#we got at least one evil cackle

[wainswright]

code geass r3!!

[demaparbat-hp]

*pats Zuko's head* This bad boy can fit so many near-death experiences.

.

Read For the Spirits Chapter VIII here!

[unabashednightmarepizza]

𝑀𝑦 𝐶𝑎𝑡 𝐼𝑛 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑒

A/N: This is definetly not me projecting my love for cats and Regulus. Also, if anyone is interested in documentaries, I recommend you watching "Inside of a cat's mind". It was really interesting, and also a seratonin boost for me.

A/N: I feel like this sucks but I couldn't think of another way to end this, I hope you guys like it!

Prompts used: "I love her so bad" from this, "you are my favourite, you always have been." from this.

"That's downright ridiculous..."

"Oh, come on, Reggie! What better way than this to show your lover your new animagus form?"

Regulus swinged his tail back and forth angrily as he laid on his mattress on his front legs, even rolling his eyes at his dumb friends as they continued to tease him with his brand-new look. It wasn't like he could talk in that form, but he was so goddamn sure that his eyes gave his thoughts away. What started this conversation and the endless teasing from his friends was that Regulus could now transform into his Animagus form.

Which was a black cat. A cute and cuddly one, as Pandora said while scratching his ears as Barty and Evan made fun of him for being soft. He hissed at them loudly, showing his sharp claws as a silent threat as he nuzzled closer to the sweater under his paws, full of your smell and perfume as a little happy smile found his face, watching Pandora who had been petting him as she chastised the other two in the room.

But it did nothing to help.

Since when it did anyways? Nothing could stop those idiots...

Barty and Evan let out a bark as they rolled on their bed, Barty crouching down with his hands on his knees in front of Pandora who had been sitting down on the ground, shaking her head for him not to do anything that would anger Regulus.

But, as usual, Barty didn't care, and dramatically wiped a fake tear from his eye as he offered his forefinger to Regulus, who had been eyeing him with bored eyes and an evil plan, wondering if it was obvious on his cat face as he imagined the delight he would feel.

"Awww, look at our little Reggie! So angry and deadly, with his little claws and teeth~ You are so soft now, so cuddly that I can just-AHHH!"

But of course, Regulus' personality didn't change just because he turned into a cat and since everyone practically knew not to call him that name... Well, except for his lovely lover you, and Barty still did it...

It was only fair for him to bite his finger and claw at his face.

"And that's what happens when you mess with Regulus, Barty. He is still the same friend we have that absolutely hates to be teased and that's what you get..." Pandora sighed out as she rose up, passing by them in the common room as she got out. She didn't care about the screaming behind her, Evan cackling on the ground about "how Barty got bitten by a kitten" while the boy tried to convince him that "it was a literal cheetah that bit him and not a kitten" as if his cooings and awes weren't the reason behind that cat's anger.

Well, he warned him that he didn't like that nickname so he had it coming, right?

Regulus nuzzled deeper into Pandora's arms as the young girl giggled, smiling to herself at seeing her friend happy as he always was whenever he had that special clothing close to him. "Don't worry, Regulus... I know Y/N is in the Great Hall, preparing you food again. So, I'll take you to your precious lover~"

And if his face couldn't show the possible blush on his face and how comedically wide his eyes were, the way he jumped up and kneaded your sweater that he found in his room after stealing it definetly did the job.

His heart beated harder at the thought of seeing you, preparing him a plate with a cute frown and possibly cursing at him for not caring about his health as you made little talk with your friends here and there...

He always knew he was one hell of a lucky guy for finding someone like you. So caring and loving and supporting...

All his life, Regulus never had known love or care. At least not from his mother and her twisted way of showing love and his father's abuse. All he had, for the longest time, was his brother and even then, he never thought he could have more, deserved more.

More of that love and affection he craved.

So, after pinning after you since the firs year, he finally had the courage of asking you out... Even if he didn't want to think back to that day because of the high stuttering of his, a sign of how nervous he was and how important you were to him.

Because that mother and father of his might have failed at showing what true love means, he had plenty of times to secretly read all about romantic books and witness it with his own mind and heart. He often thought that they weren't real, that the author went overboard with all the struggles and fights the main characters went through for the love they shared with each other, strong enough to stand against every strong wind, army or even death.

He questioned whether love was worth it all, when he wanted something serene and comforting. He was done with all the fights anyways, he didn't want any of those any more.

He deserved that at least, right?

But soon, he realized that not everyone is like his parents. Not every relationship is disasterous with the fights and disagreements... They are what makes it stronger and more powerful, with every hardship that comes.

He learnt that without those waves and little obstacles in the way, the comforting relationship and tender love he desperately needed would never be his.

So, he gulped down his worries and confessed his love to you, in one of the many times that you two hung out in the Astronomy Tower. By that time, you were already aware of his feelings by the way he was so soft with you and actually seeked to spend more time with you throughout your days together.

Besides, you were sure Regulus didn't spend his time taking girls to watch stars as he rambled about each of them while subconsciously holding your hand.

But then... Another problem arose: Showing his affections, a basic need of a relationship in his eyes.

Because, as any sane person could tell, Regulus didn't have the healthiest of relationship with his parents even though he knew what they... had between each other was far from love. He knew he would never dare, and rather kill himself, to do any of the things they did to each other to you. He knew he wanted to hold you, kiss you, openly show his love, the way his eyes shone brighter at the sight of you as you skipped to him was enough of a sign...

But he knew he wouldn't be able to bear all the teasing his friends and his brother, with whom he recently fixed his relationship, would do.

And he hated himself for thinking like that, doing the exact opposite of what he wanted to do when you didn't deserve it at all. He didn't want you to think that he was ashamed of you, which you never did and gold him that it was fine he didn't declare his love out all the time like a certain older brother of his and knew he loved you through his actions...

But it wasn't enough for him, it wasn't enough for the voices in his mind to stop.

You deserved a man who wouldn't shy away, who didn't have severe issues with himself. Someone who wasn't the item of a fucked up ideology... Someone who would be proud and confident in both himself and you, slinging an arm around you while walking and give you anything you asked for.

Perhaps a free future... Away, in a cottage with some animals...

But he was a selfish man who wanted to be that person, to be the reason of your smile and happiness every day. He just... had to find a way to show all of these thoughts and feelings.

But he was bad at it... So, why not get the help of a cute animal to see what you exactly like? And show his feelings?

"I swear to Merlin, I will strangle that boy when I see him! He disappears all the time, without eating! Who does he think he is?" You angrily turned to your friend who was eating her fries as she stopped her hand mid-air and looked at you with her eyes and mouth wide open. "What? Who?"

"Regulus, of course! That boy will give me a heart attack at one point, the other day I found him literally choking Barty because of that nickname again!" You angrily scoffed as you dumped more food like an angry mother, but your friend only laughed because of the twitch of your lips upwards.

"Yeah, but you love him and his special treatment, no?" She wiggled her brows as she continued to eat and you sighed out in bliss, a loving and stupid smile plastering on your face.

And yes, yes you loved him and his stupid grin whenever he teased you and his sweet smile as he watched you do your own thing.

But it wasn't enough of a reason to not to scold him when you see him as soon as possible.

"Maybe. And yes, I very much so am in love with him but I'll strangle him anyways... He promised to not pick up fights and take care of himself better- Oh, hi Pandora!"

You turned fast to where the bubbly girl was coming to your way, excitedly waving at her when your eyes landed on... the cutest ball of sunshine on her arms.

"Hi, Y/N! I see that you are... agitated?" She snorted to herself as she saw how you changed your mood at the sight of the cat between her arms as you nodded absentmindedly to her, waving off her question while scratching the little cat's chin with a stupid smile on your face. It was a known fact around the school how weak you were to them, and also your boyfriend.

With you both being smitten with each other, y'know?

Unknown to you though, that cat was the boy you loved, and he was soaking all the love in like a sponge. He was grinning from ear to ear, as much as a cat would be able to do, and he jumped down from where he was seated between Pandora's arms and flunged himself up towards your legs, pawing at them to make you cuddle him.

Patheatic, his inner voice said but he answered with I love her so bad....

"Well, it seems that our friend loves you very much!" She wiggled her brows playfully as you giggled, not aware of the daggers the cat, Regulus, was giving to your dear friend. Pandora didn't care though, she knew he never meant any of those stares and besides, that was exactly the moment for her to leave him with you so that he could get his head out of his arse and see how much you loved him and didn't care if he showed his love around people or not.

Because, by the state he was in, he didn't know shit about the extend of your love for him.

"Then, I will leave you with him! Don't worry he is very docile and easygoing, I'm sure you two will get along well! Goodbye!"

"Wait, Pandora- Wow, she left so soon..." you mumbled in thought as you looked down at the cat still pawing at your legs with wide blue eyes, his pupils almost so big that his eyes couldn't be seen as he meowed softly to you.

"Aww, don't worry I won't leave you! But I was going to visit my careless boyfriend who forgot to eat, again..." you kneeled on the ground with a playful scowl as you took him between your arms, cooing at the loud purr he let out as he nuzzled deeper in you. "I think he will like you too, what do you say? Hmm?"

Yeah, love, considering the fact that it's me... I think I will like myself enough...

Throughout the walk to your boyfriend's dorm, you kept the same big smile on your face as you kept looking down at the cat and squeezed his cheeks with your fingers. Cuteness agression is really something, you thought as he looked around the familiar sight of the door to his house's common room. He started to whine and get angsty a little bit, not wanting this "cuddle session" to come to an end.

"Don't worry, little one! I'm not leaving, I will sit here until Reg comes back and probably beg him to let me have you all to myself..."

He meowed in response, wincing under his breath at how this was the only way to communicate with you. Love, you already has that cat to yourself...

You smiled softly as the cat sniffed Regulus' bed and jumped on it, circling around himself until he found a good position and stared at you expectantly. You smiled back at the cat and turned your back to him to set the food down on his desk. Suddenly staring at the dark sky outside and seeing how long has it been that you last saw Regulus, you sighed sadly, wondering when he will be back and whether you should get out of his dorm before his friends arrived or not.

Sensing your sudden sadness, Regulus immediately jumped up and meowed at you hurriedly. Even as a cat, he was weak for your sadness and immediately alerted.

"Hmm? Oh nothing, little guy... Just wondering when my boyfriend will come and finally start to take care of himself." You laughed when he hissed softly and almost seemed like he was pointing at the bed. "You want me to lay down?"

A barely-there nod.

"Okay... I think I can use some rest. Scoot over..." you shuffled on the bed as its silky feeling engulfed you, resulting with you letting out a relieved sigh as the cat purred happily over your chest. You trailed a soft finger down his spine and up towards his face, your hand patting him while holding him as if he was a baby.

And he freaking loved it, loved the feeling of safety of your arms.

And obviously, when cats were happy, they purred loudly.

"Hmm? Oh, you like me? I like you too, little guy! You're so cute and so elegant with your black fur and shiny, blue eyes." Regulus purred even more loudly as he nestled on your chest, bumping his head to your chin, and neck as a way of marking you. You giggled at the cat, actually your possessive boyfriend, and continued to play with the playful cat as he made several cute moves with his body and eyes.

His behaviour surprised you, since you thought black cats were mostly grumpy and "I show affection ONLY when I want to, human." kind of animals. But this one....

This one didn't even leave your side for the whole day and instead laid on your lap, purring at every chance he had. Somewhere in a muggle book, you remembered reading that a cat's purring often touches the paternal part in one's brain and that's why humans care for them a lot.

Which was goddamn right, even if it was the same frequency of a baby crying. But though a baby's cry was often irritating with its high pitch, a cat's purr was comforting.

Another reason to convince Regulus to adopt kittens for when you left the school, and settled in an apartment as soon as possible.

"And you remind me of someone I reaaally love, y'know? I'm sure he would like to have you... Don't tell him this, but you are now my favourite thing in the world!"

Wait... Wait, wait, wait! What? That was so offensive! A cat, who you knew for a few hours, took your favourite place?!

"Meowwww!"

Nope, he couldn't let it happen! The plan wasn't even this!

"Hmm? What's wrong, did I say something bad?" You wondered as the cat you adored suddenly turned pissy, throwing what you assumed as "cat tantrums" after whatever you said that triggered him. Regulus, though, started to pace around the bed nervously. You tilted your head in confusion as the cat he jumped up and tugged on your robes to make you get up.

Yeah, cats definetly have God-complex...

"Okay, okay, fine! I'm up, I seriously don't know what... is... wrong..." your jaw hung open with your eyes wide when the black cat you adored and showed immense love to was... None other than your boyfriend.

"Regulus?"

"Hi, love..." he shyly looked at you as his hand caressed his face tiredly, tugging on the skin as he grumbled at the stinging pain on his back while trying to relieve himself from the pain. "Damn it, my spine hurts..."

"What... I don't understand, you have been the cat?! All this time?" You pointed to him with your hands in surprise, still not believing that the cat was your boyfriend who apparently learnt to become an animagus.

"Yeah, I was the cat..."

"But... why? Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of you for achieving becoming an animagus," he smiled softly at how you didn't miss the opportunity of praising him for his accomplishment, and he couldn't help but wonder at how easy it was for you to see past the fact that he hid something from you. He expected you to be angry for hiding it, but you were just... confused?

Why?

"But why did you hide it? I mean, it's a pretty big deal and your cat form was so beatiful with your little paws, soft fur and big eyes- I'm starting to loose the point of the talk, so please... explain."

He laughed when you finished your rant with a blushing face, looking at him with a flustered face as you waited. He knew you wouldn't judge, Merlin knew you never did, so he sat down on his bed and patted the area next to him.

"Because... I didn't know what else to do to show you." You continued to look at him confused for a second, occasionally side eyeing the room as if a clue would suddenly appear and lighten whatever that was going on right now.

"Well, it's only logical to show me rather than throwing random bottles on the ground... But I think you don't mean you, being a liquid-"

"Cats are not liquid, love..." Regulus sighed lovingly as you knitted your brows and playfully shook your head before laying a kiss on his cheek. "No, they are! They fit into anything possible even an asymetrical glass box!"

"When did you see a cat do that?"

"My sibling's cat... Though it could be because it is weird..."

He laughed as you seriously started to wonder whether what you said about the cat was true or not, and pulled you to himself by your shoulders. He was grateful you changed the subject after noticing he was slightly uncomfortable but...

He had to be honest after spending the whole day with you, and seeing what Pandora said about you and how much stronger your love was for him.

Because he finally knew, he didn't have to be a cat spy to show you his love.

"As much as my heart feels like it could explode with love from you noticing I was uncomfortable and tried to change the subject," you smiled bashfully as you blinked your eyes at him, not stopping him. He sighed once before keep going. " I did it to show you... how much I love you and show my affection in the only way I knew."

You would have cut him in the middle but by the slight wavering of his voice, you knew that it was something he had to get off of himself... That this conversation was important for him in every way possible.

So you listened... And with every word passing his lips, your eyes softened for the fragile and soft-hearted boy next to you.

"I never knew love, I never knew how to love and show it freely. Mom and dad saw it as a weakness, others saw it as some inconvenience... Sirius was the only one I have, and even then, he was the one expressing his feelings freely. Not me. I always did it silently... Taking care of Sirius' injuries after mother punished him or dad beat him. I did it by stealing his favourites from the kitchen or learning how to make them when my parents weren't home...."

A deep sigh, one that told many unsaid stories and feelings.

" Then I showed it with taking notes for my friends when they weren't able to attend classes. I showed it by taking care of their many injuries that definetly weren’t a result of training but rather... abuse. Merlin knows, I know those kind of bruises like the back of my hand. Then... But then, you came along with your shining eyes and wide smile, asking if you could sit with me in the train and suddenly... I-I wanted to be more. For you. I wanted to be enough of a man to deserve your love and show it to the whole world. Like my brother who openly hugged people, and kissed their cheeks or nuzzled to them... But soon, I was reminded that I would always be his shadow."

Silence scretchted between you as you continued looking at him, not being sure what to do now that he suddenly opened up about why he was avoiding you. You definetly didn't think your night would end up like this, even if him opening up to you was everything you wanted, but you would never be able to know that feeling.

Feeling like someone's shadow, having to endure what Regulus endured... Something he was grateful that never happened and would never happen now that you were with him.

You wouldn’t understand any of it, but you could be there for him now that he wouldn't be alone.

"You once asked me... 'Do you ever hide who you trully are?' at the side of the Black Lake in one of our nightly dates. I kept my silence then, didn't want to scare you off with my strong feelings since it was still too early but not for me who loved you for 2 year prior to that night, but... I never did, not with you, never with you. But... I never felt enough for you. I mean... How could someone as amazing as you would deserve the love of some coward? Someone who feared showing love?" He almost spitted the word "fear" as he shook his head in near disbelief at himself and how "ridiculous" he sounded, and you hated how much self-loathing he had and how easy it was for him to point that hatred to himself.

You had to change it, maybe not immediately but definetly in time.

"Regulus..." you softly rubbed his hand softly to make him look at you, and when he turned his head towards you... You saw the tears pooling in his ocean eyes. Your heart dropped to your stomach harshly as you gulped and brought his forehead down to meet yours. A silent move to convey your feelings to him.

"How could you not be enough of something you already have, from the very beginning?" You rubbed his cheek softly, bringing his face closer to yours as you kissed his eye-lids. As if you were scared to hurt him even more, when what all the world had been doing to him was hurting him.

Regulus shuddered as a shaky breath left him, suddenly overwhelmed by the weight of your words. He lifted his eyes, looked into your own that showed only one thing and only for him: Love.

"You are enough, even if you don't think so and I love you, I loved you from the beginning." A gasp left him as his hands thightened their hold on yours nervously. You laughed awkwardly. " You don't have to say it immediately but... Please, don't be so harsh on yourself. It's okay to not want to do PDA, I already told you.... All I care is your happiness, that's it."

And with that, Regulus threw himself all over you from the immense feeling he was feeling at that moment, hugging you with all his might as you returned to gesture just as fiercely. After all, it had been a long day and you missed your boyfriend, the one that would speak about Quidditch nonstop all the while letting you sleep on him as his hands caressed your hair and rubbed your back softly.

Just like now, with the adding of inhaling the scent of your hair deeply which made your heart race sweetly.

And now that the stress of him was now over and you knew what was going on...

It was time to tease him back.

"Did you just get jealous of a cat enough to come clean to me?" You mumbled from your position where your face was buried in his neck, the tingles making him giggle as a groan left him at feeling your smile on his skin.

"Love, please!"

