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penny00dreadful · 1 year ago

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The Parting Glass

Hey I've been through some shit the last few weeks so let's do Christmas the Irish way. By making it ✨miserable✨ and putting Eddie through situations. But with a hopeful ending.

Just as a note of warning, this fic contains death, funerals and Eddie working through his grief. It was originally devised as a part of this fun little challenge and then... welp, I used it to process. 😅

The prompts I got were: Eddie arrives to town recently single to inherit something, Steve lives in the town and is a famous musician (but not here). Eddie falls in love with the holidays, the town and some guy. I'll be honest these prompts got away from me so they're not followed exactly.

AO3

For my granddad.

It was nearly Christmas and Eddie was driving back to Hawkins for the second time in two weeks.

He was alone.

Again.

And for good this time.

The last time, when he had come back when Wayne was sick and not getting any better, he wasn’t supposed to be on his own.

In the days leading up to it, Jack had been in his ear the entire time.

“I’ll be there for you.”

“I won’t let you go through this alone.”

“You won’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“I’ll support you the whole way.”

All over the phone. It couldn’t be helped. Eddie was a writer, he could work from literally anywhere. Or at least anywhere that had an internet connection. Even then, he might not need that. Just a post box.

Jack was back home in their apartment that Eddie had bought them with his first big paycheck.

Eddie had called to tell him that Wayne had passed, numb and monotone and not really fully registering just what that meant. That he was gone. Like gone-gone.

Forever.

He wasn’t just gonna… open his eyes again and start talking. He wasn’t gonna go back home, or sit in his armchair or shout at the tv or lie in his own bed one last time… And… What about his mugs? He… Wayne had so many mugs, what was gonna happen to them? He loved those mugs.

And Jack had said he’d be there. He’d promised.

And then he wasn’t.

Because something had come up at work or he thought he was coming down with something or he hadn’t got enough sleep the night before and didn’t feel safe making the drive and he felt really bad about it, just a steady stream of excuses but also- that was it.

I feel really bad about it. Full stop. No attempt to say, I’ll make it up to you. Or even just the bare minimum of I’ll try my best to be there no matter what.

And like a flash in the pan Eddie went from devastated to angry to just cold acceptance.

“Fine.” He’d grit out over the phone, feeling simultaneously broken hearted and fucking indignant. Because, yes, it was a little selfish to feel like Jack should have thrown all that to the side to be here with him. But his fucking family had just died. He was allowed to be a little selfish.

Eddie needed him there.

Didn’t just want him there, he needed him there.

But instead he had to go through it all, alone.

He was on his own just before Christmas, trying to organise a funeral for the only family he had.

He didn’t have much time to think straight. He resolved to put it all out of his mind until this was all over because Wayne deserved his attention right now.

Eddie had expected it to be small and quiet if he was being honest with himself. Wayne had been a man who kept to himself and all he had was Eddie.

He was just thankful the local funeral home wasn’t completely decked out in tinsel and lights and trees. It was going to be hard enough as it was without a constant reminder of the time of year.

Quiet and subdued, with just a few stragglers, as depressing as that was. He could handle that right?

But then the people started turning up at the funeral home and they just didn’t stop.

The entire trailer park came out to see him, even Mrs. Cartwright, who was stone deaf and half blind with a bad hip, shuffled into the room on the arm of another of the neighbours, a red headed young woman, to offer her condolences. Then there were Wayne’s coworkers from the plant, the farmers he’d talk to in the pub, his fantasy football league, childhood friends that he hadn’t spoken to in years but still wanted to pay their respects, teachers from the school, store workers, the nurses who looked after him. Eddie’s own friends, the Corroded Coffin boys, the Hellfire kids, Rick, even some of his most loyal customers from back in his dealing days.

It kept going, just floods and floods of people young and old passing through the room to pay their respects, offer their condolences and shake Eddie’s hand.

He was completely overwhelmed. By the end of it, his hand was fucking sore, his throat was raw and if he lingered on the thought any longer, of how many people had shown up for his uncle, had loved him, he’d start crying all over again, even though he was pretty sure he’d run dry.

Jeff, Gareth and Grant hung around for hours after they’d been through the procession once, waiting for a moment to talk to him and ask if he wanted them to stay with him for the rest of the funeral and after. For as long as he was back in Hawkins.

It went unspoken that Eddie had been in that room alone and they were trying to save him from that, so he took them up on the offer. Stood with his oldest friends that he really should have spoken to more over the years while Wayne was lowered into the ground.

They took him out for a few drinks afterwards but Eddie didn’t have it in him to make it a whole night thing. He was exhausted, but he promised to stay in better contact.

When it all was said and done, Eddie found it incredibly difficult to get into the car and drive back.

He didn’t want to leave Wayne here alone.

He didn’t want to be states away anymore.

He wanted to be home. In this shitty little small town that he had hated growing up in but was such an important part of his life, that was familiar and sedentary and fucking quaint and most importantly had a memory of Wayne in every single corner.

Jack would never go for it.

But now that Eddie was on his own, in the car, it gave him a lot of time to stew on just how long he’d been on his own already.

Eddie loved fast and Eddie loved hard. If someone gained his trust or his loyalty, he would do anything for them. It would be a very, very hard thing for someone to lose. But it also made him incredibly blind to their flaws.

This wasn’t the first time Jack had pulled out of something at the last second. And most of the time it was just because he didn’t want to do whatever it was, regardless of if he had made promises about it.

And Eddie had let it go each and every time before because, well, it was fine. He got over it and it wasn’t that big of a deal.

But he had needed Jack there this time. And he’d done it all alone.

If the situations were reversed, Eddie would have crawled on his belly through broken fucking glass to be where Jack needed him and nothing less than an explicit “I don’t want you there” would have deterred him.

And when he got back to their apartment and Jack had turned to him with a sympathetic, “How was it?” Eddie fucking lost it.

He’d screamed so loud and with so much anger and devastation, the neighbours called the cops and again Eddie was on his own trying to explain what had happened while Jack just shuffled around in the background looking vaguely guilty and shell shocked, muttering “You never told me you wanted me there” when the cops finally left.

And Eddie was just fucking done. He was broken. It was finished.

“I didn’t think I had to. My family died. And you had been telling me the entire time that you’d be there. You told me you’d be there for me. And then you just weren’t.”

So that was it.

Eddie couldn’t stand to be in that city anymore. Anonymous and lonely and fucking claustrophobic. Couldn’t stand to be in the apartment with its white Christmas lights and expensive baubles and store bought charm without an inch of personality because it “looks prettier this way.”

The fucking cushions that couldn’t be used to prop up his back because he’d squish the filling and the throws that were there for decoration, placed perfectly, giving the apartment the impression of lived in warmth without any actual emotion in it.

He sold the apartment to Jack, waiting for the heartbreak of the end of a years long relationship to finally hit him. But it never did.

Maybe his emotions were all worn out and it would hit him properly later.

The same way he knew he still hadn’t fully registered that Wayne was gone yet.

So.

Now he was here.

Standing in the cold of the trailer park, his breath fogging up in front of him, snow crushed underneath his boots and night blanketing him. He had a box of stuff in his arms, rooted to the ground between his still warm car and the dark and shadowed front door, thinking hysterically for a moment that he hadn’t asked Wayne if he could move back in.

But he couldn’t, of course he couldn’t, Wayne was gone and he wasn’t coming back and Eddie had no way of contacting him in the fucking afterlife if there even was one to ask if he could turn up on his doorstep again in almost the exact same way he had nearly fifteen years ago.

Wayne would have probably given him a light smack over the back of the head and told him he was always welcome, no matter the circumstances.

Still.

It felt wrong to just assume he could be here without checking in with him first.

He could hear his voice in his head, could almost see him standing silhouetted in the warm glow of the doorway, looking soft and worn in. “Get your ass in here son, before you freeze to death.”

Eddie blinked and the door was closed and dark and empty again. There was no noise coming from inside the trailer, no sound of the tv going, no smells of cooking, no heat, no light.

It was an empty shell.

The glow of the other trailers surrounded him, the small muffled noises of life going on inside each and every one, warm yellows spilling out of their windows or multicoloured lights lining their roofs or their porches, Mariah Carey singing her heart out somewhere in the distance.

“No one ever tells you the front door is one of the hardest parts.”

Eddie jumped, whipping his head around to find the same redheaded woman standing off to the side, bundled up in a thick homemade scarf and puffer jacket, her hands in her pockets and winter boots unlaced, like she'd just thrown them on, the grooves in the snow behind her telling him she’d walked to him from somewhere across the park.

Eddie squeezed the box a little tighter to himself, finally feeling the biting cold through his fingers.

“Yeah. I-” he swallowed, looking up at the door again. “How long have I been standing here?”

He could hear the snow crunching under her boots as she came closer. “I don’t know.” Fabric rustled somewhere beside him as she shrugged. “Mrs. Cartwright only told me you were out here a few minutes ago. I dunno how she even noticed, she can barely see five foot in front of her face.”

Eddie turned to the trailer he remembered the old lady living in to see her sitting by the window, squinting out into the snow. She offered him a toothless smile and a little wave when she saw the two of them looking back.

He was just about able to unstick his hand from the box to wave back.

“And you’re her-?”

“Neighbour. But I check in on her as often as I can. She’s good company.”

“Oh.”

The two of them stood there, in the cold, in the snow, just looking at each other and Eddie could feel the spectre of the dark and empty trailer looming over him. Before this redhead turned up, he could have conceivably turned back, gotten into the car and found a motel room or something for the night. This might have all been easier to face in the daytime.

But now he’d been seen, he was trapped and he couldn’t escape. He wasn’t sure if he could do it.

“When my mom died,” the woman said, coming around to face him, “I just kinda switched off. I was on autopilot for a lot of the time but my first day back at the trailer after the burial, I couldn’t go inside. She wasn’t in there anymore. Same as you, I don’t know how long I was out there before Steve came and found me.”

“You’re Max.” Eddie said, his brain finally putting the pieces together. “Wayne talked about you.”

Max’s face broke out into a wide delighted grin. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Eddie smiled back. “He said you never wore your helmet when you were skateboarding.”

She snorted. “Yeah. And the one time he finally convinced me to, I took a hell of a tumble. Broke my-”

“Leg, I think it was?”

“Nah, man.” Max shook her head. “Not just my leg, I broke my damn femur. Strongest bone in the body and snap.” She clapped her gloved hands together, muffling what should have surely been a hard impact. “With six months of therapy to go along with it. Got me into the job I’m in today, though.”

“He said you’re a physical therapist?”

“Yup. And he said you’re a writer.”

Eddie nodded.

“Well then, Writer Eddie Munson. How do you feel about the front door now?”

He looked back up, finding that it wasn’t quite as intimidating as it had been before.

“A little better.”

“Good. I’m glad. Can I give you a hand?”

“Oh, uh-” he looked back down at the box in his hand, flexing his fingers around the keychain he still had hanging off his thumb. “Yeah, actually. If you don’t mind.”

Max nodded, stepping forward and taking the box from him. Eddie gave her a small smile before squaring his shoulders and facing the door once more and stepping up towards the porch before he could stop himself.

Amongst his set of similar shaped keys, he easily found the one to the trailer, the same one he had cut out of a black blank when he was younger and so edgy.

With a deep breath he slipped it into the lock and turned, feeling it catch like it always did halfway through and jostling it in a way that was so familiar from years of doing the same thing, it hit him like a truck.

He swallowed down hard as he gestured Max in, switching the lights on.

It didn’t smell like Wayne anymore. Not really. It had been weeks since anyone had been inside. But the memory of the smell was there.

It was freezing, an empty shell of a building that had been left to hold its ghosts. The pipes were probably frozen through too, but he and Wayne had handled that plenty of times before, this would be nothing new.

Everything of Waynes was still here. His boots were by the door, his jackets were hung up, his mugs lined the walls. The remote was on the floor next to his recliner, like it had been accidentally nudged off of the arm and hadn’t been picked up yet.

It was like Wayne had just stepped out, or was hiding in another room.

Eddie could feel his heart start to crumble just a little more.

The two of them got his boxes and bags unpacked from his car and into the trailer in silence. He was pretty sure Max knew that he was just waiting for her to leave so he could break down in peace but even so, she turned to face him after placing the last box down.

“You can say no.” She said, hands back in her pockets. “But a few friends are flying in on Thursday and we’re going to meet up at Cathy’s. You’re welcome to come if you’re feeling up for it.”

Cathy’s pub, Wayne used to go there all the time. The actual name of the place was The Attic, but no one called it that, everyone called it Cathy’s. As much of an Irish pub as one could get out in Hawkins without actually being an Irish Pub. It just happened to be run by an Irish woman who refused to entertain four leaf clovers and green pints and had kicked people out in the past for calling it ‘Patty’s Day’ instead of ‘Paddy’s Day.’

Eddie nodded at her, his eyes already starting to mist up from everything settling around his shoulders.

“Thanks.” He sniffled. “I’ll think about it.”

She offered him a gentle smile and said her goodbyes, not lingering around when he so clearly wanted to be on his own.

He watched through the window as Max carved a path through the snow back to Mrs. Cartwright’s trailer, before closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and starting to unpack.

Last night had been one of the roughest nights of Eddie’s entire life.

He’d only managed to switch the electric heater on and open one box before the silence got to him.

He’d switched on the tv and had to flip channels for far too long before he found what he was looking for because he didn’t know where the sports channels were hidden away, he’d never wanted or needed to look for them before.

But having the trailer filled with the sound of sports commentators and the crowds in the stadium and an obscene amount of advertisements was enough to make him crack.

He’d ended up in a ball on the floor, crying so much he felt like he’d never stop, breathing so hard he felt himself getting lightheaded.

Every time the tears subsided and he had started to get a handle on himself, he saw something that would start the cycle all over again. The Garfield mug, Wayne’s favourite winter hat, the stash of red vines he kept hidden beside his armchair, a habit he got into and never got out of when they were living together to keep them away from Eddie’s sweet-tooth.

By the time Eddie had pulled himself up to curl into the couch, he had a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a nest of Wayne’s clothes surrounding him, the smell just barely lingering.

He drank himself into a stupor.

The morning after was equally rough but in an entirely different way. When he was woken up by the sound of daytime life outside the trailer door, bleary and foggy, he recognised his surroundings before anything else.

“Wayne?” He’d called, half expecting to turn to find him in his armchair, the sounds of the sports channel still filling in the space of the room.

But then he remembered.

All over again he remembered.

He was barely able to do anything for himself that day. Most of it was spent staring off into space, waiting for things to get better, like everyone always said it would. Waiting for the pain to dull and to be able to function again.

He stood in the doorway of what had been Wayne’s bedroom and then his own and became Wayne’s again once he moved out.

He never thought he’d be back here, moving back into this exact same bedroom all over again.

He didn’t sleep in the bed that night. Or the night after.

He couldn’t. Not yet.

He had managed to get the water running, so that was a plus and by the time he had some of his stuff unpacked the trailer no longer looked like a warehouse full of boxes, but instead looked like a cluttered and messy home.

He didn’t have the strength to move any of Wayne’s things, so his own stuff just kind of existed in corners or on countertops and it was fine.

Everything was fine.

This was his life now.

This was what he wanted.

It was fine.

Snow was starting to swirl around him as he stood outside Cathy’s, slowly accumulating in his hair and building up around his boots as the warm light and laughter inside seeped out of the building.

There were twinkling multi-colored lights lining the outside and glittering through the fogged up windows and Eddie could see inside was decorated with green garlands draped from every available surface, red, gold and silver baubles woven in throughout and topped off with a healthy smattering of tinsel.

It was the most inviting thing he had seen recently and he ached to go inside. It was just so full of memories.

But he was stuck.

Rooted to the spot like he had been outside the trailer door a few days ago.

Wayne would have loved all of this.

He loved Christmas.

He loved Christmas late nights at Cathy’s.

And it was only really then, when he’d been so painfully aware of it in the back of his mind for the last few weeks, that this was going to be the first Christmas he had to endure without Wayne.

“Eddie?”

Well, no running now.

But it wasn’t Max this time.

“Eddie Munson, my god. Is that really you?”

Eddie turned and was met by the sight of someone he hadn’t seen in the longest time.

“Chris?”

Chrissy Cunningham was standing in front of him in all her short and bright glory with a blinding smile on her face. Something deep in him warmed under her gaze. They hadn’t been friends for very long before they both skipped town in opposite directions, not to mention the ill-fated crushes they had both quietly harboured for each other once upon a time, but that was never gonna work out.

Even so, a friendly face he recognised was just what he needed right now. Someone to help him brace everything in front of him through those doors. The Wayne of it all. And the terror of potentially being introduced to a whole group of people as a new outsider, in mourning, no less.

A loud burst of laughter rang out from inside as they looked at each other and Eddie felt something fizzle and settle gently in his chest.

In a tiny little moment, they clicked again, still friends after all this time, no matter the distance.

Chrissy looked at him, a thousand emotions passing through her eyes as she worked through what she was going to say. She had definitely heard about Wayne’s death. Wayne had taken her in on more than one occasion when her mother had gotten to be too much.

Eddie had to get his ability to collect strays from somewhere, after all.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. By the time I heard I couldn’t get a flight in time and I should have been here for you.”

