucas, just let us see–” Mike urges, which results in another slap.

“Get off of me!” He says again, standing up this time, and storming away. 

“Lucas, come on.”

“Let him go.” Dustin replies, stopping him by the arm.

“But what if he–”

“He needs to cool down.”

Steve frowns, still worried that the kid might have a concussion, but what could he do? The kid was irritated, probably still didn’t like him, so more likely he wouldn’t listen (and he wasn’t listening to his friends anyway, so…). 

He sighs, running a hand through his locks, thinking. “This is… insane. That little girl really does have powers.”

“Told you.” Mike said, head hung low in shame.

“Hey, relax. Your friend just needs to–” Steve frowns after counting who was present. “Where is she?”

Dustin and Mike’s eyes begin bolting around in the low light, searching for any signs of her. Them and Steve started shouting her name, concern was evident, and time was the essence. Did she really take off? Did she really feel that guilty about everything she just had to leave? 

“I…” Mike begins, getting mad at himself. “I knew I should have yelled at her like that!”

“Hey, you had every right to do so. She did fling Lucas.” Dustin points out.

“Yeah, but we need her! We need her to find that gate for us.”

“Yeah, but it sounds like she was never going to.”

Mike frowns, that sentence punching him right in the gut. Maybe Lucas was right. Maybe he really was being played for a fool this whole time. “Even if she wasn’t, we still got to find her.”

“We can try, but it’s getting dark.” Dustin says, gesturing to the fading sun. “We don’t even have flashlights.”

“Well, then we’ll go back to our houses to get some.”

“Mike–”

“We have to!”

“Mike, our parents are not going to let us out. Especially if Lucas tells his parents he got hurt hanging out with us today.”

“But–”

“Hey, listen to Henderson, alright?” Steve cuts in, his mind made up about something.

“But, we have to go look for her, Steve!” Mike pushes.

“I get that, but your parents are going to expect you home. And they probably are going to bug me on why we were out so late. So you’re going home.”

“But El–”

“I will look for her.”

Mike blinks. “What?”

“I will look for her, okay?” Steve repeats. “I will go back to my house to change and grab some supplies, and then I’ll come right back here and search around.”

Dustin looks surprised. “You’re actually willing to do that?”

“Yeah. I am.” He nods. “I’ll do my best to try to find her, and if I do, maybe I can convince her to actually help us. Or get her to at least explain why finding this isn’t safe.” He looks between them while finishing with, “But you two need to go home. Let’s not worry your parents. Especially you Henderson. Let’s not make your mom worry about another kid.”

Dustin averts his eyes away, feeling a bit ashamed at the thought of hurting his mother like that. He was so hung up on finding this gate that he didn’t wonder how she must be feeling right now. And she thinks she just buried her daughter today. I can only imagine how worried she is.

“So does that sound reasonable to you guys?” Steve asks, interrupting their thoughts.

“Yeah.” Mike says, nodding. “That sounds reasonable.”

“Good.” He looks at them worriedly before waving for them to start walking. “Let’s head back.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

When they arrived they saw her car parked on the side of the road with no one inside. The three of them never got out and slammed their doors that quickly before, as they ran into the woods, flashlights and weapons in hand.

“NANCY!” Jonathan called out, his heart racing what he might find. She had to be okay. He wasn’t sure how he would live with himself if she wasn’t. So he screams out her name again, both his mother and Hopper joining in. 

“Nancy!” Joyce yells, running to look behind every nook and cranny amongst the trees and shrubs. “Nancy!”

“Nancy Wheeler!” Hopper shouts, eyes glue to the ground, looking for any signs of life. 

“Nancy! Where are you?!”

“Nancy!” Jonathan tries again, the guilt in his gut has started to take huge chunks of him now. “Fuck. Fuck…”

“Hey.” His mother says, getting his attention. “Don’t beat yourself up yet. We just started.”

“How can I not, mom?! For all I know is, she’s that thing’s dinner.”

“You don’t know that.” She shakes her head. “You don’t know that.”

“Mom, please, I–”

“Hey!” Hopper says while snapping his fingers. “We might have a problem.” He waited for them to get closer for him to shine his flashlight down by his feet, and there was a trail of blood that stretched further into the woods. “It’s fresh.” He frowns, nervously. “Come on.”

They start following the trail, their breaths caught in their throats. What if this was hers? What if that thing did show up and caught her? Was she still alive? Was she badly hurt? What would the outcome be?

“NANCY!” Jonathan calls out once more, half expecting no reply until–

“Jonathan!”

The three of them paused, startled to hear a girl’s voice. He says her name again, and gets the same reply.

“Shit–” Hopper curses and bolts off, the two of them hot on his tail.

“Nancy!” Jonathan shouts again, the blood path ends right at a tree trunk. But what was at the base of the tree is what made him gag, the sight of something so disgusting with veins oozing out of the bark like it was infected. 

Joyce gasps sharply. “T-That’s it! That was what was on my wall!” 

“And that’s what I saw in the lab.” Hopper replies, crouching down with the rest of them. He brushes away some of the sticky cobwebs, a red hue covering his hand. “What the hell is this th–”

“JONATHAN!!” 

The three of them flinched when they heard her voice again. 

Her voice that was…

Coming out of the tree.

“Nancy!” Jonathan’s eyes widened as slams his fist into the tree, trying to see if he got the bubble to pop. He wasn’t going to lose her like this. Not when she was literally at their fingertips. He tries again, and again, screaming her name.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

Stephanie heard her name again in the far distance, and all she could do was move her crying eyes towards the opening. Even in this… whatever this place was, the light was trying to come in, trying to save her from giving in, but…

It was getting so hard to not give in. 

She felt his fingers start brushing the sides of her face, drowning out her favorite song that was likely the last time she’ll ever hear it. 

So this is it. She thought, depressingly. This is how she dies. Not by the cold, nor the starvation, and nor getting killed by the beast, no. She was going to die by an imagination of her father. She felt some more tears roll down her paralyzed body, and started accepting her fate.

If this is it, then I guess I’ve lived… a pretty decent life. She starts closing her eyes, her soul in this force’s grasp–

|| STEPHANIE! WAKE UP! ||

Will… I’m so sorry. Her heart clenches for him. I failed you… I am so–

|| PLEASE, WAKE UP! I DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOU! ||

She gasps quietly. Will…

|| I DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOU! NOT LIKE THIS! PLEASE! || 

He’s… he’s not mad at me? 

|| WE’RE SUPPOSED TO GET OUT OF THIS TOGETHER! ||

But, I–

|| WE ARE GOING TO GET OUT OF THIS TOGETHER! SO FIGHT IT! ||

Fight it? Can she? Can she get out of this hold?

Her father must have realized she was thinking this and intervened. “You don’t want to fight it. You want to give in. Let it all go.” He says, making her start doubting again.

Maybe… I should.

|| WHATEVER HAS A HOLD ON YOU, YOU NEED TO FIGHT! FIGHT IT! COME BACK TO ME! ||

Another gasp.

Come back to me.

Come back to me.

He wants her to come back to him. He wants her too. He wants her to be with him.

He wants me to be with him. He actually does.

|| REMEMBER WHAT YOU’RE FIGHTING FOR! WE HAVE TO GO HOME! WE HAVE TO GET HOME TO OUR FAMILIES! REMEMBER WHAT WE HAVE WAITING FOR US WHEN WE GET HOME! ||

Remember.

Remember what she has waiting for her. 

Remember.

Remember everything that brings her joy.

.

// Dustin, meet your big sister // Her Mother said, placing the tiny baby in her arms. Stephanie remembers how happy she was to become a big sister. She remembers how much that title meant to her. 

.

.

She remembers the clown costume she wore for one Halloween. The first one she was hanging out with her brother and his friends. They all decided that year to dress as their D&D characters, and how happy they were when their costume were finally done being made – and how much candy they scored from the creativity of it all.

.

.

She remembers her mom teaching her to sew. She ripped a hole in her favorite shirt, and her mother was patient and kind enough to show how to do it the next time it happens.

// Thanks, mom //

// Anytime, sweetheart //

.

.

It rained halfway through the concert, that warm season rain. But the band kept playing, Munson even cracking a joke about it in the middle of their song. Stephanie laughed in excitement, slicking her locks back from her face as her and the crowd cheered them on.

// This is amazing // She said, looking at her friend. // Thank you //

// Even with the rain? // Steve asked, smiling fondly.

// Even with the rain // And she smiles back.

.

.

// This is the best gift ever! // The eight year old birthday boy, Dustin, shouts, and holds up a vintage X-Men comic. // Thank you, Phanie! //

He almost knocks her over, hugging her tightly and giving one of his rare kisses to her cheek.

.

.

// Hey… Hey… I wanna… I wanna tell you something // Steve slurs, leaning his upper body against the cafeteria table. The two of them had snuck away from the ‘Snow Ball’ and decided to be a little naughty. He somehow managed to sneak in some alcohol to celebrate them going into the Teen Years. 

Stephanie giggles, a bit of a ditzy drunk. // W-What? Spit it out, S-Stevie //

// Ooookay… // He leans forward more. // Fia… I… I l-love you //

She hums, smiling. // Well, I love you too, Steve. //

// Noooo, no. N-Not like that. // He says, partially laying half his body over the table now to grab her hand. // Like… I love you, love you //

.

.

She remembers the second day of being here in this strange place. And despite how scared she was for her and Will, she honestly enjoyed the boy’s company. He reminded her of so much like Dustin, just a bit quieter, unless you were talking about his favorite things.

Steph shakes her head with a sigh. // Oh, well. I guess I’ll have to prove him wrong when I play //

// So you are going to play with us! // Will said, joyfully, like you just told him Christmas was coming early.

// If that’s how I prove Lucas wrong, then so be it. So how does one newbie play D&D? // She asked, hopefully this will keep him occupied. 

.

.

The last thing she remembers is Steve pressing his lips into hers, proving his point that he loves her more than a friend. 

.

.

Stephanie doesn’t know what possessed her, but she snaps her eyes open and uses her new found strength to push her father away from her. Like she was being held by rope, the invisible hold snapped and she fell to her knees, gasping in air. 

Will. I got to get to Will. She tells herself, as she feels someone looming over her. She takes a look and screams. Whoever replaced the appearance of her father was someone who looked inhumane. Its whole body looked burned and bent, some hair stuck out from the top of its head, and it had an eye that looked like it had been blinded. Its pissed off expression was enough to make her scramble away and break for the opening at the end of the darkness. 

