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candied-cae · 2 years

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And Who Are We At The End Of The World? - Got To Get Them Back

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Chapter 8/? - - - Read it on AO3

Word Count : 6,747

Summary: Robin's finally getting some time with Vickie! And Nancy's getting time with one of the government workers. She's not going to let them intimidate her to back off like they have before, she's going to get some answers this time. But those answers might not be the kind she's hoping for…

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Nancy looked back at Steve. He was slowly shaking out a blue shirt while he kept careful eyes on her. He looked like he was ready to spring into action and run over if she so much as pouted too harshly. Which was not something she needed if she wanted to get this woman alone enough to answer questions.

She pointedly looked to the back doors of the gym with a nod, hoping he’d understand she was agreeing to walk away and didn’t need him to run out after her. His face looked pinched like he didn’t like it, but he nodded back to her, giving his blessing in some sort of way. Nancy turned back to the woman and followed her out the through the doors that poured into the track field. Crisp early spring air curled around them while the mystery woman looked around.

Once she was sure they were alone, she peered through her dark lenses at the shorter girl,“ Alright, Ms. Wheeler. I understand you might be frustrated-”

“What is going on?” Nancy bit into her time. She refused to allow her the courtesy of running through her practiced lines uninterrupted.

She didn’t want to be placated like a child. She didn’t want to be worked around and settled like a rebellious middle schooler. She was a big girl who could handle herself. And if this government worker thinks she can get around her right to know what the fuck is going on... then she doesn’t know Nancy Wheeler very well.

The woman flustered a moment, clearly not used to teenagers fighting against her authority, but she kept her corporate-like poise and shifted,“ We didn’t know much at the time-”

“No.” Nancy insisted,” You people keep coming to our town, making problems for us, and getting people hurt. Getting people killed. And it always comes down to us. Letting us deal with all the bullshit you started. Hiding the truth from us until the last second, when we become the ones paying the price to keep everything together. Do you even know how many have been hurt in Hawkins because a bunch of teenagers were the only ones trying to fix your problem?”

The question struck her a bit harder, she pulled the sunglasses off of her face to let Nancy see her vibrant greens as she answered,“ The count is at twenty-two casualties. Injuries are in the hundreds. Yes, I know.”

“So, don’t waste my time with excuses and pushing off the blame so we don’t hold you liable. We do, and we always will, not that it matters since this is all under the table, contractual NDA shit that we couldn’t do anything about if we wanted to. So, just tell me what is going on.” Nancy sucked in a breath to try and still the shaking fear in her next demand,” Tell me why haven’t I been able to reach my brother since this started.”

The woman bristled under her harsh gaze. She fell silent for a moment as those eyes flicked to the ground, running from Nancy's, before letting just a shred of personhood come out,” The last status we had on Michael was that Ms. Byers left him and the other two with Jonathan. She had a sudden business trip she went on. The girl had to go do something, and your brother stayed with the Byers boys, under the watch of agents Harmon and Wallace when the house was… when the house was raided.”

“What-” Nancy's voice croaked out as she struggled to understand that word.

‘Raided’. Their house was raided? What does that even mean?

She continued,“ We believe the three of them escaped with the agents, they weren’t at the house when a team checked in, but we haven’t heard anything about them since. And when the girl disappeared from the facility-”

Nancy was still reeling from the news that her brother was missing when her brain was stopped in its tracks,“ A facility? You just said she had something she had to go do. But there's a facility? What did you people do to El?”

“She voluntarily went in with Doctor Sam to work with Doctor Brenner on-”

“Brenner.” her voice seethed the name.

She already hated the man on principle from what she’s picked up of El’s childhood. But after she saw what she saw… when Henry showed her flashes of horrific memories of that lab, of that man... She hated him with a new fire,” You let her end up back in his-”

“She was there of her own choice.” the woman pushed,” They were working on getting her power back.”

She shook her head at that explanation,“ That’s not enough. That’s not reason enough to- to put her back with that monster. It’s just not.”

“You may feel that way, Ms. Wheeler. But, at the end of the day, the girl chose to be there. And from my last report, she was doing quite well.”

“Last report?”

“A few days ago, communication stopped. I know you think we haven't done enough, but we've been doing everything we can. We’re just doing our part managing-”

“Nothing.” Nancy finished the sentence for her.” You have been managing nothing. We have been the ones managing.”

“And this was the result of your management?” the woman asked, looking back towards the door of the gymnasium with critical eyes.

Nancy clenched her jaw. Her face set with fury at what she was implying. Like this was their fault. Like they could’ve known any better, or tried any harder than they did. They gave everything they had, without any help from anyone else.

“I came out here to get answers and make sure whatever your people try to pull doesn’t make things worse. If you end up giving the police some cover story, you keep the blame off of Eddie Munson. You don't get to make him your scapegoat. We are exonerating him of the murders and we sure as hell don’t need you messing that up for him.”

“We know he wasn’t responsible, obviously. We have no wish to put him back into the line of fire unnecessarily-”

“Good.” Nancy gave the single word and pushed past the lady she didn't bother to catch a name for as she headed back into the building.

The woman trailed after her, paces slower and shorter thanks to her heels,“ Wait, we need to discuss what you kids have been-”

“I’ll tell you what happened this week when you can tell me where my brother is.”

Nancy set the condition to their terms with an iron conviction clear in her voice. She didn’t even look at the woman. Just kept walking until she made her way back to the garment table. She retook her place next to Steve and picked up the first thing she saw to have something to do with her hands.

When Nancy returned to Steve’s sight, she was fuming. He didn’t need a close look at her to tell she was pissed. Even from across the room, Steve could feel it coming off her in waves. Behind her, he saw the suit enter the doors herself, huffing as she futzed with her jacket and slipped the sunglasses back into place. She was clearly less than satisfied with how their conversation had gone.

Something important just happened.

Nancy was folding the clothes with more force than she really needed to, when Steve carefully asked,“ What happened?”

Her hands suddenly stilled as her face twisted further.

“They knew.” she spit the words out as quietly as she could in her steaming anger.

“They knew?”

“Knew something was up when Chrissy died,” Nancy answered, hands fighting with the fabric in her grasp. She wasn’t really folding it anymore, she just kept pulling and twisting as she worked through the words,” Before Freddie and Patrick. Before Max and Eddie. They knew, and they didn’t do anything about it. They just silently poked around. Keeping everything to themselves. While we were out there, risking our lives, actually trying to do something.”

“They-?” Steve started, but Nancy didn’t stop.

“They don’t even know what happened to the others. Mike and El and Will and Jonathan are missing.”

“What?” Steve’s voice came out weak, feeling the pit of his stomach drop to his feet.

“Their house was raided. Raided. Days ago. And they lost touch with the rest of their team out west. They don’t know where any of them are. And before they even lost them, they handed El back to that bastard-”

Steve put his hands over hers to still their movements. It pulled her out of her head enough that she stopped to properly breathe instead of just drawing in shallow huffs between her words. He gently tugged on the piece and she relinquished the fabric without further opposition. Nancy closed her eyes a moment, tensing all her muscles and releasing them to try and reset the part of her that couldn’t stop burning with the information she’d just received.

“Do you want to leave, Nance?” he asked her.

“No.” she opened her eyes and picked up a pair of children’s shorts, actually folding them this time,” We said we’d help out. Let’s just finish up, and then we can all get out of here.”

“Okay.”

As less than an hour goes by of folding and sorting, there wasn’t much said between the two. Not much beyond the ‘excuse me’s they'd exchange as they reached around one another, at least. When Dustin ran out of people to offer water cups to, he drifted over to the two of them and started pressing for what Nancy found out. Steve shook his head to tell him that they wouldn’t talk about it right now. Not that she could have even said much, nothing louder than a whisper of their supernatural secrets would’ve been allowed in the crowded room. Finally, Robin made her way on over with Vickie following behind her.

She was very much a contrast to Nancy’s display. Robin looked like she was walking on clouds, all smiles and sunshine filling the air around her as she got to have nearly a whole hour just talking to Vickie. And Vickie, curiously, looked very much the same.

Robin was carrying a few saran-wrapped sandwiches and held a pair of them out for Steve and Nancy when she arrived at their table. She handed another to Dustin, keeping one for herself, and passed the last to Vickie.

“They’re finished with us. We covered the lunch crowd, got most of the prep for dinner taken care of, and now I think they want us to get out of the way.” Robin told them with a bright smile.

“And we thought you three would be ready for a lunch break, on the house,” Vickie added.

They all accepted the food with polite smiles, but Steve looked into Robin a little bit harder. Because the girl was practically glowing. Steve narrowed his eyes at her, ever so slightly. Just enough to make sure she knew that he could see what was going on. Just enough to make sure she knew that he would absolutely be grilling her for answers once they ditched all the others. She cocked her head to the side with harsh eyes, as if trying to threaten him without words not to spill anything while Vickie was still there.

“Thanks. It’s Vickie, right?” Steve asked, sparing a glace at Robin, whose eyes widened suddenly in response.

“Yeah, it’s Vickie. How’d you know?” the girl asked.

Robin pressed her lips together, eyes boring into Steve with furious anxiety.

