#ur only halfway through the dungeon.. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

hcrringtonsbat · 3 years ago

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𝐒𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐓 - 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟐 (𝐄.𝐌.)

summary: after everything you did last week, eddie was convinced that you learned your lesson. but, you still refuse to say any bad words. he thinks you're in need of a refresher. [5.8k words]

warnings: smut [18+ minors dni or i will take ur phone],oral (f receiving), hand job, dirty talk, teasing, penetrative sex, cum eating, dom!reader if you squint really hard

pairing: eddie munson x female!best friend!reader

a/n: oh. my gosh. after almost 30 days of not posting because tumblr sh*dowbanned me, I have returned with a second part to say it! i'm super excited to be back and thank you for all the love and support on the first part! also!! read more glitches out my fics! i’ll try and fix what i see but if i miss something, i apologize in advance!

“Stop!” Dustin yelled abruptly, ceasing the frantic bickering.

“Eddie,” He ran a stressful finger through his curls then looked at the Dungeon Master sitting on his throne, “Can we please have a break?”

“We’re getting absolutely demolished here,” Gareth added, causing the rest of the Hellfire members to nod in agreement.

“Fine,” Eddie caved.

“Your asses better be back in these seats in 15 minutes because Rogue Leonardo waits for nobody.” He leaned forward with emphasis.

With that, the younger members of Hellfire fled the drama room. You could see streaks of lightning following Erica, Lucas, Mike, and Dustin as they dashed straight for the vending machines.

Things were absolutely chaotic.

Erica and Lucas had tried biting each other’s heads off at least 3 times. Jeff had shaved the eraser on his pencil down to the wood because he was so stressed out.

You could’ve sworn locks of Gareth’s hair littered the floor because he’d been pulling at it for hours.

It was safe to say that this is a really tough campaign.

“Eddie, what the hell were you thinking? Half of our Mages will be dead by the time we’re finished today!” Jeff chastised, staring with wide eyes.

“Are you questioning my creative decisions as Dungeon Master?” Eddie asked, clearly challenging his friend.

Oh, he’s definitely in a mood. You thought, observing the impending situation.

It was like watching a car wreck, listening to Jeff try (and fail) at recovering.

He choked out a response, “N-No! It’s just-”

The kids came bustling into the room, distracting everyone from the brewing argument, "Hey." Lucas greeted, before opening a packet of Kit Kats.

Each person held a different snack from the various vending machines scattered throughout the school. Someone must have swiped the keys to open the machines because there is no way in hell they returned so fast with that many treats.

Lucas held chocolate, Erica and Mike had chips, and Dustin cradled various drinks.

You perked up at the sight of M&M's in Lucas' left hand, “Lucas, can I have the M&M’s?” You asked politely from your seat next to Eddie.

“Sure,” He replied from halfway across the room.

It’s safe to assume that your hand-eye coordination was not up to par. Any sport or physical activity elicited flashbacks to gym class.

During freshman year, you and Eddie spent most of the period running away from the athletic students trying to get both of you to participate.

So, when Lucas hurdled the packet of M&M’s straight towards your face, you weren’t prepared.

The king-sized bag of chocolate came speeding toward you at 300 miles per hour.

Looking up from your notebook that had all of the strategies of this semester’s campaign, you felt the impact on your left eye.

“Motherlover! Lucas?” You start, bringing a hand to your face, “Why on earth would you throw it!?”

“I didn't think you were going to get up!” He exclaimed, “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

Everyone else in the room found the interaction to be quite funny.

To you, it happened in slow motion. But to them, they saw everything unfold and it was hilarious.

You glanced around with the only eye in use, frustrated that they found humor in your demise.

Then again, it’s not like you hadn’t laughed when Dustin fell face-first off his chair rejoicing one of Erica’s crit hits.

Your eyes– Well, eye landed on Eddie and your frustration morphed into confusion.

You expected him to be the main one cackling, but he wasn't. In fact, not an inch of humor clouded his face. Eddie looked slightly pissed.

This was the same look that always kidnapped his typically upbeat and smiling face whenever one of the members of Hellfire (usually Erica) outsmarted one of his traps.

It consisted of dead eyes, inclined eyebrows, and the slight upturn of his lip.

Realization hit you like a semi-truck on the freeway.

You said the one word Eddie tried so hard to permanently remove from your vocabulary. Motherlover.

Nervousness overtook your body and you needed to leave the room to catch your breath, if only for a few seconds. Being under Eddie’s intense stare always seemed to stir something in you.

“Eddie,” You gulped, “How many more minutes of intermission do we have left?” It was a risky move talking to him.

“10 minutes until we reconvene.” He replied, casually.

Too casually.

Still clutching your left eye, you rose from your seat before heading towards the door.

“Y/N, come on. We could be discussing strategies right now. Is this really necessary?” Mike said, dropping the bag of Doritos from his hand.

“Maybe if Lucas wasn’t such an NBA star, my eye wouldn’t be pulsing out of its socket!” You countered.

You peered at Lucas and saw him being swallowed by his seat, refusing to make eye contact with anyone else in the room. He clearly felt bad.

You made a mental note to assure him that you were fine.

But that was later. Right now, the only task at hand was fleeing this all-of-a-sudden claustrophobic room.

After clearing the doorway, you wasted no time finding the nearest bathroom outside of the corridor.

Glancing in the mirror, you examined your left eye. Other than a bit of throbbing and a run-of-the-mill case of embarrassment, everything seemed to be fine.

If you disregarded the fact that your heart was nearly about to beat out of your chest.

Despite everything that happened with you and Eddie a week ago, things went right back to normal. Neither of you had mentioned the sinful activities that took place in his trailer.

From the look on his face back in the drama room, you could tell he was thinking about it. Thinking about-

A voice pierced through the silence, tearing you from your thoughts, "You okay over there, Princess?"

Eddie Munson was standing in the threshold of the women's bathroom. He had shed his signature leather + denim jacket combo and was leaning against the door, looking as calm as ever.

"Christ," You clutched your chest, visibly startled by his abrupt appearance, "Eddie, you can't be in here."

"One," Eddie held up his pointer finger that brandished his infamous skull ring, "It's a Friday night. Pretty sure no one else is here."

You couldn't tear your eyes away from his fingers, instantly recalling how they were plunged inside of you only a week ago.

Why must he talk with his hands?

"Two," He continued, "When have you ever known me to follow the rules?" Eddie took a few steps forward, officially entering the bathroom.

"And three: I'm just checking on my best friend." He finished, sounding so innocent (if that was even possible).

"I just needed a second." You explained, shrugging.

Eddie didn't respond. Instead, he came up to you and ran his eyes up and down your face, checking for any signs of bruising.

"If the basketball team was as good on the court as Lucas is with M&M's, they'd win more games.” Eddie joked.

You chuckled in response, "Most definitely."

A comfortable silence clouded the seconds that passed since the last time either of you spoke.

"We should get back."

You began to move around Eddie but in one swift motion, he grabbed you by the belt loop of your jeans and pulled you into him. His hands rested gently on your hips.

"Now that we're here," Eddie slipped something into your hand, "I guess I can return these."

Gazing down at your palm, staring back at you were the panties that Eddie had so kindly pocketed (stolen).

You snapped your fingers shut around them.

"Seriously, Sweetheart?"

A smirk adorned his face, "Again with the motherlover?"

Eddie's voice dropped an octave when he whispered, "Did you not learn your lesson?"

Cool. Calm. Collected. I can stay cool, calm, and collected. You repeated it like a mantra, forcing yourself to believe it.

"No. It's just... the word has been in my vocabulary ever since Freshman year. It's gonna take a little bit for it to filter out."

Miraculously, you didn't stutter or falter once.

Regardless, Eddie was able to see right through the act and tutted, "Y/N.... always so stubborn. I’ve cracked you before, I can do it again."

Feeling his breath ghost your neck had every bone & nerve inside of your body screaming to let him take you right here in this bathroom that probably hasn’t been cleaned in who knows how long.

Before either of you could act on those impulses, a voice cut through the tension, "Eddie?! Is Y/N okay?"

Lucas.

Curse that boy for being such a gentleman. His timing couldn't have been worse.

"Just peachy," Eddie responded to the freshman, a grin on his face as he deciphered the look in your eyes that was clearly longing for him.

"C'mon," He began to back away, "Our fifteen minutes are almost up."

And with that, he walked out of the grimy bathroom. You watched as his hair bounced with each step he took.

If it was hell to pretend like you didn't have any sort of feelings for him before... Imagine what it was going to be like this time.

˚ · •. ° .

"Okay!" You restacked the notecards on your desk, "I think we're finally ready to ace O'Donnell's test tomorrow. What do you think?"

Eddie was currently sprawled out on your bed alongside countless textbooks, notecards, and loose pieces of paper.

He rubbed his temple, "I think not even the promise of a new miniature could get me to think straight right now."

Eddie was tired and groggy.

He arrived at your house early this Sunday morning anticipating a pretty chill study session. Instead, he was hit with the "Intense Y/L/N Study Regimen" and was forced to memorize countless words and phrases. He had arrived when the sun was just barely peeking through the clouds and now, it was pitch black outside.

Everything seemed fine and dandy between the two of you. It'd been 2 days since the interaction in the women's bathroom during Hellfire. 2 days was more than enough time to allow things to settle. Right?

You sighed, "My hands are numb."

Even though studying until the color drained from Eddie's face was your idea, it still took a toll on you. Towards the end of the session, you began stuttering over your words as you read off terms for a comatose Eddie to memorize.

After standing up and stretching, you headed towards your bedroom door, "I think I'm going to get some water. Do you want-"

"I can't stop thinking about you, Y/N."

His words stopped you dead in your tracks.

One thing you learned about Eddie over the years is how he acted when he was tired. Depending on the day, he could be extremely clingy: always having a hand on your arm or around your shoulder. Sometimes, he'd rub his eyes furiously and you'd be forced to pry his palms away from his face.

But no matter what, the ability to control what left his mouth was nowhere in sight. He said any and every thought that came to mind when he was tired.

And today? Eddie was exhausted.

You wanted to tell him to stop before he admitted something he'd regret but, you just couldn't get yourself to say the words.

"I mean, I can't stop thinking about what we did." He propped himself into a seated position.

We can be mature. We can talk about this. You thought. After all, what's the point of being so-called "best friends" if you can't communicate?

"Eddie-" You started but he began to speak over you. He was making a habit out of interrupting you mid-sentence and it was starting to get annoying.

"I'm still not convinced that you've learned your lesson."

The last time he said that his breath was tickling your neck, and his voice was barely above a whisper.

You forced yourself to roll your eyes, and faked a tone of betrayal, "Of course, I learned my lesson!"

Eddie shook his head feverishly, his hair flying every which way, "See, that's where you're wrong."

He rose from your bed and began striding over towards where you stood. You could hear the siren labeled, 'Eddie Is About To Do Something' go off inside your head.

It was the way he carried himself that gave it away. The barely visible smirk on his face, the way he spoke, the words he chose... everything.

He continued, "I know you think I hardly listen to you, Y/N but, I heard you on Friday."

His fingers danced up the side of your arm, "Your signature catchphrase made an appearance.”

"Were my fingers not enough?"

There he goes again, saying things that made a wet spot form in your underwear. Everything about Eddie had your knees weak and nerves screaming.

You sucked in a breath, trying very hard not to let your confident stance fumble, "I just... need more time for things to stick."

As of recently, he just loved to see you flustered. Stumbling over your words, avoiding eye contact— that sort of thing. Eddie found his opening.

"So what I'm hearing is, you need a little refresher?"

Ding. Ding. Ding. He hit the jackpot. He saw the way the muscles in your jaw contracted, telling him everything he needed to know. You were turned on.

"C'mon, you're not thinking straight, Eds. Let me grab you some cold water from the fridge and you'll start to wake up a bit, 'kay?" You countered.

"I think getting to taste your pussy would wake me right up. What do you think?"

His brown eyes stared deep into yours. Their doe-like appearance made him look so innocent. If only people knew what sinful thoughts churned behind them half of the time.

Immediately, your attempt at being unphased crumbled, "Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack." He deadpanned.

Eddie then closed the gap between the two of you and planted a soft kiss on your lips. You melted into it, signaling that you had stopped fighting what was bound to happen.

"O-okay." You conceded, "But my parents will be home soon."

Eddie shrugged, "That's okay, Princess. All I need is a few minutes."

This time, Eddie kissed your neck and began slowly backing you up against your bedroom door as he found a spot to focus on behind your ear.

Instinctively, your hands found Eddie's strong back. You pulled on the fabric of his Iron Maiden t-shirt as you craned your neck to the side.

Eddie gave a few more quick pecks before sliding down onto his knees.

God. I’m about to pass out. You wanted to scream. Instead, a breathy moan escaped your lips, "Eddie,"

He spoke, gazing up at you, "I'm gonna take such good care of you, darling."

Eddie unzipped your jeans while you braced yourself against the door of your bedroom. You clutched the handle for extra support.

Once your jeans were fully unbuttoned, Eddie began to slowly rub your clit through your underwear.

It was slightly embarrassing at how wet you are considering he's barely even touched you.

He continued to draw slow and steady circles on your clit before speaking, "You like that, Princess?"

"Mhm," You nodded frantically.

You were so swept up in the euphoria that you almost didn't hear the familiar sound of your garage door open. If there was ever a time to swear, right now offered the perfect opportunity.

All the air was sucked out of the room in an instant. Your eyes snapped shut with annoyance as Eddie stopped teasing your clit and gazed up at you.

He saw you fighting the urge to pound your head against your door in frustration.

You really didn't want this to end.

“They’re home.” Deliberating silently for a moment, you continued, "We can be quiet."

Eddie's hand began to move inside of your jeans. You smiled solemnly, happy that he obliged you.

It wasn't until you felt your zipper being tugged upward that you opened your eyes. Eddie had risen from his knees and was standing in front of you, fixing your pants.

"I think you've got it backward, Sweetheart," He started, "I want you screaming."

"Can't do that when your parents are home, now can we?"

You watched, mouth agape as Eddie slowly retrieved the hefty rings that were shoved inside of his pocket and put them back on.

"Excuse me," He gestured to the door, "I should go say hi."

Regardless of how separated your mind was from your body, you still moved a few steps to the left to allow Eddie to leave the room.

He flashed you an arrogant smile before rounding a corner to head down the stairs. You heard his heavy boots come in contact with each step before reaching the bottom of the staircase.

"Oh, Eddie! I’m glad we caught you before you left." You could make out every word your mother said, even from all the way upstairs.

"Y/N!" Your father called, "Come down here and help us with these groceries, please!" His booming voice tore you from your trance.

As much as you wanted to be furious with Eddie, he was right. Sounds had the tendency to carry inside of your house. And if he was planning on doing half of the things he did last week, there's no way you would've been able to keep quiet.

That would've been baaaaaaad.

Trotting down the stairs, you entered the kitchen to see Eddie carrying the heaviest grocery bag. His face was scrunched in hopes of not letting it show that he was struggling, wanting to impress your Dad.

You smiled at the sight.

"Here," You approached him and gripped the handle. Your hand grazed Eddie's knuckles slightly, feeling the frigidness of his rings.

The both of you heaved the 40-pound bag onto the countertop.

"Now Eddie," Your father opened the fridge and placed a milk carton inside, "I'd hate to put you to work after Y/N kicked your ass up there."

Your Mom chimed in, "How was studying?"

Oh yeah, it was great! Just Eddie almost fingering me while I was pressed up against my door. Ya know, same old same old! You joked inside of your head.

Your Mom stared at you with a furrowed brow, awaiting an audible response.

Eddie spoke instead, "It was good but, my brain is temporarily out of order." He chuckled.

He peered over his shoulder to look at you, shielding his dubious smirk from prying eyes, "Don't worry. I'll get her back soon enough."

Your eyes widened to the size of basketballs. There is no way he just- In front of my parents?

It would’ve been so easy to take the bag you just placed on the counter and hurl it at his head. You doubt that he'd be that injured from the impact.

Attempted murder was life in prison possibility of parole? You could live with those odds.

Instead of taking the homicidal route, you opted for a tight lip smile, "Oh, I'm sure you will."

˚ · •. ° .

A piece of paper was stuffed into your locker this morning behind your various textbooks. It was a miracle that you even spotted it. It read, My trailer. Tonight at 8.

If the word "trailer" wasn't a dead giveaway as to who wrote it, the penmanship was.

It was pretentious. You knew it, Eddie knew it too. Yet, here you were, perched on his doorstep at exactly 8:00 PM. You forced yourself to enter Eddie's trailer. Twisting the handle and pushing forward, you found that it'd been unlocked for you.

You wandered in slowly. This was the first time you'd been back here since everything happened last week.

It felt the same exact way it had for the past few years you'd been frequenting it. A smile tugged on your lips as a warm feeling of comfort entered your stomach, calming down your nerves.

The door to Eddie's room was wide open. From where you stood on the opposite side of the hallway, you could see him sitting up in his bed, guitar in hand. The amplifier was nowhere in sight, which left you to assume that he'd just been lightly strumming until you arrived.

Your feet shuffled on the carpet as you approached his room. You were standing clear as day in the doorway, but Eddie’s eyes were still fixated on his guitar. He either hadn’t noticed you yet or refused to acknowledge your presence.

Your knuckles knocked on his door, “Hey.”

Finally, his eyes teared away from his instrument and landed on you. Without a word, he hung his guitar back on the wall where it normally resides and started towards you.

Eddie stopped just inches away from your face. Then, he reached into his pocket, pulled out his guitar pick, and placed it on the desk to your left.

“Just needed to put this back.” He shrugged, oh-so-casually before he turned around and plopped down on his bed.

It’s kind of funny. How everything that’s been happening over these past few weeks came to a head in just one moment. What Eddie just did was nothing compared to the other day at your house.

But you were tired, and because Eddie had been teasing you for days… you were beyond horny.

“Gosh,” You sighed, then began pacing the room.

Eddie’s eyebrows furrowed with concern, but his interest was piqued, “What are you doing?"

"Thinking."

"Well," He stood and began to guide you towards his bed, "Sit down. You’re freaking me out."

You swatted his hand away, "No!"

"Ouch." He retracted, rubbing his knuckle, "We're supposed to save the violence for Dungeons and Dragons, Y/N." Eddie chastised.

“You…” A beat passed before you added, “Asshole.”

The look that overtook Eddie’s face was pure shock. You would’ve been able to enjoy it if you weren’t so riled up, “You are the biggest shithead I’ve ever met, do you know that?”

“My, my,” He shook his head disapprovingly, “Y/N Y/L/N saying a bad word unprovoked?”

If you weren’t fuming before, you were definitely fuming now, “U-Unprovoked? Are you kidding me? You think that all this is happening right now because I was unprovoked?”

“First, you rile me up in the bathroom at school! Then, you are seconds away from giving me what I want at my house, and you stop just because my parents came home? I thought the prospect of breaking rules excited you, Eddie!”

“And now, you pull this shit here at your trailer and flop on your bed… the same bed that you humped like a dog while your head was between my thighs?”

After letting all of that out, a sense of calm entered your body. You took a deep breath before continuing, “Eddie… I have been turned on for days. I can hardly sit still during Hellfire anymore. It’s torture.”

Eddie spoke, ��I didn’t know I had you this riled up, Princess. You could have told me.”

He beckoned you over to him with a wave of his hand, and you approached him, entranced. You felt as his fingers danced along the waistband of your jeans, “I’ll give you what you want, Y/N. Just use your words.”

Finally.

“I want you inside of me, Eddie.” You whispered.

“Hmm,” He smirked, before unzipping your pants. In one fluid motion, Eddie flipped you over so that you were now laying underneath him. It almost knocked the wind out of you.

As you breathed deeply, trying to catch your breath, Eddie began stripping you of your pants.

Smirking, you tried to make it harder for him by squeezing your things together but he pried them open with little to no effort, “Gonna have to try harder than that, Sweetheart.”

Your pants were on the floor, and your underwear was next. You could see the way Eddie stared at them, probably contemplating if he was going to steal this pair too.

The prospect of getting to touch you outweighed his kleptomaniac tendencies and he threw your panties on the ground right next to your jeans.

Eddie took in the sight of you, “I can’t believe we’re here again, Princess.” He said before slowly licking a stripe up your dripping cunt.

A breathy moan escaped your lips, “Eddie, please.”

“Is this not what you wanted, Sweetheart?” His pointer finger began swirling at your clit gingerly, adding just enough pressure to get you excited, but not nearly enough as you wanted.

“You’re so beautiful like this, you know?” Eddie plunged his pointer finger inside of you, very slowly. He waited a few seconds before curling it at just the right angle, “Dripping on my sheets like the good girl you are.”