She took only a split second to look back as she felt like she broke through an invisible barrier, the gambling room was gone and replaced with an area that was covered in gross vines and scattered in a crimson color. A storm brewed above her, in its own version of thunder and lightning. The figure stayed in one place, watching her try to run away before deciding to create some obstacles.

Stephanie felt the ground shake beneath her, and watched as what looked like spikes shot up and out of the bloody ground. She shrieked and dodged the best she could, trying to stay more hopeful when she could hear ‘Separate Ways’ again, and Will’s cries for her not to give up. 

I can’t give up! I have to go home! She hears her inner thoughts echoed, along with somebody else’s. As she continues breaking into a sprint, something catches her eye. Alongside her she can see a few silhouettes that seemed to be running at the same pace as her. She blinks and turns to the otherside, seeing the same thing.

‘I can’t give up!’ They all shouted, but she couldn’t pinpoint the voices or who these people were supposed to be.

Is this another trick? Or were these other victims of this place? 

Her thoughts were cut off when something fell from the sky, knocking her over, dousing her red. She wastes not a second of hesitation to push herself back up and run, the silhouettes disappearing from her sight. Now, she has to put all her focus on the opening that was starting to grow smaller and smaller. 

She balls her hands into fists, pushing herself to the limit. She hears her name being screamed, and the room rattling more. And as she gets closer and closer to the light, she prays she’d make it through – taking the literal leap of faith, she jumps with all her might into glow…

.

.

.

.

.

.

She screams awake, and begins free falling to the ground. 

“Stephanie!” Will shouts, as the girl went splat across the ground. “Stephanie!”

Steph screams again, shooting up a sitting position as she claws the walkman off her head. She takes in a whole gulp of air that sounds like she’s choking, and panting at the same time. The thought of her almost dying was repeating over and over again on a loop in her mind.

“Stephanie!” He cries out, and tackles her for a hug. “Stephanie…” He squeezes her tight, the reality of it all settling in for the both of them. Tears were rolling down his face as he buried his head into her neck. “Steph… I-I thought I lost you. I r-really, really d-did.”

It took a split second before she broke down crying too, sobbing loudly as she wrapped her arms around him in the same vice grip. The thought of almost leaving him alone in this place scared her so much.

“I’m okay. I’m okay.” She whispers, trying to comfort them both. “I’m okay… You saved me…” She hears him start bawling at her words making her break even more. “You saved me… you really did save me…”

And that was one hundred percent the truth. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve manages to get the kids home, bidding them goodbye and reassuring Mike that he was in fact going out to look for El. He just needs to go home first to change out of his suit and get the appropriate equipment. When he arrived home a little after nine, he noticed all the lights were off, and felt a bit of relief.

Good. I can get in and out. But his hopes were just burned at the stake, ‘cause as soon as he opens the door, the living room light turns on. He freezes and winces when he knows who it is.

“You went to her funeral?” His mother said, arms crossed as she was sitting in a chair. 

Jesus Christ, of course… He keeps a straight face to look at her. “My girlfriend asked me to come to Will Byers’ funeral. He was the best friend of her brother. The only reason I went to Stephanie’s is because it was a joint funeral.”

“Joint funeral?” Jessica asks, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. 

“Yeah.” He nods. “The families are close, and they both died together so…”

She hums, standing up, walking over to get right in his face. “You’re not lying to me, are you, Steven?”

“No, Mom. Why would I lie to you?”

“‘Cause you have before.”

“Well not this time. I went there to support Nancy and family through this hard time.”

She hums again, buying his lie this time. “Okay. Just checking.” Then she sighs. “It’s a shame though, the Wheelers are close to those Byers. Not exactly a classy family.” 

Steve felt his blood boil a bit, and had to hold his tongue. He should have foreseen her saying something like this. 

“But…” She continues. “You are dating a Wheeler, so I can let that slide.”

Oh, he really wants to say something to her now, but he doesn’t want to start a war. At least not yet. “Where’s dad?”

“Sleeping. Long day at the office for him.” 

“Sounds like it.” Steve shifts his stance. “Uh, listen, I’m going to uh, hit the hay myself.” He starts making his way towards the stairs. “Night, mom.”

“You going to shower first?” Jessica asks, stopping him again.

He quietly sighs, no point in pushing back. “Yeah, mom, I’ll shower first.”

“Good.” She smiles, and squeezes his shoulder as she passes by. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

He lets her go up the stairs first and up to her room before doing the same. Their interaction wasn’t as bad as he thought it was going to be, probably because he didn’t push back on her like he sometimes did. Steve snags some comfortable clothes in his room while stepping inside the bathroom, turning the shower on. Knowing his mother, she was probably staying up and waiting to see if he actually listened to her “suggestion”. 

Sicko. He thought, shedding off his funeral wear to change into the extras. He cleans his face off, thinking of his plan. El could have gone anywhere, and he wasn’t sure what a one man show like him can do about it. But he’s made a promise to the boys, one that he has to keep.

And for my sake, I have to find her. I need to know if she’s okay. 

He has to.

He needs to.

.

.

.

She might be the key to finding Stephanie.

(TBC)

-A/N: Fin! Thanks for sticking for the two parts :) -

~

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[nerdieforpedro]

Yes ma'am I am your new neighbor

Chapter One of "This is the Neighborhood Din"

Din Djarin modern AU x Sierra Harris (plus size OFC)

This fic is for readers over 18+ MDNI

Word Count: about 2.2k

Summary: Din Djarin is moving into his new home with his young son Grogu. His next door neighbor decides to introduce herself.

Warnings: Din and Grogu being adorable father and son, nosy neighbor (she's nice though), Oogling (two separate occasions but who wouldn't?!), chill vibes

Notes: This idea of Din being a single father who moves into next door has stuck with me since last year. It was only a month ago maybe that I finally started writing it because I've had a block on other projects. So here were are! Please mind warnings at the start of each chapter. Thanks to @alltheglitterandtheroar and @megamindsecretlair for hearing me talking about this idea for a week straight while I wrote out the first part. ❤️ Divider is by @saradika-graphics

Main Masterlist/ Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) Masterlist / This is the neighborhood Din Series

Moving day wasn’t that bad, it actually went well as Din surprisingly had a few of his coworkers show up to assist with moving furniture and boxes into the three-bedroom house he bought for him and his son Grogu. A new job in the suburbs wasn’t in his plans at all. Nothing really was except his job as a mechanical engineer. It was a cool spring morning and he found himself removing his black hoodie and tossing it over the side of the railing on the front of his home’s porch. Sweat coated the dark blue t-shirt he had underneath with a small cinnamon hand tugging on the back pocket of his gray sweatpants. The soft cotton of his shirt stuck to his back as he turned around to see his son peering up at him.

“Daddy, when are you gonna be done? I wanna play in the yard with you.” Little Grogu asked, poking his bottom lip out with chocolate eyes that matched his fathers perfectly. Din sighed and took his large palm to pat his son’s head.

“Not yet. I at least have to get all our things inside before we play, okay? Why don’t you take in a few of the boxes, and I’ll finish faster.” He suggested, to which Grogu gave a moment of thought and nodded, skipping to the U-Haul truck where two of his coworkers were taking out more boxes. They handed him the smaller and lighter boxes and the group kept unloading the truck.

Johnnie Mae Harris had been expecting her niece Sierra since the morning. “Lord that child is always late, be late to her own funeral.” She was sitting on her couch, with a sleeping four-year-old boy tucked under her arm. She heard some commotion outside and carefully rose from her seat, trying not to wake him. She peeped out of her kitchen window into the house next door. It looked like someone was moving in, there were four men moving boxes and a child carrying small ones. Maybe she would make someone to welcome them later after she figured out who exactly was moving in.

“Ms. Harris, whatcha lookin’ at?” A small voice asked, rubbing his eyes. He didn’t feel her warmth next to him and woke up. He didn’t see his mother or father outside the window so he was curious what else she could be looking for. He then spotted someone who might be his age, the only other kid was his baby sister and she’s two, she’s no fun at all.

“New people on the block Quinton. Not sure which ones though, could be all of ‘em.” It looks to Ms. Harris like the men had moved in all the boxes and furniture. One of them was leaving and three stayed, likely to place the furniture in the house. It was about lunch time, so she made sandwiches for herself and small Quinton. His sister Delia wasn’t awake from her nap yet, so she had a separate sandwich for her in the fridge. Johnnie Mae figured she could go say hello and figure out who was exactly in the house. It used to be her friend Mabel, but after her second stroke, she moved out of state with her daughter and son-in-law because she couldn’t care for herself anymore. Ms. Harris picked up Delia and put on her slip-on sneakers as she was already wearing a royal blue velvet sweatsuit that had capri pants. She did make sure she put on her black bob wig that covered her thinning gray hair. Not dying it helped her hair to stop thinning, but it still wasn’t growing back in as it did say twenty years ago. Now in her early seventies, Ms. Harris felt it was cheaper to have a few wigs than to sign up for all those supplements. Once she put jackets on both children, they made their way outside to see about these newcomers to the neighborhood.

Din was satisfied with where most of the furniture was placed or put together, dishes and silverware were taken out and put away. He wasn’t sure which box had the pots and pans he’d need for dinner tonight. “Dank Farrik…I feel like I set them near the kitchen area but now I can’t find them.” He scratched the back of his head, his soft taupe curls ruffling between his fingers as he surveyed the boxes again. He pauses, not hearing his son’s voice asking him what they’re having for lunch, that boy is always hungry… Din turns and makes his way to the front door, opening the screen door since either his son or his helpers left the main door open. “These guys…” He sighs, he appreciated the help, but he preferred things to be neat and orderly, basically non-existent with a five-year-old and doubly so from the workstations of these two. Tilting his head, he saw an older woman in a blue velvet sweatsuit holding a little girl and talking to his two friends. Grogu was playing with a boy who looked about his age. Maybe they lived here in the neighborhood?

“Why welcome new neighbor! Aren’t you a tall drink of water? I’m Johnnie Mae Harris, I live right next door.” Din watched as her red manicured nail pointed to the dark gray house that had stark white windows. He nodded and reached out his hand with a smile.

“Thank you for the welcome ma’am. I’m Din Dajrin. That is my son, Grogu.” A chuckle left his lips to see Grogo excitedly playing with someone already. Her grip was firm and she released his hand before adjusting the sleepy child in her arms.

