#third party pov

[fine-nephrit]

🥏 TXF Fic Rec #15: "Strangers and the Strange Dead" by Kipler

Today’s fic is a must-read classic, an extraordinary piece that is so original, unique, intelligent, and brilliantly executed that it lingers in your memory. It makes great use of a third-party narrator and creates this eerie, atmospheric small town where mysterious strangers suddenly reappear. It begins with one of the best opening lines I’ve ever read in fanfics and ends with a dynamite twist that will make you gasp. So good.

(*It was written midway through the original run of Season 7 before ‘Requiem’ so everything happens after that point in canon should be disregarded.)

---

🥏 on AO3 🥏 on Gossamer 🥏 audio version on @audiofanficpod read by @pianogirlxf

Author: @kiplerxf Length: Short, 44K / 7,000+ words Season: post-Season 7 Relationship(s): M/S UST Tags: sci-fi, angst, third-party POV Rating: G

[neonponders]

For @billyhargrovebingo​ ​

~ read on ao3 ~

C1 - Android

• • •

A hospital was a strange place for quality time. Mostly, it was the carpool journeys there, since everyone needed regular visits after Starcourt. Tinnitus, concussions, and blood tests were just a few of the situations they were all dealing with.

And if Steve wasn’t available, it’s because he was already at the hospital. Max had a newly instated VIP seat in his car, much to the annoyance of Dustin (who wanted Steve’s time and attention) and Lucas (who couldn’t help but feel cast aside).

Max couldn’t really blame them for not caring about her brother. Hell, she didn’t understand her own depths of affection for him until recently. The shrinks of the hospital kept talking about the Five Stages of Grief as if she were supposed to give a shit about five processes.

Max was thoroughly stuck in the bargaining phase. And she’d stay there until whatever god finally delivered his side of the bargain.

Turns out, it did. Billy Hargrove was alive, and after a long surgery where Steve Harrington of all people held Max’s hand and gripped her shoulder during her erratic mood swings of crying, Billy woke up.

A pacemaker. The god keeping her brother alive was a little, man-made, battery powered device making sure the rhythm of his heart kept time with the right music.

Max could barely make out what the doctors were saying in the hallway. It was a load of information for her mom and stepfather - two people who seemed radically different after July fourth. Neil Hargrove was...just a man. A man who had been humbled down to his knees when he learned that his son was alive, but with a caveat. And her mom...Max could see her visibly overwhelmed with the steep learning curve for taking care of an intense trauma victim.

The device will need to be replace every five to seven years, but that’s routine procedure, nothing to worry about. I daresay, he’ll be able to live a normal life - so long as he stays away from cigarettes and anything more chemically advanced than food. He’s going to be a walking miracle. Four stomach pumps, almost a dozen blood transfusions, a scattering of fractures...that young man has a hell of an angel on his side. While the bones are recovering, I want weekly x-rays and monthly MRI’s. The physical stuff we can handle, but as for his psychological wellfare, that will be a tougher, longer journey...

Max blinked stupidly, because with the doctor’s voice droning out the background hospital noise, it was hard not to focus on Steve Harrington laying a big fat kiss on her brother’s mouth.

It was desperate, like Billy was his water in a desert...but gentle, like Billy were made of tissue paper and Steve was terrified of leaving a dent or wrinkle.

Max peeked at the window, worried her mom and stepfather might notice, but they were entrenched in the crash course for Billy’s new instruction manual -

“You don’t get to die,” Steve croaked. For some reason, witnessing Steve crying shook Max’s core more than her own parents’ tears. The guy just...didn’t do that. It was a little too easy to ignore an anchor like that until his rock was lying in bed with more injuries than a fresh eighteen year old had any right to have.

Steve’s hand cradled the junction of Billy’s skull and neck. Blue eyes blinked up at him, not fully conscious, but also not interested in anything other than a sky of big, doe eyes. “Not with a battery in your chest, you damn robot.”

The next day, Dustin chimed, “So he’s like Ironman?”

Lucas frowned at him. “It’s not a pacemaker in Tony Stark’s chest, dude.”

“But it’s protecting his heart. It’s kind of like a pacemaker.”

“It sounds more like a built-in defibrillator.”

“What the hell is that?” Dustin exclaimed.

Lucas pantomimed rubbing his fists together and then connecting them to Dustin’s torso with a jolt of his body. Dustin understood and nodded, “Oh, those medical electrocution things...Where are you going?”

Max sighed as she shouldered her backpack and swung her skateboard underneath her arm. “Turns out, the hospital has the best parking lots for skateboarding. Later, nerds.”

Under her breath, she remarked, “I’d rather watch two idiots make out than whatever this is.”

For better and worse, she got her bargain.

[perplexingly]

Whenever I read fics that use Trucy’s supernatural perceptiveness so she can read how other people feel about each other, I can’t help but wish it was more focused on her like

[emotionallyunstabl]

u need to keep the canon third wheel in ur fanfics as a conduit for the reader.

i am sam winchester watching the decade of slow burn. i am bones watching my bestie flirt with this annoying alien. i am the invested 3rd person wanting these 2 people to kiss each other

[number1rizgukgakstan]

In my head there is an idea that's just. Another adventuring party takes interest in the RatGrinders for some reason and through their one-sided rivalry we get to see the RatGrinders as people. And then of course we get to see more of the Bad Kids antics and maybe even more of whatever the hell is going on with Jace. 💭💭

[c4ts4ndstuff]

hello i am going insane over the Truman Show again

the fact that we the audience are so distanced from Truman, is done wonderfully. before he even becomes fully aware that there's camera's that could be watching them, and figuring out where they are, there are still so many moments were his face is blocked by something, or he's looking away, and creates distance. i don't think he ever talks to himself during the entire movie. the closest we get to being inside his head, is during flashbacks, but even then it's still an outside perspective of the events that are being played when it's pretty likely from context cues that he's thinking about the event. the only times we know what he's thinking, is when he's telling someone he knows about it. and as the amount of people he realizes he can trust dwindles throughout the movie, the less we know of his thoughts. even his entire escape happens off-screen until he almost reaches the ocean wall, and they find him through the cameras. we didn't even know he had a plan to escape still until he's already gone, and Marlon is left to find the ladder leading to the hole in the basement (admittedly, he did give a hint with his "That one's for free" in regards to his final mirror daydream. but again it's something that he specifically decided to share! it wasn't us hearing his thoughts, it was him telling the camera he knew what was going on)

despite being the main character, the movie is specifically not shown from Truman's POV and i think they did an amazing job at it

[chronicangel]

Groupie

Link to this fic on AO3. Words: 2963 Date posted: May 27, 2024

Summary: He’s working for an extremely secretive government organization entirely intent on destroying Superman. So which is worse: That he has a crush on a journalist, or that that journalist is also a Superman groupie?

Lex sits in a chair as far away from the center of the room as he can get, chin propped on a fist, elbow propped on a table with some largely ignored snacks on it, and knee bouncing nervously. He hates these sorts of PR events. They always remind him of his days as an unappreciated assistant, whose primary job, above using his genius intellect to build impressive new tech the likes of which the world had never seen, was making Anthony Ivo look good. At least now his job is mainly to make sure that the companies working with the government to fund his newest endeavors stay happy with the projects and don’t spill too much information publicly.

Several feet away from him, he sees two stuffy old men whose names he can’t keep straight talking to each other in hushed tones. Just as he’s pushing himself out of his chair to go check on what, exactly, they’re whispering about at this extremely public event, he bumps into someone fetching something from the snack table, sending all of the food on their plate directly into their chest. His eyes blow wide, and he scrambles to try to grab some napkins from the table while he spits out, “I am so sorry, I should have been paying more attention to-- you!”

The man across from him is at least a head shorter than him, which isn’t hard given how lanky and awkward Lex has always been. He’s almost 25 years old and his sister still insists every time that he visits her that he’ll fill out soon. His suit-- which is nice, but not remotely the right type of suit for this event, and privately Lex wonders how he got in-- is smeared with chocolate cake, potatoes, cheese, and gold flakes, dark colors and awfully textured mush marring the white button-up and khaki vest. “It’s Jimmy Olsen, right?”