“Please, Eddie,” You begged, “I need more.”

“Awe, Sweetheart,” Your pussy felt empty as he retracted his finger. A lewd sound escaped your lips at the loss of contact, “Is one finger not enough?”

You gasped at the feeling of 2 of Eddie’s long, calloused fingers going inside of you, “Is that better?”

“Y-Yeah,” You exhaled.

His fingers fucked your aching pussy, pumping in and out of you with speed. His thumb applied pressure to your clit, scratching that itch that’s been pooling between your thighs for days.

Your back arched as his fingers curled inside of you. You bit your lip harshly to stop a whimper from escaping but, it was too late. Eddie heard it.

“Awe,” He teased, “You gonna come on my fingers for the second time this month? It’s alright, Y/N/N. You can do it.”

Eddie’s praise was it for you. Everything unraveled and the coil that pooled in your stomach snapped. You came undone on Eddie’s bed… again.

You felt his hair tickle the insides of your thighs as he lapped at your exposed pussy, cleaning up the mess you made. He avoided touching your clit with his tongue, not wanting you to orgasm again just yet.

Out of curiosity, you brought your fingers to Eddie’s hair and pulled. You waited a few seconds, hoping to feel the bed shake…. It didn’t. So, it’s a one-time thing. Got it.

His head emerged from between your thighs, a sly look atop Eddie’s face. You surveyed the situation: you were half naked on Eddie’s bed while he sat there, fully clothed and more than pleased with himself.

This isn’t fair. You declared before deciding to do something about it.

Your hand came to the tent in Eddie’s pants, “I wanna make you feel good, Eds.” You began, “Can I do that?” The palm that was over his crotch tightened, making him even harder (if that was possible).

Suddenly, all the words in the English language left Eddie's brain. His cognitive functions completely stopped working as he sputtered out a rushed reply, "Y-Yeah. Go ahead"

You smiled, feeling a rush of confidence before undoing the belt around his waist. Eddie wanted to help but he was frozen in place. His cock strained against his boxers as he watched you rid him of his pants, which were now on the floor right next to yours.

Your hand slithered its way into his boxers, “Shit,” Eddie gasped, feeling your warm hand come in contact with his aching cock.

“Lay back, Eddie,” You instructed, “I’m gonna make you feel so good, promise.”

You pushed his underwear down enough to where they sat just below his hips. It gave his dick more than enough to spring free. Your mouth watered at the sight of his tip, leaking with pre-cum.

Eddie lifted his head from where it lay on his bed to watch as you brought your lips to his tip, and spit on it. You then gripped his head gently and used your thumb to coat the head of his cock.

“Jesus,” He moaned.

Slowly, you began to stroke Eddie. Starting at the base of his cock, and coming up, then going back down, again and again. Lewd noises and swears escaped Eddie’s lips as he tried not to finish after only 2 seconds.

It was now your turn to tease him, “You like that? Hmm, like me stroking your cock?” You asked, condescendingly, “That feel good?”

Beads of sweat began to congregate on Eddie’s forehead, “Christ, Y/N. Y-Yeah, it does.”

You quickened your movement and watched as his face scrunched in pleasure. You couldn’t resist licking a stripe all the way up the side of Eddie’s veiny cock before pecking his tip.

Then, you went right back to stroking him feverishly. His hips began to hover as he bucked up into your palm. You used your other hand to push him back on the bed, forcing him to stay still, “I’m almost there.” He admitted.

Finally, hot spurts of cum escaped Eddie like a fountain, coating the hand that was still around him. A string of curse words left his mouth as he took deep breaths, “Shit, Y/N.” He chuckled, “Who taught you how to do that?”

“Doesn’t matter.” You shrugged.

Eddie looked at the mess he made on your hand, “Shit… I-I’m sorry,” He apologized, “Do you want me to get a towel?”

“Nope.”

It was now his turn to look at you, mouth agape as you brought your hand to your mouth and licked it clean, never breaking eye contact once.

When you were finished, you spoke, “Please, please,” You emphasized, “tell me you have a condom.”

“Uh… I should. B-But are you sure? I mean… you want to?” He asked, hurriedly.

“I’d rather it be me than your mattress, right?” You joked.

“Are you ever gonna let me live that down?”

“Eddie,” You sighed, impatiently, “Get the fucking condom!”

“R-Right.” Eddie skipped out of his underwear and went searching in miscellaneous drawers in his room.

I know I’ve got one of those things in here somewhere. He thought, rifling through his socks. The next drawer contained nearly 100 guitar picks. Still nothing.

“Shit, shit, shit!” He let the expletives fly off as frustration clouded his thoughts.

“Your pockets.” You suggested from his bed, “Check your pockets.”

Falling to the floor, Eddie searched the pockets of his black jeans like he was digging for gold, “Aha, yes!” He received the contraceptive from his pants and held it up so you could see, “I knew I had one of these things laying around here.”

“Okay,” Eddie cleared his throat and joined you on his bed. He slowly unwrapped the package and began rolling the latex on, “Lay down.” He instructed, and you listened, shimmying down his mattress.

“Are you sure, Y/N? ‘Cause I promise I won’t get mad if you change your mind.”

“I’m sure.” You nodded.

“Alright.”

Eddie carefully lined himself up with your entrance and inched in slowly before bottoming out. He didn’t move at first, giving you some time to adjust. But, when your grip on his shoulders became tighter, he started moving.

“God, you are so beautiful.” Eddie grunted, “And so fucking tight.”

Eddie used his hand to hike up your left leg, pushing deeper inside of you. In pure ecstasy, his face came down and nestled in your neck, kissing it. His hair was tickling your ear lobe.

The pace of his thrust picked up, causing you to moan an exasperated, “Eddie.”

“Scream my name, Princess.” He demanded in a deep gruffing voice.

“Eddie.” You moaned, only this time louder and needier, “Harder, please.”

He obliged your request, using as much force as possible to pound into you. Your fingers scraped down his back, gripping at his skin.

He hissed, “God, you take me so well.”

Eddie’s grip on your thigh tightened as his thrusts increased in speed. You could only hear the sound of Eddie’s rickety bed frame slamming against the wall harshly as he pounded into you.

Eddie’s signature guitar pick necklace dangled above your face, slapping your nose rhythmically each time his cock hit the perfect spot inside of you. But you didn’t even notice, caught up in the pleasure.

His previously slow and controlled thrusts started to get sporadic as he felt himself inching closer to finishing.

“Don’t get all quiet on me now, Baby.” He grunted in your ear.

You tried so hard to give a coherent response but all that passed your lips was a moan.

This riled up Eddie even more, “Fuck. I’m about to come.”

“M-Me too.” You choked out.

In a messy daze, Eddie’s lips came crashing down onto yours. It was chalked full of clashing teeth but you couldn’t care less.

Both you and Eddie came undone together. A mix of grunts, moans, and fucks accompanied the orgasms.

As his final form of torture, he pulled out of you very slowly. You practically felt as each inch of him left your pussy.

“Jesus Christ.” You sighed.

Eddie smiled, giving you a quick peck on the forehead before standing up and approaching his trash can to discard the condom.

When he turned back around, Eddie was met with the sight of your discarded parties on the floor. And he just couldn’t resist.

Eddie scooped them up in one fluid motion, clutching the garment tightly in his hand.

He thought you didn’t notice, but you did, “Hey!” You chastised.

“Whaaaaaat?” Eddie shrugged, “I gave back the last pair.” The bed dipped down as he returned, claiming his previous spot next to you.

“Whatever.” You scoffed playfully, nuzzling your head into his shoulder.

Eddie cleared his throat, “Are you— Was that okay?”

It’s been a long time since Eddie felt insecure when it came to sex. Most of his partners were people that he’d met at the Hideout and took to his trailer for a quick fuck.

But this was different. You meant more to him than any of the people he used to sleep with. He cared about you and he just needed reassurance that you were okay

“It was more than okay, Eds. Gosh,” You sighed, “I can’t remember the last time I came that hard.”

“Was it okay for you?” You followed up.

“Yeah!” Eddie was surprised by how fast he responded. Recovering, he cleared his throat, “Yes. I- I thoroughly enjoyed myself.”

“Good.” You chuckled, shaking your head at how all over the place he is.

After a few beats of silence, Eddie deadpanned, “I think Dustin knows about us.”

Your eyebrows furrowed, “Really?”

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Dustin Henderson is single-handedly the most observant person either of you had ever met.

Still, you could help but ask, “Why do you say that?”

“Well,” Eddie began, “Although me coming to check on you in the bathroom was of my own fruition. Henderson was also adamant that I go find you as well.”

“I mean, Lucas was practically foaming at the mouth to see if you were okay after you left but, nope. Henderson wouldn’t let him.”

You tutted, “Welp, on the bright side, something good came out of it.”

“And what’s that?” Eddie asked, his interest peaked.

“We finally got together.” You smiled ear-to-ear.

“That,” Eddie nodded, “And I finally got that god awful word out of your vocabulary. Ugh.” He squirmed.

“You’re so dramatic.”

people who asked to be tagged: @stardust-kenobi @enjoy-the-destruction @eddiessidegirl @urlocalhippie2029 @monimickell @siriuslysmoking @that-lame-ghoul9000 @jcf-my-so-called-life @eddiemvnsonsgf @sambucky8 @flightlesswentz

#eddie munson #stranger things #joseph quinn #stranger things 4 #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson smut #eddie stranger things #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x female reader smut #strangerthings #stranger things imagine #jey writes #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson smut oneshot #joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn x reader smut

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ashesonthefloor · 4 years ago

Text

baby, you’re a haunted house (ot4)

summary: Michael really wants to go to Sydney’s most famous haunted house. He may or may not get super startled by one of the actors, and may or may not hit them in the nose by accident. And, after that, he might keep coming back to to try and apologize properly. And the haunted house might just have a never-ending supply of cute guys working there. (That’s a lie. There’s only three he cares about). ao3 found here

prompt: “I’m working as an actor in a haunted house and when I scared you, you punched me in the nose. Now I’m bleeding and someone had to get me an ice pack, and you won’t stop apologizing. You’re lucky you’re cute” (except i changed the POV because i wrote the prompt and i can do what i want thank u <3)

word count: 12,433

content warning: blood! there is nothing too graphic, but, as depicted in the prompt, someone is accidentally hit, and there is a nosebleed. it is all handled and fine, though, and it isn’t too detailed. lots of pining :)

A/N: whew! i’ve worked on this baby for the last two months and only just finished her this week but i am PROUD! i actually really love the way it came out, and my plot! please let me know what you think, i’m a slut for feedback! this was done for my sexy, sexy halloween event that is happening right now! massive shout out to @mikeycliffords and @glitterblazercalum for beta’ing this! maddie ur comments gave me endless validation and i adore u, and iba u caught all my sexy grammatical errors and i love u for it (and ur reaction to luke’s major <3). and to both @calumcest and @clumsyclifford for having to listen to me scream and not know what i was writing. unfortunate shoutout to Mr. Gerard Way for the vibey Halloween song i named this after. baby, you’re a haunted house slaps.

Michael loved Halloween. He was pretty sure it was his absolute favourite holiday, and would say that to almost anyone who dared to ask, though most people who knew him knew not to. It was in Fall, so it was nice and chilly, and he had an excuse to bundle up in hoodies and stay there until spring. And he was an absolute slut for horror movies of any sort. He absolutely adored them, no matter how cheesy and poorly-produced. If he had any talent in it at all, he said fairly regularly to his few friends, he’d be an SFX artist. But he didn’t, and he was stuck working as a barista and getting his degree in film studies.

So when his best friend in the whole fucking world landed a job working with Sydney’s infamous haunted house - known for being realistic, and terrifying, and all the makeup being technically perfect - and invited him to come see it, insisted he can get him in, who was he to say no? He absolutely couldn’t refuse - didn’t even want to, and he’d wanted to go for years, so this was the opportunity of a lifetime - and that was that. It was most of his favourite things all rolled up into one, with the bonus of it being sort of exclusive. Because it was so well known, they always ended up having to open a month early, and the line still wrapped halfway around the block every night. Michael was going to get a backstage pass to all sorts of shit.

He dressed fairly warm for the occasion, even if it wasn’t quite cold enough yet to justify it, with his hoodie on, oversized so he could cover his hands with the sleeves. Sue him, okay, it was comfortable and warm and he liked tugging on the sleeves or his hoodie strings when he was anxious. Not that he ever wanted anyone to know he’s anxious. Michael worked fairly hard on keeping that part hidden away, so no one else could ever see it. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed, exactly. He just...didn’t want anyone knowing. It took level eleven Michael friendship to unlock his insecurities, thank you, and even then, there weren’t many he'd really disclose.

Sydney never got properly cold, so the hoodie was more than enough to keep him warm in the chilly end-of-September breeze. He made his way to the haunted house, queuing up in the line with the rest of the people preparing for the best fucking scares of their lives.

The waiting process was the worst part of the whole thing. It was just him standing by himself in line, bouncing slightly on his heels every so often and worrying with his sleeves, from excitement, nerves, and maybe it was actually slightly chilly for once. He texted his friend a few times, only to get no reply. He frowned at his phone after twenty minutes of trying with no success. He was supposed to come get Michael at some point. If he was waiting to show him around at the end, wouldn’t he want to know which group he’d be in, or when he was going through the haunted house? Or at least answer him and tell him what his plan was? Apparently fucking not, though, since he made it up to the front without a single stupid text.

His jitters weren’t helped at all by that, but he eventually just jammed his phone into his hoodie pocket and hoped it didn’t fall out in the house. Michael and the people around him were finally let into the haunted house and given the long list of instructions. It was all the usual shit, that everything inside was fake, and to keep that in mind. To remember that the actors were just actors. And to go over the last few warnings - like that the actors would jump out, target people to scare them, ask questions, and generally, you know, act. Everyone agreed to the rules with varying degrees of excitement, and then they were all corralled into the waiting area.

Michael was back to bouncing slightly in place, hoodie sleeves fully over his hands at this point. The decorations weren’t too scary yet, just meant to keep the haunted mansion theme going. The premise was something about a doctor and his torture chamber and all his patients gone wrong or something. Michael has forgotten a couple of the details, but he remembered the gist of it. He couldn’t make out anything specific, really, not through the awful dim lighting and the light fog rolling in close to the ground, thanks to the hidden fog machines, only adding to the chill in the cold building.

One of the women in front of him was murmuring quietly to her boyfriend, gripping tightly to his hand. She didn’t seem much like she really wanted to be there. Michael hoped, for her sake, she’d remembered the safe word. Which was a nice touch, making sure everyone could yell it if needed. That rule was burned into his brain: if you yelled the safe word - mercy - any actor nearby would drop their act and escort you to the nearest exit, and you would absolutely not be allowed back in. Michael wanted to make sure he remembered it, but this was practically a once in a lifetime chance, and he really didn’t want to blow it.

Finally - finally - they were allowed into the actual haunted house. The first room wasn’t too bad, just the doctor guy’s living room with some narration about who he’d been and a little about his ‘abominations’. Michael got enthralled in the story pretty quickly, gaze lingering on the (fake) family portraits on the (equally fake) mantle and on the walls.

Room two brought a couple of scares, but he still wasn’t doing too badly. They were easily moved from room to room, sticking together in a clump. When the narration ended, basically, that was their cue to move on. Or for some sort or scare to jump out.

But, of course, the greatest horror house in Sydney wouldn’t stay predictable. After room number three, the smooth transition was broken up by a long, dark corridor, with the sides pressing in on everyone as they went through. Michael curled in a little on himself, shuffling forward so close to the next person in line that he accidentally stepped on their heels. They didn’t even have time to be annoyed before they were in the next room.

After room number four was worse. They went down an equally dark staircase, Michael’s grip on the handrail white-knuckled, pale skin almost luminous even in the pitch black. He shuffled forward once he managed his way down, unable to see anything, but didn’t bump into anyone. Which was...odd, given how tightly packed they’d all been up to this point. He took a gamble and swallowed his pride, sticking both arms out and stumbling forward, completely blind in the dark. Only then did the awful strobe light kick on above him, even fucking worse than the dark. He only got vague glimpses of where he was, and he couldn’t even see anyone around him in whatever room he was in. Fucking great, he had the best fucking luck in the entire world. Which he mumbled to himself as he continued his blind zombie-shuffle forward until his outstretched hand brushed a wall. Finally.

He kept that palm pressed against the smooth (fake) stone, moving in one direction he chose to believe was forward. He was pretty sure it was the opposite direction from the staircase, at least. Hopefully he’d make some progress that way. This was so fucked. Where had his group gone? He was very, very sure he’d been with them. They’d filed down the staircase with him, hadn’t they? Where the fuck were they? Where the fuck was he? This certainly seemed like a fucking dungeon.

He kept going until the shadows seemed to stay in one corner. He stretched out his unoccupied left hand, fingers brushing against another wall. He let out a frustrated groan, quiet and under his breath, even though he was pretty damn sure he was alone. He pressed his hand against it, palm against the cool stone, and he felt it open with a soft click. And he really didn’t care what was on the other side, he just wanted out of the stupid fucking strobe lights.

And, of course the strobe lights turned off as he stepped towards the open door. His luck was so fucking perfect today, wasn’t it?

He stepped through the hidden door (or whatever it was, Michael really didn’t care at this point), letting it slowly close behind him with the same soft click that definitely wasn’t ominous at all. This room, at least, wasn’t completely pitch black. There were lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and fake torches along one stone wall, that provided dim lighting. He skirted over to the side of the dungeon that was lit, gaze lingering on the shadowy side. His eyes still hadn’t really adjusted to the lighting, still absolutely fucked up from the stupid fucking strobe light. He would enjoy this a lot more if he knew this was intentional - if it was intentional - or if he was with his fucking group. Sue him, okay, maybe this shit was slightly better with company.

He heard something shift from the direction of the door, gaze sliding over there. The room really wasn’t that open, and was pretty small in size. He felt something brush his left shoulder and jumped, stumbling forward toward the shadowy side of the dungeon room - backward, now, maybe, since he definitely whirled around to look at whatever the fuck had poked him, only to find nothing but the stone wall. What the fuck was this fucking place? He knew that wasn’t a bat. Maybe it was a bat? He really, really didn’t know.

There was a weird sound from the shadowy side of the dungeon, which he was way, way closer to, now. He turned to look at it, only to flinch back when something lunged at him, snarling. Michael whirled around to look and let out an absolutely dignified shriek, reacting entirely on instinct, which was the only reason he realized, seconds too late, that that horrifying crunching noise had been his fist colliding with the thing’s nose.

The thing, that he was now realizing, was an actor, chained to the wall with long chains. They’d made the noise earlier, scraping against the floor, as the actor had shifted. Probably. “Oh, fuck,” Michael said automatically, eyes widening. His knuckles fucking hurt, sure, but he was more focused on the poor actor.

The makeup was, as promised, spectacular. He was a half-turned werewolf, shirtless and covered in gruesome patches of fur and deep, gory claw marks. He had some sort of fangs in, too, and weird orange contacts that definitely made him look feral. What Michael was most focused on, though, was the blood dripping from his nose that was definitely not stage makeup.

The actor had a small frown on his face, two fingers coming up to gently touch his nose. He let out a soft hiss, frown pulling more at his lips. “Damn,” he murmured.

“Oh, fuck,” Michael said, ever so eloquent. “Oh, fuck. Dude, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t- I’ve never hit someone before in my life, I don’t know what the fuck-“

The actor shook his head. “It’s alright. It happens.” He gave him a small smile, one corner of his lips pulling up, before it dropped right back into a frown. Probably aggravated his injured nose. That Michael had done. Fuck. “Hazard of the job, you know? I told them not to activate the strobe lights and then put a jump scare after them. They make people jumpy since they fuck with your vision. They put people on edge. And then to have someone jump at you out of the dark….” He just looked sort of amused. Vindicated, too, maybe. “I figured it would happen at some point. I just got lucky until now, I guess.”

“Fuck, I’m so….I don’t even…..I’m so sorry,” Michael said again, brows drawing together. He really hadn’t meant to. Had he made that clear enough yet? He hadn’t meant to. His panic wasn’t helped by how fucking cute the werewolf was.

The werewolf just ran a hand through his brown curls, pushing them back out of his eyes. “It’s alright. Really. It happens.” He eyed Michael, amusement in his eyes despite Michael’s clear panic. “I’m Ashton, by the way.”

Michael felt like he was still a few steps behind. Shouldn’t the werewolf be mad at him? Or kicking him out of the haunted house or something? “Oh. Uh. I’m Michael.” Ashton was a pretty name. And Michael was pretty sure it suited him, since it was clear Ashton was pretty attractive, even under all the makeup. And the blood. His nose was definitely bruised.

