#'why aren't they back yet. they're going to miss dinner. :('

[egophiliac]

Have you seen Lilia's vignette yet? Our insight into his initial parenting skills sure was, something.

HA HA YEP, Lilia's. questionable parenting has come up a few times and it's always, like, he read Baby Instructions 101 and went "ooh, I like red, I'll do those ones :)". he has Dad Instincts, but unfortunately they are Stereotypical '90s Sitcom Dad Instincts.

it was, however, worth it to see Sebek (watching Lilia gleefully dunking a bat into a coffee cup) just slowly turn to Silver and go "how the fuck are you alive".

#twisted wonderland spoilers #also sebek: 'for the first time in my life i feel respect for you as a person' #it's okay even the bat was like 'no it's cool he's doing his best' #'he's my dad now and i will never leave him' #silver's childhood was literally a tom and jerry cartoon huh #fortunately dr. zigvolt(!) and mrs. dr. zigvolt(!!!) were like 'oh my god' and swiftly intervened/made lilia step up his fucking game #they continue to be the absolute best characters despite never actually appearing #also just absolutely delighted by malleus' mom energy in this one #'why aren't they back yet. they're going to miss dinner. :(' #then when they finally show up: 'it's not like you have a curfew i just want to know if you're going to be back late' #i half expected him to be like 'but i made SPAGHETTI' #i mean yes canonically he doesn't cook (except eggs once) but he just has spaghetti vibes. you know.

[pomefioredove]

Can we have kalim's ending for the yuu auction as well? I was pretty excited for his outcome

of course of course!

parts 1 | 2 | 3 | kalim | bad ending

summary: a kalim ending type of post: short fic characters: kalim additional info: yuu is gender neutral, this is maybe a little short, hi kalim :)

"Problems don't just go away when you throw money at them, you know," Vil says. The tone of his voice is sour, and he's making no effort to hide it. "You'll have to actually take some responsibility."

Leona rolls his eyes. "Oh, shut it. They're not a pet, they can handle themselves. You're just butthurt it wasn't you,"

"And yet, here you are, still moping just the same," he snaps back. "Kalim, congratulations. I'm sure the prefect will- where'd he go?"

Despite their best efforts, Kalim hadn't heard a single word of the other housewarden's well wishes (and warnings).

He was gone before they'd even started, in fact.

Even with all he'd had prepared beforehand- the new room, the uniforms, all of your favorite foods- there was suddenly a list a mile long on his mind.

First, he had to get you.

Then, he had to show you around your new place.

Then, dinner.

Followed by dessert, of course.

(Maybe a light appetizer to start? Why hadn't he thought of that already?!)

And then he'd treat you to an evening of your favorite songs, laughter, and fun.

So on, and so forth.

Kalim may be a little oblivious at times, but your poor condition at Ramshackle is no secret to anyone. He'd been talked out of helping more than once before- and, so, this was his chance.

The gravity of technically owning a person who doesn't legally exist in this world hasn't crossed his mind even once. The way he sees it, he gets to host you indefinitely, take you on vacations with his family, treat you to the life you deserve after all you've done for everyone, and no one can tell him no.

Though, something still sits in the back of his mind, something that asks him to walk before running. A voice of reason.

If Kalim had a shoulder angel and devil, both of them would somehow be Jamil:

"I would advise taking it easy on them as they adjust. This whole spectacle must have been difficult for them. You're a good listener when you try. Now's a chance to show that,"

More than anything, Kalim wants to impress you.

Such a thought would make anyone else scoff- the gold and jewels and magic carpets aren't enough?

And his answer would be... well... no.

Kalim possesses many things. He has entire houses full of treasure, trinkets, fine silks, servants at his every whim... and yet, he's still missing something crucial. Something he's become more and more aware of since coming to NRC.

A bond.

Of course, he loves his siblings. And his parents. And the students in Scarabia. And the students in the other dorms. He might consider all of the above friends, but not at the emotional level he seeks. Jamil is a work in progress. But you- you're already well-acquainted, and friendly. You're a gracious guest, a great listener, and... well, you had the kind of bond he looks for with so many other people on campus.

Why else would everyone be lining up to pay to be your friend otherwise?

(That's how he saw it, anyway).

So, he listens. Makes an effort to, anyway. He even stops feeding Grim at dinner when you ask him to.

"Oops!" he says, offering the direbeast a gold-lined handkerchief to wipe around his mouth. "But it's good, right? Jamil's family recipe is always delicious!"

You quirk a smile at him. "I liked it. Grim?"

Grim mumbles something indistinct and crawls to sit on the other side of you.

"I'm glad! I remember you telling me that you miss it from your home- I can't believe some of our recipes are so similar!" he beams. "Maybe Scarabia will start feeling like a home to you, too, then!"

You laugh, a little awkwardly. "Aha... maybe. This is all just so sudden,"

"But... good, right?"

"Yes, good," you smile, tilting your head to the side. "It's a step up from being Crowley's errand-runner and sleeping in the cold, at least."

"Well, you'll certainly never be cold here!"

He laughs again, and a murmur of agreement ripples through the students in attendance, all the way down to the end of the long table.

"Ah... Kalim, this is nice. Really nice... I don't know how I'm going to repay you for any of this,"

"Pay? Like with money?" he raises an eyebrow. "You're my guest, and an honorary member of Scarabia now, so you don't have to do anything but relax."

That's not exactly what you meant, though you don't have the heart to explain what exactly Crowley's care had been like.

"...Right. But really, if you need anything done- I'll be glad to do it,"

He's quiet for a moment, thinking. "Well... if you're really bored, I'm sure you could find something to do. We have lots of board games,"

"No, I meant like, work,"

Kalim blinks. "Why would you have to work?"

You should've just let it go. Now this is getting embarrassing, admitting all that Crowley had you do when you had no say in the matter.

"You know... to earn my keep,"

"Earn your..." he squints. "You don't have to earn anything. Having you here is reward enough for me!"

Sometimes his oblivious nature can be a little comforting.

And even though it's dark, his positivity is as radiant as the sun... you can't help but return his smile.

"Alright, then,"

"Alright! Now..." he says, looking around the table. "Who's ready for dessert?"

#twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #kalim al asim x reader #hope you like this anon <3

[gotham-daydreams]

How would the yan batfam celebrate reader's birthday after they got them back?

Well, it can go a few ways, but I'll try to keep it short and simple for now!

First, the family will 100% fight over if they should throw a party now or actually wait until your birthday, because they definitely don't want to try and make up for all the one's they've missed, along with some other occasions that they absolutely want to celebrate with you.

It's a real mess, but what could one really expect from such a dysfunctional family? Though no matter what they settle on, it really depends on how long you've been with them.

If you've just 'gotten back' then it's probably something small, as they don't want to overwhelm you and want this to be another piece that eases you into your new way or life. Yet it definitely seems like some didn't get the memo as you are overflowed with gifts. You don't understand how they picked half of this stuff out, let alone why they bought it for you, but that's probably because they're guilt got to them and suddenly they had five times the amount of gifts they were originally going to get you. If the amount of gifts in the room pisses you off or you generally have a negative reaction to it, no one will let you go into the hall for a good portion of that day.

Besides that, you get some breakfast in bed, and maybe even lunch too if you didn't like the gifts- but expect a family dinner at the end of the day. They'll find ways to spend time with you, and most of the activities are either games that require multiple people, or the others will just... watch. Which may not have been so bad if you were in this particular situation.

Overall, while it is a little toned down they do still find ways to 'sneak' themselves into your birthday, and try to have fun all throughout the day. Though if you want to keep things more lowkey, then that's fine! But you'll still have to deal with them hanging around. You won't get a single moment to yourself.

If you've been 'staying' for a while, then they go all out and have the biggest celebration they can without any outside eyes peeking in. It may not be necessarily loud or anything but it's... a lot.

The moment you wake up (to which, you're most likely woken up by someone), your dragged out of bed and just about everyone is up and about like it's Christmas (and maybe it is, but I digress). Every meal of the day feels like some kind of feast, and they aren't trying to even hide the amount of gifts they've gotten you, which somehow all pertain to your interests one way or another. If anyone gets the same thing then you get to see a bit of a fight- so at least there's that, but unfortunately it's unlikely to last very long as everyone wants today to be a good day for you (and a great day for them).

Every activity/game is a family activity or deals with multiple players. They all take turns if there isn't enough for all of them to play with you all at once, but they work around it one way or another. If you want things to tone down, then you're either stuck watching a movie with everyone, or in a cuddle pile with most of the Batkids. If you couldn't get rid of them before- you absolutely cannot now. They make it near impossible to do so.

If you'd like to keep up your tradition with Alfred and bake with him, then you're more than welcome to!

If you 'just arrived' then you may be able to bake with Alfred in peace, minus the new observers that are a little too keen on watching you, and all too eager to taste test what you and Alfred end up making.

If you've been there for a while, then the family will try to turn the tradition from just you and Alfred, to you and the whole family. Even if it means turning the whole things into a game of some kind, or using other methods to get you to bake with them, they'll find a way to change it eventually... unless Alfred gets in the way of things. Though sometimes he may get sick and can't help you with the rest of the Batfam :[[

All in all, it's a mess! Who could've guessed? Ah, but really, it goes just about as well as you'd think. Very overwhelming and them justing to shove and further include themselves into your life by using your birthday to enhance that force. If you've just arrived, the force is lighter, and if not? It's heavier. Much, much heaver.

#talking daydreams #yandere batfam #platonic yandere batfam #yandere batfam x reader #gn reader

[psfortune]

Not over yet - (2)

pairing: stalkerexbf!jungkook x female!reader

@ what was leah listening to? : Boyfriend - Ariana Grande

⋆ summary. what do you do if your being stalked? call the police obviously. if you don't and something happens…you cant blame anyone.

⋆ warnings . 18+ mdni… dark/psychotic!jungkook, kidnapping, jungkook expressing his feelings, crying, kissing, angst. lmk if i miss any <3

-

༉‧₊˚.this work is pure fiction. no acts performed in this are linked to the charecters that partake in the story line. please refrain from reading if uncomfortable ༉‧₊˚.

' You're mine forever remember? And i'm yours ' Jungkook said in a ridiculously calm tone.

' that's bullshit. I'm not yours and to be frank i'm happy without you being mine. let. me go.' you stared deep into his piercing glare ' please... '

' no. why can't you just love me y/n? love me like i love you. ' he said almost pleading.

' You don't love me, so what's the point!? ' you said hysterically.

Then everything froze. You froze. Jungkook tilted his head, a psychotic grin stretching across his pale face.

' Don't love.........you? ' he laughed maniacally and grasped your chin forcing you to look at him.

Then he kissed you

It wasn't sweet or passionate, like you're past kisses shared. It was hard, possessive and to your utmost disgust it was alluring. You couldn't help it.

When his hand gripped your nape and his lips devoured yours, you broke and slowly kissed him back, not even trying to keep up.

To your utmost annoyance Jungkook smirked into the kiss, almost impressed you had given in to him.

It was like you were under a spell. One that made you forget all the past troubles between you two. If it was a spell it was a bad one. The illusion lasted a matter of minutes before you pulled away the situation slapping you hard in the face.

' Jungkook I didn't mean to don- ' He cut you off placing a finger to your lips.

' No need to be so cold love. ' he gave you a smug look ' Get some sleep '

' Miss, you need to eat! ' another maid hissed 'You'll be sick otherwise'

You wondered how Jungkook had managed to hire maids. Since the last time you had seen him he hadn't been necessarily the richest person you knew. And after a prison sentence? How had he built himself up from that of all things?

' Do you really care? ' you queried ' Or are you just doing it because ' Master Jeon ' told you to '

The maid looked offended and slammed the plate down onto the stool next to you and stomped out.

A seamstress attempted to make her way in but was stopped

' You shouldn't even bother with her ' the angry maid whispered.

The seamstress eyed her up and down, smiled at you and bundled her equipment through the door, not giving the maid another second of her time.

You smiled back at her ' Why all the dresses? ' you questioned

' Why they're for you of course!! For tonight ? ' she exclaimed, peering at you through her oval-shaped glasses. ' Why you're a beauty aren't you? It will be hard to decide which dress will suit you i suppose '

You blushed ' Thank you.....but what is happening tonight may i ask miss... '

' Oh just call me Sylvia madam, ' she said ' The dresses are for your dinner today with Master Jeon of course ' she pulled out a pale pink dress that looked fit for a princess out of the pile ' Why don't you try this on first? '

You entered the dining room in your extravagant gown. It was your first time being out of your ' room '. It would've been the perfect opportunity to escape....if you weren't being escorted to a room, a floor away by a group of scowling maid. Nice company, not. But you did get to at least see one floor of your prison. It was exquisite. The opposite of your dingy room. Sparkling chandeliers hung from the towering ceiling, beautiful, dainty paintings were all over the walls.

The dining room was even better. A colossal room full of gold flecks everywhere, a huge chandelier placed directly in the center of the ceiling. It was ethereal.

One thing ruined it though

Jungkook sat at one end of the extensive dining table. His presence shattered the beauty of the room. There he sat, back-straight in his perfectly ironed black suit and tie and black dress pants. He was out of place. You fit in, if you did say so yourself, your white and gold dress blended in perfectly. Was this purposeful? No, you had chosen this yourself, and you shook away the thoughts and stared at Jungkook.

' Why did you want to have dinner with me ?' you said abruptly

' Don't you look gorgeous darling. ' he ignored your question, annoying you.

' I said. Why did you want to have dinner with me?! ' you seethed.

' Is it so wrong to want to have dinner with my girlfriend? ' he said calmly

' I'M NOT YOUR FUCKING GIRLFRIEND ' you shouted

' Calm down, sweetheart. ' his tone still calm. ' Why don't you sit down? Cook made sure he fit you needs, no peaches i promise '

he remembers...

You'd always hated peaches. You weren't allergic, you'd just never liked them? It suprised you that he still remembered, but you weren't about to show it.

You sat down all the way on the other side of the table, making a show of sitting down. Of course, Jungkook wouldn't let that happen.

He stood up and strutted over to you. He grabbed you wrist and dragged you over to his seat. You let it happen. There's no point wasting energy on this.

You tried to sit down on the seat next to him at least.

But no that wasn't even good enough for Jungkook.

He pulled you onto his lap in one swift move, wrapping his arms around you waist as you squirmed.

' Stop moving love '

#bts #bts smut #jungkook smut #jungkook x reader #bts scenarios #jungkook fanfic #jungkook x you #bts jungkook #bts fanfic

[projectbluearcadia]

[P1] Film Worthy

NSFW Lucifer x F!MC Spice Rating - 2/4 KINDA SPICY

[ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ]

Just decided to run with this today, but pornography with plot = dinner. Story CW: Restraint; Whipping; Degradation

[ Story Premise: Lucifer falls asleep during the weekly family movie night, and upset that he did, insists on watching something else with you. He happens to pick something he'll never fall asleep to. ]

Wordcount - 1077

smutty notes (consult if you haven’t read my smut before.)