"What? You are the one who was jealous!" You giggled playfully, but your enjoyment was soon cut when Regulus threw himself on his bed with his arms still wrapped around you. You landed harsher on his chest than you imagined and you were worried you accidently crushed him but his sigh of contentment and the way he nuzzled to your neck showed that he was far from being bad.

"I can't believe you now have a nuzzling habit, are you going to knead at me too?" You hit his chest softly when his eyes shot open and an evil smirk found his face.

Oh, that's not something good...

"I already did it earlier when I laid on your chest- Oww!"

"Regulus Arcturus Black, when did you have a foul mouth!" You hit him with his pillow as he laughed hard and ended up on the floor while trying to stop you.

"What can I say, love. I have the most gorgeous lover of all Hogwarts!"

That little shit and his sweet tongue, knowing how to get himself out of any problem...

"Okay, you got out of trouble for now... You are my favourite by the way, you always have been, in case your childish self got jealous of a cat..." you grumbled out when his head landed on your thighs and looked up at you innocently.

"That cat was still me though..." he looked at you through his lashes as you giggled, relishing on your words and how they made warmth spread all around his whole body.

"Yeah, yeah, sure... There is something I have to show you though. I was planning for a few days now. Promise to not get sad?" He nodded without knowing and guessing what was happening...

But the only thought that crossed Regulus' mind, when he saw you changing into a pure white cat, was I love her.

As you swinged your tail around Regulus' waiting hand and nuzzled to him, he smiled softly and scratched your head softly while patting your ears. His heart felt so full of love and he didn't remember any other day he felt this much happiness.

"You are... most certaintly the most beautiful yet also annoying person I know. Being a white cat Animagus, completely contrasting me but also creating something so beautiful? Did you think I will let go of you easily after this?"

You tilted your head teasingly and let out a purr before changing back into your human form with your feet dangling off of the bed like a little kid as you threw your head back towards him to look at his raised brows while he tried to surpass the smirk that threatened to take over his face.

"Yeah, I know... But you love me, no?" You cutely smiled as you nuzzled closer to his chest, and unknown to you, he smiled to himself like a fool as he wrapped his arms all around your body thightly when your body reached where he was now sitting on the bed.

Oh Merlin, he already does love everything about you.

"Can we... cuddle like that? As cats? It could be our new bonding activity!"

"I can't believe... Okay, fine. Don't try anything funny though."

"Like what?"

"Like the meaning of that wiggly eye-brows!"

But since you both were weak for each other, you two soon dozed off like that, one white and black cat tangled together peacefully as their hearts beated the same beat.

Not knowing that the next day, Barty would startle everyone awake and embrass you while yelling "Our Reggie found another chich, cat, kitten, whatever! He is cheating on our sweet Y/N!"

[loveinhawkins]

was this written to solve my own inconsistencies because i keep forgetting Eddie literally hotwired the RV, they don’t need keys, why do you keep mentioning keys, you fool? maybe. do i also think they’d be this stupid? yes. ❤️

“Oh, son of a bitch,” Dustin says, midway to The War Zone.

Steve, who is used to this sort of outburst for things as mild as Dustin forgetting just one out of the eight pens on his person, does not react.

However Eddie—Hellfire rants aside—is not quite as familiar yet. He jumps practically a foot in the air.

“Jesus Christ, what now?”

All Dustin offers by way of explanation is an accusatory, “You,” pointing his finger right in Eddie’s face.

And then Eddie sees what’s dangling from said finger.

“… Oh.”

“What?” Steve says, glancing at the rearview mirror; Eddie quickly blocks Dustin from view, goes right up on his tiptoes and spreads his arms wide, curses when Dustin throws the keys—

—to Max, who catches them one-handed, who gives Eddie a grin that’s not so much pitying as it is evil, and then she—

—throws them to Lucas, and he somehow gets the metal ring to land on his finger, like he’s in a movie, and he twirls them round and round until Max snorts, and he grins like that had been his aim all along.

“Sinclair,” Eddie says, “I am begging you.”

“I’m not hearing much about what’s in it for him,” Erica says.

Aha! Eddie zeroes in on Erica and blocks her from Lucas, like a very unjust game of Keep Away.

“Dude,” Lucas says, affronted, “that’s not fair.”

Eddie has the decency to look a bit ashamed. Not too ashamed to stop because he is a pathetic man, but at least Steve still hasn’t noticed the—

“Lucas,” Erica says, in the aggrieved tones of a sister who’s despaired at him many, many times. “You’re on the basketball team. Just do a pass fake, nerd.”

Lucas feigns to the left, and Eddie falls for it—but, in what he’s sure is a completely unsportsmanlike move, he uses his height to his advantage, jumps…

And drops the keys with a clatter.

Steve must instantly recognise the sound for what it is, because he starts to cackle.

Eddie’s only saving grace is that Steve is driving, so at least he can’t see—

“Eddie’s going, like, super red in the face right now,” Dustin narrates helpfully.

“Scarlet,” Lucas says.

“Vermillion,” Robin pipes up from the floor.

“Ooh,” Dustin, Lucas, and Max chorus, impressed. Jesus Christ, they almost harmonize.

“Yeah, Eddie,” Steve says dryly, “you fucking moron. How did you miss those, it’s not like you had literally anything else on your mind.”

“You’re a real gentleman, Harrington, anyone ever told you that?” Eddie says weakly.

“Maybe once or twice,” Steve says, drawing it out teasingly, as if he means not often enough.

“Well, at least we got on the road,” Nancy says. Her voice quivers like she’s trying not to laugh—perched on the table, eyes shining with amusement. “And it did look pretty cool, Eddie.”

Eddie thinks this is an incredibly generous assessment, considering his main thought while breaking into the RV had been don’t get stuck in the window, Jesus Christ.

And then… like, he didn’t expect Steve to actually come up and watch him hotwire the damn thing, like, with rapt attention, so close that Eddie was kinda concerned he’d electrocute himself instead. Honestly, it was a miracle he got the engine started.

“That’s sweet of you, Wheeler, but I’m self-aware.”

“Since when?” Erica says.

Underneath everyone’s laughter, Steve grins and says, “Hey, don’t worry, man.” He catches Eddie’s eye in the rearview mirror, winks. “It was an educational experience.”

“Oh, wow, your face is even redder.”

“Henderson, I’m gonna put those goddamn keys so far up your ass.”

[vidalswife]

Imagine:

Rio just admitted how she longed for Agatha, and everything inside of the brunette had shifted. She didn't loathe her as much, at least for a little while. When she left the campfire circle, Rio followed.. and Agatha couldn't help but allow herself to feed into every desire she harbored.

Instead of the ending we got to episode four, I came up with a smuttier version. This is more of a longer imagine because I wanted to go into a little more detail, but if anyone would like an extended version I am willing to write one.

Agatha stood deathly still. Her arms were crossed, and her gaze was locked onto the foggy vastness of the Road. A deep inhale was taken, followed by a pause, and then formed into a sigh. She felt a sense of euphoria when she listened to Rio speak about her. Rio was the only person to ever talk about her without any fear, only harboring admiration and love in her tone. That was something Agatha had missed; the absence of fear.

Most people cowered in her presence, where some avoided her at all costs. Rio, her Rio, was never like them.

When Agatha heard light crunches of leaves upon the road, she froze. Even her breathing had fallen still. It didn't take a second to guess who was behind her, Agatha could always feel her when she was near, or even sometimes, far.

The crunching of leaves got louder as Rio got closer, and Agatha waited.

She waited until they stopped.

Neither of them was breathing, and for a moment, they both felt an aching sensation, one that struck down into their core.

Rio inched her hands closer to the brunette's back, her fingers capturing a piece of the dark waves. She stopped, waiting for Agatha to turn, which came slowly, yet surely.

Agatha's eyes immediately shot to Rio's, which were already dead center onto her own irises.

For a moment they only stared.. and then, Agatha's expression softened. She let out a deep sigh, and pulled the green witch into a longing embrace, her hand wrapped into her hair.

Rio shut her eyes. She had missed Agatha's body, her warmth.. she had missed her so desperately. Her arms tightened around the older witch's body, hoping to make the hug last forever.

This was their first hug since Nicholas died. It was bittersweet, and yet, neither of them were able to let go.

It had almost felt like time stopped, the way it did with every glance between them.

Rio wanted to stay there forever. For once, she felt forgiven for what happened. For once, she felt loved again.

But she couldn't stay there forever, especially not as Agatha pulled away from the hold.

Her hands still remained, one on the back of Rio's head, and the other around her waist. Agatha found Rio's eyes again, her heart fleeting with desire. Her eyes flurried down to the younger woman's lips, and then back up again.

She had thought maybe Rio wouldn't notice, but of course, she did.

The green witch found it pathetic, the desperation that Agatha had for her.. and at the same time, it was the very thing that Rio needed from her.

She wanted her like the moon wants the waters; always pulling her in just for her to push away. This time was not that of a wading tide, something Rio knew as she watched the brunette's head tilt slightly, and then inch closer.

A smirk found its way onto Rio's lips as she tilted her head up, just as Agatha's lips would've met hers. Agatha looked so fragile, so desperate, and Rio writhed in that.

Her wrist flicked like a dagger, and an evil smile rose to her face. Agatha flung back into the roots of the great tree behind them, and Rio cackled.

"You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?"

Agatha groaned in pain, her hair becoming a mess over her face. Rio's magic took her immediately to the brunette, and her head tilted into the crook of her neck.

Agatha tilted her head back. She could fight, but she didn't want to. It was like old times, Rio taking control over her body.. making her suffer, making her overwhelmed with pleasure.. Agatha didn't want to stop it.

Rio's teeth dug into her skin, right at her pulse point of her throat. The impact pierced the woman's neck, and a small trail of blood trickled down from the wound.

The older woman moaned, her hands rushing up to Rio's hair. They were buried in her sweet mess, grasping at whatever they could to help her take the pain.

Rio pulled her teeth from the bite mark, her tongue tracing the punctures. They healed, and Agatha sighed in relief, her grip loosening on the witch's locs.

"Oh Agatha.." she began, kissing down her neck and to the collarbone that shown through the lapsed shirt collar. There she dug her teeth into her skin again, sending Agatha's eyes shut, and a moan to escape from her lips. The purple witch's grip tightened.

This bite she didn't heal, she only retracted, and then stared at her messy little disheveled witch. 

"I want to watch you suffer.." she continued, slowly pushing a hair behind Agatha's ear.

Rio's eyes fluttered down to her breasts, where the shirt carelessly showed a bit of cleavage.

Agatha felt her core become even more wet and hot as she kept talking.

"I want to watch you bleed.."

Her hand had grasped the older woman's waist, pulling her into her body. Rio brought her lips to Agatha's ear, nipping at her earlobe gently.

Her free hand had found the button of the slacks the purple witch wore, and she pushed the appendage back with ease. Agatha pulled herself closer onto Rio, anticipating what she needed most, even praying for it. The green witch smirked, and a scoff left her.

Rio's hand slipped beneath the fabric of the slacks, as well as Agatha's underwear. The centuries old witch opened her mouth as a moan escaped, the simple touch being enough to drive her insane. "Fuck.." she whispered into her past lover's ear.

Her hand lowered as the warmth radiated off of the brunette's core. Rio showed no mercy, her fingertips instantly coming into contact with the older woman's clit.

Rio's fingers were hot and laced with the pooling wetness from Agatha's cunt.

Agatha's head jerked back, her body becoming more sensitive than ever. She groaned, squirming for more, as her grip tightened on the brunette's hair.

The green witch began to circle the bundle of nerves, so slow that it was agony for Agatha.

Her lips parted, and she finally finished her prolonged silence, "I want to watch you squirm under me.." she continued, her fingers increasing in speed.

"Fuck, oh fuck.."

Agatha's hips bucked up, her eyes unable to open as Rio applied pressure to her clit.

"Fuck, Rio, fuck! Ri, don't stop, please.."

She moaned softly as Rio continued to tease the sensitive bud.

Rio bit her lip, and in finishing her thought, she commanded, "Beg for me Aggie.. prove to me you deserve my fingers."

[ladykailitha]

Never Hold Back Your Step... Part 12

Welcome back to another addition of Dustin being absolutely chaotic as fuck and Robin inserts herself into a dangerous situation because she has to out sass an eighth grader.

This story really is nearing in the end of season 3, and I don't think this story will go for much longer than that. So it will probably be the next story I finish.

What this means is that soon I'll be starting up "The Hellfire Erotic Club" as I am already two chapters into sugar baby!Steve and sugar daddy!Eddie so that one is next on the docket. And as it sounds, it absolutely will be mature. It might even be my first explicit story I've written. So let me know if you want to be kept off the list for that one.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

~

Things mellowed out with Robin at work. She still had the YOU RULE/YOU SUCK board, but at least wasn’t throwing out snide comments and sneering glances every two seconds so Steve absolutely counted that as a win.

And he continued to flirt badly. The worst was when Eddie and Jeff had stopped by after touring the music store.

“It’s the hat,” Steve said with moue. “It’s ruining my best feature.”

Robin snorted. “Your best feature? You don’t have one.”

Steve rolled his eyes and took off the hat. “My hair is my best feature, of course. I was the Hair in school, after all.” He threw it off the side and did a mocking shimmy with his shoulders before heading to register to greet a group of giggling girls.

“Hello, ladies,” he said smoothly. “My name is Steve and I’ll be your captain on this journey on the ocean of flavor. What can I get you today?” And then to really sell it. He winked.

The girls as he expected were completely turned off and hurried to get away as soon as possible. But hey at least Jeff got the number of one of the girls. So yay, gay wingman for the win! Or whatever.

Eddie came loping up to the counter, Jeff close on his heels. “That has got to be the most depressing thing I have ever had the misfortune to witness.”

“Seriously dude,” Jeff said with a wince. “Your mojo must have got up and went. Holy shit.”

Steve just pursed his lips and waved vaguely in Eddie’s direction. Eddie and Jeff giggled, but Robin frowned in confusion.

“Why does Munson being here affect your flirting?” she asked. “Because from what I’ve seen it doesn’t matter if he’s here or not, your flirting is always bad.”

He just shrugged. “Maybe the PTA is right and Eddie can cast evil spells and cursed me.”

Eddie wiggled his fingers at her, but she just rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. If he could cast spells Mrs. O’Donnell would be dead by now.”

The three boys cackled.

“Or maybe,” Jeff said seriously, “the girls remember Stevie here hanging out with us freaks and geeks last year and think he’s suddenly beneath him. You know, now that he’s not King Steve anymore?”

Robin’s mouth open and closed like a fish before she snapped it shut with an audible click. She blushed a dark red and was grateful that a mother with her two young sons came in just then so she could avoid the awkwardness that followed.

“I’m off in five minutes,” Steve said, “if you two want to wait around?”

Eddie and Jeff shared a glance and then Eddie nodded. “Sure, we could hang out for a bit.”

“Yeah,” Jeff said with a half shrug. “I don’t have anything to do today.”

Steve moved off to the side to start scooping the lady’s order. He gave each of the kids a cone and the sundae to the mom. Then he tossed the scooper into the warm water they kept nearby to keep the scooper clean. He walked to the back and returned within seconds.

Just then the power went out. Steve sighed and went over to the light switch. He flipped it up and down.

“That didn’t work two days ago,” Robin hissed. “And it’s not going to work now.”

Eddie peered at Steve through the dark. “This happened a couple of days ago, too?”

“It’s because of how hot it is outside,” Steve said. “Which makes the AC run overtime and it blows the breaker.” He sounded like he was repeating something someone else said as he continued to flip the switch and then the lights came back on. Just as Steve was about to leave again, Dustin came running up to Steve, skidding to a stop when he saw Robin, Eddie, and Jeff standing there.

“Hey, guys,” he said with a strained smile on his face. “Can I talk to Steve for a moment? I won’t take up much of his time. I promise.”

That got Steve’s hackles up. He turned to Eddie and begged him with his eyes to understand what this meant. Eddie tilted his head to the side for a moment, before his mouth formed an ‘O’.

“Jeff and I will be at Suncoast Video,” he said, “we’ll be there when you’re done.”

Jeff blinked at him for a moment trying to decide if it was the worth the fight. Then he shrugged and followed Eddie away from the strange tableau behind them.

Robin eyed them suspiciously as the two boys went to go sit down.

“What’s up, bud?” Steve asked, a nervous chill sliding down his spine. Please don’t be the Upside Down. Please don’t be the Upside Down. Please don’t be the Upside Down.

“So because my ma doesn’t want me racking up her phone bill calling Suzie,” he said, “I put up, with a little help from Lucas, Will, and Mike, a communications tower so we could talk.”

Because of course they did. They were geniuses when it came to building that kind of shit, but not so much in why they shouldn’t.

“And there was this weird Russian transmission,” Dustin explained hurriedly. “I don’t want to show you the recording yet, not with so many people around. But I can I meet up at your place later tonight?”

Steve was about to turn the kid down. After all, he had tried the hero racket and it blew. All he got for his troubles was ringing in his ears and the biggest break up of his life.

“Just think, if we solve this then we can be celebrated for exposing a Communist plot!” he exclaimed. “We could be American heroes, Steve!”

Oh. That did sound nice. There was no chance of him putting his body on the line for a recording in Russia after all. “Sure thing, bud.”

~

There was no keeping the stupid little transmission from Eddie or Robin. The first one wasn’t a surprise, really. Eddie was attached to Steve’s hip like he’d always been right there. Robin was more of a shock, to be honest. She just inserted herself where she didn’t belong on sheer sass alone.

Because Dustin had all the tact of a bull in a china shop, he had been whining about not being able to translate the message. When suddenly the window to the back slid open with a slam.

“You do know you’re in public, right?” she huffed. “If you’re trying to being sneaky about it, you’re failing miserably.”

Dustin rolled his eyes. “Like you’re so smart.”

Robin raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “And how many languages do you speak, dork?”

Eddie and Steve shared a glance, then tried to stifle a laugh, Steve by biting his lip and Eddie by shoving his hair in front of his face.

“Two!” Dustin huffed, puffing out his chest. “Binary and English.”

“Binary doesn’t count,” Robin said, rolling her eyes. “You can’t ‘speak’ it. I speak French, Spanish, and Italian. That’s four.”

Dustin crossed his arms. “Does to and besides I didn’t hear Russian on that list.”

She tilted her head and smirked. “And how do you even know it’s Russian?”

Dustin’s jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes bulged out of his head.

“Just because it sounds ‘Russian’,” Robin said, using air quotes around the word Russian, “doesn’t mean it’s not some other Slavic language.”

Dustin’s bottom lip quivered. “And how many Slavic languages are there?”