Speaking of his bloody nose, Ashton pressed two fingers right below it again, frowning as they came away covered in blood. “Well, Michael, you can definitely pack a punch.” He looked almost amused again before it gave way to concern. “Are you okay?”

Michael’s internal monologue still hadn’t shifted from ‘fuck. Fuck. fuck. Fuck. fuck. Fuck. fuck. Fuck.’ on loop in his head, so it took him a second to register the question. He still felt like he was short circuiting, adrenaline from the scare and the acute embarrassment immediately after still tingling up his spine and all the way to his shaking hands, fingers trembling a little where they were uncovered by the hoodie sleeves. “Wha- me? I’m- yeah? Fine, I- yeah, uh, think. I think, I mean. I mean I am, I’m fine. Okay. Yeah. Good.”

Ashton raised an eyebrow, stepping just a little closer. Michael was pretty sure he could hear his own heartbeat, too loud and too fast, echoing in his ears. Not loud enough to cover the unsettling scrape of metal against stone as Ashton’s chains moved with him. He focused on breathing, pretty sure he’d stopped for a second, inhaling the stale taste of the synthetic fog, permeating through the entire building, though the air lacked the telltale haze of a fog machine, and the equally stale, dank smell of the room itself. It was grounding, sort of. He was definitely not freaking out, though. Not at all. Not with Ashton right in front of him now, gaze fixed on him, Michael’s right hand still tingling, knuckles still aching. This definitely wasn’t social anxiety nightmare fuel. He was definitely perfectly fine.

Ashton reached for Michael’s hand, Michael numbly letting him take it, unable to do much more than watch. Ashton leaned forward a little, chains scraping again against the floor to make the worst sort of unholy noise, grating on Michael’s frayed nerves, thankfully on the edge of what he was paying attention to. He was too focused on how warm Ashton’s hands were, fake blood splattered over them like he was supposed to look like he’d been clawing at himself. “You’re bruised,” Ashton said, inspecting Michael’s knuckles where they’d made contact with Ashton’s nose. “Or, you will be, at least. You didn’t hit as hard as you could have, so I think you’re okay.”

With Ashton tilted forward, it was easier to see that he was definitely still bleeding - which, fucking duh, it hadn’t been that long since he’d punched him - dripping slowly but steadily onto the floor. Noticing Michael’s gaze, probably, Ashton took a few steps back out of Michael’s space, head still tilted forward a little. He lightly pinched the bridge of his nose, giving Michael what was probably supposed to be a lazy half smile.

“Should you- do you need help?” Michael asked lamely. It was a pretty fucking stupid question, since he’d literally just punched Ashton in the nose. And he was bleeding.

“It’s not that big a deal,” Ashton said, as calm and collected as he’d been the whole time. And fantastic, at least one of them was. “I’d go tell someone, but I’m a little bit stuck.” He raised his free hand, chains rattling a little bit. “I’m actually chained to the wall. Someone comes by and lets me out between every couple groups or every couple hours so I can use the bathroom and grab a drink and all that shit. I can’t get myself out on my own.”

“Oh, fuck.” Michael frowned. “That seems like a pretty big fuckin’, like design flaw. Who the fuck came up with that?”

Ashton laughed, short and sweet before he cut himself off, probably because his nose hurt. Which sent a jolt of regret and embarrassment through Michael. “There’s a lot of stuff like that for the sake of ‘authenticity’. Don’t tell anyone I told you, they’d have my head. I don’t mind too much, though. Only lasts two months every year, and it’s fun. Well, except for the occasional scare that goes too well.” He gestured at his face to prove his point, smile tugging slightly at his lips again before it dropped.

Michael didn’t get a chance to reply before someone came in, freezing at the sight of Ashton slightly tipped forward, nose still dripping, but much slower before, and Michael standing stiff and shocked in place. “Oh, fuck,” the stranger said, echoing Michael’s sentiments. “What the fuck happened?”

“Well, Michael here got so startled when I jumped out that he hit me.” Ashton answered for the two of them. “We’re all good, he didn’t mean to. He’s been keeping me company.” He winked at Michael, making Michael’s face heat up, especially noticeable in the gloomy chill of the fake dungeon room.

“Fuckin’ hell, man,” the strange guy said, immediately moving forward to free Ashton from the stupid chains. “So, you mean, the same shit you kept saying was gonna happen, happened?”

Ashton let out some sort of noise that was probably meant to be a laugh. “Yeah, pretty much exactly.”

“Fuckin’ hell,” the stranger said again, succeeding in freeing Ashton. He leaned in close to look at his nose, frowning. “Well. You definitely need to be cleaned up. You’re out of commission for tonight, we’ll just leave the room empty and the supervisors can suck my dick. Come on, let’s clean you up and get you an ice pack or something, and you can sit down for a while.” He wrapped an arm around Ashton, hand splayed out in the middle of his back. They were clearly comfortable with each other, and had the easy familiarity of close friends. Or something. The stranger nodded his head at Michael. “You, uh, Michael, was it? You can come with us, we’ll get you out.” He paused. “Unless you want to finish the house..? But I’m gonna take a wild guess and say probably not, after that.”

Michael startled a little at being addressed, temporarily forgetting he had a corporal form. “Oh. Uh. No, not really. I”m- that was enough, I think.”

The stranger nodded his head. “Makes sense. You kind of got separated from your group, it looks like. Usually people are in groups of two and three. You sort of had shitty luck tonight, huh?” He said it kindly, though. Like he was sympathetic. “My name’s Calum, by the way.”

“He’s not usually the responsible one,” Ashton teased, shooting Calum an amused look, only making Calum roll his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. Ashton. You’re always Mr. Responsible. That’s why we’re going to patch up your boo boo.” Calum patted his back consolingly, shooting Michael a grin. “So is this your first time here?”

Michael glanced up, fingers pausing mid-tug where he’d been fiddling with his hoodie sleeves. “Oh. Yeah, it is. Uh. Always wanted to come but it’s hard to get in and last year I got stuck closing most days and couldn’t make it early enough.”

Calum nodded, like it was a solemn affair, or he was thinking. Michael’s ability to figure things out - he was pretty sure it was called perception, but it just proved his point - was absolutely shot through with his adrenaline. He was still waiting for someone to get pissed at him, to kick him out and ban him for life. “It’s a fun place, yeah. I can’t remember if I actually ever went through it before getting to work here and see ‘behind the scenes,’ but we get pretty good reviews.” Calum grinned. “I’d say a bloody nose means you’re pretty fuckin’ scary, Ash.”

Ashton let out a half laugh. “Yeah, I guess so. Or people scared shitless and blind in the dark don’t like jumpscares. One of the two.”

Calum had led them through a couple dark, narrow back hallways, clearly meant for the employees, the whole time they’d been chatting. They get to the doorway of a brighter-lit room and hear a woman gasp. “Oh, Ashton! What happened to you? Oh, god, it wasn’t those dicks from last night again, was it? I swear I’ll hunt them down-”

“No, it wasn’t,” Ashton consoled, stepping into the room where the woman started fawning over him, leaning up to inspect his face and make sure he was okay. Calum, letting her take over, gently nudged Michael out of view and stepped back into shadow with him.

“Look, Ashton’s a trooper, he’s okay,” Calum murmured, nothing but soothing sincerity in his eyes and coating his voice. “I promise. You seem pretty worried but, uh...The floor managers might not be too happy, you know? We’re missing our werewolf for the rest of the night, so the room will be empty...No one else gives a shit, I promise, I just mean that if you want to come back, you might want to leave before anyone figures it out, you know? Not personal at all.” He gave him a sweet smile that probably would’ve rendered Michael incoherent and weak-kneed any other time, but with his nerves as wired and burnt-out as they were, it only tugged at his anxiety-ridden heartstrings.

“Actually,” Calum continued, tilting his head, “I can get you a ticket or something for another night if you want to do this again.” He gave him a lopsided smile. “You know, as long as you don’t hit another actor again.” Michael assumed he must’ve looked panicked, because Calum was quick to console him. “Hey, hey, I’m kidding. Sorry, too soon.”

“Holy, fuck, Ashton, is that real?” Someone else asked, entering the room behind them.

Calum looked back at Michael, expression apologetic. “I’ve gotta- I’ll have to run damage control, Alisha - the girl - is nice but he’ll need, uh, help. Uh...The exit’s right through there, down the stairs, to the left. If you can get back before we open sometime, cut the line and ask for me. Uh. Calum. That should get you in.” Michael only realized Calum had put a hand on his arm at some point when he squeezed it gently and let go.

With another hasty apology, Calum had to return to Ashton and the whole mess Michael had caused. Michael stumbled on nerve-numb feet through the dark employee back-passageways, hearing the occasional shriek from the haunted house proper. He couldn’t help but berate himself and wish he’d done the entire fucking thing differently. And where the fuck had his friend been? Maybe he wouldn’t have been so nervous to begin with if the fucker had actually texted him back at some point.

This whole thing had been social-anxiety massive-fuckup nightmare fuel. Seriously, Michael thought as he finally managed to make his way out of the stupid house into the city, shivering in the much-cooler nighttime air, this was going to haunt him for years. Let alone punching anyone in the first place - his hand still sort of hurt, though not a proper hurt, more like the vague ache wrapped in the anxiety-spiking memory of what he’d done - but punching an absolutely gorgeous guy in the face? Fucking hell. Worst thing he could think of.

It was still fresh on his mind as he tucked himself into bed, fresh from a shower as he’d tried to scrub the stupid memory off his skin. He just hoped he managed to actually get over this and it didn’t haunt him forever. Though, he’d been pretty fucking haunted when he’d gone to grab pizza and when the guy had said “enjoy your meal,” he’d said “you too, thanks, mum.” He hadn’t even realized his mistake until he’d gotten outside with his prized pizza. In his defense, he’d been texting his mom, and gotten mixed up. There wasn’t really a defense here.

Fuck. He really hoped this didn’t haunt him.

-----------------------------------

Well. It haunted him. That first night had really, really sucked. Like...really sucked. It had taken ages to manage to fall asleep after that, since every time he tried, he was painfully reminded of the moment he hit Ashton right in the nose, and how awful that had felt. And everything afterward had just been an anxiety-fueled mess.

He had class the day after, too, which really fucking sucked, but it meant he didn’t have to sit and dwell on every single mistake he’d ever made in his life. The biggest one was obviously his birth, followed very closely by hitting Ashton. He decided, though, by the end of that day, that he definitely wanted to go apologize again. Just because it hadn’t felt quite like enough just saying he was sorry. He needed to actually prove it somehow. Maybe. Or he was just an idiot. Only time would really tell.

He got a gift card for the coffee shop where he worked, because he got a discount on it, and everyone liked coffee. Did Ashton like coffee? He really hoped he did. He was still kicking himself for not getting his number so he could make sure he was okay and apologize, but, in his own defense, everything had gone upside-down topsy-turvy really, really fast.

He got down to the haunted house, still a while before it actually opened. He went straight to the front of the line, remembering Calum’s promise to get him in. Hopefully he could use the advice to apologize properly to Ashton. The guy at the front of the line was kind of a dick towards him, but Michael managed to find a worker in one of the designated t-shirts for the house.

“Hey, uh, is Calum or Ashton here?” Michael asked, praying he didn’t seem near as awkward as he felt. He just wanted to apologize and leave before he embarrassed himself any further, that was all. Everything was fine. It was fine.

“Oh, yeah. Are you one of their friends or something?” The guy glanced at him before shrugging. “Calum’s working customer service and merch. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Michael followed the guy into the house, down a hallway that wasn’t super obvious, to what was clearly right after the exit of the house. There was a booth set up, shirts dangling from the top and displayed in the back, along with magnets and other sorts of merch along the table. Calum was sitting behind it, earbuds in, focused solely on his phone. The guy Michael had been following tapped on the table to get his attention, making Calum’s eyes snap up. He grinned over at Michael, pausing his music and tugging his earbuds out.

“I’ve got to get back to the front, but this guy was asking for you and Ashton. You know him?”

Calum’s smile didn’t dissipate. It didn’t do much to sooth the suddenly overactive butterflies in Michael’s stomach. “Yeah, I do. I’m good, you can go.” The guy nodded and left, leaving Michael alone with Calum.

“Hey,” Calum greeted, grinning again. “I wasn’t sure you’d come back. I was hoping you would. Are you here for the house?” His smile went coy. “Or for me?” He was clearly teasing, but Michael’s face flushed.

“Uh. I- well. Uh. I came- well, I’m here to apologize. Yeah. To, uh. To Ashton. Again. For hitting him. I mean, by accident. I didn’t mean to.” And wow, way to be smooth. Michael just didn’t know how to function around cute guys at all. Especially not when they sounded like they could possibly be flirting with him, if they were on another planet, where people actually flirted with Michael.

Calum just gave him another sweet smile, standing and leaning against the table. Michael definitely didn’t pay attention to the way Calum’s back arched, or the way he tilted his head sometimes without meaning to, or how good his jeans looked on him. He didn’t see any of that at all because he was a good person. He just..wasn’t blind. And Calum was cute. “Ashton’s fine. I think he’s working tonight, but I can shoot him a text.” Michael didn’t even have to reply before Calum was pulling his phone out of his back pocket and sending a text, presumably to Ashton.

“The house opens soon,” Calum continued, “but we’ll see if we can get him up here.” He smiled a little. “You know, after you hit him by accident, they tested out some fake chains. They thought it worked great - until they did a test run, and Ashton broke them when he moved forward. Guess even plastic couldn’t hold up to his upper body strength, huh?” He smiled, eyes squinting a little when Michael flushed darker. Everything was absolutely, perfectly fine.

Calum’s phone vibrated again and he checked it. “Oh, shit. He’s a bit hung up right now. You want to stick around for a minute and see if he can swing up here? I can give you a bit of a behind-the-scenes tour.”

Michael considered but nodded. “Yeah, uh. That would be great.” His friend - who still hadn’t fucking gotten back with him, it had been two days, asshole - was supposed to do that when he’d originally come to the house. Better late than never, at least, even if he’d never gotten to actually make it through the haunted house proper. He just had to survive spending time with a super cute guy in the stupidly narrow employee hallways.

Calum grinned again. “Great!” He slid over the top of the table, knocking a couple magnets to the floor. He glanced at them before shrugging. “I’ll deal with that when I’m back. Come on.” He grabbed Michael’s wrist, his hold warm and gentle, and lightly tugged him towards another hallway. “So what do you want to see first? How we put everything together? How we make a couple of the rooms function? Where we keep all the fog machines?”

“Uhhh……” That was….a lot of options. Michael honestly wasn’t sure where to start. The last comment earned Calum a laugh, short and a little nervous. “Anything?”

Calum nodded sagely, like Michael had made some interesting comment that could be considered, instead of fumbling over his words. “I’ll just start with the basic tour then.”

Calum tugged him into another room, launching into an explanation of how they put it together, and how it matched up with the other rooms in the house. He talked about how they had speakers in each room, and made sure the haunted house genuinely felt like an old rundown mansion with a stone basement. The next room was every bit as interesting, if a bit colder.

“That,” Calum explained, “would be because we keep one of the fog machines in this false wall.” He knocked on it, the sound hollower than a real wall would have made. “It adds to the vibe.”

Michael just agreed that it did, in fact, add to the general vibe of the haunted house, unsure what else to say to that.

“You know,” Calum said, eyes lighting up a little when he smiled, bright and mischievous, “I’m pretty sure they spent most of the decorating budget on the fog machines. In order to get the light fog in the dungeons, we had to keep one every couple rooms. And then the one in the front room, so people know we’re spooky.” He wiggled his fingers with his free hand, his other hand still warm on Michael’s wrist where he hadn’t let go yet.

Michael laughed, earning another triumphant smile from Calum. “That sounds right,” he said honestly. The basement - or what little he’d seen of it, at least - had definitely been neat, with the very light fog swirling around his ankles. He just hadn’t really made it that far.

And, like Calum was a mindreader, he almost immediately said “Hey, you didn’t finish the house, right? Want to get a tour of the basement? I can show you where I had to use Klorox wipes to get Ashton’s blood off the floor.” Another grin, clearly amused with himself.

“Uh...Yeah, okay, that sounds good,” Michael said, ever so eloquent. Being in the presence of a pretty guy did not help him at all, only serving to shut down any critical thinking skills he’d ever had.

“Great! This way-” Calum started to gently lead him out of the room, hand still warm on Michael’s wrist in the chill of the room, before he was interrupted by his phone buzzing. “Fuck, what now?” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, which Michael found impressive given how stupidly tight they were. Calum let out a huff, letting go of Michael’s wrist so he could send a text back. “Fuckin’ hell. I’m gonna have to go.” He gave Michael a look that really looked like apologetic puppy dog eyes, but Calum somehow pulled it off. “We’re letting in the first group soon. I’ve gotta go back to my booth.”

“Oh, shit.” Michael was pretty sure that was the right response. He was still distracted by the smiles Calum had flashed him just moments before. Sue him, his weakness was cute guys, okay? And social interaction. Especially social interaction with aforementioned cute guys. Like Calum.

“I’m sorry. I guess Ashton will be wrapped up in that, too.” Calum frowned, thinking for a moment. “Are you free tomorrow?”

Michael flushed, a natural reply to being asked that by A Cute Guy. “Uh. Yeah. I have class in the morning, but I’m free after.”

Calum grinned again. “Great. Swing by here again? You can ask for either me or Ashton. We’ll get you taken care of, don’t worry.” He winked at Michael, smile still on his face. Michael felt himself flush deeper, praying it wasn’t too visible in the dim lighting of the haunted house.

“Yeah, uh, okay. I can...I can do that.” Maybe he was reassuring himself a little bit. But it would be fun. Calum led him back out of the room, his hand going to the small of Michael’s back, warm even through his hoodie. If Michael’s blush had faded, that brought it back full force. Calum’s hand dropped once they were back in the hallway, but his hand brushed Michael’s on every other step as he led him back to the front, to the area where Calum’s merch booth was.

“Here we are. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Calum asked, expression earnest. He squatted to pick up a couple of the magnets and buttons that he’d knocked to the floor earlier. Michael definitely didn’t glance at his butt, because he was a very nice person, and very good at resisting things.

“Yeah, I’ll, uh, I’ll be here.” Michael was completely fucking incapable of going one sentence without stumbling over his words. It was annoying. It was like being near any attractive guy whatsoever made his brain completely short circuit and stop working. He was pretty sure he just suffered from Dumb Bitch-itis or whatever. It was fine.

After a quick goodbye, Michael made his way to the exit and started the walk back home again. He couldn’t say that excursion was really a failure but he still hadn’t done what he’d meant to do. How many cute guys could work there, anyway? That had to be it. So hopefully he’d function properly next time he had to go, even if Calum and Ashton both completely shut his brain down. The gift card was still in his pocket, even as he reluctantly shucked his outside-hoodie to switch to his sleeping-hoodie. At least this time he didn’t have too much to haunt him before he fell asleep.

Except punching Ashton, his brain helpfully supplied. And with that, his hopes for some peaceful sleep went out the window, just like his critical thinking skills had earlier when he’d had to talk to Calum.

-----------------------------------

Michael prayed that this was the last time he’d have to go to the house. He didn’t dislike it, honestly, it was interesting and incredibly well put together. But he really just wanted to apologize to Ashton and have the whole thing be done with. Or, half of him did, at least. He hated when things got drawn out like this, and something hung over his head. He didn’t like feeling like he owed any debts at all. The other half of him, though, kind of didn’t want it to be over. Because then he wouldn’t get to see Calum or Ashton again. And alright, maybe he was a bit of an emotional masochist knowing that they wouldn’t like him but it was...nice, kind of, hanging out with people. And he wasn’t going to complain about getting to hang out with cute guys. Like...ever.

The thing was, though, it wasn’t like he could really be friends with them. He’d fucking punched Ashton right in the face for fuck’s sake. The friendship ship had long since sailed, and he’d lost any chance of talking to him like a functional person as soon as he’d panicked and hit him. Which sort of destroyed any chances he had in befriending Calum. And maybe he was a little bit lonely, and tired of spending all his free time by himself. The cute guys at the haunted house were a no-go, though, so he wanted to be done with them as soon as he could be.

Michael tugged his hoodie back on, and made his way back out into the outside world, where people weren’t so kind, and there were cute boys to accidentally hit and regret your entire life over. He didn’t want to think about having to talk to Ashton again, or Calum, doing his best to save all of his brain power for actually having to socialize, rather than wasting it on indulging his anxiety now.