Vickie waved her hand to excuse herself, falling into a bubbling ramble like someone Steve knows quite well,” No offense, there’s nothing wrong with you knowing. I just figured our social circles didn’t really overlap when you were in high school so- not that I think I’m better than you or anything, it is absolutely not that. And I don’t want to imply that I think you think you’re better than me so-”

“No, you’re fine.” He stopped her,” Rob and I are just best buds, and she mentioned seeing a fellow band geek when we were at WarZone. I’m good with faces and picked up the name.”

“Oh, yeah. You were with her a couple of days ago, huh?” Vickie nodded along, clearly buying that the only reason Steve caught it was that recent run-in.

Robin’s glare softened as it worked, pulling back on some kind of easy-going smile that she really hoped didn’t look forced. She didn’t know what she’d do if Steve got stuck and just blurted out,” Oh, Robin just talks about you all the freakin’ time. Obsesses over how she looks in the morning because she wants to impress you. Oh, and we’ve had conversations, at length, about the likelihood that you’re into boobies. So yeah, I’m sure you wouldn’t be freaked out by that, Miss Vickie!”

That would’ve been a mess beyond repair.

“So,” Steve leaned in towards Vickie with a teasing grin at the girl standing beside her. He lowered his head but spoke in a loud whisper everyone could hear,” Did she do a good job making sandwiches, or should I be hesitant to take my first bite?”

“Nimrod,” Robin called him as the pink already in her cheeks flared.

“Nimrod yourself. I’m just worried your clumsy self might’ve left the knife in the middle of my sandwich, and I don’t want to lose a tooth today.”

Robin reached over the table to shove against Steve’s shoulder,” Just eat your stupid lunch.”

The five of them headed outside to eat on the benches and find something casual to say to pass the time. They shared introductions and wondered about the earthquake, what that would mean for school, and all that, but they only had a few minutes to start to get to know her when Vickie’s parents pulled up and took her back home.

That was becoming a more common occurrence in Hawkins than it previously was: parents driving their kids everywhere. Most of the time, the kids could just wander around: riding bikes, taking the bus, driving themselves, and carpooling with pals.

But now, there were more moms and dads crossing town at predetermined times to take their kids back. Maybe it was because so many of them had unexpected time off of work. Maybe it was because everyone not moving away was still scared shitless that something bad was still coming to hurt their babies. Which wouldn’t necessarily be wrong… But, whatever strange forces were making parents keep their kids on a shorter leash, it called Vickie away sooner than Robin was ready to let her go.

Once she was gone, the four left on the bench, who actually have some idea of what was going on, were able to discuss the current developments. After Robin and Dustin got caught up, they both felt awful. Less of the burning anger that Nancy had felt, but more a sick fear that washed over them with the news that the Byers and Mike were all missing.

And then, before anyone could even think of what to do, Dustin was running.

Or, at least, he was attempting. He still had an obvious limp that was getting in his way of making much haste.

“Henderson- Henderson!” Steve called as he jumped up from the bench after him.

He caught up to the boy with relative ease as Dustin started trying to manhandle his locked rear seat door, the girls following shortly behind.

“Henderson, what’re-”

“Give me your keys!” the boy shouted at him, very seriously.

Steve pulled his key ring from his pocket and handed them over to Dustin’s waiting hand. He immediately pulled apart the car’s key from the others and broke into the back seat. He practically fell over himself as he spilled into the seats and dug his hand around under them. Then he pulled out one of those brick walkie-talkies.

“We didn’t leave that in there a few days ago?” Steve asked, though, it'd be more acurate to say Steve stated it as fact with a note of confusion.

Dustin agreed,“ No, we didn’t. I grabbed one before you picked me up. And, honestly, everyone should have one of their own right now, but that’s beside the point.”

“Well, what’re- what’re you doing?” Steve tripped on the word as Dustin turned up the volume, a light buzzing static coming over the empty radio waves.

“Calling Lucas. We need to give them the update.” And, with that, he clicked the receiver,“ Lucas, this is Dustin. We have news. Over.”

Only a few seconds of buzzing passed. Steve took back his keys while they all climbed into the car with Dustin. Then, as each of them settled in closer, the other boy’s voice trilled through the walkie.

“Is it good news or bad news? Over,” he asked, already sounding like he was dreading the answer.

Dustin paused for a moment. “Pretty bad news. Over,” he solemnly admitted to the other.

There was silence. He didn’t come back through immediately, and just that was enough to make Dustin start to worry,” Are you okay? Over.”

“I’m fine. I’m with Max right now. Can we talk about it later?”

He sounded tired and quiet. Like he didn’t think he could take any more bad news. Like he didn’t even want Max’s sleeping body to overhear it.

The “Over” came through like an afterthought a few seconds later.

Lucas honestly forgot he even needed to say it. At least, he had until Erica nudged his foot with hers and reminded him.

“Uh. Yeah- yeah. No problem.” Dustin shook his head like he needed to loosen the rejection,” I can check in later. How ‘bout around nine? Over.”

“Around nine. Over.” Lucas confirmed.

Dustin turned back down the sound and set the box back into the seat between him and Nancy.

“Hey. He’s okay. Just not ready for more shitty news.” Robin assured him, twisting in her seat to look in his eyes.

“Yeah.” he nodded back, not looking totally convinced.

Nancy leaned over to him and bumped his shoulder to draw his attention. She might’ve wanted to boil over and break something herself, but she didn’t like seeing the little guy get all bent out of shape. She gave him the best reassuring smile she could muster and told him they’d be okay. Steve started the car and began the drive back over to the suburbs to drop everyone off. First Nancy and Dustin, mostly so he could corner Robin and get the latest scoop on the Vickie front, and maybe find some way to kill time just the two of them before he went back home alone.

It didn't take long for them to return to the Wheelers. Maybe fifteen minutes and Steve was pulling into Nancy’s driveway to hand her back over to her family. Her mother stood in the open front door after she heard the car roll up. Karen waved at them as Nancy opened the back door to get out when suddenly she looked to the road confused.

“Did somebody order pizza?” she called to the kids and they all turned around to see a pizza delivery van rolling up.

Surfer Boy’s Pizza. Not a store any of them has ever heard of. And certainly, none of them called for lunch at the Wheelers. But, if it wasn’t anyone inside who called for the food and it wasn't any of them, why was it here?

At least, that’s what they all wondered to themselves until the side door slid open. Until they saw the people tumbling out of it were Will, El, and Mike. Then, from the front seats, there was Jonathan and another guy they didn’t recognize. But who cares if they didn’t know who he was? He helped bring them back, so he's practically a member of the team already.

As soon as they all realized who they were looking at, each of them threw open their doors and ran out for the reunion. Karen ran down the driveway until she had her boy in her arms. She practically tried to squeeze the life out of him, and he all but crumbled into the comfort and safety of his mother's arms. Nancy went straight for her long-distance boyfriend, now that said distance was something she could actually cross. She was lifted off the ground in his embrace. Legs kicked up behind her as he buried his face in the crook of her shoulder, just so relieved to see one another alright. Dustin hobbled forward until Will and El crashed into him, wrapping him up in their affection. He had them under each arm, holding tightly around their shoulders like he wasn’t sure he’d ever see them again.

Steve and Robin stepped forward, just a pace behind the others, seeing as they were less desperate to hold onto them. The new guy, Argyle they’d later find out, was his own distance across the way too. The three of them wore fond smiles, though. Even if they weren’t sharing tight hugs with their friends, just watching the others' joyful collisions together made them start to feel better themselves.

Karen doted on her son. Making comments through her teary voice that he doesn’t get to go on vacations anymore and that she wasn’t going to let him go to college because she needed to keep him right next to her. Nancy and Jonathan were whispering about what was going on. Clearly, both understanding that they’ve individually been involved in the ‘situation’ despite the separation. The set of three pulled away from each other as Dustin wiped away misty eyes.

Steve hadn’t had as much time to bond with the two of them as he had with Dustin, sure, but they were his kids too. And when Nancy told him that the government lady said they were missing, god, it scared him. It scared him like when he found Max looking near dead in Lucas’ arms. Because some kids go missing and pop back up in a few hours, but not these kids. These kids go missing, and the world goes to shit, and people die, and things don’t just work out for them all the time. So, while he allowed Henderson to be first, he had no plans to go much longer without any hugs of his own.

Steve stepped up and announced,” Alright, babysitter’s coming in to collect his too!”, as he ducked his arms around their waists and swept the two off their feet.

“Steve! Your stitches!” he heard Robin scold him.

But he didn’t care.

This was more important.

El and Will let out their own set of squeals and ‘Steve!’ as he swung them side-to-side, throwing their legs around them with reckless abandon. He didn’t stop until they both began to slap at his back and insist they be let down between their giggles. He set them both on their feet, leaving them rosy-cheeked and smiling. He peeked over and made eye contact with the other boy for a second. Mike, who, despite still being in his mother’s arms, made a face like he was worried Steve was going to come after him next.

Steve swatted a hand in his direction to let him know he was safe.

He never got in good with that kid. Mike was never all that impressed with him and still seemed to hold a grudge from his days with Nancy. Why? Steve had no idea. All he ever did was get caught climbing their gutter once or twice. And it wasn't like he was the one who broke up with Nancy or ever did anything to Mike. But, for whatever reason, that was the one member of the Party he couldn’t win over.