Her grin turned feral and she leaned on the counter, looking him dead in the eye. “Eighteen if you don’t count the different dialects for each region, then you’re looking at something closer to twenty-five.”

“There’s no way there’s that many!” Dustin cried.

Steve bumped his shoulder into his. “Why don’t you let her hear it? What’s the worst thing that could happen? That she doesn’t recognize the language? It’d be no different from where we are now.”

“Come on, Dusty,” Eddie implored. “Or do I have to tell Suzie that you think girls aren’t as smart as boys?”

Dustin turned to glare at the older teen. “That’s a low blow, man.”

He looked over at Robin who was eyeing him expectantly and sighed. “Fine, here.” He handed her the portable tape deck and sat back to watch.

The message came through the small device and Robin listened to the whole thing, before rewinding it and playing it again.

“So what do you think?” Dustin asked after her third listen through. “Is it Russian?”

“Oh yeah,” she said with a smirk. “And probably in code.”

But before Dustin could answer, Eddie leaned on the front counter. He had been watching Steve the whole time Robin had been listening to the recording. When she got to the end, Steve would frown. Even with half of a banana stuffed in his cheeks like a chipmunk.

“What’s on your mind, Stevie?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

“There’s something about the music,” he muttered, tapping his fingers and humming the tune.

Dustin huffed. “Can you please pay attention to the important part, Steve? The apparently secret coded message in Russian?”

Steve shoved the rest of the banana in his mouth and chewed silently. He swallowed roughly and asked Robin to play the music again.

“Steve!” Dustin snapped. “What did I just say?”

Eddie glared at him. “Shut it, kid.” And Eddie began to listen to the music, too. Then Steve and Eddie made eye contact as they both got it at the same time.

Steve grabbed Dustin’s wrist and dragged him out of the ice cream shop, Eddie fast on their heels. They reached the Merry-Go-Round and Steve tried to pull out a couple of quarters but they fell to the ground. He bent to pick them up, but Eddie shoved a couple of quarters from his pocket into Steve’s hands.

Steve put the quarters into the Merry-Go-Round, while Eddie and Dustin stood by. Eddie smiled, smug and Dustin stood there, glowering at Steve, arms crossed.

The carousel roared to life. And then music started.

Dustin’s jaw dropped. “Wait, what?”

Steve and Eddie shared a grin.

“That’s the music from the recording!” he continued. “How did you recognize it?”

Eddie laughed.

“Because I hear it at least two or three times a shift,” Steve said, putting his hands on his hips. “It’s hard to miss because it’s so loud and so close to Scoops Ahoy.”

Dustin frowned and pouted because he had thought that Steve was just being his usual spacy self. But he actually figured it out.

As the three of them walked back to the ice cream shop, he said, “All that tells us is that Russians like carousels.”

Steve and Eddie shared a glance over his head.

“That’s an Indiana Flyer carousel,” Steve said slowly. “As in they only make them in Indiana.”

Dustin stopped short and his eyes widened in fear. “Does that mean they’re here in the state?”

Eddie shook his head. “Worse than that, Dusty. I’m pretty sure they’re here in the mall.”

Steve’s heart sank. He had been hoping that they would be able to solve this without getting directly involved, but that had just flown away like a startled butterfly.

Now all he had to do was convince himself that the Russians weren’t in Hawkins for the gateways to the Upside Down.

It was going to be a tough sell and he knew deep down it was never going to stick.

There were Russians in Hawkins and they were most likely here for Hell.

~

Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

Tag List: FIVE SLOTS REMAINING!

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @justforthedead89 @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @blondie1006

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @angels-of-hades

7- @mugloversonly @y4r3luv @greeniebean911 @birbsauce @acingthecounts

8- @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars @ravenfrog @dreamercec @sadisticaltarts

9- @clockworkballerina @bluelightsinthevoid @blcksh33p1987 @i-go-pink-in-the-night @mamafaithful

[summerlovingbaby]

Dr.

It was all over the news, most of the pro’s were dealing with a mass causalty event, and those who weren’t were pursuing a suspect who could stop it. He set up bombs all over the city, and buildings were collapsing around them, but those were just warning shots. Proof that he could do what he promised, because most of the buildings that fell were empty and abandoned, all but one. A public mall that was bustling with people that morning, but by the afternoon it was a pile of concrete and flesh, and most pro hero’s were attempting to save what they could only assume were very few survivors.

Though a few of the top heroes were tracking down the main suspect, and they found him in a matter of hours, hopping from rooftop to rooftop. Deku, Dynamite, Red Riot and Shoto had him surrounded on the rooftop, and it wasn’t until they say him that they knew the exact depth of his plan. His name was Evil Eye, and though his name was rather simple, it was true. Most people said he had the eye of the devil, able to see exactly what would go wrong, and how to manipulate it in his favor.

Evil Eye, otherwise known as Shayfer smiled and licked his teeth, “ well it took you guys long enough,” he breathed putting his hands behind his head and interlacing his fingers, “ finally caught me,” he smiled, “ are you proud?”

Bakugou let his palms catch on fire, not believing that he would allow himself to be so easily captured. 

“ You should know,” he said coyly, “ that  this is only the beginning, you make take me down now, but the carnegie has only begun,” he sucked in a loud breath and let a loud witch like cackle out of his mouth, “ children, such a precious thing, how society protects them, it would be quite the shame if something happened to about 34 of them,”

Deku’s eyes widened, and he lowered his fist, “ The bus!” he exclaimed, “ the bus that went missing this morning.”

A school bus went missing this morning, and while the pro’s spent the better part of the morning looking for them before the mall collapsed and hell broke lose in the city. They assumed the bus went missing in the chaos and when things settled the bus would appear, that was their hope at least. But now knew that this was a delicately crafted plan, to cause just as much chaos as he wanted, just because he could.

“ So what, we let you go, and you tell us where the bus is, or the bus blows up?” Bakugou asked.

“ That is if they don’t drown first,” he said with a bizarre smile, his eyes looked to the sky, searching through the clouds, “ well 32 of them will drown, the twins who can breathe underwater, they will suffocate as the run out of oxygen,” he said.

“ Where is the bus?” Todoroki asked calmly, he let his hand turned to ice, and it soon became clear that he would not be asking the question again.

“ Oh, no no no, that's no fun,” he smiled again, “ in the bus is a map, to where I’ve hid all the bombs in the city, and this morning there may have been limited casualties, but the rest of the week will look like the mall, but feel so much worse, and you will wish that you suffocated to death.”

Bakougo took a step foreward but found his feet stuck to the tar of the roof, his body felt rigid, only able to move his neck, he turned to his team to find them in the same predicament. Deku was gritting his teeth and activating his quirk to its full power, Red Riot turned himself to stone, but remained stuck, and all Shoto could do was build blocks of ice and shoot them in the air without having to move at all, a move he had been working on.

“ Well, I would love to stay and chat, but I’ve got to go,” he said looking up, it became evident what he was searching for because it was obvious that he was looking for a helicopter, he pointed to the sky, “ My ride is here,” he said.

Turning on his heels, he skipped to the edge and took a running jump to dive off the roof and caught the latter in his fingertips, he pulled himself up and hooked his heels on the rope latter, along with his elbow, to turn and smile.

Todoroki allowed one last large ice block to shoot from his hand, it collided with the tale of the copter causing it to spin uncontrollably. Shayfer lost his balance and slipped form the rope, and the pilot fell from the cockpit, and hit the blades of the of the helicopter, slicing up his stomach before the helicopter dropped from the sky along with Shayfer, and went up it flames.

Todoroki dived after them, being able to move and fireproof, using his ice to slide to the ground and sift through the molten plates of metal and bits of broken glass to pull a lifeless Shayfer one. He was barley breathing, and most of his skin was covered in hot blisters and boils that started to pop.

“ He’s still alive,” he said.

“ GET HIM TO MIDNIGHT MEMORIAL!” Bakugou shouted.

It was where the best doctors worked, and he had just the doctor in mind to help with this suspect. Shayfer could not die, not only did the lives of 34 children depend on it, but the fate of the city as well.

Todoroki built a tower of ice to the building roof and handed his body to Bakugou who tossed him over his shoulder and took flight in the direction of the hospital.

-

Y/N was splinting an arm, when the smell of burning human flesh invaded her senses, a smell she would never forget. She turned around to find her husband standing in the middle of the busy ER, with what looked to be a burned corpse over his shoulder.

“ Y/N,” he shouted, “ Y/N HELP HIM,” he shouted. 

“ Someone bring me a gurney,” Y/N spoke, running over to Bakugou, she placed two fingers to the side of his neck, nearly flinching at the feel of his blistered skin on hers. “ BRING ME A GURNEY,” she said louder. 

A nurse rolled one over to him, and Bakugou placed Shayfer on top of it. Y/N began to bark around various orders to nurses, who ran off in opposite directions, returning moments later with dangerous looking medical supplies.

“ Get him hooked up to monitors and prepare a crash cart, his pulse is thready,” she shouted out. She saw a nurse out of the corner of her eye, roll a set of monitors next to him, and place leads on his chest. “What happened to him, was he in the mall?” She said rather calmly despite the situation.

Bakuguo could only stare until a firm grip to the shoulder seemed to spark something in him.

“ I need you to tell me what happened.” she stated again.

“ You have to save him,” he demanded, “ you have to.”

“ I need a size 8 ET tube and a scope,” she turned to the nurse next to her, “ and type and cross his blood, we might need it,” she turned back to Bakugou and Kirishima, “ Glad you two are alive, now tell me what happened?”

“ Helicopter crash,” Kirishima said. “ You have to save him,” he added. She smiled, glad to see both her boys okay, minus a few cuts and bruises they seemed not to be dying, and she couldn’t help but smile. They had known eachother since highschool, and ave been in a relationship for 7 years, and she couldn’t manage to think of a life without them.

She hated their job, but understood. Understood the urge to save people, to help people, and she couldn’t ask them to stop because that’s what she loved about them. They saved people out there, in the harsh reality of the world. And she saved them behind the safety of the four walls of the hospital. Everyone helped best they could..

“ I don’t intend on letting anyone die, not in my ER.” she said with a challenging smile.

She was head of the ER and she took each death personally, whether they were her patient or not. She was a good doctor, and though she had no quirk, she still wanted to help people. Being a hero was out of the question so she went through 8 years of 6, and 6 years of specialized trauma training to become the best trama sergon in the nation, often operating on fallen heroes, and injured civilians. Being the capitol of most villians she saw her fair share of bad trauma, and though she could save most of them, she couldn’t save them all. She was a good doctor, but those deaths haunted her.

“ You really can’t let him die, he has hostages,” Bakugou said. “ 34 kids,” he specified, “ please don’t let him die,” he said again.

A loud beep sounded from the monitors, and a steady green line striking across the screen, let them know that his heart had stopped. Y/N looked at them with her calm eyes, and started to twitch slightly. One life under her knife was one, but 35 was an unatinable number to her, she gave them a spacy nod, and turned back to the burned body, still and lifeless, boiling blisters still popping out of his skin.

“ Start bagging,” she said to a nurse, “ and start comprsssions, light and easy, we don’t want his chest caving in, or those blisters peeling off the skin,” she said to another nurse who immediately began compressions. “ I need an ultrasound for his chest and abdomen, and call up for an OR,” she said.

His heart still didn’t start, so she charged the paddles and placed them on his chest. “ Charge to 200,” she said, “ CLEAR,” she yelled. Everyone withdrew contact with the body, and the paddles sent electricity through his body, giving it one sudden jerk, “ push 2 of epi,” she said, she watched the monitor, held her arms out, and a slow beep resumed on the monitor.

Using his arms she pressed arond his abdomen, it was rock hard, and blood was spilling from every oraphus. “ He’s bleeding out,” she said aloud. She pressed the ultrasound to his stomach and sucked her teeth.

“ Where?” said one of the nurses.

“ Spleen,  liver, pancreas,” she listed, she moved the wand to his chest and shook her head with disappointment, “ his chest is rumbling, it’s probably been aggravated by the smoke, and his lung is filling with blood,” she said, “lift his legs,” she called out to know one, “and ready a chest tube, one airway isn’t enough we need to get rid of the blood in his lungs so he has a chance of getting oxygen to his stomach,” she said. “ We need to let some of the blood from his stomach before he goes into multi-system organ failure and dies of sepsis.” Using a scalpel she sliced a small line in the bottom of his stomach, causing it to bleed profusely.

The boys watched aimlessly and helpless. They were sore and their body ached, and if they could guess by Y/N’s tone things were not looking good.

Y/N cut a hole in his chest and blood spurted out of it with every heart beat, Y/N shook her head. “ Take him to a trauma room, we won’t make it to an OR,” she said loudly. Everyone seemed to understand, and nodded at her with a certain grim determination.

“ YOU CAN’T GIVE UP, THE CITY NEEDS HIM ALIVE,” Bakugou yelled, and Y/N ignored him, her eyes focusing on the tube in his chest, he flatlined again,

“ Gown and glove me,” she said, sparing him a second glance“ Get a portable CT, to scan his head, make sure he doesn’t have any brain  injuries, I’m not gonna save his life for him to get a delayed brain bleed and croak,” she said, hopping onto the gurney and straddling, holding pressure to the wound, because he was bleeding out quicker than she anticipated, “ now move this gurney,” a nurse rolled the gurney to the nearest trauma room.

The boys trailing behind her reminding her of the fact that was pouding away at her skull. The city depended on him making it out of this alive, therefore they depend on her, and she didn’t need a single reminder of that upsetting fact. Shayfer was hanging on by threads, as Y/N ran through every possible situation in her head, and each was more dire than the last, each more bloody and ending in a quiker death.

Even if she could somehow stop the bleeding, she knew that most of his organs were severely damaged, and based on his ribs, which were poking out in every different , and probably poking holes in his lungs and based on the ultrasound, jagged piece was stabbing directly into his heart wall and shredding through the ventricle. Which each beat of his heart, tore it even more. 

She turned to one of the nurses, and motioned to her husbands. Standing there, looking at her with love, care and a  bit of desperation. “Get me 6 nurses and get them out of here,” she said.

She didn’t know if she would be able to stand the way they looked at her if she let this man die, because if he died, 34 children did, and they would no longer look at her the same.

“ You have to-”

“ I know I have to save him because not only is a bus full of children depending on me, but it turns out the greater city is as well, and I cannot focus on saving this mans life if I’m concerned with you, or worry about how you’re gonna look at me after if I can’t save him, because right now you’re not looking at me like I’m saving one man’s life, but 35, so please leave, because as long as you’re looking at me like that, as long as you’re staring at me, I can’t help but think about what happens if this man dies on my table ” she shouted, and before they knew it they were being ushered to a small room where a sweet nurse attended to their injuries.

6 hours later, Y/N staggered into the room, trauma gown covered in blood and skin covered in a thin sheen of sweat, she sniffled as she staggered into the room, and leaned on the wall, panting loudly. She leaned her head back on the wall, and bent at the knee slowly sliding down the wall, ripping off the blood soaked gown, and bursting into tears.

She clawed at her neck trying to breathe.

“ Is he-”

Y/N began to whimper, and Bakugou burst from the room and into the trauma room where Y/N operated to find Shayfar still covered in burns and stitches, upright and glaring at Hitoshi, who was demanding the location of the bus. Hitoshi was speaking over the radio, to a SWAT team, who was finding the exact location of the bus and the children, alive and well, along with maps to the still remaining bombs.

Bakugou stubbled out of the room, and back into the old one, where Y/N crawled into Eijors lap, trying to breathe.

“ You saved him honey, you saved him,” Bakougou said.

“ What if I couldn’t?” she asked, “ What if I couldn’t and all those kids died, he almost bled out on my table 12 different times, he flatlined 4 times, it was a miracle that hes still alive.”

“ No, you’re just good at what you do,” Bakugou corrected, “ you saved him because you are a good doctor.”

“ You would never look at me the same if he died,” she whimpered.

“ Nothing would ever stop us from loving you,” Bakugou said, stroking the top of her and rubbing her back.

“ We all do the best we can, we all save who we can,” Kirishima added, “ and as long as you try you’re best. We all just try our best.”

[bumblekastclips]

KYLE CROUSE: Alright, we got one last question. It’s from JediPony. [chuckles] Love that name, I don’t know why. It makes me laugh. [reading question] “How would you write an 06 adaptation in Sonic X?” Here’s the question, would you write the 06 adaptation in Sonic X the show, or Sonic X the comic?

IAN FLYNN: [laughs] KYLE: It’s very— two very different things. IAN:Very different things. I don’t know, if we’re gonna be true to the source material, then Elise doesn’t really have a role, and Chris is the one who has the Flames of Disaster sealed inside him. KYLE: [laughing] Oh no! Oh! IAN: “Chris, whatever you do, you can’t cry!” [as Chris, weepily] “But why?!” [Iblis roar] KYLE: It’s all he does! [laughs] No! IAN: Oh, man, now I’m imagining Mephiles with, like, that really bad early 2000s CG effect. All these awful filters flyin’ around. KYLE: Oh, God, no! [laughing] This would be awful. IAN: You’d have, like, the budget episodes where Soleanna and New City are just, like, these flat, grey urban textures that have like, no depth, but then you get to the final episode where they’re doing the Super fight against Solaris, and the animation bump goes through the roof, and it’s glorious. And you forgive the last 26 episodes of your life that you’ve wasted watching it so far. KYLE: Mhm. IAN: [choking the words out through high pitched, wheezing laughter] This means Chris is the one that kisses Sonic back to life! [fit of maniacal laughter] KYLE: [frantic, horrified laughter] No! No! No! No! Ian, no! Ian! No! IAN: [prolonged cackling laughter] KYLE: The worst timeline! Oh, no! IAN: Oh, and Eggman has to be as close as they can get him to photorealistic Eggman in the Sonic X style. KYLE: No! IAN: Which does not work at all! KYLE: No, no, no! No! This is not going on the thumbnail! No! IAN: [wheezing laugh] KYLE: No, do not put this on the thumbnail! [laughing] IAN: Oh, my goodness, just imagine the art errors for Silver’s head alone… KYLE: Oh… no… oh, no… at least Dan Green could still be the voice of Mephiles. IAN: Oh, yeah, that’d be fantastic. [microphone glitches] That’s the only reason to do this. KYLE: That would be— yeah. Oh… IAN: Oh, would they try to hand-animate Omega? Or would he be like, early 2000s CG? KYLE: Just crappy CG, no! IAN: That you just composite into each shot… oh, man, it’d be awful! KYLE: [pained sound not unlike he is receiving a fully conscious appendectomy] Oh! IAN: Wait! [microphone glitches again] They did the weird thing with Sonic and Shadow’s spines when they would turn their heads. What would Silver look like?! KYLE: [resigned groan] IAN: Would it just be like, one giant spine, depending on the angle? [bursts into laughter] KYLE: [groans as if he is dying] Ian… what are you doing… why are you— IAN: [microphone glitches again as if resisting] The Iblis monsters would have the terrible CG effects, too! KYLE: Why am— why am I the reasonable one!

