#I adore them and they'll get a lot of attention and development together!

[candied-cae]

And Who Are We At The End Of The World? - The Best Welcome Party

Chapter 14/? - - - Read it on AO3

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Word Count: 11,681

Summary: With Eddie conscious for the first time since "the earthquake," a lot has to happen. Notably, he needs to be questioned by the Hawkins Police. But, of course, there may just be a little bit to check on before they deal with that responsibility...

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At Steve’s house, everyone was still milling around after he and Lucas left. Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair still had a lot of stuff they needed to wrap their head around, and Nancy and Robin were feeling a little stir-crazy in the busy house, so they got an idea. They could run back to their houses, take showers, get changed, and then take off to ask the drama and band directors for their statements on Eddie.

Which would both get them out of the stressful atmosphere of Steve’s living room and give them something to do. And having something to do about how hopeless everything felt seemed to be the only way to get through it.

So, the two of them stuck around just long enough to make Hop sit down with them and agree to be a source. And to grab a couple of quotes so it’d sound like his words, and if anyone bugged him about it he knew what to say. A little bit here about “All kids find their own outlets for rebellion, I’ve pulled over almost every student who’s gone through that high school at least once since I’ve been here.” A line to specify “But Eddie Munson’s never been a very big thorn in my side. Can’t see him having done all this without a good motive. Which nobody’s been able to find.” And then they just rounded it out with a note about circumstantial evidence and there not being enough of anything to make sense to pin it on him. All according to a guy who used to be the city's chief of police.

Then they were able to drive off for their next steps, Nancy obviously the one behind the wheel and dropping Robin off before she went back to her place.

When Nancy got back to her house her dad was, thankfully, back at work. So it was just Holly and Amber sitting around a plastic tea set in the living room while Amber’s mom watched the news. She was able to head right on upstairs without much fuss.

But, while it didn’t take long for Nancy to take care of her own business, Robin had a bit more of a headache to deal with.

Her mom was again not happy she ran off, but it was easier to settle her down when Robin had her call Steve’s house and a parent answered. Joyce had confirmed that there had been chaperones there all night, and there were a whole bunch of them over, not just Steve and Robin alone. As if that would’ve meant anything anyway. But one phone call later and she was able to slip away and clean up so she could get to her plans with Nancy.

When she climbed out of the shower, however, she was interrupted by her mother calling for her.

“Robin!”

The girl was squeezing a towel around the ends of her hair to pull the water out - she hadn’t washed her hair, but the ends got damp anyway - and she yelled back,“ Uh, yeah?”

“You’ve got a call!”

Robin considered trying to run to the wall phone half-dressed or letting her mom try to stall with small talk as she pulled on her jeans. She decided she didn’t really like either option,“ Just tell Nancy I’ll be ready for pickup whenever she gets here!”

“It’s not a Nancy!” Theresa said from the kitchen as Robin reached for her shirt,“ It’s a Vickie!”

And all at once, she felt her heart jump to her throat. She threw on the shirt, haphazardly yelling,“ I’ll be right there!”

Once she got the article over her head, she yanked it down and barreled out of the bathroom. Quickly stealing the phone from her mother’s hands and turning the corner away to be further away from her mother’s listening ears.

“Heeyyy…” She started. But, no way, that sounded so awkward. She coughed and tried again,” I mean, hey. Hey, Vickie. How are- How are you?”

“Hi, hi, and hi to you too, Robin,” she said with a light fluttery giggle that made Robin’s heart seize again,” I’m good. And you are?”

“Good! I am good also.”

Robin was failing at this, right? She was failing at their first phone call. She was all jumpy, and too excited, and not saying words in the right order, and she had to sound so ridiculous-

But she pushed through it anyway. Digging her nails into her palm to try and keep herself from getting all high-pitched from the nerves, she said,” So, uh, how’d you… track me down?”

“Looked you up in the phone book. There aren’t any other Buckleys in town, you know.” Vickie said it like it was obvious.