You feel Lucifer's head lean into yours, his breathing getting softer as he relaxed his weight more and more into you. You think about scolding him about falling asleep in the middle of a movie Levi had made such a passionate point of making everyone watch because it was "TSL's greatest movie", but you can't really blame him. He deserved the sleep, and far be it from you to stop him.

That said, it's become difficult for you to focus on the movie yourself when you're busy trying to keep him from slumping into you so hard that his weight is starting to shove you into Mammon. The white-haired idiot nearly gives his brother away, and you slap your hand over his mouth.

"Say nothing or I'll tell him about your secret rendez-vous," you mouth at him, and he quickly nods. You both pay attention to the movie, even as Levi takes that precise moment to look behind him suspiciously, and you quickly draw your hand over Lucifer's head, hoping Levi won't notice that his eyes are closed.

Fortunately, it seems like he's saved as Henry shouts something at the top of his lungs, and Levi snaps his head back to watch. Nice save, Henry!

Fortunately, the rest of the movie goes without incident, and you just barely manage to cover for him when it ends by saying he fell asleep during the credit roll.

"Luci... C'mon, let's get you to bed," you urge gently as everyone leaves to go to their rooms, but he's out cold. "Lucifer, honey, my head isn't a pillow."

"Mmm..." he hums in his sleep, and you sigh with a little smile.

"Alright, fine, we'll stay here," you concede, carefully pulling the rest of him onto the couch before you lower his head to your lap. "You're lucky you're cute." You ruffle his soft hair, watching his sleeping face as he mumbles nonsense. You yawn yourself "Mm... Guess I'll try to get a siesta too..."

It's just as you're starting to fade in and out of consciousness that Lucifer stirs, and you blink a few times as he sits up and cracks his back with a satisfying yet slightly worrying series of snaps.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Lucifer asks, cupping your cheek. "I didn't want to waste movie night sleeping..."

"It's okay if you get sleepy, Lucifer..."

"But I wanted to enjoy it with you. We haven't spent any time together this week," he protests, and you can't help but chuckle a little because he sounds whiny.

"Want to watch something shorter then, so you don't feel left out?" you ask sleepily, "before we go to bed?" He grins like a boy, and you ignorantly wonder what he's thinking about.

"Something we can only watch together," he adds mischievously. "Let's make it special."

"Sounds like you already have something in mind," you reply, and his blue magic wisps through the darkened room to reveal a... rather interesting DVD in his hand. "Where on earth were you keeping that?"

"There are places in this house that I keep a very good secret of, including my collection of, shall we say, some very erotic theater?"

"That is not theater," you laugh, "and certainly not the kind you normally enjoy."

"Well, I do pick them for story and acting skills above all else, but... I won't lie when I say that similar stories didn't make the cut because they weren't explicit enough for my tastes."

"You are such a pervert," you giggle, and he pokes you in the sides, tickling you while you do so.

"Oh, like you aren't, little Miss Smut? You and Satan go through those dirty fantasies like they're just a bit of light reading before bed."

"Okay, okay, stop it!" you gasp through your giggles. "Just put it on!"

"Your wish is my command," he replies with a cocky smirk before he turns the television back on and loads the disk-drive, a nostalgic hum wavering through the air as the information was read. Lucifer excitedly pulls you into his lap, kissing the back of your head as he presses play.

To some of your surprise, the plot is genuinely interesting; the female lead is a serial adulterer with complicated reasons for cheating, and the male lead had been divorced twice by the same awful woman. Of course, that made him hardened and cynical, and it made her a pathological liar.

Which of course would lead to a very intense scene where he slammed her against the wall, hungrily digging his fingers into both her throat as well as her inner thigh when he asked her if she was trying to play with him.

"O-Oh," you say, shifting on Lucifer's lap as you watch the male lead tease her with the handle of a whip while he covered her eyes. It was made clear to the only the audience that he knew she was lying to him as he told her to guess what he was going to do to her. And the reality dawning on her face as he thrusted the handle into her, letting her feel the whip against her legs.

"Want me to do that, honey?" Lucifer asks sweetly against your ear as he ties her up and degrades her while she begs for him. Begging and begging for him to put it into her, and your mouth falls open at the look on her face.

You raise your hands to your lips, feeling your face warm as you watch him, frustrated, pound at her. You've barely even registered Lucifer's question; you're too busy biting your lip at the curious woman squeezing her legs together at the door, her fingers shudderingly hovering on the handle like she wanted the scolding that the male lead was dishing out.

"Holy shit..." you whisper, even as Lucifer traces his lips down your neck. The entire scene wasn't just dirty; it was believable. The tension was so thick with jumbled emotions of lust, love, shame and anger that it was practically sitting in the room with you.

"Do you really want it that rough?" Lucifer chuckles against your shoulder, running his fingers up against your waist, breaking your concentration in the process.

"I, um... I don't think I can take that..."

"Relax; I was teasing," he chuckles, nursing his hand through your hair. "You don't have to sound so anxious. I'm not going to do anything you don't give me the go-ahead for."

#convinced the avatar of consent cares #obey me lucifer #obey me shall we date #fanfiction #obey me! #shameless self indulgence #obey me lucifer smut #obey me #lucifer brainrot #lucifer x mc #lucifer x reader #lucifer smut #movie night #netflix and chill

[bahrtofane]

Vamp au stuff idk 

—-

A blanket of paranoia has descended upon Vesuvia. It starts out as nothing but rumor, joke. Very plainly no one gives a damn. 

But Asra sees past the half baked jokes, the laughter, the ignorance. He knows that something is brewing on the horizon. Vesuvia is about to change, immensely so. He tries not to let it get to him, yet. But he keeps an eye out.

Anything that's close to a sign, a hint. He gets it, in the form of sharp smiles and red eyes. Foreigners in Vesuvia have never been odd. The city is a melting pot, but this small batch of visitors gives him the creeps. 

They lack what he believes to be humanity. There's something so inhuman about the way they just- well, exist. Smiles the crack open like ice. Theyre  imposing, taller than most of the population, sporting the same purple robes so dark they would be mistaken for black without direct sunlight. Gold pendants and chains hanging off their necks. Their hands almost crooked, nails curved a little too much like an animal. 

Everyone calls him crazy. And in full honesty he starts to believe it, but the way Faust curls in on herself whenever one is near only confirms his suspicions. 

Word on the street is they're guests of the count, and that makes his skin crawl. Why are they patrolling the city day in and day out? 

He tries telling you as much, “i don't trust them…” he grumbles, elbow deep in laundry.

You only huff at him, “you don't even know them and you're making baseless assumptions.”

He only squints, lips turning to a frown, “if you tell me you don't feel the same weird aura from them you are a liar.”

“You just don't like what you can't understand.”

They suppose you're right. But still. 

—--

They want to hurl the moment you waltz into the shop, bright eyed and telling him all about the new friend you made. One of them.

Frankly you think they're being rather prejudiced and unkind, but he only shakes his head.

“I'm telling you I have a bad feeling about these guys.”

You wave him off and he suddenly feels nauseous. Something very bad is going to happen. And he's right.

—-

His first encounter is short and sweet, out to buy ingredients for dinner when he runs into one. Literally. Face first after they lose their balance on an old tile, loose and wobbly. 

Asra goes face first into his side, and he catches them, a little too quickly, nails digging into the flesh of his arm. 

“I'm sorry i didn't-” he's cut off by a smile as the man turns to him. A little too wide, one too many teeth. Sharp teeth. He yanks it back to his side in a hurry. Glaring at what's attached to the rest of the hand.

“Oh don't worry. Are you alright ? You look a little pale.” his eyelids droop so low Asra can't tell if they're even open anymore.

“No, I'm fine, thank you.” 

It doesn't take all that long for stranger occurrences to follow, all around Vesuvia. Things going missing, people forgetting where they are, why they're there. It's like a fog has descended on them all, clouding their mind.

When the first disappearances trickle in, Asra knows immediately they have something to do with it. 

Everyone flocks to the shop for protections, charms, spells and readings. Anything to keep them safe. They cling to him for reassurance but he can not give what he isn't certain of.

Asra advises them all to stay off the streets and keep the wandering close no none. They listen to him, all but you. You just have to do as you please.

You think you're some sort of martyr, able to save those who have been missing for weeks now, and the minds of those who stay.

When people start coming back is when panic truly begins to set. They come back but they aren't the same are they. They all sport the same red eyes. It's enough for Asra. he needs to leave. He feels suffocated. Theres always red eyes on him, no amount of magic can change that. 

When the attacks start he does he begin packing his things. The people have all gone mad. Succumb to insanity and desire. They're become carnal beasts, eyes red and w hunger that is inhuman as they are. They thirst for blood, either dead or alive. Each night they ravage the city, and each morning they are forced to pick the pieces up again.

He needs to leave.

But you insist on staying. If that's what you so wish to do, from your own foolish pride, in thinking you can make everything right, then so be it. He will not spend another night in fear, boarding up every window, casting protections till his hands shake, fearing for his beloved city so. 

He leaves. And you stay.

He wishes he never did. Oh how they wish you never turned into what drove them out in the first place. 

Two pricks on the side of your neck sealed your fate. Perhaps another two will undo it. 

#the arcana #asra alnazar #asra x you #asra x reader #asra x mc #asra alnazar x reader #asra the arcana #asra the magician #the arcana fanfic #the arcana headcanons #the arcana asra #asra #asra x apprentice #bahr blurbs #bahr vamp au

[mvpfoolish]

and everything has changed part 2 - dreamwastaken

word count 833 || part 1

You missed your Dream. Your Clay.

The one who would bring you home flowers with chocolate whenever you were feeling overwhelmed with work. The one who ran his hands through your hair whenever he could get the chance. The one who would sneakily steal little bites of your dinner, after saying he wasn't hungry. The one who would memorize your order at every restaurant you ever went to just in case your anxiety began acting up. The one who made sure you were always okay. Was that too much to ask?

Soon enough you placed yourself on the couch. Facing the back side of the couch, you hear someone walk through the front door.

"Honey I'm home!" Sapnap called out from the entryway. Taking off his shoes he moved into the living room. Sap glanced over seeing you laying down, he checked his phone before going to shake you awake.

"Wake up sleepy head, you're going to be late for work. I picked you guys' bagels on my way back here." Sapnap placed yours on top of your head, setting the others on the counter.

"I have the day off," You mumbled.

"Why aren't you sleeping in?"

It seems as though he and George had been oblivious to what was going on between you two.

"Can't."

"Why not? I can tell you're tired." So someone did notice. "Go cuddle with your boyfriend or something, I'm sure you'll fall right into a deep sleep."

You looked up at Sapnap, revealing your bloodshot eyes. "Dream told me that my whining and begging wasn't helping him with whatever he was doing," Your eyes began to water as you sat up, raising your voice. "Everything has changed Sapnap. He's different, and I don't know why, or what I did to make him act this way toward me."

"He said what?" Sapnap spoke with a mouth full of bagel.

"Can you guys keep it down I'm trying to sleep." Dream emerged from your shared bedroom.

You looked up at the man, biting your cheek in an attempt to keep your words in, failing of course. "Oh so now you want to sleep hm? As soon as I leave the goddamn room you think, 'Oh now would be a perfect time to sleep since my whinny partner left. They're not here to beg me for my attention or love on me as other pairs do.' Seriously Clay?"

"Can we not do this in front of Sapnap?"

"When else are we going to do it hm?" You stood up, setting your bagel on the coffee table. "You're always too busy with your online life Clay. I haven't had a real conversation with you in weeks. I-I don't even feel like I'm in a relationship anymore."

Dream walked down the stairs, shuffling his feet over to you. "Babe-"

You continued, "I went out the other night, the night that we were supposed to, I waited 45 minutes for you yet you never showed. Do you know how embarrassing that is? I started fucking crying, Clay. Some random guy came over and sat in front of me, asked me if I was okay, asked me questions, and walked me through my feelings. He made me feel more of a person than you have the past 6 months Clay."

"So you cheated on me?" Dream stepped back.

"That's all you took from that? Seriously? Not anything about my feelings or anything?" You slouched, sulking, looking down, and shaking your head. "I didn't cheat on you, I would never do that to somebody; especially someone who I care so much for."

You felt familiar arms wrapped around you, a hand going straight into your hair, forcing your head onto the familiar chest. "I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry. I love you, I do." Sniffles could be heard above your head. "I've been too busy wrapped up with my work and my feelings that I didn't even give myself time to think of yours."

Sapnap finished his bagel, "I'm gonna go stream now.." Sapnap grabbed his bottle of water and started sprinting up the stairs, Patches right on his tail.

Your tears soaked your boyfriend's t-shirt as he continued speaking. "Please don't leave me, please don't leave me y/n, I need you; I want you, along with this relationship."

That night you lay in your shared bed, arms and legs tangled together. Finally warm, finally not having to pile pillows on top of each other, and finally, no longer scared of some monster that would crawl up and scare you while sleeping on your side. And to top it all off, a cup of coffee/tea right beside you on the table.

#dreamwastaken #dream x reader #dream smp #dream #dream imagine #dream angst #mcyt #mcyt fanfiction

[lyn-js]

Home Sweet Home | Chapter 4. Tears and Broken Hearts Club

Rhett Abbott x OC Reader

Summary: Sunny Pritchett decides to move back home, but without a reason why. Once she's back she runs into her childhood best, friend Rhett Abbott. Rhett seems very surprised to see her. Not only that, but he sees she has a small child on her hip. Will Sunny try to reconnect with Rhett and tell him the real reason you she's moved back. Or will her past come back and find her until everything blows up.

Warnings: Mental and Physical abuse, PTSD flashbacks, swearing, fighting, (eventually smut 18+)

“Are you sure you know where the diapers are? If you aren't sure they're in my room-” you say, but you’re being cut off by your mom.

“Sunny, I know where everything is, I lived in this for over 20 years. I may be getting older, but I’m not losing my mind just yet.” she says back before you can get another word out.

She can tell that you're nervous going out with Rhett, you told her about your conversation you had with him after the service. She was so excited for you. After that she ran to the phone and called Cecilia. She could be her on the phone yelling at Rhett for not telling her he asked you out. 

“I don’t care if it’s not a date. If she’s going to become my daughter-in-law at some point, then I need to know these things, Rhett?!” 

Also, you went upstairs 12 times to change your outfit, redo your makeup, and change your hairstyle. You shouldn’t be nervous, you guys were just going to dinner, and he was taking you straight home. but it was just dinner right? 

That thought kept going on and off in your head for the next 10 minutes until you heard a knock at the door.

Your mom opens the door and you can hear from the other room making small talk. “Hello Rhett, Sunny will be out in just a minute. Oh, don’t you look handsome.” Before you go, you pick up Ollie and say goodbye. 

Before you look up you just tell your mom “Stop embarrassing me please.” When you walk out you and Rhett lock eyes with each other. Not able to look away from one another.