Will looked around them,“ Where’s Lucas?”

Dustin answered simply,“ He’s at the hospital.”

“Was he hurt?” worry found its way onto El's face.

He began to assure them,“ No. No, he’s…”, then he realized,” Oh God... You don’t know.” El looked to her brother for comfort.

“What don’t we know?” Will asked in her place.

Dustin shook his head.

He didn’t want to say the words. Every time someone said it, it became more real. And they didn’t know yet, so in their world, Max was fine. She wasn’t in a coma, body nearly broken into pieces by a twisted telekinetic, with no sign of when she’d wake up. If she’d wake up. But if he said it, he was taking that from them. Bringing them into the grim reality he’s been in the last few days… Making it real.

“Max is hurt.” Steve placed a hand on Dustin’s shoulder, taking the burden of saying the words, and brought his voice low,” We fought this thing, and it got to her. It’s bad.”

“Take me to her,” El said.

And Steve can’t say no.

Can’t seem even consider it when it’s El, he’s noticed.

The girl who’s gone to hell and back more times than any of them. The girl who’s barely even gotten to see the world she lives in. The girl whose hair has been cut close to her head again, just when she had finally been able to grow it out beyond her shoulders. The girl who’s lost too much in saving the world over and over again. Who lost her own dad, not even a year before.

“Nance.” Steve called over, said girl turning away from her boyfriend to look at him,” They want to go see Max.”

“Max?” Mike questioned as he pulled away from his mom.

“She’s in the hospital…” his sister filled in for him and told Jonathan,“ Yeah, yeah, we should all go over. She’s at Hawkins Memorial.”

In truth, Jonathan wanted nothing less than to climb back into that pizza van. After so many days stuck switching between its driver and passenger seat, he was tired of the whole damned thing. But if Max was in the hospital, that’s where they needed to be.

“Nancy, you’ll go with them and explain what’s going on?” Robin asked, receiving a nod as Nancy turned to climb into the very machine that’s made a half-country journey over the last few days.

Karen was resistant to letting go of her son and allowing him to be somewhere out of sight again. But she knew he needed to see his friends, and his sister would be with him. Her husband might try and act like Nancy was a mess of impulse and foolish emotion, but she knew her daughter was more than that. She’s strong and smart and one of the most responsible kids in the world, even if her ambition leads her to be brash sometimes. She moved her hands to pull her son’s forehead to her and smacked a kiss onto it once it was close enough.

“You are to come right back here after you finish checking on them,” she instructed, gently jabbing a finger into his chest to make sure he understood.

Mike rolled his eyes a little, but agreed,“ Alright, Mom.”

El and Will decided to ride in with Steve’s car to tell them their half of the story and catch up, while Nancy took her place in the back of the sun-faded yellow van next to Mike. While Argyle hopped back to the shotgun seat and Jonathan returned to his place behind the wheel, he decided to introduce himself to Nancy.

“I’m Argyle, and you’re my boy, Jonny’s, lady,” he stated instead of asking.

“Nancy,” she corrected his use of ‘Jonny’s Lady’ as a title for her. Despite it, she stretched a smile across her face to keep off any other reaction that wanted to present itself,” And you’re the friend from California.”

“Yes, I am,” he replied, wearing an easy-going grin that looked a lot more genuine and effortless than her own.

She didn’t get him. They’ve only just met, so it’s probably unfair to have decided it, she knows. But, already, she doesn’t get him.

There’s a cadence to his speaking that’s so lax and comfortable, and he just lolls his head around like it’s some foreign weight on his neck that he’s still adjusting to. All that might be something she brushes off as just somebody who walks through the world differently than she does. But apparently, they don’t walk through it so dissimilarly since they’ve both latched onto Jonathan and have gotten mixed up in Upside Down business.

So how is he so… him right now?

There was a beat of awkward silence while Nancy pondered him when Argyle looked like he was gearing up to say something else.

”So, what happened over here?”, Jonathan stepped in. Hoping to bait off another ‘Well, this is awkward’ moment between Argyle and a Wheeler as they started to pull away from the driveway.

“A lot,” Nancy answered,” But before we get into that, how are you all fine? I spoke to someone who said you all went missing after your house was raided.”

Jonathan started explaining,“ Uh, yeah. We got stuck with these supervisors to make sure we didn’t run off while El was with the doctors, and we were planning to sneak away to find her when a bunch of guys came through the windows and the doors, shooting-”

“Shooting?”

“One of the agents died, and the other was hit and came with us while we got out with Argyle. He died just after though.”

“Harmon and Wallace.” Nancy nodded.

“Who?” Mike asked her.

“Those were the agents. Agent Harmon and Agent Wallace. Right?”

“Was that their names? We just kept calling the one ‘Unknown Hero Agent Man’.” Argyle commented, before turning around in his seat to ask,” Do you know which one he was?”

“No, I don’t,” Nancy stated with a shake of her head.

“Man, coulda started calling him ‘Known Hero Agent Man’. Or just by his name, I guess. You think if we just use both, it’ll split the respect 50/50?” he wondered aloud, mostly to himself and Jonathan.

”Anyway, that’s-,” Nancy started as Argyle tried to find the best answer for himself.

"Rest in peace Harmon or Wallace? Rest in peace Wallace or Harmon? Wallrmon? Harlace? RestInPeaceWallaceHarmon?"

"Well, we can leave respect to both of them. They both died semi-heroically, even if only one of 'em did it in the back of the van." Jonathan reasoned.

”Wait, you said you only had one of them with you?”

“Yeah, the other was killed when he answered the front door. He was collapsed against the living room wall when we started running for our lives. Why?” Jonathan asked her.

“The woman I talked to said both of the agents were missing with you guys.”

“No, no, we definitely left the other one behind at the house.”

“And we left the other-other one buried in the desert,” Argyle added.

“So what happened to him before the rest of the team showed up…?” Nancy muttered.

Jonathan checked,“ You’re sure she said they were both gone?”

“Yes, I’m sure. She was pretty clear about it.”

“I’m getting a feeling like that probably doesn’t mean anything good.” Argyle cast wary eyes out the window at all the trees that rolled by.

“Yeah… probably not.” Jonathan agreed with him and turned his attention back to Nancy,” Um, but what do you guys know, what’s been going on in Hawkins?”

“Where to start…? There’s this guy, Vecna-”

“Vecna?” Mike cut her off,” Like our campaign-”

“Exactly like Eddie’s campaign, Dustin started it-” Nancy confirmed until Mike was talking over her again.

“Eddie? Why are you talking about Eddie? How do you know Eddie? You two never-”

“Well, we’ve had a very busy week, Mike-”

“That does not explain why you would-”

“Stop interrupting me, and I’ll get there.”

“Wow, you two really are siblings.” Argyle mused in the passenger seat.

“What does that mean?” They asked in unison, both somewhat offended to be compared to the other.

Argyle put up in hands in surrender,” Nothing bad, dudes. Just making observation and conversation.”

“Anyway- Vecna was one of the kids from El’s thing, the first one-”

“Henry- Or One-" Jonathan said," We know about him. He was the reason Dr. Brenner’s whole experiment got started.”

“Well, do you know how he got started?” Nancy asked, her tone more bitter than she was trying for.

She didn’t know what it was. It might’ve been the fact that they lost to Vecna/Henry/One, it might’ve been the woman in the pantsuit trying to make her feel small, it might’ve been Mike interrupting her like a minute ago... It could’ve been anything. But something was making it sound like she needed to prove herself. She needed to prove that she was smart, and capable, and had information they didn’t.

She took their silence as an answer and started with the things they couldn’t have known about,” Did you know he was the son of Victor Creel? That he murdered his mother and sister right here in Hawkins twenty-seven years ago? Did you know Dr. Brenner was coming to take him away because his parents thought he was off, but when Victor was arrested for their murders was put in Pennhurst, Brenner just took him and started all of this because the boy had powers and sadistic tendencies?”

Jonathan admitted,“ No. We did not know that."

But something in him heard that undercurrent in her. Like she wanted to start a fight. Jonathan's never been the kind of guy who likes fighting, who likes the be the guy on top of someone else. He doesn't butt against her with what they learned, he just simply says it because they all need to be on the same page.

"We do know that, after One became Brenner’s subject, the Dr. took away what he could do and kept him in the facility working as an orderly. He got close with El and told her how to do her stuff better until she got rid of his shackles. He killed nearly everyone there and tried to kill her when she confronted him. But she overpowered him, even as a kid. Sent him to what we know as the Upside Down.”

“Why has she never-”

Mike answered,“ She didn’t know. Blocked it out or something until this week.”

“The woman, she said… is it true? That El has her…”

“Oh yeah, girlie’s got her mojo back and then some.” Argyle smiled as he spoke.

“Wow,” Nancy said, partially because it was the only thing she could think to say when Argyle spoke. She really didn't know how to handle him or his whole… vibe.

“Anyway, the point is that he’s been behind all of it. He’s been the thing that kept reaching in from the Upside Down. And, on the last day before Spring Break, he killed Chrissy Cunningham.”

“Chrissy Cunningham?” Mike asked, eyebrowed hiked halfway up his forehead.