“Did ya’ll boys have anything to eat for lunch? I just made the children here sandwiches. I can fix ya’ll somethin’.” Ms. Harris offered, Din was about to decline, but Grogu interrupted.

“Daddy! Quinton said that Ms. Harris has ham, cheese, and spicy mustard. I love the spicy mustard!”

Din was going to apologize but Ms. Harris stopped him and told Grogu to come on over to her house for lunch. The single father’s two coworkers checked in with him before leaving, making sure he didn’t at least need any more help with the furniture which he said he didn’t. Din followed his new neighbor and his son into her home. It was cozy, she had various knick knacks and black ballerinas and some soccer players which Grogu pointed to, and Din made sure he didn’t touch. He didn’t need to be breaking anything in her home. The sandwiches were welcome, and he hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he ate two of the sandwiches and was looking for a third after downing two glasses of lemonade. Ms. Harris made small talking, asking about Grogo and what led Din to buy a house in the neighborhood. He told her that the schools were good in the area and thankfully it was closer to work and not further away, though he would have made the drive for his son. She wanted to ask about his mother and the very clear absence of both a wedding ring and a tan from one. It could easily mean he didn’t wear one, she knew some people didn’t or he be in one of those open marriages she’d heard about. Ms. Harris decided she could find that out later. She did offer to watch Grogu when Din offered to buy her more sandwich supplies after him and his son apparently had eaten most of hers. She agreed and wished that her niece was here. Once Din departed, she went back outside and watched the three kids play in the yard, Delia was awake now and saw someone new.

“I swear, if she doesn’t meet this man, I’ll have to make up some reason to do a second welcome to the neighborhood. Maybe he’s separated or something.” The caretaker mused, rolling her eyes at her niece’s continued absence.

Din returned with groceries for both Ms. Harris and himself. He assisted her in putting hers away first before taking care of his and thankfully finding the dishes, pots, pans, glasses and silverware in his black Subaru ascent. Having a few moments to himself were excellent. He could put more items away than if he had to worry about what Grogu might have gotten into. Most of the boxes in the kitchen and dining room he was able to clear out as well as in Grogu’s room and a few in his room. Before he realized, it was a few hours, and it was well into the afternoon. “Damn, I should go get him. I just hope he hasn’t broken anything; I know he likes to touch stuff. There’s a time and place, little one.”

Thankfully, Din didn’t have anything to worry about. Grogu was rolling in the grass with Quinton and Delia, the three of the giggling about some pirate king. Din walked up the stairs and took a seat in a rocking chair next to Ms. Harris. “Thank you for watching him, ma’am. He can be rather active, but he’s a good kid.” 

Johnnie Mae gave Din a sour face and pursed her lips. “Now Din, don’t call me ‘ma’am’. I know I’m old already. Just call me Ms. Harris. I appreciate that you’re polite though. You married hun?” She asked all in the same breath. Din blinked and she grinned, “I’m just curious. Don’t worry, I’m not one of those jaguars. I at least prefer men in their fifties. They’ve seen some things and might have some retirement money you know.” Her laugh was loud, and Din took a sigh of relief, at least she had a sense of humor. He pulled at the v-neck of his dark blue shirt to fan himself a bit. Given the time, the sun had warmed the air. The kids had long come out of their jacket and even Johnnie Mae took off the jacket of her sweatsuit to expose her black undershirt that said, ‘world’s best grandma.’ His shirt was sticking to him again, he normally did run hot and hated the warm spring days and summers. “You can take it off son. I’m going to go get you some water, you ain’t got nothing I haven’t seen before.” As she opened her screen door and walked inside, Din could have sworn she said under her breath, “Looks a helluva lot better than what I normally see though.” This earns a wide smile from Din as he removes his dark blue shirt and drapes it across the arm of the rocking chair. He turns the chair diagonally to face where the children are playing to see his son running around with the other two kids.

It’s then that a blue Nissan versa pulls into Ms. Harris’ driveway. She comes back out with Din’s ice water and hands it to him, nodding as she does. “Thank you, Ms. Harris.” He says before drinking it and she stands at the top of the steps, momentarily wondering what would happen if she was thirty years younger….

A stout woman exits the car and looks up at Ms. Harris, then her eyes widen at the sight of an unknown man who’s returning her gaze from the corner of his eyes. His dark damp curls are stuck to the back of his neck, beautiful bronze skin with a light glisten of sweat coated his body. On his left arm, were three black lines with triangles drawn from each line on his forearm and before he stood up, his back had the skull of some animal with tusks but three blood red lines going through the skull. Rising from the chair to turn and face the new arrival, she was able to see that he had a thin beard, patchy but it suited him as well as a prominent nose and an angled slope to it. He was tall, broad and solid. His biceps and chest were well defined, but he had a soft middle for balance which didn’t hang over the gray sweatpants he was wearing. On the lower right of his abdomen was a helmet she could make out. He adjusted his glasses and put on the navy-blue shirt that had been on the arm of the rocking chair out of view when she pulled up.

“Dear Lord in heaven I am not dressed or prepared to talk to that sort of man any day.” She muttered as Ms. Harris made her way down the stairs toward her, she hugged her, and her arms wrapped around her as well, eyes still lingering on the man sitting on the porch. His sweatpants did not leave much to the imagination. They weren’t tight by any means; one could just trace the lines. Thick thighs and well… heavy in the middle is the most polite way to say it. The only way she can think to describe it while hugging her aunt.

“Hey Auntie Mae, thank you so much for letting me come up here.” The two women hugged for longer still on the verge of tears. In thanking her aunt, Sierra remembered why she was grateful her aunt opened her home.

Chapter Two

Peeps who may also need to think of a polite way to say things while hugging a family member and oogling Din 👀: @readingiskeepingmegoing @604to647 @syd-djarin @yorksgirl @harriedandharassed @survivingandenduring @pedroshotwifey @drawingdroid @katw474 @trulybetty @bitchwitch1981 @soft-girl-musings @syd-djarin @tinytinymenace @djarinmuse

[callsign-rogueone]

Hey my love, welcome to another rant of a chaotic mind. 😵‍💫❤️

Hear me out. Bren and duchess dancing. That's it. Whether it's at an event, say maybe there's this event at riorson house and there's music playing ( like classical idk ) he's dancing with her. Wedding ofc too. Say duchess is playing her millennial music and she's just idk vibing/dancing to it while holding Brens hand, he's going to give in to his wifey! He's has to right? He's a simp for her. He's gonna twirl her and hold her hand or waist/ lower back. And when she's just vibing to her music he lets her do what she wants. It's just a thought that has been stuck in my head for 2 days.

Also what do u think is bren and duchess song? I love the song love story from indila for them. But what do u think lovely? ♡

love all of the rants, especially about my most favorite couple 🧡

Duchess, being nobility, was definitely taught to do ballroom dancing and all that fancy stuff as a child. so she totally could (and has before) lead Brennan around in a lazy waltz in an empty ballroom in Riorson house or her parents' house, just the two of them swaying and Brennan humming a tune for them to dance to... keeping one hand on her back like you said, maybe he twirls her and pulls her in for a kiss, or dips her to make her laugh and hold on to him tighter... lots of potential there.

which is good practice for rare formal events where it's expected of them. and their wedding, of course. their first dance is just them swaying around and him holding her close and trying not to cry lol. Bren is absolutely going to cry at their wedding because he loves her so much and cannot believe it's happening + all the emotions of his fam not being there + the "official" start of his second life... yeah. I got a request for their proposal / wedding / honeymoon which I'm working on and it's going to be several emotions, fluff, spice, and a few tears lol

and you know he cannot say no to her. if she wants to dance with him, he's getting up out of his chair and following along, even though he's not the best at it / shy -- he just loves seeing her happy, loves holding her and seeing how graceful she is. he'll also stand silently and just watch her dance if she doesn't know he's there, and scare her a little bit every time when she twirls around and realizes he's there and gets all shy and embarrassed. but he just gives her a kiss and says it was cute / reminds her how much he loves seeing her like that.

also, if they're at a fancy party or something her parents are hosting, Brennan is by her side all night. no other man is going to dance with her since Brennan is glaring at any man who gets too close or looks at her the wrong way, especially if most people there don't know she's married to him. possessive baby, hehe.

only Brennan gets to hold you like that. the exception was Liam and Xaden and her dad each dancing with her at her wedding, which is traditional, and he knows that's her family. but nobody else! especially not Drake Cordella.

I do not understand any french at all but that song is really pretty! here's some of the songs that are on my playlist for them (I have playlists for most of the couples that shall remain secret, hehe)

across the stars (love theme from star wars): I like using this one when I'm writing for multiple couples, including them <3

I also like a lot of dramatic Lana Del Rey for them... young and beautiful (especially the orchestra version!!), born to die... dark paradise...

war of hearts by ruelle was on repeat when I was writing the chess game, for the dramatic ambiance. I'm listening it to it again now, going through my playlist for them and I can feel the panic I was trying to convey in duchess when the venin shows up... the lyrics don't really match their story but the vibe does!

for more thematic, obvious reasons, work song by hozier... "no grave can hold by body down, I'll crawl home to her"... generally anything about defying death for love. Brennan is just very Hozier coded in the depth of his love for his partner and his devotion to her,,, yeah. expect an essay about that later lol.

also, would that I by hozier... this one has references to fire, and to the beauty of her hair, and we all know how Bren feels about her hair.

til forever falls apart by ashe. I have a one-shot planned for this song but not for them, though I think it still applies -- they're endgame, until death and beyond.

I'm thinking about doing a little "disney love songs" type thing with little fics for a handful of the gfs / wives, and theirs would be kiss the girl from the little mermaid, with Ban and Marbh meddling and encouraging them to just kiss already!! since I still haven't given you how exactly they got together...

another song I have saved for a future chapter of theirs is are you with me by nilu. that will be the title for their next full chapter toward the end of iron flame / battle of basgiath... there's gonna be some angst there for sure, but "happy ending" (or as happy as the end of iron flame can be... both of them survive and the argument they have is resolved.)

[the-hinky-panda]

June Bug Series: Chapter 1

Title: June Bug

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Goodie Carangi x OFC!Reader (June)

Summary: You're a business owner that's trying to fly under the radar in Tulsa but that's going to be extremely difficult when you fall for Goodie.