“It’s been good see’n ya Rhett, bring my daughter home in one piece.” your dad says making you break eye contact with Rhett.

(Rhett's little POV)

When I first saw her walk into the room, it seemed like everything stopped moving, and the spotlight was on her. 

She looked so beautiful as a magnolia in May. She could take your breath away with just one smile. The way her dress flowed across her legs, the way her hair sways when looking the other way. Just the way she looked, almost made me go to my knees.

She looked like a literal angel. And I just want to keep her all to myself.

(Back to your POV)

Walking up to Rhett you look down at his hands, and see a small bouquet of mixed colored Dahlias. He notices you looking at them. “Oh… these are for you. I know they're your favorite.”

But when you try to take them you see there's a little bit of dirt at the bottom of them, and some of it falls on the floor. 

Your mother takes the flowers saying she’ll cut them, and put them in water later.

Then you wave your parents goodbye, and tell them you’ll be back later.

When you both are down the steps, you look at your little flower beds near the front porch, and see a big patch of flowers missing. You justed whisper over to him “Did you just rip the flowers out of my moms garden?”

He whips his head to you and he looks back at the flower bed. Then he turns to you and just starts to blush. You both look at eachother and see each others cheeks going dark. So, he turns the other way from being embarrassed. “It’s fine, but next time I would like some flowers that don't immediately get ripped from the ground?” you tell and look at him, only seeing a warm smile on his face.

While Rhett opens you car door, he tells you “Well, I forgot to pick up flowers on the way here, so your moms garden was the next best option.”

You just turn to him with a smirk, then you say back “Thanks for the jester, but don’t do it again.” While you're trying to buckle up, he gives you a fake salute and says “yes ma'am” trying not to break into laughter. He then walks over to the driver's side, and you're both off to the diner.

When driving down the road you’re looking out the window, but in the corner of your eye you see Rhett fiddling with his hands. You know he wants to hold your hand, or put it on your thigh. But he can’t, he just puts his hand on his own lap. Trying every way to distract himself.

While you're staring out the window again. Your mind starts wondering. Wondering what Rhett’s hands felt like. How they would feel holding your hand, having it rest on your thigh. How they would feel when pulling your hair, having them inside you-

“We’re here” You leave your filthy mind, and try not to focus on him. The only thing you can do is nod, you don’t trust your voice just yet. You're afraid when you speak that you’ll whimper, and then the whole night will be ruined. You just want to forget that ever happened in your mind. Get this dinner over with, and go home.

Walking into the diner was like walking into a book of old memories. You and Rhett would come here after you both would see bull rides with your families. As to annoy him you would always root for the opposing person Rhett would cheer for.

Finding a booth to sit in, you both sit in award silence. Once again waiting for someone to break tensions.

He starts first. “So… how have ya been?” he asks sheepishly. You just give him a dumbfounded look on your face. “You already asked that, remember cowboy?” In return he just gives you an awkward smile, but you also see a little bit of blush creep up on his cheeks. 

“Did you ever finish your art program, I remember you never stopped talking about it when you got accepted.” 

Suddenly you are frozen, you don’t know what to say? How were you supposed to tell him that your ex didn’t want you in school? He just wanted you to stay home, and clean and cook for him. How can you explain to him that you had to drop out because you got pregnant with your son? 

“N-No I didn't, I had to stop because I got pregnant with Ollie. I wanted to try and go back to finish out, but I didn’t have the time. With work, and taking care of Ollie. It was a lot. So… y-yeah.” You suddenly feel so ashamed, and exposed for what you just told him. You couldn’t stand to look at him. Afraid he will see you differently now.You really wanted to tell him that you were forced to quit because your boyfriend didn’t like that you were going out. He also thought you were cheating, and calling you a “sleazy whore” and “selfish lying slut.” When you were really busting your ass trying to get good grades, and trying your absolute hardest not to fail your courses.

Rhett could see you shutting down a little bit, he knew there was more to the story, but he wasn’t going to push you and tell him every little detail. He was just happy that you’d go out with him. He didn’t want to ruin your night by invading your personal privacy and space. He was happy to see you smile, and be your old self again for a little bit.

Breaking the silence Rhett starts talking again. “Hey, I heard that they wanted help for an art teacher at Amy’s school, I think you could be good at it. Since, ya know you're really good at that stuff. Also I’ve seen your work before, and I think you’d be amazing at it, Sun.”

You suddenly look up at him, and give him a small, quirked smile. He always knows how to lighten your day up. He could just say something, or do absolutely nothing. Even just looking at you, and he brings a smile to your face.

“Thanks, I’ll look into that… But enough about my depressing life. What have you been up to?”

He tells you about staying on the ranch, he tells you about his mom, and his niece Amy, and how her mother Rebbeca suddenly “left” and she hasn't returned. He also tells you that he’s started bull riding, and you light up at that. To be honest, you were so proud of him. He actually became a rider. You really can’t wait to see the next show.

After you both order your food, you just get lost in conversation talking about what you did in the last couple of years. Just thinking about old times before shit hit the fan. And your world came crumbling down.

You both continue to make small talk when your food comes. Just reliving old memories, with your oldest friend. 

You suddenly just want this moment to freeze. Wanting to live in the perfect little moment for the rest of your life. In this little diner, with the man you’ve been in love with since forever.

After you put up a fight letting Rhett pay for the bill, and knowing your stubborn ass would start to argue. Rhett stuck to his word, and you both hop in his truck and he takes you home.

The drive home was once again silent, but there was some random country song that you started to hum to.

When he pulls up to your house you just turn to look at him, wanting to say something. He also wants to say something but he just freezes up. Not wanting to ruin the moment.

“Thanks for everything tonight. I-I had a r-really good time.” you tell him stumbling over your word, and with a shy smile and a little bit of blush on your cheeks.

“No problem Sun” and that’s all he says. Choking up on his words, and not saying anything else. 

The next thing you know, you are climbing out of the truck and walking up the little stone pathway to your house.

Before you reach the first step, you hear a loud slam from the car door. You whip around, trying to see what the noise was. But you just see Rhett jogging towards you.

You both are face to face, standing like a statue not knowing what to do. He takes his hat off, and you both get good looks at each other.

“I’m sorry Sunny, I haven’t seen you in a long time, and it was really nice catching up with you. And Itruly  do want to make things better between-” You suddenly stop him, cupping your hand and putting it over his mouth to make him stop spewing nonsense.

“Stop… Just stop for a second.” You take your hand away from his mouth, and let him take a couple of deep breaths. “Rhett, I had a good time too. It was a little bit weird because we haven’t seen each other in a long time. But what happened between us, it’s over now. We're both fully grown adults and it’s in the past.” you tell him with confidence, but on the inside you were trying to hold back tears, and trying not to pour your whole sad story on him.

He just looks at you with his eyes widened. “But the stuff I said to you… that was out of line.”

“Rhett it’s in the past. I’m not mad at you anymore. To be honest, I just want to have my bestfriend back. The unstoppable duo.” she says to him.

They both chuckle at the saying, Rhett to be honest haven't heard that phrase in a long long time.

“Alright, but you have to come to one of my rides, you know I need my best friend in the whole wide world there.” he says with a grin on his face.

“Ya, I’ll be there… Goodnight. See you later Rhett.” you say to him in a hushed voice.

“Goodnight darlin’” he said also in a hushed voice. He comes up to you and gives you a little peck on the cheek. That immediately gave you little flutters in your stomach. You walk up the steps to your front door, and turn around one more time.

You see him still in the same spot. The only thing that he does is give you a little wave of his hand, you give one back and walk into your house.

Through the little screen door you see him walking away, making sure he got into his car safely. You finally close both doors, and slump down to the ground.

You knew you had feelings for Rhett. But they were just little, sad feelings. But after tonight, you realized that your feelings are becoming a little bit bigger.

If you were going to be around him more often, you knew that it was going to wreak havoc on your life. But you really didn't care. You knew your feelings for Rhett were becoming stronger. You just didn’t want to get your heart broken again. 

You knew deep down that somehow you would.

But you just didn’t care. You wanted Rhett Abbott.

End.

(Here is some outfit and hair inspo for Sunny's "date night" with Rhett.)

Sunny's Dress

Sunny's hair

Reblogs are always welcome. Unless you're under 18. I will block you. You all should be responsible. Also comment if you wanted to be added to the taglist.

Taglist: @callsign-magnolia @roosterforme @angelbabyyy99

dividers are by @saradika

#rhett abbott #rhett abbot x reader #outer range #lewis pullman #rhett abbott fic #rhett abbott imagine

[julieverne]

Jane doesn't want to get on the plane. She doesn't want to leave DC. But she has to; she's resigned, she has nowhere else to go. She has an apartment rented back in Boston, she just has to move in.

She'd really thought she could be a teacher. She hadn't liked being in a classroom even as a student, why had she thought it would be different as a teacher? There was no fieldwork, no mysteries for her hungry brain to solve, no staff to hang out with after class. Just lonliness. Just kids staring at her hands like they're a badge, like they're the only reason she got the job.

So, feeling rather a failure, she goes home.

---

"Dinner tonight," Angela says when she picks up Jane. She feels pathetic; she's closing in on forty and her mum is still driving her around. Jane nods. "At Maura's." Jane's head snaps up.

"I just want to get settled in," Jane says, and Angela's mouth tightens.

"I missed you," Angela tried again, and Jane wants to blurt out 'how, when you've had Maura all this time?'. But she doesn't.

"Missed you too, Ma," she mumbles.

---

Maura texts, later.

"I'd like you to come to dinner," the text says. Jane can't tell if Angela made her do it.

"I don't think I can," Jane texts back. There's a long pause, and Jane puts her phone down, only to scoop it up a second later when it buzzes.

"Please."

Jane stares at her phone, then slowly types.

"Okay," she sends, regretting it immediately.

---

Jane walks; it's a nice night and she doesn't have a car yet. The streets are familiar, and it has her remembering. How stupid she'd been.

---

It was after Jack had left, and Maura was crying again. No Jack, no Casey. Just each other. Jane had seen the way Maura looked at her - like she was something delicious she couldn't wait to taste. She knew - she'd always known - that all she had to do was say the word and Maura would be hers. But she couldn't. The words wouldn't come out.

So somewhere between comforting Maura and holding Maura and drinking wine and being silly, Jane leaned in and kisses Maura. God, she was softer than Jane had imagined. And Jane had been right; after a moment of processing, Maura started kissing her back, as thorough and meticulous as she was about everything. Maura pulled back first.

"Why now?" she'd asked, and Jane shrugged.

"Aren't you lonely too?" Jane asked, and Maura pulled back, as angry as Jane had ever seen her.

"I'm worth more than lonliness. You taught me that," Maura snapped, and she'd left Jane downstairs alone until she crept out, deeply ashamed of herself.

---

Jane sighs as she sees Maura's house. It hadn't been the same, after that. They were still friends, but Maura was wary of her, afterward, and it had made Jane wary too. She knocks, and Maura answers, her face turned away as she talks to someone inside, laughing at something they're saying. Her hair is golden in this light and she looks ethereal. Her mouth is open and her neat teeth show in her smile, pink lips framing them. She's gorgeous. She always has been, and Jane wishes she'd known how to tell her, back then. She can feel a squeeze in her chest, her breath catching, her heart skipping. And then Maura turns and the light in her eyes fades, replaced with wariness. The trick of the light is gone, and now Maura is just someone Jane used to know. Used to love. Still loves. Maura's face softens at Jane's stricken look and she steps aside to let Jane in. Immediately she is set upon by her family, taken into arms, her niblings clambering around her shins begging aunty Jane to pick them up. She obliges, holds each of them close. She's missed them. She doesn't look at Maura. She couldn't look at her. But she feels Maura's hungry gaze on her wherever she is, moving around the place that used to be a second home to her. Somewhere she'd once lived with someone she loved.

It's too much. Jane lets herself out into the courtyard while Angela bustles around the kitchen. Ron helps her, which is nice, but it means Maura is able to join her on the bench outside. Jane puts her elbows on her knees and leans forward, looking at her hands.

"I'm sorry," Jane says. "For all of it. My stupid pride, the way I left, the way I never told you. I'm sorry, okay?" She looks sideways; does she have to be so beautiful? The golden glow is back under the courtyard lights, and Jane looks away. It hurts too much.

"Never told me what?" Maura asks, taking one of Jane's hands. Jane knows Maura knows what she's talking about. She must; Jane rarely thinks of Maura without thinking about that night. The night Jane ruined everything.

"That I didn't kiss you because I was lonely. I did it because I wanted to. Because it was you I wanted to kiss, and it had been for a very long time." Maura's hand grips hers tighter, gives her the courage to continue. "I was too scared of what people might think. I should have been scared of losing you, instead."

"You didn't lose me," Maura says gently.

"I did," Jane admits. "You pulled away, because you thought I was just trying to use you, like everyone else in your life had. And I didn't... I wouldn't..." Jane trailed off, and suddenly Maura's lips, lips she knew, lips she was familiar with, were pressing against her cheek.

"You're too stubborn for your own good," Maura says, pulling back. "It's one of the things I love about you."

"Makes me kinda hard to love," Jane says. Maura chuckles, and Jane's heart lifts a little for the first time in years. "I wish I hadn't been so scared to love you. I wish it had been easier to tell you." Jane sighs. "Ma says you're seeing someone?" she asks, as though her heart isn't breaking all over again. Maura shakes her head.

"You know what she's like," Maura says. Jane snorts; she does indeed. "I hear you're starting back at BPD?" Maura asks.

"Yeah. I sat a few exams while I was away. I'm in the brass now. Out of the field." Jane looks down at Maura's hand in hers. She lifts it to her lips, closes her eyes and kisses Maura's knuckles. Each knuckle. Maura doesn't stop her, doesn't say anything, but Jane can hear how her breathing stops entirely at the touch of Jane's lips against her skin.

"Why?" Maura asks when Jane opens her eyes. "Why now?"

"Because I love you," Jane says. "Always have. Always will." Jane shrugs and looks away; Maura's eyes are shining again and it's too much. She's hurt this woman too much. But then Maura's hand reaches for her chin and grasps it, the way she had when she'd set Jane's nose. But this time her intense gaze is focused on Jane's mouth, and then those soft and wonderful lips are pressing against Jane's, and Maura's hand is wending through Jane's hair to cradle her neck, and a moment later they're standing, pressed together, pulled as tight as can be.

"Girls, stop kissing out there, dinner's on the table and it's getting cold!" Angela calls from the main house, and Jane pulls away, giggling, giddy. Angela clearly doesn't mind, and everyone inside knows what they've been up to.

Maura smiles up at her. She fits perfectly in Jane's arms; Jane had always noticed, had always tried not to notice. Jane rubs her nose against Maura's and kisses her again. She's waited this long.

"Start without us," Jane calls back when she pulls away to breathe, pulled back in by Maura a moment later. It's everything she hadn't been able to admit that she'd wanted.