Argyle whispered loudly to Jonathan,“ Who’s Chrissy Cunningham, dude?”

“Cheerleader, really pretty, dating - or, dated - the basketball captain.” he filled in the only non-local in the vehicle,“ But, wait, he killed her?”

“In Eddie Munson’s trailer.”

“What?” Mike’s eyebrows went impossibly higher.

“Whole town thought Eddie killed her, but Max noticed her lights went on the fritz when it happened so we started looking into it as an Upside Down situation. As time passed, Vecna - or Henry or One - got Fred Benson and Patrick McKinney-”

“Kid on the school paper. Basketball player.” Jonathan translated the names for Argyle.

“And he tried to get Max. Twice.”

“Dr. Sam told El that things were crazy back here, but that you guys were fine. El didn’t believe him and checked. Said you guys were planning to take him down and were going to get yourself hurt when Max said she was marked by him.” Mike said to her.

Nancy started talking with her hands as she began to explain what they knew about Vecna’s situation,“ For some reason, Vecna doesn’t come over to this side. He just makes these little tears and stuff, but nothing enough for him to cross. I don’t think he can make something that big on his own. So he was finding these tormented kids, and broke into their heads with nightmares and delusions until he killed them… and somehow, their death's made these little tears that lingered. He needed four of them to open a bigger gate. And he’d decided one of them was Max. We kept him off of her once and put together a plan to have Max draw him away so we could dive or climb into the Upside Down through one of the small ones and destroy his physical body. To put a stop to it.”

“And all of this happened Thursday?” Jonathan asked, looking at her in his rearview mirror.

“Yeah, how did you-”

“We couldn’t get any flights to get over here after we got El back and she said it was looking bad for Max. El figured, if we couldn’t physically get here in time, we could put her in a salt bath like three years ago in the gym. So she could find Max and use her to piggyback into Henry’s head.”

“Mind Fight,” Argyle commented.

“She said while she was fighting him, he started having these reactions like something else was happening to him and then him and everything around them just faded away.”

“We lit him up with Molotov cocktails and buckshot.”

“So it worked.” Mike nodded, but was still confused,” Then why was there an earthquake and-”

“It didn’t work.” Nancy told him sadly,” Where we were supposed to find his body, it was missing. He got to Max. And then he got away. Somehow. And the gate opened for over a minute.”

“Max died?” her brother gaped at her.

“Eddie did, too.”

“What?”

“He went in with Dustin to distract the monsters. We pulled him out, but he bled a lot. Steve had to give him CPR, and we got them both back, but he’s in the hospital with Max.”

“Wait- that’s who El…?” Jonathan began to ask, cutting himself off as he connected the dots.

“What?”

He continued,“ El said there was someone else with you guys. A guy she didn’t know. Lots of hair, right?”

“It was Eddie?” her brother asked, remembering El's mumbling when she came back.

“Yeah.”

“But he’s fine, now?” Mike hoped.

Nancy was quiet for a moment. She didn’t have the kind of answer he wanted,“ He hasn’t woken up yet. Neither has Max.”

“El can check on them.” Jonathan declared.

“What do you mean she can check on them?”

“You remember how I said ‘and then some’?” Argyle asked her.

“Yeah?”

“This is the some.” Jonathan took over,” El, like, remote resuscitated them, or something. We don’t really know what she did. She doesn’t really know what she did. But she did something and they didn't stay gone.”

“What does that mean?”

“We don’t know, not yet…”

“I guess we’ll just have to find out.” Nancy finished as Jonathan pulled into the hospital parking lot.

The other carpool had a somewhat similar conversation as they drove behind. Filled in all the blanks from the past week for each other, but there was notably a lot less bickering between siblings. Dustin had tried to reach Lucas on the radio, but he wasn’t responding. In truth, he might’ve shut it off with the plans to hear from him that night.

When they turned the corner into the lot, Will found one of Steve’s zip-up hoodies in the back seat. It was a dark blue, not quite navy, color with worn drawstrings that’d have come undone in the wash and been retied about a dozen times. With Steve’s blessing, they get El slipped into it to cover her now near-shaven head to avoid attracting too much attention, She steadies her nerves and pulls the hood over as she sets her sights on the building.

It took a minute because it was still so busy with patients coming in and going out, but eventually, both cars got parked, and the members of the slowly reforming Party climb out onto the pavement. They came together and headed inside to see what’s become of their unconscious companions. And to see what they can do about it.

#Okay. I just want to write Argyle dialogue for the rest of my life now. He's just so fun and such a king and he deserves the best lines.#And don't worry about Nancy. She doesn't really hate Argyle.#She's just not sure how to handle new people who are overlyfriendly and don't seem to be taking her seriously at first.#(See: Nancy and Robin before they had the 'We're friends?' convo)#She'll warm up to him soon tho #And I am pushing my Steve-is-very-physically-affectionate-until-it-overwhelms-him-with-feelings-and-he-has-to-push-everyone-back agenda #Little Byers hug had to happen and in my world Will 100% has a baby crush on Steve.#NOTHING is going to EVEN REMOTELY happen there tho #He just sees a lot in Steve to admire and like (Same with Mike @ Eddie) so those characters are going to have interesting interactions #Anyway - next chap is going to be a littler one. About 2k words. But it'll drop soon so you won't have to wait long #Steve Harrington #Eddie Munson #Steddie #Steveddie #Steve x Eddie #Nancy Wheeler #Robin Buckney #Ronance #Robin x Nancy #The Fruity Four #Stranger Things #Stranger Things 4 #Stranger Things 4 spoilers #Stranger Things 4 volume 2 spoilers #stranger things fanfiction #ST4 fanfic #Steddie Fanfic #Ronance Fanfic

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nilisntgreat · 2 years

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#In psychology class today i learned why i was hurting over you all #I am missing the loss of the future i thought i was gonna happen.#But that is all. I want no part in things and i won't drop back into that place.#I want to be loved like any other human. ^^#I may miss going to pick up the mermaid or finally seeing you or moving in with you but..#It isn't what i want the relationship as a whole..#Yesterday i cried about what merc said we talked and talked..#I was so worried about him about losing him..#I've changed.. I am not the same person i was at 18..#I was so shocked to hear that from the teacher.. When you change your needs change..#People don't often want to go back to old relationship because they both changed..#Everyone changes we all have new experiences than when we were a year ago..#Vent

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hqkalon · 7 months

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𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃｜JJK EDITION

synopsis : can you and your older brother's best friend keep a shared secret? a secret of fucking behind your brother's back ... if not then your screwed.

cont. affairs with your brother’s friend, teasing, small age gap, fingering [underneath the table w/ gojo], blowjob, slight dirty talk, exhibitionism, mild degradation, laundry room sex w/ toji, bathroom bj w/ geto, car sex w/ nanami. pairings : toji, nanami, gojo and geto

𝐓𝐎𝐉𝐈

the sneaky one who's always ready for thrills and fun because he somehow gets off to it. your older brother met toii a few months ago and they instantly clicked into being best friends, but the moment you and toii set eyes on each other- you knew something was bound to happen. he always had this lustful-like glint within his eyes which seemed to lure you in closer each time he stopped by the house.

"t-toii this is not the place for this." you slapped his hand away from your ass. you were wearing an oversized shirt with panties; loading the washer-machine with dirty clothes. "mmm why not?" he whispered in your ear with a lingering, yet seductive husk-pressing against your ass. your brother was in his room not too far away from the laundry room, about ten feet away and there's his room. "my brother is here!" you quietly shouted, the thought of your brother finding out that you're fucking his best friend terrified you - no could know, that was a secret you were willing to take to the grave. "if he comes here i'll just say i was helping you out with laundry." he grinned, tugging the hem of your panties. "but as of now. you felt your feet levitate off the ground, "can you help me with this." he place you on top of the washing before sliding your panties to the side.

𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐈

the both of you were acquainted prior to his friendship with your brother. your friends were friends of his; therefore, you saw and spoke with him a couple times. though now things were different since he's became a known relative to your family. everything started off smooth, you and him exchanged glances here and there- but you never thought things would progress from there on.

your body pressed against his chest as you rocked back and forth on his length. "shitt angel." nanami cursed out with his hand placed on your waist- watching the way your breast bounced with each rock. "make sure you're watching out for my brother." you panted out as your arms grabbed onto the headrest behind nanami's head. the two of you were fucking in nanami's car since he picked you up from campus to drop you off home. "don't worry." he hissed throwing his head back, "he won't be here till evening." his hands began roaming your body, cupping one of your breasts in his large hand- squeezing around it like a stress ball before pinching your nipple. "mmph! nanami!" you squealed feeling the sensitivity sprout as you squeeze around his length. "ya gonna cum from that?" a cheeky chuckle left his throat before teasing you more.

𝐆𝐎𝐉𝐎

the school playboy who just happened to befriend your brother. his reputation wasn't the great, but so wasn't your brother's sadly. the only reason gojo was able to get into university was because he was great at rugby. when he found out that you were a smart kid, he made sure to bypass his way into having you tutor him in hopes of getting closer to you and somehow it worked. the both of you would sit at the table and study together.