“It’s okay.” he smiled at her. And it was okay, really.

She wormed her hand in between his elbow and his side where they were clenched tight from the cold, looping her arm through. “I’ll stick with you the whole night if you want me to.”

Eddie’s whole body sagged in relief, not knowing he needed to hear it until he did.

“Please.”

Chrissy nodded, a steely look of determination on her face and their arms held tight together as they pushed their way inside.

The warm glow and homely smells hit him immediately and he felt his shoulders loosen even more. It was loud inside but not unbearable, the sounds of conversation mingling in with the speakers softly playing out a mix of traditional Irish music and what had to be some Christmas best hits album.

Eddie dragged his eyes across the bar, while Chrissy looked around at the people sitting at various tables and booths.

“Are you looking for anyone in particular?” He asked.

“I only just flew in today. I’m supposed to be meeting up with a number of- oh! There they are.”

She pointed towards the back by the fire that Cathy had put in, claiming it couldn’t be a proper pub without a fire. The series of tables were all pushed a little closer to each other, overflowing with people and Eddie had to blink at them a few times, realising there were definitely a few familiar faces grinning back at him and waving the two of them over.

The first person he recognised was Max, her bright red hair standing out amongst the sea of browns and chestnuts and blacks. It was then that his eye was drawn around the table and saw his Corroded Coffin boys and the Hellfire kids looking back at him.

Damn, he’d forgotten to tell the boys about his impulsive move back here. He hadn’t really told anyone about it apart from Jack. But they didn’t seem to hold it against him. It was plain as day on their faces that they knew he might not exactly be doing things logically right about now.

And then there were the Hellfire kids.

Or he supposed he could hardly call them kids anymore.

They would all be somewhere in their mid-twenties at this stage and wasn’t that just a mind trip?

They all stood to greet Chrissy and himself, hugs and pats on the back all around, the Hellfire kids and Max introducing one of the few truly unfamiliar faces amongst the bunch, El. Another woman he vaguely recognised gave him a small wave but eventually he realised who she was, because this was a small town and everyone at least knew of everyone in one way or the other.

Robin Buckley, from band.

What a strange mix of people.

She and Chrissy shared a long look with each other, eventually revealing that Robin was her long term girlfriend.

Eddie nodded along, told her it was nice to meet her but couldn’t help the taste of bitterness that rose up in his throat when he looked at the two of them, not being able to remember the last time he had been out with Jack and feeling like his company was enjoyed and Jack wasn’t just waiting to go home with or without him.

It had barely been a week since they had broken up but the loneliness had been there for a while.

He had only just managed to get his coat and scarf off before Cathy appeared at their table, a drink in each hand.

“Eddie, darling.” She said, placing the two drinks down in front of him and scooping him up into a hug. “It’s so good to see you back home, love.”

She was an older woman, warm and wrinkled and soft, smelling vaguely of cigarette smoke and perfume in a mix that shouldn’t have been as comforting as it was.

“Thanks, Cathy.” He muttered into her neck, pulling back away only to find his face in her hands.

“If you need anything at all, you know where to find me, right?”

He gave her a shaky smile, not really sure what to do with himself, he could feel everyone else at the table watching them.

“Yeah.”

“Good boy.” She grinned back at him, petting his cheek before gesturing down at the drinks she dropped off at the table.

“This is for you, love. On the house.” She pointed at the beer bottle. “And this one,” she rested her hand next to the glass of whiskey, neat. Wayne’s drink. “It’s tradition. One last tipple for your dear uncle. And none of you,” she whipped around, pointing an accusing finger at everyone in the booth, “are to touch it.”

They all stared up at her wide eyed and nodded while she turned her smile back on Eddie. “You take care of yourself, now. You hear me?”

“I’ll do my best.” He gave her a short salute and she rolled her eyes at him in a good natured way before turning and heading back to the bar.

Eddie swept his eyes over the pub, hoping to get an idea of how much of a scene had been made, as quiet as they had been tucked away in their corner. But before he could take a proper inventory, the doors were pushed open and even from the back of the pub Eddie could feel the cold following in the figure's wake.

The newcomer brushed the snow out of his hair and stomped his shoes out before flashing a smile at Cathy and weaving his way through the tables towards them.

He was almost offensively pretty, his cheeks, nose and lips rosy from the cold, unwinding a scarf from around his neck, giving Eddie a glance at a spattering of moles across his skin. He ran a hand through his hair again, trying to get out the last of the snow.

He looked so familiar.

It had been a long ten or so years since they'd seen each other, but it couldn’t be.

Could it?

“Hi, sorry I’m late, I-”

“Harrington?”

Steve Harrington stopped short, standing in front of him, staring at him with cheeks getting slightly redder.

“Eddie.” He said, a little breathlessly, running his hand through his hair again, but it seemed to be more from nerves this time. “Hi.”

Oh, so they were on first name terms? Okay, he could deal with that.

Except that maybe he couldn’t deal with it, because his childhood Big Gay Crush was standing in front of him, smiling at him and looking like he’d just been beamed out of the campest Christmas movie in existence, the warm glow of the Christmas lights and the fire dancing across his skin, bundled up in a dark red sweater and his hair was somehow still perfect.

But he was saved from having to respond as the group started shuffling around to greet him, Robin reaching out to pull him into a tight hug, like they hadn’t seen each other in ages.

Eddie moved back, sitting down at a stool at the edge of the tables, next to Chrissy and across from Robin and Steve who were whispering fiercely to each other, Robin explaining the whiskey on the table wasn’t to be touched and sending what they must have thought were subtle nods in his direction and well, he wasn’t sure what else he expected from tonight.

Apparently he was a local spectacle now.

But still, his boys were here, the Hellfire kids were here, Chrissy was here, he had plenty of people available to him to distract himself from Steve sitting directly across from him.

He had only managed to get halfway through the drink Cathy had brought him before he was approached again, this time by an older man who he recognised as one of the guys on Wayne’s shift.

He placed a fresh drink down in front of Eddie and told him Wayne was a good man, that the world was a little dimmer for his passing and he was a hell of a baseball player back in the day, could throw a ball at speed like no one he had ever seen since.

Eddie smiled and listened as the guy spoke, the clear affection and joy he had for his uncle warming his heart.

It was barely ten minutes after that guy had gone back to his own group that Eddie was approached again, another drink placed down in front of him and more sympathies and stories of Wayne’s past gifted to him from people who had known him.

It went on like that throughout the whole night, a steadily revolving door of people coming to talk to him about his uncle.

Stories of the stupid and dangerous shit they had gotten up to in their childhoods, stories of cow tipping (which Eddie had heard from Wayne’s own mouth was a bold faced lie but a fun one to tell), tractor racing (which he had not heard about) and one time Wayne had been chased out of Farmer Dan’s barn by the man himself wielding a shotgun, convinced he’d been corrupting his daughter.

Stories of nights playing poker, learning to never ever trust his poker face, his abysmal luck when it came to his fantasy football teams and how much he loved to get a bit of drink in him and sing at the top of his lungs, which Cathy always humoured, often joining in.

Almost as if she had been summoned, Cathy appeared at his other side.

“Will we have a little sing-song for your uncle, love?”

Eddie looked up at her and thought about it. To hear the accented and cracking old voices singing along to the songs that just seemed to live in pubs like these would probably hurt, but it would be like lancing a wound.

It would sting but it would be healing.

“Yeah.” He said. “I don’t see why not.”

“Would you do us the honours, then?”

Eddie felt his eyes go wide. He was never really much of a singer. “Oh. No,” he blushed, shaking his head, “I don’t think so, I’ll leave that up to the professionals.” He gestured around to the group of older men he had managed to collect as the night wore on. “If it’s one thing Wayne didn’t hand down to me, it was his singing voice.”

Cathy waved him off. “Oh nonsense, you have a lovely voice.”

He really didn’t.

“I really don’t.”

“We’ll be singing along with you anyway-”

“No, I’d rather not-”

“I could do it for you.”

Eddie turned to face Steve who was looking the least nervous that he had for the entire night, his gaze steady and confident, clearly comfortable in his singing ability. Robin was staring hard at the side of his head, like she was trying to beam thoughts directly into his brain. Eddie’s heart was thumping in his chest and he could feel his cheeks start to heat up, something he was pretty sure had little to do with the drink.

“You sing, Steve?”

Robin’s mouth ticked up at Eddie’s question though she tried to hide it, like she was harbouring a little secret.

“I’ve been known to.” Steve’s own lips curled up, shooting that tiny little smile Eddie’s way and-

Oh.

Oh shit.

Childhood Big Gay Crush, you’ve been upgraded to Current Big Gay Crush.

“Any requests?”

Eddie thought back.

There was only one song that came to mind to kick them off.

Wayne had always loved a certain type of song to sing in the pubs and when Metallica came out with a cover of one of them, a cover of the Thin Lizzy version? It was solidified.

It was their song, regardless of which version was being sung.

Now he just had to try to get through it without bursting into tears.

“Whiskey In The Jar.”

Steve smiled at him bright and blinding. “Thank god you didn’t say The Rattlin’ Bog.”

Eddie grinned back. “I couldn’t dump you in the deep-end like that, sweetheart.”

Cathay was practically bouncing with excitement and when Steve opened his mouth and started to sing, not a hint of bashfulness or embarrassment to be seen, it didn’t take long for Wayne’s friends to join in, singing and clapping along, stomping their feet and whooping.

Eddie just sat and listened. Just for that one song. He could feel it settle around his heart and clog up his throat but he could handle it. Steve’s voice was smooth and clear, like it all came to him with zero effort, like he was born to it, the bastard.

Eddie was able to keep it together through that song and while the applause surrounded him and Steve was starting to field suggestions for more songs, the rest of their table started to join in, the energy of the pub becoming electric.

As the night wore on and Eddie was handed drink after drink, he found himself drifting right into the group, until he was in the middle, Steve’s arm stretched over the back of the booth behind them, squished in together as they were. They didn’t strictly need to be as pressed up against each other as they were, but neither of them were moving and Eddie would take his comforts where he could, listening to the voice vibrating from the body next to him.

Eddie was able to hold it together until they decided they’d do one last song and he knew he wasn’t going to survive it dry eyed.

Of all the money that ever I had,

I spent it in good company.

Steve had barely gotten through the first verse before the tears started, just a slow and quiet trickle but noticed immediately regardless.

Steve’s hand dropped from where it was at the back of the booth to land around Eddie’s shoulders, giving him a little squeeze while Chrissy took his hand, resting her head on his shoulder.

Steve sang slow and unaccompanied, his voice ringing out clear and steady while Cathy and Wayne’s friends listened with heads hung low. He let the last notes fade out, keeping Eddie tucked in tight to his side as the applause rang out and everyone started making their moves to head home.

Even as Eddie had to go through the rigmarole of shaking hands and kissing cheeks, much drunker than he thought he was, Steve held onto him. He heard more than one of Wayne’s friends mutter “You take care of him, you hear?” or “Get him home safe” and each time Steve smiled and nodded, assuring them he would.

He didn’t know exactly when he had become Steve’s problem but he was too drunk to care, it was nice to be looked after for once.

Sunlight was spearing straight through his head. Someone hadn’t closed the blinds properly last night and now he was being assaulted by this world's version of Pelor in what had to be some kind of revenge for something terrible he must have done in a past life.

Dragging his eyes around the trailer, he was thankful that he was on the couch. He hadn’t slept in Wayne’s bed since moving back here. He didn’t think he would be able to for a while yet. At least not until he started moving some of his stuff out and who knew how long that might take.

It didn’t feel right, taking Wayne out of his own bedroom for the second time in his life.

But even so, he wondered which poor misfortune from the pub last night had been the one to deal with him and take him home, probably seeing the state things had been left in and the fact that he was clearly using the couch as a bed.

Maybe it had been Max. He kind of hoped it had been Max, he felt like she could probably relate the best, though Chrissy would have been kind about it too.

Eddie was able to drag himself up to sitting, still clad in his t-shirt and boxers, so at the very least, whoever had spilled him onto the couch last night didn’t get an accidental show.

There was something sticking in the back of his head that it could have been Steve who brought him home but that would be the most embarrassing eventuality of all so he just straight up ignored it, making his coffee as strong as humanly possible and dragging himself and the coffee into the shower.

Today was gonna be… today was gonna be an inside day. He didn’t think he could stomach the outside world, all the brightness and snow and Christmas lights and festive cheer in mourning and hungover.

His trailer was the only one left in the park undecorated. He couldn’t…

He just couldn’t.

Not right now, anyway.

Maybe next year.

He and Wayne had always done it together. Even when Eddie had moved away from home, he’d make the drive back down at the start of December every year to help, staying the night and then going back to Jack for a couple of weeks then coming back again for the week of Christmas.

He-

Oh.

He was going to be completely alone this year.

He didn’t just not have Wayne.

He didn’t have Jack either.

And no doubt, everyone who was back in town was back in town for their own reasons, to see their own friends and family, not to bring in a stray mourner who would undoubtedly bring the mood down.

Well, that was fucking depressing.

But it was fine.

He’d make himself a mountain of waffles and eat nothing but those all day and watch stupid horror movies and smoke himself into oblivion to avoid the destructive hangover and it would be fine.

It would hardly be a Christmas but it would be fine.

A knock at the door made him blink and woke him up from his daily routine of staring off into space. He had finally found himself feeling somewhat human, at least physically. Dressed and dried and on his second round of coffee and first round of painkillers, standing in the doorway to Wayne’s bedroom again when the knock came.

He glanced between the front door and the bedroom, wondering if it was even worth it to see what salesperson or caroler was on the other end. They didn’t deserve his moody ambivalence, but whoever it was knocked again and maybe just the sight of him would be enough to scare them away.

He swung the door open and nearly closed it immediately when Steve looked up at him with a shy smile.

He didn’t know if he could handle this right now.

“Hi.” Steve said, his cheeks pink either from the cold or from embarrassment, Eddie wasn’t sure which.

He was like… fifty percent sure that Steve might be, maybe, giving him some signals but also he got very, very drunk last night and he was pretty sure he remembered crying on someone’s shoulder after he got home too so, he was probably not the best judge of these things.

“Hi.” Eddie clutched his coffee cup tighter in his hand. “I’d invite you in, but I would rather you not see how I’m living right now.”

Steve furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “I’ve already- nevermind.” He shook his head. “I can’t stay long anyway, I just wanted to check if you were okay after last night.”

Eddie raised his eyebrows and blew a breath out through his lips. “I’m… I’m. Well. I’m… coping, I suppose.”

Steve nodded, eyes cast down to glance around the porch. There was a flake of snow clinging to one of his eyelashes, Eddie didn’t know how it got there. It hadn’t been snowing that morning, not from what he’d seen anyway, cooped up inside. Steve looked up towards the roof of the trailer and then around the edges, no doubt taking in its depressing and undecorated exterior.

“Listen, I-”

Steve hesitated, his cheeks burning a little brighter, hands shoved in his pockets and arms curled in tight towards himself. Eddie felt a little bad about leaving him out here in the cold, not even inviting him in regardless of how it was inside, it felt unnecessarily mean but he didn’t know if he could handle having Steve in his space right now. He felt like he was at either a knife’s edge or unbearably dull this morning.

“I wanted to offer you- or, I don’t know. If you didn’t have any plans, that- well, I’m hosting everyone at my place on Christmas day and you would be more than welcome if you wanted to come. Y’know… if you weren’t… if you didn’t-”

“If I’m gonna be alone?”

Steve turned his big sad eyes on him, mouth gone slack from shock.

“No! No, that’s not what I meant. I never meant to suggest-”

Eddie shrugged, taking a sip from his mug.

“It’s an unfortunate fact, right now, Stevie. I am alone. It’s depressing but it’s the truth.”

“Well.” Steve took a big breath in. “It doesn’t have to be.”

Eddie hummed, rocking back and forth on his feet. “Who’s everyone? I don’t know if I would be able to handle your parents. No offence.”

Steve scoffed. “None taken. They haven’t set foot in that house in nearly ten years. It’s not theirs anymore, it’s mine.”

“Oh. They dead too?”

To Steve’s credit, he didn’t flinch at the words that were maybe a little harsher than they needed to be, he met Eddie’s eye, determined and unwavering.

“No, they’re not. They left Hawkins, left me the house, called it my inheritance and drove off. They’re in New York now. We exchange Christmas cards but that’s about it.”

Eddie was a little bewildered.

“You don’t talk to them at all?”

Steve shrugged. “We know who we are to each other.”

So Steve still had parents out there in the world and they just… didn’t talk to each other? And from the sounds of it, all three of them seemed fine with that? Now that sounded depressing.

“Steve, I’m… I’m sorry.”

Steve tilted his head, their eyes never once wavering. “It’s a different kind of mourning, I suppose.” He shuffled a little bit in the cold and fuck, Eddie really should have invited him inside, but it looked like he was getting ready to leave anyway. “So, on the day it’ll be me, Rob and Chris. The kids will come over later on in the evening. And I think Dustin has invited those three guys from your band too, so they might show up. Like I said, no pressure, you do whatever it is you’re comfortable with but I think they’d all like to see you, I’d-”

Steve swallowed, his face getting pinker.

“I’d like to see you.”