Jimmy blinks up at him a few times, long eyelashes practically brushing against his cheekbones, and then smiles like nothing bad has ever happened at all. “Yeah! And you’re Alex, right?”

Lex can’t help but grimace. “It’s Lex, now,” he says, and then adds somewhat lamely, “I’m trying something new.”

“Lex… I like it!” Jimmy says, clapping Lex on the back and then taking the handful of napkins from him to start carefully dabbing at his shirt, trying to at least get some of the chunks off. “So what are you doing here? Ivo’s still in prison, right?”

He gives an awkward cough of a laugh. “I… I think so! I haven’t really kept track since he isn’t my boss anymore and everything,” he dismisses, probably more quickly than is natural. The reality is that he’s sort of the lead researcher for the team trying to figure out what, exactly, to do with Dr. Ivo. Waller figures he’s got a better shot at it than anybody else. “What about you? I didn’t think this event was open to the press…”

“Oh, I’m not here in a press capacity!” Jimmy laughs, waving a dismissive hand. “I have a pretty huge stake in the Daily Planet now and Perry didn’t really want to come, so I’m here as more of a business type of guy.” He looks down at his shirt, messy napkins crumpled up in his hand, having picked up as much as they’re going to. “Man, I think this thing’s done for.”

“Sorry,” Lex says again, rubbing at the back of his neck now. “I can cover your dry cleaning bill, if you want?” He offers. He gets a substantial stipend from the US government now for his work with Waller and Task Force X, and really, he has no idea what to spend on it anyway.

“How about you just buy me a drink? One with gold in it! I wanna hear about what you’ve been up to since our little chat at S.T.A.R. Labs. Clearly you’ve been up to something cool since you’re at this party for whatever mysterious reason you won’t tell me,” he says, throwing an arm around Lex’s shoulders like they’re old friends.

Lex’s cheeks flush as he gets basically dragged to the bar by this guy, sparing a glance to the pair of old guys. They’re not talking anymore, at least.

“Um,” he starts lamely. Lex has never really been a drinker. He pretty much only has champagne when he’s forced to come to these stupid parties, and even then, it’s mostly to blend in with the elite socialite types, so he rarely ends up drinking more than one glass. “Could my friend here get… a glass of champagne? Uh, with gold flakes in it,” he asks the bartender, who nods and immediately picks up a glass.

“Champagne with gold flakes?” Jimmy asks with raised eyebrows, looking at Lex with the most skeptical expression he’s ever seen. “That’s the best you can do? Did you even go to college?” Without waiting for an answer (not that Lex thinks it was really a genuine question), Jimmy waves at the bartender, “Hey, ix nay on the champagne. Get me two starry nights. Put it under Olsen’s tab.”

“Starry night?” Lex asks, immediately followed by, “Wait, wasn’t I supposed to buy you a drink?”

“Well, you just get the next round then,” Jimmy says with a sly grin. They’re silent until the drinks come, with Lex just staring at Jimmy like he’s an alien. The other man seems completely confident, like he’s not out of place at this sort of event at all. He’s overly friendly, too, like he thinks he can just make friends with anyone. Then again, considering the situation Lex has found himself in, he guesses that must work. Maybe he needs to start projecting more confidence… The drinks that are placed in front of them are two gradients from clear liquid into a rich, coffee brown color, with gold flakes floating throughout. “Now, hold your nose and shoot it all back.”

Lex hardly registers what’s happening before the drink is in his hand, their glasses are clinking together, and then he’s throwing his head back with his nose pinched between two fingers and pouring the alcohol down his throat. It’s not like champagne at all. It burns, and it tastes like gasoline. He almost gags, but he manages to get it down. The aftertaste is like some awful mix between cinnamon and black licorice, and he can’t imagine why college students would drink this on purpose.

“It’s bad, right?” Jimmy asks, and Lex stares at him.

“You’re the one who ordered it!”

Jimmy laughs, and the sound makes Lex’s cheeks tinge pink again, heat crawling up his face. “It’s not about tasting good,” he says, which doesn’t make any sense to Lex at all.

“Then what is it about?”

Jimmy is quiet for a second, staring into the empty glass like it has the answer. To what, Lex doesn’t know-- he doesn’t think it’s the question that he asked. He’s got a sort of nostalgic fondness on his face, like he’s remembering something important to him. Lex wants more than anything to know what it is.

“Sometimes, life is beautiful, but it tastes bad going down. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it for the beautiful parts-- gold flakes, the warmth in your gut, the people you’re with. Why waste all your time on boring champagne?”

Lex stares at him for a second. It occurs to him, somehow not for the first time even though this is only the third time they’ve met, that Jimmy Olsen must be a very wise person. He wants to know how he got to be so wise.

Jimmy beats him to the punch. “Aaanyway,” he starts, pointing an accusing finger at Lex, “what have you been up to since the last time I saw you? I mean, it’s only been a couple months, and now you’re at this fancy party for rich people and your boss isn’t even running it. Well, maybe your boss is running it. Is your boss Loren Jupiter?”

He snorts. “I don’t even know what Loren Jupiter does,” he dismisses with a wave of his hand for dramatic effect. “Look, I’m not at liberty to say too much about it, but I’m kind of working for the government now.”

The other man stares for a second, and then turns to the bartender. “Yeah, we’re gonna need more drinks.”

The next several minutes are spent with Jimmy trying to ask Lex probing questions about his new job and Lex expertly dodging them, if he may say so himself. Jimmy orders more and more drinks, until eventually the flush in Lex’s cheeks won’t go away and he can feel himself loosening up way more than he reasonably can. He has to redirect this. “Okay, enough talking about me. What about you, Jimmy Olsen? I know you work at the Daily Planet, but why? Why journalism?”

Jimmy hums in consideration for a long moment, staring into his empty glass again. “My dad was in the military and went MIA when I was a baby. Mom always said that he probably died, but I knew something else had to be going on. I kind of went down this whole government conspiracy theory rabbithole,” he laughs, but Lex can tell from the edge to it that there’s more he’s not saying. “I looked for connections in places other people didn’t. I’ve always known that the world is a secretive place, and I’ve always wanted to uncover those secrets. But nobody ever really took me seriously. I wanted to go into investigative journalism at first, but writing was never really my strong suit. So, I picked up a camera.”

They’re both quiet for another long minute. Lex watches Jimmy, sees the way that sadness dulls the light in his eyes, those eyes the color of chocolate and coffee and whatever the hell is in these drinks. It fills him with a sort of… anger, in a way that he can’t describe. The world is a secretive place-- a secretive and unjust one full of Supermen who take all the power for themselves and narcissists like Ivo who think they’re better and smarter than everyone else while people like Lex and Jimmy do all of the work. No one ever took Jimmy seriously? How dare they? How dare they ignore what Lex can see so plainly-- a genius just like him? “One day people are really going to regret overlooking you, Jimmy. I can tell.”

The smile that Jimmy gives him is half-hearted, and it twists something unidentifiable in Lex’s chest. “Well, all of that is behind me now, anyway. I have a great job at the Planet, and great friends. Lois and Clark have always believed in me. And once Flamebird blew up for my coverage of Superman stuff, the Daily Planet bought it and now I guess I… well I guess people take that seriously, if nothing else,” he says, with that same edge as his laugh earlier.

Lex wants to yell about something. He doesn’t know what. These so-called friends, who clearly haven’t supported him enough? The fact that it took Superman to get Jimmy the recognition he’s deserved from the start? That he still seems to think no one takes him seriously for anything else? Before he can even open his mouth to try to lament any of this, though, Jimmy is smiling again and jabbing him in the shoulder with a finger. “Well what about you, then? How did you start working for Ivo? I mean, why would a nice guy like you build something like the Parasite?”

Even though he’s never felt ashamed of it before, suddenly, Lex doesn’t want to admit that the Parasite armor was actually his idea. There’s something about the way that he says it that makes Lex feel like he doesn’t approve, and he desperately wants his approval. For the first time, Lex is the one who waves down the bartender and requests another round of drinks, and he waits until they’ve been set in front of them and he feels that burn down his throat for what must be at least the half-dozenth time of the night before he starts saying anything. He doesn’t think he would have the guts to tell anyone this sober.