IAN: [laughs] KYLE: Why am I the one who’s being… [gives up on finishing this sentence] IAN: Forget the comic, the comic can’t hold a candle to this idea! KYLE: Oh, no… IAN: [in awe] What a glorious trainwreck! KYLE: What’s even funnier is that your mic is trying to stop you. IAN: [cackles] KYLE: It’s not working. [laughs] So cursed! IAN: The whole thing would be so awful… KYLE: Yeah? IAN: But then there would be, like, this incredibly well-written and poignant subplot about Elise dealing with her emotional trauma, and how Soleanna as a country even works. And it’s like, maybe an episode, maybe two that really gets into it and fleshes out this world in a meaningful and robust manner. KYLE: [chuckles] Yeah. IAN: And that’s it. That’s like— that and Dan Green are the only redeeming things out of this season. KYLE: [sigh, reading chat] Ian, in the chat… IAN: Yeah. KYLE: In the Bumblekast Discord server, open it up. There’s a little piece of art there. Someone has, uh, sketched Silver. [chuckles] IAN: [seeing it, delighted, evil] Yes! KYLE: [laughing] IAN: Cursed Toucan Sam! KYLE: [cackles] Oh no! Why do you…? No! Awful! Toucan— IAN: [as Silver] “Just follow my nose, wherever it goes!” KYLE: [horrified, amused] Toucan Silver! No! [emits the world’s most drawn-out, pained cry of defeat] IAN: Psycho-beak-nesis! KYLE: [laughing] Bumblekast was a mistake! IAN: [laughs] It was, but at least we’re over with it for today. KYLE: [laughing] Oh… I guess so.[outro music fades in]

EPISODE THUMBNAIL by the incredible @nintendoni-art

—— TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: Please remember that nothing that is said on BumbleKast is canon! It’s just some guys and their opinions occasionally spitballing ideas. If you don’t like an answer, you don’t have to take it as Word of God or anything like that. It’s all just for fun!

[mollyringle]

Laughter in LOTR

My household has been rewatching the Extended Editions of The Lord of the Rings, and this has inspired me to excavate some of the LiveJournal (!) posts I wrote twenty (!!) years ago. In this one, I ran a search on all the times laughter is mentioned in the books, and listed them. It’s a long list—view the link only if you dare. My shorter sum-up is pasted below, however. The grim/bitter/nervous laughter section intrigues me now: I’d forgotten about Galadriel laughing upon being offered the Ring, or Pippin laughing about the palantír. Those moments were definitely not in the films!

Analysis from 2004:

I'd say we have at least three varieties of laughter: the genuinely happy, the grim/bitter/nervous, and the disturbing/evil.

The Genuinely Happy variety is what the hobbits do most of the time. It's also what the other good guys do when in the company of friends, old or new, when they are not currently under active attack from Mordor. Bombadil, the Elves, and the Ents engage in a lot of Genuinely Happy laughter, being pretty much without a care in the world. Gandalf engages in a lot of it too--and surprisingly so does Aragorn--despite both of them having plenty of cares. The sweetest and most touching instances of the Genuinely Happy laughter, in my opinion, are moments between Frodo and Sam: when Sam somehow makes Frodo laugh on the quest (e.g., see that passage about Samwise the Stout-hearted). Indeed, these tend to be the only times Frodo laughs on the quest, and it's good to see that they're genuine laughs and not laughs of our next variety.

The Grim/Bitter/Nervous/Ironic laughter encompasses those moments like Eowyn's laugh on the Pelennor Fields when she takes off her helmet, or Sam wondering what kind of spider made cobwebs like these. I would also count here the laughs I'm not sure what to make of. For instance, Galadriel laughing when Frodo offers her the One Ring? Is this really a funny moment to her? Maybe, but only if you consider it shocked/nervous laughter. Or Pippin laughing after the Palantir episode, saying he wants Gandalf to tell him everything there is to know. I can't imagine Pippin laughing at all that night, after getting psychologically knifed by Sauron, but if he did I suppose it would be to relieve the tension. We could probably put Gollum's cackling in this column too, since it comes of being mentally unstable. Ditto for Denethor and sometimes Saruman, though they're shading into the third category.

The Evil laughter is yet another beast. We find it in places where the movie also had it: Saruman, Orcs, Ringwraiths, and other evil creatures tend to laugh when contemplating the helplessness of their good-guy victims. That's standard fare for this type of tale. But Tolkien also includes laughter the characters fancy they hear in the wind howling off Caradhras, or in the depths of Moria, or from the roots of a nasty willow tree. Those instances are the laughter of the haunted house, the laughter we don't want to hear at night. Cruelest of all may be the Mouth of Sauron, who seemingly can't stop laughing when telling Frodo's friends that Mordor has caught him and the quest has failed and he'll likely die a painful death.

I think I've babbled enough now. You can easily compare it to the films, since we've all got the films memorized. One addition comes to mind that wasn't in the books: "It's the beards." Other things in the film were funny, but only the audience laughed; not the characters. ("In fact, it's better if you don't speak at all, Peregrin Took.")

Feel free to discuss.

[smiley-star]

Older and Wiser

Leo keeps making fun of his future self (Leonardo) but he forgets one important detail; that's him. He knows all his weaknesses, and is ready for payback.

(Tickling, sfw as always, Tce$t and feti$h ppl DNI!!!)

(Also I like the father-son relationship there could be btwn Future and present Leo)

Lee: Leo💙

Ler: Future Leo💙

“Are those wrinkles a part of your look too?” Leo laughed, pointing at the lines on Leonardo's forehead.

“You try living through an apocalypse,” Leonardo sighed, rolling his eyes for the millionth time.

“At least I won't lose my good looks,” Leo snarked, posing, “Maybe we should call you Grandpa instead of Leonardo!”

“No.”

“Maybe gramps?”

“No.”

“Granddad!”

“No!”

“I got it!” Leo yelled, snapping his fingers, “Peepaw!”

“THAT'S IT-!” Leonardo exclaimed, standing up with a grunt that started the old man jokes again and marched over to Leo.

“You sure your hip didn't break when you got up- EEEP!” Leo shrieked as Leonardo lifted him up and promptly carried him to his room. The massive train car Donnie had to custom build to fit his hulking figure.

“What, gonna tell me stories about your youth?” Leo laughed as Leonardo threw him in the bed.

“You've forgotten one fatal detail, kid,” Leonardo said, an evil grin spreading across his face.

“And what's that?” Leo said snarkily, but he gulped nervously.

“I am you,” Leonardo said, diving down and beginning to mercilessly tickle Leo's sides.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAIT!” Leo shrieked, laughing hysterically and kicking at Leonardo, who merely laughed and didn't react at all.

“NAHAAHHAAH- STAHAHAHAHAHAP!” Leo squealed, thrashing as Leonardo tickled his sides.

“No can do, kiddo,” Leonardo teased, grabbing Leo's hands in his prosthetic and lifting them above his head.

Leo squealed as Leonardo tickled his tummy relentlessly, wiggling his fingers and tracing along the lines in his plastron.

“WHAHAHAHAHAT-!?” Leo shrieked as the wiggling fingers traced along the lines of his plastron. None of his brothers had ever done that before! It tickled so much!

Leonardo laughed, “Figured that out a few years ago!”

Leo squealed as Leonardo's massive hand began tickling at his upper thigh, right where it met his plastron. Again- another thing that had never happened before.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!” Leo shrieked with laughter, kicking his legs at the new sensation of his thigh and plastron being tickled.

“That one was when I was younger,” Leonardo laughed.

“YOOHOHOHOHOU- WEHEHEHERE NEHEEVEEVEE YOHOHOHOUNG PEEHEHEHEPAW!” Leo squealed.

“Oh you're asking for it now!” Leonardo laughed, leaning down.

“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAIT!” Leo shrieked as Leonardo blew a mercilessly raspberry on his plastron just above his side, he thrashed as the tickling raspberry didn't stop.

“TOHOHOHOO MUHUHUHHCH!” Leo squealed as Leonardo finally pulled away.

“We can hold our breath for a long time,” Leonardo chuckled, “Perfect for raspberries.” He immediately blew another merciless raspberry but this time on Leo's tummy.

Leo shrieked as the raspberry continued mercilessly, and then Leonardo finally pulled away, only to immediately start tickling his tummy again.

His hand was so big it went the entire expanse of his tummy, making the tickling even worse.

“Tickle tickle tickle!” Leonardo cooed, making Leo shriek.

“NAHAHAHAHT YOHOHOHOHOU TOOHOHOHOH!” Leo squealed, thrashing and cackling.

“Yes me too!” Leonardo laughed, “Tickle tickle, Little Blue! I wemember how ticklish my wittle tummy was!”

“STAHAHAHAP!” Leo shrieked, laughing loudly and throwing his head back as Leonardo tickled at his tummy harder. His fingers wiggling across his plastron mercilessly.

“What's the magic word?”

“PLEHEHEHEASE!”

“And?”

“SOHOHOHOHORRY!”

“That's better,” Leonardo laughed, leaning down and blowing raspberries and nibbling at Leo's tummy.

“I SAHAHAHAIAD SOHOHOHOHORRY!”

“But I'm hungry!” Leonardo laughed, nibbling at Leo's tummy and making him shriek as he tickled at his sides, “And I wemember how much nibbles tickled my ticklish wittle tummy!”

“OOOYAHAHAHAAJJJJJIIII-!” Leo shrieked without meaning to, making Leonardo’s face light up.

“‘Oyaji’ huh!?” Leonardo beamed, blowing another raspberry and making Leo shriek, “I don't mind being a Dad again!”

“HAHAHAHAHAHA- NAHAHAHA! I DIHIHIHIHIDN’T SAY AHAHAHA THAHAHAHAT!” Leo squealed, face turning completely red in embarrassment. Because there was no way he'd call his future self oyaji. (Means father in Japanese)

“Yes you did!” Leonardo laughed, his entire being lit up in joy, “Your Oyaji is right here, Little Blue!”

“NOHOHOHO!” Leo squealed as Leonardo began blowing rapsberries on and nibbling at his tummy again, his other hand tickling all the sensitive spots on his sides harder, “OYA- HAHAHAHA NOOHOHOHOH! I MEEHEHEHEAN LEONAHAHAHARDO!”

“I'm not Leonardo, I'm Oyaji, remember?” Leonardo laughed, tickling Leo's tummy again, “Come on! Say it!”

“NAHAHAHAHAT HAHAHAHAPPENING!” Leo shrieked.

“Then I'll just tickle it out of you again!” Leonardo laughed, “I got a great idea!”

He unwrapped his scarf, using it to tie Leo's hands above his head and onto the bedframe.

He watched Leo's eyes go wide with fear and anticipation as both of Leonardo's hands were free now. And one was much larger than the other.

“Whehehe- we can talk about thihiHIHIHIS!” Leo shrieked as both hands started mercilessly tickling his sides, the prosthetic hand was huge and pretty much engulfed his entire side with tickles.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA- AHH HAHAHAHAHA! LEEHHEHEHEEHEHOOHOHOHNAAHHAHAHRDOOHHOHOHO!” Leo shrieked.

“Wrong name!” Leonardo cooed, “C'mon! Tickle tickle, little Blue~!”

“NAHAHAHAHA!’ Leo squealed as Leonardo stated blowing raspberries on his ribs, tickling his tummy with his real hand and his side with the prosthetic.

“Just say it!” Leonardo laughed, blowing a mercilessly raspberry.

“NEHEHEHEHEHEVER!”

“You asked for this!” Leonardo warned, grinning as he leaned down to one of Leo's most sensitive spots on his side.

“WHAHAHAHAHAIT-” Leo's protest was cut off by a loud shriek of laughter as Leonardo blew the most ticklish, evil raspberry Leo had ever felt on it.

“OOOYAHAHAHAAJI, NOHOHOHO MOHOHOHORE!” Leo shrieked as Leonardo went back to tickling his tummy with both hands.

“Of course, Musuko.” Leonardo teased, tickling Leo's tummy harder before finally pulling away. (Musuko means son in Japanese)

Leonardo freed Leo's hands from the scarf, and the teen rolled on his side, giggling as he wrapped his arms around himself.

Leonardo chuckled, giving him a bottle of water. Eventually Leo calmed down, leaning against the older version of himself as he sipped at his water.

“So Oyaji, huh?”

“SHUT UP!” Leo shrieked, face red from embarrassment.

"I finally understand why our brothers liked tickling us so much."

[everettswritings]

Got an idea for a cute story with a dash of angst if you want

How Shadow milk became the caregiver of regressor y/n....imagine if he had freed himself from the tree (or somehow freed himself again after the events of the story) and began roaming around, doing his usual antics! He eventually reaches y/n's home town/village/well...just home. He does his antics and y/n gets so stressed out, they regress and start crying like a baby.

For Shadow milk...why do I imagine...instant switch flip. From chaotic scary jester mode...to instant funny dad mode...also can imagine Shadow milk just realizing y/n is a regressor and goes '....ok, I'm a dad now. This is my baby now. All mine.' Just instant adoption...releases everyone else because now 1000000% focus is on baby now XD.

Just think the total sudden 180 would be funny lol...

BTW to explain...dash of angst that instantly gets resolved is y/n being terrified of Shadow milk lol...like seeing him all scary with evil laughter and so on scaring y/n so much.

Whole fic time! I actually really love this idea so much, Shadow Milk accidentally adopting someone(especially Y/N) just sounds weirdly canon. (NSFW/Kink accounts DNI!)

Laughter echoed through the air of Beast-Yeast, the maniacal cackling was as loud as lightning and even more frightening than such. Somehow, some way, the Beast known as Shadow Milk Cookie had breached his prison and was now spreading horrific chaos across the land. Circus-y music was blaring loudly and the noises of various acts being performed by mind controlled cookies only added to the cacophony.

You were crouched down in the corner of your living room with your ears covered, paralyzed by fear and trying to fight off your littlespace. You naturally screamed when you heard and saw someone crashing into your home, and you couldn’t help but shake as those heterochromatic eyes locked onto you.

“Well, well, well! What do we have here?!” Laughed the jester causing this madness as he approached you, fully intending to pull you into this like everyone else. You couldn’t hold it back anymore and involuntarily went into littlespace, instantly bursting into scared tears… somehow it made the jester pause in his advance. A look of concern spread across his usually-grinning face as he saw your tears rolling down your cheeks. He felt a pang inside him; but a pang of what? Guilt? Regret? He couldn’t quite decipher it, as it was probably a mixture of many emotions- he couldn’t recall the last time he felt something other than anger or manic joy. He crouched down in an attempt to look less threatening, feeling another wave of this emotion crashing down as you looked over with misted eyes. The jester gave a weak smile, “Hey, lil’ one… It’s alright. You’re alright…” He reached out for you, but you shrunk away. He retracted his hand and paused to think of how to turn your frown upside down.

The Beast’s grin returned to their face as a lightbulb went off; a puppet show! A puppet show was the perfect idea! They pulled a couple puppets out of thin air, clearing their throat to do the appropriate voices, which caught your attention again. One puppet was a baker and the other was just an ordinary guy- where would this go? The baker puppet held up a cupcake with a sleepy face stitched into the felt: “Here you go!” The baker said “One dozin’ cupcake!”, the ordinary guy grumbled “I said one dozen cupcakes!”.

You couldn’t suppress your giggles. The bit was a little dumb, sure, but it was still funny! At least to a regressed you. Shadow Milk Cookie’s grin widened with genuine affection and he decided to keep going, he kept pulling out assorted puppets and performing silly skits with them in order to make you laugh. Eventually, you decided to finally approach the jester and threw your arms around him in a hug. Although Shadow Milk Cookie was a bit surprised, he couldn’t say no to seeing you smile or hugging you back.

“Thank you, you’ve been such a wonderful audience!” They laughed, giving your little head a pat and handing you a little kettle-corn to snack on. As you graciously munched on the sweet treat, they breathed a relieved sigh that you calmed down. Maybe that’s what the pang was- a paternal feeling. They pulled you onto their lap and ruffled your hair.

“I guess I’m a dad now, huh?” They grinned.

That’s all! Ahh! Loved this, loved this, LOVED THIS! Thank you for the request! Have a good one 🫶

[justmeinadaze]

Him and I (Steddie X You)

Prequel to Without Me / Part 2: You Should Be Sad Here

A/N: ENTER WITH CAUTION! Like my previous chapters THIS WILL MAKE YOU FEEL! Its angsty and dealing with dark themes of addiction. I WILL STILL LOVE YOU IF YOU CHOOSE TO SKIP THIS STORY!

Warnings: Toxic Steddie X Fem Reader, SMUT, I wanted to show the two parts of them and how the treated her before and after they started getting worse with their vices. The first half involves loss of virginity for the reader, dirty talk, kinda rough but more passionate I would say, The second half is definitely rougher, more dirty talk, degrading (whore, slut, etc), spanking, choking, Y/N is a willing participant in both instances!

Some FLUFF, they really do love her and vice versa but unfortunately they love their addictions more.

ANGST: DARK THEMES OF ADDICTION! Steve is an alcoholic and Eddie is a drug addict. Reader mentions more in Without Me how she's addicted to them and I feel like that's explored a bit more here. She gets on them a lot about their vices and every time they are dismissive. There are mentions of their childhoods and we do get an interaction with asshole older Harrington here (he belittles Steve and smacks him).

The accident from Without Me is here but with some details. Its more about Eddie and Steve's interaction before they ran and left her. We also get a glimpse of her in the hospital waiting for them.

Again NOT A WARM FUZZY STORY! I won't blame you if you choose to skip it <3

Word Count: 7874

1982

“That was…the grossest fucking thing you two evil people have ever shown me.”, Steve shudders as the three of you exit the theater. 

You and Eddie cackle as you follow behind him out the front door. 

“Oh, don’t be a fraidy cat, Harrington. It wasn’t even scary.”, the metalhead teases.

“I thought it was creepy. What would you do if I started to transform into some evil screeching alien?”

“I would still think you’re beautiful, honey.”

“Aw, Steve Harrington, you’re so sweetheart.”, you joke as you stick out your tongue.