Eddie could feel a grin tugging at his lips, something giddy and hopeful blooming in his belly despite everything. “Oh, would you now?”

Steve flashed him a charming grin, his shoulders relaxing almost imperceptibly while he dragged his eyes down towards Eddie’s lips and then back up. “I would.”

“Well then, I’ll have to see what I can do.”

Despite the things he said to Steve, he wasn’t sure he was going to turn up until he did.

He’d gotten into his car Christmas morning with a thermos of hot chocolate and an insulated blanket and visited Wayne.

He’d placed Wayne’s old fashioned chipped and battered mug that he only ever drank hot chocolate out of at Christmas time, a painted wreath and ‘Merry Christmas’ decorating the front, down next to the wooden cross dug into the head of his grave.

The headstone wouldn’t be finished for another few weeks.

He spread the blanket down over the snow, wishing he’d thought to bring a cushion but powering through regardless.

He poured out some hot chocolate for himself and Wayne, sat back, drank and just… talked.

He told Wayne about his breakup with Jack, about selling the apartment, about moving back into the trailer, apologised for not checking in with him first before he did. He talked about everyone who came to the funeral and the night at the pub, the songs, the people he spoke to, the friends he found there.

Steve.

He might have spent a little longer talking about Steve. It was nothing Wayne hadn’t heard before, though. Eddie had talked about him a lot during school.

He rambled and tripped over his words and laughed and cried.

He was alone in the graveyard. No one else was visiting at this cold hour of the morning, they would all probably stop by after mass or after dinner but Eddie hated the idea of not seeing him first thing.

Going back home after that was hard.

His hands were stiff and creaking, his ass was so numb from the cold it had come back around to hurting again and he didn’t know if it would ever thaw, but sitting in his van outside the trailer, looking at it cold and empty and undecorated he knew he couldn’t spend the whole damn day here.

He wasn’t sure what time he was supposed to show up to Steve’s but it seemed like an informal enough invite so he tried to distract himself as best as he could before he could make his appearance at an appropriate time.

He called it tidying but it was really just moving things around from corner to corner, trying to find spaces for his stuff to live, but at the very least the trailer no longer looked like Eddie had just dumped his entire life out onto the living room floor.

Which… he had but it didn’t really look like it anymore.

By the time the evening started to close in around him, he figured now was as good a time as any to go, it was certainly a better idea than sitting around with his blank word document, bouncing his knee or chewing on his fingers or staring off into space.

He did try to at least pull himself together to look presentable enough. Or as presentable his ripped jeans would allow him to be.

At the last second he reached for one of Wayne’s flannels, a buffalo check in red and black that felt Christmassy enough, slipping it on over his t-shirt and under his jacket.

Steve’s house was completely decked out. Even from the outside Eddie could tell he’d gone all out, every edge of the roof was crawling with twinkling warm white lights, there were LED candle arches lighting up every window and a large wreath surrounding the door knocker. Through the windows he could see that the inside was much the same.

Steve’s whole face lit up into a bright smile when he opened the door to Eddie standing there with his hands in his pockets.

“You came.” He breathed.

“I did.” Eddie smiled back. “I hope you don’t mind, I'm a little empty handed. By the time I remembered it was polite to bring something to these things it was already too late and I’ve been a little scatter-brained recently-”

“No, no. That’s fine, Eds.” Steve waved him in and Eddie tried not to let his stomach completely fly away with him at the nickname. “Come in. I’m just happy you're here, empty handed or not.”

Just like Steve had that night at the pub in his red sweater and perfectly tousled hair, the entire house looked like it had been transported out of a Christmas movie. The space was warmly lit by various lights strung around the bannister, fresh green garlands swagged over doorways and the fireplace, which was roaring and warm.

Red and green stockings were lined up over the mantle, almost too many to fit, and a large regal Christmas tree was decked out to the nines with a mishmash of different coloured decorations.

The tree and the garlands gave the whole place an inviting smell, complemented by the scent of cooking and baking that was wafting in from the kitchen.

Steve helped him slip his jacket off his shoulders, hanging it up over the coat rack.

“Can I get you something to drink? You’re just in time, dinner should be coming out of the oven any second now.”

“Yeah, that would be great.”

Steve shot him a blinding smile, turning and disappearing through an entryway while Eddie wandered to stand in front of the fire.

He stared down at it, letting the warmth spread over him wondering if he really should be feeling… more? Less?

He still felt sad that Wayne was gone and excited at the idea that something might be brewing with Steve, but was that right? Was that normal? Should there be other things? He didn’t know.

He was distracted from those thoughts by the sound of bickering coming from the kitchen.

“Rob, let me just-”

“No, get out!”

Steve stumbled through the doorway with a little pout on his face, managing to keep the two wine glasses in his hands from spilling over.

“Did you just get kicked out of your own kitchen?”

“Yeah.” He grumbled, handing one of the glasses to Eddie and Eddie did not blush when their fingers light grazed one another. He was an adult fucking man who’d done many filthy, dirty things in his life. He did not blush at a finger graze. “She won’t let me do anything else. Said I’ve cooked enough already which, I don’t know how that could possibly be true considering it isn’t even finished yet but-”

Steve cut himself off with a bite to his lip.

“Sorry, that’s- nevermind. I’m rambling.”

“It’s okay, Stevie. I don’t mind.”

Steve smiled, a little more to himself than to Eddie and said softly, “I like it when you call me that.”

Eddie had to drag his eyes away, the sweetness of Steve’s grin was too much to handle right now.

“I like it when you call me Eds.”

They were just standing there smiling at each other and slowly rocking on their feet, like they wanted to inch forwards but neither was brave enough to take the leap.

“Are you in the food industry? Is that why Robin gave you the boot?”

“No.” Steve shook his head. “I think I probably would have liked it, but no. I sing. Singer-songwriter, really but- I mean- I’m in music.”

“Really?” Eddie’s mouth was maybe hanging open a little wider than it needed to be, but Steve didn’t seem to mind. He hadn’t torn his eyes away. “I mean you have the voice for it, but shit, that’s not an easy industry to be in.”

Steve shrugged. “It could be worse. I work independently so I don’t have anyone breathing down my neck about it.”

“Anything I would have heard?”

“I dunno.” Steve blushed, hiding behind his wine glass as he took a sip. “Don’t really think it’s your type of music.”

“I’ll give anything a try once.”

Steve grinned a little and Eddie could tell there was a joke hidden in there somewhere that Steve graciously didn’t voice aloud. “It’s a mix of everything I suppose. But if you were to put a genre on it I’d call it indie rock.”

“I’m just letting you know right now, little eighteen year old Eddie is green with jealousy. I’ll have to look you up.”

“Please don’t.” Steve grimaced, his whole face bright red. “I don’t think I would be able to live with the embarrassment. And what about you, anyway? How’s the new book going?”

“Uh,” Eddie cast around for an answer before gulping back a mouthful of wine. “It’s going… it’s going. I’ve been kinda stuck at a wall for a few months now, but hopefully something will come to me soon.” He frowned to himself before looking back up at Steve. “How did you hear I was writing a new book? I wouldn’t have even thought you’d remember who I was, like in general.”

“How could I not remember you? You’re hard to forget.”

It was Eddie’s turn to hide behind his wine glass now. He wasn’t exactly sure how true that was, considering everything about his past relationship.

“But… uh. As for how I knew,” Steve rubbed that back of his neck, “I’ve read them. Your books, I mean.”

Eddie’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

“You have? And you read them knowing it was me who wrote them?” He laughed to himself. “Didn’t think you’d be into queer vampire action romance.”

“You have no idea what I’m into Eds.” Steve answered, his eyes low and lidded, a smirk pulling up at the side of his mouth.

Eddie was saved from making a further fool of himself when Robin and Chrissy appeared in the kitchen doorway.

“Feast’s served!”

The girls each said their hello’s, an arm squeeze from Robin and a hug and a kiss on the cheek from Chrissy before he was practically pushed down into his seat.

The dining table was large enough to have everything on the table, turkey, ham and all the trimmings, bowls with spoons sticking out of them and plates with tongs, even enough space left over for candles and decor in the middle of it all.

As bowls were passed around and both Steve and Robin made the first move on the food, tipping servings out to Eddie and Chrissy before themselves, Eddie found himself getting lost in conversation from all three directions.

He gossiped with Chrissy while Steve and Robin bickered over the best cut of the turkey.

Throughout the dinner, Robin tried to sneakily get rid of her sprouts by dropping them one by one onto Steve’s plate when he wasn’t looking, but he noticed every time, savouring them with a satisfaction that could only come from someone who actually liked them.

He got into his own good natured argument with Robin about marching band while Steve and Chrissy talked sports.

And he flirted.

Brazenly.

Probably far more brazenly than he should have but Steve always rose to meet the challenge with a curl of his lip and a glint in his eye.

By the time dessert was making the rounds he was pretty sure he could have fallen asleep sitting at the dining table, but finding room for the cakes and pies and trifles, as always.

Steve had stopped drinking after that first glass and while Eddie didn’t exactly want to get completely plastered, he still allowed himself to get to a polite level of tipsy.

The girls had no such worries, already rosy cheeked and a little sloppy by the time the kids and Eddie’s band arrived.

The rest of the night was full of Christmas music, the most ridiculous games of charades which Eddie won every time, pulling on his old DM skills and after a passionate argument on what the worst Christmas movie was, the winning candidate was turned on, everyone laughing and jeering along with it like it was a Rocky Horror showing, Eddie pressed into Steve’s side on the couch.

It was during a particularly loud moment, all of them booing the screen when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket.

Pulling it out he saw the screen light up with a name he hadn’t really thought of for most of the night.

Jack.

He stared down at the name for longer than he really needed to before sighing to himself.

“I’ll be back in a minute.”

Steve glanced between the phone and his face before settling into a gentle smile.

“Okay.” He gave his shoulder a small squeeze and Eddie got up, bringing the phone to his ear and stepping out of the room.

“Hello?”

There was a momentary pause on the other line before a quiet voice spoke. “Hi, Eddie.”

Eddie wasn’t entirely sure what to say back to him. Why are you calling? Why are you suddenly interested? Has the guilt finally gotten to you? Is it because it’s Christmas and you thought I’d be alone?

In the end he didn’t have to say anything.

“I’m just- I guess I just wanted to see how you’re doing.” Jack sounded resigned and a little sad. If they had still been together, Eddie would have been trying to drag him out to the Christmas market or trivia nights or Christmas parties for the last few weeks and they would have been heading out in a day or two to spend the rest of the holidays with Jack’s family in Ohio. Jack had only come back with him for a Christmas with Wayne once before.

But it sounded like Jack was already with his family. Eddie could hear his mothers Michael Bublé Christmas album playing softly in another room.

“I’m doing…” Eddie sighed, leaning back against the wall. “I’m doing okay.”

A loud chorus of laughter burst through the sitting room, shouting and jeering following quickly behind.

“You’re out somewhere?”

Eddie glanced back through the door, watching everyone gathered either talking to each other, pointing in indignation at the tv, tucking into another serving of dessert or knocking back the last of their drink, all backlit by the Christmas lights and the fire.

“I’m with friends.”

“Good.” He could hear Jack nodding, wondering how he was handling his mothers questions or his fathers awkwardness that Eddie usually deflected for him. “That’s good. I’m glad you- I’m glad you’re not alone.”

No thanks to you, Eddie wanted to snap but kept it down. He didn’t have the energy for an argument right now. Didn’t want one. It was Christmas and he wanted to keep the comfortable, fuzzy feeling around for as long as he could.

Steve lifted his eyes, looking right at him and grinning, something soft, something warm and easy, just for him.

Eddie smiled back. “Yeah, me too.”

Steve drove him home that night. It was nearly two in the morning by the time he was bundled up in the car with a lap full of tupperware and his heart feeling lighter than it had for weeks now.

He’d been offered a room to stay in, but had refused. He didn’t want to impose any more than he already had and if he was honest with himself, he wanted to be at home.

Plus he hadn’t brought anything for an overnight.

When they pulled up, Eddie tried to shuffle his way out of the car without dropping anything but eventually had to huff and hand some of the containers over when Steve offered to help him carry them all.

They were inside before Eddie remembered his previous refusal to let Steve in through the door, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

Steve gave a cursory glance around but his eyes always seemed to be drawn back to Eddie, placing the containers down on the kitchen counter and assuring him he’d be back in the morning to drive Eddie back to his car.

“I hope you had a good time.” Steve looked at him, all warm and gooey and too good to be true.

“I had a great time, I think I needed it.” Eddie fidgeted with his rings, nervous all of a sudden. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“Of course. It was great to see you, I’m glad you came.”

They stood, staring at each other and Eddie had the urge to hide his face behind his hair, but he resisted.

Steve reached out, brushing a curl behind his ear and then leant in, placing a sweet and chaste kiss against his cheek and Eddie was left completely dazed.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” Eddie breathed, nodding. “Yeah, tomorrow.”

He watched Steve step out onto the porch and slide into his car, driving away with a little waggle of his fingers. Eddie unconsciously brought his hand up to brush over his cheek where he could still feel the tingle of Steve’s lips against his skin.

When the headlights of Steve’s car turned the corner, Eddie closed the door, staring at it in silence for a few moments before a hysterical little giggle burst out of his throat.

His whole body was wracked through with momentary excitement, forcing him to spin in a silly little circle. He stifled another giggle, sighing it out before his eyes landed on the couch.

He looked back up at a photo from a few years ago, of him and Wayne on a road trip that they had taken, sitting on a wooden fence surrounding a national park. Wayne always said it was just “One step at a time, boy. You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t take that first step.”

“Yeah, I hear you, Wayne.” Eddie responded out into the empty trailer. “First step.”

He looked up towards the bedroom.

He felt like, maybe tonight, maybe he could be comfortable with that first step.

Pulling a fresh set of bedsheets out of storage and turning back to the bed with them bundled up in his arms, he figured he’d just have to take it one step at a time.

I made a short playlist to go along with this fic containing the songs sung and the different versions mentioned along with one or two others I think they may have sung and my own favourites.

Some of you may have read I lost a family member a couple of weeks ago and I suppose this is my way of working through my feelings about it. It hit a little harder than I had intended but was healing to write nonetheless.

AO3

As always, my biggest thanks and much love to @hbyrde36 for the beta work with this and to the Stranger Things Writers Guild Discord for their motivation!

Christmas lights divider by @silkholland

#steddie #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #steve x eddie #penny00dreadful #eddie x steve #steddie fanfic #steddie fic #fanfic #tw character death #tw funeral #tw grief #tw mourning #christmas fic

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sage-a-licious · 1 month ago

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Welp, just had an argument with my mom. A couple of weeks ago I got randomly added to a group chat where I only had one person’s number (one of my cousins) and the people seemed to be talking about going on a cruise but I was like, “Is somebody going to explain to me what’s going on or who these other numbers are?” And no one did and the chat died out that day.

So when my mom called me this morning I brought it up and said I thought it was weird. And then my mom got all defensive saying one of my cousins called her about getting us together for a cruise. And that she should have called me and told me but she forgot. And I’m like, “Why couldn’t they contact me directly?” Because I haven’t see or talked to them for years now. And she just keeps blaming herself. But we’re all in our late thirties and forties. I think they should be able to contact someone directly and invite them. Not go through their mother. But my mom keeps bringing it back to being her fault that she didn’t contact me.

So I see that she’s not getting where I’m coming from and I’m getting frustrated about not being understood so I just say, “Next time something like this happens can you please tell the person to contact me directly?” Which she refuses to just agree to for some reason and starts going on and on about how I should get to know her side of the family more and how they’ve gone on trips before and she felt bad they didn’t include me and now they are so isn’t that something? And not everyone is as prim and proper as me. And they weren’t trying to be ghetto or bitches (I never said any of that).

So again I say, “If this happens again can you please have them contact me directly.” And she says I’m making it a bigger deal than it is and I shouldn’t even be upset. And I say I’m upset about this conversation because you’re not validating my emotions and you’re my mother.” And start crying. And then she gets upset that I’m crying like she did when I was a very emotional child and I had to get off the phone because triggered.

Now that I’m writing this out another reason I might be upset is it feels like my mom likes my cousins better than me. Or thinks they’re more fun because they have similar interests. I’ve always felt left out of their dynamic. And also my family has these ideas about me that aren’t true like I’m whitewashed and not really black. And living with my biracial aunt and white grandma probably isn’t helping that perception.

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ladykailitha · 1 year ago

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All My Roads Lead Back to You Part 17

Welp. We are in the home stretch. I’m almost done writing the last chapter and then there will be a small epilogue. Thank you so much for sharing this ride with me on this one.

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

Edie isn’t exactly sure when it started happening, but she began to notice little changes in her dad’s eating habits. Some times he would go for seconds if he liked it or he would keep some kind of fruit on hand to snack on.

But knowing her dad’s past also helped her notice when he would get that thousand yard stare or when he would jump at certain sounds. Knowing that he had walked through hell, not just once, but multiple times was like slotting in a piece of the puzzle you didn’t know was missing. And just watching all the other pieces that didn’t make sense before form a complete picture.