"I love you too," Maura says, pulling away first this time.

"You could've just said," Jane says, indulgent and indignant at the same time.

"Dinner's getting cold," Maura reminds Jane. "Angela and Ron put a lot of effort in." Jane nods and follows Maura back into the house, her hand in Maura's. She'd follow her anywhere.

---

In case it's not obvious, I draft on Tumblr on my phone and then go on my computer and develop in AO3 and crosspost to FF.net most of the time.

#rizzles #rizzoli and isles #maura isles #rizzoli & isles #jane rizzoli #rizzles fanfic #rizzles ficlet

[nextinline-if]

How would the ro's react after a nasty fight with mc and mc giving them the cold shoulder?

ugh i didn't do a great job but this is passable. thanks for the ask anon <3

Constantine: You've been ignoring him for 45 hours, 11 minutes, and 34 seconds. Yep. He's keeping track. How could he not? He only longs to hear your voice, even your angry voice would do.

How could I be so stupid? he thinks. What if MC never talks to me again? His heart races at that thought. It would be unbearable - as if your cold shoulder isn't already.

He writes you an apology letter and slips it under your door. In the letter, he asks you to meet him when dusk arrives.

Minutes pass. He starts to think you aren't coming. But then he hears your footsteps and when his blue gaze lands on your face, his shoulders sag in relief.

He hands you a bouquet of flowers. Bluebells. You raise an eyebrow at him. Constantine rubs the back of his neck and looks away. "I remember that you said your parents always gave these to each other after a fight because they symbolize gratitude." His eyes find yours again. "I just wanted you to know that I'm grateful for you."

Felix: You want to give him the cold shoulder? Fine, whatever. He doesn't care. Not at all. That's why he's been in the kitchen for six hours baking everything he's ever noticed you enjoy. Because he definitely does not care. It's not like he laid awake all night missing you. Only for James to tell him this morning that you'd barely eaten anything since your fight. That won't do, he thinks.

Felix enlists Anna's help to enact his plan. He sneaks into your room and fills your dinner table with the spread of freshly baked food, everything from appetizers to dessert. Then he leaves a note for you: "Ignore me if you want but you better eat. I mean it."

And you do eat. With a grin on your face. Then you send a servant to fetch Felix. He eagerly rushes to your room... only to find that you've fallen asleep with a full stomach. Still, a smile sits on his face as he grabs a blanket to drape over you.

Margaret: If it was anyone else, she wouldn't care. But being ignored by you? It makes her stomach turn. But that fight was pretty bad and Margaret knows it must have added more stress onto your already overwhelmed shoulders.

So she waits. And waits. And waits... it's an agonizing week of you avoiding her like the plague. She's never experienced a sadness so profound. Is this it then? she wonders. Is MC done with me? She knew this day would come - when you would decide that she isn't worth your time anymore.

She decides to go on a work trip far away. Danger calls to her. And she needs it. She can't stand being so close to you yet so far away. She can't stand the thought that you, too, have abandoned her. But as she's preparing her horse, you run out to her.

"Margaret!"

She freezes at the sound of her name rolling off your tongue. She knows that it's a bad idea, but she casts a hopeful glance over her shoulder. "Don't go," you tell her. And so she doesn't.

F: F isn't bothered by your cold shoulder. They went five years without you. Without knowing if your paths would intertwine again. So, they give you space until you're ready to talk.

And in the meantime, they write a lot of poetry. And drink a lot of wine. And rant to Felix while drunk about how they always fuck up a good thing.

And see, Felix gets tired of it. Quickly. So he begs you to talk to F again. After you make Felix grovel for a good hour, you depart to find F and make-up.

They're none the wiser as to Felix's intervention.

#ro’s reactions #constantine dimas #felix faramund #f faramund #lady margaret #anon reply #sorry if there's typos i have fake nails on right now lol

[clusterrunes]

[ @kamurocho-dreams / Tsuki and Miyuna Sakuraba ]

The excited pair stepped out of the Karaoke-kan, a spring to their steps. They were humming the same song, Otomeiru My Life.

"Daddy! You sing so well!" The younger girl excited speaks as she takes his hand. He responds to her with a soft laugh, a large grin on his face. His hair is pulled out of it's silly bun, resting neatly on his shoulders. His terrible hair bleaching was now on full display, with odd patches showing up in the long parts of his hair.

"No! You're like a little idol." He excitedly replied, gently lifting her up off the ground to carry her proudly. She puts her arms around his neck as they walk down the streets of Kamurocho, the neon lights shining brighter. "Can I get your autograph Miss Sakuraba? My lovely little idol!" She can only giggle with joy as she rests her head onto the top of Tsuki's shoulders.

The pair were now heading to dinner at a cute Sushi Train, one of Miyuna's favourite places to eat.

In the middle of the streets, there are two people, namely, Doug and Forte, who look very confused about the place they're in. After all, to the outsiders, they could be cosplayers who dress up as their favorite character while to them they're the real deal.

30 minutes earlier, Doug was drinking Lipton tea as he wonders how long does it take for the Narrator to come back when Forte just cough to get his attention. "Doug, this Narrator person you speak of hasn't arrived yet. Are you positive you aren't making this up?"

"Look, I'm not even joking about this! The fact you came here before me and assume that the sech empire is back for Frey killing their leader is something I didn't expect, because I thought you were going to know what's a narrator."

"And yet, you'll never be going to tell me about Kiel. Unless...something has happened to Kiel...Doug?"

Doug kept quiet about that. He can't just tell her about the situation of Kiel being a corrupt employee nor the fact that Kokichi has corrupted him by accident, so Forte's reaction is 50/50 on either good or bad. "Nope, nothing has happened to Kiel." He lied.

"Then, how did you got separated from him?"

"We follow the line." He lied.

"Then why you two follow the line?"

"Cause the Narrator said so." He lied

At this point, Doug just drinking some tea when the wind came out of nowhere from door 427, which causes his drink to spill over the carpet. "Oh come on! I just got it out of the vending machine!"

Doug gets up and tries to close the door when Forte charges too hard that not only they got the door closed, but they also got out of the office and fall into the figurative rabbit hole.

Back to the present, Doug just groans. "Dammit, now we're in a place that is not an office building. Plus, why did you charge?! You know I can just walk towards the door and close it!"

"Well, what do you expect me to do? Just stand there while the wind keeps blowing at you?"

"Yes." He tells her, bluntly.

At this point, Forte just sighs grabs Doug's hand, and looks around for any sort of transport to get back to the office until she spotted a place. "Doug, look! There's the transport place called the sushi train!"

Doug looks at the place that Forte spotted and said "You sure this place you're looking at is a transport of sorts? It looks like a cutesy food place."

"Yes, I believe it's the way to get us back to this...office building you and Kiel were located in..."

With that being said, Forte runs towards the place while Doug has to keep up. "Hey, Forte! Can you slow down?! You're going to bump into someone if you keep running you knight nut!"

#♧clusters of runes♧ #◇doug◇ #♡forte♡ #kamurocho dreams

[sleptwithinthesun]

this was. originally supposed to be the secret santa fic but i focused way too much on plot rather than the snz and ended up scrapping it. however i did still finish it (for some reason) so HERE is ~2.0K words of sick b/uck and exasperated e/ddie from the show 9/1/1!!

In hindsight, Eddie probably should have noticed it earlier.

The week's been almost nonstop, though, with the three inches of snow that hit LA driving everyone absolutely nuts. If there's anything Eddie knows about living in Texas, it's that people who aren't used to snow will lose their minds over nothing more than an inch, and clearly, the rest of the station is used to it as well. Every time the alarm goes off, Hen and Chim exchange looks with each other, sigh, and shake their heads. Bobby's the only one who actually seems excited about the snow, and Buck's been meeting every call with quiet determination. It's odd, considering that he's normally the human equivalent of a golden retriever, but none of the others have really questioned it. Winter is a hard season for a lot of people, and although Eddie's been at the station for almost four years, he's still not quite sure what baggage they all carry.

Still, he pulls Hen aside as they're heading back to the truck after wrapping up a call. "Hey, is Buck alright?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't he be?" she asks, brows furrowing. "Did he say something to you, or did something happen?"

"No, he's just been quiet. It's not like him." Eddie glances back toward him as Bobby wraps up the call, Chim loading their patient into the back of the ambulance.

Hen sighs, mostly in relief that Buck's entire life isn't about to go crashing down on top of him once again. "Yeah, I noticed that. I've been meaning to talk to him, but we've just been—"

"—busy," Eddie finishes, nodding. "I'll talk to him after the shift ends, try to take him home with me, if I can." It's well-known that Buck enjoys Eddie's house more than his own loft, likely because it's actually personalized and comfortable instead of being under lease and therefore impossible to make feel like home.

Hen smiles at him. "Take care of him, alright?"

He grins back. "Always."

-

Buck sighs in relief as he sinks into Eddie's couch, tipping his head back like it's a genuinely comfortable piece of furniture. "Do you need me to cook dinner tonight?" he asks regardless, closing his eyes for just a moment.

"No, I was just thinking we could order something, if you're alright with that. Chris is with Pepa tonight, so we don't have to worry about his food opinions," says Eddie, looking up from one of the various food delivery apps on his phone and smiling at his friend amusedly. "You look beat, man."

He groans. "Yeah. Dunno why I'm so tired lately; 's probably because I've been sleeping weird, but I haven't changed anything."

Eddie frowns to himself, concern only growing further. The absolute chaos of their last three hours on shift haven't distracted him from his purpose in inviting Buck over tonight, and he has until 8:30 tomorrow morning to pry the issue out of him. "You feeling alright?"

"Eh," Buck says, wiggling a hand back and forth. "It's fine. I've got it under control."

And that statement sends alarm jolting up Eddie's spine, and he's back in the living room before the other man can even inhale. "Buck, what's wrong?" he breathes, eyes sweeping over his figure as if he can assess the damage himself, despite the fact that he hasn't noticed anything yet, how could he have missed it, whatever it is—

"Eds, relax," Buck says nonchalantly, even a bit sheepishly. "It's just my leg, the cold always makes it hurt a bit more since the accident. That's all it is, I promise." The smile he gives Eddie after that is so innocent, so eager to reassure, that he almost finds himself believing Buck.

That is, until he remembers the way Buck staunchly refuses to talk about his own problems unless he's trying to convince himself that they're not that big of a deal. It always backfires, of course, because the 118 always ends up completely horrified by whatever it is he's sharing with them, but the fact that he's trying to play this off either means that he's about to be in a lot of trouble, or that he's actually unconcerned with the whole issue. Which, considering the ordeal of his recovery period and the blood clots, is unlikely.

And Eddie just stares at the other man, incredulous, until he asks, "What?" just a bit too defensively, and Eddie snaps out of his shock.

"It's not cramping or anything, is it? It's just pain?" he asks.

"Just pain," Buck confirms, and it does little to settle Eddie. "Please don't worry about it; it's happened every year since. I'm used to it."

Yeah. That really doesn't do anything to make Eddie feel any better about the whole thing.

Still, Buck's giving him that puppy-eyed look again, the one that Christopher always gives him, and they still have food to order if they want to eat tonight, and really, pain is to be expected. Buck's leg was crushed under a ladder truck; it's a miracle he's even been able to continue with his job, after everything.

He does his best to shrug it off. Buck would tell him if anything was seriously wrong, wouldn't he?

Wouldn't he?

-

It's when he wakes up in the morning that he realizes the answer to his earlier question is no, absolutely not.

The thing is, his couch is terrible. Buck complains about it every other time he's over at Eddie's house, and even Chris is starting to get on his case about how uncomfortable the damn thing is. Eddie's been meaning to get rid of it, but, well, he's been busy. It's really a nonissue, so he's been putting off dealing with it.

(And if having a terrible couch means that he gets Buck, who always runs just shy of uncomfortably warm and practically acts as a personal space heater, albeit cuddly and octopus-like in his sleep, Eddie really doesn't see the point in getting a new one.)

But instead of waking up with the soft warmth of Buck tucked in around him, chin tucked into his chest and snoring quietly, Eddie wakes up to Buck tucked in around him, chin tucked into his chest and snoring loudly.

Well. That's new.

But also, not really. This is the same way Buck gets in the middle of the spring, when all of the plants really start kicking up pollen and the Zyrtec he takes isn't quite enough. It's a sign his allergies are acting up, which isn't a possibility, not in the middle of winter.

"Buck?" Eddie whispers, shifting slightly and watching as Buck's head dips, then shoots up as he makes it to consciousness. "Hey."

"Mordig," Buck says, then shakes his head in dismay. "Aw, fugck."

"You alright?" he asks.

Buck shrugs. "I didnd't thingk I was getting sigck," he explains, sighing into his hands when he brings them up to his face. His voice is muffled when he speaks again, rough and anxious. "And I probably jusdt godt you sigck, too."

"You can try your best," Eddie says, then laughs when Buck does a neat little double take. "Immune system of steel, man. I haven't been sick in almost six years."

"You have a child?"

Eddie can't stop the grin from spreading across his face. "I'm pretty sure that's how I managed to avoid getting sick in the first place," he explains, and Buck only shakes his head in disbelief. "Let me call Bobby and tell him we're not coming in today, hang on."

"You dond't need to tagke the day off," Buck complains, twisting in protest amongst the covers while Eddie fumbles for his phone. "Eddie!"

"Buck!" he mimics, unlocking it and switching to Bobby's contact. "It's fine, Bobby can just swap in Shiv and Alazo from C-shift."

Buck only whines wordlessly and flops back into his bed, and Eddie laughs as he waits for Bobby to pick up the call.

-

"You're a terrible sick person, you know that?"

"So I've been told," Buck says, not looking up from loading the dishwasher. "Don't worry, I've restricted myself. I'm not actually touching anything clean."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Eddie says, rolling his eyes. "Why are you even standing right now? I thought I told you to lie down on the couch."

Buck scoffs, then turns to cough into his shoulder. "Your couch sucks, Eds. It's like lying on bricks covered by a blanket."

"Which you've said, multiple times."

Buck pauses at that, hands stilling in the sink. "Did I?"

Eddie sighs heavily. "Go back to sleep, Buck."

His shoulders slump, and he nods resignedly, even as he puts another plate in the bottom rack. "I can't."

"Restless energy?"

"Yeah." Buck rocks back on his heels sheepishly, glancing up at Eddie. "I don't know. I just need to keep moving."

Eddie gives him a close-lipped smile, then leans in so that their shoulders are touching, and Buck lets his head rest against Eddie's collarbone. "Tell you what," he proposes. "You go back to bed and try to rest for fifteen minutes. If you're not asleep by then, I'll figure something out, but if you are, I'm not going to wake you up."

"What, are you just trying to get rid of me?" Buck huffs amusedly, turning on his heel and beelining for Eddie's bedroom. "See you in fifteen minutes, Eds."