Tonight was a much needed reprieve from all the chaos you and your two best friends had been dealing with.  Junior year at Hawkins high was shaping up to be an exhausting one. Steve’s dad was on him much more and with more vigor than he had before reminding the younger Harrington that his future was looming just off in the distance. 

“Steven! It’s time to buckle down and really focus. No more playing around, son. You need to focus on bringing up those grades and being a better athlete so you can get into a good college. I don’t hire losers at my firm!”

The older Eddie got the worse the town and student body seemed to be with him. 

“What’s wrong, freak?!  To busy focusing on your satanic shit? Get lost and take off that fucking Dio vest! You look fucking stupid.”

He did everything he could to focus on other things but idiots like Jason Carver and the other jocks were always around to make his life hell. 

That’s probably why they both seemed to “let loose” more than usual or at least that’s how they described it to you the first time you noticed them excessively drinking and doing drugs. 

“It just takes the edge off you know?”

“Is it? Steve, you have a flask now that you carry with you. Why would you need to do that?”

“It’s not a big deal, Y/N. It’s not like I have a real problem or anything.”

“Yeah, it’s just to relax. Here, sweetheart, you look like you need to chill out for a bit.”, Eddie adds as he offers you some of the white powder from the bag you noticed on his dresser. 

“Um, no thank you. I think I’m ok weed.”, you giggle trying to laugh off the worries that bubble in your stomach. 

You had started worrying about them more and more since this past summer. When you guys started high school, you noticed a change in them that wasn’t just normal adolescences. Steve’s words started to slur more throughout the day and whenever you three would spend time together his breath would smell so strong like a bar that you’d have to take a few steps away from him so you wouldn’t cringe every time he opened his mouth. 

Eddie’s personality would shift at random points. In the mornings he would seem like the metalhead you befriended and then by lunch his behavior would be so erratic that it would frighten you sometimes. By the final bell, you would notice him staring off into the wall or even find him passed out in the back of the library.

Your mind always explained it away with different excuses almost as quickly as the ones they gave you when you asked questions. 

“Hey, do you guys want to come over? My parents are out of town this weekend.”

“Sure. Sounds like fun.”, you beam up at him.

***

You woke up that following morning on Steve’s bedroom floor with Eddie beside you and the other boy passed out leaning against the wall with his long legs stretched out towards you both. Quietly, you got up to use the bathroom, checking your reflection in the mirror before you ventured downstairs to grab some breakfast. 

Your eyes scanned the photos along the stairs, sympathy washing over you as you noticed Steve’s uncomfortable demeanor in all of them. His house always had a sad air surrounding it. It never felt exactly lived in and when his parents were home, neither seemed happy. Both he and the metalhead spent a lot of time at your place which you didn’t mind. You loved their company and you wanted them to feel safe. 

Your parents always treated them like family and that’s how you saw them as well. You knew what both boys had been through and were still going through. Anything you could do to make things easier for them, you did with little to no question. 

After opening his pantry, something immediately caught your eye. Within the trashcan were a ton of empty liquor bottles. Not just single beer containers but bottles of whiskey that should last a long time in a house with one occupant, emptied and discarded. 

“Hey Y/N. What are you doing up?”, Steve groggily asked as he entered the kitchen. 

“Steve Harrington, what is this?”, you inquire back showing him the contents within the trash. 

The man’s eyes widen and it takes him a moment before he nervously chuckles. 

“Uh, my parents had a party last week so—”

“Your parents weren’t home last week. You told me they were on a business trip which is why you spent the night at my house because you didn’t want to be alone.” The two of you stared each other down until you finally continue. “You drank all this by yourself?”

“It’s…it’s not a big deal, honey.”

“DON’T you honey me, Steven!”

“What’s going on?”, Eddie asks after loudly banging down the stairs. 

“Did you know he was drinking this much?!”, you shriek as you show him what you found.

“I mean, it could be worse, Y/N.”

“HOW?! How can it be worse?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Rock bands don’t even drink this much!”

“Y/N! Come on. You’re making this into a big deal when it’s not!”

“Fuck you! I’m not going to watch you drink yourself to death. I love you but this is excessive!”

Stomping past them both, you head for the front door but the man hastily cuts you off and blocks you from leaving with his body. 

“Y/N, please. Shit… I’m sorry, okay? You’re right. I have been going overboard lately. It’s just everything with my dad and school… I promise this will never happen again.” As your arms fold over your chest, his beautiful eyes scan your angry frame. “You’re the only one that ever cared about me, Y/N; you and Ed of course.”

You sigh as your demeanor softens. 

“I DO care about you a lot, Steve. You know you can talk to me about anything and I’ll be there for you no matter what. You both don’t have to numb yourselves the way you do.” Eddie nods as you turn towards him, his head hanging in shame. “I worry about you two so mu—"

As you swivel back towards the other boy, you’re surprised when you are met with his lips on yours. You had never been intimate with them in any fashion up until this point, always seeing them as your best friends. You’d be lying, however, if you didn’t say Steve’s lips tasted good. 

He pulled away from you for a moment, the two of you panting into each other’s mouths as you process what just happened. Before you could do anything or even respond, a ring covered hand grabbed your arm and yanked you against a bare chest as Eddie’s own lips connected with yours. 

You could still hear the other boy’s heavy breaths causing you to groan at the sound. Lifting you onto the end table by the door, the metalhead hastily tugged down your pants and panties while Steve came up beside you to lift off your shirt and toss away your bra. 

Eddie’s fingers dug into your thighs as he opened your legs wide and kneeled in front of you, making you whimper when he shoved his face into your cunt. 

“Wa-Wait. I’ve—fuck—I’ve never done anything s-sexual before.”

A heavy growl emitted from both men as the long-haired boy sucked and flicked his tongue along your clit while Steve’s lips attached to your neck. Moving his friend out of the way, he lifted you in his arms and carried you to the couch.

You watched with wide, lust blown eyes as Steve pushed his shorts down enough to free his cock, spit in his hand, and stroked it along his length. 

“St-Steve, you’re so big. It won’t fit.”

His honey brown eyes met your own and it was almost like for a moment he had forgotten it was your legs he was between. Tenderly, he leaned forward to kiss your lips. 

“It will, honey. I promise. I’ll go slow, ok? Unless…do you want me to stop? I just…you are the only one to care about us. I love you so much, Y/N. Let us make it up to you.”

Your gaze momentarily shifted to Eddie who was looking at you with the same gentleness that you saw when you first met him all those years ago. Licking your lips, you kiss him again before shaking your head. 

“Just…go slow…and keep talking to me…please.”

Your arms clung to his neck when you felt the head of his cock line up with your entrance. Your breath caught in your throat as he began pushing in and on instinct you tried to push him away from you. 

“No, no, baby. You’re ok. E-Eddie, fuck, can you—”

Eddie quickly came up to your side and held you still with his hands as Steve pushed another inch into your hole. 

“God fucking damn it, you’re so fucking tight.”

“Are you ok, sweetheart?”, the other boy whispered in your ear.

“Hurts.”

“I know, baby. It’ll feel good soon. I promise.” His lips comforted you as he kissed your cheek and your head arched back as the other boy slide further into your body. Eddie licked his fingers and reached between your bodies to rub slow circles into your bundle of nerves as Steve kept going.

“Fuck, Eddie!”, you screamed causing the boy inside you to grunt when your pussy clenched around him. 

“Y-You like that, honey? You like Eddie’s fingers on your clit. Fuck, you’re doing so good, Y/N. I’m almost all the way in.”

“Steve…you’re so big…”

His cock twitched at your words and you groaned as the pain began to slowly dull. When his hips connected with yours, your eyes rolled back as his length grazed against that sensitive spot inside of you, you didn’t even know existed. 

Leaning on to his knees, his palms held your calves as he pulled himself almost all the way out before roughly thrusting back in.

“Steve!”

“Fuck, Y/N. Keep shouting my name like that, baby.”

Eddie’s hand petted your head, as the other boy set a steady pace.

“You’re doing so well, pretty girl. You look so beautiful like this. You deserve to feel good to. Does it still hurt?” He smiled when you shook your head. “How does it feel?”

“G-Good.”

“Yeah? Tell him, sweetheart.”

As your eyes scanned over Steve you couldn’t help but marvel at him as you view him through this new filter. Usually, you only saw him as a friend. You never really thought about his gorgeous eyes or perfect lips. The way his broad hairy chest looked so sexy glistening with sweat. You never noticed that one lock of hair that fell just so as his head tilted forward or how low and gravelly his voice was when he was turned on. 

“You feel so good, Steve.”

“Oh come on, Y/N. Tell him how you really feel. It’s just us.”

The boy tilted forward, taking one of your nipples in his mouth and you moaned as your fingers tangled in Steve’s hair. 

“F-Fuck… your cock feels so fucking good. I-I can feel you in my stomach.”

His lips trailed up your chest to your neck and your eyes fluttered shut as you turned your head to the sound of his voice in your ear.

“I feel good, baby? Fuck, Y/N. I’ve—I’ve never had a pussy that felt this amazing before. You were made for us, honey.”

“Steve, I… I feel… Something’s happening.” Your arms circle tightly around him as he thrusts into harder and faster. “Steve!”

“That’s it, pretty girl. Oh my god. Cum all over my cock!” You screamed his name as an intense, pleasurable feeling you had never felt before washed over you. “Goddamn it.”, he grunted as he quickly pulled himself out of your quivering entrance and you watch with heavy eyes as he stroked his length over you, releasing his seed on your belly. 

Lost in a haze of bliss, you barely felt both boys switch places and Eddie flip you over positioning your ass in the air. When his tongue licked a long strip up your folds, however, you gasped as your body shuddered against the couch. 

“So sensitive. I like that. Jesus, sweetheart, you taste so sweet. Are you ready for me?” When you don’t answer, his chest presses against your back as his fingers move your hair to the side. “Are you ready for me, Y/N, or did you want to stop? We can stop if you want to, baby girl. We’ll still love you.”

Craning you neck slightly, you able to meet those beautiful chocolate eyes. You had never noticed how intense they were especially when they were full of care like they were now. You never noticed how kissable Eddie’s lips were or how seductive they looked when they pulled back into a smirk. It never occurred to you how much bigger his gorgeous hands actually were compared to yours as he balanced himself so he wouldn’t crush you as he whispered in your ear. 

“You both love me?”

Your question threw them both off guard. 

“Of course, we do. There’s no one else in the world like you.”

“You helped make us who we are, Y/N.”

Steve’s words hit you like a train. You just found a trashcan full of liquor he had been hiding from you. They were both utilizing drugs and alcohol to a degree that was beginning to become concerning. Maybe…maybe they’d be worse if it wasn’t for you. Maybe you could help them get better and heal so they wouldn’t need to turn to that stuff.

“I love you to. I’m ready, Eddie.”

You both groaned as he ran his mushroom tip between your puffy lips, collecting your slick before he gradually began guiding himself inside of you. Your back arches up, pushing against his chest as he stretches you open. It didn’t hurt as bad as with Steve but Eddie was thick and it still felt like you were being ripped in half. 

“G-God, Y/N. Steve was right…how can you still be this tight?”

His arms wrapped around your body as he began pounding into you. In this position, you were feeling all new pleasurable sensations that had your toes curling as he grunted into your ear. 

“Do—mmm—do I feel good to, sweetheart?”

“Y-yes.”

“Keep talking to me, Y/N. The way you did with him. Really let go, babe.”

“Your cock…feels so good…Eddie. You’re so…deep.”

Lifting himself onto his knees, he yanked you up with him, the sound of skin slapping echoing through the house. 

“K-Keep going.”

“I can’t. Fuck. I’m…”

“Yes, you can. I can feel your pussy squeezing me. Beg me, baby. Beg me to make you cum like he did.” When you didn’t answer him again, he placed his fingers on your clit, moving them so fast as he matched his own rhythm.

“Eddie! Oh my…Please! Make me cum. I want to cum again! Please…”

The metalhead pushed your face down into the sofa as he did what you asked, slamming is cock into you till the coil snapped and you shouted his name as you came. He soon followed, moaning obscenities as he pulled out and came on the meat of your ass. 

Unsure of what happens next, you remained frozen in that position as you listened to Eddie’s heavy pants. You were a complete mess, naked, hair frayed, and everyone including your own arousals dripping from your body. 

 “Whoa! Hey, it’s ok. I’m just picking you up to take you upstairs so we can get you clean.”, Steve explained when he felt you flinch. 

You sighed exhaustedly as he lifted you up and you clung your arms around his neck. Eddie ran ahead and as soon as you both entered the bathroom your bath was ready. Sitting there quietly, you starred off into the tile in front of you as they ran a washcloth along your skin. 

“Y/N?” The metalhead reached for your chin and gently turned you to face them both. “Are you alright? We didn’t hurt you or anything, right?”

When you shook your head, they exchanged a glance.

“What are you thinking about, honey?”

“Why? Why now? You two have had so many other girls in your life—”

“None like you.”, Steve interrupted. “I wasn’t lying, Y/N. I love you. My dad doesn’t give a fuck about me, my mother is never here, the girls at school just want me because I’m ‘popular’.”, he rolls his eyes. “You’ve never wanted or expected anything out of me. You treat me like I’m not fucking worthless.”

“Because you’re not, Steve.”

“When my mom died, I thought I’d never be happy again. Then I met you guys. Baby, I love you to. Even with Wayne sometimes I feel like I’m burdening him.”

“You’re not, Eddie. He loves you.”

“I know but I get what Steve is saying. We hear all this bullshit enough and it just sinks in you know? But with you…”

“We’ll still be your best friends, Y/N, even if you don’t want us like that.”

“I didn’t say that.”, you smirk as both their gazes shift towards you. “I would like to be wined and dined though.”

“You wanna go out on a date?”

“Yeah. Maybe we can check out that new Star Wars movie and then—”

“We can take you to dinner.”, Eddie beams. “Treat you like a princess.”

############

1983

“Wow, Steven, you suck at this.”, Eddie teases as you giggle from the side while you both watch Steve try to shoot one of the balls on the pool table into the corner pocket. 

“Well shit, Edward. Do you wanna wrap your arms around me like you do with Y/N and teach me to be better.”, the pretty boy slurred as his cue missed the ball entirely. “Fuck.”

The metalhead extended out his arms toward him as he began to sing. 

“Love lift us up where we belong.”

“Don’t you touch me.”, he laughs as they both flash each other a toothy grin. 

“Come on, princess. Show him what I taught you.”

Playfully swaying your hips as you saunter over, your eyes flick to them as you line up your shot. Steve tosses back the liquid in his flask and Eddie lights his fourth cigarette in a row. He’s getting antsy which means soon, he’ll excuse himself to the bathroom where he’ll snort his powder and come back with half lidded, glassy eyes. 

You savored small moments like this where you could. Where you three were having fun and they weren’t totally clouded over by their vices. Tonight was a regular date night and you were so happy that they didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. You always knew how ever it wouldn’t take much for that spark to ignite though. 

Beaming at them, they clap for you obnoxiously loud as you make your shot. 

“That’s our girl!”

“Shut the fuck up, freaks!”, Jason Carver hollers from the corner of the bar.

“Go to hell, Jason!”, you shout. 

The jocks cackle at your comment as Andrew’s eyes rake across your body. 

“Little girl has a mouth on her. Maybe we can show her how to use it.”

Eddie stomped towards them before you could stop him. 

“Say that a little louder, asshole. I don’t think I heard you correctly. That ‘little girl’ is my best friend and you willshow her fucking respect!”

“Go to hell, Munson.”

“HEY! Knock it off or I’ll kick you all out!”, the owner shouted as he glared where you guys were standing. 

“Come on, Ed. Let’s get out of here.”, you try and sooth him in a calm voice. “Please.”

Angrily turning away, he barrels out the door as you run after him. 

“Eddie, it’s ok.”

He ignores you as he opens his van door, pops open the glove box, and pulls out the little glass vile of his drug. You watch with helpless eyes as he pours some on the edge of his hand near his thumb and snorts the contents.

“That’s not going to help anyone.”, you growl.

“Yeah, well, no one fucking asked you. Let me ask you something. Why did you want me to stop? Huh? Do you want to fuck Jason and his stupid friends?”

“Have you lost your fucking mind? Of course, I don’t.”

“Pfft, please. Little whore like you can’t help herself.”

“Fuck you, Eddie.” 

As you turn and try to walk away, he grabs your arm and tries to keep you from leaving. 

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

“I’d rather walk than deal with this bullshit.”

“Guys…”, Steve slurs as he appears beside you. “Can we do this later? I’m fucking exhausted.”

***

Driving his van for them, you all went back to Steve’s house and let them talk you into staying over. Around two in the morning, yelling startled you awake causing you to panic when you realized Steve wasn’t beside you. 

“Eddie.”, you murmured forcefully as you shook him. “Eddie!”

“Jesus H Christ, WHAT?!”

“Something is happening downstairs. I think Steve needs our help.”

“He’ll be fine. Just shut the fuck up and go back to bed.”, he grumbled as he rolled over. 

Ignoring him completely, you quietly tiptoed out of the bedroom and leaned against the railing as you listened to Mr. Harrington screaming at his son. 

“This is a $500 dollar bottle of bourbon, Steven! I save it for important clients not my idiot kid and his friends.”

“For the thousandth time, I didn’t drink it!”

“Oh, so all of my alcohol just disappears then. Even though you, the freak, and that whore are here a majority of the time alone.”

“Don’t call her that.”, Steve grunted through gritted teeth.

His dad stepped forward and smacked him hard across the face. 

“Don’t talk to me in that tone of voice.”

Running down the stairs, you put yourself between them. 

“Leave him alone! He’s not drinking what’s yours.”

“Everything in this house fucking is mine, little girl. I paid for it with my hard-earned money. What the fuck has he done? Nothing and that’s all he will ever be. The sooner you figure that out the better.” Mr. Harrington raises his finger and points to his son. “You owe me $500 dollars or I swear to God, Steven.”

With that his dad furiously left the house, slamming the front door for emphasis. Quickly facing him, you cup his cheeks in your hands, and check him over.

“Are you alright, baby?”

“Why the fuck did you do that, Y/N?”, he asks in a sharp tone. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Marching towards the kitchen, he opens cabinets till he finally finds a bottle of whiskey that actually still has some liquid within it. You glared at him as he knocked it back, panting when he finally removed his lips from the glass. 

“You both promised me you would slow down on stuff like this.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t answer to you, honey. If you don’t like it, you can fucking leave.”

“Maybe, Andrew is still at The Hideout. He can give you a bed for the night.”, Eddie sneered as he rounded the corner and leaned in the doorway.