You’re stuck in a rut. A boring, dull, exasperating rut. It’s your third time in the same week coming out to the barn to spend time grooming your ten year old mare, Ruby. It was something you did whenever you needed to get out from behind your desk, out of the four walls of your home. You’re usually not this frequent a visitor to Fennario Ranch and your presence has finally piqued your friend’s interest. 

“If you keep showing up to groom that horse, you’re going to brush her until she’s bald.” 

You stop mid stroke and run a hand over the horse’s coat. “That can happen?” 

Margaret chuckles. “God, no. It was a joke.” 

“Oh.” You go back to brushing Ruby’s flank. “That wasn’t funny.” 

“It was a little funny.” Margaret sits on a tack trunk. “I’m not used to seeing you out here so much in one week. You’re getting dangerously close to running into Cal at some point.” 

“I’m not too worried. Your staff always gives me a heads up when he pulls in.” 

“So you can go hide?” 

“So I can avoid confrontation.” 

“Considering how often you’ve been here this week, maybe some confrontation would be good for you.” 

You flash her a grin over Ruby’s withers. “You just want me to run him off because he’s bugging you now. Wait, aren’t you seeing someone? That guy from New York?” 

Margaret gives you a side eye. “Define ‘seeing.’” 

“Call it whatever you want. He can do your dirty work for you. In fact, I wouldn’t mind seeing Cal have his ass handed to him by some mobster from New York City.” 

“Then maybe you should make friends with him.” 

“What? And have him find out about our little business venture? If he’s really affiliated with the mob then we’ll have to pay a kick-up to him. I already brokered a zero kick-up fee to Kansas City. I don’t want to have to sweet talk my way out of another situation like that.” 

“Alright,” Margaret sips her coffee. “Don’t make friends with him but he does have a guy that works the casino floor that’s from New York as well. He’s your type too.” 

“My type,” you scoff. “And what exactly is that?” 

“Clean cut, good shape, dresses impeccably. He seems personable.” 

Okay, that is your type but you’re going to be damned to let Margaret know she hit the nail on the head. “Sounds boring.” 

Margaret sighs in exasperation. “God, June, come on. You need to get out and have some fun. Loosen the fuck up for a change.” 

You drop the brush back into the tack box and pick up a carrot, snapping it in half before giving it to Ruby. “I’ve been researching through the latest group of men and-” 

Margaret interrupts. “No. No work. Go by yourself. Do something wild and pick someone up.” 

“Oh yeah, a one night stand will solve everything.” 

“Maybe not everything but it’ll take the edge off. You know, let him do all the work for a change.” 

You nod in resignation at your friend and business partner. “Alright. Fine. What’s this guy’s name?” 

Margaret smiles at you. “Ask him yourself.” 

And that is how you end up spending the entire evening at the newly opened Bred 2 Buck Casino and Cabaret. The name kept popping up in your research as an upcoming hot spot in Tulsa and it was also the only place you were guaranteed to not run into your ex-husband. So you pulled out one of your many little black dresses, slipped into a pair of Christian Louboutin pumps and headed to Tulsa’s newest casino.

Some people go to museums to analyze the art, you go to establishments such as this to analyze the patrons. And there were a wide range from out of state high rollers playing black jack and craps to locals who would play $20 on the slots and then go listen to the live music while they sip on mid-shelf whiskey. After making a couple passes through the casino floor and losing fifty bucks on a slot machine just to fit in with the locals, you settle near the end of the bar where you can still hear the house band but the bass doesn’t rattle your martini glass. You’re content to sit in peace but a whiff of expensive cologne alerts you to someone taking the seat next to yours. 

Here we go. 

***

Goodie noticed you the moment you stepped onto the casino floor. You’re dressed in an elegantly cut black dress and expensive heels, your hair is in a sweeping updo with small white flowers tucked into the dark waves. You move around the floor in measured, graceful steps. When you pass behind him at one of the craps tables, he catches the scent of jasmine and cedarwood. Your eyes meet his briefly as you move past the table and he realizes that noticed isn’t a strong enough word. 

Colpo di fulmine. The thunderbolt. 

Fifty-five years old and it happens precisely as his mother predicted it would. No warning, no prelude, nothing. He’s already taken half a step away from the craps table he’s been monitoring to follow you before he comes to his senses. He keeps one eye on the table and one on you as you drift between the gaming tables. You take a seat at one of the slot machines and it strikes him as odd. You don’t seem to be a slots gambler, not with your sense of high style and grace. 

By the time the wannabe oil baron craps out and the pit boss starts to reset the table, you’ve left the casino floor and his heart sinks. He takes a shot and scans the bar and cabaret area and sees you sitting at the bar. The relief he feels is ridiculous but then the nerves return as he approaches you. He can see the small frown, the subtle downturn of your mouth, as he takes the seat at the very end of the bar and the bartender slides him a vodka and lime. 

“You don’t strike me as a slot player.” 

Your eyes scan his face and the frown straightens. “And what kind of player do I strike you as?” 

God, you’re stunning. And that is the proper word because he’s struggling to find his words, his breath. He is properly stunned. But words are his speciality. “Poker.” 

“Poker? Really?” You raise a finely arched eyebrow. “How’s that?” 

“You look like a woman who likes the challenge of reading a room, reading a person.” 

“And you figured this out just by sitting down next to me at the bar?” 

“No, I figured it out by watching you scope out the casino floor. All the craps games were too hot at the moment for you to jump in. Blackjack’s too simple to engage you. Roulette, same. But for the life of me, I can’t figure out why in the world you played the slot machine.” 

“Looks like I’m not the only one who enjoys watching people.” You finally give him a smile and his heart nearly stops. “As for the slot machine, what can I say? I was in the mood for something different tonight. New experience, so to speak.” 

“I get that,” he laughs. “If you can’t tell, I’m not exactly from around here.” 

“No kidding.” There’s a mischievous glint to your eye. “Let me guess, Jersey?” 

He puts a hand to his heart. “Ouch. You wound me.” 

That earns him a soft laugh from you as you pick up the speared olives from your martini. “My apologies. I may have never been to the east coast but a New York accent is very hard to mistake, especially here in Tulsa. But there seems to be an odd influx of youse guys.” 

“That’s not too bad,” he teases. “For someone who’s never been, you’d blend right in.” 

“Well, what can I say,” you look him directly in the eyes, “I like mafia movies.” 

He understands exactly what you’re implying but he’s not sure how to take it. Is this simple flirting? Digging for information? Were you sent by someone? No, it was exceedingly rare that women were sent to deal with family business. But with Chickie’s unstableness recently, he wouldn’t put anything past him. He chooses to proceed as if this were a regular conversation and see where it leads. “Oh yeah. What’s your favorite?” 

“I was an avid Sopranos fan. Never missed an episode.” 

Goodie scoffs. “Sopranos was shit.” 

You actually laugh. “You don't like it because it took place in Jersey.” 

“There was that.” He can feel his phone buzz in his pocket and he knows he has to get back to the casino floor. You notice the dull sound and motion to his suit jacket pocket. 

“It sounds like duty calls and I don’t know your name.” 

He takes out a business card and writes his name and number on the back of it. “To be fair, I don’t know yours either.” 

You take the offered card and narrow your eyes. “Goodie?” 

“It’s a nickname,” he shrugs. “My real name’s Dennis but no one calls me that.” 

That answer satisfies you enough that you return the information. June. Simple, elegant. It fits you. He puts your drink on his tab and heads back to the casino floor. Someone hit big at the blackjack table and needed to cash out their eight thousand dollar winnings. It was a young guy partying with his groomsmen before getting married the next morning. By the time he had handed over the money and saw the very happy groom-to-be out the door, you had already left the premises. Just as he was wondering if you would ever use his number, his phone buzzes again. Pulling it out and wondering what the issue is now, he sees it’s from you. 

The next free night you have, let’s do dinner.  -June

***

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[capypub]

Taking the High Road - Mafia!Joel Miller Extended Scene

Part of my Without Warning Extended Scenes Series (Mafia!Joel Miller x OFC)

Rating: T (language, hints to smut but no actual smut)

Summary: Joel doesn't like seeing his girl upset when she overhears some negative comments about their relationship. He chooses not to kill them, but still makes them pay for their insolence.

MDNI. 18+ content.

AN: Thank you so much to @diversemediums for so many amazing ideas and prompts ❤️❤️❤️

Without Warning Masterlist

“Pity Joel is stuck babysitting tonight…”

“That’s his date?! She’s like fourteen!”

“He must get so bored listening to her talk about homework and prom all the time…”

“She looks like she doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing in bed. He’s probably only in it because she’s a tight hole to fuck.”

They laughed.

Uncomfortable. Discouraged and uncomfortable were two of the first words that came to mind after she’d left the bathroom, her heels clicking hastily down the hall back to the main room.

She’d gone with Joel to some sort of networking event. Apparently his contracting company had constructed the building they were holding the event at tonight. 

“What’s wrong?” Joel asked once she’d returned to his side, immediately noticing the change in her demeanor.

“N-nothing…I’m gonna head home,” she said, unable to look at him.

He didn’t even excuse himself from the group of wealthy-looking business men. Rather, he gave a hard look with a slight tilt of his head and they dispersed quickly. He pulled her away from the crowd to a corner near the entrance. “What’s wrong, baby girl?” he asked, the weight of his rough hands on her shoulders a comforting distraction from the shame tinting her whole body pink. 

She couldn’t cry here, not when the same women who talked so crudely about her were lingering at the bar nearby, stealing glances and smirking triumphantly. She was just proving them right and she hated it.

“I need to go home, Joel,” Indi snapped, her voice quivering. 

His brow arched. He’d tracked her gaze across the room to the group of wives lingering at one end. Scowling now, he suspected something had happened when you had gone to the bathroom.

“What happened?” he demanded, ignoring her request. “They say somethin’ to you?” he questioned, leaning down closer to their face.

“N-no, I just…” she sighed, looking up at the ceiling, willing her tears to remain behind her eyes. 

They were still fairly new in their relationship, nothing official having been stated, but the implications were there. Joel made it very clear that he was committed to her with his actions, his demonstrations of affection. The words hadn’t been necessary. 

Looking around, she realized just how out of place she felt. All these people were at least thirty or older, established, successful, they could probably explain to her what a 401(k) actually is and how to use it. 

“Hey, look at me. What’d they say to you?” Joel demanded, his tone rough as he brought her focus back to him.

She shook her head, her anxious little brain now worried that she was upsetting him or that she might embarrass him when such a thought hadn’t crossed her mind even when he asked her to be his date.