"We'll see," he calls back, laughing silently to himself as Buck pouts. Sure, Buck is stubborn, but he's also sick, and if there's anything that will knock him down, it'll be some ridiculously mild inconvenience that really shouldn't have the impact that it does.

Sure enough, when he checks in on Buck again, he's completely dead to the world.

-

Buck's face is buried in his elbow as they sit on the couch later, and Eddie's doing his best to soothe him through the fit of sneezing as he watches with increasing concern. In front of them, an episode of Community is paused, the screen glowing brightly.

"You alright?" Eddie murmurs, handing Buck the box of tissues when he finally looks up again. His eyes are shiny with irritated tears, and he seems more annoyed than anything.

"Fide," he murmurs, carefully grabbing two tissues and folding them before blowing his nose. "Ugh, I feel fucki'g gross."

"Yeah, that's kind of how being sick works." He laughs when Buck groans and slumps further into the couch. "Don't worry, you'll be over it in a couple of days, and then you'll be able to go back to the firehouse. Not that I don't love having you around, of course, but man are you a nightmare when you're sick."

Buck laughs tiredly, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, that's fair," he says before he twists away to sneeze again, shaking against Eddie's ribs. "Sorry."

"Salud," Eddie says, and unpauses the episode so they can continue watching. Buck's the one who introduced him to the show Community in the first place, and he's the kind of person who likes watching a show he knows with other people to see their reactions, so Eddie's been waiting to watch it until Buck is with him. It's gone pretty well so far, but it's rare they have enough time together without Chris to actually get through a ful episode, so Eddie's grateful for today's opportunity, although it did come at the price of Buck's health.

He finds his fingers carding absently through Buck's hair about halfway through the episode, the action having gone unnoticed by the both of them until Eddie's fingers snag in a random knot. Then, they both freeze, and refuse to acknowledge the other until Eddie continues, and goes back to playing with Buck's curls while the younger firefighter relaxes gradually into his touch.

All in all, it's a pretty good day.

#9/1/1 sickfic #sickfic #9/1/1 #e/van b/uckley #e/ddie d/iaz #b/uddie #swts fic

[theageofsims]

The Age of Sims 2.5 - Part 28 - “Confessions Over Dinner”

"They must be having a seafood special…" She said after putting her fork down. "It was delicious."

"Want some more?" He motioned towards what was left.

"I don't think I can eat anymore… why'd you make so much?" He shrugged for an answer, she paid complete attention to his face. "What's the matter?"

He almost said nothing, but decided not to. "It's late."

"Not true." She glanced out his window. "The stars aren't even out yet."

"They won't be. Too much fog tonight… they'll be impossible to see."

"Fog?"

"Humidity levels are much higher than they used to be… they're actually much higher than they should be for this time of year."

She started to speak, then stopped. "Are you changing the subject?"

"What subject?" He watched her, ready to speak, but she fell into thought. "I said it was late and you mentioned the stars."

"Okay…" She squinted. "Why are you wearing your glasses?"

"I was cooking." He shrugged. "Had to make sure I read the recipe correctly."

"You never cook with recipes."

He shrugged once more. "Sometimes I do." He saw her frown at him. "Alright… after I finished cooking, while I was waiting for you to get off work, I started looking into things… about Peter."

"Did you find anything new?" She asked, sounding hopeful. He shook his head and she sighed. "I'm sorry…" She thought. "Are you trying something new?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seem to have papers everywhere… in your bedroom, around your desk…"

"I'm just trying to gather information from his journals he kept when he was much younger. It's just a way for me to keep track… look back and maybe think of something I haven't thought of before."

"Are you not working along with his parents and your ex-wife anymore?"

He muttered something she couldn't understand, then sighed. "Not really… I mean, if I find something that I haven't found before, of course I'll tell them -- but… well they're a little pissed off at me for cutting off my end of the bargain when it came to the private investigator. I tried to explain that he was just sucking the money from us and not doing what we needed him to do--"

"Why did you hire a private investigator? Shouldn't…" She threaded carefully, knowing that nothing about this situation was her business. "… anyone of you reported him as a missing person?"

He nodded. "I suppose." He said quietly, "I guess we just wanted to go about it discreetly."

"Do you still feel that way?"

He thought longer than he should have, then shrugged. "It's not… it's not them. It's me." He sighed. "I don't want people coming up to me on the street, questioning me about Peter… we haven't got the same last name, but they'd link him directly to me regardless--"

"But William -- you want people to come up to you." She shook her head. "You want Peter to be found, don't you?"

"Of course I do." His said sternly. "What kind of a question is that?"

"Well you can't… operate like this. You can't avoid getting the police involved." He made a face at her idea. "This isn't about me, so don't look at me like that. They actually actively look for people like your nephew."

"Yeah?" He said, somewhat defensively. "Last time I checked, nobody really gave a shit about druggies."

She inhaled, then exhaled slowly as she stayed quiet. She could have explained further, but it just was not the right time to do that.

"There's no use in getting the police involved now anyway. He's been missing for too long. It's too late." He grit his teeth, shaking his head.

"Don't beat yourself up more than you already have." She told him. "You had every right to protect your name… you've worked extremely hard to have all that you do--"

"Stop." He shook his head. "It was wrong. It was my decision… the others let me choose and I did." He inhaled sharply. "I didn't want to have my formulas, my products… spoken poorly about. I didn't want people speculating about his drug use… if it had something to do with having access to what I created. I didn't want… I didn't want my work to be ruined, but I thought… I thought he'd return. I didn't think it'd go on this long. I didn't mean to put myself first, I've never… I've never been put into a situation like that before… like this, I just…"

"It's alright, William."

"No it isn't." He refused to agree, hating himself in that moment for being so concerned with things that he felt truly didn't matter… not after all. "I fucked up--"

"You didn't do anything for this to happen--"

"No, but I made it worse."

She sighed, then shrugged. "I don't think I'll be able to change your mind… thank you for dinner."

"Are you leaving?"

"No… I'll stay tonight, but I just want to get a shower and get ready for bed. I've had a long day." She paused. "And so have you."

#sims 4 #the age of sims #the age of sims 2.5 part 28 #sims 4 story #the sims 4 #ts4 #simblr #sims 4 stories

[lostbetweenvampiresandmusic]

"Home of the Lost: Chapter 25"

"Eleanor, we need to talk about this," Paul stood in the doorway of Star's room, looking at the teen girl.

"What's there to talk about? I vamped out, Star helped me. No one got hurt."

"You endangered yourself. Star. Us."

"It's not like I did it intentionally," she muttered, moving to slip past him.

"I know that. But you need to control yourself."

"I? How about that idiot that -"

"It was not that bad of a situation that you had to vamp out."

"How would you know, you weren't even there!"

Eleanor managed to slip past him this time, speeding out of the cave. She was not in the mood for this. It was an accident vamping out on the boardwalk. Why couldn't they let it rest? Was it really necessary to go on like that when she already apologised for it and promised that she'd try to better her control?

"Family trouble, hm?"

Eleanor was startled, in such a way she almost fell off the cliff she was sitting on, if it wasn't for him catching her.

"David!"

She hugged him tightly, not letting go for a while. "I missed you."

"Me too." He let go of her, taking a look at her. "Come on, you need to eat."

Eleanor nodded, deciding not to ask about whether or not he knew about what happened - he probably did, and it was better not to bring it up.

Josephine Johnson was supposed to be enjoying a nice date with her friend - because at her age, what more could she want the two of them to be? - Charles Emerson. What was supposed to be a nice dinner was instead interrupted by a panicked phone call. Jo caught several words - divorce, I can't take this anymore and last but definitely not least: can we stay with you for a while?. She understood, of course she did. If she'd had children, she would have done the same. But no, she didn't think she'd like the younger Emersons. There was something in the air, whenever their names were spoken. Something static, dark, and threatening like a thunderstorm waiting to burst loose in the sky.

"Are you full?"

"I think so."

"Want to try the boardwalk again?"

"As long as I don't have to apologise for anything," Eleanor mumbled, still remembering clearly how she had been forced to apologise to half a theatre group for mocking their vampire play. They weren't supposed to overhear, but they did, and obviously, they were not very pleased. So, she had to apologise, or they'd all be banned from ever going back to the theatre.

David chuckled, shaking his head. "No. But we are going to see that guy again."

"What? Why?"

"Because you need to stand rude fucks without vamping out."

"So, this is babyvamp training?"

"Yep."

"Are you sure I can't just apologise and be done with it?"

"Unless you want to be forced to stay with us all the time."

"Fine!"

"You'd think it'd be easy having a teen when you aren't much older," Paul sighed as he fell down on the couch. "But no. No, she will just scream and yell and teen-out to anyone."

Star couldn't help but laugh. "She's not that bad."

"No?"

"At least she is not causing to much trouble."

"Nah, trouble I can handle. I really don't care about that, as long as she doesn't reveal us, you know? But all this yelling and screaming - she claims she didn't catch up with the times, but believe me when I say that I preferred her 1880s teen act."

"Why aren't you out? I thought Marko and you were going to-"

"Am I boring you?" he asked with a grin.

"Always."

"Nah, Marko is off to see if he can find a gift for Josephine. Give her a thanks for all her help and all that."

"Oh!" Star ran out of the room before returning shortly with two earrings in her hand. "I made these a while back, you know - back when is was still human - as a thanks. I thought these would fit your and Marko's style."

Paul took them from her and looked at them. They were nice, both of them unique, and yet it was obvious the earrings formed a pair as well.

"Thanks. They're great."

Star smiled. "I'm going to feed. You need anything?"

Paul shook his head. It was a long time ago since he had been a newborn, needing to feed almost nightly. Now, at his age, he could stand with once or twice a week. Almost two-hundred-and-fifty years had he been alive. It was weird. Some things only began to mean more to you. The people you spend your time with, the things you do. All that while other things - what's happening in the world, who you're feeding on - began to loose it's meaning. Marko, who was twenty-five vampire years older than him, had warned him for it when he'd been changed. He hadn't cared then, and definitely didn't care now - why would he? - but sometimes he missed the days that he did. He remembered how when he had first changed, he had sworn to never harm a child. That he'd never hurt women. That he'd only hurt the bad. And yet here he was - feeding on women, feeding on the everyday good people. He was barely comparable to the man he had been all those years ago, and he wasn't sure what to think of that.

"What are you doing here?" Edgar snapped as he saw the girl from the night before. She was silent, looking more annoyed than anything else, and said nothing. She looked around, making some disapproving noises at the way they had sorted their comics earlier that week, before looking at the boy that was with her. "Can we leave now? These are really not worth it," she gestured at the comics. David chuckled. "Sure."

"Hold on- not worth it? Do you even know what you're talking about?!"

"I do. And honestly, I prefer the ones from the forties. These, well, they're just bad. Not my thing. Never will be either."

Edgar stared at her as she left. Maybe he needed to see if he could find some vintage originals.

#the lost boys #marko #david #paul #dwayne #the lost boys 1987 #tlb #star #hotl #home of the lost

[sofiiel]

There & Back Again : xreader addition (fem/afab)

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄: 8000+ words: (CW: angst. hurt/comfort. fluff. strained family dynamic & emotional abuse. depictions of bullying)

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So many things ran through your mind as you stood looking up at the flag pole. 

"So the word around is Lexion hoards women and children, they say they got people across the world snatching them up in shadows of trafficking rings, Cartels, Cults...the missing they aren't victims in the way you think...."

Amy's words from the night before echoed in your mind.

The thought made you shiver as you hugged herself.

"I don't want to believe her." you thought, "and yet..."

you could remember the seriousness in Amy's eyes as she spoke, she didn't look away or flinch.

There was no lie in Amy's eyes. 

"They're holding them, they're stock, like cattle the only thing is, no one knows why. The rumor is, some of them are transferred somewhere here in Hawkins. I know they took my sister, and I know one of them also helped her get out."

You kept replaying the conversation from the night before. It was driving you mad.

You'd even managed to piss off your mother, too busy replaying Amy's words in your head to respond when you had been spoken to.

your hands wrapped around your stomach as it burned softly, sent to bed without dinner and sent out to school without breakfast.

"Mother's usual lite punishment" you sighed, "it's better than the others, I'll take it. She can't be mad all day."

From the corner of your eyes, you could spot Robin heading for the front door of the school.

She watched you cautiously, clearly unsure of what to do.

"I overreacted." you thought, "I should fix it....but how do I? It'll take me days just to get up enough gumption to walk up to her again." 

With a sigh, you shook your head, "Robin, Patrick, and Chelsea. Today's going to be a long day." you murmured, heading into school as the warning bell sounded off.

Eddie guzzled down the remaining orange juice in the jug, while waiting on his pop tarts to spring from the toaster.

"So you've heard of Mr. McKinney, right?" He called to his Uncle, who was quite probably destroying the bathroom. 

The bathroom faucet stopped running and Wayne exited, drying his hands on a hand towel.

"Yeah, why?" He asked groggily, he'd only been home a little under two hours with a quick hour nap.

"No real reason," Eddie said folding his arms.

He leaned against the counter, eyes glued to the toaster.  Eddie teetered his head from side to side.

"It's just," He stalled walking his hand along the edge of the countertop with his fingers, "there might kinda be this girl," Eddie admitted.

His uncle Wayne covered his face, "if it's another one of those, all I ask is you be done before I'm home." he droned. 

Eddie's head snapped up as the pop tarts ejected.

"It's not like that," Eddie said quickly.

"I mean...I dunno she might take something but...she shows up in these, old dresses every day and hasn't ever stayed out all night," Eddie explained, his eyes searching the floor as he searched his thoughts.

Hands flying about as he talked, "She could be lying." He pondered out loud.

"But I doubt it." Eddie said.

Wayne was hardly sure the boy was even talking to him anymore, rather caught up in a debate with himself, and took the chance to pour himself a cup of cold coffee.

"No, no. She's not the type, not this one....this one is...." Eddie trailed off, turning, he grabbed his pop tarts and quietly munched on a corner without filling.

"I mean, she's so '59 it's kind of insane, it somehow works. It takes a whole year to get her to say anything on her mind but, it's like some kind of game...I guess? And she's outrageously...." Eddie turned to face his uncle to find a smug look on his face as he sipped his coffee.

Eddie looked around carefully, "why are you looking at me with that face." He asked.

Wayne simply shrugged and took a loud sip. "No reason. But you're in over your head Eddie." said Wayne making his way into the living room.

"In over my head, w-why exactly?" Eddie asked quickly, nervously chopping at his pop tart as he followed his Uncle.

"Gregory McKinney is a tight ass and if he runs his family like the Plant operations, You'd do better dealing with a father in the KGB." said Wayne.

Eddie nearly choked, "that bad, huh?" he asked slowly.

Wayne glanced up at him, Eddie watched his uncle with eyebrows raised high.

"What the hell, nobody likes me anyway." Eddie said, optimism ringing in his voice.

He grabbed his backpack and headed out the door.

"You forgot to brush your teeth this morning, Romeo!" Wayne called out dryly.