“Fuck you both. I’m fucking done.”, you spat. “You want me to leave? You got it.”

You headed towards his room, throwing off his clothes so you can put on your own and head home. You knew better. You knew you should have just left but part of you was hoping they’d beg you to stay, groveling at your feet as they told you they loved you. You wanted them to fight for you…show you that they needed you as much as you felt like you needed them. 

And they would…in their own inebriated way…

“Why the fuck are you still here?! I thought you were leaving?!”, Eddie shouted when he found you. Grabbing your pants from the floor, he threw them down to the first floor with your shoes and socks. “Get a move on, baby!”

Ignoring him, you banged your feet loudly down the stairs but as you bent down to grab your jeans, Steve came up behind you and captured your wrist turning you to face him. 

“You made things worse by butting in.”

“No, Steve, you make things worse by continuing to drink. Why?! Why do you two do this?”

The man rolls his eyes as he takes a swig from the bottle in his hand. 

“Please. Like you fucking care. You’re going to break our hearts just like they did. May as well just leave now, honey, and leave us in peace to destroy ourselves. It’s what Eddie and I are good at, right bud?”

Eddie’s only response was a deep inhale that you knew was his him snorting his blow. 

Shaking your head, you turn to leave but he doesn’t release you from his hold. 

“I thought you said I could leave, Steve. That’s what you want right? To fulfill your own prophesy of me abandoning you.” You try to yank your arm back but he just tugs you close to his chest, glaring down at you with angry eyes. “It’s not like I’ve been by your sides and both your best friend since we were little kids.”

Sarcastically, you laugh knowing what you say next will rile him up but you don’t care. In this moment, you were in so much pain after the way they spoke to you. You were fully prepared to give them a taste of their own medicine. 

“Your dad was right. You are nothing.”

In one swift motion, he released your wrist and took hold of your hair, leading you to the couch where he bent you over the arm.

“I’m nothing, huh? HUH?!”, Steve shouted near your ear as he leaned over your back. “Say it again, little girl! Come on. Let me hear it!”

“You’re nothing, Steve Harrington! I thought you wanted me to fucking leave! I’m going to abandon you anyway, RIGHT?!”

His palm came down hard on your behind, making you yelp before he moved the cotton blocking your core and abruptly pushed two of his long, thick fingers into your sex.

“You’re not going fucking anywhere tonight, babe. Not until we’re done with you.” You groan as he curls his fingers inside you and spanks you again. “You always talk back but you’re still so fucking wet for us, aren’t you? AREN’T YOU?!”, he yells as he hits you again.

“YES!”

“Fuck, just listen to that pussy, Munson.” The sound of your slick fills the room as he thrusts his fingers at a faster pace. “Fucking whore is always ready.”

“Probably why she can’t help but eye fuck this entire town.”, Eddie condescends as he comes around to sit on the couch in front of you. 

“Please…”, you moan as the coil tightens in your stomach. 

“Please.”, he mocks making you growl before his fingers roughly pinch your cheeks. “Control the fucking attitude, Y/N. Since we’re nothing and we do nothing for you, might as well use you one last time and I’ll be damned if you’re going to look at me like that.”

Steve spanks you again causing you to whimper as your pussy clenches around his fingers and you cum hard around them. After literally ripping off your panties and Eddie tugging off your shirt, the other boy loops his arm around your waist, carrying you around the front of the sofa, and tossing you on it. You wince as you fall a little harder than you should of making both boys freeze. They don’t genuinely want to hurt you; they never have. You know what they’re doing right now is an outlet especially for Steve after what happened with his dad. They needed to feel in control and so did you. You desperately needed to feel like you could reign them in and keep their vices in check so it didn’t get worse. 

If they needed to use you so they didn’t use themselves, so be it.

Your eyes flick between theirs before a slow, cool laugh leaves your lips. 

“Oh, come on, boys. Don’t pretend like you fucking care now. I’m a whore right, Ed? Steve? Come on, baby.” You coo in a sarcastic tone as you push up on your knees and wrap your arms around the man’s neck. “Prove to me you’re not nothing. Show me what a real Harrington man is.”

With newfound motivation, he manhandled you till you were on your hands and knees facing Eddie’s lap. You mewled, biting your lip at the feeling of Steve’s spit hitting your cunt before he pushed down his shorts enough to free his cock and roughly thrust it into your entrance.

Ringed fingers tangled in your hair, tugging you back till you were looking at the metalhead’s angry face. 

“You’re going to suck my cock, little girl, and you’re going to take all of it. No whining or complaining. Sluts do what they’re told.”

You nodded with heavy eyes as the man behind you abused that sensitive spot inside you over and over till your toes were curling. Shimming out of his boxers without letting you go; his dick sprang free and you wasted no time taking him into your mouth. 

Eddie groaned as you did what you were told, his tip hitting the back of your throat as you drooled around him. Every time you moaned at Steve’s thrusts, his fingers gripped you tighter as his eyes fluttered shut. 

“Fuck, baby, that’s it. At least that bratty mouth is good for something. Shit.”

Looping his arm around you, Steve’s hand reached between your legs and began rubbing fast circles into your clit that had you screaming around Eddie as you pushed back against his hand.

“Fuck, Steve!”

“Yeah. That’s the fucking spot. I know. No one knows you better than us, little girl. Cum. Cum hard on my cock, Y/N!”, he demands as he spanks you with his other palm. 

As the ball drops, you moan his name as your pussy quivers around him. 

“Fuck. That’s it. Good girl. Good fucking girl.”, Steve grunts as he pounds into you chasing his high. 

Clinging to your hair, Eddie holds you still as he thrusts up into your mouth and fucks your face as you gag. 

“There you go, you little whore. Choke on my dick.”

Steve’s rhythm falters and he grunts as he releases his spend roughly into your cunt. As he fills you up, the metalhead pushes you lower onto his lap and growls loudly as your throat constricts around him. They both pull out of you at the same time and Eddie forcefully tugs you onto his lap facing him. 

Your jaw falls open as he grips your waist and brings your down onto his cock, your hands clinging to his shoulders as he guides your movements. 

“Harder, Y/N! Fucking make me believe that you fucking care!”

As you wrap your arms around him for leverage, you bounce faster and harder on his lap, throwing your head back as you moan loudly. 

“E-Eddie, please!”

“Fuck.”, he grunts, lifting you into the air without pulling out, sitting you on the sofa while his palm grips the back as he takes over thrusting into you. “God, you feel so fucking good. You’re ours, little girl. This pussy belongs to us.”

When all you do is mewl and nod, his fingers take hold of your jaw, and force you to meet his intense gaze.

“Say it, Y/N. So we know you fucking understand.”

“I-I…my pussy be-belongs to you. Fuck.”

“Who do you belong to?”

“You two.”

“WHO?!”, he snarls as he rolls his hips hard.

“EDDIE AND STEVE! Fuck, I’m gonna—”

The metalhead’s ringed fingers grab your throat and you whimper as you cum again. Eddie’s grip tightens and you feel your air slightly cut off. Right as your panicked eyes find Steve’s, the other boy paints your walls as he fucks it deep into your core. 

Steve reaches over and tugs at his friend’s wrist, signaling for him to release you which he does. His chocolate eyes scan you over with worry, when he hears you cough as you catch your breath. 

“I…I…shit. Y/N, are you…okay?”

When you don’t answer, they swiftly kick into action as Steve lifts you into his arms and carries you to his bathroom where he gets the tub ready. Eddie appears next to you with a bottle of water but as he offers it to you, you turn away. 

“Sweetheart, you have to drink something.”

“Like either of you care.”

“Honey, of course we care.”

“DON’T! Don’t you honey and sweetheart me! I’m a whore who wants to fuck the entire town, right?! I’m butting into your business and making things worse, right?! I don’t love you and you don’t care if I leave, RIGHT?!” Pushing Steve away, you wince as you lower yourself in the warm water and bring your knees to your chin. “What do I have to do to prove to you that I only want you two? That I’m not going anywhere? Why does it have to be this way?”

They hang their heads as they silently clean you and you allow it. After drying you off and finding you a new pair of clothes to wear, you continue to ignore them as you climb into Steve’s bed and close your eyes. Both boys do the same, placing themselves on either side of you as Eddie presses himself against your back looping his arm around you and pulling you to him while Steve tenderly caressed your face. 

“We’re sorry, baby.”, he whispers. “You deserve so much more than this. We’re fucking assholes.”

Steve watched your bottom lip quiver as Eddie held you tighter to his chest and he pressed his face into your shoulder as he began to quietly cry. 

“I’m sorry, princess. I didn’t mean to grab you so hard. I love you. You’re not a whore. You’re our perfect angel. We can be better, Y/N.”

###########

“Hey, Y/N. Are you alright? You look tired.”

“Oh, thanks Glen. You know I’m trying this new routine—”

“Ok, ok, I get it. That was a little rude.”, he laughs. “You know, you always look beautiful.”

You softly smile as you turn towards your locker. These were the moments you wish you could tell people that you, Eddie, and Steve were more than best friends. Glen was a nice guy but you were in love with someone else. You knew it bothered them (especially Eddie) when men hit on you and it equally upset you when girls would do the same with them. 

They knew better though just like you. You knew when Steve stumbled into a room with a girl on his heels they were probably just talking. Whenever he would call you over at 2am sobbing about something you couldn’t understand under his slurred words, you were positive that the perfume you were smelling was most likely yours from days ago when you spent the night. 

They made sure you never had to worry about things like that…

As you opened your locker a note tumbled into your hand.

“Hey pretty girl, 

We just wanted to say we love you so much and miss you. 

Can’t wait to see you later tonight. 

You deserve the world, angel.

-Steve X Eddie”

“Are you, um, going to the party tonight?”

“Yeah.”, you answer him as you hold the note to your chest. “Steve is probably going to pick me and Eddie up.”

“Oh. Ok…I thought, maybe, you’d want to ride with me.”

“Glen…I…thank you but I’m just not…”

“Hey. No worries.”, he grins. “I’ll still be your friend and think you’re cool.”

***

“Geez, this fucking house is insane. How many people live here?”, Eddie asks as he takes a sip of the “punch” in his cup. 

“I think 3 but…”, you laugh as you wonder around with them. 

“Pfft. Jamie’s parents and herself makes three people who are never home.” Steve picks up a figurine and shows it to you with confusion before putting it back. “I will never understand why rich people buy these massive houses but are never in them. Our house isn’t that big but it’s just me or the three of us 99% of the time.”

“Ok, got it. When we move in together no big house.”, you giggle causing him to stick out his tongue at you. 

“That’s too bad. When I became a rockstar I was going to buy us a HUGE mansion.”, the metalhead muses as he glances up another spiral staircase that was blocked off. After looking around, he tugs down the ribbon, and grabs your hand to guide you up to the next floor. 

“Hm, baby. This reminds me of The Shining.”, you whine.

Eddie chuckles as he turns around and wiggles his index finger in front of your face. 

“Redrum!”

“Stop!”

Continuing to laugh, he pulls you to his side as you wrap your arms around his waist. You loved these moments; the moments where they seemed like their old selves before things had gotten worse. It gave you hope that you could save them; that you could bring the Eddie and Steve you first met on those swings back to you. 

“Hey guys. Come look at this here.”, Steve calls as he opens a random door. “This must be her parent’s room.”

As he stared at the massive sized bed with a canopy, you ventured into the bathroom while Eddie looked around the closet. 

“Jesus Christ, this is bigger than our fucking trailer.”, he scoffs as he flashes Steve who followed him in some of the clothes. “If you need a bench in your closet, maybe the closet it too big, yeah?”

The other man took a swig from his flask as his eyes scanned everything around him. 

“I don’t think I’ll every be rich enough to give her this.”, he mumbles causing the metalhead to abruptly turn his way. 

“Don’t say that, Harrington. Just because your dad is a douchebag doesn’t mean you won’t own a company one day. It doesn’t have to be his.”

“Pfft, said the rockstar.”

“Ha! Yeah. That’s if I can get my fingers to do what I want them to do.”, Eddie sighs as he begins digging his is pockets, finding his little vile. “Or my brain for that matter.”

“Maybe…maybe we really should slow down, ya know?”, Steve whispers. 

“It’s not that serious, Steven.”

“You almost choked her out.”

“And you fuck other cheerleaders. Do you really want to play that game right now?”, Eddie hisses.

“Shhh! I don’t…I don’t mean to. We go somewhere and then I wake up the next morning…”

“Yeah, tell her that.”

“I love her.”, Steve growls. “I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Well, I love her to.”, he sighs before patting his friend’s shoulder. “Everything’s fine, man. Trust me.”

The sound of you jumping onto the bed brings them back into reality as they exit the closet and find you sprawled out with a wide smile on your face. Crawling in beside you, the three of you lay there in comfortable silence as you listen to them breathe.

“I love you both…for who you are…I hope you know that.” You feel their eyes shift towards you as you continue. “No matter what. It’s always been just us and I’m always going to be here for you. I don’t care if we have a house like this or… a tiny trailer.”

“We’re not going to let you live your life in a tiny trailer, sweetheart. I don’t care what I have to do but that’s never going to be your reality.”

“Whatever WE have to do.”, Steve clarified. “We’re always going to be there for you, honey. You put up with a lot when it comes to us. Soon it will all be worth it.”

“Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t we ditch this party, go back to my place, and watch some spooky movies that will make Harrington pee his pants?”

Nodding, you giggle as Steve rolls his eyes. After running down the stairs, a face you recognized abruptly stopped you to say hello. 

“Hi Glen. I’m actually about to leave!”

“Really? I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” His nervous eyes scan Steve’s stumbling frame as Eddie bounces on his heels waiting for you. “You’re leaving with them?”

“Yeah of course. We’re going to go hang out at Eddie’s trailer.”

“You’re driving right? Or, maybe, even I can.”

“Oh, um…” Your own gaze shifts towards them, taking note at the longer you take the more annoyed their eyes seem to become. “His place isn’t that fair. It’s not a big deal. I appreciate the thought though.”, you smile as you give him a quick hug.

Before you can turn away, Glen holds you in his grasp.

“Don’t go with them, Y/N. Please.”

Holding your smile, you pull away and nod your head, slightly assuring him that everything would be alright. 

“What did he want?”

“Just to say hello. We have a couple of classes together and we help each other sometimes.” As you three search for Steve’s BMW, you anxiously watch him fumble with his keys. “Stevie, baby, maybe you should let me drive.”

“Pfft, I can drive, honey. I’m barely even drunk.”

Eddie’s arms wrap around you from behind as he tenderly kisses the nook between your neck and shoulder. “Come on, princess. You can sit in the back with me.”

***

Steve frustratingly tries to yank at the car door but it won’t budge. 

“Steve…”, Eddie calls to his friend as the sirens begin to wail in the distance.

“I can’t…the door…” Desperately, he falls to his knees and tries to reach for your hand through the shattered window as you dangled upside down from where you were still buckled in. “I can’t reach her…Y/N…w-wake up.”

“S-S-Steve.” The sound of sirens got louder as the metalhead panicked going into sensory overload. The sirens, Steve grunting as he tried different ways to get to you, the smell of metal and blood. “STEVEN! We need to go. NOW!”

“Eddie, we can’t just leave her here!”

The long-haired boy tugged at his friend’s sweater, dragging him to his feet. 

“Yeah? And you’ll never see her again if you get arrested for drunk driving and me for possession. She’ll be fine. They’re almost here. They can get her out!”

Steve had his own internal battle pausing only for a second when he heard the sound of you groan. 

“I-I-I…FUCK!”

Both boys run and disappear just as Hopper’s police car skids onto the scene.

***

“Hey, Y/N. This feels like a stupid question but how are you feeling?”, the police chief asks as he takes a seat beside your hospital bed. It had been almost two weeks since the accident and people could barely get anything out of you. 

Your parents had been by your side the entire time, holding your hand, and caressing your hair as you cried through every painful process the doctors put you through. Your mom and Hopper exchange a worried glance as you ignore the question, continuing to stare at the phone by your bed. 

“I’m not going to bug you too much but I was hoping to get some more details about what happened. We know you weren’t driving because we found you buckled in the backseat.”

Again, no response.

“We, uh, got a tip that you and some friends left a party at the same time. Eddie Munson and Steve Harrington? The car in the accident is also Mr. Harrington’s.” Your eyes start to tear up and you quickly suffocate the notion by closing your eyes. “Um, Mr. and Mrs. Y/L/N, may I have a moment alone with Y/N?”

After your parent’s leave, Hopper comes to sit on the opposite end of the room directly in front of you, his gaze soft as he scans you over. 

“Y/N, you’re not in trouble. I know you didn’t cause this. I also know that you’re very loyal to your friends but, honey, you’re not helping either of them if they don’t face the consequences for what they do.” Your eyes open finally meeting his and he doesn’t faulter as he continues. “No one is in trouble here. I just want to help them and you. I also want to make sure no one else gets hurt.”

Shifting you gaze towards the phone again, a montage of everything they had been through ran through your mind. Eddie had lost his mom and his dad was abusive before going in. After moving in with Wayne, things got better at home but not at school or in Hawkins. People bullied him relentlessly making him feel like he was a freak who would never be anything but. 

Steve had basically raised himself being alone most of his childhood. His asshole father and absent mother were always away on business or even pleasure leaving him behind. When they were home, his dad said terrible things to him and broke him down constantly telling him he was worthless. While the boy was popular school, adults constantly seemed to underestimate him adding to his insecurity. 

They didn’t need prison, they needed you. It was just you and them against the world. Yeah, they hadn’t called yet but they would. They would give you a rational reason for leaving you behind and comfort you, telling you everything would be ok. Then things could go back to how they used to be or even better. Maybe this accident would wake them up to the damage their vices can do…

“I don’t remember who was driving. I just remember something darting into the road and then waking up here.”, you whisper. 

The police chief sighs as he nods. He can’t force you to say what you need to say. If that’s the story you want to stick with, he’ll write his report and give it to the insurance companies. 

“I see. Ok, Y/N. Thank you for your candor and I hope…I hope you feel better. I’m always here if you need to talk.”

Softly smiling, you turn your attention back to the phone as you continue to wait. 

They’ll call or come by. They love me. We need each other… I know it.

#############

[no-cinnamon-for-synonym]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written then pass it on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self love ❤

Grovebound: it's about Runaan leaving on a mission and returning home with a child. I love it so much because of how I portrayed the dynamics between each of the assassins. That was a lot of fun to write. Then, of course, I got to write fluffy Ruthari being dads.