"gotta stay quiet if you don't want your brother noticing you getting finger-fucked by is best friend." gojo slyly teased, whispering against your ear. your sitting crisscrossed with your panties pulled to the side as gojo's hand sits in between your thighs as his fingers pace through your folds. "we're suppose to be studying." you bit your lower lip trying to hold back a moan with your head lying against the face of the table. "my brother went to get water." you warned, signaling that he could open the door at any given moment as gojo's fingers continued grazing your sweet spot. "well..." gojo opened your legs with his free hand, fingering into your cunt deeper- you muffling your moan with the palm of your hand. "if you don't have want your brother knowing how much of a slut you are for me. you'll cum before he enters that door." he taunted with a tainted amount of lust traveling through his raspy tone.

𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐎

the smart guy who excels top of his class. no one would guess that his into anything physically sinful, but you knew. the day him and your brother decided to watch porn together, which resulted him with a hard-on- walking pass the hallway into the bathroom, seeing you at the corner of his eye was been everything turned left.

"do you wanna help me out?" his narrowed eyes peered in your direction- your eyes wide in surprise from seeing such a view that was least expected. " i-umm." you stuttered out, eyes glued to his crotch as you fidgeted. "it's a yes, or no question. he huffed, brushing his hair back with his fingers as he opened the door to the bathroom with you deciding to trail behind him. the bathroom door is closed and your brother's room is on the other side of the hallway, yet you still decided to join geto's sinful activity. "sit here." he pointed to the toilet as he unbuckled his trousers, freeing himself of his boxers. you sat on the toilet cover with your mouth pouring with anticipation as get closed the distance between the two of you. "try not to choke. i don't need your brother hating me." he huffed, pressing his tip against the plush of your lips as you allowed him inside you mouth- almost gagging in reflex.

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen smut #jjk x reader #jjk smut #toji x reader #nanami x reader #gojo x reader #geto x reader #toji smut #nanami smut #gojo smut #geto smut #jjk imagines

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medicinemane · 8 months

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You can't just be like "well my chart here says" or "well science says" or "well this thing agrees with my biases so therefore it's true"

Like man, I bet I could find something agreeing with any position I wanted to take. If I couldn't it wouldn't be hard for me to make a semi professional looking graph that makes it look like whatever I want is true

Also like... who's the source man, cause on any given issue there's some I'm probably gonna toss out because of their blatant bias. Like I'm not even gonna entertain anything 'autism speaks' has to say on autism because I'm not wading through a bunch of trash to see if there's a glimmer of truth buried somewhere in it. They've blown all their credibility with me, I don't admit them as evidence anymore and nor should I

So who's your source and do they have any credibility or are they extremely biased (cause... this happens a lot)?

What's this so called study? What's this so called science? I am not really the person who can sit through a whole paper, but I can at least sometimes give them a sniff and see if the stuff they're saying seems to add up or if I'm spotting anything instantly off (cause sometimes you straight up look and go "wait a minute... you didn't even account for this")

I'm not perfect, but at least I actually think about the problems with ideas I care about. Like with nuclear I know that the lack of economies of scale means infrastructure is going to be more expensive, but I can also at least point to solar and point out that it was the same with it, but once we got wider adoption prices started to really drop

At least I can think about my point and make actual reasonable inferences and conclusions rather than just blindly screaming at everyone to agree with me or they're immoral

#I'm just honestly kind of annoyed at people for acting like children about really really really important topics #that I often actually do care about and am even on their side... just not their behavior and black and white world view #and I really really really don't want to actually say what's stuck in my craw #cause people 100% can't behave like adults about it and have a civil conversation #and it's just an invitation for people to drop all illusions of humanity and sling whatever nastiness they feel like #cause they know they're justified in it #and heaven forbid they apologize later #did I ever mention that I do in fact hold long grudges; I just also know how to put stuff aside to cooperate?#but I do remember this stuff; and the behavior is not forgiven because no apology for the rudeness was ever offered #anyway... I'm not touching it; and the annoying part is nominally I'm actually on the same side #it's just I'm not a damn child about it; and I'm more worried about 'how do I get the results I want' instead of crowing my virtue #and I'm more worried about if certain measures actually treat the issue or don't do shit while just causing new problems #(guess what I think the case is)#I can instantly list you one simple step that would massively improve the situation #can't tell you how to make it happen (though I have thoughts); but I can tell you for a fact it'll help #concretely; undeniably I think it might be the number one step to slash instances of this problem massively #...but uh... doesn't seem like it's a popular answer despite it being an objectively good thing #much better to bring the cops in to it; a group we can certainly trust not to turn on us and misuse any new powers given #that's the way people would prefer to do it rather than getting to the root #so yeah... I'm just annoyed by this; I probably will be for a while cause people won't stop fucking crowing about it #(and if you knew what it was you'd know they never fucking will)#blah blah blah morals or whatever #ok vegan who hates bees and uses plastic wool level of stubborn fool #and how much have you done to actually fix the problem compared to how much you've done patting yourself on the back?#just damn annoying; the number of people I trust to behave like adults with this...#I might literally be able to count it on two hands

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lymtw · 30 days

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Thinking of Toji being pulled out of sleep because he hears you whimpering beside him in your sleep. Once he wakes up, he can't get back to resting until he figures out what's going on with you. Maybe you're having a bad dream. After all, you are clutching your pillow pretty tight...

He puts a hand on your shoulder, ready to shake you. That is until you let out a moan. There's a visible 'huh' on his face as he keeps watching you to make sure he didn't mishear. His heart drops to his stomach when you sigh, your hips languidly rolling against the blanket that is bundled between your legs. Now he knows for sure that he didn't mishear you.

He chuckles quietly, his hand going up to caress your face. "Doll," he whispers, gently brushing wisps of hair away from your face. You don't respond. You stopped moving, and presumably went back to sleep. The problem is, Toji's awake now. Yes, he loves you and would guard you for years while you slumber, but right now you got him all bricked up. He can't sleep like this, but also, what's more embarrassing than getting himself off when the prettiest princess is right next to him.

"Baby," he coos, scooting closer to you. He pushes the blanket out of the way so that he can put one of your legs over his hip.

"You okay, Toji?" You mumble, slowly opening your eyes.

"Course, doll, but you're dreaming pretty loudly." He grins, throwing an arm over your waist. "Wanna talk about it?"

"What are you talking about?" You groan, still sleepy.

"Did you cum?"

Your heart stops at the question, and though your body is still in its sleepy daze, Toji could feel the tension surface.

"Could hear you moaning and whimpering like someone was giving it to you good. Was it me?"

"Toji...," you whine. "Who else would it be? Can we go back to sleep, now?"

"Hold on. Just wanna know if you finished. You know I wouldn't leave you hanging." His hands snake under your shirt.

"I did...'nt. But i'm more tired than horny, Toji. Don't worry about it."

"You won't have to do a thing. All you have to do... is lay there... and look pretty for me." His lips ghost yours as his fingers snap the strap of your bra against your skin. "How's that sound, hm? Want me to ease you back into sleep?"

You can see the trace of a grin on his face. His eyes look so dark, and this rattles something deep in your core.

"Fine. Just... not too rough, please."

"Yes, ma'am," he says, trying to hold back the full wolfy grin on his face. He makes haste of taking his clothes off and when he sees you trying to do the same, he takes over and pulls your shorts and underwear off. He's above you in an instant, wedging his hips between your legs, allowing his tip to nudge through your slick folds. "Dream me really did a number on you, huh? You're so wet."

"He was a freak." You giggle, watching Toji adjust himself.

"Not freakier than me, right?" He asks, kissing up your stomach until he reaches your chest.

"He's definitely competition for you, but you're number one, baby."

Toji gives you a deadpan expression, luring a laugh from you. "So damn lucky you asked me to go easy on you." He looks at that tired smile on your face, instantly remembering his mission. "Gonna put it in, 'kay ma?"

"Okay," you murmur, reaching your hands up to caress his face.

You both go quiet for a second as he brings his cock towards your entrance. Even the gentlest of Toji's movements are hard to take sometimes, but you've always been praised by him for handling those movements so well every time. You try to mute the gasp that comes with Toji stretching you, but your discomfort is not something you can easily hide from him.

"S'all good, princess," he mumbles into your neck. He can feel you trembling as he pushes in further. "Always so good for me. You can take it, huh?"

You squeak out a little 'fuck' and are instantly soothed by Toji. "I know, I know, my pretty girl. Don't cry." He looks into your twinkling eyes and kisses away the crystals gliding down your face. You're somewhat distracted by the affectionate butterfly kisses Toji scatters on your face. He uses this as a chance to sheathe the rest of himself inside you. Another inch stuffed into you, another kiss to your lips. He can see the light way your nose scrunches, instantly catching you with a coo of "that's it, mama. That's all of it."

You shudder, sighing as you push your head back into the pillow. "Fuck. Your dick is cursed, baby."

"You love it, anyway, little masochist." He smirks.

"What's a good fuck without some pain?" You can see the way his face lights up, almost like he considered that a green light to fuck you like an animal. "Ah, no," you intervene so quickly. "You're easing me back to sleep."

"Right." He stifles a laugh. "Let's get on that then."

It doesn't usually go this way with Toji. He likes to show off his strength against you, be it breaking your back when you arch over the crushing orgasms he gives you or holding you down when you try to squirm away from his overstimulating touch.