“Sweetheart,” Joel sighed, softening his tone just a bit. “Let’s step outside, I need some air,” he decided, wrapping an arm around her and guiding the both of them out the front of the building, away from the curious eyes. 

Once they were both standing out in the warm summer night air, she took a deep breath, her hands slightly trembling as she watched Joel pace in front of her. She saw how his hand would go to touch his gun, but then he’d stop himself and ball that same hand into a fist, continuing to walk in tense circles. 

“Joel…Joel, stop that, please,” she sighed, tired of seeing him go round and round.

“Tell me what they said to you,I know how those stuck-up housewives can get, baby, so just say it,” he insisted, finally stopping to stand in front of her, placing both palms flat against the wall she leaned on, trapping her between his large arms. 

Her lower lip trembled. She couldn’t look at him as she told him, eyes cast down to his dress boots, black and shiny under the street light. 

“I’ll fuckin’ end them,” Joel all but growled to himself, his own head bowed as he closed his eyes, attempting to contain his rage.

“Stop that, you can’t solve everything with violence. It doesn’t matter anyway,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, still looking at the ground. 

“Hey…hey!” he snapped after lifting his head, grabbing her chin with his thumb and forefinger, forcing her gaze to meet his own heated one. “You don’t believe a fuckin’ thing they say, sugar, you hear me?”

“Joel, lower your voice,” she sighed, shaking her head.

“Nothing, not a single fuckin’ word of what they said is even remotely true. You and I got somethin’ they wished they could have, yeah?”

“...yeah.”

He sighed. “I’m gonna make you believe it, baby, I know you don’t right now, but you will,” he said, pulling her into his chest, his arms like steel around her smaller frame as he hugged her. 

Joel took them home quickly after bidding his client a quick goodbye, claiming something at home had come up with his kid. 

Indi was quiet the entire ride, shoulders slouched forward, head bowed, lip trembling. He hated it. He hated seeing her usual bright eyes so dim and discouraged. 

“I want you to know, darlin’, that I rarely think about the age difference,” he said slowly as they drove down the quiet road leading to his house. “You’re so smart and so funny, sweetheart, I will never get bored of talking to you. You make me feel young again, in all the best ways, baby, you have to see that. Tell me you see that…don’t you?” he asked, parking the car, turning the key, leaving them to sit in the stillness of the garage as he gripped both her hands in his.

“I-it’s just,” she sighed, frustrated and self-disparaging. “You have your life together, you have a house and a job, you have an actual savings account and your own car…you have a life established already, Joel…and I’m still trying to figure out mine day-by-day.”

“I don’t have shit without you, Indi,” he stated matter-of-factly, his voice sharp, commanding. “The house, the car, all that could get taken away and I’d get it back, I’d recover, rebuild, whatever. But you…you, darlin’, I can’t ever replace you, replace this feeling that I can get only with you,” he continued, his tone so serious and gruff, suggesting he was frustrated or angry. 

“Thank you, Joel,” she said softly, his words touching her heart, relieving some of the negativity still flooding her mind.

“You let me deal with those bitches, alright? No one talks about you like that. Ever. If some shit like that ever happens again, you tell me, right then and there, understood?” he grunted, getting out of the truck in a haste, going around the front to get her door and pull her inside.

“Okay, Joel,” she murmured, his aggression teetering between comforting and unnerving. 

He sighed, shutting the garage door and pulling his girl into a tight embrace. She closed her eyes as he kissed her forehead, inhaling her scent, exhaling a deep breath along with some of his tension. 

They stood in the dark kitchen for a long while, the silence thick with Joel’s lingering anger and Indi’s lingering self-doubt.

“Do you promise?” she asked softly in his good ear.

“Promise what, sugar?” he murmured, his lips pressing into her temple as he held her.

“Do you promise that…you’re not only with me…because I’m…youn-.”

“Don’t even finish that question,” he cut her off with a low growl, removing his hands to hold her jaw tightly, keeping her teary eyes locked on him. “You know damn well I’m not with you for that, you could be thirty, forty years old, sweetheart, and I’d still be just as wild about you. It’s not the age, baby, it was never the age, okay?” he urged her, brushing his thumbs along her cheekbones. 

She closed her eyes, relief from his words washing over her as a few tears slipped past her lashes. Joel immediately wiped them away with the tips of his thumbs, pressing his forehead to hers as he breathed her in, wanting nothing more than to take all her pain, all her doubt away. 

“Let’s get you showered and in bed, hm? Wash off all that bullshit from tonight,” he suggested, kissing her forehead again before leading her up the stairs. 

He took his time with her in the shower, whispering nothing but sweet praises and encouragement as he brought her to orgasm again and again. She would collapse into bed, satiated, clean, and comfortable, the scarce lingering doubt disappearing with her sense of logic while he fucked her under the shower head.  That night while she slept beside him, Joel sat up on his phone. He had one of his informants look into the guest list at the event tonight, easily identifying who those women were based on security footage from that night sent to his phone. Glancing down at the woman still sleeping beside him, he leaned over and gently kissed her temple, running his fingers down the back of her head. 

“I’ll take care of this, baby, don’t you worry,” he murmured softly, slipping out of bed to go to his office and make a few career ending, social status destroying, marriage ending phone calls. 

Afterwards, when all was said and done and the sun had risen on a new day, Joel took his girl out to breakfast, feeling quite proud of himself for not immediately putting a hit on those women, rather taking the higher road and choosing to engage in social  identity destruction that they’ll never come back from.

[mad-c1oud]

perhaps a “Don’t freak out, please” from the injury prompts list for karaoke duo :3 only if you want ofc

KARAOKEDUO LETS GOOOOO

yes yes yes YES Went a completely different route (This isn't really an injury but uh you'll see) for fun and man, wanted to turn this one into a full oneshot but alas- kept it short for the sake of practice but who knows, this one was fun.

Thank you for the ask anon!!!!!

+++++

“Don’t freak out, please.”

Charlie feels a little hysterical at how calm Baghera is right now with all— this. “Don’t freak out? I’m not freaking out I am so completely and utterly calm right now.”

“Good!” She cheers, “It isn’t a big deal, right? We’ll be okay.” Baghera says happily as she’s actively melting into the ground, limbs turning a translucent yellow as her bones start poking out of what was always solid skin. Charlie whimpers a little at the sight, unable to acknowledge the new appendages at his back or along the side of his face. He can’t even talk about the fact that his bones are firmly in place. What he would give to pull a rib or three out in stress right now.

“Is slime like come. Or the feeling of breast milk? What if it was?”

“Baghera.” Charlie doesn’t even know how to continue that or even begin to reply, “You’re a piss-yellow more than anything. Go that direction, at least.”

The pile of goop bubbles and gurgles happily and holy fuck this is weird, knowing she’s laughing, amused and silly silly silly, but not being about to understand anything else than surface-level emotions. Something bubbles up in his own throat and he has to swallow it, panicked. The pile of lemon jello ripples happily and Charlie desperately needs someone more adult than them here. Phil. Where is Philza Minecraft. He can fix this switch-a-roo they’re stuck in.

“Were you going to chirp? You swallowed like you were going to chirp, Charlie.”

“Stop watching me swallow, you’re weird.”

Baghera sounds too delighted when she talks back, “Not until you chirp. Oh! Maybe you can fly! You are not a duck, but you still have w-“

Charlie groans loudly, “Don’t say it. Don’t.”

The pile of Baghera stays quiet and Charlie worries she lost her voice box in the mess of bones and organs, but he’s not that lucky. The mound bubbles.

“Your wings look like they belong to a little bird, like a hummingbird or a green bee-eater-”

“Baghera Jones what did I just-”

It’s fine. This is all fine. The wings at his back flutter anxiously and the ones at his temple keep trying to block his face like they want to protect him. Charlie wants to throw himself off of cliff to see if he can fly or just to die in general, but he has no idea how avian hybrids work. There’s no time for tests when his best friend is becoming one with the ground, also.

“Okay, enough goofing, it’s bucket time, Jones.”

“Oh, I have never had bucket time, I’m so excited! How many will it take? Can we bring my bones, please?”

Despite the situation they’ve found themselves in, Charlie smiles hard enough for it to hurt. He’s happy Baghera is here with him.

“At least five buckets. And of course, we can bring your bones.”

Her happy chittering doesn’t stop the entire trip it takes to find another islander to help them. And if Charlie lets out a few accidental chirps and trills too, there’s only one other person around to hear, and he’ll never mind that it’s Baghera.

[sunnyie-eve]

9 | Commotion

Series: The Benefits 

Paring: Coriolanus Snow x OFC Plinth!

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: mention of death and mischarge, thoughts of cheating, Coriolanus getting slight physical

| MASTERLIST |

~

Pregnancy could be hard, but when you hate being pregnant, it definitely comes with its own unique set of challenges. And Aurelia was one of those people at the moment. Of course the physical aspects was one of the factors, but dealing with a three year and still grieving over a miscarriage from six years ago was just to add to it.

When she had her miscarriage at 21, she never had time to grieve since she constantly had to act like she was depressed out in public. At home it wasn't much help since she was alone. Coriolanus was out working his way up and when he did come home he was no help really. He didn't know how to confront her but when he tried it was awkward.

"Ma, when bubba coming?" Alton pokes at her belly.

"Anytime soon, baby." She smiles running her hand through his blonde curls. He didn't get a drop of her genes, not even a little bit.

"Ma, when is daddy coming home?" He looks at her with his bright blue beautiful eyes.

"Sadly, I don't know. Daddy is a busy man." She kisses the top of his head as she gets a sharp pain in her belly causing her to groan in pain.

"Mommy?" Alton gets worried.

"Something isn't right." She groans getting up from the couch going to call Tigris, "Ty," She whines in pain.

"Aurelia, what's wrong?" Tigris asks worried.

"I don't know. It might be the baby but I think something is wrong. It hurts." Aurelia explains before shouting out in pain.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming!"

Luckily Tigris wasn't far and got there in no time helping Aurelia to the hospital. While Aurelia was taken back Tigris stayed with Alton and got someone to let Coriolanus know what was going on and that it was an emergency.

Coriolanus knew the horrors of childbirth. He knew the dangers, the risks. So when he got news about what was happening he rushed to be at Aurelia's side, "Where's my wife? Where is Aurelia?" He shouts at nurses who tell him to clam down and has to wait with Tigris at the moment. "What is happening?"