He cut through the line again, though it was a bit earlier this time, so it wasn’t as long as it had been, and made his way to the front of the house. One of the workers, in the same haunted house shirts he’d see the others in the days before, stopped him.

“I’m here for Ashton?” Michael said, still not entirely sure of himself, like this wasn’t the second time he’d come back to the house and had to ask for them. “Or Calum.”

The girl glanced Michael up and down quickly, seeming to assess whether or not he was telling the truth. And really, why the fuck would he bother lying? He wasn’t even really trying to get into the house, but apologize fully to Ashton so he could hopefully stop being haunted by the memory of his major fuck-up.

“Alright, come on,” she said, turning on her heel and leading him inside. He followed her back through the room Calum had been stationed in the day before, the merch booth left empty, now, no cute guys with equally cute smiles there to drag him through the maze of the house.

The girl led her down a couple hallways Michael definitely didn’t remember, but he really hadn’t been paying as much attention to the hallways of all things the last time he’d been there. But he was pretty sure he didn’t remember any of this. Which was only reaffirmed when she stopped in a doorframe. “Luke,” she called in, hand on the doorframe. “This guy’s asking for Calum and Ashton. I’m busy downstairs. Can you try and track them down for him?”

Michael could see over her shoulder, but couldn’t see who she was talking to. Luke gave her some form of affirmative, he guessed, because then she was turning back to look at him. “Right. You stay here with Luke. He should be able to find Calum and Ashton. You can wait with him. Good luck.” She turned and headed off back down a couple narrow hallways, leaving Michael more confused than he had been before she’d tried to help.

“Come in, I don’t bite,” came a guy’s voice from the other side of the room. Michael reluctantly shuffled in, already tugging his hoodie sleeves down over his hands. How many times was he going to be shuffled from person to person before he managed to actually give Ashton his stupid gift card and go back to his life of reclusivity, hidden away in his single dorm room. Then he’d finally get to forget how massively he’d fucked up, and not have to think about all the stupidly cute boys that worked at the stupid haunted house.

The room had several chairs set up, with a couple of tables cluttered with a bunch of weird bottles, makeup palettes, and gallons of stage blood. It was empty, except for a girl sitting in one of the chairs, and a guy working on her makeup. He was tall, with ridiculously long legs, and his blond curls pulled back into a small bun, messy, with flyaways wisping around his temples and a couple strands of hair in his eyes when he flashed Michael a quick smile. “Alright,” the guy said, pulling back to inspect his work. “You’re good to go. But maybe try not to fuck up your chest wound next time? It’s not so easy to fix.” She murmured some sort of agreement - and what sounded like an apology - before heading back out, probably to wherever she was supposed to be stationed.

The guy turned to Michael and flashed him a smile, tucking his brush behind his ear and wiping his hands on his thighs before offering one to Michael. “I’m Luke. But, uh, I think you already knew that.” His smile went a little sheepish. Michael just shook his hand, internally cursing himself for having cute boys as a major weakness. Because Luke was definitely cute.

“I’m Michael,” he said, because he was pretty sure he hadn’t yet, and it seemed like the proper time for an introduction. His brain might short circuit a little bit around cute boys, but he didn’t completely forget everything. Usually. Not yet, at least. He was just hoping to keep at least a fraction of his critical thinking skills. So he didn’t end up hitting him in the face, his brain supplied helpfully, even though that had only ever been the one time, and under very different circumstances. It didn’t make him feel much better.

Luke broke into a smile almost immediately, letting out a laugh - more of a giggle, really - that made his nose crinkle. “You’re the guy that punched Ashton,” he said, eyes crinkling a little with amusement. “Holy shit. You’re a legend.”

Michael flushed, feeling his whole face heat up, even though the room was just as chilly as the rest of the haunted house. “Uh. Maybe just a little. The one time.” He scuffed the toe of his sneaker against the ground, suddenly a little nervous. Or...more nervous. Luke was just as cute as the others had been, stray glitter stuck to his hands (and Michael’s palm, now, after he’d shook his hand), and his hair in that stupidly endearing bun. And apparently he knew about the biggest fuck up in Michael’s entire life, which really wasn’t all that good for his already not so fantastic self esteem.

Luke nodded, still looking only a couple seconds from laughing. “The one time. Yeah. Ashton thought it was hilarious. It worked out, though, he got the rest of the day off, and convinced them to fix his position so it hopefully wouldn’t happen again. Well, I mean, they mostly agreed that he could keep his phone on him as long as it was silent so he could call Calum or something to come get him if something happened. But he counted it as a win.”

Luke leaned against the table, hip causing a couple bottles to fall over. Luke flushed, pink covering his pale skin, as he rushed to sort everything out, right all of the bottles. He knocked one of them off the table, squatting down to grab it and smacking his head against the edge of the table on his way back up. It knocked the brush from behind his ear, which hit the floor with a quiet clatter. Luke managed to stand up properly, though, his face red, and clearly flustered. “Um. Anyway. So you- Uh.” He shook his head, more curls coming free of his bun and dancing around his temples when he moved. “Ashton wasn’t upset, you’re okay. He’s kind of hard to rattle. Calum and him have been joking about it, mostly. They just didn’t mention you were cute.”

Michael had watched Luke’s moment with the bottles, eyebrows furrowed in concern, but he hadn’t wanted to overstep. He’d gotten it sorted, anyway, and his head seemed fine. So he didn’t ask, just watched him with the same slightly cautious expression. Luke’s last sentence threw him off, though, and it was Michael’s turn to flush, staring at Luke a few beats longer than socially acceptable. “Oh, uh- you think- I’m not- I’m pretty, just, you know- uh. Thank you. You’re- the same. Cute. I mean.”

Luke laughed, soft and gentle and warm, meant to be with him rather than at him. Michael’s blush darkened, but he didn’t feel quite so bad about being an absolute idiot. “Thank you,” he said, head tilting a little to the side, smile back on his face. Luke was tall. Taller than Calum and Ashton had been, enough to make Michael aware of the difference. No wonder he’d been clumsy, though he’d seemed to have reclaimed his grace now, lanky limbs seeming only to add to his charm and poise rather than detract from it now that his footing was stable and no bottles were falling on the floor.

“So why’d you come back, again?” Luke asked, yanking Michael out of his reverie. He’d moved to straighten some of the bottles and makeup palettes cluttered on the table. He glanced at Michael before his eyes shifted back to what he was doing. And yeah, that was definitely stray gold glitter stuck to his hands, front and back.

“Oh. Uh. I wanted to say sorry to Ashton again. I just...haven’t been able to catch him. Came back yesterday and same thing.” Michael tugged at one of his hoodie sleeves, watching Luke’s long fingers tighten what looked like a tall bottle of latex. And okay, maybe he’d watched a few too many behind the scenes videos of his favourite horror movies, and wasn’t completely brand new to SFX stuff.

Luke glanced up at him again, interest in his blue eyes and all over his face. His hands paused where they were. “You were here yesterday?”

“Uh. Yeah? I was just with Calum for a while but then he got some text and I didn’t get a chance to see Ashton before I had to leave.” He didn’t know what about that was so interesting, but whatever. At least he wasn’t tripping over his words now and could talk to Luke like a proper functioning human being.

Luke hummed but didn’t offer an explanation for asking. “Do you want me to do your makeup or something while you wait?” He asked, as random and out of nowhere as anything.

“What?” Michael asked, brows drawing together again. He was pretty sure Luke hadn’t said what he thought he’d said.

“Do you want me to do your makeup while you’re waiting?” He repeated, gaze as earnest as ever. He wasn’t lying.

“I mean, holy shit, yeah,” Michael said, maybe just a tad too eager. Get his makeup done by a makeup artist at the haunted house that had won awards for SFX? Hell fucking yeah! He wasn’t turning that opportunity down. Hopefully it went better than attending the haunted house had.

Luke beamed, looking absolutely pleased with himself. “Okay, come over here and sit down and I will. Do you want, like, a cut or something? I have a couple spare prosthetic injuries I could use. I know I can’t do the missing eye one on you, you can’t really see in that one. I have a couple of the small claw ones, like I think I used on Ashton? If you want some of those.”

“Uh. Yeah, that works.” Michael made his way over and sat down in the chair, shifting a little bit. He’d never really had his makeup done before, but he was more excited to get to see someone do SFX up close. On him.

“Can you pull the hoodie off?” Luke asked over his shoulder, starting to sort through his supplies. “I need more space. I can do it right below your collarbone, I think. That’s enough space. With Ashton, I think I slotted some at the top of one of his pecs and then some on his ribs, on his side.”

Michael flushed but tugged his hoodie off, getting his head stuck in the stupid thing only momentarily, before it was off and he could ball it up in his lap. Luke turned back to look at him, humming softly to himself. He tugged his hair free from the bun, curls falling freely to frame his face, before pulling it right back again. Just like before, curls too short to fit in the bun curled around his temples and his ears. Luke ignored it, stepping closer with the small prosthetic in hand.

He hummed a little again, eyeing Michael’s collarbones and chest. He tugged the neckline of Michael’s shirt down a little bit, holding the prosthetic up, just below his collarbone as he’d said. “This should work pretty well. Has anyone ever done makeup on you before?” Luke turned to grab something else, probably his adhesive, before turning back and frowning. “It might be easier, since I’ll need both hands for this. You can put it back on afterward, it’ll sit right above your neckline. Right here.” Luke tapped a finger lightly where he planned on putting the prosthetic.

Michael flushed. “Uh. Yeah, okay, I guess.” He really wasn’t used to this. Going shirtless in front of a cute guy? Yeah, that really didn’t happen. Like, ever. He reluctantly tugged his shirt off, though, still not about to turn this opportunity down. The shirt joined his hoodie, both balled up in his lap. He was rewarded with a sweet smile from Luke, before he was surveying the area he wanted to stick the prosthetic, which did little to help Michael’s blush.

“This might be a little bit cold. It’s room temperature, kind of.” Luke started applying the adhesive, completely in Michael’s personal space. “So did you like the house?” He asked, fanning the adhesive with his hand, gaze shifting to Michael’s face. “When you came? Before the thing with Ashton, I mean.”

“Yeah, I did. Uh. I’ve been wanting to come here for years, and I finally got to get a look. I really, really like horror shit, and thought about being an SFX artist but I don’t have the talent at all.” Michael resisted the urge to shift in place, or bounce his leg. He didn’t want to fuck up whatever Luke was doing. “It’s, uh, really well put together. No wonder it’s won awards and shit.”

Luke hummed, tapping the adhesive before grabbing the prosthetic and leaning down, tongue sticking out a little in concentration, as he carefully stuck it down. He held it in place for a moment, pulling back to inspect his work. He moved to grab one of his makeup palettes. “Yeah, it’s a lot of work to pull it together and get everything set up properly. But I can get out of some of it sometimes, since I do makeup.” He grinned at him before starting to add colour to the prosthetic. “You wanted to do SFX?” His gaze flickered up to him again, before again it dropped to what he was doing. “I could always show you some stuff, if you wanted. I’ve been doing it for a couple years, so I think I’d probably be okay at that.”

“Didn’t you guys win something last year for your makeup?” He asked, tilting his head a little bit.

Luke turned pink. “Well, yeah, but that wasn’t just me, that was the whole team. But, um. If you wanted that, I definitely could.”

It was then that it really clicked what Luke was offering. This was a chance for Michael to actually get hands-on experience with SFX and get to see it up close. Not only that, but he’d get the chance to actually do it himself, with someone else’s guidance, and see if he was actually shit at it. And that someone happened to be award winning. And really cute. “Fuck yeah, I definitely want that.” Okay, he needed to curb his excitement. Just a little.

Luke let out another one of his giggles, still working on the colouring of the prosthetic. “Okay. I’m happy to show you. I’ll get your number when I’m done? So we can set up a time?”

Michael definitely didn’t turn pink at that or anything. He was totally suave, totally used to getting cute guys’ numbers, especially while he was shirtless in front of them. Obviously. And maybe that was a little bit of a lie, and this was brand new. And maybe he was a little bit pink. “Uh. Yeah, that sounds good.”

Luke hummed, attention mostly back on the prosthetic. He was silent for a few moments before he spoke up again. “You said you wanted to do SFX. So what do you do instead?”

“Oh, I’m a film student. I work at, uh, Great Awakenings? The coffee shop a couple blocks down from here on campus.” Michael, again, had to resist the urge to shift around in place. Not because it felt weird, but because he didn’t know what to do with himself, or his nervous energy. He couldn’t even tap his foot or anything on the ground, for fear of fucking up what Luke was doing.

“Oh, that’s neat! I’m doing philosophy right now. Ashton’s doing English. Focusing on literature, I think. And Calum’s doing psychology,” Luke flashed Michael a bright smile before going back to his work, still carefully adding pigment to the prosthetic.

“Oh, that’s, uh...pretty cool. What made you choose philosophy?” Michael asked.

Luke hummed a little to himself. “I dunno. Just thought it seemed interesting. I’m pretty happy doing this, but I don’t know if I can make a career out of it. Or if my skills are even enough to try.” He paused. “I know I’m good enough to work here, I just don’t know about beyond that,” he corrected, fingers stilling where they’d been working. It only took a moment before he was back at it again.

Michael understood that, honestly. “Yeah, I know what you mean. That’s why I’m in film. I don’t know how far I’ll make it, either,” he said honestly.

Luke gave him a frown, more adorable than it had any right being. “I’m sure you’ll be good at it, Mikey.”

Michael flushed at the nickname, but didn’t have any time to add anything before Luke was turning around to face the table. “Okay, I just have blood and then I’m done.” Luke grabbed the bottle and a tiny brush, turning around to face Michael yet again. He gave him a tiny smile before he was back to work, tongue poking slightly from between his lips in concentration.

Luke was pretty. Michael was struggling to think about anything else, even with how desperately he wanted to do SFX, and how much he’d wanted to visit the haunted house. It only took a few minutes before Luke pulled back slightly, surveying his work. Good thing, too, Michael was starting to get chilly. “Okay,” he said, eyes still on the prosthetic, forehead creased slightly, lips pulled into a small pout. He looked thoughtful. Michael refused to admit it was adorable. “I think I’m done.” He gave Michael another smile, nose crinkling slightly with this one.

Michael’s number one weakness was definitely still cute boys, because his brain short circuited immediately. He was saved from having to say anything, though, when a girl poked her head in the door, knocking twice on the doorframe to get Luke’s attention. “Hey, house’s opening in a few. Stand by in case of any fucked up makeup.” Luke just nodded, and then she left.

Luke frowned a little at Michael. “Okay, you’ll probably have to go before we officially open and groups start coming through. I might get busy, and we aren’t supposed to have visitors.” Luke chewed at his lip, thinking. “Okay. Uh.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket - Michael didn’t know how he fit anything in his pants pockets, they were stupidly tight and didn’t look all that comfortable - and offered it to Michael. “Give me your number? I’ll text you and figure the whole Ashton thing out so you can say sorry to him or whatever. And then I can show you how to do makeup.”

Michael nodded, taking the outstretched phone from Luke and obediently putting his number in. “That, uh, sounds really great. Thanks, Luke.” He passed his phone back and earned another smile from Luke that definitely didn’t make his stomach flip. Michael went ahead and tugged his shirt back on, careful not to fuck up his new prosthetic.

“Okay, sweet. Can you find your way out or do you want me to show you?” Luke asked, as sweet as he’d been the whole time.

Michael shook his head at the offer, though. “I’m okay. I can get out. Thanks, though. I’ll...I’ll catch you around?”

Luke gave him another smile. “Yeah. See you, Mikey.”

Michael made his way out of the haunted house for the third time, hoodie balled up in his hands despite the evening chill so he didn’t get fake blood on it. And maybe he stopped in front of the mirror once he got home to look at his makeup, stupid grin on his face remembering Luke (and the other cute boys that worked there). And maybe, just maybe, that was the first night since he’d punched Ashton that he didn’t seriously struggle to sleep.

-----------------------------------

Michael had almost forgotten the whole dilemma, when he woke up to a text from Luke. The phone screen was stupidly blinding in the darkness of his bedroom, and he cursed himself for bothering to check his phone in the first place. To be fair, though, he’d only wanted to see the time - he slept with his phone on do not disturb for this very purpose - he hadn’t expected the text.

Luke H: hey, r u free 2day? :-)

Michael stared at the text, blinking sleep out of his eyes, before he managed to get his brain to function enough to reply. And of fucking course Luke added a nose to his emojis. He might have only met the guy once, but it definitely seemed like a Luke thing to do.

Michael: yeah I should be. y?

Michael didn’t have a chance to even roll over before Luke had replied, phone buzzing again in his hand. Did Luke have nothing better to do? It had to be fucking early in the morning, and Michael’s main priority was going back to sleep. Though, in Luke’s defense, it usually was.

Luke H: no reason

Luke H: can u meet me at that coffee shop @ 1 later 2day?

Luke wasn’t making any more sense, even with his clarifications. And Michael was way too tired to think too much about his cryptic messages. So he just agreed.

Michael: yeah

His phone buzzed again, seconds after he’d hit send. Did Luke have nothing better to do than text Michael at fucking nine am on a Saturday morning? Didn’t he know how to sleep in?

Luke H: great :-)

Michael tossed his phone to the side with a sigh, resolving himself to being awake way, way too early. This wasn’t usually how he spent his mornings; normally, he slept in until noon if he didn’t have work, and spent the day catching up on homework he didn’t feel like doing during the week, and finished the day with pizza and a few rounds of FIFA. He didn’t usually meet cute boys at the coffee chop, for god knows what reason, and he usually didn’t wake up so fucking early.

The rest of his day passed slowly, starting with two cups of coffee to try and keep himself awake and functional. He could hear his mum in his head, reminding him that nine am isn’t even that early, that most people were already awake and functional by that point. So he just shook his head and told his imaginary mum to piss off, and that he wasn’t most people.

He managed to waste most of the day away until he was already running late to meet Luke. He tugged on a hoodie that he’d only worn once that week, making it objectively cleaner than most of his other ones.

By the time he made it to the coffee shop, he was a couple minutes past one. Which was fine, it was pretty standard for Michael. He never really knew what time it was, but he tried his best. At least he was only a couple minutes late this time. Hopefully Luke didn’t mind too much.

Speaking of the devil, Luke had taken a seat in the corner and, when Michael spotted him, was mid-laugh at something Ashton had said to him. Ashton, who was sitting right next to him, grin on his lips. Oh, fuck. Had Michael just been invited to fucking third wheel them or something? You could third wheel a friendship. Michael knew that, from trailing after a pair of best friends when he was a kid, before he’d just decided to be a loner for the rest of his life. But they seemed awfully cuddly now, too. Maybe they’d just invited him to laugh at him.

Or, the much smaller rational part of his brain pointed out, maybe Luke had invited Ashton since Michael had wanted to apologize to him again and had never gotten the chance. Maybe Luke was just being nice.

Michael just did his best to shove all those thoughts aside. There was no point in freaking himself out now that he was already here. Better to just figure out what Luke had planned and get it over with. Or enjoy it, maybe. Maybe.

Michael made his way over to their table, awkwardly taking his seat in front of them. Luke turned and gave him a bright, happy smile. “Hey, you made it!” He greeted, clearly pleased. “I went ahead and brought Ashton, I hope you don’t mind. You said you wanted to apologize, and we both think you’re pretty cute, so-” Ashton smiled fondly, but nudged Luke anyway.

“Don’t freak him out right after he gets here,” Ashton chided gently. He gave Michael that warm smile, shifting in his chair. “Hey, Michael. Good to see you again.”

Michael nodded a little, socialization abilities immediately leaving him. “You look good,” he said, before flushing. “No, you don’t. I mean - fuck - I don’t mean that, I mean you look good now that you’re not covered in blood. Or, you looked good then too. Well, not really, because I hit you in the nose-” Michael snapped his mouth shut. “I mean, it’s good to see you too.”

Ashton just laughed, good naturedly, but Michael was pretty sure he was one fuck-up away from them hating him. Still, though, his laugh managed to calm some of that built-up nervousness he was holding on to.

“You look good too, no worries,” Ashton said, corner of his mouth pulling up into a smile.

Michael just nodded a little, steeling himself before he spoke. “I’m, uh. Really sorry about hitting you. I didn’t mean to at all, and still don’t know how I managed to fuck up that badly.”

Ashton gave him another smile. Luke was busy fiddling with one of his curls, clearly only half paying attention to the conversation, if at all. “It’s okay. Really. You didn’t do any lasting damage, and you didn’t mean to. I’m fine now, and it made the managers have to reconsider the position. Besides, it just meant Calum and Luke were a little overprotective for a few days. I’m fine now, but they were worried for a couple days about bruising and possible lasting damage. You should really be apologizing to Luke for having to deal with blood.” Michael must have looked confused, because Ashton continued. “I don’t know why, but it freaks him out. He’s fine with all the SFX shit, he’s okay with gruesome fake injuries and fake blood, but any time there’s real blood? He freaks out.”