Eddie swung open the door, peeking his head back inside,

"That....would be helpful." He nearly squeaked, rushing back in and to the bathroom.

"Jesus fuckin christ! Use spray! Use spray!" Eddie shouted, fleeing the bathroom with his toothbrush and paste, opting to brush over the kitchen sink instead.

You'd been avoiding Robin all day, you knew it was a little too obvious.

"But I don't know what I should do..." you thought, watching the documentary being projected onto the wall.

Various students whispered to each other and giggled, hardly paying attention to the information being given. While the teacher himself sat perched on his desk reading a book.

The door quietly creaked open as Eddie popped his head through the door, carefully scanning the room.

Mr. Conn seemed to be distracted.

"Maybe he won't notice I'm late." Eddie thought.

His eyes soon fell on you, your focus not on the documentary, but rather through the documentary. your face faintly contorted in worry.

A small tilted smile came to Eddie's face as he spotted an empty seat beside you. 

Opening the door a bit more, Eddie slid into class, quietly making his way through the rows of desks. 

"You're late Mr.Munson" Mr. Conn called, never lifting his head away from his book.

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Oh no. stop.help.murder." he muttered under his breath dryly.

"Maybe if I buy her an ice cream? Robin likes ice cream." your mind still ran a mile a minute.

Eddie plopped down in the seat next to you, his eyes looking around the room before leaning over toward you.

"So nobody's concerned that Mr. Conn's face deep in a Mercer Mayer book?" Eddie asked you.

You jumped in a fluster, "Eddie?" you asked bewildered.

Your eyes wandered over to Mr.Conn and the thin paperback in his hands, sporting a little brown critter in green overalls standing before a yellow bathtub full of mice, frogs, and bugs.

"What?" you whispered, squinting as if your eyes had tricked you. 

"Wait...how long have you been in this class?" you asked Eddie. 

"All year?" Eddie asked back.

You wanted nothing more than to slide to the floor and inch out of the classroom like a worm.

You watched him with wide eyes for a moment and slowly turned your head back to the documentary.

"I...I knew that." you stammered.

Eddie chuckled, "relax, I usually sit in the back and admittedly sleep through Biology. I can be easy to miss." He murmured, leaning back in his seat.

"A whole person for a whole year...." you breathed.

"And to be completely fair to you, you're always out there somewhere in your head," Eddie added, rolling his neck so that he might look up at you.

"Your mind is a racehorse," Eddie said.

"You aren't wrong." you whispered with a frown.

"Anyway, I figured since we're speaking now, aren't we? Might as well stop hiding." Eddie added.

Glancing up at the documentary, he scrunched up his nose.

"Help me out?" He asked, with a subtle wave of his hand, "what is this?" 

"In Our Water, it is about a family whose water was tainted by a landfill.... Mr. Conn's been on a real eco-warrior tripp the last couple of months." you whispered.

Eddie couldn't hold back his smile as you leaned in to whisper.

Even in the dimly lit room, you were close enough for him to get a good look at your eyes, the color seemed unusually vivid.

Eddie's own eyes almost crossed as he focused on a small patch in your left eye that was an icy blue.

You could feel your cheeks warm up a little and a nervous flutter in your lungs.

"I can't have something on my face." you thought, trying your best not to reach up and feel around your face.

"I washed it this morning, and I haven't eaten yet." you told yourself.

"Would it be rude to just...look away or....." your mind now had a new problem to deal with.

"Now that's pretty damn cool," Eddie said, tapping the corner of his eye. 

You exhaled, "oh the speck..." you thought.

Your face felt as if it were mid-summer, as now you felt supremely silly.

"Um...thank you..." you said leaning away and settling back in your seat.

Eddie chuckled and did the same, focusing on the movie, "wish my eyes were half a pretty." He said.

You could feel Your mind screaming.

"Pretty? You think....I mean." You quickly shut up.

Silence lingered between you two, and Eddie tried to cover his mouth with the back of his hand as he watched you from the corner of his eyes.

He could tell your mind was about to burst as you struggled to hold in a comment. Until finally...

"Your eyes are pretty too," you murmured barely above a whisper.

Eddie laughed inwardly, but instead opted to save you any anxiety and pretend he didn't hear you.

Lunch rolled around and you had yet to reach out to Robin.

"Gee, she gets around a lot for a girl who claims not to have many friends." you thought, closing up your locker.

Your stomach squelched lightly.

"I wonder do I even bother going to the lunchroom or?" you thought.

As per your punishment, you would go without lunch too. As you weren't permitted to eat school lunches and were forbidden from making your own today.

You sighed.

"I should go to at least find Robin, however, if I do.... she'll wonder why I'm not eating and blow it up into a bigger problem and I won't be able to tell her the real reason and...."

Thinking this you pushed the air out of your lungs yet again in a long exhale, "it's actually endless." you thought.

"Maybe I can find something to do with myself." Your murmur, turning the corner into the main hall.

However, you were met with an unfriendly face.

"McKinney" Chelsea sneered.

You shrunk back slightly, slowly creating distance between the small pack of girls.

"Hello Chelsea," You spoke stiffly, keenly aware of how empty the hallway had become.

Steps sounded behind you as a smile spread across Chelsea's face.

"Steve told the whole team I'm a bitch." She growled.

You side glanced, "did he lie?" you thought, standing stone still.

"I'm sorry that's... I don't have any control over that," you said, finding yourself pinned in as the girls closed in around you.

"You had to play the helpless little dork." Chelsea hissed, giving your shoulder a shove.

Still sore from the events at the Fords, you bit your lip to stop a yelp while the bruise throbbed in protest.

"Honest, Chelsea... Nancy was the one who ran over to help. It's not my fault." you try to reason, but Chelsea clearly wasn't in the mood.

"You should have been watching where you were going instead of constantly looking off into space." She snapped. 

You lowered your head and gripped the sides of your jeans, "y-you're right, I'm sorry." you murmured.

"Maybe it's better to just give her what she wants. She'll go away faster then, right?" you asked yourself.

The girl behind you giggled, "oh so, so pathetic, no wonder your brother doesn't want to be seen with you. He might catch your Lame." She said.

You stayed silent and side glanced, "tell me something my mother hasn't already." you sighed mentally.

"Can I...go now? Please?" you asked, voice strained.

Chelsea tilted her head, "well let's see.... I'm feeling kind today, you know, if in the spirit of being nice." she hummed.

You lifted your head in shock.

"So, we can be civil," said Chelsea, but there was a sharp glint in her eyes, like a cat before it bites, and your stomach sank.

"Since you embarrassed me in front of Steve, we get to embarrass you... in front of the whole basketball team," Chelsea said with a grin.

"B-but...that'll take too long to settle they don't practice until next week, it-it's Friday." you stammered.

"True, but -" Chelsea paused and held her finger in the air as the bell rang, "you hear that, lunch is over which means gym starts soon, it's a free day." she said smirking.

"Everybody meets in the gym..." you murmured.

"Exactly." Chelsea sang. 

"What do you want from me, then?" you asked defeated. 

Chelsea smirked, "do you like strawberries..." she said cheekily.

You stood in the locker room before a mirror over one of the many sinks, biting your lip as you looked at your reflection, stuck inside the giant strawberry costume.

"At least the long sleeves and legs still cover up the bruising." you thought, the silver linings in the situation were very small.

Eddie was sitting with Scott and Gareth on the bleachers when he noticed a particular group of girls, known for being notoriously mean, overly excited as they chatted.

"So Marcy will start the tape over the speakers, and then McKinney knows to come out for her grand debut." Chelsea giggled.

"Strawberry Fields Forever, not only will she look dumb, everyone will think she's sky-high." another girl laughed.

"And both Nancy and Steve will regret associating themselves with her." Chelsea snickered.

"Don't you think this is a little much...." One girl muttered.

"This is why no one likes you, Jenna." another said flatly.

Eddie sat back and straightened up.

"Shit...shit.. Shit," He said, looking around the gym.

He wouldn't be able to turn the sound off.

"but..." he thought.

"I bet I can be louder than it." he murmured.

Turning to Gareth and Scott, he leaned in between them, "guys, I need help, our Lady Tinúviel is in trouble." He said.

"What?" asked Gareth.

"How?" Scott echoed.

"Wargs," Eddie muttered.

"Anyway, Gareth I need you to go piss off those girls over there for a while, Scott you help. I need to go find Jeff and...probably get suspended." Eddie said, hopping up from his seat.

"Wait what?" Scott called out.

"Just be ready to play, 23 - remember the radio contest!" Eddie called behind him as he ran out of the Gym, ignoring the P.E teacher's protests.

You rested on the bench in the girls' locker room, waiting for the dreaded moment you would hear the music playing from the Gym.

You swung your legs.

"If there is a god, he hates me." you muttered.

"Either that or I've done something terribly wrong and completely forgot about it, and now I'm forever cursed." you thought with a heavy sigh.

"What's taking so long?" you wondered.

"JEEEEFFFF!"

"Jeff, Jeff, Jeff!" Eddie shouted, sliding to a stop.

He threw his hands onto Jeff's shoulders.

"W-what wrong?" Jeff sputted eyes wide open.

Eddie panted and pointed up the hall.

"We need to break into the music room closet, three guitars," said Eddie drawing in a breath of air.

"And the piano." he puffed.

"The piano? Are you crazy, we just roll that up the hallway and to where?" Jeff asked, eyes large with wonder.

"The gym! Look, I can explain while we're doing it - let's go!" Eddie urged lightly pushing Jeff in the right direction.

"You've finally lost your mind, man!" Jeff gasped.

"No, no, it's always been gone - move faster!" called Eddie.

Back in the Gym, Gareth and Scott struggled with their task.

"So, um....what it's like being a girl?" Gareth asked Chelsea as she watched he and Scott with a disturbed look on her face.

"Why would that matter to you?" she asked.

"We just...wanted to know if the fragrance in shampoo makes your hair better than ours or...." Scott went on.

He and Gareth share uncomfortable glances. They weren't doing well and they knew it.

Meanwhile, bursting out of the music storage room came flying a grand piano on wheels, made out of light oak, it zoomed through the hall, guitars stacked on top of it.

"You need to slow down, we can't control this thing!" Jeff called.

"No, no left, we're going outside and around the back! They can't see us come in!" Eddie called.

"You'd better be planning to ask this girl out, or I'm going to want restitution for this, man!" Jeff called. 

"And...like...so do bra's help with back suppor-" Scott's eyes wandered over to the back door of the Gym, he could see Eddie and Jeff quietly getting the Piano inside, albeit not without a mild struggle.

"Um...you don't really care, we'll just be...going." he said, lightly pushing Gareth ahead of him.

Chelsea turned to her friends in confusion.

"Ew." she said simply.

"Ugh, he wasted time, Jules, go tell Marcy to press play." Chelsea said with a grin.

"I wish I had a camera...this would be great for the yearbook." she sighed.

From the girl's locker room you could hear the melody of the Beatles over the loudspeakers, biting your lip you got to your feet and trudged towards the door and out.

As they do, the door closed loudly, drawing everyone in the gym's attention.

Some students gawked, and others broke out into laughter instantly.

"Oh my god." Nancy breathed covering her mouth, she looked around frantically.

"She's not doing this on her own." she thought.

From a distance, Nancy spotted Chelsea and her eyes narrowed.

"Her again?" she asked.

"Her who again?" Steve asked, returning to Nancy from his teammates.

"One, two, three, four"

The song started to play and, as requested by Chelsea, you danced.

No matter how intricate and elegant Ballet may seem on a stage, the fact remains it looks less beautiful when done as a giant fruit.

"And nothing to get hung about, Strawberry fields forever"

You tried your best to block out the laughter, and even the P.E teachers were left speechless, unsure of what to do, one even laughing herself no matter how hard she tried not to.

"What the hell is wrong with your sister?" Jason asked Patrick who simply shook his head.

"Mom and Dad found her in the street....maybe whoever had her before threw her out on her head..." Patrick muttered, eyes seething.

"No nono, no, guys! We need to hurry it up!" Eddie sang in panic, slipping the electric guitar over his body. 

Scott flicked on the amps from the gymnasium stage, and the reverb vibrated the air.

"I'm not sure how well I remember this song," Gareth confessed behind the Piano.

"Doesn't matter, let's go!" Eddie said.

Not missing a beat, Gareth put his fingers to the keys, The whole room became confused  as they could hear the first few notes, of 'Strawberry Letter 23' 

"Where is that coming from?" Steve asked, watching as the P.E instructor went to investigate.

The soft piano intro mixed unevenly with the Beatles' song blaring over the loudspeakers like circus music.

You stopped dancing in your confusion.

"Nobody told you to stop!" Chelsea barked,

With a sigh you continued when the room was struck by the full-powered intro of the second song. Played via three guitars, and the electric sang the loudest as it covered the Piano key with chords.

The Gym teacher scowled as he pulled away the curtains hiding the stage behind the bleachers.

"MUNSON!" He shouted.

Eddie gave him a nervous smile but kept playing.

"It's a good deed, I swear!" Eddie said quickly, his eyes falling on you as you spun about.

In your turn, you got a glimpse of the stage, the sight of Eddie and his band causing you to fall off the tip of your toe and forward.

Catching yourself, you stood there gawking.

"Eddie?" you thought.

"They're ruining everything!" Chelsea shouted, giving Jenna a shove.

"Go tell Marcy to make the music louder!" she raged.

Jenna gave a nod and ran off.

It wasn't Metal, and it certainly wasn't his image. But Eddie tried his best to channel the same motivation he had in middle school to perform the song for the three hundred dollar prize radio contest.

"It's not three hundred...." he thought, his eyes falling back down to you, who Chelsea was shouting at. "But worth it..."

"Hello my love, I heard a kiss from you." 

He sang, and it was nothing like the original, but you can't teach a headbanger to sing Soul in the course of a few frantic minutes, so Eddie tried his best to create a version all his own.

Jeff rolled his eyes, "he's gonna owe me for the rest of his life." he thought as he drew in a breath.

"Red magic satin playing near, too - All through the morning rain I gaze, the sun doesn't shine"

Jeff sang carrying him.

Eddie glanced back at Jeff and grinned thankfully. 

"Rainbows and waterfalls run through my mind..."

"What is the freak doing?" Steve asked brows furrowed.

Nancy grinned, "trying to help...come on!" She called.

Taking Steve by the hand, Nancy led him out towards you.

mortified and dazed you look towards nancy who offered awarm smile before starting to dance to the music.

"Come on, Steve." Nancy hinted.

"I can't get down to this...what even is this?" Steve asked.

"1977 and I am sure you did once in your life when you were little. Just do it." said Nancy.

Steve shrugged, "ok, ok." he said, joining in as best he could.

"Sweet, Dance party?" another student called, taking the hand of his girlfriend, he rushed out to the middle of the gym.

"He's butchering it but...come on Roman, let's go," called Wilma, the senior cheerleader, reaching a well-manicured hand out to her boyfriend.