“When I was a kid, my father used to… he wasn’t…” He grasps for the words that usually come to him so naturally, his jaw locking up. Jimmy puts a hand on his wrist and looks at him with furrowed eyebrows, like he’s really concerned. Lex takes a deep breath.

“I grew up in Suicide Slum, here in Metropolis. My parents weren’t… the best. Mom just watched while Dad used to take stuff out on us. Me and my sister, Lena. She was always sick when we were kids, wheelchair-bound when she wasn’t bedbound, and I think my parents always blamed her for the fact that we didn’t have any money. You’d think that would make me the favorite child, but it was kind of like a race to the bottom. And I didn’t want to be the favorite, anyway. I just wanted to keep my sister safe. I wasn’t able to protect her, and it made me feel so… small. That’s why I worked with AmazoTech on the Parasite armor.” He conveniently leaves out the part where he’s the one who pitched it, and where that’s what got him the job in the first place. “I don’t think anyone should ever have to go through that, to feel that way. You shouldn’t have to be Superman to protect people-- and you shouldn’t have to rely on Superman to protect people either. What happens when he decides that the rest of us are like Lena? Sick people he can blame for all his problems?” He tries not to let too much bitterness leak into his voice, sinking in on himself a little. When he looks over at Jimmy, the other man’s jaw is hanging open, and Lex can’t read his face. It makes his stomach twist up in knots.

Finally, Jimmy seems to realize that he’s staring and composes himself, mouth snapping shut. He clears his throat. “I’m sorry that you went through all of that,” he says, and his voice is so earnest. “But I think you’re wrong about Superman,” he adds, and Lex can only stare at him, chest tight again. “That’s the exact kind of thing that Superman is trying to put a stop to in Metropolis.”

“By making himself the law?” Lex snaps, annoyance leaking into his voice. “Maybe he is trying to help people-- but who is he helping? Do you really think that it’s everyone? No one can care about everyone. He certainly doesn’t care about the criminals he beats up. He doesn’t care about the people whose cars he’s flipping and whose walls he’s caving in. He didn’t care about me when he shut down AmazoTech and I lost my job.”

Contrary to what Lex might expect, Jimmy’s face softens a little. He reaches a hand out and rests it on Lex’s shoulder, and Lex’s eyes flash to it for a second. He thinks his face would heat up if it wasn’t already about as hot as it could get from all of those drinks. “You’re hurting,” he starts. “I get that. Honestly, I was once really hurt by Superman, too. It felt like he was one of the people who was supposed to be there for me, and he wasn’t, y’know? But then he was. And I think one day, he’ll be there for you, too. Maybe that’ll take some time. But I believe that.”

Lex considers these words for a minute. Is it possible that Superman could save him, just like he saves so many other people every day? Maybe. That’s not what Lex wants, though. He doesn’t need some superhero to fly in and rescue him. He wants to rescue himself. He wants to rescue the people he cares about. He wants people to know that Lex Luthor is not some weak little boy who cowers in the corner in fear, but a genius who has the power to take down even Superman. No one and nothing is ever going to hurt Lex Luthor again.

But before he can even think about saying any of that or what a bad idea it would be, the bartender announces to the two of them, “Sorry, guys. Event’s over in fifteen minutes. I gotta start cleaning the bar.” Lex stares at him for a second, and then at Jimmy. His hand is still on Lex’s shoulder, and the last thing that he wants is for him to move it. He doesn’t want to part ways at all. He wants to invite Jimmy to continue this conversation somewhere more comfortable.

When Jimmy finally does pull his hand away, it feels like the skin where he touched him is burning. “Well, I guess that’s goodbye for now,” he says with a grin, holding the hand out for a handshake. Stunned, Lex shakes his hand, staring at the shorter man for a long moment. He wants to kiss him. He knows this is a bad idea, for a number of reasons, yet he can’t stop himself from staring at his mouth.

Jimmy leaves not long after that, and Lex watches him until he’s out the door, along with half of the rest of the crowd, his heart pounding against his ribs and his stomach twisted into knots. He’s working for an extremely secretive government organization entirely intent on destroying Superman. So which is worse: That he has a crush on a journalist, or that that journalist is also a Superman groupie?

[kipperlillycopperkettle]

the fact that at least one of my players in all my dnd games follows me on each account is so annoying. sometimes u wanna post ominously abt what ur planning and i can't!!!!!

[tameila]

I know that A-Side is all about the Scanlan-Kaylie/Pike Wedding shenanigans, but I wonder what B-Side is all about 👀

oooh so A-Side and B-Side are going to have concurrent story lines! In other words, they will cover the same stretch of time, but A-Side is Scanlan's POV and B-Side is Pike's. The overall theme for both stories is family.

In A-Side, we see Scanlan grappling with finding out about his daughter and him learning to juggle the new obligations and expectations that come with co-parenting while still trying to build a future with an existing partner who has her own set of needs and expectations of him (& who is also grappling with all this as well).

We haven't gotten it dropped yet in A-Side. We will next chapter! However, the Trickfoot cousins are on the scene.

So, in B-Side, we will see Pike's POV of A-Side's events but also introduce her own up-close-and-personal family dilemma as she reconnects with J.B. and the trouble that brings to her door...

and, example of how the concurrent storylines will (hopefully) work is that, in A-Side, chapter 2 ends with a denouement from Scanlan while at Sybil's apartment. In B-Side, we will actually get a fully formed scene of that night from Pike's POV, including a moment of tense but understanding connection between Sybil and Pike.

I won't spoil much else, because I really do plan to continue A-Side and B-Side as long as people keep turning up, but...here's a few snippets from my notes.... 👀

The next time Pike meets up with JB, their meeting is crashed by Astrid who fawns all over Pike (who she pretends not to know at first) and tries to play off her snooping by claiming that she thought JB was hiding a secret boyfriend or something. Astrid talks about poor Ogden, so frail and sick. (JB never mentioned because she didn’t want to burden Pike). Pike leaves in a rush but she feels terrible leaving JB behind.

Pike’s POV, Pike stands awkwardly back as Scanlan enters the house with Kaylie. Sybil and her lock eyes. Pike apologizes and says she’ll wait in the car, but Sybil invites her inside. They stand in the kitchen while Scanlan and Kaylie talk in the living room.

The fridge has photos and an old art project. There’s those magnetic letters and some of them spell out “shit” and “butts”. Pike’s lip quirk. Sybil, without looking, scrambles them before giving Pike a sheepish look. “Twelve year old humor…”

Sybil asks if Scanlan is good to her. Pike bristles but understands.

Scanlan was supposed to be home in Westruun for Winter’s Crest for the first time. However, the week before, he gets an invite from Kaylie to attend her choir performance. She has a solo. She’s very excited. Pike waves off Scanlan’s apologies and his offers to go with him. She only has so many Winter’s Crests left with Wilhand.

She’s more upset than she lets on and is mad at herself for feeling that way.

The next week, she’s surprised by Ogden and co showing up in Westruun under the guise of – through JB’s reconnecting with Pike – wanting to reconnect with Wilhand

Astrid making snide comments about Scanlan not being there that get under Pike’s skin

When Ogden makes a comment about staying somewhere, Pike is curt in telling them that they don’t have room at the house. After they’re gone, she sits with Wilhand and apologizes to him for getting short with their guests. That’s not how he raised her. Wilhand reassures her that it’s okay. He had felt overwhelmed. He was glad she was there to support him.

[pochapal]

the fact that kinzo's formal character introduction breaks form by happening in a separate narrative moment and not when battler meets/observes him for the first time in the story and the fact that kinzo is the only character for whom this is the case is. hm. weird to say the least.

[fine-nephrit]

🥏 TXF Fic Rec #7: 'Agunah' by Prufrock’s Love

Prufrock’s Love is known for her long, angsty historical AUs, but today’s fic is one of her shorter ones, a mid-length story set in Season 7/8 told from a psychotic stalker’s POV.

The third-party POV is refreshing and well-rendered. The established MSR is a treat, full-on smitten, satisfyingly in character, and believable in their “happy ever after with a baby” world, but not cloying, thanks to the distance put between them and us readers by the narration of a voyeur.

Although with PFL, there’s always a dash of angst mixed in with the fluff, just the perfect blend for this story.