Luke abandoned his curl, tucking it behind his ear, to pout at Ashton. “Hey. I just don’t like it.”

Ashton gave him another stupidly fond smile and draped an arm over the back of Luke’s chair. “I know.” Michael felt like he was third wheeling, again. Which, okay, Ashton and Luke were cute, but he couldn’t help the way his stomach dropped a little. He’d thought they were pretty cute, and he hadn’t deluded himself into thinking anything would happen with either of them. But it didn’t really make it feel much better to realize he was third wheeling.

Sometime into his quiet sulking (which only could’ve lasted a minute or two at most), Calum had come up behind him, because now he was pulling out the chair next to him. Michael was effectively caged in now by attractive guys. Which, okay, was manageable. If his brain would stay functional. At least now he wasn’t third wheeling Luke and Ashton by himself anymore.

“Hey,” Calum greeted all of them, smiling in the way that made his cheeks squish up and his eyes squint. And okay, yeah, Michael definitely needed to get back into the dating world.

“Hey,” Luke said, brightening a little again at the sight of Calum. “Michael came.”

Calum nodded, giving Luke the same fond smile Ashton had. “I can see that, babe.”

Luke reached his hand across the table, towards Calum. Calum took it, gently squeezing his hand. And fucking great, had Michael gone from third wheeling to fourth wheeling? Was fourth wheeling even a fucking thing? It clearly was, if what he was thinking was correct. Because Calum, Luke, and Ashton seemed awfully fucking close - Calum had just called Luke babe, for Christ’s sake - and he was pretty fucking sure they were all dating. Or involved together in some way. So why fucking bother inviting Michael if they were going to act like that? It wasn’t like he thought it was a date or anything, but it seemed...rude to just be all couple-y with a fourth person there.

“I’ve gotta take a call,” Michael said, and the excuse to step out sounded lame even to his own ears. But it had seemed like they’d been...maybe not flirting with him, but flirty, and he felt pretty fucking awkward fourth wheeling them the way he was doing. So he wanted an excuse to step outside for a moment and breathe. He pushed his chair back, wincing at the noise it made, and awkwardly stumbled outside of the door. The bell above the door chimed as he did, which did nothing for his annoyance.

He took a few steps to the side, so he wasn’t in anyone’s way if they tried to go into the little coffee shop. He leaned back against the wall with a sigh, forgetting his excuse, and completely forgetting that he should probably at least pretend to be on the phone. Even if his phone hadn’t been ringing in the first place.

His melodramatic inner monologue of suffering was interrupted by the stupid bell chiming again. It earned enough of his attention to look up. And none other than Luke was standing there in front of him, apologetic smile on his face. “Hi,” Luke said, making his way a little closer.

“Hey,” Michael said, a little unsure.

“I just, uh...I’m sorry,” Luke said, fidgeting a little in place. His gaze shifted down to his feet, where he was absently scuffing the toe of his converse against his other foot. “I should have warned you about us. We just...it’s still kind of new, telling people, and we all...well, we all thought you were really cute, and I thought the rest of it would be easy if I managed to get you here. But life isn’t really like the movies, and I was kind of a dick to not at least warn you. Ashton said I should have, and he was right. I should have.”

Wait...what? Michael was left reeling a little. At least he wasn’t fucking crazy, and he’d been right about the three of them being together. Or, that was what it sounded like, at least. But the rest of it? What did Luke mean by them thinking he was cute? What the fuck? Why did Luke have to be so cryptic? “What?”

Michael was pretty sure Luke blushed. He just scuffed his toe against the ground again, before making eye contact. “I’m dating Calum and Ashton. Or, we’re all dating each other. Um...and we thought you were cute. We think you’re cute. And I fucked up and should have explained all of that earlier. So you didn't, uh...get blindsided by it when you got here.”

Well, that was...a lot. And unexpected. “So...is this a date or something?”

Luke shrugged. “It is if you want it to be.”

Michael considered that for a moment. Did he want it to be? He’d never dated more than one person before - hadn’t really dated many people in general, honestly. But he didn’t dislike the idea. He had gotten along with all of them individually pretty well...and they were already established, right? So maybe it would be easier for him to just join that. Maybe. “I think so, yeah.” He nodded a little.

Luke grinned, shoulders sagging a little with relief as. “Great! I’m sure we’ll talk about everything soon. Like, boundaries and limits and telling other people and the future and stuff like that. Ashton and Calum are pretty good about all that.” Luke reached for Michael’s hand, and he took it, letting Luke lace their fingers together. “For now, though, let’s go get coffee.” Luke tugged him back into the coffee shop, a triumphant grin on his lips. Michael couldn’t help the smile he gave him, just as fond as the ones Calum and Ashton had worn earlier. Something about Luke’s happiness was just...contagious and sweet. It made you happy to see him so happy.

-----------------------------------

The relationship ended up working out like a fucking dream. Michael had never felt so supported in his life, and he was pretty sure his boyfriends felt the same way. After the initial coffee date, they’d gotten themselves established, and talked about what they wanted and what they wanted the relationship to look like, and the future, just like Luke had said. And, to absolutely no one’s surprise, the conversation was guided by Ashton.

Telling his mum had arguably been the hardest part, but even that was made a little easier with their support. Answering her questions hadn’t been fun - he’d deflected the over-the-line questions, as anyone else would, and flat out refused anything rude - but they’d gotten it taken care of, and she’d been about as accepting as Michael could have hoped.

As promised, they managed to get Michael a job at the haunted house the following year. One of the managers had gotten fired after the incident with Ashton - not that that had been the cause, but he’d been a massive dick about it, according to Calum and Luke, and it hadn’t been a good look, so he’d gotten canned - which let Calum get a promotion. Ashton was happy to stick with being an actor. As long as, he’d said when they’d broken the news to Michael, stupid grin on his face, no one else punched him in the face. He didn’t want another boyfriend. It had earned him three eye rolls, and three fond smiles, from each of his stupidly indulgent boyfriends.

But it had meant there was an opening for the merch stand, and Michael would get three glowing reviews. So they’d managed to get him the job. And, Calum had reminded them at the time, pleased smile on his face, they had a lot of sway with one of the managers.

So after everything got settled, Michael’s life was the best it had ever been. He had three loving, supportive, wonderful boyfriends, a job he loved, and date night every Friday. Even if he was working, they were happy to come sit and entertain him until he was off. He didn’t feel left out with them anymore, either; after that first time, they’d gotten it sorted, and were quick to comfort and console him.

Ashton never fucking let him live down the way they met, though. He made dad jokes about it as often as they let him - “watch out for Michael, he packs a punch,” “ah, Michael’s got quite the feisty personality,” “Michael’s really got a nose for this sort of thing. He fucked up mine, so it’s only fair, I suppose” - which was way, way too often, given how bad they all were. Michael couldn’t even bring himself to care, though. Not when accidentally punching him in the face had been the one thing to pull his life together. Ashton’s dad jokes were definitely worth all of that.

#5soshalloweenevent2020 #5sos fanfic #ashton irwin fanfiction #luke hemmings fanfiction #michael clifford fanfiction #calum hood fanfiction #my writing #queue #yall i am BUZZING im so excited for this and that i wrote PROMPTS and people are WRITING THEM #like i DID THIS SHIT!! and people participated!!#VIBRATING w excitement...#i mean this is scheduled #but its likely that im around when it posts #i need instant gratification u see #i will b getting ready for virtual halloween tho <3

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cake-in-a-tin · 5 years ago

Text

My thoughts rewatching all the Harry Potter movies back to back

forgive typos, and be warned - there's a lot...

the first two have a smaller amount of thoughts for some reason, idk why

Philosopher’s Stone

teeny harry haha

that snake is so beautiful

no post on sundays bro

hi hagrid

how did the dursleys get off the island tho

aw harry is so teeny and innocent

ollivander’s entrance is so iconic, like i want to enter every room like that

hermione is so great already

and you are…

‘you’ve got dirt on your nose by the way, did you know?’

haha tiny malfoy

TREVOR! + neville

that death glare mcgonagall omg

oof snape really hates harry

it's leviooosa not leviosaaa

troll in the dungeon!!!

hi fluffy

ew norbert is gross to be completely honest

creepy malfoy staring at the window

malfoy being sassy wow

‘nighty night…’ whyyy filch?

oof ron are u ok

bye hermione

voldemort is kinda cute with his big eyes

harry really just killed quirrell jeez man

alas earwax

Chamber of Secrets

ah go away dobby don't be weird

yes the car with fred and george

oof bye uncle vernon haha

ah awkward let go of harry lockhart we hate u

haha ginny is iconic

rons face when the train comes omg

ron can drive? that's impressive…

ooh a voice scaryyy

hey colinnn

eat slugs - yas

let go of his arm lockhart

uh oh colin is petrified

hahaha snape annihilated lockhart wow

gosh moaning myrtle is annoying

tom riddle is such a weirdo hgh

ew spiders

lockhart is hilarious when he has lost his mind wow

yas fawkes

ew he just stuck the sword right through its head didn't he...

powerful sock…

go away lucius ur annoying

Prisoner of Azkaban

ugh aunt marge blow up already

sassy harry tm

tom is iconic

so is crookshanks tbh

the knight bus kinda sucks in the movie tho

yess lupin hi

ugh shut up trelawney

ah the best scene aka harry and draco being sassy towards each other

‘it’s killed meh!’

the other best scene: lupin, boggarts and the record player

love when they are eating sweets and just being good friends

yay marauders map - iconic fred and george

nice snowman also

my dad didn't strut and neither do i - yeah right...

yes leave hermione

trelawney stop being creepy

take that malfoy

harry third wheeling

yas remus save sirius

"old married couple" haha snape knows what's up

die peter lol

haha yes they will chop your leg off ron definitely

ugh harry stop being noble

haha yes mentioning the marauders

ew stop peter

oh no werewolf

sirius is so dramatic haha he cant stop turning into a werewolf my dude

bad idea yes ron i agree

oof fight him sirius

no sirius!

the dementorssss

no harry that's not a real patronus dude

nom eat the little soul nugget nice

ah no they're gonna kiss sirius nooo

scabbers did it ok... shut up ron

dumbledore just smacking ron's broken leg and being mysterious

and enter many time paradoxes

‘this is not normal’ hahahah wow harry

yess save buckbeak dudes

yas beautiful patronus dude

this music tho wow

au revoir sirius

I wonder how many stairs they ran up...

poor ron so confused

that bird just got squished no

don't leave lupin

please tell harry about the marauderss

i love lupin omg

ooh a firebolt thanks godfather

the ending face wow

Goblet of Fire

ooh nagini hello

yay frank you will die soon so enjoy your tea

dr who!

ah voldemort's creepy little hand tm

yes ron is covering his non existent boobs wow

hermione's so mad 4 some reason

yes cedric diggory in a tree

everyone has long hair why

isn't just any manky old boot mate

cedric amos and arthur are show offs

feet off the table!

i luv magik

wow krum is enjoying himself

Why is draco wearing a suit?

lucius is very ominous

think ur in luvvv ron

is there no winky in this? sad

harry is so awkward omg

bye hedwig find sirius even though the ministry cant

oh bonjour beauxbatons

wow so dramatic here come the durmstrang peoples

wow run filch ao athletic

ew the beauxbatons entrance is so weird and compared to the durmstrang one is kind of sexist

ow poor flitwick a fork to the hand that's gotta hurt

moody is so dramatic

dumbledore already shouting nice

why does he have so many bugssss

ah that is a creepy spider

poor neville he has to have cuppa with moody that sucks

yess fred and george back at it again

hermione ruining the vibe

HARRY POTTER DIDJA PUTCHA NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIYAH dumbledore asked calmly

what would happen if harry was just like "nope"? would he die that would be interesting

igh rita skeeter go away ur creepy my dude

hate it when ur eyes glisten with ghosts of ur past

yas sirius in a fire

"who are u talking to?" "im vlogging ron" (how it should have gone. harry should have a youtube channel just saying)

poor harry a third wheel yet again between madame maxime and hagrid ew

wow draco in a tree, why? so many people in trees this movie

"nyaaah"

malfoy as a ferret is my favorite character

my father will hear about thissss

omg rita get outttt

fight the dragonnnn

feel like someone should have stopped the dragon after it broke free... idk *shrugs*

it would be so boring if u were watching the tournament because you can't see anything that's happening most of the time, only for the 1st task and a bit if the 3rd task.

knew u wouldnt die harry, lose a leg - or an arm -pack it in all together? nevaaaaa

god just open it harry

ron ur so awkward...

harry spitting out his drink will never not be funny to me

oh yes the gorgeous dress robes

poor ron has it tough, having to dance with mcgonagall and having ro wear those robes...

*babbling bumbling band of baboons*

the twins are hilarious in this haha

aw neville!

snape is really violent can't 2 boys discuss their love lives or lack thereof in peace

ron's jealous of viktor krum haha

love harry just being so confused and saying "spectacular" when cedric speaks to him.

given the fact harry literally told him the task cedric didn't do that much to help.

ugh no myrtle stop

harry going "do i" when neville tells him he seems tense is such a mood

harry's hair when he was swimming haha

just leave them harryy omg too noble

harry holds his breath for a long time after his gills go away - longer than i can

fred and george making fun of harry having 'moral fiber' is exactly what i would do in the situation

mr crouch stop being weird

yes finally singing hoggy warty hogwarts

oh hi mr crouch, taking a nap in the forest are u? cool

i would say do not stick your face in the pensieve but that's just me

Dr Who changed a bit since i last saw him, he's a bit mental now...

snape is so iconic wow

"bubble juice sir?" bahaha sassy harry back at it again

this music is so great

i would freak out if i had to go in that maze it's so creepy and feels like it would be so filled with jumpscares just nope

"a cauldron? What are u guys gonna do - eat me? that's gross!" feels like it should be in the movie

aw baby voldemort is so cute

ugh just chop off another finger or something wormtail jeez so much drama

how is voldemort still alive - the cauldron is on fire??

the movie is also really missing voldemort dancing with the death eaters

u dont have hair my dude stop caressing ur bald head

voldemort has lovely long fingernails

lucius' blonde hair poking out from beneath his hood is so funny 4 some reason.

"i can touch u now" is really not a good sentence

bit awkward to return with a dead body...

its alright harry *shakes his head violently*

uh oh that's not professor moody its barty jr

Order of the Phoenix

halfway done woo

the intro music is still a jam the 5th time

that is big whinging not little whinging

hi big D what a great nickname...

uh oh dementorrrrr

yes mrs figg the most iconic character in the movies

harry looks a lot like frodo baggins

yay the order is rescuing him finally

yes remus and sirius and mrs weasley and everyone

ooh kreacher

jeez hermione attack him

crookshanks attacking the extendable ears is just what my cat would do

cute godfather godson moments yeass

arthur weasley trying to function as a muggle is just so wholesome

ugh not umbridge ew

yes clear those charges

aw padfoot yess

wow that's a lovely coat sirius

voldemort looks great in a suit wow

didn't harry see his parents die? why couldn't he see the thestral before?

yes luna!

oh shut up umbridge oh my goddd

yes ron u tell seamus like a good friend

sassy harry reaching full potential

ugh umbridge sucks wow

so evil torturing harry

yes weasleys wizards wheezes

luna is so pure and perfect

the friendship between her and harry is so amazing

yas tell umbridge, mcgonagall

trelawneys bad but she doesn't deserve to be kicked out by umbridge

oof professor dumbledore just straight up ignored harry

yes harry just say you're rubbish that will make people think your sane

yes hermione break the rules!

oof ginny is jealous of cho liking harryyyy

yay the room of requirement!

dumbledores army is so fabuloussss

nigel is amazing and i love him

wow hermione just knocked out ron haha

harry potter the boy who made cheesy inspirational speeches

wow ginny is so powerful

harry and cho are so awkward eeehhhh

just because you’ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon *cringy forced laughter*

occlumency lessonnssss yay what fun

cute christmas scenes wow

ooh the family tree and sirius' backstory yay

harry u aren't becoming like voldemort u are going through pubertyyyy its hormonesssssss

yay hagrid finally

oh no it's bellatrix get ready for crazinesss

poor sirius he keeps getting the blame for everything that's so unfair

is neville tall or is harry short, because there is a huge height difference

aw all the patronuses are so cute

uh oh here comes umbridge...

noo they are captured and dumbledores lying waaa

oof dumbledore is as sassy as harry at some points - "dumbledores got style"

no umbridge is heaf and shes fricking evilllll

grawp yess. hes kind of cutee

ron is jealous of grawp bahaha

sheesh snape chill

yes a bit of maraudrrss aahhhh

thats it? noo

aw fred and george comforting a little boy is too cute!

yes fred and george!!! disrupt those OWLS!!

no harry! he doesn't have sirius nooo

yes hermione fake it till u make it ( or until u get umbridge attacked by grawp )

yay the centaurs are here as well get herrr

'i must not tell lies' the sass omg

jeez how many prophecies are there wow

pranked, harry dude ur kind of rubbish

well done ginny you've made all the prophecies fall

yh id rather watch my friends die than give u the prophecy, don't really like them tbh

yas sirius!

the order yes

you're beautiful sirius

noooooo siriusss 😭😭😭😭

yooo voldemort my dudeee

hope the ministry has a massive roomba

the DA just come in to see harry writhing on the floor and are like 'cool'

nice one fudge finally realised he's back cool, cool

ah yes angsty harry tm

aw poor luna, her shoes are all stolen.

luna is an icon though

we have something voldy doesn't - noses hahahaha

Half Blood Prince

uh oh the dark mark is here

death eaters as well fun

fenrir greyback!!

oh no not this bridge! i went across it and i was scared af

dumbledore appearing out of nowhere is so funny

ew slughorn no

wow i need dumbkwdored tidying spell so badly

slughorn collecting people is kind of creepy tbh

im so glad i dont have as many staircases as the weasleys

oh yes narcissa and bellatrix being shifty

oops snape u probs shouldnt have done that

yess fred and george!!!

weasleys wizard wheezes looks amazinggg

uh not cormac mclaggen

oooh its "draco and mummy"

no fenrir we wanted to look at draco stroking a cabinet

yes arnold!

yes draco malfoy is a "creepy bloke" ronald

why is draco always wearing a suit??

yes draco is going to pigfarts!

ouch why would u stomp on his nose??

yez luna save him

noo dont let snape teach defense against the dark arts!! i miss lupin...

poor harry having to do potions again ugh

dun dun dunnn the half blood prince

poor seamus stuff is still exploding

haha dumbledore ships hermione and harry lol

baby tom riddle is creepyy

tom riddle and slughorn were bffs wow so cute

edgy draco in his loki suit

aw rons the only one listening

ugh cormac mclaggen is so gross nooo

haha ron is so rubbish at quidditch id be just like him

'the binding is fragile' hahaha excuses

harry sleeps with his potions book hheehe wow

wow sneaky draco

rons face when hermione mentions her snogging him haha.

uh oh cursed necklace alert

harry pottrr the boy who just knew

snape is so sarcastic wow icon (not really tho ew)

oh god they're talking about skin aahhh

noo harry stop being awkwarddddd sit downn

ew cormac stop eating profiteroles so suggestively ugh

haa rons outfit

ew lavender stopp

oh yes "felix felicis" makes ron great at quidditch

poor hermione she just loves ron thats all

aw hermione and harrys friendship is so nice

angsty draco standing in a tower

"bUt I aM tHe ChOsEn OnE" god harry so pretentious

luna is the coolest person there is, nice work harry

draco in a suit again looking sad he does that a lot

no draco ur apple!

oh nvm its back dw

ugh cormac sucks. hermione why??

at least cormac did 1 good thing and vomited on snapes shoes

draco was lurking omgggg thats his vibe now

cant break an unbreakable vow - figured that out for myself thanks (sassy harry)

ew lavender stopppp

ooh noo ginny dont feed him a mince pie awkwarddd

thanks ron

stoppp ginny. harry can tie his own shoelaceee

why do they need to burn the burrow this doesnt happen in the books #not canon

wow everyones sassy including hermione now

also lav is an awful nicknname

aha tom riddle is still creepy

okay thats a lie slughorn u told him about horcruxes

uh oh ron loves romilda vane oop

harry thinks the moon is divine haha

Ron hugging a pillow then falling off the sofa in the background oh my gosh

slughorn is so useless

haha snapes face while rons saying hermiones name

draco being edgy again woowwww

lavender that is a death glare if ever i saw one

oh no draco is crying in a bathroom now like a moody teenager

let him cry in peace harry god man

'nyaaah' is dracos go to dueling sound

oops harry u kinda killed him a little bit.