"We don't know yet, Mr. Snow. She came in bleeding and it's bad. They're trying to get the baby out safely." A nurse let shim know what they know.

Coriolanus' stomach turned violently, "What?"

"Mr. Snow, we're trying our best. Please just go wait."

Alton rushes away from Tigers' side over to his father with tears streaming down his face worried about his mommy in pain. Coriolanus picks him up holding him close to his chest rubbing his back, "Mommy is going to be fine." His chest too tight, painfully tight.

Aurelia grunted like an animal, tearing yourself into two, cursing and begging to make it stop, pushing hard as she could. The Doctors didn't know what to do. She was bleeding no stop, the baby was stuck, and if they couldn't figure something out fast they would lose both her and the baby.

"Mr. Snow," The Doctor calls Coriolanus over to him.

"Is everything okay?" He asks in a panic.

"No, your wife is bleeding no stop and we can't fix that till the baby is out, but the baby is stuck. We're sadly down to only two options. That means only one of them can make it. Your wife or your chi-."

Coriolanus cuts him off, "My wife. You go in there and save her right now!" He shouts so the Doctor goes back. Coriolanus couldn't lose her, he wouldn't. He wouldn't survive that loss. He hated the feeling, the helplessness that consumed him as he stood, wide eyed and shaking hands he clenched into fists.

Tigris watched him from where she sat hold little Alton trying to calm his crying down. She knew exactly what was going through his mind. He didn't want to lose Aurelia the same way he lost his mother.

Once they finally got news that they found the bleeding and fixed it giving her more, they were allowed to go back but she needed rest. The doctor said there'd be a lot of that in the coming hours. That she'd gone through trauma and she needed time.

Coriolanus sat in this chair as he watched Aurelia rested. Tigris left to go tell the Plinths what happened and that she was okay and just resting now, and take Alton home to babysit him.

Sitting alone watching Aurelia sleeping he couldn't understand what could have gone wrong this time when Alton's birth went so smoothly. They were happy that everything went perfect with Alton after losing their first baby. Now they lost their third but this time it was different from the first. That was was during her first trimester, they were barley developed but this one was ready to come out into the world.

They had asked Coriolanus if he wanted to see his the body of his dead son but he couldn't bring himself to. What once used to be loved for an unborn child turned to hate. He almost lost the love of his life because of that thing. He never wanted to get Aurelia pregnant ever again. He didn't want to risk what happened to happen ever again to her.

Somewhere in the night,  Aurelia woke. A rustling and a groan that had Coriolanus snapping out of his dazed sleep, head tucked to his shoulder, slumped in the chair beside her bed, "Don't move." Coryo commanded, eyes a kind of bright, frantic wide.

Her throat burned, head dizzy with the medicine they'd pumped into her system. Coriolanus' hands shook as he brought her the water, hand cupping her jaw gently to feed it to her. Aurelia blinked, bleary with confusion. "You're alright, my love." Coriolanus' heart swelled, suffocating in his own chest. She was alright.

"Coryo," She croaked, throat tight, rasping from before. She remembered the birth, most of it anyways, the blurry memory of all the pain, scream, and doctors and nurses running around before your memory failed. "The-The baby... Is he alright?"

Coriolanus' hand soothes down her matted hair, sticky with dried sweat, "They gave me the choice to either save you or the baby. I picked you. I couldn't lose you, love. If I didn't make a choice I would have lost both of you. With no hesitation, no second guesses, I said you. You're the light of my life and I know it's gonna be hard to cope with the loss of our baby, but I don't really know and love him. I can't imagine my life with you gone. And I can't just take Alton's mommy away from him."

Aurelia couldn't believe what happened what when wrong? Why did it all go wrong?

"I know I wasn't or have been the best with helping you, us grieve from the first time. But I promise, I'm not letting you go through this alone this time. I'm a terrible husband. Over working myself to distract myself from the reality of it for the last six years." Coriolanus swallowed the burn of his own tears down in his throat. He took a deep breath, holding her hand carefully into his own, thumb running over her knuckles.

Aurelia squeezed his hand lightly, her strength weaker than normal. It made Coriolanus' spine tingle with shooting chills of concern. "It's okay, thank you." She whispered, head leaning against Coryo's shoulder.

-

Three years later

"Is he in his office?" Aurelia asks entering the building to drop off Coriolanus's coat he left at home and asked her to bring it by later.

"Yes, Mrs. Snow. No little Alton with you today?"

"Nope, just baby Myla since Alton started his first day of school today." Aurelia smiles heading towards Coriolanus's office with their four month year old.

When they found out they were pregnant again they were terrified of something going wrong again like last time. Thankfully she came out easier than Alton. And Aurelia loved how she took after her this time, not get a single gene from Coriolanus this time.

"I brought your coat like you..." Aurelia enters the room to see Livia Cardew sitting up on his desk as they chatted, "Am I interrupting something?"

Livia just giggles seeing the look of Aurelia's face as she waited for an answer, "No, love. Cardew was just telling me about how her father wanted to work on a project with me." He gets up from his chair going over to her.

She tosses his coat at him to stop him from walking closer to her, "Enjoy making your deal." She leaves ignoring him as she walked down the long hall. Just making a deal her ass. Why did Cardew have to sit up on his desk? Why was her hand touching his? 

"Well isn't it Mrs. Snow." Aurelia runs into Clemensia walking on the way home.

"That's me..." Aurelia rolls her eyes.

"Not that great huh?"

"Well he's making a pretty touchy business deal with Livia Cardew at the moment." She explains to her.

"Excuse me? The Livia Cardew he hated in school? He's being touchy with her right now?" 

"She was sitting up on his desk giggling as she had her hand on top of his. He didn't mind it." Aurelia smiles, "I wouldn't be surprised if he changed if mind if it gets him higher."

"He married you, a Plinth. You're family is way more important compared to hers." Clemensia lets her know, "And your baby is adorable by the way."

"Thank you, she's four months. She gets her looks from me while Alton takes after Coriolanus." 

"I know we didn't chat that much in the past but if he keeps making touchy business deals. You're welcome to crash at my place." Clemensia walks off as Aurelia continues home.

Later in the evening when Coriolanus gets home, Aurelia had just  checked on Alton napping in his room while she got Myla's bottle warmed. Normally Aurelia would be welcoming him home asking about his day then tell him stuff about the kids.

"No welcome home?" He hangs his coat up as she ignores him, "I told you it was work stuff."

Aurelia crosses her arms, glaring at her husband as she sat next to their daughter, "I didn't know work stuff included her needing to be sat up on your desk all touchy. Her hand was on top of yours, and your other hand was on her knee!"

"It was nothing, you know I hate her. I was just doing whatever trying to seal the deal to work with her father."

"Would you sleep with her if that's what it took?" She sees him think about it, "Oh my god, Coriolanus! You have to think about that?" 

"Look.. I would never cheat on you." He starts out gently; he tries to calm her down and explain his actions, but as soon as he takes a step towards her, she stands up pointing a finger at him.

"You know what? I'm not surprise nor do I believe you. You kill in order to get higher, so cheated on me would be a walk in the park." She shout at him angrily, pressing an accusatory finger into his chest.

He can no longer control himself after she cross the line. His calm, collected mask falls away to reveal his own rage and irritation. He grabs her arms tightly, making her gasp softly in pain as he shakes her lightly and pins her against the wall. But he controls himself enough to not physically hurt her... at least not more. He just holds her there tightly, taking advantage of her moment of shock to explain his motives.

"Listen to me. I wouldn't do that to you. I was only flirting because I need this project with her father. When I do, it will prove I'm the best of the best. I need him to really like me. And what better way than to butter her up? It was only business nothing else."

Aurelia felt sick hearing his words; I was only flirting. "Flirting is a form of cheatings, Coriolanus Snow. And you only prove that you are as disgusting, cruel, and manipulative as I thought." 

His eyes darken as they have stare off still in the same position with him pinning her to the wall but lets go when they hear Alton come into the room asking what's wrong.

"Noting, sweetheart." Aurelia picks up Myla and walks over to him, "How about we get your bath ready after putting sissy down?" She smiles so he takes off then she turns to face Coriolanus, "You're not working with the Cardew's ever and you will not speak to her again. And, you will never touch me again like that or I'll make sure my family's money is no good to you."

[bisaster-energy]

you can tell me about your idea!!!

thank you so much 😭 it's kinda long sorry

SO i was listening to a song my sister like (Valerie, Amy Winehouse) and there's this line about ginger hair and it was just so specific ig it stuck with me? so im thinking man who do i know with red hair...DUH KUWABARA!!!

nearly every song i listen to gets assigned a character or ship or relationship of some sort idk why but yeah once i fixated on the hair i was able to expand on the rest of the song and a sort of idea settled in the back of my head about kuwameshi

we all know kuwabara is always the one getting left behind but what if while he's off doing his thing yusuke also feels that sense of loss? an absence even though it was his decision to up and leave. it makes no sense cos hey! you felt the need to go back to the demon realm bro but he cannot help how he feels left behind in some illogical sense. i made some notes 😤😤

centers round the time where yusuke goes back to makai after the whole sensui debacle and kuwabara is getting his education studying in prep for college (hell yeah boy !!) not sure if the timelines even match up like that but i literally dont care

i'm working under the canon divergence that keiko really did decide she's not gonna wait for urameshi like that but ofc she's still his bestie and he loves her sooooo much <3

so he's going back. he's a demon now so he feels drawn to the culture. it's a side of himself he's never known after feeling so othered ofc he's interested right?

i mean sure he grew up with other humans but almost everyone hated him/was scared of him ironically he was called a demon or monster or wtv

reactions like that are why he almost decided not to come back to life in the first place!! it wasn't a welcoming atmosphere and even his home didn't feel great cos his mom isn't exactly the mothering type

im all for deadbeat moms but the neglect will fuck a kid up. demon heritage or not

and he loves her and all but it's just all fucked up at home so he ended up wandering around a lot being mad about his shitty life and he likes fighting so that's what he did!

and obviously in makai this behavior isnt like. crazy or uncalled for

but yeah the only connections he's got to ningenkai is his mom, keiko (her parents by extension) and of course kuwabara; the only friends he managed to not scare off

anyway. you get it. so yusuke is back in makai and without his permission his mind keeps wandering to kuwabara who he hasn't seen in let's say. a year and some change? i'll decide later but A While

and like. last time he was in the demon world kuwa was WITH him yknow? like yeah the world was ending but it feels weird without him even if he is having a blast fighting with his new demon buddies and acquaintances

so he's a little distracted when he literally came here to fight he cant even focus on it