Because it kind of was. It was how Robin would’ve found Vickie’s number if she had felt so bold. Maybe if she and Steve had been able to find an hour alone, he would’ve built her up to it. But receiving the phone call felt pretty great too.

“Yeah, yeah.” Robin confirmed the very normal behavior,” So, did you need anything or- or what had you calling little ol’ me today?”

“I, um, sorta thought we could hang out? It was fun spending time with you at the high school the other day, and I’d like to do it some more. Unless you didn’t think it was fun and, instead, I’m just the kind of girl who’s nice for company when there’s literally no one else to talk to, and in that case, I’ll just hang up, and we don’t have to talk about this-”

“No!” Robin leaped in to correct Vickie’s unfounded concern,“ No, no, no, I do not think that. I would like to hang out. With you. Too. I had fun on Saturday too. So, yeah, I’d really like to make some plans to spend time together again.”

And there was Vickie’s cute little fluttery giggle again,“ Cool. Um, I know things are still sort of crazy in town, but my parents would give me the keys to the car if you wanted to come up with an errand to run or something, and we could get some lunch after?”

“Yeah, that sounds great. I’d love to- like to do that-”

Calm down, Robin, don’t freak her out.

And, just as Robin was taming her excitement, she remembered she was already expecting a girl to come by,” Oh, yeah... I kind of had plans to help Nance with something…”

Vickie got a little quieter,“ Oh, well, we can raincheck if you want to-”

“No! I, um… actually, if you wanted to help, we were going to talk to Mr. Thompson.”

“The band director?” the girl asked.

“Well, him and Ms. Reynolds. We wanted to get, like, a statement on Eddie’s character from them. See if they had anything nice to say for an article about how he didn’t do it.”

“Oh,” Vickie said it like she was trying to understand the idea. And that made sense. She wasn’t on the inside team, so she didn’t know everything they did. Didn’t know Eddie that well. She’s just been knee-deep in rumors the whole time.

So Robin supplied,“ Which, by the way, he didn’t. It’s a long story, but we were with him pretty much the whole time, and it was actually Jason! Not Eddie, and-”

“Jason? Jason Carver?”

“Yeah. Like I said, it’s a long story, and I can tell you some more about it later, but Eddie really is innocent. I swear. Thing is, even when he wakes up and can explain everything to get the police to drop the charges, a lot of people probably won’t believe it. They’ll say stuff about how he got away with it and make his life a living... nightmare," she barely caught herself from saying 'hell'. A mistake she usually didn't have much trouble avoiding, but she was just so focused on Vickie that she almost missed it," Anyway, Nancy wanted to write something for the school paper to help show people he’s a good guy.

“And he is? A good guy, I mean.” Vickie still asked, though she was beginning to sound like she believed it.

“Yeah. He is.” Robin asserted,” And, since we’re both in band, if you wanted to come, we could probably divide and conquer faster. We can check with Mr. Thompson, and she can go to Ms. Reynolds. So that could be our errand and then get some lunch after.”

“Then, yeah, I’d love to help. You sure Nancy will be okay with me just kinda hijacking you at the last minute?”

“Oh yeah! Definitely. I’ll just let her know what’s going on, and we can all meet up after to share notes.”

“Sounds good. You want to get together now, or do you want me to head over later?”

“Now’s fine. I just got done getting ready to head out with her anyway, so I am all good to go. I can give you the address-”

“It’s in the yellow pages right below the phone number.”

Robin nodded to herself,“ Yes, of course, it is, duh. Then I will see you in a few.”

“See you then, Robin.”

“Bye, Vickie.”

Robin bit into her bottom lip under her wide grin as she hung up the phone. It took everything in her to not stomp around her feet to get all the joyous energy out. Her cheeks were probably bright pink, and her hair had to be a mess, and she’d have to be sneaky to throw on some mascara and her favorite rings before she got out the door if she wanted to look even a little put together.