no this is so awkwarddd ginny dont

just kiss like in the books after the quidditch match thats way better

yes the felix felicis

love harry potter like this its so funny

‘harry!’ ‘sir!’

not to mention the pincers *gestures awkwardly*

nice speech harry, now u have answers on the horcruxes

ooh back to tom riddle being creepy

yas harry and dumbledore field trip quality student teacher time

snape being edgy now wow everyone is in this movie

oops foreshadowing...

harry has precious blood apparently?

yay boat ride and smoothie

harry potter not harry water bro

noo bad just aguamenti right into his mouth Harry

yay new friends!!!

dumbledore ur gonna set harry on fire careful my dude

ooh death eaterz

did draco change intot hat suit to impress the death eaters?

oop bye dumbledore

harry brooding in dumbledores office

yess RAB get wrecked voldemort

harry ur thick apparently?

aw cute friendship

Deathly Hallows Pt. 1

rusty logo wow

‘ello whoo are u

oh scrimgeour hi i dislike u dude

veey dramatic

aaawww hermione no

yas dudley being nice to harry and vernon listening to him and leaving

ron brooding wow

bye parents sad face

wow vernons old man

ooh its snapeee he looks loke he has a lot of contpur on

yay snape has a savey seat

pius is a great name

uh oh i dont wanna give u my wand voldy

dracos face haha

ugh do they have to watch nagini eat professor burbage gross

the dursleys house looks so empty

yay the cupboard happy memories and his baby toys cuteee

moody thinks that harrys gorgeous.

yay remus and tonksss

shut up mundungus

blimey hermionee

'just trying to diffuse the tension' hahaha lol

wow so many harrys lol

yh wouldnt want to go in the motorbike tbh

uh oh death eaters

wow parkour harry

nooo hedwig - the saddest bit of this movie

yo voldemort wassup

oops the pylons fell down... just fly away good idea

nooo george's ear

jeez lupin y are u being crazy dude

george is saint like and holy aw so cute brother moments

uh oh bye moody u were a bit creepy tbh

ha lol harry a lot of people are going to die for u

harry stop being moody omg

wow george way to ruin the vibe dude

yo minister leave pls

ron just being ungrateful - u can turn out lights now ron lucky u

yay hermione you get a childrens book thats great

wow a snitch lucky u harry. hes so pleased with that. little does he know.... its a resurrection stone bro

give him the sword man

yay nice wedding

luna interrupting deep thoughts casually

xenophilius is creepy

ron and hermione staring at each other is a mood.

way to crash a wedding dude

hermione is the most competent out of all three it has to be said

i really want that bag of hermiones

shouldnt have said voldemory now the death eaters are here whoops

"hermione" *strokes face awkwardly*

sassy harry yas

oh yes grimmauld place

oof voldys having wand struggles

hi kreacher please leave ur creepy thanks

aw siriuzz room so cute sad hes dead

regulus arcturus black yay

ugh mundungus fletcher u suck dude

aw neville

oh no pie dude is the minister if magic now

uh shut up umbridge

feel like u dont need that many posters

sentimental piano playing wow

yo dobbyyyy

umbridge ruins everything omg

ron - u dont have a wife

haha harry getting out of the lift and walking in such a weird wayyy bahahaha

ew umbridge has moodys eye groosss

yas the ugly plates are still in her office

oops ron u just kissed that random dudez wife

nice suit harry

ouch splinch

lovely tent

kill the locket dude

dean thomas is on the run ooh fancy

yh harry stop letting voldemort in dude

harry stop being so moody bro

ooh watch snape on the map thats not creepy.

oh no snatchers...

ah u almost got caught dudes

ron ur so weak wow cant apparate or anything

lot of missing people...

haha a quarantine haircut

yes hermione ur brilliant

oh god ron stop chill

bye ron i guess lol

poor hermione

yas awkward dancing timee

awkward stares

kissy for the snitch. he must really miss ginny

uh oh its opening at the closee

vfd!!! an eyee!!!

ooh godrics hollowwww

oop its christmas eve whoopssss

oh a deathly Hallows

parents grave yay!

ur bathilda? nope im a snake boiii

bathilda is 1 creepy lady

what are u saying my dude????

ew snake lady

chaira are good defences agaunst snakes definitely

ah she jumped at them

looks like a nice campsite

wow now hermiones being sentimental

oop she sat on harrys wand

wait nvm

oooh a doe a deer a female deer

dont drown harry that would be awkward

omgbharry stop undressing

oof the locket strangling him

yay ron saved him yas dude

ron kill the horcrux

u tell him hermione

nice ron tell them u have been hearing voices

yes go see xenophilius the crazy dudee

aw ron ur so awkwsrd bro

their house is so cute

shut up ron god

yay we know about the deathly hallows now

xenophilius is so suspicious tho

why would you say his nameeee

noo snatchers

ooo ominous malfoy manor

draco dont doo ittt

yay dobby!

ah no hermione

aw draco looks sad in his little loki suit

yay dobby 'maiming and seriously injuring'

nooo dobby! he deserved so much better 😭

"hey guys welcome back to my unboxing video today we are opening dumbledores grave"

yay the elder wand wow

giving away ur position a bit dude by shooting stuff in the air

Deathly Hallows Pt. 2

snape hi ur brooding

lots of dementys

dramatic music

waaa dobby

yay bill and fleur

yo griphook what up

the sword was in a river bro

madam lestrange? no!

oops thats not dracos wand anymore wowww

wands are just like 'ya hiiii we have feelings too'

oop ollivander knows about the elder wand bros

ron looks great with a moustache tho

harry just broke the law jeez...

wow that cart looks fun

wow they fell from the cart nice

oh no ron broke the law too whoops

yay a dragon

lots of gold nice

yay the cup

oops they messed up nkw everything is multiplyinggg

griphook y are u evil my dude

yay ride a dragon

oops they fell no

yas they escaped

uh oh voldemort is onto them

that's a lot of dead people

oh no everyones looking for them

ah aberforth hi!

the other part of harry's mirror!

oop dumbledore was a secretive dude

ariana yas

neville!

i love neville hes so great now

yay all of the DA

luna!

ginny is being awkward

'shut up seamus' hhaha

aaa snape yooo

snape stop being a meanie

stop being angry harry

yas queen! mcgonagall!!!!

yay

uh oh voldemort is whispering to harry again

stop voldemort you need a cough sweet

yes everyone protect him

haha filch is a blithering idiot wow

i love mcgonagall

run harry

boom! seamus blow stuff up!

yay the knight peeps

uh yes theyre protecting harry and everyone

yes luna is so smart and iconic

go talk to a ghost harry

thats a lot of death eaters

go away voldemort no one likes u

yes go stab a crown harry

yay remus

fred and george aw

ron fake parseltonguing lol

nooo quidditch

lol peeps got disintegrated

go hermione stab the cup

yessss kisss!!!!

tonks and remus together wow

wow i hate voldemort's bald head with the weird veins

run neville!

yay ginny and neville

yay a little kiss for harry!

ooh the room of requirement

edgy draco back at it again

ooh the diadem

no dracooo

yh draco y didnt u give harry away?

aw ron loves hermione

uh oh fireee

nice work goyle

bye crabbe lol

yay hes saving draco

nice killed the tiara

oops voldemorts getting angry

snapes gonna dies dudes

runnnnn guys

lavenders being eaten

yay aberforth

yeet snapes dying

gosh naginis violent

“ew snape sorry i dont like u even tho u loved my mum” - what harry should have said

woops bye snape

freds death is too sad

nooo remus and tonks

go watch snapes life my dude

yess the always bit (i dont like snape but its iconic)

poor harry

its so sad that hes just sacrificing himself

his eye contact with ron omg im cryinggg

ooh yay his familyyy

he should have said 'its muffin time’ to the resurrection stone and it would be like 'cool bro here's your dead family'

u got this harry

yay teddy mention

"until the end" yas james

lets do this harry

wow voldemort why are you standing like a weirdo

yes harry be a brave man

byee harryyyy

oooh hes alive still

hi dumbledore

yes harry is a brave brave man

cool explain it to him dumbledore

bye dumbledoreeee

wow voldy u weakk bro

yas dracos alive get off me

aw neville u got this man

voldy yeeted that dead giant wow

ew snakey boi

nooo hes dead waa

poor draco such an awkward hug

oop neville what?

ok ur just making a speech that fine carry on

voldys very polite for a villain

yay harrys alive

haha dieee

run lucius wow

oof destroying the school harry really

naginis coming run hermione

u got dis neville

noo ron

yes molly!!!

y r u hugging dudes u arent friends... did u forget? oops..

ouch

bye snake boiii

neville is so iconic omg

kill him HARRY

noice

haha disintegrate voldemort

byeee

dont breathe in voldemort guys

wow harrys a mess

yay hagrid

hermione and ron are so sweet aw

harry yeet the wand

wow draco owns the wand and now harry has it

YEET

aw the friendship

yess 19 years later

wow that hair harry

all of their haircuts are tragic tbh...

should be albus remus potter... just sayinggg

THE END DUDESSSSS

#pls read #unfortunately this is basically my stream of consciousness #i think like that #idk #philosophers stone #chamber of secrets #prisoner of azkaban #goblet of fire #order of the phoenix #half blood prince #deathly hallows #harry potter #harry potter movie marathon #ron weasley #hermione granger #albus dumbledore #voldemort

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whumping-every-day · 6 years ago

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for bthb, neglect/abandonment? also i love ur writing it always has my favorite whump tropes thank you bye

Thank you so much, Nonnie!!! It’s not very long, but I wrote a quick something with Gabriel. This is the beginning of his time with his second owner, before Stefan and Maria, and before that last drabble. Enjoy :)

Content Warnings for this one! Gabriel is 12 at the start, so abuse/captivity/trafficking and neglect of a minor.

Masterlist

–

Gabriel is twelve when his first Master gets rid of him. He doesn’t know what’s happening until after he’s been drugged and moved halfway across the country to wake up in a strange basement.

There’s a cot, this time, thin and filthy and smelling like mold. But it’s a cushion against the cold floor, and Gabriel’s whole body aches as he starts to regain consciousness.

“Mmm, what…” The boy sits up blearily and rubs his eyes, and something moves with his wrist. The chain rattles as Gabriel examines it, but being restrained is not unusual. What is unusual is everything else.

The basement is different, the smell is different, and Gabriel knows, somehow, that something big has changed. He can’t remember much of what had happened… had he been bad? He knows that Master had came barging into the basement with a needle in his hand, and then… nothing. Had Master beaten him until things went dark again? Gabriel sniffles softly. He can’t remember what he’d done to deserve it this time.

A door thuds open somewhere, and Gabriel flinches and quickly hides in the small space between the mattress and the wall. The boy is huddled small when a strange figure comes strolling in. He’s not completely hidden, and Gabriel feels his stomach drop when he dares a glance at the man’s shoes. This is not his Master.

“Where did I put it…” This man is older, and rounder, but with enough strength in his arms to have Gabriel breathing more quickly in automatic panic. The man is clean but unkempt, a strange combination of scruffy and well-dressed. His shoes are steel-toed boots.

Gabriel quivers and hides, but the man doesn’t even look over in his direction. There’s a workbench on the other side of the basement, much further than Gabriel’s chain would allow him to reach, and the man roots through a toolbox for a few moments, before straightening triumphantly. “Aha. Knew it had to be in here somewhere…”

The box is closed, and the man swivels, hefting the tape measure in his hands. Gabriel squeezes his eyes shut, sure that now, finally, the stranger’s attention will turn on him. It always does, and it always ends in angry hitting and yelling. His back aches from the last time he’d made Master mad.

Instead, the new man simply walks away. Footsteps creak, the door closes and locks, and Gabriel is alone in the darkness.

The man does not acknowledge him. There is a rusty toilet within reach of the chain, and the filthy, lumpy mattress, but that’s it. Gabriel spends the first four nights terrified of garnering the man’s attention, and when he doesn’t, he starts to wonder if that might be worse.

He hasn’t been touched since the last time he was beaten. He hasn’t been fed since the last time Master had made him do tricks for moldy bread.

The skin under his shackle bruises and tears, and Gabriel grows thinner, and still he is ignored.

His Master is not coming back for him. Gabriel accepts that after it’s been a week, and he still hasn’t been spoken to. It is always frightening and painful to be yelled at, but at least that way he’s still alive… maybe he’ll die there, chained to the wall and forgotten about.

Has he been forgotten about?

It takes eight days for the man to speak to him.

Gabriel is laying listlessly on his side, staring blankly at nothing when the door opens. It happens frequently enough that Gabriel’s heart jumps into overdrive, but he doesn’t sit up. The man doesn’t even seem to see him. Food is a distant, forgotten thought.

But this time, instead of walking right past his dank, dark corner, the footsteps stop. Gabriel lays still for a long moment, and his whole body jolts in fright when something is set down with a harsh clank.

“Eat.”

Gabriel is dizzy and disconnected, but he recognizes that tone. That is the tone men use when they are speaking to something far beneath them. Which meant the man was finally talking to him, looking at him - Gabriel jolted up into a sitting position, and he was almost hopeful as he fell to his knees at the man’s feet.

He’s waiting for something, although Gabriel isn’t sure what - but once again, the man turns away.

Gabriel whines softly as the stranger walks away, and he clamps a hand over his mouth immediately after. Master always hated it when he made noise… but the man doesn’t even seem to notice.

The boy is left in the darkness again, and there is no one there to see him cry.

The days have already blurred into weeks, and the weeks turn into months, and Gabriel quickly loses track. He isn’t trying to keep track of the time very hard anyway… he’s so little that the passing of time seems like a distant thing. He only understands pain, and hunger, and now, with this new stranger, he understands loneliness.

He is spoken to perhaps once a week, then the Master brings down a tray of food. Gabriel quickly leans to ration it, because he is not fed outside of that time. At no point is he struck, or touched in any way.

The darkness starts to feel more familiar than the light, and Gabriel makes friends with the cockroaches and spiders that share the basement. Once, he sees a mouse, but it disappears before he can get his hopes up.

It is dark, and nothing happens, and Gabriel is going insane. At some point, he starts to see things in the darkness, just abstract shapes and colors. Sometimes he sees his Master - or, his former Master. The one who had given him away, to be locked in this dungeon and left there. Sometimes Gabriel reaches out for him, begs and pleads to be allowed to come home, for things to go back to how they were - anything but the crushing darkness. Nothing ever changes.

The manacle on his wrist is a part of him now, just like his collar. He is never spoken to, never given orders or commands to follow, and Gabriel is wasting away.

It will be years before he is released from his wall. In the interim, while the boy should be developing his language skills and socializing with others his age, he is instead ignored.

When his new - or not so new, anymore - Master finally decides he has a use for Gabriel, the fifteen year old is nearly catatonic. His legs shake as he is dragged up the stairs, and he screams and crumples to the floor when the bright lights hit his eyes.

In the end, he spends two and a half years in the suffocating blackness, and when he is finally allowed out, Gabriel is weak and trembling like a newborn foal. He does not look up, does not fight the man’s grip, crumples like a doll when he is slapped.

He learns to fear punishment again, after that. But he has learned to fear the darkness more.

#BTHB #sarah writes bdhb #gabriel series #whump #my writing #whump writing #my oc's

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mikeshanlon · 6 years ago

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Happy Pride! .... Like... more than halfway through the month lmao sorry, better late than never ig! I’ve compiled a list of some of my fave LGBT+ books, as well as a few I’m planning to read for pride/in the near future. Please feel free to reblog and add some of your own recs, especially for the sexual and gender identities that are lacking in my list!!!!!

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz: This beautiful, wholesome coming of age novel is pretty popular on tumblr and with good reason! It’s set in the 1980′s and follows Aristotle, aka "Ari”, as he grows up an tackles with his identity-- he feels like his story is written by someone else, that his path is not up to his control. Whether this is due to his complex relationship with his family, or societal expectations/stereotypes of Latinx men, or the fact that maybe his friendship with Dante might be more than that, and that kinda terrifies him. (Rep: Gay, Latinx, (I believe this is own voices) Warnings: it’s been a minute since i’ve read this but i believe some racism, internalized homophobia, and an instance of violent transphobia)

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston: LGKNLKNGRG okay this is truly one of my favorite books of the year so far and part of the whole reason i wanted to make this. This is a New Adult Contemporary romance set in sort of a like... parallel America where a woman won the presidential election. We follow The First Son, Alex Claremont-Diaz, who’s charming, smart ass, genius icon. Him, his sister June, and their best friend Nora are easily marketable and loved by the public for the most part, but when Alex and his rival Prince Henry of England get into a public spat at a Royal Wedding, Alex and Henry must pretend to be friends to patch up relations and public image for his mother’s re-election campaign. Eventually their fake friendship turns real, and then becomes more as they get to know each other, Alex and Henry begin a secret romance that we follow over the course of the re-election year. This book is fucking HILARIOUS (like I have so many tabs for funny moments and i was trying to be restrained), but it’s just so. Like full of love and hope and it’s so beautiful???? It’s definitely political escapism from our current situation in America but still deals with current issues such as racism and homopboia, etc, but gives the reader hope for future progress. Alex and Henry’s relationship is so fun, and sexy, and beautiful and the friendships are so iconic and Alex’s journey with sexuality is... chefs kiss. Also like. Casey McQuiston mentioned that she listened to Texas Reznikoff by Mitski a lot while writing this in the acknowledgments so. what more do you need... (Rep: Bisexual (Own Voices), Gay, Biracial-- Mexican/White (Own Voices), Warnings: Racism, homophobia, mentions of a past sexual harrassment/assault. Since this is a New Adult, there are smut scenes. I wouldn’t say it’s like. Super explicit or anything but there is sex, though it’s often during Important Moments of their relationships so it doesn’t feel like p*rn-- again the sex is happening but its not in hella explicit detail or anything or for the same goal as say an erotica. P much proceed with caution if it’s not ur thing but it’s not too wild!)

Blanca y Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore: This is sort of a Snow White/Rose Red and Ugly Duckling retelling following two sisters, Blanca and Roja, who’s family curse destines that one of the sisters will be trapped into a swan’s body, never to be seen again. (So this is magical realism lmao). We also follow two boys, Page and Yearling, who were wrapped up in the magic of the nearby woods, but have returned to society. Page is a gender queer trans male, and his whole arc that was so beautiful and made me cry, but in a good way (also warning that I’m cis so like. I would love to hear what gender queer trans individuals think about the rep in this book bc I cannot really attest to it.) This book is really about sisterly love and love in general, with all the complexities that come with it. (also wlw grandma’s who grow apple’s it’s p iconic) (Rep: Latinx-- colorism plays a huge role in the story as well (Own Voices), Gender Queer Trans, Queer (Own Voices) Warnings: Some transphobia, racism, and abuse). (I believe most of Anna-Marie McLemore’s books are magical realism and have some Latinx and queer elements to them as well)

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller: god..... This (gay ass) novelization of The Illiad is just so tragically romantic and beautiful... We follow Achilles and Patroclus as they grow up and grow closer, and eventually fight the Trojan War. There are so many beautiful quotes and scenes but like. You will most likely cry so keep that in mind eklrgerg. (Rep: Gay Warnings: Violence, there’s like..... a weird r*pe/homophobic scene)

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan: YA Fantasy set in a world where there are three castes: Moon-- the highest caste, demons with animalistic features in a humanoid form, Steel-- humans with part demon physical features and abilities, and Paper-- fully human, the lowest caste. We follow our protaganist Lei, who despite being a Paper caste, has beautiful golden glowing eyes that end up garnering attention from the Demon King. She’s stolen from her home and forced to join The Paper Girls-- a group of paper caste concubines in training at the palace. As she tries to find a way to escape, she ends up falling for one of the other paper girls, Wren, who might be just the key to freedom. I love Lei and Wren’s relationship and I’m excited to see it play out in the sequel! (which i believe ngan said will introduce more LGBT characters) (Rep: Asian (Own Voices), WLW (I believe this is Own Voices as well). Warnings: As their role as concubines suggest, a large part of this book revolves around the patriarchy using women for power and sexual assualt/rape. There are no explicit rape scenes-- though they do occur ‘off screen’, however there are a couple attempted sexual assault scenes that I believe could be p triggering. This book is also largely about the Paper Girls taking back their power, and I don’t believe these scenes are done for shock value, however please proceed with caution. Subsequently, sexist and patriarchial views are present within the authority, though shunned by Lei, however there’s a lot of internalized sexism and objectification among some of the other Paper Girls.)