You Had One Job: this one was fun to write. There's so much potential for the Runaan and Callum dynamics, so I wanted to write something where Runaan threatens Callum for "endangering" his babygirl. Rayla is the only thing connecting them and urging them to get along, so.

Guardian Spirits: I believe this was early on in my collection of prose fics. This one is about Runaan and Ethari becoming dads, but the way biological children are made in this au is... not what you would think. Babies are like potatoes, you see. You pull them from the ground. Naturally.

Cuddle It Better: my fave crackfic. Set in S4 after we got the preview of (almost) everyone on Zubeia after leaving Katolis, before the season dropped. It focuses on Stella and Callum back when the Evil Lemur Theory was popular. It was so much fun to write and it still makes me cackle on each reread.

Covered in the Colours of You: my first smutfic! :D It's hhhhh. Hot. Very very hot. Take a look through the tags if you dare. 😏

You can also read my Ruthari mpreg and trans/enby Ethari one shot collection, which only has 2 chapters, but still. I'd like to get back to it, but I think I would just start a new au for that one and do things differently. We'll see.

None of these even brush on my one shot collection:

Chapter 2--Husband for Sale: this was the first story I ever wrote that felt... right. You can all thank this one shot for kicking my inner writer into gear. I wouldn't be the person I am today without it. It's about Ruthari getting into an argument, followed by crack.

Chapter 9--Convincing Runaan 101: Runaan and Ethari prepare to leave Rayla home alone for a while, but they have concerns. Rayla says she's no longer a child, but Runaan's dark past still haunts him. Soft moonfam ensues, followed by Ethari seducing his husband to compromise.

Chapter 14--The Angels Were Always Looking: Runaan grows flowers that bloom in the winter in his garden. Ethari likes to pick them, but he suspects Runaan doesn't know. Another prose fic. One of the chapters I'm most proud of in this collection.

Chapter 16--These Scars That Make Us Strong: soft body worship.

Chapter 18--I'll Never Leave: one of my best pieces of writing. Soft moonfam dealing with the fallout of wee Rayla coping after her parents leave. Dadnaan follows.

Thanks for sending this, fam!

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

and found - outtakes

Hey, folks, I have weathered the first feast holiday of my winter season and had a super breakfast, and now I have to be at work but there's obviously nothing doing so it's time to post a couple of things that got cut from "and found," generally due to lack of narrative space for them.

***

girlboss

“Jiao Liqiao did some incredibly out of pocket shit, but she was kind of a girlboss. Or at least she knew how to be straightforward about, like, ‘hey, Di Feisheng, I want to tie you up and have insane sex with you.’”

Di Feisheng lets out a startled cough. “You're overestimating her willingness to explain anything ever.”

“Well, ok, yeah, but she knew what she wanted and she did something about it and I respect that as someone else who would, like, commit serial murders to hang onto you. And like. She looked at you and said, man, he's super hot and good at kung fu, the dick must be insane, and it's not like she was wrong.”

This time it's Fang Duobing's turn to cough, as Di Feisheng transitions into looking smug. “She had y–h–Bicha poison?”

“Oh, and god forbid women do anything.” Xiangyi glances at them and then cackles. “No, I mean, don’t get me wrong, if I could time travel I’d break her fucking jaw, but game recognize game.”

“I don’t. I don’t think that phrase applies here? Since you’re not evil?”

“You are seriously underestimating the degree to which you both make me feel like an insane person, if something happened to either of you nothing could get between me and the nuclear launch codes.”

“The. The Secret Service?”

“Shifu. I could take them! You don’t think I could beat up the entire Secret Service?"

Di Feisheng snorts. “And you worry about me getting on watchlists.”

***

“Of all of the technological innovations you’ve seen over the course of your life so far, what would you say is your favorite?”

(this one isn't even an outtake, it's just something I wrote down because it was funny even though there's never been a spot in the story where I could start having Xiangyi shoot interview questions at various immortals)

Fang Duobing: “I really like typewriters? Fountain pens were good, but getting a typewriter was game-changing.” (“Not word processors?”) “I mean. A word processor is fine, but it doesn’t go click in the same way.”

Di Feisheng: “Motorcycles.”

Wen Kexing: “Zippers are the greatest invention of the past eight hundred years. Although blenders are also good.”

Zhou Zishu: “Milkshakes and smoothies, any frozen drink. Unless that doesn’t count as technology, in which case hydroponics.”

Jing Beiyuan: “Hm. Noise-cancelling headphones. And there have been significant advances in the field of sex toys that I really appreciate, but I doubt you want to hear about that.”

Wu Xi: “Noise-cancelling headphones. Rubber gloves. Poison control hotlines.” (“You think of poison control hotlines as a technological innovation? What are they an improvement over?”) “They’re better than waking me in the middle of the night because some idiot’s eaten something they shouldn’t.”

Orlando: “Photography, and I do appreciate how easy it is to bathe now.”

Kenzaki Kazuma: “I mean, I haven't actually lived longer than a normal human yet, but smartphones are great.”

Kurenai Gai: “Ramune.”

Hob Gadling: “Modern painkillers are incredible, do you know what I would have given in the 1500s to be able to go round the corner store and get a bottle of paracetamol?”

Wen Ning: “Electric lighting is really nice.”

Song Lan: [ text messaging ]

Xiangyi: “If we don't get flying cars in the next hundred years or so I’m fully going to throw a tantrum. Unless Elon Musk is involved. Hey, A-Fei, can we kill Elon Musk?” (“You have a major study running right now.”) “Well, yeah, obviously we’d do it after that.”

***

Ultraman

Xiangyi bats his hand away without looking at the screen. “Cut it out, illegal to be horny at me during Ultraman time.”

Di Feisheng raises an eyebrow. “You said earlier that Ultraman makes you horny.”

“Which is true, and I stand by it, but this rise is important to the whole, like, emotional arc of the show and I don't want to miss it.”

“Not that I’m not enjoying this show, but I didn't think these aired in the USA.” Fang Duobing adjusts his glasses, apparently fascinated as he watches the transformation sequence. “How did you get to be such a big fan?”

“Oh, Uncle Xun had a couple of the old shows on, like, laserdisc, Yuze and I used to stay up all night watching them when we were kids. We got in fights about which one to put on, even, because he always wanted to watch Return because he has no fucking taste but then he’d make fun of me for wanting to watch Ace because he thought it ‘wasn’t fun’ or some shit.”

“I’ll be honest, I don't recognize any of those names? I watched the original show when it first aired, and Ultra Q before that, but then after that I was busy doing other things, so I never got around to watching anything after those. Didn't see the point, anyway, since Eiji had died, it felt weird watching his thing without him working on it.”

Xiangyi freezes, reaches for the remote very slowly, pauses the show, and turns. “Xiaobao, are you saying you knew Tsuburaya Eiji?”

Fang Duobing blinks. “Yes? Him and Kinjo Tetsuo, they were good men. I spent a few decades living in Japan mid-century.”

“What were you doing there?”

“Ah…sabotaging warships and fighter planes, mostly. Well, until I got arrested. I broke out, of course, but I couldn't manage to get out of the country, so I was living under an assumed name for a while, and then there was. I mean. I…” He trails off, looking haunted. “It's hard to stay angry at an entire country after you see something like that happen. So…I stayed. Someone always needs a doctor. I’d rather not talk about it. Ah, so, I set up a practice and one day a couple of men came in and asked if I’d come with them because there’d been an accident, and when we got there the first thing I saw was a monster? It was very startling.”

Xiangyi realizes that he's been holding his breath. “Was it Godzilla?”

“No, ah, Rodan. Anyway, someone had a sprained ankle and once I’d gotten it wrapped up I said, what were they doing here, and they said they were making a movie, and here was the man who’d designed the monster and he wanted to know what I thought of it, since apparently the face I’d made was very funny.” Fang Duobing smiles fleetingly. “I kept hanging around because safety standards in filmmaking at the time were…not good.”

[ladykailitha]

Can Anybody See Me? Part 20

Ah yes, the satisfaction of seeing the build up of several chapters get paid off. *cackles in evil author*

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16  Part 17 Part 18 ��Part 19  

***

The next day’s performance went off without a hitch and Steve was really getting into the thrill of being on stage. He loved performing in front of the kids as they laughed at the antics of Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin. He went full bitch every time Thomson was interrupted and the kids ate it up.

He was still struggling with General Washington line but Miss Lucy didn’t comment on it anymore so he figured he had at least done enough to make her stop.

Wednesday was the last performance in front of the kiddos and then that night would be their first full show. The auditorium was darkened and the spotlight was on Steve and instead of staying in the spot he took a half step forward, casting him half in light and half in shadows as he spoke his lines.

Behind him he could hear the sound of rushing water crashing into the stage. Had he not taken those steps forward he would have been drenched, ruining the costume and wig completely. As it was the only thing that got wet was his hose.

It took everything in Steve’s power not to turn around. Not to stop the scene. The kid playing Adams hissing to keep going. They would sort it out after. Steve began to shake as he finished his part of the scene and walked out. Vince was careful of the water on stage and thankful that his shoes had heels to keep his feet mostly dry.

They paused between scenes for the stage crew to clean up the mess, with Janice backstage trying to calm Steve down. Miss Lucy was livid. She explained to the kids that a water main broke and that the show would continue after a ten minute interlude. Then she interrogated every stage crew person not cleaning up the mess. Because it could have only been someone from crew that could have set it up.

The show went on and they were able to finish their performance without further mishap. Steve finished with only the barest tremor to his voice. His hands still shook, but these were kids. They didn’t know what had happened. Not really. But they had a cute little story to tell their parents that night.

*

An hour before their first nightly show, Janice came running up to Steve. He was getting into costume, thankful his tights had dried out in time.

“You’re never going to believe this!” she cried, gripping his arm tight.

“What? What’s going on?” Steve asked.

“They found it who sabotaged the set today!” Janice said, shaking his arm.

Eddie and Marty who had been talking to some of the other stage crew came over, too.

“I am so livid,” Marty said. “I can’t believe that toad got Ollie and Mindy to do his bidding.”

Steve frowned. “Mindy? As in Mindy Jones?”

Marty nodded. “She’s one of our best lighting riggers. She’s small and agile enough to get in and get out quickly.”

“Dude, she fucking hates me,” Steve explained. “We were in Pottery class together and resented me coming into the class after the semester started when I was forced to quit basketball and baseball due to my concussions.”

Eddie swore. “And Ollie is that baseball kid that knocked into Steve a couple weeks back. Called him all sorts of slurs.”

Janice’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit. That’s how Kyle got to them. They already hated Steve. I thought he’d paid them. But he probably didn’t have to, they were more than willing to do it without payment.”

Steve’s eyes went wide. “Kyle? Kyle Carver? He’s behind the water trap?”

Janice nodded. “He got them to rig the trap to fall during the ‘Is Anybody There?’ sequence because it would just be Steve and Vince and Vince would be far enough away that he wouldn’t get hit.”

“Okay, but why?”

Eddie pursed his lips. “He had been secretly working with Mrs Thompson, Tammy’s mom to get his own costume and wig. Once yours were ruined and you likely sick from being doused with water, he would step in and take your place as Charles Thomson.”

Steve sat down hard. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah,” Janice agreed. “Miss Lucy is pissed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this angry before. She’s calling for them to be expelled.”

Steve’s eyes went wide. “Shit.”

“They could have seriously hurt you,” Marty said. “This isn’t just some prank. If the bucket had fallen, you could have gotten another concussion.”

Steve nodded. “I knew he was pissed that I got the role over him, but I never thought he’d go this far.”

“Yeah,” Janice agreed. “According to Mrs Thompson she thought he just wanted a costume for some party his dad was throwing.”

“Or so she says,” Eddie said darkly.

Marty nodded. “Yeah, I think she’s only saying that because the cops were throwing around words like conspiracy and attempted assault.”

Steve’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit.”

“I think you’ve got a friend in the HPD,” Eddie said. “They wanted much stronger charges.”

Steve blushed. “Something like that.”

*

Steve looked out in the audience as he waited for the lights to go down and the curtain to go up. He smiled when he saw all his kids in the first two rows. Dustin, El, Lucas and Erica, Mike and Will in the first row. With Jonathan and Nancy and all their parents on the second.

He continued to look for his parents. He had told him about it and his mother ensured him that they would be here.

He didn’t see them. But he still had two more nights. It was fine. He went out there and killed it.

Dustin came running up to him afterwards, screaming and jumping up and down.

“Holy shit, dude!” he cried, the rest of them following at a regular pace. “Where did you learn to do that? You were incredible!”

Steve blushed but gave him huge hug. Soon he was being bombarding with compliments and hugs. Everyone telling him about how well he did and how good the show was.

“We’re all going out for ice cream!” Erica said. “You are coming with us, right...?”

Steve nodded. “Of course. Everyone deserves ice cream to celebrate how awesome I am.” He winked at her and she rolled her eyes.

“You’re coming with Dad and me,” El said excitedly. “We’ll drop you back off here to get your car after we’re done.”

Steve agreed. “Sounds great. I just need to say goodbye to my friends and I’ll be right back.”

They all nodded and chatted among themselves as they waited.

Steve went back to where his friends were waiting for him.

“Hey, guys,” he greeted. “They want to take me out for ice cream in celebration, so I’ll catch you guys tomorrow, okay?”

Janice and Marty nodded, but Eddie caught his shoulder. “You want me to wait for you by your car in case Kyle tries something else?”

Steve felt a cold chill in the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t thought of that. So he nodded. “Yeah. I’d like that. I mean, Chief Hopper will be dropping me off, but they could still do something to my car while I’m gone.”

Eddie nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on it. I promise.”

Steve squeezed his hand and then waved goodbye to everyone.

*

“I didn’t know you knew the Munson boy,” Hopper said when Steve slid into the cab of his truck.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Do you want the legal answer or the illegal one?”

Hopper sputtered as El giggled.

“The legal one, please,” Hopper said after a moment. “I really don’t want to hear about the other one. For my sanity.”

Steve chuckled. “After Billy Hargrove bashed my head in with a plate, Eddie helped me get to the nurse’s station when I started throwing up in fifth period and we became friends after that.”

Hopper sighed. “Yeah, all right.”

“Plus,” Steve continued, “he’s protected me from Billy and his friends wanting to make an example of me to the school that Hargrove is the new top dog.”

“Well shiiiioooot,” he said, El looking up at him with her wide brown eyes.

Steve huffed out a laugh. “So, yeah. If it wasn’t for Eddie and his friends my senior year would have been hell. But as it is, they got me to try out for the play, they invited me over for Christmas so I wasn’t by myself. I’ve had movie nights with them. They’re good people.”

Hopper sighed again. “You’ve made your point.”

Steve smiled brightly. He briefly thought about telling them about Eddie and his relationship. But he wasn’t sure how they would react to that. Plus he liked keeping it private. Just something soft between them. Yes a handful of people already knew, but Steve knew they wouldn’t tell anyone without talking to Eddie or him first.

Steve had a blast at the ice cream parlor. He laughed and swapped stories with everyone. Just enjoying celebrating with some of his closest friends.

After Hopped dropped him back off at his car, Hopper walked him to it. “I just wanted to let you know that there probably won’t be a lot that happens to those kids legally. The ones that tried to prank you earlier today.”

Steve sighed. “I figured. Maybe if my dad was interested in more than chasing the latest skirt and actual cared about me, there might be something done, but right now Kyle Carver’s got the better lawyers.”

Hopper nodded. “Sad, but true. I’ll keep putting pressure on the mayor and other key politicians and see if we can’t get them at least expelled for their little stunt.”

Steve nodded. “Thanks. It’s something. Which is a hell of a lot better than nothing.”

Hopper gave Steve’s shoulder a squeeze and then walked back to his truck. Steve shook his head. He turned around to see Eddie eyeing him warily.

“Like, I know you said that Chief Hopper was dropping you off,” Eddie said, “but it’s one thing to hear it and another to see it.”

Steve shrugged. “You remember my comic?”

“Yeah, sure,” he replied with a shrug.

“Let’s just say that Chief Hopper and his daughter are involved, too. So I got to know them both.”  

Eddie nodded skeptically, running his tongue over his teeth. “And that would be why you were able to use their story for your comic for art class?”

“Oh yeah,” Steve said. He got close to Eddie, so close they were practically sharing the same breath. “And he tried to warn me off you. I told him that I am who I am now...which in case you need me to spell it out for you, is happier and healthier than I have been in years, is because of you. Because of our friends. Because you make me happy.”

Eddie blinked and blushed, pursing his lips. “Yeah?”

“Yes, you absolute menace,” Steve teased. “I love you.”

“Did you–” Eddie asked, suddenly worried.

Steve shook his head. “Not without talking to you first, sunshine.”

Eddie relaxed. “Let’s get you home, darlin’.”

Steve looked around and then planted a large kiss on his lips.

Eddie melted into it, pulling Steve flush against his chest. “I love you, too.”

***

Part 21

Tag List: @shrimply-a-menace @strangersteddierthings @throwbackthrowaway @novelnovella @cursedfoxteeth @babyblender @garden-of-gay @anaibis @lifeisnotsobadonceyoustopcaring @swimmingbirdrunningrock @steve-the-hairrington @winterbuckwild @spectrum-spectre @matchingbatbites   @thing-a-ling @fandemonium-takes-its-toll @artiststarme @sundead  @nelotegreitic @gregre369 @butterflysandpeppermint @thedragonsaunt @kodaik97 @messrs-weasley @scarletzgo @deadlydodos @renaissan-vvitch @evix-syne666 @emly03 @justforthedead89 @ashwinmeird @huniibee @phantypurple @stevesbipanic @shucks-yuckyuck @lovelyscot @awkwardgravity1 @bookbinderbitch @reportinglivefromsoda @jinxjinn @chasinggeese @be-the-spark-bitch @kohlraedirectioner @cr0w-culture @xjessicafaithx @whimsicalwitchm @jaywhohasthegay @estrellami-1 @dangdirtydemons @howincrediblysapphicofyou @the-redthread 

[stargazer-sims]

The Art of Redemption

(part 21)

previous // next // story index

—————

"I'm absolutely stuffed. Why did you let me eat so much?"

Ginger lets out a small groan that Nikolai judges to be one part discomfort and three parts pleasure as she sinks backwards onto the pulled-out sofa bed in her living room. They'd unfolded the couch, tossed a couple of blankets and every pillow in the apartment onto it, and then changed into their pyjamas before they started eating. In hindsight, this seems to have been a wise move, because Nikolai isn't sure either of them would've had the wherewithal to wrangle the ancient sofa bed after the utterly excessive meal they just finished.