But it was Vickie. It was Vickie inviting her out for the day. It almost actually sounded like a date. And Robin dared to consider that Vickie’s voice and tone seemed like she knew how it sounded...

Which was insane. She still never thought the chance was real. Even after they volunteered together, and Steve tried so hard to hype her up, she was half-convinced that nothing would come of it besides his false hope. But it was real. And now she had something to work for.

And it was still scary.

But she tried to focus on what Steve told her between all his insisting that Vickie really liked her.

“Be yourself, and all that junk.”

Robin’s own advice thrown back at her. So Robin was just going to have to try to focus on being herself. And all that junk.

Worst-case scenario, she’ll at least be able to tease Steve about the fact that his idea was ridiculous and didn’t work. Which felt like a security blanket, honestly. At the end of the day, if the whole thing went horribly, she'd still find some way to laugh about it with her best friend...

“What was it?” her mother asked from around the corner where she had been reading the newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee that they both knew was mostly creamer.

Robin poked her head over to look at her and attempted to settle herself to answer casually,“ Oh! Vickie’s just gonna help me and Nance with something! We’re going to head out in a bit and ask the band teacher a few questions.”

“The band teacher? Mr. Thompson?” Theresa asked folding and setting down the paper on the kitchen table as she leaned back in the chair.

But even Robin could tell her mother must have done everything she could to eavesdrop. Probably sat so still that the chair didn’t squeak, didn’t drink from her mug so she could listen, and held the paper in loose fingers so it didn’t crinkle the whole time... So she already knew all about what she was asking about. Why they needed to play around it, Robin never understood, but they did. It’s what they did. If they didn’t - if Robin tried to skip the unnecessary explanation - it would turn into a conversation about her manners.

So, instead, Robin confirmed,“ Yeah, Mr. Thompson,” and waited for the next question.

“What do you girls need him for?”

“Well, Eddie was in the school band for a few years. Didn’t do pep band or anything, but Mr. Thompson should still know him.” she clarified,” So we wanted to see if he had anything nice to say about him for an article on Eddie’s innocence. Make sure he doesn’t get mounted on a stake in the town square the minute the police unlock his cuffs.”

Her mother nodded along and took another sip of her coffee,“ Alright. Make sure you’re home tonight or tell me ahead of time if something changes. Before it gets dark out so I know I don’t need to worry.”

“I will, Mom.”

Her mother began to pick back up her newspaper and held out an open hand. The signal Robin always returned by blowing a kiss that she’d pretend to snap her hand around and pat into her chest. Which was another comfort. That was also their thing. Besides any tenseness or misunderstandings, once things settled Robin’s mother would always silently ask for a kiss. And Robin would always send one her way.

And just as Robin was bounding back to the bathroom to brush out her hair and try to doll herself up, at least a little bit, the doorbell rang.

“Wow, Vickie must’ve been pretty close,” Theresa commented from her newspaper.

But when Robin opened the door, it wasn’t Vickie on her front doorstep, but Nancy.

Nancy lit up when she was met with the other girl, a light bounce on her feet that had her curls spring on her shoulders,“ Ready to go?”

“Oh, Nance….” Robin said as she realized she didn’t even have time to try and call ahead to let her know about the change in plans.

“Yes?” Nancy’s eyes brows quirked, and her smile went a little nervous,” Should I be hurt by that reaction?”

“No! Um, I just got a call from Vickie,” she began to explain.

Though, just that on its own didn’t mean much to Nancy.

“Vickie?”

“Yeah! She wanted to help out with the teachers.”

“She did?” Nancy asked.

She found that a little hard to believe, considering the two of them only just got the idea the night before themselves. How did Vickie Nelson hear about it, and why does she care all that much? Clearing Eddie’s name was their business. Not hers.

But Robin just simply smiled back,“ Yeah! So I thought it’d be faster if we split up! She and I could scope out the band director - since he already knows us so well - and you can take care of Ms. Reynolds with no problem. And then we can share the info later and see how useful any of it might be.”