Somehow you got him to slow down for you this time, and the prize is you getting to mumble sweet nothings to him. His reward is that he gets to stay in gentle control. You tell him you love him and he responds with a little "mhm". You tell him you wouldn't go anywhere without telling him first but he doesn't read into the code in your message, so he smiles and says "you'd get lost, and I'd have to find you." You tell him you're glad you get to sleep next to him and he chuckles in your ear, responding with a non-threating "dick's got you all emotional, baby?"

You laugh it off, not taking it to heart. "Just love being close like this with you is all."

It goes quiet for a minute, only your little breaths and Toji's pants filling the silence. Toji can hear your heartbeat as he rocks both of you. Your heels dig into his lower back, your nails dragging across his shoulder blades. "Fuck, princess. I'll bust if you keep scratchin' me up like that." His lips ghost the column of your neck before latching on and working a mark into your skin. Your thighs squeeze against his waist as he grazes your sweet spot repeatedly.

Toji knows you well enough to know that that's a tell-tale sign that you're about to cum, so he makes his touch overwhelming. His hands run up your body until he reaches your chest, where he teases your nipples until your stomach starts quivering and you start breathing shakily. He massages your hips with his thumbs, while pressing kisses to your jaw with little murmurs of, "show me how good you feel" and "come on, baby."

"Fuck, princess..." he groans, almost reaching his own peak. "I wanna hear you. None of that covering your mouth or biting your tongue shit."

You folded so quickly after that, gasping like the air was sucked out of your lungs. "G-Go- Oh god! Fuck, Toji... I-"

"Mhm... fuck yeah, baby. T-That's good, so fuckin' good," he groans, rutting into you as he spews out his load. You put your hands up to his chest, pushing weakly as the overstimulation starts kicking in. He pants, trying to catch his breath as he slows to a halt. "So good for me, mama," he mumbles into your neck, his cock still buried in your soaked cunt. "No one deserves you." He presses a few more kisses onto your shoulder before getting off of you. Your eyes shut for seconds at a time every time you blink, meaning you could knock out any moment now. Any other day, the sight of cum drooling out of your pussy would incite another round, but Toji said he would fuck you to sleep, and he kept his word. The session concluded and now he gets to clean you up while you rest.

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armxnh · 5 months

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i know we just met, but i love you

synopsis: love at first sight with the tokyo revengers men.

characters: manjiro 'mikey' sano, takashi mitsuya, chifuyu matsuno

genre: fluff

warnings: none (i think...?)

masterlist.

manjiro 'mikey' sano

"ken-chinnnn" the leader of the toman whined at his taller friend. draken rolled his eyes in response, "no mikey, drop it."

"come onnnn-" the said man pouted exaggeratedly, "what did i do wrong?"

"nothing." the delinquent replied taking his wallet out of the pocket of his jacket, "you just don't need to eat twenty-five taiyaki."

"sorry to bother you but there are a lot of people who are waiting take their orders so if you could-" daiki, as it was written on his name tag, tried to cut them off from behind the counter.

for the past ten minutes, the two delinquents were arguing about their order. draken wanted to buy mikey five taiyaki, while mikey wanted his friend to buy him twenty-five of them.

draken turned his head to the cashier, "yeah, so five taiyaki and-"

"twenty-five taiyaki." "damn you-"

"hurry up! unlike other people, some of us have important things to do!" a customer yelled from the back of the line.

manjiro snapped his head to the back of the line, narrowing his eyes at the older man who had just yelled at him. "see now you're making people angry, mikey. 'm not gonna spend ¥5,272 on snacks."

"i need to eat a lot if i want to be taller!"

"for the last time. you won't get taller! you are at your maximum height!"

"alright! i'm not going through this again." a soft voice cut both of them before they could start the same argument they had 2 minutes ago. "daiki, i'll pay for their order- just make his goddamn snacks, please."

when manjiro turned to look at the person who 'saved his life', he felt like he has just died and miraculously came back to life as he made eye contact with you.

you were... pretty.

his eyes were set on you, taking in every single detail he could as if he was scared to forget how you look the second he'll look away.

"thank you, but that's not necessary!" draken politely thanked you as you grabbed your fidelity card of the small shop.

"don't worry about it! after all, those fidelity points have to be used for something." you waved him off, looking back at daiki, "could you also add my regular oder with that, please daiki?"

"o-of course, (y/n)!" the young worker quickly tapped your oder in the computer, a red hue covering his cheeks when you smiled at him.

"mikey, what do you say?" draken looked at his friend, hinting him to thank you, but his words fell into deaf ears as mikey kept looking at you like you hung the moon and stars in the sky.

"mikey?" He nudged the said man's shoulder trying to snap him out of his thoughts, only to be ignored once more.

the tall blond dropped the smile as he turned to his friend hitting the side of his head, finally snapping him out of his thoughts, "mikey!"

"um? what?" mikey barely glanced at draken when he responded, his heartbeat increasing when you looked back at him with your receipt in hand.

"i said, what do you say to the girl who just bought you your snacks?" he replied, glancing between the two of you clearly wondering why his friend was acting weird all of the sudden.

"marry me."

ken ryuguji never whipped his head to look at his friend so fast in his life. What the hell did he just said?!

you felt your face warm up at his words, chuckling as you walk past him, placing your hand on his shoulder, "do you ask every girl who buys you snacks to marry you?"

manjiro felt like he was in heaven when you stood closer to him. how can someone be so pretty and be so nice and smell so good and be so pretty at the same time.

"what?" toman's leader came back down to earth when you handed him the box filled of taiyaki. "did i say that out loud?" manjiro mumbled, frowning to himself. before looking back at you, just to see you making your way outside. "hey- wait!"

he tossed the snacks at draken jogging to meet you outside of the shop. "w-wait!"

you turned to look at him, the soft summer breeze sweating through your hair, leaving your face completely out in the open, "yes?"

"you're (y/n), right?" he asked remembering how the cashier called you when you were ordering, "i'm mikey..." he wanted to say something else but the words got caught in his throat when you smiled at him.

"nice to meet you, mikey" you replied before your eyes drifted behind him to the small group of guys that were looking at the two of you intensely, the 'ken-chin' guy from earlier standing with them. "i think your friends are waiting for you"

manjiro glanced back to see his best friends looking at them with knowing looks on their faces, "never mind them- this is- you are more important."

you looked away from him, his intense eye contact making your face feel warm, "you really know how to talk to girls you know?"

"thank you for earlier... the snacks and all..."

"that was 2 months worth of fidelity points- you better eat every single one of those taiyaki" you playfully warned the gang leader.

"don't worry about that..!" mikey replied knowing damn well that he will inhale those snacks. "can i walk you home? it's going to get dark soon- wouldn't want my wife to get attacked or something!"

wife?!

you suppress a smile at his words, "of course, wouldn't want it to get dark at 2 pm, and then get attacked by who knows what next to a bakery."

"exactly! let's go, wifey!"

takashi mitsuya

"what did you say you're brother's name was?" you asked the crying girl in front of you.

"...t- taka-shi" the small girl sobbed in your shoulder as you gently patted her head.

"alright and what's your name?" you gently asked as you scanned the area trying to find someone who looked like they had just lost their child.

"i- i- i'm mana"

"you have a really pretty name, you know?" you smiled fondly at the girl as you whipped the tears of her face with your thumbs.

"really?"

"heck yeah! it's a badass name!" you felt relief wash over you when you saw a smile spread across the kid's face, "i'm (y/n) and i'm gonna help you find your brother alright?"

"thank you..." she mumbled quietly.

"you're going to hop on my shoulders and tell me when you see your brother okay?" the girl looked up at you with stars in her eyes, you pulled mana on your shoulder, her small hands on your head.

you walked for a good 15 minutes before mana tapped your head with on hand while the other pointed toward an unknown man in the crowd of person, "they're there! that's draken!"

draken? wasn't her brother's name takashi? you wondered as you put mana to the ground your hand grabbing hers just in case she got lost again.

"mana!" a little girl's voice called out as you arrived next to the very tall guy with a dragon tattoo on his head. the small girl that looked very similar to mana hugged tightly the younger girl.

"mitsuya! ' found her" the tall guy called out for someone else behind him. the 'mitsuya' guy appeared from behind the 'draken' guy not long after he called out from him. the purple haired teen practically attacked his sister with a hug, sighing in relief.

"don't ever do that again, mana." he gently scaled his younger sister, "you could've gotten lost and we would've been really sad, al-?"

"it's fine! (y/n) helped me find you!" she pointed her finger at her. mitsuya ruffled his sister's hair, before straightening up to thank the person that help his mini-him, "thank you so mu..."

he felt like the world had stopped moving. like it was only the two of them in the middle of the festival. takashi mitsuya was in a trance. he was simply mesmerized by the sight of you.

"it's no problem, really! " you softly smiled at him, "your sister is a real angel-"

anything else you said after wasn't even registered but the delinquent in front of you. he was usually so good at this- talking to people was what he did best so... why couldn't he utter a single word for you.

his cheeks were red, his palm were sweaty, why was he anxious?- he was hanging on everything you did. even if he felt like he had forgotten how to speak, your voice felt like melody to his ears.

he snapped out of his trance when someone nudge his shoulder. mitsuya glanced at draken beside him, suddenly remembering that they weren't alone and that you were talking to him.

you looked at him with a puzzled look, "are you alright?

your question made him overthink about everything that happened in the last 2 minutes of your meeting. Did he look like a creep?