"how is college prep treating him? are the teachers there just as bad as middle school? did he make new human friends? a girlfriend?" basically he's spiraling over changes he might be missing out on this very moment

there's a bunch of talk in the song where the singer wonders if valerie dyed her hair if she's busy if she ever paid that fine if she sold her house if she got a man so that's where i got it lol

yusuke doesn't have to worry about kurama and hiei cos hey they're from here and have lived way longer and they actually do visit but who knows what typa shit could be happening to kuwa right now

ofc he can take care of himself he's really strong but yusuke can't help but remember that time he let kuwabara go when he shouldn't have and he almost died because he wasn't there and yeah. he's worried. sue him

so it's half worry half wistfulness and maybe some other secret third thing and when hiei and maybe kurama (depending on how the idea forms as i write) come to visit or maybe they're also participating wtv

he cant help but think well kuwabara could be here with us if he really WANTED to :/ he's got the jigen to down pat by now so...why hasn't he...

and those old but ever remaining insecurities resurface about how people don't wanna be around him they think he's a nuisance at best no good waste of time a trouble maker. keiko already dumped my sorry ass so who knows maybe kuwabara just...wisened up

hiei and kurama are like this bitch is back on his bullshit (affectionate)

they manage to weedle his worries out of him hiei ofc trying to act like he doesnt really care (he cares a lot) "you must not have much faith in kuwabara if you think he'd abandon you just from some time apart. and i thought HE was the oaf between the two of you"

kurama with his fox self is like "well yes hiei is right of course kazuma is too loyal to do something like that. but he is human...the only human of us now."

yusuke is like wth is that supposed to mean on the defensive even tho kurama is their friend and hasn't even said anything untrue and hiei narrows his eyes a bit maybe but is still acting like this doesn't really concern him

"i just mean that...from what i've learned about humans over the time i've spent with them...time feels different. we demons live such long lives that when faced with the human lifespan well...it can be laughable to some. that's why demons can be so callous about their lives."

yusuke just wants him to get to the point ofc "what i'm saying is we don't need a lot of contact with each other to keep relationships fresh and healthy but, kuwabara might be a little different. 3 years will do nothing to your bond but...i do worry about longer periods..."

and he seems to just trail off and it just gets quiet and a little sad and hiei isn't looking at them anymore

kurama starts again pretty cheerfully tho "well, don't worry! i'm planning on staying in the human world for quite some time once i'm done with this visit! i do have the company to take care of so i'll make sure to see kazuma all the time! i'll even send him a message from you if you want to say anything :)"

kurama has deliberately been using kuwa's first name knowing damn well urameshi doesn't even use it because this dude is not JUST a sweetie he's a fucking master manipulator. gaslight gatekeep bbg

yusuke is like okay yeah no new plan i'll just go see him now. no need for a middle man thanks anyway and then he's just gone. left the tournament early. like bruh that's what you came here for 😐

so yeah he's breaking into kuwa's house next thing you know and ofc he goes through the window not the door like a normal person and he just kinda stops short because he hasn't seen his friend in what feels like forever even though it's only been like a year or so but he just looks so different

and yeah a big part might be the hair he's never seen without that popadour, long soft copper coils, and he's somehow even bigger than when yusuke left him jesus when did he get so swole? when did he have time in between all those brainiac classes

yusuke knows he's bound to look a lil different too ofc i mean they weren't kids anymore really but like. when they hell did you go and grow up?

"next time i come back is this even gonna be your house anymore? will you still wanna hang out with dropout delinquent demon urameshi?" he gets so insecure in so little time

anyway kuwabara didn't sense him at first cos yusuke isn't a threat and he never really thought he'd be coming especially not yet but when he does notice

kuwabara just gets the biggest goofiest grin he's like urameshi you dog when the hell did you get back in town you're early!!

and yusuke is significantly eased by this reaction but now he feels stupid cos he up a left everything just to what? bother kuwabara while he studies to achieve his dreams? yusuke has got no human world aspirations like keiko had. like kurama has. like kuwabara.

and ofc kuwabara looks glad to see him but he wasn't desperate enough to just show up like yusuke had just done and he feels like a pathetic loser so he pouts

he's like yeah hey man just uh. checking in. and i should probably check out hah you seem busy with your books so im gonna scram and he tries to retreat through the window

and ofc kuwa is NOT letting him get away

and there's that desperation yusuke had selfishly wanted to see. kuwabara had just grabbed him without thinking even though he'd promised himself when urameshi left he wasn't gonna just sit around waiting for his life to start when he came back

he remembers when yusuke took him into that headlock and he wanted to succeed like he said he would that day

but still he's just thinking about urameshi all the time and it's awful. he always said he was gonna beat him some day but he just wanted to be near him. but all he sees is his back, even right now

part ii cos it's too many words!

[artemiseamoon]

As long as I’m alive

Riley Moore (ofc) x TF guys | special guest Tyler Rake

Words: 6,510

Part of Artes Year of Whump (with comfort and fluff) | @yearofcreation2023 (March 2023 entry)

✨✨✨Summary: Stuck in a cell, in the middle of no where, Riley and Will try to survive and hatch a plan to find the guys, dead or alive.✨✨✨

Warnings: very heavy on whump, injuries, blood, ptsd mentioned, guns and weapons, self defense driven violence and killing, mentions of torture (not shown).

The guards verbally creepy off screen (but there is no non-con or assault in this - zero. So please know you will not encounter that in this fic at all. I just wanted to mention this for anyone who might fear encountering that in the story, you won’t, you are safe!)

Below is a preview * read in full only on A03

Preview #1 here

They occasionally give them food and water, but it’s sparse and not on a schedule. The last time food was given was two days ago, based on the way the light changed through the ceiling bars. It was a narrow space, not wide enough to be a window but open enough to let in small amounts of fresh air and sunlight.

“Will,” Riley looked up at him, “the others - do you think - “

Will took a sharp breath in, “I don’t know-”

Will hopes they're alive.

He kept telling himself they are, and he just needed to get to them. To think they weren't - that hurt too damn much. He loved every single one of them, and his brother - Benny, his kid brother who he looked out for and protected his entire life- if anything happened to him -

Will felt like he failed Benny, he's supposed to keep Ben safe, and now he didn't know where he was.

In the silence, his mind went back to that moment they were torn apart. Everyone fought like hell, every single one of them, but they were outnumbered.

It was a dark room, like this without bars; guns in their faces after fists had been thrown, they fought until they couldn't anymore. Bruises and blood on both sides, the captors and the captees.

They all blocked Riley from the men, surrounding her like a protective pack of wolves. Still, they were pulled apart, one by one, kicking and screaming until Will and Riley were the only ones left. Will nearly got knocked out when he attacked the men taking Benny, he hit the ground with a thud, and a ringing sensation moved through his head.

Will faded in and out, coming to just as Riley bit down hard on one of the man's arms, tearing skin, his blood on her lips. When he hit her, she fell down and Will dragged her behind him, then putting his body over hers.

After that, his memory got spotty. From what he learned later, from Riley, he went wild- attacking both men with superhuman strength and fighting his ass off. It took a blow to the back of the head to knock him out, then everything went black. He wasn't conscious when they picked her up and dragged her out of the room.

Sometime after that, Will awoke in the same room, this time chained to the wall. He was later blindfolded, gagged, then moved. To his surprise, he wasn't alone, Riley was in there. He didn't know why they were paired up, but he was thankful. He could protect Riley, and he hoped Ben, Frankie and Santi were all together.

Will felt defeated, he had to remind himself of who he was; the call tag Ironhead was earned, he survived all kinds of crazy shit that should have killed him but didn't, including the one gunshot that solidified the name.

Will was getting Riley out of here, and he was going to find his brother - he was going to find Frankie and Santi even if he died trying.

Will knew exactly how many men there were now, the group was smaller, as far as he could tell. He knew the face of every guard, their habits and their schedules. Will counted 44 steps to the staircase, 10 descending steps, followed by a left turn: then a count of 56 steps to that fucking room.

Along with all this, the other thing churning in his mind was the why; why were they kept alive?

If their kidnappers wanted payback for Lorea, Will and the others would have been executed on the spot, or delivered to what’s left of Lorea’s men. If this was about ransom, which was a possibility, they’re being kept alive for money.

Another observation Will made was this; the men were getting lazy and too comfortable. He's taken the beatings, fought back, and watched at the same time. His time to act is soon approaching.

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[nudystar]

𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐀 𝐏𝐓 𝟐 !

♡ ⸺ mia x gojo; aka tall, bastard bf + sleepy, clingy gf

♡ ⸺ setting: college au (yes stolen from kai !)

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒 ! @ki-yuuu @sasukessusanoo @ivanari @stqrriichiigo @morosis-haze

₊˚⊹♡ ngl, I feel like they give your typical 2000s chick flick romance. you know with that one couple who’s so in love with each other and everyone is just sick of them

₊˚⊹♡ when I say these two are clingy, they are CLINGYYYYY. they’re always at each other’s hip smiling like a goof, laughing up a storm, or simply walking while sneaking glances at each other

₊˚⊹♡ you can sometimes tell that they did something stupid cause one of them, most of the time both, have a dopey smile

₊˚⊹♡ don’t know which is worse, when they’re around each other or when they’re separated. when they’re together they’re telling each other “I love you”, calling each other pet names, and kissing making out. you literally have to pry one of them off of the other cause they REFUSE to let go

₊˚⊹♡ when they’re separated, just put some headphones on to ignore them. every two minutes is “I miss my baby” “I miss my man”. y’all literally just said bye to each other not even a minute ago….

₊˚⊹♡ in a circle with their friends (kiyuu, yuvesa, ivanari, etc), everybody would point out that gojo and mia would have kids first. only cause of how affectionate they are gah leeeee. mia fighting for herself and saying she refused to be a parent at her age and here go gojo with that stupid ass grin on his face. the way gojo lookin, you not beating the allegations pookie

₊˚⊹♡ mia and gojo share days on buying each other’s small snacks. one day it’ll be mia and the next will be gojo, sometimes they’ll surprise each other and buy snacks three days in a row

₊˚⊹♡ gojo always flirting with mia like he’s still tryna get with her. it’s literally so cute and always have mia smiling so shyly. literally gojo’s favorite hobby is flirting with mia and annoying geto. don’t worry sometimes she’ll return the energy, when she’s not hiding away

₊˚⊹♡ when they were first crushing on each other, it was a game of frustrating ass fbi. mainly cause mia and gojo rarely crossed paths so they wouldn’t see each other often

₊˚⊹♡ mia would tell her friend’s about gojo, find his socials, allat and it would be the same on gojo’s side. they both really liked each other but didn’t know if the other was liked then the same way

₊˚⊹♡ but behind closed doors? oh they are both squealing and gushing over each other like little kids. their friends hearing all of the crushing, squealing, and gushing ofc !