The TV is on, tuned to a twenty-four hour sports channel, and some guy who looks like he let a child cut his hair is chattering excitedly about the beginning of the major league baseball preseason. Nikolai doesn't like baseball. He's waiting for someone to start talking about hockey, and whether or not his beloved Mariners have a realistic chance of making the playoffs.

He crawls onto the sofa bed with Ginger, and essentially lets himself fall sideways until he's lying on his side with his head on the haphazard pile of pillows. He counters, "Why'd you let me eat so much?"

"You don't have to drag your arse out of bed for an early ice time tomorrow. You get to sleep it off," Ginger says.

"But, I do have to get up early. I'm coming with you."

She looks amused. "You're just going to follow me everywhere?"

"No, because that'd be weird and creepy," he says. "I'm not going to follow you everywhere. Just to the fun places."

"Right. You wouldn't think it was so fun if Uncle Stan was your bloody taskmaster."

"Some taskmaster," Nikolai scoffs. "You looked like you were having a great time this morning, and Uncle Stan didn't seem to be pushing you too hard."

"No, you're right," she concedes. "It is fun, and Uncle Stan doesn't really push me unless I need it. It's just that we all get tired by the end of the season, and I'd like to have a nice lie-in once in a while, that's all."

"It'll soon be the off-season. You can sleep in all you want after that, and whenever you haul yourself out of bed, you can call me and we can go on adventures. You know, since I'm not tied down any more."

"Oh, aren't you indeed? You still seem quite tied down to me. How many texts did your wife send you this afternoon before you turned your mobile off?"

"Ex-wife," he corrects. "Or future ex-wife, at least. I kind of lost count of the texts, to tell the truth."

He'd stopped trying to count after about the fifteenth message or so. His and Ginger's bus ride to the dance studio was punctuated with them, none of which he'd bothered to reply to, and they continued at the studio while he was changing into workout clothes. He hadn't wanted Ginger's dance session to be interrupted by his phone buzzing incessantly, so before he went to the practice room, he sent one text to Anya — Leave me alone. I'm busy. — and then turned the device off completely and shoved it into a pocket of his dance bag.

Ginger cackled like a cartoon villain when Nikolai told her what he'd done, and declared, "That'll show her. I hope she's fuming."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're enjoying this," he said.

"Well, I love a bit of drama," Ginger replied. "And you don't seem particularly upset, so I'm giving myself permission to enjoy the mental image of her getting her knickers in a twist over being ignored."

"You're an evil woman."

Ginger grinned at him. "Thank you. I do try."

They had an amazing dance session. Nikolai found that he was able to perform almost all the exercises their dance instructor guided them through. He only had to forego a few that required deep knee bends. After trying the first one, he got scared when he felt the tiniest twinge of pain in his knee. Determined that he wouldn't allow anything to get in the way of the near-perfect recovery the orthopaedic doctor had so recently assured him he could expect if he followed medical advice, he decided to err on the side of caution.

After half an hour, Ginger made him stop altogether, and their instructor directed him to some chairs in the corner where he could rest and observe the remainder of Ginger's lesson. He preferred to sit on the floor, but it was no less restful.

Watching Ginger glide her way through a complex routine, and caught up in the feelings of happiness, familiarity and just plain normalcy that being in the studio gave him, he hadn't wasted another thought on Anya until Ginger teased him about the texts just now.

He marvels at how drastically his relationship with Anya has shifted since his injury back in January, and how much he himself has changed over the past few weeks. Less than a month ago, he would've jumped to answer that very first text message, but today's version of him couldn't care less.

There's a part of him that still loves Anya, and maybe it'll be a long time before the love fades away completely, but right now his anger and frustration and the sense of betrayal he feels are outweighing any fonder sentiments he might have.

There's no way Anya could be unaware of how she hurt him. She's not the most emotionally intelligent person, and he's forgiving enough to overlook an accidental slight from time to time, but he's not ready to forgive the things she's done to him lately.

Perhaps the most perplexing and upsetting aspect of it is that he doesn't understand why. If she truly never loved him, he can accept that, but it still doesn't justify her cruelty, nor does it explain why she refuses to leave him alone. If he fell out of love with somebody, he's sure he'd find a way to let them down as gently as he could and then walk away without looking back. Why prolong their suffering or his own by providing constant reminders of what might've been?

He doubts Anya will give him an explanation for her behaviour when he's finally ready to talk to her, but he's going to ask anyway.

"Did you ever turn your mobile on again?" Ginger's question drifts into his ruminations. "You probably should, if you haven't."

"No, it's still off," he says. "But, you're right. My family might be trying to contact me. I wouldn't want to worry them. But, if Anya keeps harassing me..."

"Block her number," Ginger suggests. "You can always unblock it later if you want to."

Both their phones are on the end table on Ginger's side of the couch. Nikolai doesn't particularly want to get up, so he asks, "Can you reach my phone from there?"

Ginger obviously doesn't want to get up either. She has to roll over and then stretch her arm as far as she can, but she manages to snag both their phones. She rolls back toward him and dumps both their devices into the small blanket-covered space between them. "Mine's on silent. I'd better fix that."

Nikolai scoops up his own phone and reactivates it. As soon as it's powered up, it starts pinging, bombarding him with alerts about text messages, emails and missed calls. He grumbles, "Goddammit..."

"What?" Ginger inquires.

"There's like, thirty texts from Anya, but Grandpa called, and I missed it. I'm just going to send him a quick text to let him know I'm with you and I'm okay."

"Do you reckon Anya is going to keep texting you?"

"Who knows?" he mutters, as he taps out a message to his grandfather. "She's becoming a pain in the ass."

"Becoming?"

He taps 'send' on his text to Grandpa, and then quickly deletes the entire string of messages from Anya. "Okay, she's getting to be an even bigger pain in the ass than usual. Can you show me how to block her number?"

"Let me do it for you," Ginger says. "Nothing would give me more pleasure at the moment."

"Here." He passes his phone to her. "I give you the honour."

Ginger's smirk is positively diabolical as she taps at the screen. A minute later, with a tone of immense satisfaction, she says, "Bye, Anya," before handing the phone back to him.

"Thank you," he says. "I mean that with a million percent gratitude."

"You're welcome. But you know blocking her isn't really a solution, don't you? You have to sort everything out with her soon."

"I know," he says, "Don't worry. I've made up my mind. I am going to talk to her soon, because I want everything to be dealt with before the summer. I've got important stuff to do, and I don't want this hanging over my head."

"What have you got to do?" Ginger asks. "I thought you were going to be done with your coaching courses by the middle of May."

"That's not the only important thing on my calendar. I've got this little competition—"

"Wait... what?" She cuts him off. "What do you mean, competition? You're not even cleared to skate yet How do you expect to—"

"It's all right. Calm down," he interjects. "It's not that kind of competition. Okay, no... it sort of is. I mean, it's skating, but it's not a recognized event or anything."

"Nikolai!" She yanks one of the pillows from beneath his head and then thumps him with it. "When were you going to tell me that you haven't entirely given up competing? Does Beth-Anne know?"

"Hey!" he exclaims. He grabs the pillow and quickly rolls over. Ginger is still hanging onto the other end of it, and caught off-guard by his abrupt movement, she flops unceremoniously on top of him. "Oww..."

"Serves you right," she says.

"I swear, it's not what you think," he insists. "It's just a friendly little challenge between me and Brett. He has something to prove, and maybe I do too. And yes, Beth-Anne knows. She's not happy about it, but she knows."

"You have nothing to prove to anyone. Those six world championship medals? They say everything anyone ever needs to know."

"It's not about that," he says.

"Then, what's it about?" She gets off him, drops the pillow back onto the pile and settles in beside him again. "It's not some sort of manliness test, is it? Because you also haven't got anything to prove in that department."

"No, it's not about that, either. But, am I hearing you call me a manly man?"

"Is that what you want to hear?" she asks.

"No, not really," he says. "Not that I want to be unmanly, but every time I hear 'manly', I think of those big guys we always see at the gym, flexing in front of the mirror. The bros."

"I thought those were your type, the giant, muscly ones."

"Yeah, but I like them gentle and articulate and... clean. I'm not into anybody who uses the word 'bro' to start and finish every sentence, or who thinks strutting around in sweaty t-shirts with the sleeves cut off is sexy. Every time I see those guys trying to get attention, all I want to do is tell them to take an English class and a shower and to put on some decent clothes."

"Ooh... tell me how you really feel."

He laughs. "Sorry, but they're gross, and I'm picky when it comes to men."

"So what's your ideal man, then?"

"You know. Blond, blue eyes, quiet and sweet, showers every day and dresses nicely, and treats me like I'm the most important man in the room. Bonus points if he's cuddly. Extra bonus points if he speaks Russian."

Ginger giggles. "Basically Anya, but male and a decent human."

"Uh..." he begins, but then he realizes she has a valid point and he laughs too. "Yeah, actually I'd say that's pretty much it, with a big emphasis on the decent human part. It's probably not going to happen, though, and I think I'm done with relationships for now anyway."

"There's no harm in dreaming," Ginger says. "But I'm not about to argue with you being done with relationships for a while. You need time to recover properly from this one. And you never know," she adds, offering him a cheeky grin. "One day, when you're feeling better about everything and your life is back on track, you may get a surprise. Your cuddly, Russian-speaking muscle man might just appear out of the blue."

"I can dream."

"Indeed. Now, can we circle back to this little competition with Brett? You never did say what you think you need to prove, or to who."

"To myself," he says. "Maybe it's stupid, but I just need to know that I can do it. That I'm capable of all the things I used to be able to do. Brett challenged me, and I should've said no, but... I couldn't. He was so smug about it, like he already knew he could win."

"Do you think he could?"

"I don't know," Nikolai admits. "Maybe. It depends on whether or not I can still do everything."

"When are you going to be allowed to skate?"

"The last time I saw the sports therapist, he said he probably wouldn't clear me till May, but I have an appointment with him and with the doctor the day after tomorrow, so I'm planning to ask again."

"Would you like me to come with you to your appointment?" Ginger offers. "Beth-Anne's probably been going with you, hasn't she?"

"Would you come? I'm sure I can handle it by myself, but Beth-Anne's been with me every other time, and I feel like it'd be a lot less stressful if I had some moral support."

“I’ll be there,” she says. “I’m going to be there when you get back on the ice as well, just so you know. I wouldn't miss that moment."

"Thanks," he says. "I want you to be there. You and Beth-Anne. I don't know if I'd be okay with anyone other than the two of you watching."

"If I know Beth-Anne, she'll make sure it's only us, if that's what you tell her you want." She reaches over and takes his hand. "You'll do brilliantly, though. No need to fret over the thought of embarrassing yourself or anything like that."

"Thanks," he repeats.

She squeezes his fingers. "It'll all work out. Don't worry."

Will it? he asks himself. As excited as he is about the prospect of skating again, he's also nervous. He's never been off the ice for this long before, and he's anxious about how much skill he's lost. Not that he's forgotten what to do; the knowledge is still there. His biggest concern is whether or not his body will respond the way he wants it to. What if he can't execute all the moves, or what if falls and hurts himself again? It's more than a little overwhelming.

He closes his eyes and tries to focus on something else. On TV, a commentator is interviewing someone about curling. Nikolai's appreciation of curling is about equal to his appreciation of baseball, but the interviewer has a lovely voice, so he concentrates on that.

I'd let him read me a bedtime story.

Without intending to, he starts to drift into the strange, semiconscious state between wakefulness and sleep. He's warm and full and comfortable, and Ginger is still holding his hand. He's still aware of the TV commentator speaking, but he's starting to lose his grasp on the meaning of the man's words.

Something about rocks and... brooms?

He tries to fight the inexorable fall toward sleep because he doesn't want to miss the opening ceremony of the World Junior Figure Skating Championship. That was the main reason for staying over at Ginger's place, after all. Unfortunately, his battle may be a losing one.

Until Ginger's phone rings, that is.

The device is only about twenty centimetres from his face, and Ginger must've set her ringer volume to maximum. Chasing The Dream by Skull Fist blasts him into full awareness, and he sits up so fast that he feels lightheaded for a second.

Nothing like heavy metal to wake a guy up.

Next to him, Ginger growls a sleepy and annoyed, “Bloody hell!” And then, after touching her phone's screen to answer the call, “What the hell do you want? I’m in bed.”

Technically true, Nikolai acknowledges. He’s about to ask who it is when his brain registers the fact that Ginger has the phone on speaker. Even if he didn’t recognize the voice coming out of the phone, one glance at the number at the top of the screen would’ve told him all he wanted to know.

Anya's intonation is snarky, and even though Nikolai can’t see her, he can picture her expression perfectly. “In bed with my husband, no doubt.”

Also technically true.

“What do you think? Of course I’m in bed with him,” Ginger says, conjuring up a tone of genuine-sounding condescension. “Why do you think you couldn’t reach him all afternoon and evening? We’ve been having loads of fun together, showing each other our moves. I’ll bet you had no idea how flexible he is.”

Nikolai covers his mouth to hold in his sudden urge to laugh. He can’t look at Ginger, or he'll lose it. Nothing she's said so far has been a lie, and if Anya chooses to misinterpret it, that's neither Ginger's nor Nikolai's problem.

"What?" Anya all but yells across the connection.

"He's a three-time champion, you know. Has he ever let you... wear all three of his world championship gold medals?"

Ginger's pause for effect is too much for Nikolai. He dives head-first into the pillows. He hopes they're enough to muffle the laughter he can no longer hold in.

"You sneaky bitch!" Anya screams. "I knew he was with you! How could you do this? I thought we were friends!"

"We are," Ginger says mildly. "But Nikolai is my friend too. It seems somebody did something quite awful to him, and he was terribly hurt by it, so he came to me for help. That's perfectly reasonable, don't you think?"

"And your idea of help is letting him fuck you three times in one day?"

"I didn't say that," says Ginger. "And please try not to be so vulgar, if you can. Gentlemen like Nikolai never 'fuck'. How debased of you to say such a thing."

"Listen," Anya says. "You tell that cheating bastard that I was ready to talk, and that I was prepared to forgive him, but now I've changed my mind."

"Forgive him? What did he do to you?"

"Everyone at the rink hates me. Even my so-called friends are treating me like I've committed a crime against humanity or something. I'm sure he's been running all over the place, telling everyone God knows what about me. People are gossiping about me, Ginger! He did that to me."

"No, darling," Ginger says. "I'm afraid you did that to yourself. Now, I must go. Nikolai is lying here waiting for me to get off the phone."

Anya's only response is a literal wordless shriek.

Nikolai assumes the call is over when he feels Ginger's fingers on his back and she says, "Nik, lift your head before you suffocate."

The instant their eyes meet, Ginger's composure cracks. The next thing Nikolai knows, Ginger is in his arms and they're both laughing so hard that they're in tears and his stomach hurts.

"Holy shit," he gasps, freeing one hand to remove his glasses and rub at his watering eyes. "Ginger, that was a masterpiece. When you're ready for a career change, maybe you should get into acting."

"Maybe I should," she muses. "I rather enjoyed that."

"I'd say that's an understatement."

"It's a safe bet she won't be bothering you for a few days," Ginger says. "I'll explain everything to her when she cools off, and hopefully she'll still agree to talk with you about your marriage."

"What if she doesn't?" he asks.

"She will," Ginger assures him. "You know Anya. She overreacts and then she calms down. Have you ever known her to be any other way?"

"No," he admits.

"There you go," Ginger says. She disentangles herself from him and scoots back. Glancing at her fitness tracker, she comments, "Nearly nine-thirty. Are we still alert enough to stay up and watch the opening ceremonies?"

"After that phone call? I think I've got my second wind now."

"Me too. Let me fetch us a couple of bottles of water. You can arrange those pillows some sort of way. I'd like to sit up while I watch."

"Got it," Nikolai says.

By the time Ginger returns from the kitchen, he has all the pillows lined up against the backrest of the sofa and he's sitting comfortably with one of the blankets over his feet and legs. Ginger tosses him a bottle of water, which he catches neatly. She wriggles under the blanket with him, and they lean into each other.

"I'm glad you're here," she says.

"I'm glad I'm here too. Thanks for letting me stay."

"You can stay until Beth-Anne gets back, if you'd rather not be alone."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'd enjoy the company, and having someone around to drive me everywhere is nice as well."

"Driving you everywhere is the least I can do," he says.

"Well, it's settled then." She tilts her head and peers up at him through her long auburn lashes, and whispers. "Wait until your wife finds out you've moved in with your mistress."

Nikolai laughs out loud, which is clearly the reaction Ginger was anticipating. She looks way more pleased with herself than she rightfully should.

"I love you," he says. "You're the best mistress I never had."

"Hmm..." She rests her head on his shoulder. "I love you too, like the brother I've always wanted."

"Does that make you my bonus sister?"

"I certainly hope so."

Nikolai smiles, secure in the knowledge that his family extends beyond mere biology. He can count on his grandfather, parents and sister, but he's also got Ginger, Beth-Anne, Stan and Milena. He can't put into words how much their love and support means to him, but maybe he doesn't have to. Maybe a simple expression of love is enough.

He'd wanted that same love in his marriage, and for a brief time he thought he had it, but he's discovered some unpleasant truths since then. Still, he reminds himself, Anya is only one person. She may not love him, and her actions may have left him with an ache in his heart, but he's surrounded by so much love on every side that he's convinced the pain isn't nearly as bad as it might otherwise have been. What if he were in Anya's position? He doesn't like to imagine how lonely and terrified he'd be, constantly questioning who liked him and who he could trust.

But, I know who I can trust, he reassures himself. I'm safe, and I'm going to be okay. My family will help me make sure of that.

He drapes his arm around Ginger's shoulders, and she instinctively snuggles closer to him. On the television, triumphant music begins to play and a splash screen appears with the ISU logo and 'World Junior Figure Skating Championship 2011' underneath it. Ginger murmurs, "Here we go. The start of another week of history being made."

Nikolai hasn't watched an ISU Worlds event on TV since he was a kid. Since then, he's always too busy competing in them. It hits him that this is another change he'll have to adjust to, another new experience for him. He's been having a lot of those lately, new experiences.

It's okay. Change isn't objectively good or bad; it's just change.

Beth-Anne is always telling him and her other students to respond, not react. She says the way they act in the face of change determines the outcome. When he reflects on it, he recognizes that he hasn't handled all the recent changes in his life particularly well, but he's done his best and he's proud of himself and his coping abilities overall.

Another week of history being made. He decides he really likes that. He's looking forward to the week ahead, and to all the weeks to come.