"My dad taught me how to dance to this song when I was little." Roman laughed, following her out.

Patrick hid his face in his hands, "my sister the giant strawberry started a dance?" He groaned.

Hoping that when he removed his hands, it would all go away.

"Seems like it...and with the freak too." Jason snickered.

"Come on, Jason, I want to dance. The rest of the cheer squad is out there." Chrissy said, lightly resting a hand on Jason's arm.

Patrick looked at his teammate and friend baffled as he led Chrissy to the floor.

"You aren't serious?" Patrick asked.

"I don't like it, but if she wants to dance, I'm not going to say no." Jason shrugged.

You quietly started to back away towards the lockers as the floor filled up with dancing students. However, you could see all three P.E instructors zeroing in on the boys playing on the stage. 

The main doors to the gym opened up, revealing the Vice Principal and several teachers, with a pack of nosey students behind them. Some even pushing past to join the party in the gym.

"Oh no." you whispered.

"Oh well...how much worse can it get?" you thought, making a run for the stage.

"You boys get down right this minute or-"

The P.E teacher was cut off as you dashed past him and to the front of the stage.

"W-Welcome student body and personnel of Hawkins High!" you called out, voice cracking as your nerves skyrocketed.

The inside of your head rang like fifty fire alarms.

"We uh...we hope you enjoy the surprise Teacher Appreciation bash! W-would the teachers and Vice Principal kindly join us on the floor!" you called.

You weren't used to having to be this peppy. 

"Appreciation?" the P.E teacher asked, looking towards the boys,

"Yes!" Jeff said quickly.

"Yes, totally, Mr. Burns." Eddie said quickly.

"W-we all planned it in fact, Chelsea was the one who um...started the music yes... the strawberry theme as an...ugh... homage to the drama club." Eddie said slowly stitching together a story.

"Yeah, we just...got confused, didn't get the memo that she was no longer going with Strawberry Letter and wanted Strawberry Fields instead." Gareth jumped in.

"A simple mistake really...but we are sorry about that." said Jeff.

 You walked up to the P.E teacher and tried your best to smile.

"Why else would I be in this silly thing.... surprise!" you called, throwing your hands in the air.

Mr. Burns finally broke out into laughter,

"This might be just what we needed after the loss of our student last year." He said with an approving grin, before going to join the other staff.

Exhaling you look at the boys.

"Sweet mother of Mystra that was close" Gareth sighed.

Scott laughed, "and the princess is saved, from the maw of the wargs." Scott cheered high-fiving Gareth.

You followed behind the boys as they left through the back of the stage.

"I can't believe that actually worked, and we're not in deep shit because of it," Jeff said.

Eddie threw his arm around your shoulders, startling you enough to draw a yelp and a flinch.

"Could you suspect such a little angel face?" Eddie said, taking on the tone most people use for babies as he grinned down at you.

Your face flared up with heat again, you could feel that uncomfortable warmth creep down your neck and drop down into your gut in the form of butterflies.

Not only was he way too close, but you were keenly made aware that you were still... in fact, a giant strawberry.

But once you realized you were back in front of the locker rooms, tears welled into your eyes,

Without thinking your arms reached out around Eddie, then past him flagging down the boys. 

While they joined in the group hug, you were unable to find words.

The boys lingered in your group hug, quietly, unsure of what to do or say at first.

"We're gonna go return the instruments," Jeff said, giving Scott and Gareth and nudge as he wiggled his way out of the group.

"Ah...yes, we should come on, let's go." Scott said, hinting,

"But I want to go back and watch the teachers try and dance." Gareth protested following behind them.

Eddie shook his head towards the sky "morons" he thought fondly.

You gasped and shot away from Eddie.

"S-sorry that was...probably very odd." you murmured.

"I won't reject a hug now or any day," Eddie said.

You looked down at your feet, pondering inwardly if you were doomed to embarrass yourself all day long.

"I overheard Cruella's plans. Couldn't let it happen. I kinda gotta live with myself." Eddie said.

"And she kinda deserved it. Now she'll have to deal with gushing teachers all day...that is, until they find out what really happened." he added.

You sniffled as the tears came back and rubbed at your eyes hopelessly as it was all pulling you under.

The relief, the humiliation, and the happiness rapidly taking over.

"Aw come on." Eddie sighed, leaning forward he tried his best to help you with your tears using the hem of his shirt. 

You swatted away his hand.

"No don't!" you gasped, covering your nose and mouth with your hands.

"What?" Eddie asked confused, shirt-wrapped finger hovering in the air.

You looked up at him with mortified, apologetic eyes.

"There is snot." you peeped.

Eddie laughed loudly, "yeah, I know, kinda hard to miss, isn't it?"

"You think I'm gonna let you walk around as a snotty strawberry?" Eddie asked.

"It's gross," you muttered.

"Gross is the green paste Gareth shoots out of his nose when you make him laugh in the middle of drinking milk." Eddie said.

"You've got like...cute little elf goo coming out your nose." He added.

You could feel your heart jitter around in your chest and your lungs clench as they wanted to scream.

Eddie giggled quietly, and the small joyful sound made your heart flutter more.

"Go on in and change and clean up. There's a whole day of school left, I'm sure I'll see you around." He said, turning to walk away.

"You can thank me profusely then!" he called back.

At the end of the school day, you perched yourself atop the hood of your car, knees drawn to your chest.

"I can't believe you hugged them," you thought to yourself, "or that you balled all over him."

You hide your face in your arms.

"Or that you cried so hard your nose ran, god he must think you're gross," you murmured.

You lifted your head to look at the sky.

"I wonder if Robin needs a ride home. I still never faced her today." you thought.

Then again, maybe it was for the best, after all - you couldn't take Robin with you to check on Amy. That would also be a hard one to explain.

"Oh, and how do you two know each other? Oh, well you know survived a horrible sex party together, ran back into each other and I hid her from the police....you know as it goes." you thought to yourself, instantly sucked into your frantic thoughts.

Eddie leaned on the hood of your car, resting his head in his hands as he looked up at you, calmly waiting for you to notice him there.

Sure, he could call out to you, "but what's the fun in that?" He asked himself.

Eventually, you would see him, and you would get that look, it was a little like startling a puppy.

Eddie smiled to himself, "I wanna be right where you look when you least expect to find someone." He hummed in his head. "I want to be your surprise."

As if his mind had spoken to you, you finally looked down, slipping a little from the hood of the car.

Eddie chuckled, "what was your horse racing against this time?" He asked you.

You slipped off the hood altogether and twisted the ends of your shirt between two fingers.

"Umm....nothing really just, friend problems I guess." you murmured.

"Well, do you want to talk about it?" Eddie asked, hooking his thumbs into his pants pockets.

You peered down at the ground still fiddling with your shirt.

"Or you know....not, that's fine too." Eddie said, "sometimes it helps to see from an outside perspective. I mean, think of how much easier it would have been for Frodo Baggins if he could have asked the readers if they thought Smeagol was two-faced." He said.

You glanced up at him and couldn't help but smile.

The tiny smile on your face made Eddie's heartbeat quicken as he grinned down at you.

"Or if someone could have warned Bilbo to carry some bug spray." He added.

He wanted that smile to stay, he wanted it to turn into a giggle, and -

"I'm going to drive myself crazy-er, trying to keep that smile there." he thought.

Eddie had fully realized he was probably overshooting his shot, but he had grand designs on getting a date, summer was coming up fast and if he was going to have time to get closer, He needed you to want him around after the school hours ended.

"I'll probably screw up one way or another, hit the BFF blanket, and fly right over the boyfriend material or some shit." Eddie thought to himself.

"And then there's the shock and horror of good ol' dad trying to run me out of town with my reputation." He mentally sighed.

"And she probably wouldn't want the freak." He thought his head tilting as he watched your face.

"Look at her, fantasy nerd or not she probably dreams of some...pretty stud who could lift her over his head on the field of the winning game." Eddie's thoughts started to create a nervous knot in his stomach and without realizing it he began to twirl his hair.

You watched as Eddie seemed to be staring right through you, you glanced behind yourself but saw nothing.

"Um" you hummed, daring to take a step closer, peering up at him, you waved your hand before his face.

"Eddie?" you asked.

With a small twitch of his body, Eddie snapped free of his thoughts.

"Huh? Sorry... I swear I meant to listen...." He said with a sheepish smile.

You matched his smile.

"It seems I'm not the only one who's got race horses up in there, huh?" you asked.

"It would seem so," Eddie said, he gestured his hand out to you.

"But...It lost its race. I'm serious if you need someone to talk to. I'm all ears." He said.

You exhaled, "there's no way I can tell him all the details. I can be vague, though. Maybe it'll be enough?" you thought.

"Well.... Robin kind of hurt my feelings...she didn't mean to, I just... overreacted, it hit some.....sensitivities? I guess. And I don't know how to go up and say I'm sorry. I can't build up the courage and I haven't seen her all day, which is odd, so I think she's avoiding me." you confessed.

Once the words got going, they wouldn't stop.

"She's the only friend I have here, and she means a lot to me. I can't afford to mess up," you murmured.

"I'm told I'm hard to put up with." those words came quietly.

"If you're hard to put up with, people are a lot more squishy than I thought they were," Eddie said.

You looked back down at your hands.

"Anyway...you're talking about Buckley...that, kind of spaztic girl in the marching band?" Eddie asked.

You giggled, "that's Robin." 

"People overreact from time to time, it happens. It's not a critical hit for a friendship. If anything," Eddie sighed, offering you a reassuring smile.

"She was giving you time to cool down. I'm sure she's probably just as freaked out. If you talk to her, it'll be fine again." He said.

"You think?" you asked timidly, Eddie winked.

"I'm positive, you're a magnet McKinney, you pull people in." he said.

Eddie's eyes spotted Chelsea sulking amongst her friends as they headed to a pink convertible.

"Even if it's the wrong kinds of people for the wrong kinds of reasons." he murmured.

You glanced over you r shoulder to see Chelsea and her crew drive off. Spotting you, one of the girls kindly gave you the finger.

In an instant, both of Eddie's hands flew up in response.

"Back at you!" He shouted out, a long disapproving scowl on his face.

"Eddie!" you gasped.

"You weren't gonna do it, and someone had to." He reasoned.

"It's not nice to flip off a girl." you said.

Eddie squinted his eyes, "Oh right, because that's a girl?" He asked with a hard roll of his eyes.

"I'll have you know what you just faced today was a whole...well" Eddie leaned forward and whispered, "have you ever seen The Deadly Spawn?" He asked.

You burst into laughter, covering your mouth with both hands.

"That's mean!" you shouted between giggles.

"Yeah, well, she's mean. So it's perfectly fair, isn't it?" He hummed.

You shook your head.

"I've got to go... I'll see you on Monday." you said, walking past him to the driver's side of your car.

"Summer vacation starts next Tuesday you know, you think about coming to our show?" Eddie asked, holding your car door open for you.

You bit your lip, "I'd like to go" you thought to yourself.

"But.... Dad's probably got a schedule already planned out for me" you sighed mentally, already feeling drained from the thought of it.

As you looked up at him in silence, Eddie tilted his head back.

"Riiight, just tell me this," he said glancing about before lowering his voice.

"It's because of your old man right? And not because I sounded like a dying animal on stage today right?" he asked, voice fading from serious to playful as his eyes crinkled into a smile.

"Huh, no, no of course not you and the guys were great up there...." you said quickly from the seat of your car.

Eddie beamed, but it faltered as a worried glimmer filled your eyes and you looked away.

"But yes Dads...a little....wait -" You sent a concerned glance towards Eddie.

"How do you?" you asked voice trailing off.

"My Uncle works under your Dad, says most people aren't fond of him because he's a bit of a tight ass." Eddie said with a shrug.

"And between that and him not answering his own daughter's phone call in the middle of the night - past the middle of the night. It's not hard to piece up that the guy is a bit of an asshole...no offense." Eddie confessed.

"N-none taken." you stammered, sighing heavily as you started the car.

"It's not because of you or the band," you admitted quietly, turning to look at him.

You gave an apologetic smile, "all I can say is I'll try, and I want to go. But I can't promise anything, unfortunately."

"I'll take it," Eddie offered a smile and started backing away from your car, turning he could see his friends waiting for him near his Van across the parking lot.

 

You sat in your seat watching him go, heart pounding in your chest.

"You should thank him again....he saved you from at least total humiliation." you thought.

You shut your eyes tight, gripping the steering wheel so tightly your knuckles hurt.

"Just do it and regret it later," you told herself.

"Eddie?" you called out.

Eddie stopped, turning back around he looked at you with a question on his face, a giant smile quickly forming as you waved him over.

"You change your mind?" He asked, leaning down to the level of the window. 

You looked at him baffled, you planned on it being a quick thank you but he'd just ruined it.

"um...n-no, I just...." breahting became a struggle for you as you leaned around to the side of his face.

Eddie's eyes grew wide, and his heart skipped a beat.

It hardly felt as if your lips had touched him at all, but they left a lingering warmth on his right cheek.

"You're grinning like a fucking idiot, Munson." He told himself, but try as he might, he couldn't stop.

"Thank you again for the save today," you said, your words nearly rushing together as your eyes tried to look everywhere but at him.

Backing away from the window, Eddie gave a playful bow.

"Milady Tinúviel," He said, only causing your breath to lockup again.

"Whenever you need me." Eddie added dramatically, placing his right fist to his left shoulder, "If I can, I will." He said.

You cleared your throat and gave a nervous giggle

"You're a lot, Eddie." you said, shaking your head.

"I get that," he said, waving, "have a good weekend, McKinney." He called, finally heading back to his friends.

You rolled up your window and briefly covered your face, mentally screaming.

"You just did that." you thought to yourself, leaning back on the headrest. 

You tried to catch your breath before backing out of the parking lot.

Eddie tried to walk calmly back to his van, but once he'd seen you leave up the street, he nearly pranced over to his friends on the balls of his feet.

"Did you see that!" he cheered, nearly dancing in place, his hand held to his cheek. 

Gareth shook his head, "I can't believe your luck sometimes." He said, to which Eddie smirked.

Before heading home, you stopped at the old Creel Mansion. Going around back and slipping into the hidden entrance. Your eyes were wide as you looked around, while the place was no less dusty, it was certainly made more of a resting place.

A tent made of blankets and pillows had been stacked into a fort of sorts in one corner, a small fold-out table held a battery-powered radio, and the floor was littered with snack bags and pried open cans of food.

Amy sat in her fort, munching on Sardines. She watched you look around amazed, your eyes stuck on the flashlight hanging from the ceiling.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Amy said with pride.

"You're certainly...an old hat at this." you said quietly.

"And here I was worried." you exhaled, looking down at Amy.

Amy grinned and held out a bag of cheese puffs, "want some?" she asked.

You shook her head and knelt down on the ground.

"I can't" you mummbled.