She knew that they had told her was only scratching the surface. Things they weren’t directly involved in but didn’t want to know. After she was told about their past Mr Munson gave her permission to dig into the incident surrounding the actual fucking lynch mob that was led by a psychotic basketball star.

What made her the angriest was that the asshole died in the earthquake and never had to deal with the consequences of his actions. That the town took that as liberty to just sweep it under the rug. The police chief quietly resigned two years later. No one that was involved in the witch hunt was actually punished for what they did to Mr Munson.

So she decided she was going to make a long distance phone call. A very long distance phone call.

“Miss Thing!” Lily Byers greeted cheerfully. “To what do I owe this totally awesome pleasure?”

“Cousin Itt!” Edie greeted back. “How’s it rocking, girlie?”

“You know,” Lily said, “as much as I love traveling the world, I got soo super jelly of your prom pictures. I’m trying to convince Mom to let spend the last year of high school with you.”

“Just say the word, Cousin Itt,” Edie said seriously, “I will deploy the puppy dog eyes.”

Lily laughed. “I’m not quite that desperate. Yet.”

“Duly noted,” Edie said. “Hey, I need a favor. But first how much do you know about your parents’ high school days?”

“You talking normal angst filled love triangles?” Lily ask slowly. “Or are we talking about nightmare fuel?”

“Nightmare fuel.”

Lily let out a slow breath. “I got ‘read in’ last year.” Edie could feel the air quotes from here. “I’m guessing you’re new to the ‘my parents are fucked up’ club?”

“About a month I guess,” Edie said with a sigh. “Me and Harri Munson. They tell you about what happened to his dad? Eddie Munson? Not the monster shit, but the normies fucking shit up stuff?”

Lily let out another long sigh. “Yeah. The witch hunt of the century.”

“Can you please explain why your mother and father didn’t expose the fucking town the way they did the Lab?” Edie asked pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“That is a really good question, Miss Thing,” Lily said. “And I think you just gave me new leverage against my parents over the whole high school senior year dealio. I’ll get back to you.”

“Love you lots!” Edie said.

“Love you more!” Lily replied and then hung up.

“You know,” a voice said from behind her, “that’s a pretty low blow, weaponizing your cousin that way.”

Edie whirled around to see her dad leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom. His arms were crossed over his chest, but he had an easy smile on his face.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to eavesdrop,” she said glaring at him.

“I just came to ask if you wanted pizza or kebabs tonight,” he said, his smile turning into a grin. “I did knock. A couple times in fact. But you were the one plotting world takeover with your bedroom door open.”

Edie flopped on her bed. “Is that one of the reasons we rarely get together, because we’d take over the world?”

Steve laughed. “One of many. One of many.”

Edie grinned. “I’m just correcting a miscarriage of justice is all.”

“Oh, is that all?” he asked grinning back at her. “Knowing Lily Byers like I do, I fully expect an expose by the end of the week and formal apology from the city of Hawkins and the state of Indiana to Eddie by the end of the month.”

Edie pretended to toss non-existent long hair over her shoulder. “Good.”

Steve pulled her in for a hug. “I think the reason she didn’t is because of me.”

Edie pulled away slightly. “What do you mean?”

“I think she didn’t want to stir up feelings for Eddie after he left.”

“But he left three months after,” Edie insisted. “Why didn’t she say something then?”

“Our town was nearly destroyed,” Steve reminded her. “And the government had found a scapegoat in Henry Creel, got Eddie off and all this while Eddie was still in a coma from being nearly ripped to bits. She had a lot on her mind those first three months. We all did. And then he got a record deal, he was going to be famous. She probably didn’t want to make waves for him and ruin his chances.”

“Damn it,” she sighed. “Those are all really good reason not blow up the biggest scandal since the ‘gas leak’.”

“So maybe tell Lily to ease up a bit on her mom?” Steve asked.

“Not a snowball’s chance in hell, Dad.”

Steve sighed. He figured that was the answer, but felt he had to try. At least a little.

School was ending and Edie and Harri both had summer school. Mandy and Kenny were free, but then they were good in school and mostly liked by the teachers.

Their rich school was a bit backwards. Probably because it had only been built in the last decade, but Mr Pearson wasn’t the only teacher that turned their noses up at old money students like Edie. She had the misfortune to be old money, too. Her family’s wealth went back as far a century at least.

She wasn’t third or even fourth generation wealthy. Her great-great grandparents were stinking rich. They were among the few families to come out of the stock market crash and Great Depression relatively unscathed. It’s why Dad’s trust fund was so sought after.

A trust fund that only grew because he may not have had a head for numbers, he had a head for business. He knew when to pull out if something was failing and when to pour more money in if they looked on the verge of discovery.

But it meant that all the teachers thought that her dad didn’t earn having his daughter at their school. So they always went a lot harder on Edie then they did her friends. All three of which had parents that came from nothing or very little to make their wealth. Mandy and Harri were both children of rock stars. Kenny’s mom invented some kitchen gadget that had taken the world by storm and now was in nearly every house in the country.

Harri was only joining her in summer school hell because two of the credits he needed to graduation next year didn’t transfer over and he had zero desire to sit with sophomores and juniors his last year of school.

“They should standardize the curriculum across the country,” Harri grumbled, kicking at a rock on their way into school.

Edie sighed. She agreed with him, but if they had she wouldn’t have a summer school buddy to be miserable with.

“I hear that,” was what she said instead. “And you should be allowed to skip a class if you don’t want to take it. As long as you get two years of math, who cares if it’s just basic math. It’s like judging a fish by its ability to climb or however that quote goes.”

“Right?” Harri agreed. “Like if what you want to go into takes heavy math that sure, you do the advanced math, but if you’re going into art and the only math you’re going to need is fractions they shouldn’t have to force you into bullshit like that.”

They both had to take a math class and a science class, so they took the same ones so that they could at least have a study buddy.

“I hate that I have to do this,” Edie groused as she flopped down in a desk somewhere near the back of the class. “It means I can’t go to the gala this year.”

“Gala?” Harri asked, sliding into the desk next to hers. “What gala?”

“The biggest event my dad does all year,” she explained, resting her head on her hands and staring off into the distance dreamily. “He’s involved in a shit ton of charities, but this is his biggest. It’s like the it party of the year and everyone foams at the mouth for an invite.”

“So why can’t you go?” Harri asked.

“Because for everyone else it’s a one night event,” Edie said, “but for my dad it’s a week long thing just prepping for it. And because I have summer school, I can’t help him. His rule has always been that I’ve been too young and that was supposed to change this year. I was going to help out and get to go. But because I have this stupid shit, I have to spend the week at Mandy’s.”

“You’re nearly eighteen,” Harri protested. “Can’t you be left home alone?”

Edie sighed. “If it was about Dad being gone all the time, sure. But it’s not. It’s held at the house. Or rather the backyard. There are people coming and going all hours of the day and night. Setting up lights, preparing food, setting up tables. It’s a whole thing. And if I want to actually pass these classes...”

Harri winced. “You can’t be around all that shit...Point well and truly taken. So what are you going to do instead?”

Edie shrugged. “Normally Mr Lawrence lets Mandy have a party that night and we stay up late watching movies, but I think the Lawrences are going this year, so I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Harri opened his mouth to ask another question, but the teacher chose that moment to walk in and they were forced to pay attention to the class.

***

Part 18 Epilogue

@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk @trashpocket @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @mightbeasleep @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @trashpocket @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @steddie-as-they-go @lillemilly @callas-shitshow @bisexualdisastersworld @renaissan-vvitch @immortal-iratze @bookbinderbitch @cardigangoth @lilacrobin @nightmareglitter @nerdsconquerall @stxrcrossed186

#My writing #stranger things #steddie #reconnecting years later AU #ladykailtiha writes

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raynbow-shimmer · 13 days ago

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Listen to me, as someone who used to work in health insurance billing and customer service, I have seen some fucked up things. My best paid claim from insurance was over a million dollars billed. You know how much worker's compensation insurance paid? 700k. The rest of 300k+ was a write off. I don't want to think about what would have happened if my patient didn't get hurt on the job. I wish they hadn't gotten injured given what happened to them, but it is what it is sadly. If that patient would have had a copay and coinsurance, I am sure the bill would have been outrageous. That's fucked up. I don't want to think about what would happen if the ACA is walked back. Lifetime maximums? Go fuck yourself.

I also worked for a company that made custom prosthetics for children. I actively watched them hike their prices so that they could get more out of parents/renegotiate prices with insurance. The prosthetics weren't always covered by the insurance either. Texas Medicaid? You better have a generous relative because the prosthetic was not covered under any circumstance. That would leave parents with a bill of 1600 to 3400 depending on the state to get a prosthetic that their child really might need. Fucked up.

Don't get me started on supplemental insurance either. Worked there too doing customer service. I got really good at looking at the billing codes to see what was covered and what wasn't. Observation for 23 hours and 59 minutes in the ER? Too bad, you need 24 hours to get paid out. And cancers and heart attacks, oh my god. Carcinoma in SITU? Welp, it's not classified as malignant yet, so no cancer payout for you. Minor heart attack? It has to be a major heart attack for that to be covered. Someone died in a car wreck with a BAC over like 0.08? Sorry, you're not getting that life insurance payout. It's fucked up. Soul sucking work.

I get why someone would have done something about it. (Luigi is still innocent until proven guilty, so I am not blaming him at this time.) For profit healthcare is a scam. It's not just the insurances, it's the for profit healthcare systems too, including hospital systems, pharmaceutical companies owned by the insraunces, and the medical equipment supply companies. It's the for profit hospitals who bill an elastic bandage at 35 dollars (!!! Just looked this up on my local for profit hospital system's chargemaster, jesus christ!) so they can get the tiniest bit of a higher payout than what it is worth from people who lack insurance. It's the drug companies owned by the insurances who hike up prices. It's the durable medical equipment companies who think they can get away with charging outrageous prices for any sort of assistance device. It's not the independent doctors who are trying to run an office (usually). It's not the nurses who are just trying to do the best they can while being underpaid and overworked so that the for profit system can do it's job for the shareholders. And it certainly is not the poor customer service agent you are screaming at over the phone. Policies are policies, which means that the customer service agent's hands are basically tied. All the red tape. It's insane. It's the bloated for profit healthcare system that is to blame for our problems.

Elizabeth Warren and other Senators have currently proposed a bill that would break up healthcare conglomerates and force them to sell off their stakes in pharmaceuticals. This would possibly be a game changer. Health insurances would have to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to get the best prices on drugs. Because we know they don't want to pay. It wouldn't benefit them to recommend a higher cost drug anymore. That money wouldn't be going in their pockets. I highly suggest you look at the information behind the bill as it develops. I have also read there is a similar bill that was just proposed by the House too.

Please, contact your representatives. Tell them about the Senate's Patients Before Monopolies Act. Get impassioned and tell them what it would do for you. You voted for them, tell them what you want. These are your representatives. And if they don't care, try your hardest to fire them next go around. Healthcare is of the utmost importance to the people. It's literally a life or death situation at times. More people should care because it affects everyone. The time is now, it's time to push for a better future.

P.S. Please don't yell at the customer service workers. It's not their fault. It's a shitty job with shitty moments. I've cried with people because something wasn't covered before. The for profit healthcare industry is fucked up.

#*sigh*#i really hate the for profit healthcare industry #it's fucked up #healthcare #health insurance #patients before monopolies act #patients before monopolies #shimmer rambles

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skymoral · 1 year ago

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🩵UNFORESEEN🩵

- Prologue -

Rating: Mature

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Category: F/M

Fandom: Mortal Kombat (Video Games)

Relationship: Bi-Han | Sub-Zero/You

Characters:

Liu KangJohnny CageTakahashi KenshiRaiden (Mortal Kombat)Kung LaoReaderOriginal Female Character(s)Original Male Character(s)Kitana (Mortal Kombat)Mileena (Mortal Kombat)Harumi ShiraiGeras (Mortal Kombat)Tanya (Mortal Kombat)Original Female Character(s) of ColorOriginal Male Character(s) of Color

Additional Tags:

Black Character(s)Family FluffFamily FeelsChildhood FriendsFriendshipAngst and Hurt/ComfortBetrayalBroken FamiliesTournamentsFalling In LoveFirst LoveNear DeathRedemptionPeople Change PeopleLin Kuei Clan (Mortal Kombat)Game 12: Mortal Kombat 1 (2023) .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

“OMFG Y/N turn off the damn ALARM ALREADY!” Someone said covering there head with a pillow.

”Ughhh”

you get up with the little energy you have to turn the alarm off the phone. You squint looking at the time on the phone, it shows that it’s 9:20 a.m

You quickly shot up, “FUCK! We’re going to be late for our first lecture. GET YO ASS UP RHONDA!” You quickly got out of bed. Snatching Rhonda’s leg that was exposed from under the cover. Dragging her in the bathroom, which Rhonda left alone being to lazy to fight against it.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

You both rushed out of your dorm room, running through the college to reach to there history class.

They peeked to see if there professor was facing the class, which luckily they weren’t. There back was turned, so you and Rhonda tipped toed inside and quickly head to both your seats, without being detected.

”Nice of ladies to join us today, I hope this doesn’t become a habit.” The professor announced as he was writing on the board.

”Yes Professor Major.” You and Rhonda said in unison.

about 30 min in the class he started going over Egyptian culture and it’s origin. Rhonda was sleep, and you had your headphones in listening to Nicki Minaj's new Pink Friday album. While scrolling through Instagram.

As you were looking at different posts, you had got a text from one of your other friends Tonya

•••

Tonya: “Hey Juicy Fruit, what you doing? :)”

“Nothing on the phone listening to music, and sitting in a boring ass class, PLEASE save a sister 😩😩”

Tonya: “Oof, damn that’s tough… Welp, I’m glad I ain’t you. Bitches like me need freedom 🤪”

”That’s because niggas like you don’t know how to act right. Probably would’ve not lasted either 😂😂”

Tonya: ”Bitch you ain’t funny 😒”

”I am, anyways will Jamika be at the shop today? I wanted to get some box braids done, I already bought some extensions.”

Tonya: “I do know she works today, I ain’t seen her yet. The shop open tho, and we don’t close until 8pm”

”Okay that’s fine, I’m a head straight there with Rhonda. After our classes, thanks boo😘”

Tonya: ”You welcome Juicy, make sure you study hard now. Don’t want my baby to flunk lol.”

”Girl Bye”

Tonya: “😂😂😂”

•••

You put your phone down, as you continue to listen to your music and take notes down from the board for you and of course Rhonda.

Knowing she’s going to ask you to do it anyway. The lecture was finally over and you slapped Rhonda awake.

“Damn you almost knocked my weave off.” Rhonda told you as she was straightening her hair, putting it back in place. You chucked a little as ya’ll head to your next class.

”Then you need a new hairstylist, as in go to a professional and not do it yo damn self.”

”Nah bitch, just keep them motherfuckin hands to YO SELF.”

”Don’t fall asleep and I will.”

”Whatever, uh oh Ex alert.” Rhonda informed you. You looked up from your phone and noticed your ex-boyfriend Oscar.

”Well what a pleasant surprise, you look stunning as always Y/N.”

”Oscar haven’t you heard a song called, to the left to the left.” Rhonda did a little dance and hand gesture to the left, for him to leave.

Oscar rolled his eyes irritated but went back to his fake smile, “Oh Rhonda I didn’t see you down there. The adults are having a conversation.”

Rhonda wanted to back hand him, but you held her hand back. “What do you want Oscar? We’re trying to get to class.”

”I just wanted to introduce you to my girlfriend. I thought you two might get along, Jovanni!” He shouted behind him, she quickly came towards the group. Hugging him then giving him a kiss.

”Jovanni this is Y/N, Y/N this is Jovanni Simpson, Babe you remember when I told you about her.”

You looked at Jovanni, and you had to admit she was a beauty. Gorgeous milk chocolate skin, with a beautiful smile. Tall with an hour glass figure, long black hair and just everything about her was gorgeous.

”Damn girl, yo baby hair is on TEN! WHO does your ha-OW!” You nudged Rhonda’s side.

”I do my own hair I’m a Hairstylist and cosmetologist on the side and studying to be a nurse. I’ll be interning to the university hospital in Miami, this year. One of the biggest hospitals in our state!” Jovanni told them, with a huge grin.

You know she wasn’t trying to piss you off or try to come off that she’s better than you, but you still take it as such.

”W-Well, my girl Y/N is… you know… AN ACTRESS!”

Everyone looked at Rhonda confused, you gave her the angry smile.

“Really!?” Oscar and Jovanni questioned looking at you. You just smiled at them nervously and embarrassed.

”Yep and she knows JOHNNY CAGE!”

”The JOHNNY CAGE! OMG! I LOVE HIM!” Jovanni bounced.

”Babe she fuckin wit u, she ain’t no actress nor does she know Johnny Cage.”

”Ha! How would you know? Its okay to admit, that I’ve accomplished more than you."

”Stop cappin! Just admit that you ain’t got shit goin for yo ass. I bet you ain’t got no proof.”

”Oh really!? I’ll show yo ass proof!” You snapped back.

”Yeah she gonna be in Johnny’s Cage upcoming, movie the movie he announced he's producing and directing called, ‘Mortal Kombat’. And you both are invited to the premiere when it comes out.”