🥏 Agunah by Prufrock’s Love (gossamer link)

Length: short, 69K / 12,000+ words (two parts combined) Season: season 7 Relationship(s): MSR established relationship Tags: baby fic, angst, fluff, third-party POV Rating: Teen/PG-13

[carnasnow]

Looking through analyses/takes that some people did with a book (not gonna tag it cause I didn't read it yet so I don't want to argue with anyone) and like. Hm. It's just interesting to look at both sides.

Like there's two groups with different takes on a character and the way some of them keep accusing each other of 'not having read the book correctly' or 'did we even read the same book??' or just getting angry at the other group for choosing to see things a certain way. Idk if that makes sense but I'm just there like ???

Like. Maybe, just maybe, it's possible to interpret things differently? It's okay to view things a certain way. I'll admit I've 'taken a side' but that still doesn't mean I can't respect the other group for viewing things differently? Idk i just hate internet discourse sometimes I guess

If only we could all discuss respectfully. I mean I do see that sometimes and it always makes me super happy and honestly, much more willing to try and understand an opinion I don't really agree with. And sometimes, even convince me

[pshcomforts]

➳ brought the heat back | psh.

situationship!sunghoon x fem!reader (feat. gunwook from zerobaseone)

“i’m so jealous, i’m going crazy, my patience will run out”

synopsis: sunghoon definitely wasn’t amused when coming to a party and seeing some guy talk to you.

warnings/content: written in third pov. mentions of alcohol. suggestive. little fluff. tension. possessive and jealous sunghoon (what did you expect). cursing. not proofread.

comments, likes, and reposts are appreciated :)

word count: 2.7k

༘˚⋆𐙚｡masterlist⋆.✧˚

current song playing: brought the heat back by enhypen

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

0:34 ──|───────────────── 2:22

y/n had just arrived to the dim-lit party, music loudly blasting through her ears as she moved past waves of people.

the girl struggled to find her friends as they remained scattered all around.

“damn heeseung just had to throw a huge ass party..,” she mumbled to herself, sighing softly once she realized she wouldn’t be able to find anyone.

she even sent texts, but she deemed that all had gone off of their phones for the night so she settled on a drink and time well spent of being alone.

that was until her coworker had approached her.

“hey y/n!” gunwook yelled out, grinning at her shocked expression.

“gunwook?? i never thought i’d see you here!”

the male laughed before taking a step closer to her. “never thought i would’ve either, especially when you’re alone.” he frowned, earning a playful smile to form on y/n. “where are your friends?”

“they’re off somewhere… i can’t find them honestly..,” she admitted to him.

gunwook quickly wore a grin that reflected hers, presenting a sweet expression as he said, “so.. i take it you’re alone then?”

she cocked a brow at him before the two broke out into laughter. “what do you mean by that, gunwook…?” she softly teased, breaking another chuckle out of him.

“just saying… if i’m alone, and you’re alone, we can be each others company.”

the girl tensed up for a second, stopping to process the words her coworker had just uttered out to her.

that wasn’t what she thought it meant.. right?

she glanced at the tall boy to search for what his intentions were, but given that they were just coworkers, she deemed it was nothing, so she agreed.

surely, no one would be upset with that option, right? (no)

gunwook offered to get the next cup of liquor after she downed her first, both sitting on the couch that had been crowded by others.

“why didn’t you help that customer out??” he laughed with a huge grin plastered across his face.

“because!—“ y/n yelled, pausing to sip her cup. “she looked like she would’ve much rather talked to you so i let her go to you!”

the boy sputtered out a giggle. “so you let me have your sale then?” he teased, earning a soft hit on the arm.

“well that wasn’t my intention, she just seemed more interested in talking to you so i didn’t know what else to do.” she rolled her eyes, scoffing as she remained hearing hearty laughs erupt out of him.

he let his tongue slip through his lips when he furrowed his brows and shook his head. “you could’ve just stolen that sale from me, y/n. i would’ve let you,” he sighed.

“well i’m sorry, gunwook, i thought you would’ve actually appreciated getting that sale.”

the two laughed out her play on sarcasm, unintentionally getting closer with their body movements.

just when their heads were about to bunk, a buzzing notification caught y/n’s attention and thinking it was one of her friends, she quickly glanced at it.

just a friend ‼️:

Stop getting close to him.

Do you want me to do something about it?

✩ ‘who is that guy who said hello earlier?’ ✩

her heart instantly dropped at the texts. where was he? and how did he know? she tried to scan around the area, but another notification pulled her back to her phone.

just a friend ‼️:

Looking for me?

y/n began to text back with her heartbeats getting louder by the second. her hands were softly shaking and she didn’t know what to do.

encountering jealous hoon was something that happened occasionally, but it was always minor and not noticeable enough to make it seem like they were more than friends.

✩ ‘i’m getting jealous’ ✩

‘where are you? and why are you watching me??’ — she quickly messaged back, chewing her lips as gunwook started to notice the change in her demeanor.

just a friend ‼️:

Don’t worry about where I am, pretty girl

Now get his hand off of your leg or I’ll come over and do it myself.

✩ ‘it’s weird, i don’t want to but i’m envious’ ✩

y/n felt her stomach rupture with butterflies at the possessive tone in his text. her eyes fell down to her leg and finally noticed the unintentional hand slip there.

“gunwook, your hand..,” she awkwardly mumbled, gesturing down to where it laid.

the boy quickly gasped and removed it with a blush forming on his cheeks. “oh god, i’m sorry! i didn’t know my hand was there…,” he admitted in shame. “that won’t make it awkward at work right..?”

she shook her head in reassurance and laughed at the way he panicked. “noo, you’re fine!! i didn’t realize it was there either..,” she chortled.

gunwook nodded, cheeks still flushing with embarrassment as he scratched his neck.

“sorry about that…,”

“what are you sorry for!” y/n swiftly chuckled. “you did nothing wrong, gunwook!” her hand placed itself on his arm out of habit, attempting to reassure the boy but the only thing it did was set off alarms in sunghoon’s head.

the older male who watched from afar felt his jaw tighten at the little action, eyes squinting and staring down at the two who were innocently on the couch.

✩ ‘why are you smiling at him like that?’ ✩

his hands went to his phone, typing his message out of irritation.

‘Why do you have your hand on his arm? Take it off.’

✩ ‘it feels like burning, hotter, hotter’ ✩

he glanced up with crossed arms, hoping that his girl would listen. he watched her mumble incoherent words that he couldn’t make out and soon enough, her hands slipped away from that stupid guys arms.

✩ ‘rough madness’ ✩

his lips began to curl and a smirk started to form as his gaze remained on the two, not even caring that there was a party going on.

✩ ‘it’s getting stronger, stronger’ ✩

jake even tried to offer a drink, but sunghoon declined, not wanting to feed the jealous rage that still fumed in the pit of his stomach.

but when he found that tall boy inch closer to y/n, his heart was quick to sink. he straightened himself before walking to the scene without even thinking, fists clenched and brows furrowed to display his pissed reaction.

✩ ‘i can’t stand it’ ✩

sunghoon stood before them, eyes narrowing down at the guy he couldn’t recognize.

“y/n,” he gritted out with a tightened jaw, hating the way his heart burned at this.

✩ ‘i can’t hide it, my head is spinning, crazy, yeah’ ✩

he watched how the girl instantly pieced that it was him as she glanced back. “sunghoon…,” she gulped, finally taking in the handsome features present on him.

he quickly let out a soft scoff, eyes rolled while keeping his glare directly on her.

a soft lick was made between his lips. “what are you doing, hm?” he taunted, smile slowly curling once he saw how she lowly panicked.

“nothing, hoon. i’m just catching up with my coworker.” y/n quickly excused, gesturing to gunwook, who awkwardly sat there.

✩ ‘don’t test me’ ✩

but the older male didn’t bother to glance at him, letting his attention lay completely on the girl who he wanted as his.

before he could speak, gunwook intervened with a murmur — “we’re really just coworkers, man.”

sunghoon glared back at him for a second, disbelief written on his face as he scoffed. that’s not what it looked like seconds ago when he was inches away from his girl.

✩ ‘trying hard to endure, endure’ ✩

he got a hold of y/n’s wrist, fingers tightening around while pulling her away from the scene. his nails were close to digging into her skin as his heart picked up on the jealous energy that chucked at him.