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell: I probably don’t have to talk about this one much since it’s super popular, but in what is like essentially Harry Potter but like gay and wholesome, we follow Simon Snow, the Chosen One who’s actually not that good at magic, his best friend Penelope, and his roommate and arch nemesis that’s totally a vampire but won’t admit it, Baz. (Except Baz is, like, totally in love with Simon and Simon’s just too dumb and wrapped up in his own shit to realize it). Truly just,... an iconic enemies to friends to lovers story that unfolds as the three of them try to uncover a mystery surrounding Baz’s late mother. Ik some people have found it confusing bc it’s sort of like starting the Harry Potter story off at book 7 and only getting some background info along the way but honestly I really enjoyed that lmao. Also there’s a sequel coming out this fall, Wayward Son. (Rep: Gay, Some POC rep. Warnings: not rlly any i dont think??? There’s like. some Homophobia lmao bc we can’t have a gay book without it.)

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins: This is a cute YA contemporary following Millie Quint who, post being cheated on by her best friend and wanting to have a fresh start, flies to Scotland to finish off her senior year at her Dream prestigous boarding school, joining a handful of other girls as the first female class in the institution’s history. Plus like. Cool Rocks and Scotland. Only problem is that her roomate is sort of a bitch and also the Princess of Scotland who she totally just told off. So yeah yet another royal gay enemies to friends to lovers with a dash of and they were roomates LMAO. This book could be like.... a bit cheesy and rushed but overall it was cute and like...... The Cover.... (Rep: Bisexual, Lesbian, Warnings: Some homophobia. Also this is a companion novel to Prince Charming but you don’t have to read that first, there’s just some references to the couple in that book as the Prince is well.... The Princess’ brother and where they end up so if you don’t wanna be spoiled read that first ig!)

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman: I talked about this some in this post, but I feel like I did kinda a shitty job so. A YA fantasy/paranormal series about the descendant’s of the town’s four founding families-- Violet Saunders, Justin Hawthorne, Harper Carlisle, and Isaac Sullivan (the most iconic one). The latter three have lived in Four Paths their whole lives, protecting the town from The Gray-- p much the Upside Down from Stranger Things lmao, using powers specific to each of their families. Violet and her mother move back after Violet’s sister died in a car accident, and she’s thrust into helping save the town as the Gray grows more restless and having to uncover the secrets of her family as well as all the history brewing between the other three. The Stranger Things and Riverdale comparisons are p valid, (but like. Riverdale in the sense of small town secrets and a bunch of tense history that the kids don’t really understand and must uncover, and some like love triangle but..... not Rlly Love triangles just a mess of ppl being like oh shit i like this person and this person.... Bisexual Chaos if u will... not like. The I’m cuckoo bananas for u let’s go get high and play dungeons and dragons and smash in a bunker LRGKJRLKGJ), the Raven Cycle comparison’s are kind of a stretch, I can see the abstract comparison’s if i squint but like. Don’t go into this expecting TRC lmao. I really enjoyed the theme of grief throughout this book and seeing the powers unfold (and one of the dynamics a lot) and while not perfect the series has a lot of potential and like. Bisexuals. So. (Rep: Bisexual (two mc’s are bi and say the word!!!!!!!! As well as some secondary characters), Disabled (one of the mc’s is missing one arm from the elbow down). Warnings: Grief, Violence)

The Gentlemen’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee: Also talked about this in this post and did a better job there, but to sum it up it’s essentially a friends to lovers, bed sharing, road trip au with a dash of magic but set in the 1700′s! There’s also a sequel/companion, The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy that I have yet to read but it follows Monty’s sister, Felicity, and I believe goes more in depth with her identity. (Rep: Gay, Black, Disabled, Aromantic, Asexual, Warnings: Period typical homophobia/biphobia, racism, ableism, sexism)

Simon vs. The Homosapien’s Agenda by Becky Albertalli: Like. I don’t think i really have to explain this one LRKGJJRG but added it just in case. YA contemporary following Simon as he e-mails another gay student at his school and falls in love. (Rep: Gay, Black, Jewish, Warnings: Homophobia)

All For the Game Trilogy (The Foxhole Court, The Raven King, The King’s Men) by Nora Sakavic: If y’all have been on my blog at all you know i’m back in aftg hyperfixation mode after another reread lmao. Is it a lil messy is it a lil dramatic... yes. but i love it!!! We follow our protagonist Neil Josten, who’s been on the run from his crime lord father, The Butcher of Baltimore, since he was young. After his mother dies on the run, Neil finds a new place and adopts yet another identity, and ends up playing high school exy (a made up sport but like we’re barely here for the sports lmao), something he used to play as a child. Despite playing a new position, he attracts the attention of the PSU Foxes, who’s coach David Wymack specifically recruits players with a troubled past to give them a second chance. Neil really shouldn’t sign-- it goes against everything his mother told him, it puts him at risk of being in the spotlight for his father’s men to find him, and puts him on the same team as Kevin Day, someone from his past that knows his true identity. Still, something draws Neil to joining the team, to finally try to live instead of just survive. UGHHHH like truly this book just makes u fall in love with all the characters and the beautiful and broken found family that develops over three books and one of the most iconic and amazing (ha....) slowburn relationships ever.... Also if i recall they’re super cheap on iBooks (at least when i bought them, the first book was free and the other two were $1.99). (Rep: Gay, Demisexual, POC, Warnings: MAJOR trigger warnings for like. everything bc all the foxes have fucked up pasts. But the biggest ones are probably rape, abuse/torture, and substance abuse)

Six of Crows Duology (Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom) by Leigh Bardugo: Idk how much I really have to talk about this bc it’s popular but I am physically unably not to reccomend this duology bc its just. So. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. The most barebones summary is that this is a YA Fantasy about six people coming together to perform an impossible heist. This is truly like...... a masterclass in developing characters and has one of the best m/f ships i’ve ever read... But also since it’s on here there is some gay shit going on, 3/6 mains are Not Straight and there’s a cute m/m couple! Also you don’t have to read the Grisha Trilogy to read this but u can if u want (I have yet to). (Rep: Bisexual, Gay, Disabled, POC, Warnings: Again these ppl have fucked up pasts, biggest are PTSD, past sexual abuse)

The Raven Cycle Series (The Raven Boys, The Dream Theives, Blue Lily Lily Blue, The Raven King) by Maggie Steifvater: Again i don’t think I really have to explain this one but like. In case you haven’t read this series it’s truly iconic..... Idk even how to explain this LKGJLJRG just like magical realism wonderfulness and found family and amazing relationships and shit.... (Rep: Gay, Bisexual, Disabled, Warnings: Abuse)

The following are books I plan to read for pride/in the near future. I can’t wholeheartedly reccomend them obviously, or fully detail all the rep/warnings, but I’ve heard some great things about these books and a lot of them have representation that the first part of the list is lacking, so I figured I would add them! (Also if I use ‘queer’ that’s because that’s the only label I have been given by the authors or reviewers, or the characters identify as queer)

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman: To my knowledge this is a really emotional YA coming of age/college story that has to do with like. A podcast? Idk a lot of people love it and side note I’ll be suing B&N bc they NEVER have it relkj (Rep: Bisexual, Demisexual, I belive Latinx.)

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand: I believe this is a YA horror-ish novel where there’s a monster stealing girls on and island. (Rep: I believe all three main girls are queer Warnings: Since this is horror im assuming. Horror stuff LMAO)

I Wish You all The Best by Mason Deaver: A YA contemporary romance about Ben who comes out as non-binary to their parents and gets kicked out, and moves in with their estranged sister. They soon are taken under the wing of a senior named Nathan Allan and begin to fall. (Rep: Non-Binary (Own Voices), MLM/Queer, Black (im assuming from the gorgeous cover lmao. Warnings: Misgendering, homophobia, anxiety, depression)

Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno: YA Magical Realism about Georgina, who has yet to inherit the magical powers that have been passed down her family, including her twin sister Mary who, unlike Georgina, is coming into her powers. (Rep: Lesbian, Queer, Aro/Ace, Warnings: Rape and sexual assault, underage drinking, animal death, drug use.)

#books #lgbt #pride #lgbt books #idk what else to tag lmao pls feel free to add ur own yall!!! or correct anything i got wrong lmao

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jimlingss · 5 years ago

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hey Kina! how have u been? hows ur, uh, college year (? or is it called academic year? actually, im not sure) going? what r u up to these days? i dont read much lately and visit tumblr in general but i wanted to drop by in ur ask box to see how r u. hope u r staying healthy and in a good mood, not overworking yourself. have a nice week! - chem

I’ve been good — for the most part. I think I’m just doing a lot these days so it kind of weighs down on me a lot. This year for university, I knew I wanted to do more in terms of my social life, so I joined like two clubs and I’ve been talking to a few more kids. While academically, things are the same and I don’t feel like my workload is too much, everything else is a lot.

I’ve always managed my time well so I’m not stressed per say. I’ve gotten like 3 midterms done and I only have 3 more in the coming month but they shouldn’t be too bad. I’ve pretty much finished all my assignments for the rest of October and halfway through November too.

Recently, I’ve been getting into Dungeons and Dragons lol and it’s actually a lot of fun but I’m still learning the game mechanics. I started a new job as well on campus and I’m doing a bunch of IT things for the faculty — I’m really confused on what my job actually is but I’m slowly learning. As for writing, I’m almost complete Jimin’s slice of life WOO HOO! And I gotta say, I love it a lot. I don’t know if it’s the best-best, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Jimin (obviously), so I’m pretty damn biased. I should finish writing it this week and then I can start on a few (two) oneshots and then start Jungkook’s slice of life.

After that, I plan to decrease my writing by a lot so I can start studying for my LSAT test. (this’ll probably be around January-ish)

#the other club I joined was moot court #and I'm pretty prepared for the competition beginning of November #thanks for dropping in and asking how I've been doing!#even if you're not reading much anymore #It's good to kind of recap and type it all out #I hope you're doing well too #Jimlings #chem anon #Anonymous

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a-shrieking-cloud-of-bats · 6 years ago

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okay so long breakdown of my experience with Morrowind as a starter I first tried to play the game last year, fumbled it, repeated that a few times, before dropping it for a while and eventually coming back to it the past few days and running through it! Ran a Nord, Heavy Armor, Warrior, used almost no non scroll magic, notably used them to deal with locks, used divine intervention once during that one Baar Dau bit in the main story, probably a handful of other scroll usages for random junk. I also didn’t do the expacs and I haven’t played Oblivion in a while so I’m trying to avoid in depth comparisons to it. I’ll start off by saying I did enjoy it overall, and while I don’t think it stole my Favorite TES Award, it definitely left a mark, and I think my favorite bit of it was the main quest, the tone was just something I liked more then the other two TES games and all in all the whole mysterious diseases angle felt a bit more urgent then more nebulous threats like demons and dragons. Additionally, the plot conceptually I think is just a lot more fun to think about rather then “x is attacking!”, and I think the things like ash creature ambushes and ominous dreams helped that feeling a lot. All in all I feel it was a bit better handled to boot, and I particularly liked the whole “your cover story for being in the blades is that you’re an adventurer because they’re all over the place, you’d blend in, and you’re gonna need to be fighting anyway so you might as well develop that skillset”, since it allowed for explicit breaks in the main quest line where he’d tell you to go do other stuff for a while and “keep your cover story up to date” while he did research or whatever. Added to the settling, added to the plot, added a reason to go faff around in a dungeon and maybe find something cool. Maybe. We’ll get to that.

But the cover story thing is super appreciated because it’s an issue I frequently ran into in other games where it just never really felt like you had a stopping point in the main quest line, if you were playing as if you were legitimately concerned with the status of the main quest. Like, with Skyrim you start out. . . -escape from Helgen -go down to Riverwood with whoever -they tell you Riverwood’s in potential danger so you go up and talk to the jarl -he tells you to help with his investigations of the dragons (if you’re playing a bit more apathetic of a character this could potentially be a time to step out but let’s assume a sort’ve “lawful good” here) - you go down to bleak falls barrow, come back - a dragon attacks the tower, you go investigate and fight it - End Scene; and even then I think it wouldn’t be a stretch to feel like you had to answer the summons, and that goes through a very long road trip, a dungeon, and a dragon fight before you get to a solid “I need to do things, go outside and play” style stopping point. and after all that you’re like.... an hour or two into the game? It’s not absurd but it’s quite a bit compared to silt stridering over to Balmora and getting told to go have fun, and it’s not a game breaking thing, obviously the player doesn’t absolutely have to be told to stop doing main quest stuff, but it was a nice touch that I liked. At any rate I liked the main quest, but I think the thing I was most impressed with was the travel. I went into Morrowind thinking I was going to hate wandering around 24/7 and paying fees and so on and so forth but actually it felt pretty great after a while! I came out of Morrowind preferring the “carriage” system rather then the fast travel system, just because getting more mobility options and strength in that category was interesting to me. Given that I was playing the least mobile “class” in the game; heavy armor weighs a lot which slows your ground speed (I think) and weakens your jumping, with no magic and no knowledge of how to get propylon indices working, I think that’s pretty glowing praise. I also liked the way enchanted gear worked in Morrowind, where there are usable artifacts and passive artifacts, passive artifacts just give you the boost, and usable artifacts are purposely triggered to get an effect and slowly recharge over time, which is a game changer. I know I don’t really use enchanted weapons in Skyrim because it’s not that big a boost and juggling soul gems and soul traps is a pain in the butt, but if they recharged over time I might be more inclined. Again, a nice little thing the game does differently. The graphics were wildly better then I expected, and I think the game is an excellent example of restrictions creating a unique and good looking style in some cases. The polygonal models really add a lot to the fairly eerie main quest backdrop and pretty hostile game world overall, and ultimately the game just sort’ve creates its’ own aesthetic and it’s super good despite being very obviously dated. The entire inside the ghost fence part of the end game was spooky as hell and felt very climactic despite the landscape looking like something that came out of 3D Studio Max circa 1990. And on a side note, Diyavath Fir’s tower and the Corprusarium were a really cool dungeon concept and I’m very surprised the whole “sequential treasure chests with keys in them that eventually lead to a prize” thing hasn’t been done again since IIRC. With all the praise out of the way, let’s get to stuff I was more neutral on or outright disliked (there’s surprisingly little of the latter, by the way). To start off, I felt gear progression felt super weird. I started out by buying a full set of steel armor and an iron long sword and I didn’t get an upgrade until like, halfway through my playtime, so like, two days total, and my long sword went un-upgraded even longer. After a while I found a silver long sword and about an hour after that I found a daedric katana and suddenly the game was basically over past that point because I was 2 shotting everything that wasn’t a higher end ash creature or daedra. It felt very spotty, it wasn’t a game changer or anything, and to be fair once the armor upgrades started going, that progression didn’t feel too bad either (though my shield did get upgraded from steel to daedric). Not a huge deal, but it was a thing. The end game quest line where you’re re-uniting the tribes and houses is a huge chore and also holds the only two escort missions in the game which I don’t think is a co-incidence. I liked the house quests more initially since they were more tightly packed in and had fast travel options around. . . buuuut they quickly became a gold count check. Having to get confirmation from councilors that, by their own mention, wouldn’t be necessary, was also obnoxious, though I didn’t mind that as much, as the whole declaring a war leader thing is a big deal and I can believe that from a plot standpoint. Still didn’t like it. I am aware I could’ve skipped all this with reputation, and that’s fair, but I still think as a quest line it’s a bit much; though I dunno how I’d fix it without banging up the plot significantly, to be fair. All the side quests I did were pretty bland. Lotta “go here, clear this dungeon, come back get x gold”, some “go here, fetch y guy, bring him back, get z gold”. Sometimes you didn’t even get rewarded, though the reputation system makes up for that. I ended up stopping about halfway into House Redoran because the quests were, by and large, just dungeon clear quests and I was vastly more interested in the main quest. It’s something I might take more interest in on a second play through. You can end up trivializing combat very quickly, which was probably a part of why I didn’t end up liking the end game so much. Part of that’s my fault; athletics and acrobatics were minor skills, it basically put me on a timer, and some people like the “I’m level 20 and I can crush anything in the game like a walnut” thing, which is fair. I did end up finishing it at about level 23, and I’ve heard scaling stops at 20, so that’s about right to be fair. Though I’ve also heard Dagoth Ur scales up to 35? It sure didn’t feel like it, and overall it kind’ve made the whole lead up into Dagoth’s big moment a bit of an anticlimax, I hit him like six times for the fight and I got most of the heart fiddling done before he brought me to half. A big part of why I even almost died was because I didn’t realize I had to run back over the bridge. Though that all might be a side effect of running a heavy armor warrior, IIRC they’re pretty easy, but I also did surprisingly little side stuff. It just sorta feels like if you do anything other then the main quest you’ll trivialize the final stages of it, and if you do the main quest you trivialize the extra stuff? It’s a bit of an odd problem to solve and it seems like they’ve still not gotten it quite right, to be fair. I’m trying to think of stuff I outright hated and really all I can think of is the fact that NPCs stand in “one NPC wide” hallways and doorways like it’s their job. A not insignificant part of why I gave up on Redoran is because getting through under-skar was hell because of all the guards just shuffling around on rope bridges and staring at me anytime I got anywhere near them while they clogged up the road. But yeah, overall had a good time and I probably played the least complex character type, so that’s definitely a good sign. I look forward to playing it again and playing with magic more; already thinking on an acrobat like, athletics/acrobatics/whatever magic school does jump/move speed boosts character and getting a bit more into the setting with it, eventually. I definitely get why people love the game so much and while I don’t think I hooked into it quite as hard I admit I haven’t played something quite like it before, between the aesthetics and mechanics either, and admittedly most of my complaints were half complaints, so that’s definitely not a bad track record. Will definitely play again at some point.

#bats writes #long post

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mariska · 7 years ago

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me: oh man its too bad i have to wait for adventure zone to start up again in a couple of weeks if only there was some other kind of dungeons and dragons show with great characters and creative people that i could watch in the meantime

my brain: please catch up to critical role u started watching it over a year ago and ur not even halfway through because you’re so lazy and switch from interest to interest so fast. i am begging you

#tbh i forget where i left off??????? somewhere in the 50s i think

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andreaphobia · 8 years ago

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fic: love is just another game for two. (SHINO & YAMAGI)

Characters: Shino/Yamagi, Eugene, Mikazuki, Akihiro, Orga

Fandom: Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS

Wordcount: ~4500

Summary: Shino gets hooked on an MMO, and one day he meets a mage who may or may not be the cute guy from the dining hall.

Notes:

For @skyfireflies, who got me to watch this show in the first place. Also, my first Gundams ever! Hooray!

Also on AO3, if you prefer.

So when Shino comes slouching into class on Monday morning, puffy-eyed and bleary, Eugene doesn't even need to ask why—but that doesn’t mean he’s happy about it, either.

“I'm gonna give Orga a piece of my mind,” he mutters, as Shino collapses heavily into the seat next to him.

“Ah?” Shino yawns, scratching an unkempt chin. “Why’s that?”

“Because he got you into that damn game, that’s why! And now you’re up all night playing it, you fall asleep in lecture and then you beg for my notes, and I’m telling you now, if you want me to be your private tutor, you better start coughing up cold hard cash for the privilege, 'cause it don’t come free.”

“Oh, come on,” Shino says, grinning apologetically. “You’re being dramatic. I don’t play half as much as Mika, anyway.” Which was true; Mika had hit level cap weeks ago, and God only knew what he kept himself busy with to while he was waiting for everyone else to catch up.

(To be fair, Eugene knew this because he was also playing Art of War Online—but at least he had some self control.)

“Besides, I wasn’t up late last night just playing. I was talking to someone.”

Suspicious, Eugene narrows his eyes. “In game, you mean?”

“Well... yeah.” Shino grins again. “They were nice. Real friendly-like.”

To this, Eugene can only put his face in his hands. “I can’t believe you’re even trying to pick up girls in a video game.”

“Hey, I don’t appreciate that! I think we had a real connection, you know?” Shino seems to reflect on this for a moment. “Besides, I don’t even know if it was a girl. Their character was a guy, at least.”

“Dude, they’re probably more likely to be a guy if they have a female avatar,” Eugene scoffs. “Do you know anything about online games?”

“Guess not,” Shino says cheerfully, “but at least I'm making friends!”

Eugene is about to retort when the professor comes bumbling into the room, hitting the pause button on their conversation, and soon Shino is out like a light, snoring gently with his head lolling on his seat back. He rouses himself occasionally, just long enough to jot down a couple of formulas or a tidbit of knowledge, before passing out again, and proceeds in this fashion until the bell rings at the end of the period.