“Rhonda hun.” You whispered to her, nervously.

”We’ll even take pictures while we’re on set and post it on all her socials.” Rhonda told the two who looked at Oscar irritated and Jovanni excited and shocked.

”Wow! Damn look at the time, we better getting going to class.” You said quickly dragging Rhonda to ya’ll class. You both quickly settled down, you slammed your head on the desk arms folded.

”Ughhhhh… Why can I never have a good morningggg… WHY DID YOU TELL THEM THAT RHONDA! I don’t know that nigga nor am I gonna be in any movie. I’m already irritated he has a hot successful girlfriend in the making… When I have no evidence, I’m a just be embarrassing my black ass for no reason…. I wanna go home…”

”Listen don’t let that clown and his thot get you down. I know what will cheer you up babe.” Rhonda pulled out her phone and put on BTS “Butter”

”Smooth like butter, like a criminal under cover.” Rhonda began singing to your favorite song and moving to the beat in her seat as they wait for the professor. You looked up smirking shaking your head as you knew she wanted you to sing along to the beat. "Gon pop like trouble breaking into your heart like that." You continued, She got up and pulled you up with her. ya'll started dancing, everyone staring at you both, you both sang " Ooh when I look in the mirror I melt your heart into two I got that superstar glow, so Ooh(do the boogie, like)."

As you both were singing and dancing, there professor came in behind them looking at them. There professor started dancing behind them badly, the whole class started laughing. You and Rhonda danced turning around and completely stopped when you saw the professor. Rhonda turned the music off laughing at the professor, he stopped looking at the girls smiling. "I've been an ARMY sense 2013." You were definitely shocked by that news, "Well I guess were both apart of the ARMY." you laughed, you did feel a bit better, he had everyone settle down for the class to begin.

It was now 12:00pm ya'll only had two classes for that day, and luckily you didn't have to work at the movie store in the mall today. Like you said earlier to Tonya, ya'll was headed to the shop to get your hair done. You were thinking you and Rhonda could go out for some drinks.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Ya'll made it to the shop and you greeted the ladies, "HEYYYYYYY!" The four of ya'll say in unison. You were friends with the girls at the salon for a month, but it's like ya'll knew each other forever. You meet them at a club Rhonda took you to, after Oscar cheated on you and you were balling your eyes out to her. So she wanted to do something to get your mind off it, so dressed up really cute but still depressed.

Jamika had complemented you on your outfit when you were at the bar, she came in with Tonya and another girl named Ashanti. You started crying again after saying thank you, and they wanted to know what was wrong. Rhonda gave them the rundown and Ashanti related with your pain, they tried comforting you and everything went well from there and ya'll became friends.

"So how long are we talking babe?" Jamika took you to her chair.

"45 inch and can it be curly at the ends, you know wavy and shit. You know what I mean, I already know it's going to be cute." You sat down giving her the hair. You already took out the old hair with Rhonda's hair.

"I got you babe." Jamika replied, getting ready to feel with what she's working with.

Rhonda sat in one of the open chairs next to you, "Ya'll ain't gonna believe what just happened on campus, I wanted to beat that boys ass so badly!"

Rhonda was telling everyone what happened, which you felt slightly embarrassed, because you didn't want everyone in your business. She even told them about the part of knowing Johnny and now she has to show proof and stuff, "I dug a hole for myself with that one." You said as Jamika was washing your hair. Jamika and the other workers looking at each other, "Is something wrong?" You questioned.

"No it's just that, We a-"

Jamika was cut off as Ashanti entered, "OMG! I'm so sorry I'm late. There was traffic and shit happened at the apartment, al-"

"Mhmm, set up please." Jamika chuckled, she put you under the hair dryer after adding conditioner.

"Hey Ashanti I think ya girl Y/N need to talk to you about something." Tonya shouted to her. "Sure! Wassup girly?"

Tonya pulled her to her whispering in her ears, Ashanti nodding understanding. Ashanti came and sat next to you after setting up her spot, waiting on a client. "So I heard the run down from Tonya, I can help you meet Johnny." She smiled, you looked her confused, "How? You know Johnny?"

As you were getting your hair done, Ashanti told you of how she met Johnny and how they became friends, as well as a date she had a couple weeks ago with one of Johnny's friends. You were so amazed and shocked that you knew them for a month and they never told you this. They didn't think it was there place to say anything and didn't know if they should, plus you were busy with school. You couldn't believe that Mortal Kombat mumbo jumbo was real.

"Johnny told me there having a big get together in a place called outworld next weekend. He invited me, I can ask to see if I can bring any plus ones." Ashanti smiled at you, you wanted to spring into a hug so badly. But remembered who chair you were in, you gave many thank you's.

"I'm up for meeting some cute sexy men." Rhonda said laughing with Tonya.

"You got a cute sexy nigga right in front of you baby." Malcolm blew a kiss and winked at Rhonda. Who only rolled her eyes laughing at him

"So my cousin told me about this bomb ass club down in chinatown. She said is fire, so are you ladies up for a little fun in China tonight after we get off! Malcolm you closing today." Jamika told the girls, Malcolm nodded.

"Girls Night! It's been a minute sense we last had some good fun... Now the question stands... Who paying?"

"NOT IT!" Jamika, Rhonda, Ashanti, and You said in unison quickly. Leaving Tonya to take the bill.

Tonya shaking her head working on a clients hair, "You hoes get on my nerves."

"Tonya make sure to bring me something back, when ya'll done, you know what I like." Fredrick asked her, she nodded.

"I gotchu big poppa."

You were excited, I think you need to let loose again and have some fun with the squad. You definitely gonna snatch a few eyes in the club.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

You wore a cute short black dress, stopping at you're thighs. Strapless just enough to show off your ladies, making them more define. Makeup on hair in a up due and 6 in heels.

Rhonda looked just as cute with her tight leggings and tight crop tight with big poofy sleeves. She had a green and gold look going, You were black and gold of course. The classic style, you were very simple but cute.

Jamika volunteered to drive all of you to the place, she picked you and Rhonda up at 8:30. She was supposed to be there around 8 but Tonya wasn't ready and still getting dressed. "Ya'll already know black people don't never know how to be on time for shit." Jamika said taking a smoke from her blunt before driving off. If ya'll wanted to have fun, ya'll first was going to get high for it.

Ya'll made it to the place, and you had to admit it was poppin. The music was on point and everyone seem to be having fun. You just hope the drinks ain't shit that is your best friend in any place, and you headed straight there. There girls followed you and everyone grabbed a shot of vodka.

"TO GIRLS NIGHT!" Jamika shouted, you and the ladies toasted to that. The burning feeling in your throat felt amazing, you're hoping to find someone nice while here if possible. Some of you took more shots, you having the most. Ashanti already told you and the ladies she'll try to be the most sober one, so everyone else can have fun and be white girl wasted.

Your song came on and you and the girls was dancing to the music, you were having fun as you were lost in the music. Then you accidentally bumped into someone, "Ooh sorry, got to into the music." you apologized, your were a bit tipsy and high but you could've sworn they said something in a different language.

He turned back to you as he was done saying something to his friends, "It's alright, I hope you are enjoying your time um..."

"Y/N! The name's Y/N." You said that louder than you wanted to as the music calmed down, he had an Asian accent and the cutest smile when you told him your name.

"I was going to get some fresh air from the crowd, would you like to accompany me?" He gave you another sweet smile, all you did was nodded slowly. The liquor kicking in stronger, he held out his hand for you to grab and you took it without hesitation.

You don't know why you weren't more caution about following a stranger, but he didn't seem like a bad guy to you and maybe it could lead to something fun.

As you made it outside, the cool breeze felt nice. He took you to the side of the building, he pulled you close to him. Kissing you hard, your eyes bulged out as you tried to push him off you but then you felt something go in the side of your neck. He finally pulled away, you were becoming dizzy. Before completely blacking out, you should've known better than to go with some weird ass man.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

You were slowly regaining consciousness, you had a massive headache. Hangovers are not your thing, as you moved you felt that you were tied up. You moved harder and when your vision cleared you see a bunch of other girls tied up.

You sat up looking around, you were in a car. Your mind immediately ran 80 miles per minute, you didn't know what was going. "W-W-Where am I? W-What's happening." You asked one of the women in the cart with you.

"We're being sold to the Red Dragon Clan, to be a concubine to the head of the Red Dragon." One woman answered you.

You were in the midst of human trafficking and being sold to see random bastard as his personal whore. FUCK THAT!

”We need to get out of here!” You slowly stood up, not trying to make your headache worse.

”And do what, there is no way for us to get out. The door is locked, nothing is in here and they have the keys. So you might as well make yourself comfortable little girl.” One woman looked at you irritated, you can tell she was was trying to make the situation worse.

”I’m sorry, If I don’t want to be sold to someone that wants to SCREW ME TILL I PASS THE FUCK OUT! LIKE A DAMN RAGDOLL! If you aren’t going to give any ideas then please SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

All the girls in there looked at you with wide eyes, not saying anything behind that.

You had to calm down now, you looked around. You could tell the cart is wobbly, one thing she was right. There isn’t anything they can use to get out, except maybe… You looked towards the door, it looked weak and worn out. There was 10 girls in here including you. Only 4 big women, so only one option. You’re praying it works but it’s the only option, and you need to be quick.

”Okay! If you want to get out of here, you have to help me. This cart is not stable and the door looks worn out, if we all slam our weight on that door. Maybe… Just maybe it’ll break and we can get out of here.”

”While there in the middle of the road?” One girl said.

”It‘ll draw more attention if it’s in open place. They wouldn’t be able to risk being in the public eye.” You answered the quiet talking girl.

”And if it fails?” The agitated woman from before asked you.

You sighed, “Then we can have fun getting fucked to death. But if you’re only going to say negative shit, stay your ass over there. Those that want to at least try, stand up.”

They all looked at each other, you were happy to see all of them stand up. You had the biggest and thickest ones up front. Everyone in formation, “Ready… 1… 2… 3!” You yelled.

All the girls slammed on the door having there arms tied they slammed and put all there weight on the one side. Which made a loud sound, and the cart slightly leaned. The door bent a little.

The ladies could hear them talking, so you all didn’t waste no time doing it again. As it was working, and you all did it one last time. The door finally breaking open and all the girls rolled out, cart swinger hard to the right. Making the car lean with it and flip on its side.

You looked around, and noticed you were definitely far from home. You don’t know how long you were knocked out, but you prayed your friends knew you were missing and called for help. If help knew where this was. It didn’t seem like a place with not really anyone around to help you out here.

The men were getting up trying to get out the car. “RUN AND SCATTER!” You yelled to all the girls. You didn’t have to tell them twice.

You ran kicking off your heels, you dipped out as fast as your little feet could run. You heard the men not far from you, you continued to find somewhere to hide, as you were yelling for help. You don’t know why you’re not running towards a city but a forest. You looked behind you as you couldn’t see or hear the men following you.

You slowed down to catch your breath, as you doubled checked behind you. You bumped into someone, quickly turning around and gripped your throat. He looked as though he was dressed in Ninja attire Red and Black.

You were trying to break free as you were losing oxygen. “You’re the reason our pets got away. The master will not be pleased.”

”P-P-Plea… P-Please…” You tried to speak will trying to catch your breath. Tears coming out of your eyes, as your grip became weak.

”As punishment you will die.” He told you, and you couldn’t believe it was going to end like this… You wondered why this was happening to you. You didn’t believe you were a horrible person, but horrible things usually happens.

”I don’t want to die.” You squeaked out what you believed your last words would be.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

A/N: Sorry Bi-Han isn’t in the Prologue :) but he may show up in the next

I hope you ladies like it, I worked a hot minute on it and will be combining the other stories and adding ya’ll friends from the other stories💅🏾

A03: <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/53070346">Unforeseen</a> (3533 words) by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoralSky">MoralSky</a> Chapters: 1/? Fandom: <a href="

#mortal kombat #bi han sub zero #reader insert #bi han mortal kombat #fem reader #fanfic #bi han mk #black reader #bi han x reader #bi han fanfic #original characters #bi han x black reader #black fanfic writer

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colorfulyetsinful · 2 years ago

Text

Happy new years everyone!!! I hope everyone had a good nesw years and if not...welp :/

Anways, I got more headcannons! :D

As I mentioned in m last hc post, these are hc I've written on my phone to send to my friend. I thought I write so much hc might as well post them. Also, Jason is Latino bc I’m Latino and I say so.

Ok, headcannon time!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Batfam Accents

Dick:

Has a Romani / European accent

It’s a bit watered-down bc of him traveling in the circus

He knew english, but it was very broken

Or it sounded broken with how heavy his accent was

He learned how to switch accent and talk proper American english after becoming Robin as a way to further mask his identity

When he’s Robin and upset, he talks in his born dialect,

but in an American accent...

Yes, it is very funny

The teen titans thought he was going craz when he code switch

“Wait, you’re not (American) White?”

“Now where the fu-”

He uses his accent when in civilian form to keep the image

Jason:

Is an immigrant from Dominican Republic,

but immigrated when he was a baby

He only knew Spanish for the first few years of his life, until his mother died

His accent is also watered-down, but it's still strong to your genric American

It works when being questioned by the police,

just pretend you don't know english

As he got older and learned more english his accent basically went away (Still there, technology, just not as stronger)

Since he's from Gotham's streets, he has a heavy Jersey/Gotham accent (If you ever heard a jersey-ian (?) talk then you know what I'm talking about)

When he met Batman, he tried to play the "No Hablo inglés"

and Bruce pulls the uno reverse card and starts throwing spanish right back at him

"Abort mission"

When he teams up with Roy, Roy find him hot when he speaks spanish

He also teaches Lian spanish bc "I'm basically raising her too, Roy. That's my child as much as she is your's, and I'm teaching her spanish, danmmit"

Tim:

The only one withot an accent,

like he has a Gotham accent, but its posh Gotham (people with these accents are rich and think their shit dont stink)

Knows Korean and Yiddish fluently

Bc Tim is haft asian (I hc him as Korean and Jewish) and rich, ofc his parents had him learn a bunch of languages

Languages such as; Japanese, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Mandarin

One time the YJ (who didn't know his identity) ran into his civilian personal at a banquet and he had to speak Korean

Yj was on a mission, however, to watch over him (much to his displeasure) and he had to pretend to only speak Korean the whole night

When frustrated and/or in pain, he switches to one of the many languages he know

"What is your ethnicity? You're fluent in too many languages"

"Human. No more questions"

Damian:

Is actually an immigrant

(At least, I believe so...corrent me if im wrong)

His accent is the heaviest out of all of them bc he grew up in the middle east for a good chunk of his life

He hides it with posh European english (how he was taught english)

Knows a lot of languages bc Talia said knowing all of them is important

He doesn't know Cantonese, Portugese, or Hawaiian

Still getting use to speaking more in english and not Arabic

Still wasn't able to properly mask his accent yet as some words are weird to pronounce.

Cassandra:

Is taking speach therapy so she also doesn't really have an accent

She just speaks broken english bc she's getting used to talking

Talks very softly

Uses ASL mostly as it is an easier wa to communicate

Slowly gaining a Canadian accent bc her speech instructor is from Canada

Duke:

Like jason, also has a Gotham/Jersey accent

Grew up in regular gotham streets, unlike Tim, so it's more slang words

The "Blaccent"

Is very heavy, like he cant turn it off

which is fine bc he's a gotham base vigilante

Teaches Damian Jersey slang

Bonce!!!!

Bruce also has a posh Jersey accent that Tim as bc all rich and high society do

and Alfred is obviously british

#bruce wayne #batfam headcanons #batfamily #batfam #duke thomas #dick grayson #damian wayne #tim drake #jason todd #alfred pennyworth #gotham #batman

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sapphire-weapon · 11 months ago

Note

Hello!! So I was reading your meta analysis on Leon deciding not to pursue Ada in RE6 and tbh never looked at RE6 as a resolution to Aeon. They were acting too married in my opinion, there was a established intimacy between them idk, and he has her phone number. When Leon demands answers from Ada, he's never harsh or angry, he believes her even before she answers bc he knows her. I think it's poor writing bc there are a lot of holes to fill and it's really annoying bc she sounds like a hotline operator, she does "good things" but she still has these corny lines and won't explain shit to anyone, not even to Leon after he went through all that trouble for her. But his letting her go felt like an "ok you'll go figure things out and I'll see you again soon" which is really fucking unhealthy but that's always been them.

But after reading your post I was like... did I missunderstand the purpose of that scene or did the game really gave closure to their relationship? Bc it feels like no one else in the fandom feels like that was the end lmao, Aeons or not, they're still waiting for the resolution to their relationship.

Do you think that if the game had been received better, Capcom would've continued with the whole cat and mouse thing between them or was that really their intended resolution for Aeon? Bc Vendetta, ID and DI feel like a really hard attempt to appease that response and not like a direction they were planning to take originally. And at this point they don't know what to do with Ada so it really proves she was just an accesory to Leon and when they couldn't fit her into his narrative anymore they were like welp.