✩ ‘i’m going crazy like this, i’m going crazy’ ✩

she softly winced in pain, feeling every press of his slim fingers that wrapped around her wrist.

“sunghoon..,” y/n whispered, but he ignored her, making the girl unable to clarify that gunwook was just leaning in to remove something from her hair.

truth be told though, he almost fell weak to his knees when his name had slipped out of her mouth. his possessive demeanor nearly dropped, but only grew stronger once he realized it fueled flame to fire.

✩ ‘no, it ain’t my fault, ain’t my fault’ ✩

the inner corner of his lips curled in satisfaction before bringing her to an empty room.

the door quickly closed and y/n was slammed against it with hoon caging her to himself. his arms were securely palmed against the door as his eyes stared down at her.

“sunghoon..,” she quietly murmured out again, heart fluttering at his tall frame towering over hers.

he tilted his head with a slight brow raise in response, loving how weak she could fall within seconds of barely making contact. he leaned himself in, closing the gap between their heated bodies.

✩ ‘ain’t my fault, it’s because of you’ ✩

their lips barely grazed against each others as his breath hit her skin. “what are we doing?” y/n mumbled to him, truly confused at their situation.

sunghoon swallowed down a harsh lump in his throat, trying to find words that would answer her question. “i don’t know, y/n. you tell me,” he squinted his eyes in jealousy again. “one second you’re texting me about how we should go watch this new movie together, and the next you’re talking to your coworker who obviously likes you.”

one of his hands that laid flat against the door began to clench, turning it into a fist as he remembered just how close the boy was getting to her.

“do you like him?” he questioned, feeling his heartbeats rise with every silent second that passed.

✩ ‘don’t be confused, is it me or him’ ✩

y/n stayed quiet, unable to admit her feelings for the guy in front of her when she suddenly felt a finger hook around her chin. sunghoon pulled her attention onto him, eyes boring into hers to get a straight answer.

“tell me, pretty.” he spat, already knowing that she liked him, and not the coworker.

at this point, his lips were about to get a taste before he could even think. he was close to caving in with how her silence was saying much more than needed.

he let his top lip graze against hers again, noses bunking and foreheads almost colliding when the room began to get hotter.

“say it,” hoon whispered near her skin, faint groans slipping pass his throat when he felt her try to resist.

y/n gulped, softly biting her lips to temper herself down but couldn’t when they were so close to taking it to the next level. “i like you, sunghoon, not him.” she confessed, feeling her stomach bubble with butterflies.

his lips were quick to coil into a shit-eating grin, causing her to feel it against her skin as he murmured, “you drive me crazy, angel. you don’t even understand what you do to me.”

before she could even speak, he smashed his lips against hers, finally colliding into a much needed kiss. y/n quietly gasped, allowing more entrance for the male as her hands instantly ran to his muscular arms.

she squeezed them, trying to signal for him to pull away with how rough he moved against her, but he couldn’t stop. even if he wanted to, he couldn’t with how much he had been craving this.

sunghoon’s thick brows furrowed as he continued, loving the sweet taste her lips offered while his hands slipped down to her waist. he pushed himself closer, allowing her to melt into the harsh movements.

and once she did so, her hands quickly moved up to the messy hair that covered his forehead, softly tugging at them to stimulate his satisfaction.

he let out a soft groan, pulling back ever so slightly to take a breather with all that was going on.

y/n felt his breath fan against her skin, making her glance down at his now-swollen lips that were running pink around the edges from his initial intention to go for it.

sunghoon quickly leaned it, urging for another kiss when her hands stopped at his broad chest. “hoon, let me breathe,” she whined, earning a low chuckle.

a soft sigh left him as he wore a mischievous grin. “fine, breathe then.” he uttered out before leaning in closer to her neck.

he pressed firm kisses against it, causing a gasp to be heard from his girl. “sunghoon!” she yelled, trying to push him away, but he didn’t budge.

the asshole only smiled, continuing to leave pecks around her neck to tease. “what? i’m letting you breathe,” he taunted with a coy tone. “isn’t that what you wanted?”

she whined at his words, still attempting to push away at his shoulders. “you better not leave anything noticeable.” she warned once she felt his vampire-like fangs begin to nibble.

a scoff immediately fell from his lips. “why? can’t i let everyone know that you’re mine now?” he growled.

when she kept her mouth shut, he let another puff of air slip by. “oh i see.” he peered into her gaze. “you don’t want that coworker of yours to know, hm?”

sunghoon quickly narrowed his eyes and poked his tongue out through his cheek. “aren’t you gonna admit it?” he asked, thumb pulling her bottom lip down.

y/n choked out, completely falling in a daze at how jealous he was. “it’s not that…,” she murmured.

“then what is it?”

“i just don’t want anything noticeable, hoon.” the girl frowned. “it’s hard to cover up.”

hoon widely grinned, raising his brows as he uttered, “isn’t that the whole point?”

she rolled her eyes and shoved his arm. “i can’t have it show anywhere, idiot, especially at work.”

“so i’m right then?” he joked, earning another nudge on the arm as he laughed. “you could’ve just admitted it, you know?”

“that’s not what i meant, dumbass!” y/n defended, now smacking his arms and giggling alongside him.

the two continued their banter until sunghoon decisively wrapped his arms around her, stopping the constant hits he was receiving.

“fine, no marks.” he huffed, muzzling his head into her shoulder. he breathed in her intoxicating scent as he tightened her closer to his chest.

“you’re mine now though, right?”

y/n laughed at his words before bringing her hands up to hit his arm. “obviously.. idiot,” she responded.

sunghoon’s lips formed a huge smile that was now plastered across his face. “good…,” his soft voice whispered — “because i hate that coworker of yours.”

“hoon, he wasn’t even doing anything that bad.”

he playfully scoffed. “so now you’re trying to defend him?”

she quickly rolled her eyes. “sunghoon! he was—“

he leaned in with a grin, pressing his lips against hers to shut her up. his hand firmly held her cheeks as he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

hoon finally pulled away after her arms wrapped around his neck.

“i hate you,” she murmured.

“as if.” his lips connected with hers again for a soft peck, unable to restrain himself.

and when he leaned in again, y/n put a hand to his chest once more. “we should go back to the party,” she said, knowing how much he wanted to kiss again.

“come on, baby.” sunghoon whined, giving a slight pout. “don’t say that.”

she giggled before shaking her head. “let’s go, hoon, before they start to get suspicious.” the girl replied.

he declined for minutes, trying to convince her for another kiss, in which she eventually gave in.

y/n planted a soft peck on his lips that lasted only seconds, leaving him to scoff.

“okay, what was that?”

“that was a kiss?” she teased.

“you know i want more than that.”

his brow raised and she only laughed before pushing the door open and holding his hand. “later, dummy. come on!” y/n quickly dragged her grumbling boy out to the party and ignored his petty behavior that came afterward.

safe to say that sunghoon was definitely gonna get another kiss that night.

★・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・★

a/n: heyy… i know it’s been a while.. i’m sorry! i’m currently working and also doing a summer session so i haven’t had any time at all to write, but i’m hoping to be posting regularly again. but if not then.. you will be hearing from me once a month…

[devotedlystrangewizard]

statistics are so much fun i just gathered all 243k words of ffxiv fic ive written (yeah i know) and put it in a table with the pov characters on the y axis and the eras on the x axis and its so interesting to see how unhinged i got about valerian

[subcultureblues]

Don’t You Want Me (Baby?) Pt 1

———

Steve and Eddie are either hooking up or dating - and are about as bad at keeping a secret as they are dealing with their feelings. (Dustin POV)

———

“For the record, I still think this is dumb.” Lucas said over the wind.

“Yeah, well, you’re dumb.” Mike said, sharp witted as always.

“Got you there.” Will grinned, sidling up beside him on his bike. Mike shot him a look, vaguely betrayed. Will shrugged innocently and kept peddling.

“Alright, alright, let the court record reflect you’re both morons.” Dustin sighed, peddling between the bickerer’s bikes and cutting ahead.

All four boys skirted to a stop outside the trailer park. Dustin wiped at his forehead under his cap, the humidity creeping back up on them as soon as the air stopped it’s rushing by.