“Oh.”

“That okay?”

Nancy wasn’t trying to seem sour about it. She wasn’t trying to guilt trip her or make a big deal out of it. Robin had seemed all cheery about the idea, Nancy didn’t want to rain on her parade. So she pulled herself together and snapped out of whatever funk she slipped into a moment ago.

“Uh, yeah, yeah. It’s fine. Just- here, take the questions we drew up last night. I’ll write myself a new copy, and we can get together later,” Nancy tore out a sheet of paper from her notebook and handed it over.

“Yeah, I’ll just be one walkie-away if anything comes up!” Robin nodded, accepting it with her easy-going grin still splayed across her face.

“Well, have fun,” Nancy wished her well as she began to turn back to her car.

“Thanks. You too!” Robin threw over her shoulder as she closed the door and was gone.

Okay. That stung.

The whole interaction stung.

Which was weird. Shouldn’t have really stung that much. Nancy and Robin were just new friends. Robin had other friends. It was fine. Maybe Nancy was just kind of put off since they made plans together, and now Robin was dropping them off for someone else. Yeah, anyone would be annoyed by that.

Yeah.

But either way, Nancy packed herself back into her car and breathed for a minute. Got her new notes jotted down. Then she saw Vickie park across the street. The other girl stepped out of the car. Looked around and sort of shook out her arms. Like she was nervous or something. But then she set her eyes on Robin’s front door and walked forward with a kind of determination Nancy supposed she’s worn when she was chasing a good story. Vickie made it up the steps and rang the doorbell, turned around, and shook out her arms again when she locked eyes with Nancy.

She froze. Her eyes were wide, her arms hanging off her a little awkwardly as she just stared back at Nancy in her station wagon. Like she’d been caught doing something wrong.

Nancy pulled her expression into a tightlipped smile. Something simple and polite but not exactly totally friendly. She was still a little annoyed about getting dumped- more like bailed on. Yeah, bailed on. But she gave a little wave anyway, and Vickie unfroze to wave back, wearing her own nervous smile.

And then the door opened, and Vickie spun around without hesitation. So Nancy started the car and drove off before she got a good look at Robin in her doorway again.

She had work to get to.

Robin and Vickie would climb into the Nelson’s hatchback and find Mr. Thompson, while Nancy picked up Jonathan to go with her for Ms. Reynolds.

The pair of girls took off for their director’s house and found themselves gigging a lot to the radio. Their music taste didn’t perfectly match up, but there was some notable overlap that they found entertaining for the drive. Vickie complimented Robin's jewelry, she did end up having just enough time to slip some on along with a coat of mascara before her doorbell rang again. Robin absolutely blushed and complimented Vickie. Said she liked the pale teal spirals she wore before, but the dangling green diamonds were great too.

When the drive was done, and they'd actually arrived to talk to Mr. Thompson, he had good things to say. Which was a real relief to Robin.

Turned out Eddie’s not only been in band since middle school, but he’d even stay after school for extra lessons when he was picking up guitar. Mr. Thompson had liked the kid. He was the kind of music student that every teacher wants to teach. The kind that loved it and had a knack for the ability. From piano to guitar, Eddie loved music with an intensity that most people never did. Loved it through his first senior year. He ended up not coming back in ‘84, even though he was still at the high school. Thompson had tried reaching out, but Eddie seemed different when he did.

Just said he had too much on his plate - his own band and trying to make money to help his uncle - and walked away.

Mr. Thompson let it go. He had other students to worry about.

But Eddie Munson, that was a good kid who loved music, even if he liked to find ways to play that weren’t entirely classical or conventional. Mr. Thompson remarked about some combative behavior sometimes. But it was more usually aimed at the other students when Eddie felt like they weren’t trying at all or didn’t care, less so at the director himself. At the end of the day, Mr. Thompson wondered what had happened to him when he stopped seeing Eddie loiter in the band hall, but he was never very sold on the idea that he had turned into a killer after less than two short years since they last spoke.