Sorry for the long ask and I hope you have a great day 🧡

dude the whole point of leon's RE6 campaign is that leon thinks he knows ada and doesn't. like he watches a video of carla being hatched from an egg, legitimately thinks it's ada, and then just rolls with it because that's how little he knows her.

what people pick up on in these stories is fucking wild, to me. y'all miss the forest for the trees. "omg he has her number" HOMIE HE THINKS SHE'S PART DINOSAUR OR SOMESHIT

like one of the biggest themes of RE6 is "chasing after an illusion." jake spends a significant portion of his story chasing after the ghost of wesker, chris spends a significant portion of his story chasing after ada thinking she's carla, and leon spends a significant portion of his story chasing after a woman he thinks he knows but doesn't. ALL OF THEM ended up being wrong in the end. jake was wrong about his blood ties informing his future, chris was wrong about ada killing his men, and leon was wrong about the many assumptions he made about ada.

if anyone's sitting around waiting for closure about aeon, that's their fucking fault. because at the time that RE6 came out, a good chunk of the fandom went "okay resident evil can end now, RE6 feels like a conclusive end to the story" -- which is also an incorrect takeaway to have, but it goes to show how much people's memories get warped over time and influenced by others.

and no, i don't think that they would've continued the aeon story if RE6 had been received better. the original version of RE7 that was scrapped following the RE6 post-mortem was a leon and sherry game -- that says, to me, that they were always intending to pivot leon's story towards his relationship with the government and away from ada.

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borathae · 7 months ago

Note

Chapter 9

THE WARNINGS oh my god ooh ma gad im excited for this but im scared after last chapter

OH MY GOD HE IS WEARING THE SLUTTY GLASSES 😋🤤😩🥵 the smut is understandable

Uhm…not really, but do you have to? mood💀

ooh vampire books, she is trying to connect stuff i see u gurl

omg the tension is still there even after a week damn

If he messes up the little markings you put in there, you will personally end him. PERIODT

oops joon was here to study welp or is he?? 👀everything is sus here, its soo sad ........... i love it (jimin is such a slytherin for saying that xd)

Oh dear, really?” Namjoon gasps. hunty i can hear the fakeness through a screen and thats saying something

Don’t read this, it doesn’t make sense” oh so this is the one that might be true huh

This story however is claimed to be the babbling of a drunken person did jin make it haha

oh my god im cringing and dying please joon go away, get a stomachache or something and go to the toilet, let there be an earthquake, urgent phone call aaah😭😭

as if someone else was controlling it for a moment while your consciousness is still trapped inside and is trying to escape. But it can’t, so you have to do what your body tells you to do whilst panicking inside. no, but similar one is anxiety attack from the moment you woke up, your consciousness all confused cuz there is nothing to panic but ur body does anyways

list soo long, she wrote it down damn 😭😭

is joon genuinely shocked about the bite marks NO SHE TOUCHED HIS CANINES I-

my canines were really sharp when they were new, and i bit a girl cuz she accidentally choked me and there was 1 deep puncture and small puncture on her hand 😭😭thankfully it didnt get infected

holy shit now we dont know if he is lying or not

nah yall aint gonna study, its going to be jimin pt 2

Namjoon’s steps are silent another sign yall

holy crap, I literally can’t remember.” did joon do that, or is it all jimin and tae's "good night's sleep"?

im losing my mind seeing her losing her mind and joon just scaring both of us AAAAH

I thought you were a complete snob, but you are actually really sweet aHa aHa 😃

they just look a little intimidating. they do until u see them for more than a minute

“Oh ___, you are adorable im starting to think anyone saying this is weird

I’ve talked with you enough to know that your mind has enchanted me OH MY GOD AJBFQ XLAH;CWOUIRA he is not weird/scary and im not scared TAKE ME DADDY IM YOURS

SEXY AND SMART JOON SAYS IM SMART AND WITTY I GOT THE ULTIMATE COMPLIMENT IN LIFE MY JOB IS DONE BYE

HE LIFTED MY CHIN AND WHISPERED “Don’t turn away from me DIED

HOLY FUCK IM GONE DIED EVAPORATED PHOTOSYNTHESIZING

OH MY GOD ITS TOO HOT, I FORGOT WE WERE IN THE LIBRARY

HE SAID PLEASE NO WAY WE WORE UGLY PANTIES

“Hush, it’s okay. Relax IM RELAXED, CALLED ME GOOD GIRL WHAT THE HEL KSDAHDLSKK AFL *turns on fan

ok suddenly im scaredbye NO THE LIBRARIAN SAW US BYE IM SHAVING MY HEAD, EYEBROW AND GETTING FACE PIERCING AND TATTOOS

STOP WE U APPEARED IN FRONT ME STOP LYING AAHAHHAHAJ she is having the same conversation again gosh aaah what power does that screaming have? shit its wednesday and she doesnt know fuck

im more confused and scared and pls just hang out 2seok and kook bye 😭😭😭😭😭

OH MY GOD HE IS WEARING THE SLUTTY GLASSES 😋🤤😩🥵 the smut is understandable

lmaoaooaoao ME FR jfjasdjf also a black turtleneck. the smut is understandable.

Uhm…not really, but do you have to? mood💀

fjdasjf me when men

ooh vampire books, she is trying to connect stuff i see u gurl

LIKE MISS GURL IS SO CLEVER I LOVE HER

omg the tension is still there even after a week damn

akdfkasj me fr like he could get it so hard

oops joon was here to study welp or is he?? 👀everything is sus here, its soo sad ........... i love it (jimin is such a slytherin for saying that xd)

JDFJAJFS no but what was he doing there fr??

Oh dear, really?” Namjoon gasps. hunty i can hear the fakeness through a screen and thats saying something

JFJASDJF he is like *acts shocked* oh no

oh my god im cringing and dying please joon go away, get a stomachache or something and go to the toilet, let there be an earthquake, urgent phone call aaah😭😭

lmaoao the fear is understandable

fun fact? i took inspo from my panic attacks JFAJDFJ help me god

list soo long, she wrote it down damn 😭😭

like she is so clever for that though

is joon genuinely shocked about the bite marks NO SHE TOUCHED HIS CANINES I-

"genuinely shocked" HAHHAHAH yes indeed very shocked indeed. also her touching his teeth is so funny like HFHADSHF

my canines were really sharp when they were new, and i bit a girl cuz she accidentally choked me and there was 1 deep puncture and small puncture on her hand 😭😭thankfully it didnt get infected

honestly deserved cause why is she at your neck?

holy crap, I literally can’t remember.” did joon do that, or is it all jimin and tae's "good night's sleep"?

mhmhmmh indeeed mmhmhmmh

im losing my mind seeing her losing her mind and joon just scaring both of us AAAAH

me fr

I thought you were a complete snob, but you are actually really sweet aHa aHa 😃

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH GIRL.

“Oh ___, you are adorable im starting to think anyone saying this is weird

NO BUT YOU AREN'T WRONG FOR THAT JFASJDFAJ imma stick with Yoongi who is rude af to us JFJADSFJ

I’ve talked with you enough to know that your mind has enchanted me OH MY GOD AJBFQ XLAH;CWOUIRA he is not weird/scary and im not scared TAKE ME DADDY IM YOURS

LMAOAO ME FR

SEXY AND SMART JOON SAYS IM SMART AND WITTY I GOT THE ULTIMATE COMPLIMENT IN LIFE MY JOB IS DONE BYE

jfajdsjf felt.

HE LIFTED MY CHIN AND WHISPERED “Don’t turn away from me DIED

BRO NO JOKE ME FR lmoaoa you losing your ass over the smut is so me like if he wasn't so weird about it, i'd be on my knees gobbling him up

ok suddenly im scaredbye NO THE LIBRARIAN SAW US BYE IM SHAVING MY HEAD, EYEBROW AND GETTING FACE PIERCING AND TATTOOS

lmaoaooao

STOP WE U APPEARED IN FRONT ME STOP LYING AAHAHHAHAJ she is having the same conversation again gosh aaah what power does that screaming have? shit its wednesday and she doesnt know fuck

NO BUT THIS IS WHERE IT GETS SCARY BECAUSE WTFFFFFFF

im more confused and scared and pls just hang out 2seok and kook bye 😭😭😭😭😭

honestly?? she should really do that cause 😭

#asks: sanguis alpha #asks #minusback #tw: long post

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hood-ex · 8 months ago

Text

Finished JJK 0

I didn't know the movie was a prequel. I just wanted Yuji to show up the entire time lmao. The blorbo effect of me having a hard time focusing unless blorbo characters are involved.

No but I did manage to focus well enough, and I like that I got to know the year 2 students (or year 1 in this case) better, especially Maki. It makes things more interesting with her sister as well.

I've decided I hate the fact that Toge can only say a handful of curses before he has to tap out. I get that it's a weakness factor of his ability, buuut I still wish he could spit curses for longer than that.

Hearing "goddamn" in a Japanese accent was funny.

Oh yeah the heart nipples dude like what lmao.

I'm interested in seeing how Yuta and Yuji will interact with each other. I feel like their priorities are a bit more in sync in terms of saving/protecting people.

Todo and his Takada-chan agenda lmaooo. That's honestly such a hilarious motive to kick ass faster.

The entire time I was like is Kenjaku that forehead scar dude from season 1. I don't remember if his name was ever revealed in season 1, if so, I clearly didn't hear or memorize it. And then I always just recognized him by the forehead scar, so since he didn't have that in the movie I was like hmm is that the same guy. Are they different men entirely.

Naaaur I just wanna see Yuta and Yuji kicking ass together tbh. Not sure if Yuta returns in season 2, but I feel like he would since the movie was about him.

Ughhh I keep wanting to refer to the characters by their last names instead of their first names since in the sub they always go by their last names. Gojo feels more correct to me atm lmao so anyway I get Gojo's eyes are doing something but idk what, and I don't really care, I just know shit will rock harder when his mask comes off (*cough* Kakashi vibes *cough*) . And no yeah keep your mask on please sir bc those eyes are like elves on cocaine at the Christmas shindig.

Ummm what else... Nanami being a boss as usual. I don't usually buy geek merch, but I'm suddenly wanting a Nanami something of sort. Sticker maybe. Maybe I can slap him over the Nightwing sticker on the back of my phone case.

Kasumi is just a cutie patootie. Looks like a cinnamon roll... could actually kill you. Her hair makes me want to eat a blue Icee though.

I've been wondering who Gojo's teacher was and bam. No teacher reveal. But! Gojo and uhh what's his face... scar man. Scanning my above points quickly to try and find his name... oh Kenjaku. Yeah them being classmates wasn't necessarily surprising. Just because Kenjaku obviously knew a lot about Gojo based on season 1.

I don't remember if I was distracted or it simply wasn't mentioned, but I don't know what Yuta's skills are now. Like what's her face dead girl love monster, her curse self died, and so he shouldn't have access to her assistance now, right? But is her curse energy still embedded in the sword? So he's just a cursed sword user now? Or is he still insanely powerful?

Welp on to season 2 I suppose. I need Yuji's loud annoying ass back in front of my eyes pronto.

#this is making me want sour cream and onion chips for some reason. i haven't even eaten those in like idk 10 years or something #maybe bc gojo's hair is white like sour cream #dude idk anime hair makes me hungry #jjk 0

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jumpywhumpywriter · 2 months ago

Text

Draft of Chapter 5 of my Fantasy Trilogy: "Flames of Death"

Warnings: running into fire, death, cardiac arrest, severe smoke inhalation, intense rescue

To get the context: Shadow is the morally gray stoic anti-hero from my in-progress fantasy trilogy, who has wings and fangs and magic, and is allied with a human teenager named Thomas who is looking for his missing brother who was taken and held captive by an organization called Jackal. They have already followed several leads and infiltrated Jackal headquarters on one occasion searching for Thomas's brother, and Jackal has had enough of it. They retaliate. But with Thomas's brother's life on the line, can them save him before it's too late?

"Shadow, could you please work with me for once instead of making everything more aggravating?!" Thomas groaned. "I was under the impression that this was an alliance. As in, both parties work for the greater good."

Shadow shrugged casually, her white wings moving up and down with the movement. "Hey, I don't like you either, and I'd rather be anywhere but here right now, but alas, I'm stuck with you. I swear I'm losing brain cells just standing near you." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "But fine, I'll give this whole 'working together' thing a try. Any idea on how to locate your brother?"

As if on cue, Thomas's phone beeped with an incoming message. He pulled it from his pocket and stared at the screen in confusion, his brow furrowing.

The message had been sent from an unknown number. Thomas had installed advanced, near impenetrable firewalls that he had created himself previously to prevent any nonessential calls or texts from coming through, which is why it was strange that one still managed to wriggle its way onto his phone regardless of his protections.

He clicked on the text so that it filled the screen. There was a video attachment that had been sent. A message also came with it, displayed below the attachment. It was an address, followed by more information.

1576 Maple Street, 67882.

Come alone, or he dies. Tonight, Midnight.

Thomas felt his heart drop to his stomach as he dreaded clicking the attachment after reading the words. He finally mustered up the courage and opened the video. A second later he gasped. On the screen was his brother, Lucas, tied to a chair in a nearly empty room. Shadow peered over his shoulder, her curiosity piqued by his reaction.

"What is it?"

"It's him... it's Lucas!"

"Welp, that’s definitely a trap. You happen to be looking for your brother and coincidently Jackal gives you the chance to save him?" Shadow snorted, crossing her arms over her chest. “My guess is that you’ve become such a pain, that they're trying to lure you out to kill you and put a permanent end to the problems you keep causing for them.” She saw the expression on Thomas's face as he opened his mouth to say something, and cut him off with a shake of her head, already knowing exactly where it was headed.

"No. That is a very stupid idea. We don't even know if they will keep their end of the bargain."

"Come on, you know we're going there anyways. We can't take the chance that Jackal is not lying." Thomas looked up from his screen and met Shadow's eyes. She sighed in exasperation.

"What part of 'it's a trap' did you not get?"

"Whatever happens, I would do anything to save him. Even if it turns out to be a trap, at least I tried. Please, will you help me?" Thomas pleaded with her. He could see that he was starting to get under her skin when she stared hard at the floor, looking conflicted. A few long moments passed before she finally looked up again with a frustrated groan.

"Ugh, fine. I'll come along. As backup only though, understand? I won't intervene unless I deem it absolutely necessary."

"Thank you so much! I promise you won't regret it!" Thomas gushed.

I’m already starting to, Shadow grumbled quietly to herself.

It took a few hours for everyone to get prepared for what was to come at night. Thomas handed out earpieces to everyone so they could all easily communicate later.

"All set?" Tanner asked Shadow. She was loading up a small bag with field supplies. Thomas saw her packing a pair of binoculars and a variety of deadly looking knives and blades.

"Ready," Thomas said, determination in his eyes. Shadow's only reply was a brief nod of acknowledgement as she tucked one last short dagger into her boot.

"Great, let's move out!" Tanner led the way to the car.

Shadow followed them out before she disappeared into the dark night with a whooshing sound as her wings propelled her into the crisp, chilly air.

"Uh... isn't she coming too?" Thomas asked, confused.

"Of course. She just prefers to fly instead of drive, remember? One bonus is that she won't have to deal with traffic. I expect that she will arrive at our destination a few minutes ahead of us. It will give her extra time to pick a decent hiding spot with a good vantage point," Tanner explained.

"Hiding spot?" Thomas echoed, and raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"Of course. We don’t want the general public seeing her, and we don't know what we are walking into. It's best to maintain the element of surprise, just in case."

"Just in case what?" Thomas swallowed nervously as they started driving. Tanner didn't reply.

In the backseat, Thomas thought of all possible scenarios as to how this could play out. Most of them ended in tragedy. They drove for fifteen long minutes before the car slowed to a stop as they reached their destination.

Thomas had butterflies in his stomach as he stepped out onto the sidewalk. His legs felt shaky beneath him. The night sky was solidly black, with only a few bright stars scattered here and there against the light-polluted background. It was midnight. Right on time.

"This is the place?" Tanner asked skeptically.

"Yes, this is the place." Thomas swallowed dryly. Before them stood a shorter than average skyscraper, located on the corner of the street. It was only ten stories tall. The two of them approached the building with caution. Thomas pulled out his phone, and texted the unknown number that had asked him to the address.

I need proof of life.

He didn't have to wait long. A live video link came through and Thomas clicked on it, his heart racing. In the video feed, he could see his brother still tied to a chair, clearly unconscious, his face bruised and various other wounds on his body, but alive nonetheless. There was another message attached to it.

Third floor.

It was all the proof he needed. He approached the doors and reached to grab the handle, but Tanner put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Something's not right," he warned, then touched his comms with a wince. “Shadow still thinks this is the absolute worst idea in the history of bad ideas. Although she worded it a bit more… colorfully. Maybe we should take a step back to think this through."

"No. I can't leave him in there. I won't," Thomas insisted, shaking his head vehemently.

"Just... be careful. That's all I'm saying," Tanner added slowly, a worried expression on his face. "Shadow is in position on a nearby roof in case anyone tries to do something stupid. I'm already on a private channel with her."

Thomas nodded nervously, then took a calming, shuddering breath, steeling his nerves, before entering the building.

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

Meanwhile, from a rooftop across the street, Shadow lay in wait, staring through a pair of night vision binoculars. She scanned the skyscraper for activity, and finally found it on the third floor up.