“Dude, if Eddie wasn’t picking up the phone, well, there’s probably a reason for that.” Lucas said, in that tone of his. The demeaning one.

Dustin just shook his head. Name one good reason to ignore your party? One good reason. Dustin certainly couldn’t!

He started walking his bike up through the dusty lot, leaving the rest with little choice but to march ever onward.

“Maybe he’s still sleeping.” Will said, lingering a bit behind the pack.

“At 1 in the afternoon?” Lucas rolled his eyes.

“What? He does, like,” Mike’s voice dropped to a paranoid whisper. “weed, right? Jonathan’s always sleeping in?” Mike looked behind them at Will, who shrugged.

“Eddie,” Dustin said his name rather uncharitably but he’s at his limit here, really, he is “has been dodgy weeks now. Doesn’t answer the phone, he’s never free on the weekend, never hangs out after Hellfire anymore - I’m telling you guys, somethings up.”

“Or maybe - he’s finally graduated after the third try and he’s tired of hanging around high schoolers all the time.” Lucas rolled his eyes.

Dustin shook his head at Lucas, because that can’t be it. Eddie loves them. Well, he loves Dustin and likes the rest of Hellfire’s fresh meat well enough. They bonded, alright? - after everything they went through in the Upside Down. Hell, they’re practically brothers. And it’s not just Dustin who thinks that, Eddie had said it first. Well, he called him ‘the little brother I never wanted’ but had said so sarcastically. Obviously, he’d meant the opposite.

Hard to feel wanted right now though, considering as of circa maybe a month ago, Eddie’s been MIA. He still shows up to Hellfire, obviously. But that was about it.

After stopping the clock on the apocalypse and banding together to clear Eddie’s good name, it kind of become a thing - Eddie taking them out to get slushies after a game. Calling up Eddie to tell him, not ask, but tell him they were all going to the arcade. He’d even gone to Eddie’s trailer a few times so he could help Dustin homebrew his subclass!

Steve had started tagging along too, usually. Him and Eddie even getting started to get less awkward around each other after a while. Not best friends or anything, Not like Dustin was hoping. But friendly. It had been totally awesome! And totally annoying that he had mysteriously gone to ground.

It’s possible Dustin’s being, well he doesn’t want to say needy...

It’s just, Steve started picking up extra shifts at work and spending a whole lot of time with Robin. Not that Dustin didn’t support their relationship. Steve’s been single so long, it hadn’t started verging on pathetic exactly, but it was a near thing.

It’s just hard for a guy not to feel neglected.

The four boys had almost reached the trailer when they heard it. At first Dustin dismissed it, surely the trailer next doors’ doing. But no, that music definitely coming from Eddie’s.

That in and of itself, wouldn’t be unusual. Eddie is likely the loudest human being on the planet. No, the weird part is it’s not thrashy, garbage can lid, Eddie-music but goddamn…

“Is that - “ Mike said, trailing off from sheer befuddlement.

“Culture Club.” Lucas could barely hide the cackle in his voice.

“What in the -“ Dustin muttered, throwing his bike in the grass and wandering up to the door like it was a gate to another dimension. For all he knows, it might just be.

“Eddie?” He knocked on the door. Nothing. He tried again. Obviously, someone’s home.

Dustin’s only met the man briefly but he didn’t take Munson Sr for being the bubblegum pop type.

Besides, Mr. Munson certainly wouldn’t be playing anything this loud unless those late nights at the plant had him going deaf. Dustin peeked through the window into the living room. More nothing.

“Oh man.” Lucas shoved him to press his face against the glass too. There was a slow smile creeping across his face, like he was suddenly overjoyed they had come to the trailer park after all. Lucas wasn’t gonna let their DM live this one down, not any time soon. “I thought he was supposed to be cool.”

“He is cool.” Mike said.

Dustin just sighed, threw his hands up, and started rounding the corner of the RV. Eddie’s van was here, ergo Eddie. Dustin was sure he’d be lurking around here somewhere. The rest of the boys followed, their previous hesitation now nowhere to be seen.

“Come on.” He gestured towards the window. They all leaned in and Dustin was already furiously rapping on the window. “Ed - “

Dustin’s eyes went wide. And maybe his face a bit pink.

Eddie was here alright.

He was laying in bed. Very much not alone. There were two of them, lying in bed together. They were under the covers but Eddie was sprawled out on top of someone, a thick curtain of hair hanging over both faces. Clearly, ew, kissing, based on, and Dustin might be scarred for life here, a hand gripping Eddie’s hair at the base of his neck.

As for the tunes, the obvious culprit was in the corner of the room. Eddie’s little cassette stereo.

“Eddie?” Dustin blanched before he could stop himself. And it was of course, in that exact moment Culture Club decided to betray them and the tape cut out.

Will went to shush him, grabbing his shoulder to drag him away but oh no, Eddie definitely heard something. The guy squawked and jolted up in bed, swooping the covers up to hide them both in their immodesty. Eddie’s eyes peaked over his elbow like a vampire leering over his cloak. He gaped at the window, clearly rather horrified.

The boys all threw themselves out of the frame, Dustin pressing up against the back of the trailer.

“What the fuck - “ he heard Eddie say. “What the fuck.” He sounded almost angry but closer to panicked. There was a vague whispering match, but whispering was never really Eddie’s strong suit, so they heard him just fine.

“Relax.” Eddie said, though he did not himself sound relaxed. “No, it’s fine. We’re cool. You need to - I need you cool right now.”

They heard something like a grown man crashing off the bed and gracelessly hit the floor.

“I know, I know, I know. I know! Christ, I’m sorry, ok? I didn’t - I’ll deal with it. Just - “

The boys were already turning tail and scurrying back to their bikes. Gone entirely red in the face.

“I told you this was a bad idea.” Mike said, the hypocrite bastard.

“No you did not!” Dustin huffed.

The front door swung open with a bang and Eddie came spilling out towards them as he, oh gross, scrambled to get into his jeans. He was still shirtless and sweaty, hair fluffed up like an angry cat. Looking rather frantic.

“It’s not what it looks like!” He actually looked properly pissed, hands shaking with it as he did up his fly.

“We didn’t see anything.” Lucas put his hands up, but the guilty way he refused to meet Eddie’s eyes kind of gave up the game.

“Nothing!” Will squeaked, beet red and squeezing his eyes closed tight. Just in case they hadn’t made themselves look incriminating enough.

“God, of all the shit fucking timing -“ Eddie’s fist clenched up in front of him and he let out a frustrated noise, eyes darting around the trailer park. “Look I can explain. If you just, ergh, give me a minute to think of something.”

“No need! We didn’t see anything, promise.” Mike assured him again, his voice nearly steady. Good for him.

“Right so. I guess, did I mention I’ve take up recently taken up semi pro Grecian wrestling - “

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Dustin couldn’t help interrupting him. Lucas smacked him. He gave Lucas a face, which was returned, so Dustin did it again even harder. But fuck Lucas cause it may have been the right thing to say. Eddie stopped fluttering, looked right at him. Squinted, scanning his face.

“You know you can just tell us. If you did. You could have just told us in the first place.” Dustin didn’t get why Eddie wouldn’t. Did Eddie think this kind of thing was too ‘grown up’ for them. They were high school freshman for Christ sake! The only one of their little crew who didn’t have a girlfriend was Will. And I guess Steve.

Allegedly.

Of course, Dustin didn’t believe that for a second.

“I - what?” Eddie perked up.

“If you had a girlfriend. Do you? Is that - “

Eddie huffed out a hysterical laugh. It was weird. But then, Eddie wasn’t exactly the poster child for Normal. Dustin crossed his arms.

“Sure. Yeah.” He took a big breath as he looked behind him back into the trailer. “I have a... my girlfriend.”

“Sorry. For coming over.” Will said, timid like a mouse.

“It was Dustin’s idea.” He took Mike for many things but never a rat. Dustin sputtered indignantly, throwing up his hands.

“And we didn’t even see anything, really! So if you’re worried about your girlfriend’s modesty, like - we didn’t see anything, we swear! Right guys?.” Lucas insisted. Mike and Will bobbleheaded in agreement.