₊˚⊹♡ they both would wave hello and always acted shy around each other until gojo stepped up and finally spoke to mia. gojo introduced himself and ask mia if she would have lunch with him and ofc mia couldn’t say no. she gave him her number so they could plan out the time and date

₊˚⊹♡ during the crush phase, they would have a lot of late night phone calls. they would be on the phone talking about any and everything they could find, until it’s seven am and the birds are chirping

₊˚⊹♡ yes they were the ones to say “you hang up first” “no you hang up first”. please just hang up and sleep I BEG

₊˚⊹♡ after some months of crushing, and yabbering in their friend’s ears about each other, mia confessed her feelings and told gojo that she might be in love. gojo did nothing but celebrate and told her she felt the same way. though he was way more obvious than mia but y’all know she a lil…..so she don’t be catching hints like that

₊˚⊹♡ small dates are happening about two to three times a week. to help relieve stress and stay connected, they would have a sip and paint, movie night, do puzzles, anything to help ease the mind. sometimes it would get competitive ngl

₊˚⊹♡ if you wanna find where these two lovebirds are, check mia’s apartment. they’re likely taking a nap on the bed together, stuck together like glue I’m telling ya

© 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟥 𝗇𝗎𝖽𝗒𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋. 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝖾𝖽

[seasinkarnadine]

Heya! Some Imogen/Laudna prompts, if you're interested. No pressure to do any specific ones ofc.

Dialogue prompts from your list: any one of 15, 16, or 17. Maybe early on when Imogen meets Laudna and she's still being chased from town to town?

Other prompts:

- Imogen loses control of her powers and accidentally hurts Laudna

- Imogen calls Ruidus and takes way too much damage (does Laudna even know about this?)

- Imogen comforting Laudna, freshly retraumatised by her stay in Whitestone

16: "I'd hate to be a burden..." || "It's alright, (Name). I don't mind taking care of you"

- Imogen comforting Laudna, freshly retraumatised by her stay in Whitestone

—-

Laudna is in two places at once.

She is here in the whitestone castle with the Hells, propped up in a bed in a borrowed chamber.

She is here in the whitestone castle with a guard, strapped to a table after a luxurious dinner.

A figure approaches her side of the bed. She flinches. 

“Laudna?” Only Fearne, then.  The man with the knife didn’t know her name.

“I brought you some chicken broth. Pike said you might be hungry, after we brought you back.” That’s right, isn’t it? She’s back. Back again.

The man approaches her with the knife. She can’t move. He grabs the side of her head forcefully. The cold blade bites at her ear. She whimpers. He can’t do it in one stroke and his grip slips on the hot blood that pours from her. There is nothing for her to do but endure it. She imagines instead that she’s having a tooth pulled and it will all be over soon. She counts, to give her mind something else to focus on. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, eleven, eleven, thirteen, fourteen, sixteen. 

“Laudna?”

“Hmm?” She blinks and looks over to Fearne. 

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

“Fearne, don’t push her.” She’s not sure that Orym meant for her to hear that part.

“She looked a little lost in thought was all…soup, Laudna? Do you need help eating it?” Laudna can’t get her fingertips to touch each other. The cleric, what was her name? Pike? She asked her to but she couldn’t. They wiggle, though, so there’s hope.

“I’ll manage, thank you.” She only spills a little soup in the exchange. Fearne doesn’t even notice.

“Sure you don’t want us to keep you company?” Orym asks in that careful way of his. She offers him her most winning smile. 

“No, no, you all go! Have fun! Explore Whitestone! It’s changed so much. Really, when will we get another opportunity to visit a place like this?” She says we but she means you. She means I can’t stop seeing ghosts. She means I don’t want to ruin this for you, too.

Fearne smiles at her.

“I’ll bring you back some party favors,” she promises.

“You just holler if you need us, alright?” Orym adds.

She nods. 

Then they’re gone and she is alone again.

No, no she’s not. The man’s here, isn’t he?

‘The clothes are wrong.’ That voice…

‘Lady Briarwood,’ Laudna gasps. ‘Lady Briarwood, please, please make him stop…’ and then the scene seems to overlap and she’s not Matilda, she’s Laudna, stuck in a loop.

‘Must we do this again?’ Laudna’s voice overlaps with her younger self. 

‘I’m not doing any of this,’ Delilah states. ‘You’re the one who refuses to move on.’ Then the man slips his knife under her blouse and tears it open. In one world, Laudna panics. She cries. She whimpers. The Lady watches with hungry eyes and Laudna doesn’t fight it. She should have. Maybe she could’ve gotten away. Maybe she could’ve done something. She had magic, after all. No. She lay there and she let them hurt her.

Her warm human skin becomes grey and mottled. The man’s knife slips and cracks her sternum in two–no, it’s Otohan’s blade jutting from her chest–no. It’s in one piece. It’s blackened and twisted but so is the rest of her.

They drag her outside. The rope tightens around her neck. They tie her hands and then they haul her up the tree, pull, pull, pull. She hangs. Her neck isn’t broken, so she watches the world below while she waits to die.

Then Imogen appears at the base of the tree. 

‘Imogen?’ She says. She tries to say. Her voice is cut off by the rope. What is she doing here? No–she has to run. Laudna is already dead. But Imogen, she can still get away. Run, Imogen. Please, run.

Too late. Delilah’s there. She reaches forward and caresses Imogen under her chin. Imogen’s eyes flash a sickly green.

'No,' she begs in her head. 'No, no. Not her. Delilah.' It's useless to beg and she knows it. If anything her fear will only spur Delilah on.

"Sweetheart?" Imogen is leaning over Laudna's bedside. Her eyes are purple, purple, purple. 

“Hmm?” Laudna wrestles her racing heart back to a normal tempo.

“Fearne and Orym said they were gonna…have you been here all day?” Laudna looks to the window and realizes it’s early evening.

“Oh, I…suppose so. Wait, no. Pike came by and had me do a few exercises.” Or was that yesterday? 

Laudna swings her gangly legs over the edge of the bed.

“You had anything to eat?” Imogen asks as she pulls a chair up.

“Yes, yes, Orym and Fearne brought me some soup.” Imogen’s eyes land on the congealed substance sitting on the nightstand. 

“Mmhmm.” Her lips are pressed tightly together.

“How are you? Do any sight seeing? Eat any Tal’Dorei delicacies?” Roaring fireplace, gilded chandeliers, blood on the dining room floor blood on the dining room floor blood on the dining room floor–

‘Mmm she smells delightful. The ones with magic have a certain…zing.’

‘No, dearest, that one’s not for eating.’

‘Shame.’ They kiss. When they separate it’s hard to tell what’s lipstick and what’s blood.

“--talking to Pike, is all. Laud? Are you…”

“I’m listening, sorry–”

“No, no, don’t be sorry. I’m sorry. I meant to come by sooner. Pike said you’re still a few days away from solid foods. And I know that Whitestone is… Um, we’re, we can’t leave just yet. So Pike helped me make that spicy Jamah pepper soup we have back home. In case you’re tired of Tal’Dorei foods.”

“You made me soup?” Laudna finally notices the small container Imogen brought in resting on a tray nearby.

“It’s okay if you don’t like it,” Imogen rushes to say. “I can find you somethin’ else.”

“No, no, I…that’s very thoughtful of you. Thank you.” She grabs the lid. She twists. She twists again. She twists… she twists–

“Can I get that for you?” Imogen asks, apparently noting the futile effort Laudna’s exerting.

“My, um, my fine motor skills, Pike said that because I was dead for a few days–”

“No need to explain.” There’s a tick in Imogen’s jaw muscle. “There ya go. Gettin’ kinda dark, huh? I’ll light a few candles.” 

With Imogen’s back turned, Laudna feels safe enough to pick up the provided spoon. There’s quite a lot of clattering, which Imogen politely ignores. Finally she succeeds, the spoon held like it’s a weapon she’s brandishing. She scoots closer to the night stand where the Pepper Soup rests. She dips the spoon in…and drops it. 

“Balls.” She leans down and manages to scrape it off the floor with two hands. When she comes back up, Imogen is looking at her, biting her lip.

“It’s delicious, thank you. I think I may finish the rest later.” Laudna laughs. Imogen eyes her for a long moment.

“Is it bad? I can getcha somethin’ else…”

“No, no, thank you, you’ve already done so much.” She puts on her most reassuring smile.

“You don’t have to do that with me.”

“Do what, darling?” 

Imogen doesn’t reply. She moves to sit in the chair at Laudna’s bedside once more. She gently takes the spoon off of Laudna’s tray and prestidigitates it clean.

“Gimme your hand,” she instructs. Confused, Laudna complies. Imogen places the spoon between her index and thumb.The muscles in Laudna’s fingers still won’t grip. If Imogen lets go…but she doesn’t. 

“Go on, then,” Imogen says. Laudna shifts in her seat. Her other hand twitches with the desire to pull at her hair. She gives Imogen a look. Then, finally, she dips the spoon into the steaming meal. She lifts it to her mouth. Imogen keeps her gloved hand over Laudna’s, providing support for the entire process.

Maybe it’s because she’s hungry, maybe because she’s missing home, maybe it’s because Imogen made this, but oh, it tastes divine.

“How is it?” Imogen’s voice is suddenly anxious again. “There’s lots of other things, Lady Vex’halia said we’re free to ask the cooks to make us whatever–”

“It’s incredible. You’re incredible. Did you get this recipe from Zhudonna?” Imogen’s face blushes a beautiful pink the candlelight. 

“I know it’s one of your favorites.. I guess I made it right? I mean, Pike helped. You know I’m no good in the kitchen.”

“Better than right.” Laudna grins. “Now, if it’s perfectly alright, I am a little peckish…”

“Oh, yeah, ‘course!” 

With Imogen’s support she eats, and at least for now, the ghosts of Whitestone rest.