"i- i- great."

the hell was that takashi? he cursed himself.

darken cleared his throat, holding back his laugh. he brought his fist to his mouth faking coughs as he muttered a small, "real smooth, mitsuya".

you chuckled at his friend's comment, making mitsuya straighten up, you pulled out your hand for him to shake.

"let's start over, alright? i'm (y/n)... you're takashi right?"

draken stepped up clearly expecting his friend to be to lost in space to answer you, "he prefers mitsuya-"

"takashi's fine!" the said man interjected, as he quickly grabbed your hand to shake it, sending one of his pretty smile in your direction.

"i-"

"are you going to marry my brother?" he couldn't catch a break could he? luna asked you with big eyes.

you chuckled softly at her words, "how about this... i will give my number to your brother. then we'll go out to eat something to talk about marriage alright?"

"yes!" the girl tightly hugged your leg as you said that.

"does that sound like a plan to you, takashi?" yes!

mitsuya hurriedly started to look in his pocket for a pen, when draken pulled one out of his pocket with a piece of paper and handed it to the purple haired boy, "there you go, casanova"

takashi handed you the paper and the pen, before you wrote your name with your phone number on it.

"see y'a soon, taka! bye, mana don't get lost again alright?"

as soon as you were out of sight takashi turned to draken with a stern look, "not a word about this, alright?"

"you're crazy!" draken crackled putting his hand in his pocket, "i'm going to tell everyone!"

"draken!"

"as your wingman i feel like it's my responsibility-"

"no it is not!"

chifuyu matsuno

"hurry up, chifuyu!" takemichi yelled at his friend. they couldn't be late. not for that.

"how come you are slow as hell during a fight, yet you sprint your life on a sunday at 8 am?" the blond joked as he calmly walked behind takemichi with not a care in the world.

"come on! we're gonna be late!" he repeated hurriedly before stopping abruptly while looking around him.

"late to what?" chifuyu yawned, before looking at his friend, who stood there looking around, up and down as if his brain had finally snapped, "you alright?"

"alright stand here and don't move." takemichi moved the delinquent around so that he would stand in the middle of a park- an empty park.

"did you finally snapped or...?" he asked when the time traveler started to back away from him, "are you going to kill me? is this really how it's gonna end-"

"watch out!"

a voice yelled, but it was too late.

a ball directly hit his face, knocking chifuyu to the dirty ground, his eyes closing due to the shock.

it took him a couple of seconds before finally opening his eyes again, only to realize that he was in heaven. the prettiest girl he had ever seen in his life held his head in her hands, her index and middle finger pressed against the front of his neck just below his jaw- making sure that his heart was still beating.

"oh- thank god! you're not dead!"

"are you an angel?" chifuyu mumbled placing his hand on top of yours- making sure you were real, "am i in heaven?"

you let a breathy chuckle at his words, "you're cute- but no you're not dead... i kicked a ball in your face- unintentionally of course!"

his eyes finally focused on you, remembering what had happened. he blinked a couple of time, his eyes scanning your face- a pretty girl's face... so close to his face with her hands on his face and his hands on her hand-

what?!

chifuyu's face became as red a tomato straitening his posture to apologize for touching you without your authorization, "i'm so sorry-"

his head came in contact with your head, making you pull back immediately from the blond. "ow! i told you i didn't do it on purpose!" you groan holding your head with your hands.

chifuyu gasped in horror at his own clumsiness as he placed a hand on the back of your head. hopping that the coldness of it would help you a little, "i'm sorry! i swear i didn't mean it! please hit me again so that we're even!"

...what? now why would he say that?

"what? what's wrong with you?! do you get turn on by getting hit or something?!"

chifuyu panically looked around to search takemichi so that he could help him. when he finally spotted him, hiding behind the swings, the time traveler was smiling proudly with his two thumbs up in the air.

his action making him recall a conversation the two of them had a couple of weeks earlier.

"so... am i married in the future?" chifuyu asked takemichi as he bit down the sandwich he made himself for lunch.

takemichi raised his brows at the question, "yeah-"

"really?!" the blond gasped, with heart in his eyes, "do i know her?! no wait- that'll ruin the surprise- is she pretty?! no wait- of course she's pretty you idiot!"

the time traveler chuckled at his friend's words, rubbing the back of his neck, "do you want me to tell you how you met?"

"no! it has to be a surprise!" chifuyu refused, "wait am i going to meet her soon? is that why you said that?! takemichi?! answer!"

"nah- like you said it has to be a surprise~"

"takemichi!"

"if it makes you feel better- you embarrassed yourself in front of her"

"how would that make me feel better?!"

that sneaky bastard.

"i'm sorry! i don't know how to talk to pretty girls..." chifuyu mumbled looking to the ground, but his face snapped back at you when he realize what he had just say, your eyes round at his words, "i- i mean not that don't know how to talk you! wait- not that you're not pretty! you are pretty- beautiful even! but that is not the point! i don't need you to hit me! just please don't think i hurt you on purpose- i don't hit pretty girls! no wait- i don't hit girls at all! but you being beautifully-pretty is just a plus you know! an-"

you smacked your hand on his mouth, stopping his rambling, the butterflies in your stomach flying way to much due to his words. "please stop-! you're too cute..."

takemichi titled his head at the scene in front of him, clearly not remembering that part of the story your older self told him in the future about how chifuyu and her had met-

but... mission failed successfully... i guess?

ⓒarmxnh

#tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers #chifuyu x reader #chifuyu matsuno #takashi x reader #takashi mitsuya #manjiro x reader #mikey x reader #manjiro sano

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appocalipse · 1 month

Text

that guy ⊹ steve harrington

summary: After he's been to yet another failed date with yet another random pretty girl, Steve Harrington, your best friend, stops by at the diner your family owns for a late-night chat, same as he'd done a thousand times before. Steve is totally unaware of how much he's hurting you with his endless parade of dates, because after all — the two of you are only friends and nothing more, right? It's not like you have any secret feelings for him… | 2.6k words

── ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ ──

The moment Steve steps through the glass doors of the diner, you wonder, for about the millionth time that month alone, what is it that you've done so wrong to deserve this kind of punishment.

It's Friday night, and on Friday nights, Steve Harrington goes on dates. It's just like clockwork, really: he meets a pretty girl, thinks she's the one, takes her out on a date, realizes quickly enough that she isn't quite what he was looking for, then comes here after having dropped her back home to sulk with you, in the diner that your family runs, still clad in the outfit he'd chosen especially for his failed date.

To be honest, he never looks sad, per se — more like disappointed. Frustrated, maybe.

You watch as he weaves around tables occupied by laughing friends, past booths filled with couples sharing desserts, then slides into a seat in front of you at the bar. Steve sits down with an exhausted sigh, ruffling up his hair before shooting you a tired smile.

"Hi."

You don't look up from where you're polishing the counter. "Bad date again?"

"Not even close. She talked about horses non-stop."

A quiet laugh slips past your lips despite yourself, and finally, you tear your gaze off the dark wooden surface of the counter to look up at him; he's got this pleased little smile on his face, the corners of his eyes crinkled ever so slightly in the way they always do whenever he succeeds at making you laugh, even if just a little.

How are you supposed to keep acting like nothing's wrong when he looks at you like that?

You clear your throat awkwardly and make yourself busy stacking clean glasses next to the coffee machine.

"So...not the one, I take it?"

Steve leans forward against the counter and props his head up with his hand, sighing deeply.

"I'm starting to think she won't ever show up," he says quietly, running his other hand through his hair. You chance another glance at him and note how genuinely worried he looks. It breaks your heart almost as much as it annoys you. "What is it that's wrong with me, huh? I just don't get it."

"Nothing is wrong with you."

"You don't need to be nice to me. We've been friends since forever, remember?"

The word 'friends' makes you wince a little bit inside, but you hide the reaction behind a neutral frown. "Do you think there's something wrong with me? Because I haven't found the one yet either, you know."

Steve's expression softens as he looks at you, and once again you feel that horrible twinge in your stomach that you wish would just stop already.

"It's different. I mean—you're not actively trying to find someone." He reaches out to pull one of the half-melted mints out from the glass bowl on the counter and pops it into his mouth with a shrug. "I go out looking for her and she just doesn't come. If she even exists, that is."

"She does."

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, but I wouldn't hold my breath. God, why am I such an idiot, y'know?" Steve slumps over the counter with a groan, burying his face into his crossed arms. "My love life is a trainwreck."

"At least you have one."

He glances up at you curiously and lifts an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing. Forget it. Do you want some pie?"

You're not about to tell him what you've only admitted to yourself mere months ago — that you're actually hopelessly, madly, stupidly in love with him, and that you have been ever since the two of you were just dumb kids racing around your parents' diner.

What makes it even worse is that you had no idea your feelings went that deep until Steve started going on these dates of his again. Before then, everything was normal — you met up every weekend and binged on candy, watched bad movies on your couch, drove around town together blasting The Clash on his BMW's speakers...it was good.