“What the hell are you squirts doing here, anyways?” Eddie said, scrubbing roughly at his forehead.

“I needed to get my binder.” Dustin said flatly. And maybe to remind Eddie that hey, he’s still here too. Like, right here.

“Your fucking - “ Eddie said in disbelief, and then he laughed. “Your binder.”

“You weren’t answering the phone.”

“Yeah well I was busy.” Eddie said, eyes wide and awfully antagonistic.

“Busy getting busy.”

Eddie turned his wild eyes on Lucas

“Thin ice, Sinclair. Thin fucking ice.”

That just made him chuckle again. At least he half tried to hide it behind his hand. But Lucas always was the least cowed by Eddie.

“Is this why you haven’t been hanging around anymore, like all month.”

“Jesus. Henderson, I’m sorry, ok? Hard as it is to believe, I do have a fucking life outside the game.” Yeah, Dustin thought, it was pretty hard to believe. “Look, just give me a second.”

“I’ll be quick - “ Dustin made a move to come inside.

“No.” Eddie firmly hip checked him out of the way.

Eddie slipped back into the trailer. Through the open door Dustin could just barely make out the words.

“False alarm. No - actually. I’m being serious. They think - “

They think what? Think they have a right to be here at Eddie’s trailer. Taking up space in Eddie’s life. Well they do. The party almost died saving the world side by side with Eddie, they had more right to be here than that - Dustin just grumbled. He wouldn’t call her a harlot. But only because Susie’s voice was already in the back of his head, admonishing the thought.

Eddie came back and pushed the binder hard into Dustin’s chest. He was stumbled back a step. “Now scram.” He said, not leaving room for Dustin to get a word in edgewise.

“Look, I’m sorry I haven’t been around but I… See you at Hellfire, ok?” Eddie slammed the door in their faces.

“How great could this even chick be?” Dustin frowned. Great enough to edge the party out of Eddie’s life it seems like.

The other boys just shrugged. They all picked up their bikes.

“I mean, why can’t he just like, bring her along when we hang out or something.”

“I told you, maybe he just wants to hang out with someone his own age for once.” Lucas said.

Maybe Eddie’s too cool to bring his new girlfriend around his dorky freshmen friends. Is he embarrassed to introduce them to her or something.

“Come on.” Will said. “We should get back to Mike’s.”

“Yeah. Yeah whatever.” Dustin said.

———

“Since it’s Friday, our parents said me and Mike and Lucas could go to the arcade for an hour before it gets dark.” Dustin said to Eddie as they walked through the empty school hallway after Hellfire.

“No can do, compadre. Fight the good fight against those Space Invaders in my steed, yeah?” Eddie grinned down at him over the few boxes of mini in his hands.

Dustin huffed.

“What? Too busy hanging out with your girlfriend? Dustin said petulantly. “Just bring her along if your - “

The three most senior PC’s in Hellfire skid to a stop in front of them. Dustin and Eddie nearly walked straight into the wall of them. It was almost comical the way all their heads swiveled around to oogle at him. Jeff only just managed to choke back a chortle.

Dustin was honestly offended on Eddie’s behalf. Sure, dude was a drug dealing, super duper senior nerd/freak/metalhead combo who had been semi-recently accused of ritualistic dismemberment - but certainly someone was into that.

“My -? Oh yeah my, my - that.” Eddie winced, avoiding many, many eyes.

“Oh, and you have a girlfriend now do you?” Gareth huffed a laugh, in clear disbelief. Eddie glared daggers at him.

Dustin really didn’t see why it was that hard to believe. Eddie was like, really cool. It was an indisputable fact. If all of them could see it, why couldn’t some weird, off the wall alt girl see it too.

“I don’t want to hear a fucking word from you. Any one of you.” Pointing rapidly at all three of them, like he was warding off the words waiting right at the tip of their tongues.

“So who’s the lucky lady, Munson?” Jared said, like he had ‘held action, Vicious Mockery’ and simply couldn’t help himself. He was fighting a positively delighted smile. Eddie flushed.

“The DM giveth and the DM taketh away, and you would be very wise to remember that, Ser Elias.” Eddie said loudly, still jabbing his finger about like it made him more authoritative.

“Sorry man, just joking around.” Jeff grinned good naturedly.

“Yeah, I mean, good for you dude.” Gareth said, with a genuine smile. He tapped Eddie on the chest who childishly batted Gareth’s hand away.

“No, don’t do that. I - seriously guys, we’re not - it’s not like that. I’m not ‘dating’ anyone.” Eddie deflated, looking uncomfortable. The unflappable Eddie, looking all too flappable after all. He tucked a piece of hair behind his ear and huffed. “Just someone I’ve been screwing around with alright.”

Eddie walked past them. Dustin almost felt bad for bringing it up. Almost.

He turned to Gareth.

“So you guys don’t have any idea who it is?”

The guys looked around at each other, all of them shrugging.

“Who knows.” Jared shrugged again, this one still no more helpful than the last.

“Unless,” Gareth straight up giggles, “it’s that suburban mom Eddie’s been swooning over since sophomore year.”

“Yeah right.” Jared chuckled, shoving Gareth forward. They all continued walking.

“That… doesn’t seem like his type.” Dustin said, suddenly confused and perturbed and feeling like he doesn’t know Eddie Munson at all.

“You’d be surprised.” Jared grinned and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

They exited the school just in time to see Steve getting out of the car. Usually after Hellfire he didn’t bother. He just wanted to get the kids rounded up and out of the parking lot as quickly as he could ever really manage. Not today though. Eddie walked to Steve’s Beemer, parked in the stall next to his van.

“Munson.” He said with a small smile. He grabbed one of a few boxes of minis out of Eddie’s arms.

“Uh, Harrington.” Eddie gave a hesitant smile, before bowing his head with predictable theatrically.

“Hi, Steve.” Dustin said from behind. Steve gave him a fond nod before looking back up to the DM.

“So, uh, how was the session?” He said kind of awkwardly.

“Bordering on child abuse.” Eddie beamed.

“I got knocked out, twice.” Lucas windged, holding up two fingers as he walked by.

“Whatever keeps you humble.” Steve shrugged. He turned back to Eddie. “So. Uh. Any plans for this weekend?”

Eddie blinked, then he raised his eyebrows with a haughty grin. “Dunno, had a few things in mind.” He shrugged.

“Cool. That’s cool. I did too. But uh, then my parents came home from their trip early.” Steve scratched the back of his neck. “So, you know, guess there go my plans for the weekend.”

“Huh.” Eddie frowned. “Bummer.”

“Shotgun!” Dustin decided, throwing open the passenger side door.

Mike, Lucas, and Will who also couldn’t care less about their inane small talk, were already piling into Steve’s car. Steve was lingering though, helping Eddie load his stuff into the van. Dustin’s glad they’re making an effort to be friendly acquaintances, especially since he’s pretty sure it’s mostly for his own sake. But come on, it was like, 3 small boxes. They had space invasions to thwart.

And of course, Lucas was still bitching at Dustin about his failure to come through with a healing spell.

“I’m a bard, what did you want me to do?” Dustin rolled his eyes.

“You have healing word!” Lucas said, to which Dustin roll his eyes. Again.

“Which does like, 2D-nothing!” He looked out the window, wishing Steve would hurry the hell up already. Him and Eddie were still talking? What the hell did those two even have to talk about? Eddie was giving Steve an optimistic grin, but Steve was just shaking his head.

“Cure wounds than!” Lucas groused.

“Well, then you should have thought about that before you went down thirty-five feet away.”

“You could have dashed.” Lucas crossed his arms.

“Ugh. That would have defeated the whole - ugh!” Dustin rolled the window down impatiently. “Steve is it cool if I eat in your car?“ Dustin hollered. He wasn’t actually gonna, he just knew how to get the man’s attention.

“Absolutely not! You know the rules.”

“Don’t worry, it’s just a granola bar! Nature Valley.” Dustin shouted back.

“Don’t even think about it Henderson!” Steve said, already rounding the car. Eddie laughed brightly.

“Harrington?” He said.

“I - Yeah. Fine. Fine, alright.” Steve said to which Eddie smiled triumphantly. That better mean they were done with their little pow-wow.