Amy made a face, "What? Don't tell me you're allergic to cheese...that would be a sad affair." she said, tossing a puff into the air and catching it in her mouth.

You smiled faintly, "No, um..." you paused, you could tell Amy right? After all, who would she tell?

"I pissed my mom off last night, wasn't listening to one of her near-constant rants on how much of a disappointment I am and how amazing she used to be...." you sighed.

"So I'm not allowed to eat today until She deems I have learned my lesson." and with that, it was out there, the first person you'd ever told even a hint to.

Amy leaned her head back and scowled.

"Bullshit!" she called shoving the bag towards you.

"Go on, scarf it!" she said, "that bitch can't tell if you've eaten shit!" she raged.

You carefully handed her back the snack bag.

"Actually...you'd be surprised..." you sighed.

Amy snorted and laughed, "what? Does she smell your breath? Check your teeth for residue?" she joked.

You wanted to crawl into a hole at how ridiculous it all did sound.

"And my toothbrush bristles, backpack, and car for crumbs, wrappers, or condiment spills..." you explained.

Amy's mouth tumbled open as she leaned forward.

"Shit," she whispered.

"Shit! You're not kidding!" she gasped.

You shook your head and your stomach growled loudly.

"No, trust me, I'd kill that whole bag if I could." you sighed, getting to your feet.

"I came to check in on you, I should head back home, I'll try to come back tomorrow," you said, heading back to the window.

"Try not to get into too much trouble in your searching." you warned, before climbing out.

Back home, You trudged into your house. Entering the kitchen, where you found your mother waiting, clad in one of her beautifully made dress suits.

You could remember the days when you wanted to be just like her. 

Eleven years old and trying to fit into her high hills and jewelry. Often getting playfully chased around the house so that she might get her earrings back before it was time to leave for work.

The memory of that smile back then made the sneer on your mother's face now soul-crushing.

"I'm home," you spoke quietly, setting your backpack on the counter you slid it over to your Mother. With a skeptical glance, she started to rummage through the bag.

You bit your lip and watched. There shouldn't be anything in there, but the 'What if' was always nauseating. A crumb, a candy paper, a whiff of anything edible would mean another day to learn.

"It's clear, come here." your mother demanded, before you could move forward, her long fingers reached out and snatched your wrist, drawing a yelp from you as lunged forward.

"I w-was coming!" you shrieked.

"Don't talk back to me!" she growled, giving you a shake. 

Falling silent, you shut your eyes tightly, you didn't mean to speak out, it just flew from you.

The back of your mother's hand swatted your jaw, "open up," she demanded.

You opened your mouth wide, chin becoming pinched in your mother's grasp. You let her tilt your head around, looking at the back of your teeth.

Pushed away roughly by your face, you took frantic steps away from her.

"I didn't touch anything all day," you said quickly.

"It seems that way, I will be checking your car, later. For now, no dinner." your mother said.

You deflated but gave a nod.

"Yes Ma'am." you murmured, collecting your backpack and heading for the stairs.

On your way up you spotted Patrick coming down the stairs, He gave you a hard glare.

"W-what's wrong?" you asked.

"You are, why'd you embarrass me like that today?" He asked.

"I-" the air left your lungs.

"I didn't...that wasn't me, Chelsea made me - she's evil, Pat." you reasoned.

"Right, because you couldn't just not show up to the stupid thing? Or at least reject the dumb costume?" Patrick raged.

You blinked a few times, "he thinks it was a school event...." you thought.

"Pat it wasn't a real event! Nobody volunteered," you said, shaking your head. "Chelsea was getting revenge for-" 

You watched as Patrick shoved by you.

"I don't even care, I tried to tell dad, but big surprise! He didn't care. The McKinney princess just got praise for being so active in school...could hear him gushing about his 'sweet little girl' to his co-workers in the background." Patrick grumbled, continuing down the stairs.

With a huff of air, you looked about the stairwell baffled, frustrated tears started to well up. Taking a deep breath, you continued to your room.

You wanted to slam the door, to shout, but that would end badly. So, closing it as softly as you could, You dropped your bag and collapsed onto the bed.

Face down into the pillow, you hugged it, and let your mind scream for you.

The lights of your room flickered softly.

You could feel the spider's legs as they crawled onto your arms, and up your shaking shoulders. A startling amount that would prompt anyone to call and report an infestation.

But you don't fear the things that are gentle with you.

You shut your eyes

"So water?"

Eddie's voice echoed in your memory.

You opened your eyes,

"coming right up."

You heard.

Rolling carefully onto your back, you held the pillow to your chest, feeling the spiders crawl to safer places.

"Here you go."

His voice echoed.

You didn't know why that part of the memory was stuck in your head. But closing your eyes again you felt your rushing thoughts and heart rate slow.

A calm slowly seeped over you and before you knew it, sleep had taken its hold.

"____!"

Mr. McKinney's voice boomed from downstairs.

You jolted awake and hopped out of bed, quickly running down the hall and stairs, into the living room.

You stood straight with your eyes fixed on your father. Compared to your rigid posture he was completely relaxed, looking through a daily planner in his hands.

You clasped your hands behind your back. "Yes, Sir?" 

"Patrick told me about your show of school spirit today well done," He said, voice pleased while you inwardly cringed.

"School spirit? Try a personal hell." you thought.

"It went over well with the CEO, He's impressed that I could raise such a selfless young lady who would go as far as wearing a humiliating costume to show respect to those who've taken time out of their lives to help further her in life." He said with a smirk.

"Even if both you and I know, that's not entirely what happened, is it?" He snickered.

You remained silent. 

"Anyway, I have your schedule planned for the weekend." He started clearing his throat.

"Mr. Ford would like to see you again, and to...apologize for the behavior of his other dinner guest." He said.

You could feel the blood rush away from your limbs and face.

"Dinner guest?" you thought bitterly.

"Yes Sir...what time?" you asked.

"Sunday, night around ten pm." He answered, "Your dress is in the cleaners, you'll need to pick that up tomorrow as early as you can." 

You gave a nod, "yes sir." you droned.

"Tomorrow you will also be meeting with Pastor Alvin to discuss, helping with VBS this summer," said Mr. McKinney.

Your teeth sunk into your bottom lip.

"B-but...you said last year was my last year." you stammered, voice breaking. 

Mr. McKinney glanced up at you with eyes void of emotion as he slowly set down his planner.

"Now, now you owe Pastor Alvin a great deal. If not for him, we'd have never been pushed through your adoption process as fast as we were." He said.

"And He helped us prepare a space for you in our home, he baptized you, remember?" your father asked.

Bitter tears welled into your eyes.

"How could I forget." you whispered, your insides hurt just at the memory.

Swallowing hard, you tried to hold back your tears. 

"We have a lot to be grateful for, one more year won't kill you." He chuckled.

You looked down at your feet.

"Won't it?" you thought.

"The meeting won't be long, from there I need you to go out to and inspect Lover's lake for me for the next couple of days." He said.

"Lovers lake?" you questioned.

"Why yes, I was tasked to look over the area and find where would be a good place for a new project the plant wants to have built, a cooling system. However, I've not the time to handle it personally." He said.

"I don't know what makes a good place for-"

"I have a list prepared that will tell you what you are looking for." Mr. McKinney stated. 

You gave a feeble nod, "right...yes Sir." you sighed.

Your father reached for a plain gift bag sitting beside him.

"For handling the situation at the dinner as well as you did, Ford suggested I go out and get you a gift." your father sang.

Your eyes fell on the bag being held out before you with a hollow stare. Your fingers reluctantly reached out and took the handles from his hands. 

"Well, open it." He said, offering a conceited smile.

With soft rustling, you drew out a long silk and lace dress, held up by dainty straps, and floated on white soft tulle below.

What hurt more than anything was that it was the very same dress you had been looking at longingly earlier that year when Prom had come around.

You could remember standing before the dress store, daydreaming. you could see yourself in that dress as some faceless prince took to the dance floor with you.

And now the dream was horribly tainted. 

You tried to control your breathing as you clutched the dress.

It was hard to fight the tears this time.

"Don't worry, your arms and legs should be healed by the time you find a use for it." He said, causing your head to snap up in surprise.

"I've gotten you a longer dresses for your meetings." He said.

Before you could react, the front door slammed, the furious footsteps of your mother rushing in.

"You honestly thought I wouldn't find this?" She shrieked.

Startled, you turned around, wide eyes stuck on the empty bag of cookies in your mother's hands in confusion.

"What?" you asked.

"Don't act stupid, this came from your car!" your mother shouted.

you shook your head.

"No, it didn't - I don't even eat those things." you said, voice coming out in a whine as you backed away.

Your father watched the two of you with disinterest on his face.

"Yeah, well, you just bought yourself another four days." your mother mused with a snarling smile, tossing the wrapper onto the floor.

"I...I have dinner with Mr. Ford." you said, glancing back at your father for help.

"Oh...well, you'll have to kindly explain you've got a terrible stomach bug." She sang.

"Until you learn how to respect your mother, you will learn how to live like a child without one. Starved." She hissed.

You slipped your dress back into the bag.

"Yes Ma'am" you said, retreating into herself.

"Good, pick up the wrapper and to bed with you." your mother said.

You did as instructed quickly.

Watching you head up the stairs, Ms. McKinney turned a sharp eye to her husband.

"You see the things you push me to do?" she barked.

"Dear, it's not my fault you're a jealous old shrew, if you wanted a dress of your own you simply could ask." He muttered, collecting his things.

"It's not about the dress, Gregory!" She snapped, watching him walk off into the kitchen.

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#reader discretion advised #eddie munson x moster!reader #eddie munson x mckinney!reader #eddie munson angst #hurt/comfort #semi slow burn #eddie munson fanfic #semi-dark fic #angst #not suitable for minors #critique welcome

[fyrefrostanimus]

Oh yay more OC posting!

Unlike the other two these guys actually were posted elsewhere before tumblr (it was DeviantArt before anyone asks) and they have some established backstory. But I wasn't really settled with the colors or even the full designs, so I thought I'd finish them up and post them here.

There's even more characters in the specific OC universe they come from but I'll stick with the main two for now.

So Arlen is a little guy. He's 9 years old. He's also a vampire. Not like he wanted to be, though.

Arlen's family hunts werewolves since the town they live in hates them and they get good pay for it. The other main group of werewolf hunters is some vampires who are paid in blood (quite literally). You probably see where this is going and Arlen gets jumped as someone in the vampire group seemed to miss their dinner. He gets bit multiple times in this incident and that's enough to start him becoming a vampire himself.

Instead of doing the actual right thing and seeking to at least stop the vampire who attacked him from attacking anyone else (or seeing what caused the attack), his family insisted that Arlen would work with the vampires so he doesn't attack anyone and gets the whole "being a vampire" thing handled. Which would mean working next to the vampire who attacked him. He runs off out of stress and not wanting to deal with having his hand forced into something he doesn't want, and that's where Arlen meets Blue.

~~~

Blue is half werewolf. They don't look human, but they're not quite a wolf either.

Other than their dad, Blue's entire family is full born-werewolves. They live in town, while Blue is on the outskirts of the forest raising sheep so they can eat and sell the wool (usually through their father, since they're not really welcome in town regardless of if they're friendly or not). Living alone in the woods isn't exactly convenient, but at least it isn't too loud, doesn't smell like in town, and people aren't hunting you down because you look a bit too wolfy. The werewolf part of Blue's family comes to their place on the full moons so they aren't wandering the forest that's regularly patrolled by hunting parties out to kill them (their mom Loren isn't about to make the mistake of letting them get her loved ones again).

When Arlen shows up on their doorstep, Blue's hesitant to let him in: his family is actively trying to hunt down werewolves like their own version of game hunting, after all. But the fact the little guy smells like his own blood and looks like he's seen a lot recently is a big factor, so they check to make sure no one's waiting to ambush them and bring Arlen inside. Hearing about the situation, Blue's not surprised that he wanted to get away. Having to work with someone who did something bad to you you're not ready to forgive yet is one thing, but it's another when it completely ruins your life and keeps you from getting any older than 9 (which Arlen was not aware would happen and it makes him even more mad). They give the kid as much time as they need to stay here so his family doesn't find him, even making sure that their own family knows he's here and he's not going to hurt anyone.

Blue and Arlen quickly forged a parent-and-child bond, not wanting to be separated for too long (especially not vampires, since not only is Arlen nervous around them from the incident but he's also worried about them dragging him back to town and killing Blue).

Some trivia because why not!

Blue actually knows a lot about vampires, having to watch out that they don't kill their family and all.

Blue's family is their mom Loren, dad Denholm, and half-sibling twins Peregrine and Maple. The twin's dad is Joyce, although he's not here anymore (Blue wasn't born when he was alive).

Blue actually looked a bit like a vampire when they were younger! They had the pointy ears and canines, but the ears weren't as big and they didn't have a tail or claws. When they hit puberty the other wolf traits started to show (including their hair changing into the fur color Loren's wolf form has).

Blue's a strict carnivore, can't really get anything from plants and eating too much veggies could make them sick.

Arlen's little neckband in his ref has cross patterns on it, and they actually can burn a vampire who's not expecting a nervous little 9-year-old child to slam their neck onto their bare skin. The only reason he's not affected is that it's two layers thick, with the inner layer not having the patterns.

Arlen gets the blood he needs from Blue's sheep (since he doesn't need to actually kill them to eat it still makes sure Blue has a food source).

Arlen's first time in bat form was STRESSFUL. He had no idea what just happened and why everything is so big and he was disoriented. Even after grasping that Arlen had to learn to fly and he slammed into so many walls.

Both of them grow winter coats in the colder months.

I mixed different versions of vampires into this world so I should probably explain how they work for sake of simplicity:

Born vampires, sired vampires, and turned vampires are actually all a bit different! Born vampires of course have fangs and slightly pointy ears, and while sired vampires look about the same they have mental bonds with the vampire who sired them (basically they have an extra psychic power in some ways). Turned vampires look a lot different, having a lot more bat traits such as the big ears and getting fluffy in the winter. Very rarely vampires will be herbivores (think fruit bats instead of vampire bats), and it's much harder to find turned vampires of that variety since they're less apt to bite enough times.

Siring needs a personal bond of some kind (platonic or romantic both work). Turning just needs more bites and is hard to do accidentally.

Vampires can go out in the sun, and survive on any type of blood. Human blood is the usual, but exceptions like Arlen exist.

Silver and stakes to the heart are somewhere in the middle. Prolonged contact with silver won't kill a vampire but may not feel that good, and a stake to the heart will paralyze a vampire for as long as the stake is in (if you take it out they'll get back up and it'll hea;).

Touching crosses (in general in this case: it's not meant as a religion thing but I didn't want to leave the cross weakness out), crossing running water, and garlic have negative affects on vampires here. A cross touching skin will burn, crossing running water makes them want to throw up, and garlic turns on their fear response (plus it smells strong to their sensitive noses).

That's really all I can think of saying here and it's already a long post

#original character