Until it wasn't.

"Wait, c'mon, you can't just leave me hanging like that," Steve presses. He shifts a little on his stool to better face you, then gestures at you with his hands. "You've clearly got something you wanna say, so, like—hit me. Lay it on me."

"Nothing. I'm just saying...at least you're trying, you know," you say carefully, measuring each word before speaking them. "And at least you're the one doing the rejecting. Could be worse."

Steve's eyebrows rise high up on his forehead and he looks at you incredulously. "Whoa, wait—are you trying to tell me you've been rejected?"

You busy yourself by filling two tall glasses with soda, then slide one to his side of the counter and keep the other for yourself. "Uh...kind of, yeah. But it's fine."

"But who the hell would even do that?" he blurts out. There's anger in his voice all of a sudden, a defensive fire in his eyes that makes you feel as if someone has punched you in the gut. "To you? You're like, the nicest person on the planet, and super pretty to boot. That's just—that's crazy!"

Your heart gives a violent little jump in your chest. He thinks you're pretty. Steve Harrington thinks you're pretty.

Pretty as a friend, you correct yourself immediately, and sigh as you sip your drink. Of course, it's nothing more than that — just meaningless words spoken in a moment of unthinking kindness.

"Seriously, who?" he presses on. "Give me a name. I'll fight him."

"You mean like you fought Jonathan Byers?" you smile behind your glass, looking at him from over its rim.

Steve looks embarrassed at the memory and drops his gaze for a second or two before meeting your eyes again with a playful little smile of his own. "Different situation, okay, but that's not the point. So? Who's the guy?"

"You...don't know him," you hedge.

"It's Hawkins. I know the stray cats here by name."

"Fine, well, even if you did know him, it doesn't matter. He didn't reject me, exactly...not really."

Steve frowns a little. "Okay, you're gonna have to start making sense now. This is hurting my head."

The funny thing is, he actually looks confused, as if he can't possibly fathom the idea of someone rejecting you. It's sweet, really — way too sweet for your liking, especially when you know fully well he doesn't see you in the way you'd want him to.

You lower your gaze to avoid his and instead focus on drawing random shapes on the counter with your index finger, where tiny droplets of condensation from your glass have pooled up on the dark wood. "I mean, I never really told him how I felt. Not directly. It just…never happened."

"Oh. Well, then how do you even know if he feels the same way?" he asks you, looking rather doubtful.

You steal another glance at him and almost regret it instantly. His eyes are trained on your face, patient and attentive like you're the only thing worth watching in the world. It makes you feel horribly small and selfish and guilty, because after all, what right do you have to want him when he so clearly wants someone else?

You feel like you could cry. You might, if you don't distract yourself with something fast enough.

"I just know. Do you want some pie? I'll go get you some pie."

Without waiting for a response, you rush off to the kitchen even though there's plenty of pies sitting on the display counter at the bar, and you make a beeline straight for the back exit.

The alley behind the diner is blissfully empty as usual, just a lonely dumpster and a handful of sad-looking shrubs and weeds peeking out from under the concrete.

No, you aren't going to cry.

This is stupid.

You press your back against the rough brick wall of the diner and breathe in deep the warm night air, then exhale slowly as you count to ten in your head.

When the door opens behind you and the diner's familiar chatter and clatter of cutlery spill into the alley, you wince, mentally cursing yourself for being so goddamn weak. You should have known better.

You don't have to look up to know that it's him.

"Are you hiding from me?" Steve's voice comes, quiet and curious and maybe just a little bit hurt, even.

"I got...suddenly nauseous," you explain weakly, still refusing to look up and meet his eyes.

There's a long stretch of silence, and you feel Steve move closer to you until he's leaning against the wall by your side. You finally look up and find him smiling, this gentle, amused little thing that makes your traitorous heart skip a beat.

"You look just fine to me."

You stare up at the sky, head against the wall. "I thought I was gonna throw up."

He's still watching you, you can tell; you're keenly aware of his eyes on you, so much so that your skin prickles at the attention. "No, you didn't."

"No, I didn't," you admit with a sigh, and turn your head to finally look at him. He's got this little half-smile on his lips, the very same one you fell for years ago, and you curse yourself silently for never learning how to let him go. Really let him go.

"Hey. Listen. You don't have to tell me, okay?" Steve says gently, pushing himself off the wall to step closer to you. He brings his hand up to your face and tucks a loose lock of hair behind your ear, letting his fingertips linger on the edge of your jaw for the briefest of moments, just long enough for you to wonder whether he knows what he's doing to you.

You don't dare to move. You're afraid of breaking whatever spell has seemingly come over him.

"I should've never asked. That was selfish."

"Forget it," you say.

He's standing close now, close enough that you have to tilt your chin up to be able to look up at him properly. There's a strange kind of tension in his eyes, something dark and unsure and tentative, and his gaze darts down to your lips just the slightest bit.

You're fairly sure you're just seeing what you want to see, your foolish heart playing tricks on you. But you panic nonetheless, feeling a sudden, irrational fear that if he moves any closer, he'll realize the truth — that you're a liar and a coward, that you've been harboring these feelings of yours for him for years.

"I should—I should go. Back inside," you mutter, pointing vaguely at the door with your thumb. "In there."

"Sure, yeah. Okay. In there," he echoes, not making a single move to leave. "Not out here."

"Yup. Exactly. In there."

"So you said."

"Yep."

The wall of the diner is digging into your spine uncomfortably, and your mouth is dry, and your knees feel weak, and your stomach is doing somersaults, and the longer he stares at you with those eyes of his the more you feel like you're burning from the inside out and—

He's not moving. All he does is look at you, really look at you, as if it's the first time he's really looked, as if he's seeing something that wasn't there before.

"Okay, so—"

You try to push past him towards the door, but Steve grabs your arm, making you stop dead in your tracks. He lets go as soon as you look up at him, lifting his hand in front of him in an apologetic gesture.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," he says. He swallows hard and rubs his palm on the front of his jeans, a nervous little habit you think he's always had. He runs his hand through his hair, mussing up the carefully gelled strands, and it's probably the first time you've ever seen him look so flustered.

He laughs nervously and gestures at the ground with his hands as he speaks. "Look, this is just—this is just crazy, okay, but I think I, uh, maybe sort of realized something."

You blink at him, not quite certain you're hearing him correctly.

"Realized what?" you ask, the words barely more than a whisper.

Steve clears his throat and nods at you, seemingly pleased that you've finally spoken. "Yeah, well, this is stupid, but you know how you're always telling me to listen to my gut?"

"You're not making a whole lot of sense right now, Steve."

"Just bear with me for a sec, okay? This is like, totally new to me." He holds his palms up, and you notice his hands are shaking a little. "I just need a minute, alright?"

He breathes in deep and exhales slowly, then shoots you an apologetic look.

"Sorry, this is just...really weird," he confesses. "Weirdly real."

"You're freaking me out," you tell him, but Steve only smiles at you.

"Maybe I should just show you. Because, I mean, what if I'm wrong? That'd be terrible, obviously."

"Steve."

"Yeah, I know, but hear me out, okay?" he says quickly, and takes another step closer. You stand your ground this time, if only because you don't trust yourself to actually move without your legs giving out. "So, look. Here's the thing. You're, like—you're one of the most important people in my life. You've been there for me when nobody else was, and I...you mean a lot to me."

"Steve—"

"Shut up, you're ruining the moment."

He takes another step forward until he's crowding you against the wall, hand coming to rest next to your head on the brick. He's close, so close that you can smell the scent of his cologne and shampoo and laundry detergent, and if you were to lean in even the slightest bit, your faces would bump.

Steve is a little out of breath, his lips parted ever so slightly. And he's still looking at you with that strange, searching expression of his.

"Is this okay?" he whispers.

"I don't—what?"

Your voice catches in your throat. There's no room for doubt in his eyes now, not even the tiniest, slightest sliver of uncertainty left.

"This," Steve murmurs.

He tilts his head to the side a little and leans in until you're sure your noses are touching, and you feel your eyes slip closed in anticipation.

"Is this okay?" he repeats in a whisper. "Please tell me I'm not crazy."

"I think I am."

His lips brush yours. It feels like an accident, doesn't last long enough to be anything but a dream. You can still taste the faint, sweet trace of sugar and mint on your tongue when he pulls away, though.

"Just to be clear," Steve whispers, his fingers brushing lightly over the skin of your neck, tracing invisible lines that make you shiver, "am I the guy from earlier? The one you like?"

You don't have it in you to deny it anymore.

"Yes. It's you."

A wide grin breaks out across his face, and suddenly he's everywhere; he cups your face in his hands, pressing eager, fervent kisses along the line of your jaw, trailing hot and open-mouthed down the side of your neck.

You giggle helplessly, grabbing Steve by his collar to pull him away from you and up to your eye level. He's breathing just as heavily as you are, his hair messy and his eyes bright.

"How do you do this to me, huh?" he pants, kissing your forehead, the tip of your nose, the corner of your mouth. "You just—you just completely knock me out."

A pleasant little thrill rushes up your spine at that.

"Oh yeah?"

"Completely."

You kiss him this time.

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