Eddie climbed into his own vehicle. Steve opened the Beemer’s drivers side door but he didn’t get in yet. Instead he stood there running his hand through his hair muttering something to himself.

“See ya, nerds!” Eddie called out, lowering his own window. There was a chorus of goodbyes from the Beemer. “And Harrington -“ He started the van and a blast of guitar poured out. He smiled that Eddie smile. “You worry too much.” He said. And then he swept out of the parking lot with the sound of his obnoxious music on the wind.

“Yeah. Sure.” Steve muttered sarcastically. He got behind the wheel, Dustin’s threat of snacking seemingly forgotten.

“What was that about?”

Steve just waved him off and started the car.

Dustin eyed Steve skeptically. So what, were Steve and Eddie like, actually friends now or something?

Maybe he knows.

After a few minutes, Dustin finally broke and asked.

“Soooo, do you know who Eddie’s been seeing?”

“What?” Steve says, nearly swerving over the line.

“Jesus!” Lucas swore from the back.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Steve chuckled awkwardly, eyes now, thankfully, firmly fixed on the road.

“Of course he’s not gonna tell Steve.” Mike grumbled.

Dustin stroked an imaginary beard. The fog of mystery only grew thicker and thicker.

“His secret girlfriend.” Mike said, like a little know it all.

Steve just huffed a, sure.

“I bet she’s like, some badass metal chick.” Mike said reverently, looking out the window. “She probably has like face piercings and crazy dyed hair. Or like a shaved head or something cool like that.”

Dustin sighed. She probably was badass. Way cooler than they were. Way too cool to bring around the dork squad.

“Does that sound like anyone you’ve seen around here?” Lucas said skeptically.

“Yeah, I dunno. Gareth said he was into like… suburban moms.” Dustin grimaced.

“Excuse me?” Steve sputtered.

Will made a disgusted noise.

“I know.” Dustin shivered.

“Better watch out for your mom then.” Lucas snickered. Dustin shot him a dirty look.

“Yeah, no way.” Mike shook his head. “He had to be messing with you or something. Eddie probably has like, groupies and stuff.”

“Please. That man has no game.” Lucas said. Steve snorted but played it off like a cough.

“That man runs the game.” Dustin said defensively.

“You know that’s not what that means.” Lucas said.

“The real question is, how long has this little dalliance been going on for?” Dustin pondered.

“Hey, you nosey little twerps. I really don’t think this is like, any of your business.”

“At least a few weeks right?” Lucas spoke up.

“And how do you know that?” Mike said.

“Cause that’s how long it’s been that Eddie’s been using the phrase ‘busy’ to get out of stuff. I mean he’s a jobless, drug peddling hobo, I don’t think I’ve seen Eddie be busy like, ever.” Lucas said, scratching his chin. “Until a few weeks ago that is.”

Dustin grinned widely. “It’s elementary, my dear Watson.”

“It’s invasive is what it is.” Steve grumbled. “Also, he’s not a hobo. He has a house.”

“Well, I guess, technically it’s a trailer.” Will said, rather pedantically.

“Well, it’s got four walls. And he lives inside them. Ergo…”

“He’s also been a lot nicer.” Will said thoughtfully.

“Huh?” Dustin and Steve said, and looked at him in unison.

“The last couple weeks, don’t you think?” Will said, smiling faintly. “He’s been nicer than usual. Or happier. I guess.”

“I guess.” Dustin said.

“You think?” Steve said.

“Okay,” Dustin should have a houndstooth cap and a pipe. “We have our timeline. Now, we need to root out suspects.”

“Alright, this, whatever this is, stops here. You nosey little twerps need to mind your own business.”

“But - “

“I don’t want to hear it. No buts.”

And that was the end of that. For now at least.

1 / 2 / 3

Tag List : @reading-archieves @homoerotictangerine @bingbongsupremacy @aroseandherthorns @wheneverfeasible @travelingtwentysomething @ineffable-monster-romancer @laughingphantoms @gregre369 @rawrx3ky-txt

(Stayed tuned for emotional immaturity! Reply to be added to the tag list!)

[1pepsiboy]

Falling Asleep on the Vlog - Matt Sturniolo Fluff (request)

Matt Sturniolo x reader!

Word count: 842

POV: Third (y/n)

Warnings: nothing except caring boyfriend Matt

***

Chris and Nick are ahead of you and Matt as you all piled into the house. Nick held the camera as they continued to record. The four of you went to get the new baja blast flavor from Taco Bell. Mostly for Chris since it was his idea after he saw an ad for it. Of course, there was also a party box of tacos that came home too. 

It was a long day at work for you. There were so many (rude) customers that you dealt with, and you helped with unloading the inventory that arrived. You only agreed to leave the house because Matt had to drive and you didn’t want to be alone. Being in the vlog?… That you were even less thrilled about since you looked like an absolute disaster. And your mood was not particularly cheerful. 

But coming over to the house always played the game of are they recording now or no? Matt was usually pretty good about giving you a heads up. He forgot to do it this time, but you couldn’t put all the blame on him. It was just part of the deal with dating him and being around their work. 

You reach the top of the stairs and Matt carefully starts to lead you toward the kitchen. You let go of Matt and your lightly laced fingers. Immediately, he turns around with puppy dog eyes. The scruff he had actually somehow made it cuter and more heartbreaking. 

“Where are you going?” His voice was so soft and only loud enough for you to hear. 

“No where, just want to chill on the couch till you're done.” You shoot him a small smile. 

This only makes slight concern cross his face and he steps in closer to you. “Is everything okay?”

You kiss him on the cheek. “Yeah, work was a lot today and I’m just tired.” 

“What happened? Your manager didn’t shit on you again, did they?”

Up to this point, you had been putting up a smoke screen, holding it together for your boyfriend and his brothers so they could get content. Without warning for either of you, tears welled up and slipped down your cheeks. 

“I do s-so much… I put up with a lot from customers… no one asks i-if I’m okay.”

Matt engulfed you in a tight bear hug and stroked your hair. He whispered into your ear, “Sssh, babe. I am and always will.”

After what felt like minutes of Matt soothing you, rather than leaving you by yourself he talks to Nick and Chris over his shoulder. You tried not to listen too closely. You only focused on the peaceful rhythm of his heartbeat in his chest.

He let go of his warm hug and you couldn’t help whimpering. “Babe…”

“I’m sorry, I just gotta do this one part. I’ll be over right after, promise.” He kissed your temple and gestured to the couch. 

Reluctantly, you slipped into the background on the couch. It felt like they were talking about the new drink and whatever else for hours. Matt was constantly checking in on you, and it would be obvious to the fans that something was off. Hopefully Nick could magically edit out a majority of the off screen glances. 

The slight breakdown and lull of scrolling through your phone made your eyelids heavy. You managed to pull the closest blanket over you to curl up in. A little while after closing your eyes, you felt arms pick you up and then both of you lowered onto the couch again. 

“What?” you groaned, a light yawn escaping. “What’s going on?”

Matt giggled. “You fell asleep, babe.”

“Oh…” 

Your head fell on his shoulder as Matt’s arms wrapped around your body acting like a shield. Matt kissed the top of your forehead then he rested his head on top of yours. Your eyes immediately tug close again, it was hard to fight off the prickling sleep. 

“You guys are disgustingly cute,” Nick commented. 

Chris aimed the camera at the two of you. “Goodnight campers!”

“Ew.” Nick scrunched his nose. “No, that was reserved for the podcast only. Don’t do that.”

“Well, now that’s over, we should start using it in the vlogs,” Chris bartered. 

Nick shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

“What? Why not? Come on! They love it!”

Matt flipped them off. “Ssh! End the vlog over there. Please?”

Chris jutted out his bottom lip. “Aww, Nick, he said pwease.”

Nick rolled his eyes, but then babied, “Aren’t you such a good boyfriend, Matty? Cuddling with (y/n) and defending her from us.” He reached over to ruffle his hair. 

Matt swatted his hand away with one hand, attempting to not disturb you. “Yeah? This is why I’m the only one not single.” 

“Oh, I’m single by choice,” Nick threw back quickly. 

“Me too,” Chris agreed. 

Matt rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say.” 

You couldn’t help the smile that spread on your lips and you snuggled more into Matt, fueling more of the fire between them.