As Eugene tucks his books and notes away, Shino stretches, smacking his lips noisily and giving his head a little shake. He crams his stuff unceremoniously into his backpack, and beams at Eugene.

“Up for lunch?”

Eugene grins at him. “Yeah, if it’s on you.”

“Tightass,” Shino grumbles. He pulls out his wallet and peers into it as if that proves something, but Eugene only rolls his eyes; since meals at the dormitory dining hall are paid for on a point system, he’s not feeling much sympathy.

“Nah,” he says, as he follows Shino out of the lecture hall. “I’m just resourceful, that’s all.”

At the dining hall, Shino picks up a plate of three eggs, four sausages, and a steaming great heap of baked beans. Eugene, sensible as usual, has a complete meal from the Chinese food stall; rice, chicken, some wilted vegetables on the side. Healthy, Shino thinks—unless you’re trying to bulk up, in which case he’d consider it anemic, plain and simple.

“You sure you don’t want some more protein with that meal?” Eugene says mildly, glancing at Shino’s breakfast-themed abomination as they pay for their food. (In exchange for access to Eugene’s notes, Shino is bankrolling the entire meal with his point card.)

“Eh.” Immune to sarcasm, Shino glances down at his overloaded plate. “I think this’ll tide me over till dinner.”

They pass through the checkout line together, heading out into the hall proper. Scanning over the crowd of heads parked at various tables, Eugene spots who he’s looking for.

“Hey, Orga and the others are over there.”

Unfortunately for him, Shino’s not listening. Halfway through trying to figure out where the group Eugene mentioned is sitting, he gets distracted by the sight of something that’s very high on the short list of things that he finds interesting at the moment.

“Ohhh, is that Art of War Online?”

The blonde boy Shino’s addressing stops dead, fork halfway to his mouth. He’s wearing a look reminiscent of a caged animal. In front of him is a tablet, resting on a stand and playing what looks like someone’s live stream of a game.

“It is, isn’t it?” Shino says proudly. (He knows something about that now, after all.) “It’s fun, huh?”

“Um,” the boy says, immediately going red. He looks vaguely familiar; Shino thinks he must have seen him around the dorms, once or twice. The most striking thing about him is the length of his bangs. Shino wonders how he can see through that curtain of hair. (Nice eyes, though.)

He’s just on the verge of following that interesting chain of thought wherever it may lead when Eugene pops up, having finally noticed that he’s wandered astray. “You’re bugging strangers about that damn game now? Give it a rest.” He nods to the boy. “Sorry. Don’t mind my friend, he’s a frickin’ dumbass.“

“We should play together sometime,” Shino says brightly, as Eugene starts dragging him away. The boy does not respond; he’s staring intently at his hands resting in his lap, bright red all the way to the backs of his ears. Kinda cute, actually.

Once they’re out of earshot of the kid, Eugene finally releases his arm and lets him walk on his own.

“‘samatter with you? Don’t bother people when they’re eating.”

Shino beams. “I’m just making friends!”

“You didn’t even ask for his name.”

“Oh, you’re right!” He’s about to turn back and ask when Eugene seizes his arm again, with an exasperated grin.

“I don’t think so.” He steers Shino firmly over to the table where Orga, Mika, and Akihiro are already seated, and strong-arms him into a chair. “Give the poor guy a break.”

“Okay, okay.” Shino laughs, putting his hands up in surrender.

Akihiro’s looking between the two of them with interest. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, you know...” Eugene mutters, plopping down into his own chair. “Just Shino things.”

Mika, who barely seemed to have noticed they’d arrived, finally looks up from his plate. Mouth full of food and still chewing, he asks, “So, when are you guys getting to 60? It’s boring being the only one.”

At the end of the day, after class and several abortive attempts to do homework, Shino gives in to the siren call and logs on to the game. (Another good thing: Eugene is out doing honor society crap, so he’s not around to give Shino any grief about this.)

It’s gratifying to hear the loading screen music, but it still takes way too long for him to get into the game; he’s got to look into getting something better than a potato to play it on.

The first thing he does when he finally loads in is check his friends list to see who’s around. Akihiro’s online, but currently in a dungeon, according to his status; Shino kindly decides not to bother him. Mika, surprisingly, is not—then again, it’s almost dinner time, so maybe not that surprising after all. The only thing that boy loves as much as dominating everyone at video games is eating.

And then there’s—Shino’s stomach does a weird little flip when he sees this—his new friend, in an area pretty near him. Which makes sense, since they were just playing together the night before, but is also really convenient.

He’s just wondering how desperate it would seem to message the guy when the problem is solved for him. A whisper appears in his chat box, followed by a party invitation.

<Newt> Want to party up? <shinon> yeah!

There’s a little bit of logistical back-and-forth after he accepts the invite, but eventually they decide to meet up at Goldshire, and venture out from there. Even though they’d had a time of it last night, Shino’s still surprised by how easy the conversation flows; this guy—or girl—is really easy to get along with. (Let’s say guy for now, Shino decides, going by the avatar; if only to make his internal monologue less confusing to himself.)

It shouldn’t surprise him they get along, though, considering the circumstances of their meeting. He’d been neck-deep in kobolds at the bottom of Fargodeep mine and was mentally steeling himself for his demise when this mage just appeared out of nowhere, saving his ass with a couple of well-timed fireballs. But then all the heat was on the mage, and just as he was about to be overwhelmed, Shino got ‘em back with some good ol’ healing holy light. And you know, maybe this is just Shino being sentimental, but personally he thinks it’s hard to save each other’s butts at the bottom of a cave and not become friends. That kind of thing is a real bonding experience!

So anyway, they get to questing together, and everything’s going smoothly—as much as it can, anyway, considering he’s only been playing for a few weeks and is still learning the ropes, leading to occasional disasters like pulling way too many monsters at the same time, then proceeding to fall off a cliff in the process of trying to escape them. But Newt’s real patient with him; in fact—and Shino hopes he can be forgiven for thinking this, but—he's acting kind of... cute. Lots of jumping around, throwing up a little music note emote every time they kill something. Even through a video game, the cheer is infectious.

<shinon> u seem like ur in a good mood :)

The mage stops prancing around long enough to reply,

<Newt> yeah, kinda, actually! Something awesome happened to me today!

Shino smiles at his screen, and then, quite laboriously, types back.

<shinon> wanna tell me abt it?

Art of War doesn’t have a particularly good emote system, yet Shino is amazed by the expressiveness of what happens next. The mage turns abruptly to look at his character, and then steps back and forth a few times, making movements that Shino can only describe as fidgeting.

<Newt> OK, but... promise you won’t laugh? <shinon> dont worry, i can barely type ‘lol’ <Newt> ;) <Newt> OK, so... I know this is gonna sound really silly, but... the guy I like talked to me today!!

Shino’s eyes immediately fixate on that line.

“The guy you like, huh...?” he muses. (It’s too bad Eugene isn’t there, ‘cause he’d be interested to know how this affects the odds on Newt’s true identity.)

Oblivious to whatever Shino might be thinking, Newt is standing stock still, busy typing up a storm.

<Newt> I was just sitting by myself watching someone’s stream when he came up and started talking to me about Art of War! And OK, I think I must have looked really dumb because I couldn’t say anything back to him, but ahhh he’s just so nice!! <Newt> He probably doesn’t even remember this but there was this one time some guys were bothering me in the street outside my dorm and he and his friends scared them off, and he just looked SO COOL!

Shino reads through this small wall of text, and actually his first thought is, well, sounds like a friendly chap!

His second thought is, Hmmm.

Come to think of it, he had thought the boy at the dining hall looked familiar. And yes, he vaguely recalls now a time when Mika and Akihiro and him were coming back from the gym late at night, found some kid getting pushed around by jerks and scared ‘em off... but... could it be?

While he’s busy digesting all of this, Newt appears to take his silence the wrong way.

<Newt> Omg, I’m sorry, I’m just babbling on and on, this is probably boring you... <shinon> na, i was just thinking that sounds rly sweet <shinon> so, r u going to ask him out?

Newt, the character, starts fidgeting again. So cute, Shino thinks.

<Newt> No, I couldn’t possibly... I’m too shy... <Newt> But maybe someday <shinon> u know what they say <shinon> u miss 100 % of the shots u dont take <Newt> Thanks ;) <Newt> crap, my roommate wants to get dinner, I g2g. Can you get back to town by yourself? <shinon> no sweat buddy <shinon> cu l8r <Newt> See you!

With Newt gone, Shino leans back in his chair and stares at the ceiling.

Well... shit.

Whatever Eugene had been expecting on his return to their shared dorm room, it certainly wasn’t this.

“So,” he says, once Shino has finished talking and gesticulating wildly. “Let me get this straight. You think that that kid you were accosting in the dining hall the other day, and your new virtual-reality best friend, are the same person?”

He’s skeptical, and who can blame him? Not that this puts a damper on Shino's enthusiasm; if anything it only seems to encourage him.

“Yeah, pretty much,” he says brightly. “Why?”

Eugene squints at him.

“This is just an excuse for you to bother that kid more, isn’t it?”

“No!” Shino pauses. “But now that you mention it, actually—”

“Look, I know you’re not a math genius, but what do you think the odds of that are? Like, one in a thousand? One in a million? Even if he does play, what makes you think you guys are on the same server?”

“Man, I dunno!” Clearly frustrated by Eugene’s superior logic, Shino throws himself back onto his bed. “Why’d Orga make Tekkadan on this server, anyway?”

“It—” Eugene sputters. “Well, it’s—okay, fine, I forgot that it’s the official server for people from our school until a second ago, but—still! That makes the odds, like, one in a hundred at best.”

“One in a hundred, huh?” Shino appears to be giving this some serious thought; from his expression, Eugene can tell that that doesn’t sound half bad to him. “I’d take those odds.”

Eugene throws his hands up in disgust. “Remind me never to put you in charge of my bank account.”

“Hey, it’s your loss,” says Shino, waggling his eyebrows. (Eugene ignores this entirely.)

“Anyway, so let’s say you’re right and it really is the same guy. So what?”

Once again, Shino has to give this thought, but this answer seems to come easier than the last one.

“I just wanna get to know him, man. That’s not a bad thing, is it?”

“No, but—” Eugene wavers; he’s not sure if Shino’s potential love life is something he ought to be commenting on, but... “Didn’t he say he likes you...?” he ventures.

This makes no discernible impression on Shino. “Yeah, and?”

“And... I mean...” For a few more moments, Eugene falters, and then decides that maybe the best course of action is to just let it go. There’s no changing Shino’s mind once it’s made up, after all. “Look, just... be nice to him, okay?”

“I’m nice!” Shino insists. “I’m a nice guy, you don’t even have to worry about that. Like, what could go wrong?”

Probably best not to answer that, Eugene thinks. Well, at least Shino won’t be able to complain he didn’t warn him.

It takes Shino a while to find the kid, elusive as he is, but he happens to be passing by the library one day when he spots a certain mop of blonde hair, bent over a textbook that’s thick enough to kill a man with. When he lifts it up to turn a page, Shino can just barely make out the title on the cover: Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics, it says.

Jesus. Well, as long as the guy doesn’t expect him to know any of that as a prerequisite, Shino figures he’s golden. So he rolls right up, barely mindful of the fact that it’s a library, stops by the table the kid’s sitting at, and when he looks up, gives him a big ol’ ear-to-ear grin.

“Hi! We met the other day—well, kinda—but I wanted to introduce myself properly.” He sticks out a hand. “I’m Norba Shino, but you can just call me Shino. Everyone does.”

“I know,” says the boy in a small voice.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing.” To Shino’s great surprise and gratitude, the boy only hesitates a moment before shaking his hand. “Yamagi Gilmerton.”

“Yamagi, huh...?” Shino nods, quite seriously; names are a serious business, after all. “Sorry about the other day, I’m just really excited about this game. Started playing a couple weeks ago and I’m totally hooked!”

Yamagi is watching him with an inscrutable expression, all the more so because Shino can only see one of his eyes. As far as Shino can tell, though, Yamagi doesn’t look annoyed or bored, so in his opinion, things are going just swell.

“...It’s okay.”

There, he said it’s okay! How you like that, Eugene? Shino says in his head, triumphantly. He doesn’t gloat for too long, though, since Yamagi is looking at him expectantly.

“So, are you on—what’s it called—Dark Iron? That’s the server everyone from our school is at, right?”

“...Yeah.”

Shino grins. “Great! So we could play together sometime, right?” At this point he also takes care to turn on what one ex-girlfriend called a ‘killer set of puppy-dog eyes’, making Yamagi go beet red again. Totally adorable.

“...Sure.”

“Awesome. Lend me a pen, I’ll give you my character name.”

From inside a backpack bulging with books and notes, Yamagi locates a pen which he holds out hesitantly. Shino takes it, and also seizes Yamagi’s hand—ignoring the little gasp of surprise that this causes—and writes his screen name across Yamagi’s palm, in big block letters. Then he pushes both hand and the pen back to Yamagi.

“OK, so you can use this to find me, right?”

However, Yamagi isn’t listening, and Shino realizes that something’s not right. Instead of—say—nodding, which would probably have been Shino’s preferred response, Yamagi is staring at the letters reading SHINON scrawled across his palm, shock and horror written all over his face.

“Uh... Yamagi?” Shino tries.

The next moment is a blur. Yamagi seizes his bag and his book and promptly legs it out of there, very nearly overturning his chair as he does so.

“Hey—wait!”

Shino attempts to go after him, but then actually overturns a chair in the process, which trips someone else holding a stack of books in their arms, all of which go flying. By the time he’s disentangled himself from this mess, picked up all the books, and apologized to everyone (including the incensed librarian), Yamagi is long gone.

Later, as the sun is setting and he’s standing outside the library alone, Shino says a couple of choice swear words, loud enough to startle a few nearby pigeons. He doesn’t really have a clue what the hell’s going on, but looking at it logically, chances are that it has to do with... whatever Eugene was waffling on about earlier.

Damn it. He hates it when Eugene is right. Well, maybe he can just apologize for whatever it is he did later, in game. Surely Yamagi doesn’t hold grudges forever, right?

However, Yamagi doesn’t show up in Art of War that night, nor the next. A couple of days go by, and though Shino tries to play on his own, he finds that it isn’t half as fun without his questing partner. This leads us into the present: Eugene bent over homework at his desk and trying to block Shino out, until finally, he snaps.

“Stop moaning,” he scolds, as Shino’s rolling around in his bed whining. “You’re driving me nuts.”

“Can’t help it,” Shino mutters. “Sooooo bored. Wanna play Art of War.”

“So play already.”

“I don’t wanna play if Yamagi’s not there!”

“Yamagi?” Something clicks into place. “Oh, you mean that kid from the other day?” Shino doesn’t answer, which he takes to mean ‘yes’. “Isn’t he still playing?”

“I’unno.” Shino sounds sullen; from long experience, Eugene knows this is never a good sign.

“Did you scare him off?”

“No!” A pause. “Maybe. Not intentionally, though!”

Eugene puts down his pencil, sighing. Relationship advice is not his forte, and yet, here they are. “I told you to be nice, man.”

“I was nice!” Then, more doubtful, he adds, “At least, I think I was.”

Eugene can’t help himself; he sighs out loud. It’s hard to believe he needs to walk Shino through every step of this.

“Yeah,” he says, patiently, “but he likes you, right? And you rejected him.”

“I didn’t reject him! I said we should totally play together, and then I gave him my character’s name, and then he freaked the fuck out and ran off! Look...” Shino trails off, sounding dejected. “I don’t even know, man.”

“Dude, of course he freaked out. He spent like an hour gushing about his crush, TO his crush. Can you not see how embarrassing that might be?”

This all seems like it’s coming as news to Shino, but he at least gives it some thought. Finally: “I guess,” he says, in a reluctant tone of voice. “But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think it’s cute.”

If Eugene rolls his eyes any harder, they’re gonna fall right out of their sockets. “OK, then go ask him out already so I don’t have to listen to your whining. I have stuff to do.”

“Maybe I will!” Shino rolls himself out of bed in a huff, going to the door.

Well, Eugene thinks, as it slams shut behind him, either way, at least I’ll get some peace and quiet for a while.

If he’d thought it was hard locating Yamagi the first time around, the second nearly kills him. OK, that’s melodramatic, but even though he likes exercise it’s still a pain in the ass to be running all over campus trying to spot him in the crowd. After a few fruitless days of this, Eugene takes pity on him and gives him some advice—try looking in common areas or at the dining hall, he says, places he has to pass through no matter what. And it’s good advice, but all the same, nearly a week goes by with neither hide nor hair of Yamagi, by which time Shino is basically dying from Art of War withdrawal.

And just when he thinks he can’t take anymore—when he’s honest-to-God starting to think he should quit the game because it just ain’t worth it anymore—that’s when a knock comes at the door to his room.

“Nnngh,” Shino moans half-heartedly, face down in his pillow on his bed. “Go ‘way.”

The knock comes again, more insistent. Grumbling, Shino gets up, and goes to open it.

When he does, Yamagi is there.

Shino stares at him for a moment. The relief he’s feeling is almost palpable; it washes all the tension out of once, and he feels himself smiling the first real smile he’s had on his face for days.

Still, it won’t do to be scaring him off again, so he tries to sound casual when he says, “Hey, man, I’ve been looking all over for you! Are you okay? You haven’t logged on in a week, I was worried!”

Yamagi only shrugs, refusing to meet Shino’s eyes. There’s a strange, closed-off look on his face. He’s quiet for a moment, and then sucks in a deep breath and starts speaking, maybe a little too loud for how close they are.

“I’m sorry about—about everything. I know you’re probably weirded out by the things I said, and... I’m... sorry... about them.”

He stops there, as though in the middle of a thought, and his eyes are half-shut, almost like he’s expecting Shino to lash out. Which is such a crazy idea that Shino doesn’t even know what to do about it, except try and change his mind.

“Nah, not really,” he says, easily. “I mean—it’s cool, right?”

Yamagi blinks once, very slowly.

“What do you mean... ‘it’s cool’?”

“Just what it sounds like. It’s cool, man! I don’t mind.”

“But...” Yamagi looks slightly bewildered. “Don’t you? I mean... that was you the whole time, right?”

“Yeah, that was me.” Shino chuckles. “How come you didn’t realize that, huh? I even named my character after myself!”

Yamagi goes red. “Well, who—who puts their real name in their screen name these days? What about stranger danger, huh?!”

“Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet!” Shino beams. “Besides, I couldn’t think of a good name. It’s hard, okay?”

For a moment Yamagi looks like he wants to laugh, but also like he’s simultaneously on the verge of tears.

“But I typed all that stupid crap about you!”

Shino holds up his hands disarmingly. “No, it was cute! Seriously, it’s fine.”

“But—” By now, he’s almost shouting. “But I like you, Shino!”

“Yeah, I like you too!”

In sheer frustration, Yamagi runs his hands back through his own hair, mussing it up until it looks quite wild.

“No—listen to me! I mean—like like. I don’t just—”

“I know what you meant,” Shino says.

This simple sentence is apparently enough to leave Yamagi speechless, and given that he’s not shouting anymore, Shino seizes the chance to speak.

“I’m—what’s that you call it? Oh yeah! I swing both ways, man. I mean, people are just people, right? So it’s all good. Let’s just keep playing, okay?”

“But—”

“No buts!” Shino scratches his chin, thoughtful for a moment. Then he reaches out, brushing Yamagi’s hair back out of his eyes so they can really see each other. “And let’s get dinner sometime too, okay?” He grins. “Just you and me.”

Yamagi just stands there, closing and opening his mouth without a word as he tries to process all of this. Then, as though he barely dares to believe it, he asks, “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Well, that’s the idea!” Sheepish, Shino grins. “But I’ve never asked a dude out before, so... maybe I’m doing it wrong?”

“...No.”

And Yamagi’s eyes are watery, but he starts to laugh, which is such a relief for Shino. Laughing Yamagi beats crying Yamagi any day. Smiling, he ruffles Yamagi’s hair.

“So, dinner? Yay, nay...?”

Suddenly embarrassed by his own tears, Yamagi scrubs his eyes dry, and then turns his face up to Shino. “Yes, I accept,” he says firmly.

“Oh, that was fast,” Shino teases.

“You miss all of the shots you don’t take,” Yamagi says, and smiles a little. “Someone who sucks at typing told me that, once.” Then he thrusts his chin out, almost impertinently, like he’s daring Shino to do something about it. “Well?” he demands. “Aren’t you going to take responsibility for all this?”

Shino swallows, but grins, too. “Oh yeah,” he says, with feeling. “You bet.”

After all, he’s always liked a challenge.

#iron blooded orphans #ibo #shinoyama #gundam ibo #norba shino #yamagi gilmerton #fic

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