Gotcha, she thought to herself. Through the reflection on the window, she could see that Thomas's brother was indeed inside the structure. Jackal hadn’t lied about that much, at least. There appeared to be a tripod in front of him with a phone on it, which is how the video link must have been sent.

But why is there no one else in the building to guard their prisoner?

She felt a familiar tingle at the back of her neck as her gut told her that danger was near. And her warrior’s sense was rarely wrong. She scanned the other floors through the binoculars, and saw a strange box on the second one. There was a red digital readout above it, but it was too unfocused for her to read what it said. But Shadow didn't need to. She had seen this little black box before, and she knew exactly what kind of damage it could do.

The box, she believed, contained what was known to her as a fire bomb. Fire bombs were a type of illegal weapon that had been banned in almost every country in the world, and few people knew anything about them. Where there was one, there were usually more, all connected to the same remote trigger, and placed in strategic areas to cause the most destruction.

When detonated, it released a powerful, explosive jet of fire around a room, almost like a flamethrower, but twenty times stronger. It could set a whole building aflame in mere minutes, destroying everything inside. It was originally meant to be a means of assassination that was designed to look as though it were only a freak accident, to cover evidence.

The damage left by a regular bomb is unmistakable, but the trail a fire bomb leaves is far more erratic, and anyone looking at the aftermath would naturally come to the conclusion that it was probably just an accidental gas explosion or another such cause. The fire bombs were generally placed on the lower levels, so that the fire would work its way upwards from the source point.

He's walking into a death trap.

"Tanner, you need to get him out of there right now!" Shadow barked into her comms. Tanner immediately sprung into action, not even bothering to question her reasoning as he rushed into the entryway, where Thomas hadn't even made it to the elevator. He grabbed the teen by the arm and started dragging him back towards the door to safety, while Thomas yelped in surprise and confusion.

They had almost made it out when the bomb went off, completely engulfing six of the ten stories in flames. Tanner stumbled out into the fresh air, still maintaining a strong grip on Thomas.

"No! Thomas cried, struggling to free himself from Tanner's iron grip as he saw the fire spread through the building. "I have to go back in! My brother is still in there! Please, you have to let me go!" He was near hysterical. Shadow could hear Thomas's pleas over her comms, and searched through her binoculars to try and relocate his brother. The fire effectively blocked her view.

Bat-droppings! She swore silently. She knew that there was only one more possible option for saving Thomas's brother now, but the thought was daunting, even to her. And the realization sent a cold shiver running down her spine, and her white feathers bristled with apprehension.

I am his only chance of survival.

No, why am I even considering this right now? I can't fly through fire! She thought to herself angrily. Why should I care about some random human anyway? I hate them! Besides, I tried to warn the stupid boy anyway… It’s not MY fault it was a trap!

She tried to talk herself out of it, but her conscience wouldn't let it go.

You should care because you know what this kind of pain feels like, it told her. Thomas’s desperate voice had awakened a long buried, sad memory from her distant past.

I remember… Shadow gritted her teeth and shut her eyes with a shudder. When she finally opened them again, they were filled with newfound resolve and determination.

Forget this, I'm going in. I am such an idiot…

“Tanner, get Thomas somewhere safe. I'll handle his brother," she growled through her earpiece. And with that, she reluctantly spread her great feathered wings and launched off the rooftop, heading on a straight course for the burning skyscraper.

From the street below, Tanner could see what she was about to attempt. "Shadow, no!" He shouted into the comms, watching as she gained more speed, making a beeline for the third story.

Up in the air, Shadow ripped her communications device out and threw it away.

I need my full focus on the task at hand if I'm going to pull this off.

The building came towards her with frightening speed, and at the last second before contact, she crossed her arms over her chest, ducking her head down and pulling her wings in tight against her body, turning herself into a speeding projectile. A feathery bullet.

Well, here goes everything…

Shadow forcefully smashed her way through the building's window with a loud crash, and it easily gave way upon impact, raining shards of glass onto the streets below. She rolled and skidded to a stop on the tiled floor, grunting as she pulled herself to her feet.

"Not the most graceful entrance I could have made," she muttered under her breath. The fire raged all around, making it hard to see anything as she peered through the thick haze.

Shoot, I forgot how flammable I can be, she thought with a shudder, and quickly snuffed out a small spark that had set one of her white feathers aflame. She started picking her way through the rubble consisting of burnt pieces of furniture and fallen down parts of the ceiling. The room was much larger than she had expected, and progress was slow.

"Lucas?" She coughed. Her breath came harder as the hot air scorched the inside of her lungs. The sweltering heat was almost unbearable against her face, and her eyes began to water from the heavy, suffocating smoke.

"Lucas, where are you?" Shadow reflexively jumped back as a large flaming beam came crashing down in front of her, narrowly missing her by mere inches, and slammed straight through the floor, leaving a giant hole in front of her.

That was waaay too close…

The fire roared furiously around the room, the searing heat stinging her skin as she continued her search.

At this rate, I'll burn to death before I find the stupid kid.

The room was gigantic, and visibility was at a minimum. She suddenly remembered a lesson a mentor had once taught her about slowing down and taking time to use her heightened senses, one of her species' greatest advantages.

Though there was danger all around, she took a deep, smoke-filled breath and closed her eyes in concentration, tuning out the many sounds around her, and sifting through each individual noise with utmost focus and delicate care. Only one caught her interest.

A voice? She listened harder, straining her sensitive ears to the limit.

"Help... anyone..." The voice was so faint, she could barely hear it over the loud crackling of the fire. She got an idea. Her eyes flew open and she suddenly began lashing out at the smoke before her with her large white wings, blowing it away in powerful strokes long enough for her to see the faint outline of a wingless human form through the orange haze, still tied to the chair.

It was Lucas. It had to be.

Found you. She quickly made her way over to him, navigating around all the hazards on the floor. Dozens of blisters covered his exposed skin from the immense heat, and his head hung loosely against his chest.

He'd better not be dead right now or I am going to be seriously ticked off, she thought angrily. Shadow was relieved to feel a subdued, weak pulse beneath her fingers as she placed a hand against the side of his neck. He was only unconscious, probably having used the last of his strength in his last weak cry for help.

He can't take much more of this. And I don’t think I can either…

Coughing and wheezing, she drew a small dagger from her boot and freed him from the chair, slashing easily through his restraints, then carefully picked him up in her strong arms. Her chest and lungs ached for air, but the fire consumed so much of the oxygen, that there was very little left for two beings to breathe in. She was growing lightheaded, and quickly became aware of how little time she had left to escape before she would risk passing out, which would be a certain death sentence. But when she turned around to make her exit, the flames had grown far more aggressive, blocking the hole in the window from where she had come crashing in.

Great. As if the situation couldn’t get any worse, she thought sarcastically. There were only two choices available.

Either I have to fly through fire, or be crushed when this building finally caves in.

She chose the former. Holding Lucas close to her chest, Shadow braced herself and charged through the flames, beating her large wings furiously, and her feet lifted from the ground. She shot from the building like a bullet, trailing smoke from burning feathertips. She immediately veered steeply downwards into a near-vertical dive, heading for the nearby river that ran through the city, which was only a short distance away.

Just a little further. I can make it. She released her grip on Lucas a single second before she went over the retaining wall at the edge and hit the water, so that he landed on solid ground, while she continued onward with a loud splash when contact was made. Her feathers sizzled as the flames were suffocated from lack of oxygen.

Masterlist #2

@scoundrelwithboba @lumpofsand @isikedmyself878 @iamheretohurt @fleur-a-whump

@ay5ksal @otterfrost @sausages-things @togzy

@whump-till-ya-jump @cravesunconditionallove @whumpwritinglover222

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electronicsass · 7 months ago

Text

Welp. My internet died.

Fuck.

-cries in having to watch next episode on phone-

RIP me… already.

Just a thing, my modem died. Like I literally have no internet. Just phone data.

#jay talks about stuff #not tagging HB #it’s literally just a rant #I’m so annoyed

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ghost-on-my-trick-till-i · 5 months ago

Text

Ghost Trick: Small Difference

Chapter Four

First, <prev, next>

or you can read it on Ao3

fic under the cut

8:23 PM

I’ve descended into the unknown below, hoping for an escape to follow the ever growing mystery that surrounds me and my death.

All I know at this point is that following the mysterious duo Yomiel and Sissel will lead me to my answers.

Or so I've been told.

The idea of plunging into the unknown fills me with a slight sense of discomfort, but it's not the first time I've done it and I'm sure it won't be the last.

I'm still not sure what “The Chicken Kitchen” is.

The first thing I notice when I reach my new location is that it wasn't all that different from the one I had just left. It was another home. Though instead of a bedroom this was a living room. The place was nice with sensible pictures on the walls, a small couch, a matching end table, and most importantly, a phone.

So Sissel must live in an apartment, on at least the second floor…

The second, not as nice or pleasant, thing I notice is a dead body.

It's the dead body of a woman, a nicely dressed one, wearing an elegant slim blue dress. Her hair is a soft lilac and it's tied up at the back with a warm yellow bow.

She's lying on the ground, blood seeping from what must be a gunshot wound. While I can't say I've seen one before today, though I can't say much about what I have or have not seen before, my recent experiences with gunshot wounds make me feel like I can identify one pretty easily.

Near the woman is a second, smaller little corpse. A corpse of a little doggie. The dog is quite fluffy with blonde fur. Though harder to see because of the fur, the dog also appears to have a gunshot wound.

What is with people getting shot tonight? Do people get shot this often on normal nights? And who in their right mind would shoot a little doggie?

There's no way I'm just going to let this woman and dog stay dead. I may have a mission to complete but I'm not going to let people lay around dead if I can do anything about it.

I maneuver around the room a bit and reach the body of the dead woman. I reach out to her core without hesitation.

Once again the world swirls around me in a red hue and I’m met face to face with the victim.

This is the first time I’m saving someone other than Yomiel.

The poor woman is still unconscious, and honestly it'd probably be better if she stayed that way, she doesn't need the pain of her death etched onto her subconscious. While the memories of his death don't haunt Yomiel, I'm sure it would haunt anyone with any sense of emotional availability.

“Who… who are you?”

Just my luck I suppose.

While a simple question, it's not one I can answer easily. I don't know who I am, that's the whole point of my investigation. but to not come off rude I answer to the best of my ability. “I'm just a wandering spirit here to help whoever I can.”

“Help? Am I in danger?” the woman asks.

“I wouldn't say you're currently in danger, from the looks of things the danger is gone, but you didn't come out of it unharmed.” I'm hoping to try and dodge around the fact that this woman has died, it’d still be best if she didn't know the full situation.

“You said you were a spirit, does that mean I'm dead?”

Welp.

“Yes, you're dead.” I say rather bluntly. Because she figured it out on her own there's no point in sugarcoating it.

“I’m… dead?” the woman falters. Had she not be a blue spirit and had eyes I'm sure there'd be tears forming.

“Unfortunately, but that's why I'm here.”

“I need to see this.” The woman pushes me out of the ghost world to take a better look at the scene. She stares wordlessly into the room in front of her.

The blue spirit drifts away and becomes the woman dead on the floor.

“Missile…” She whispers blankly, I could barely hear it.

“Missile?” I say in a confused manner. “Is that your little doggie?”

“My dog..?” She pauses. “No he was… He was always more of Kamilas dog than mine.”

“Kamila?” That's a new name. “Who's Kamila?”

“Kamila. Kamila is…” She pauses and looks around the room. “Where is Kamila?” The woman pauses once again. “Hopefully she's in bed, resting peacefully.”

“Who exactly is Kamila?” I ask.

“She's… my daughter.”

So this woman is a mother, and her daughter's name is Kamila. Though for whatever reason she isn't here. And even though the woman herself assumes that her daughter is asleep I just can't imagine that's the case. If both she and Missile had been shot, that would’ve been incredibly loud.

“Oh Kamila…” She begins to tear up. “I've failed you, I can no longer be here for you. Not even Missile can.”

Missile… that little doggie just over there. His core is within my reach, I wonder if I can talk to animals like I can people.

I decide to check out the core of the little doggie. I don't know why I'd be able to talk to him but I have the feeling that I can.

The little blue spirit of the dog appears in front of me.

“Are you awake?” I ask.

“Awake? I've never been so awake in my life!” the doggie exclaims with boundless energy.

“I wouldn't say “life” but sure.” I think for a moment. “Say, do you remember who you are?”

“Who I am? Who I am?” The doggie stops for a second. “I'm Missile! I'm a pomeranian!”

“Missile, you can speak?” The woman says from beside me. I jumped a little, I didn't notice her.

“Miss Alma!” Missile exclaims.

Alma? That must be the name of this woman.

“Miss Alma?” She pauses. “T-That's right! My name is Alma!”

“Miss Alma!” Missile cries out. “Are we dead?”

This little doggie catches on surprisingly quickly.

“I believe so.” Alma laments.

“What? No, you can't die Miss Alma!” Missile cries out.

“I'm afraid I already have.”

“Where's Miss Kamila? She isn't dead too, right?”

“There's no other dead bodies around here.” I answer. “So probably not.”

“Thank goodness!” Missile exclaims. “If Miss Kamila died I would have double failed as your little doggie!”

“Oh Missile.” Alma smiles slightly. “There's nothing you could have done.”

“Do either of you remember how you died?” I ask. This is the most memories I've seen the dead attain on their own. Yomiel knew about as much as I did when he was dead.

“I can't remember.” Alma answers.

“Yeah! There was someone at the door and I went to say hello! And then there was a loud bang.” Missile answers.

So he remembers, but he doesn't seem to be all that good at describing.

“Do you remember what the person at the door looked like?” I ask.

“They were uhh…” Missile stops to think. “Oh! There were two people! One was really tall and the other was really short.”

“Tall and short…” Alma thinks aloud. “Oh I think it's coming back to me! They were foreigners.”

Foreigners? That's how Yomiel described the hitmen that were after him!

“Hitmen? Yomiel?” Alma says.

So it seems Yomiel isn't the only one able to read my mind.

“Ah, Yomiel is the name of the man I had saved earlier. He was shot by hitmen.”

“Saved?” Alma looks at me confused.

Oh, it seems I haven't explained anything have I?

“Yes, I have the ability to go back in time four minutes before a person's death and save them.”

“Is that even possible? I mean going back in time is…” Alma trails off.

“Well why didn't you say so earlier?!” Missile exclaims. “We need to save Miss Alma!”

“You're not surprised about the whole “travelling back in time” thing?” I ask Missile.

“Not really!” He exclaims. “I mean Miss Alma can walk around on two legs, but I can't do that. So if she can do that… Then it's not so strange that you can walk backwards through time!”

So that's how the mind of a little doggie works.

Alma chuckles.

“But really, using my powers of the dead I can stop these deaths from even happening. Your lives can be saved.”

“That's ridiculous. We’re already dead.” Alma insists.

“That's what the last guy said.” I say. “I can save you and I'm going to.”

“That can't be possible, going back in time isn't possible.” She insists.

“I don't understand it anymore then you do” I tell her. “And I'll prove it, let's go back four minutes before your death.

Once again the world warps impossibly as the scene in front of me changes. Alma is now sitting down on the couch and Missile is resting peacefully on the floor beside her.

Alma, however, is noticeably crying. She's quickly wiping her own tears and suppressing her sobs as much as possible.

“I can't believe it…” she cries. “After I tried so hard to fix things, everythings going to change again.”

Alma wipes her tears again and looks up. “Well… not really change in a literal sense. But things will be different.” She looks towards the phone. “It wouldn't hurt to call…”

Alma gets up from the couch and walks over to the phone. She dials a number and puts the receiver against her ear.

“Hello, it's Alma.” She speaks into the phone. “Is it possible to talk to him?”

She waits for the person on the other side of the phone to speak. “Oh,” She pauses. “Can I ask if it's going to be today?”

Her head drops as she hears the answer on the phone. “Oh, thank you for telling me.” she says meekly. “I'll speak with you tomorrow.” she says before returning the receiver to its home.

Alma sighs weakly as she returns to her spot on the couch. She holds her head in her hands and starts to sob.

The noise of it wakes Missile up, and he places himself right beside Alma's legs. He looks up sadly at his crying mistress and whines.

Alma jumps a little. “Missile, I didn't see you there.” She picks up the small dog and places him on her lap. “I'm sorry, I know you don't like seeing me sad.”

Alma pets Missile on the head and he responds by licking her on the face. “Okay you silly dog, that's enough.” Alma says as she places Missile back on the ground.

Missile doesn't move, instead choosing to sit sadly beside Alma.

Missile sits there beside Alma until a rat scurrying along the floor comes to his attention. Missile chased the rat across the floor to the other side of the room. He barks violently at the vermin before the rat makes its grand escape and turns around. Missile spins across the floor to face the rat, and the chase begins anew. This happens three more times before the rat jumps onto the couch, Missile of course follows the rat up there.

“Missile!” Alma exclaims. “Leave the poor rat alone!”

Missile ignores the demands of Alma and continues to bark at the rat in front of him.

“I know there's a rat there! You don't need to keep barking!” Alma yells and picks up Missile.

There's a banging from the other side of the wall. “If that mutt keeps on barking I'll knock this wall down!” a voice yells.

“Now you're getting Emma all worked up! Could you please just be quiet?” Alma begs to Missile, who refuses to stop barking.

Alma sighs and sets Missile down. “Don't move!” She commands the dog. Missile firmly plants his butt on the ground but continues barking. Alma leans down and hastily picks up the rat, trying to touch as little of it as possible. She then promptly opens the window behind the couch and tosses the rat outside.

“I need to wash my hands,” Alma gags, before leaving the room to the kitchen. At the kitchen Alma makes an effort to wash very thoroughly, not leaving any surface unwashed.

As she's drying her hands she hears Missile barking again, and soon after a gunshot can be heard from the living room. She quickly forgets about drying her hands and sprints to the living room.

In the living room two intruders can be seen. A tall woman with bizarre hair, and a short man holding a gun, both foreigners. Not too far from the duo Missile is dead on the floor.

Alma is stunned, and doesn't move.

“Oops, looks like there's more people here then we bargained for.” The short man grins.

“Just get this over with,” The tall woman sighs.

“Right away my dearest beauty!” The man beams.

Not more than a second later Alma is shot.

“So there it is, the last moments of your life.” I say.

“I can't believe it. These people just broke into my house and shot me!” Alma fumes. “What reason could they have to do that?!”

“I'm not sure, but you're not the first victim to foreign hitmen.” I say. “And I don't think you'll be the last.” I remind myself that Sissel had also been named as a target, but she has yet to die.

“This is horrible,” Alma chocks out. “Why is this happening?”

“That's what I'm hoping to figure out.”

“What are we waiting for!” Exclaims Missile. “We have to save Miss Alma!”

“You’re right, let's get started.” I agree.

I will the world to warp into grains of sand, it's time to save a woman and a little doggie!

“So we really are in the past, huh?” Alma remarks.

“Yup, anything I do now has the potential to change the present.” i confirm.

“So now that we’re here, how do you go about saving us?” Alma asks. “I mean, I'm not even sure how it can be done…”

“Umm…” I hesitate.

“Oh, so you don't know either.”

“Not really, but it'll come to me later.” I admit. “The best thing for me to do at the moment is to just mess with things until I figure it out.”

“Wonderful…” Alma deadpans.

“It's okay! I have an idea of where to start!” I try to reassure.

I hastily move from the soul of Alma over to the phone. The conversation probably won't help me with saving anyone but I have a feeling that it's important to my greater investigation.

“Oh so you're interested in this black Hello?” Missile says.

“Hello?” Alma intrigues.

“Yeah, everybody says its name when they stop it from barking!” Missile exclaims.

“He's talking about the phone. That's adorable.” Alma giggles.

“I can't believe it…” Alive Alma cries. “After I tried so hard to fix things, everythings going to change again.”

Alive Alma wipes her tears again and looks up. “Well… not really change in a literal sense. But things will be different.” She looks towards the phone. “It wouldn't hurt to call…”

Alma gets up from the couch and walks over to the phone. She dials a number and puts the receiver against her ear.

“Hello, it's Alma.” She speaks into the phone.

On the other side of the phone, I see a police officer, calling from what looks like an office.

“Alma! This isn't when you normally call.” the Police officer remarks.

“Is it possible to talk to him?” Alma asks bluntly.

“I'm afraid not, the phone room is booked today.” the officer informs.

“Oh,” Alive Alma pauses. “Can I ask if it's going to be today?”

“I do believe it's sometime tonight, but I can't say when.”

Her head drops. “Oh, thank you for telling me.” she says meekly. “I'll speak with you tomorrow.” she says before returning the receiver to its home.

Mentally, I record the number Alma just called in my head, along with her own home number.

Alive Alma sighs weakly as she returns to her spot on the couch. She holds her head in her hands and starts to sob.

“Could I ask who you were talking about, on the phone?” I ask Alma.

“I…” She pauses. “I shouldn't say anything.”

Why does everyone refuse to tell me anything?

The noise of it wakes Missile up, and he places himself right beside Alma's legs. He looks up sadly at his crying mistress and whines.

Alma jumps a little. “Missile, I didn't see you there.” She picks up the small dog and places him on her lap. “I'm sorry, I know you don't like seeing me sad.”

Alma pets Missile on the head and he responds by licking her on the face. “Okay you silly dog, that's enough.” Alma says as she places Missile back on the ground.

Missile doesn't move, instead choosing to sit sadly beside Alma.

Missile sits there beside Alma until a rat scurrying along the floor comes to his attention.

I watch intently, hoping to find an opening.

Missile chased the rat across the floor to the other side of the room. He barks violently at the vermin before the rat makes its grand escape and turns around.

I depart from the phone and enter the cabinet door below me. I am able to open it.

When the rat comes around to the cabinet I open it, tossing the rat across the floor and it hits the door.

The rat gets cornered by Missile, and doesn't move anymore. Missile stops the chase in favour to bark at it in place.

“Missile!” Alma exclaims. “Leave the poor rat alone!”

“Well something changed… not sure that it's helpful though.” I remark.

Missile ignores the demands of Alma and continues to bark at the rat in front of him.

“I know there's a rat there! You don't need to keep barking!” Alma yells and picks up Missile.

There's a banging from the other side of the wall. “If that mutt keeps on barking I'll knock this wall down!” a voice yells. The loud banging on the wall from the other room knocks down a tall lamp on the other side of the room.

“Now you're getting Emma all worked up! Could you please just be quiet?” Alma begs to Missile, who refuses to stop barking.

“Say, do you remember anything about the woman next door?” I ask Alma.

“Umm, I think she moved in really recently, about a month ago. And I know her because she has a daughter around Kamilas age.” Alma answers.

“She's the worst! Ever since she moved in I can't partake in any of my joyous barking without her angry howling!” Missile exclaims. Those are some pretty big words from such a small doggie.

I don't think the lady next door is going to be of much help. I move around onto a conveniently placed book on the couch to reach the other side of the room. There's gotta be something of use over there.

On the other side of the room I see a nicely decorated tree, a decoration on the ceiling, a tall lamp, and another cabinet door.

Moving from the book onto the tree, I notice that there's a star on the tree with a core. I enter the star and see that it's able to be turned on. Activating the star decoration it starts playing music and spinning around, Missile starts barking louder, changing directions to face both a rat and the star.

So this is basically a Missile barking switch if I ever need him to.

Alma sighs, and with Missile still in hand, she walks over to turn the star off.

I look up at the decoration attached to the ceiling, it's spinning around and if I time it properly I should be able to move onto it. With concentration I enter the ghost world when the decoration is closest to me. I enter the human world and let the decoration make a half rotation before reentering the ghost world again. I move from the decoration to the lamp, then from the lamp to the cabinet door.

I trick the door open, and like expected it opens. But with the rat out of commission it doesn't help me.

Maybe I should hit the rat with this door instead of the other one.

With the knowledge that there's nothing more I can do, I rewind time to the beginning.

“It seems you can try as many times as you want.” Alma remarks.

“I can, so I don't really have to worry about messing up.”

“But I do have to ask, what do you think throwing around a rat will accomplish?” she asks.

“Umm…” I hesitate. “I'll figure that out.”

When I return to the past I head straight to the cabinet door on the other side of the room. I have a little bit of waiting to do before Missile begins chasing the rat again.

“Miss Alma, why do you look so sad?” Missile asks.

“I'm not sad, I'm just thinking.” Alma answers.

“Thinking about what?” I ask

“I just don't understand what I could've done to warrant strangers to break into my house and kill me.” She answers.

“Maybe you did something you can remember at the moment?” I suggest.

“Perhaps, but this is such an extreme situation and I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it.”

The rat comes back, scurrying across the floor once more, with a loud Missile following not far behind it.

I focus intently on the scene in front of me, waiting for the right moment to open the door.

Right when the rat is about to pass me I trick the cabinet door, slamming it right into the rat.

The rat gets pushed forward and at a slight angle, and hits the decorated tree. The rat, sensing nowhere else to go, climbs up the tree and onto the star at the top. The rat doesn't move any further from its safe position on top of the star.

Maybe if I trick the star now it'll do something.

I move from the door back up to the ceiling decoration, then back on the star. Tricking the star again it begins to spin and play its music. The rat feels unstable on the moving object and jumps onto the couch below, resting on the book.

“All of that just for the rat to be on the couch again. This happened before.” Alma points out.

“That is true, but Missile isn't chasing it this time, maybe that makes some sort of difference.” I say.

I move from the star directly to the book in which the rat lays on. This time I noticed that the book is interactable.

It looks like I can open the book.

So I open the book, and the rat gets sent up into the air, and lands on the cabinet on the other side of the couch. The rat, filled with fear, begins running again and doesn't really look where it's going, because it falls off the cabinet and lands on the handle of the door.

Alive Alma sighs and sets Missile down. “Don't move!” She commands the dog. Missile firmly plants his butt on the ground but continues barking. Alma reaches towards the door handle and hastily picks up the rat, trying to touch as little of it as possible. While doing so she accidentally opens the door a little bit.

“Oops, the door. It seems I didn't lock it.” Alive Alma remarks. With her free hand she turns the small knob on the door handle and locks the door. She then promptly opens the window behind the couch and tosses the rat outside.

“I need to wash my hands,” Alive Alma gags, before leaving the room to the kitchen.

“Did that do it?” Alma asks. “All I needed to do was lock the door?”

“Let's wait it out and see if the hitmen are able to come in.” I suggest.

“I'm going to be just a little bit upset if locking the door is all it takes.” Alma sneers.

“I hope that's all it takes! I want Miss Alma to be safe!” Missile yips.

“It would be most convenient if I don't have to do anything else.” I say.

When the time came for the hitmen to enter the room, I listened closely to the door.

“Doors locked.” I hear the smaller man say.

“Then open it.” The woman demands.

“I can't pick this kind of lock.”

The woman groans. “I know that small little body of yours can't break down the door, so there's no point in trying.”

“You know I love it when you talk about me like that.” The man says with a smirk in his voice.

“Let's just wait it out, come on” the woman demands. Afterwards I hear footsteps receding into the distance.

“We did it! We saved Miss Alma!” Missile cheers.

“I can't believe that all I had to do was lock the door.” Alma pauses. “But I am glad that you were able to save me.”

“It's no problem. I have no intention of leaving anyone dead” I say.

“I really really am thankful though.” Alma tears up. “If I had stayed dead then Kamila would've been on her own and I couldn't stand that.”

“Like I said, it really is no problem!”

“I have a question!” Missile butts in.

“Huh, what is it buddy?” I question.

“You said you were able to move things because you're dead, but I've been staring at the ball that's stuck under the couch this whole time and it won't budge!” Missile exclaims.

“Well it's true that only the dead have these powers, but not all dead people.” I explain. “Only a select few get the powers of the dead it seems.”

“That's not fair!” Missile exclaims.

“That is interesting. Why do you suppose you have these powers?” Alma asks.

“I have no idea, I've only met one other person with these powers and I know as much about them as I know about myself, which is nothing.” I say.

“So you really don't remember anything?” Alma asks.

“Not a thing, that's why I'm here as a blue soul instead of whatever I look like.”

“That really is tragic.” Alma remarks. “You don't even know your name.”

“That's right, not even a name. If I didn't exist there wouldn't be much evidence that I even exist.”

“You don't have a name?!” Missile exclaims. “But everyone needs a name!”

“The closest thing I have to a name is “Ghosty”, Yomiel called me that a few times.” I say.

“Yomiel…” Alma pauses. “This isn't the first time you mentioned that guy.”

“Yomiel is the name of the man whose life I saved twice already.” I explain.

“I feel like the name is familiar but without my memories but I can't place from where.” Alma remarks.

Alma might know Yomiel? That might be my new lead if so.

“Well we can head to our new present, and you'll be back with all of your memories.” I say.

“Let's go! I want Miss Alma to be alive again!” Missile exclaims.

“What he said.” Alma agrees.

“Let's go then.” I say as I turn the clock forward, into a new present where Alma and Missile are alive. The world warps and we head off.

Back at the present, Alma has returned to the couch and Missile is happily clawing at her legs.

Looks like someones excited.

“Hey there Missile.” Alma says while picking the small dog up.

I follow the path back to the couch and enter Almas core.

Me, Missile, and Alma meet face to face again.

“You’re back!” Missile exclaims.

“Sure am,” I smile. “I came to see if you guys had the answers to the questions you've been asking now that your memories are back.”

“Yes, why we were being targeted and where I heard Yomiel from.” Alma elaborates.

“So, what's the verdict?” I ask.

“I haven't a clue why there's hitmen after us,” Alma starts. “My family has been generally quite peaceful. We haven't had any sort of incident in five years.”

“Is it possible the “incident” five years ago is the reason why?” I ask.

Alma pauses. “I highly doubt it, we were the victims in that case.”

“Hmm…” I stop to think. “Is that all that comes to mind?”

“Well, I know quite a lot of people who work for the police.” Alma mentions. “But I'd be a weird connection if the foreigners were targeting our government.”

“I'm inclined to agree with that.” I agree. “What about Yomiel?”

“Ah yes Yomiel. I know him, but not personally..” Alma starts.

“How so?” I ask.

“Well…” Alma pauses. “Yomiel got himself in a bit of trouble about ten years back, and it was at the fault of a friend of mine.”

“I know he had committed a crime about ten years back, is that what you mean?” I ask.

“Yes, he had to go to jail for about six months and he lost his job. But the whole incident wasn't really his fault so afterwards my friends worked to get him back on his feet.” Alma continues. “I believe it was around six years ago when they got him a job at the special prison.”

“So you never really knew him but knew of him from your police friends?” I ask.

“I've met the man about once or twice, but that's all.” Alma clarifies.

“Do you know of anything he and his wife could have done to get on the bad side of the hitmen?” I ask.

“His wife..? Oh yes Sissel.” She stops to think. “No, not really. Ever since he had gotten out of jail the two of them have been pretty peaceful as far as I'm aware.”

“Have you met Sissel?”

“Once, and under unfortunate circumstances. I didn't get the chance to talk to her much.” Alma answers bleakly.

“Do you know she lives directly above you?” I ask.

“She does? I didn't know that, it's probably just a coincidence.” She answers, though I feel like she's hiding something in that statement.

“This is all too weird.” I sigh. “I haven't been able to figure anything out and I've run out of leads.”

“How so?” Alma asks.

“Yomiel was nearest to my place of death, so I was hoping that if I followed him around enough that I would get some answers, but I'd lost him.” I sigh.

“Hmm, I'm sorry I can't be of much help.” Alma says.

“It's okay, I have an idea of where to go next.” I say, I've been curious about that police office ever since Alma called it, I have a feeling it could be of importance.

“Police office? Oh the special prison that I called earlier?”

“Special prison? Didn't you say Yomiel worked at the special prison?” I ask.

“Yes, it's the place.” Alma stops to think intensely. “Can I ask a request of you?”

“Sure.”

“There's someone at the prison I'm worried about, prisoner D99, if you could go to the prison and just watch over him as best as you can.” She asks of me.

“I probably won't be able to stay there long, but I can check on him.” I say.

“That'd be enough.” She says solemnly.

“Miss Alma you sound tired!” Missile exclaims. “You should get some rest!”

“It has been a long night for you,” I add. “Some rest might be good for you.”

She sighs. “You're probably right, it has been a long night.”

I exit Alma core, letting her go. She stands up.

“Thank you for everything you've done tonight.” She says before leaving the room. Missile follows her.

There's no reason to stay here any longer, so I make my way to the phone.

Just as I am about to leave the room I hear small footsteps coming closer. The sound of them is so small to be Alma, and too big to be Missile.

A head dawned with a lilac bob pokes into the room. “Mom?”

This must be Kamila, Alma's daughter.

“Has she gone to bed already?” The little girl asks herself. “I wanted to ask about all that noise earlier.”

So she did hear everything. That begs the question of why she was absent in the other reality though, doesn't it?

Just as she is about to walk away the phone begins to ring.

“I should get that,” She whispers to herself.

She walks over to the phone to answer it. Conveniently, I'm already in the phone so I'm able to listen in with ease.

“Hello?” She speaks into the receiver.

“Kamila!” A young girl cheers quietly from the other side.

“Amelie? Why are you calling so late?” Kamila asks.

Amelie pauses for a small sneeze. “It's my Papa's birthday and I wanted to go get him something, but I'm really sick and I don't want to go alone.” She answers.

“What about your mom?” Kamila asks.

“She doesn't want to talk about Papa.” Amelie answers sadly. “It should only take a few minutes! I know what I want to get him!”

Kamila stops to think. “Okay, I don't see why not.”

“Thank you!” Amelie cheers before breaking into a harsh cough.

“You sound like you need the help.” Kamila says.

“Yeah,” Amelie admits after freeing herself from the coughing spree.

“Okay, I'll see you.” Kamila says before returning the receiver to its home. She quickly heads to the door and unlocks it, then leaves the room.

Now I'm not sure that was the best idea, because now not only is she outside but the door is unlocked again. But there's nothing I can do about either fact. All I can do is move forward and check out the prisoner Alma asked me to. But I can't help but worry for this family.

Tricking the phone, I move out of this home and into a police office, hoping to find some answers.

Tonight has already been most eventful and the more I learn the more I realise how dire the situation seems to be. I just hope that I can make it out with the answers I seek.

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