And the statements helped Vickie see Eddie as the good guy who was thrown into a bad situation that Robin knew he was.

The other pair were having a less fun time. Nancy was still wound up, and she wasn’t really sure why. Which only pissed her off more. Jonathan had something to say but didn’t want to spring it on her while she was in a bad mood. Not that it was the kind of news that should be used to ruin a good mood either…

Jonathan was in trouble. Really, really in trouble. He couldn't procrastinate for a few months again, but it was so much harder to say something when he was actually sitting next to her.

It was a quiet drive on their end.

Then they met with the teacher. Who also had pretty good stuff to say about Eddie. Turns out drama teachers usually couldn’t care less about “conventional”. Ms. Reynolds said she was always partial to more experimental fine arts anyway. And Eddie was loud and passionate in classes, that’s the sort of stuff that thrived in drama departments and drove creativity. He had presence and theatrics and was always paling around with Jeff in the back of her classroom. It was also apparently Eddie that had roped Gareth into helping out with set construction for the musical they just put on. And Josie was in the orchestra pit while Bruce helped with lights. Seemed all of Corroded Coffin had come together in her department at one point or another.

Which is how it had been so easy to convince her to sign off on letting them use the drama room for their Hellfire meetings anyway.

Their little crew was still a little divisive with some of the other drama kids. Their dark clothes and leather and metal set them apart. But Ms. Reynolds always liked them. Always appreciated the way they were willing to do whatever to help. And Eddie was the core, or leader, of that.

She had a few good things to say about the kid. He was weird, but unapologetically himself. And she was happy to go on the record that, as wild as he was, she believed that he didn’t do it.

All in all, Robin and Nancy’s mission could be considered a success.

Even if they didn’t do it together.

Now, Eddie himself was in a state of confusion.

He was still sort of reeling from the fact that Steve had been there at all. Steve Harrington had been there. Sat in the chair at his hospital bedside wearing stupid, boring jeans and a dusty, red sweatshirt like it was the most casual thing. The chair didn’t even look very comfortable. But Steve sat in it, more than once he sat there for a few hours and- that’s so weird.

Eddie wasn’t making it up, right?

He wasn’t going crazy from demobat rabies, right?

Steve had been there.

Right?

It was… it was just so weird.

Freaky, one could even say.

Yeah, they’d gotten mixed up in the same problem recently. But to come back for him, to sit at his bedside while he lay unconscious… It wasn't “right.” Didn’t make sense in the world Eddie Munson came from, even if he was starting to accept that place was long gone.

Steve… Steve Harrington was an enigma. For all four of Eddie���s years that they shared at high school together,

Steve Harrington was an enigma.

Even in Steve’s freshman year, he was the talk of the town. Good looking kid, with passable grades that were more easily accepted when everyone saw how he did in competitive sports. He was doing it all. Basketball, Baseball, Swim Team. And on top of that, his folks had crazy money and this big house he could sometimes swing parties at. He was adopted into the top dogs faster than anyone had ever seen.

In his sophomore year, he found his footing. Started to know exactly how he was fitting into things and how to take charge even though he was still an underclassman to most. Started to solidify the group of kids he hung out with along the upper crust. Started getting swarmed by girls. A whole slew of rumors were buzzing around after that about all the babes he was shmoozing between classes.

Though, his junior year might've been the height of it. He seemed like he was soaring in those days. Just basking in the awesomeness of everything in his life going right for him. And then he bagged little miss perfect. And then something happened to him before winter break. And he fell out with most of his old buddies. Focused a little harder on his classes. Fell into place wherever Nancy was.

And then his senior year was like watching him get snuffed out. All at once, he’d lost pretty much everything, except for his girlfriend. And then more shit happened just before winter break… and Steve Harrington didn’t even have that anymore. So he coasted by until he was out. Just sort of kept his head down and managed his social standing without some of the… previous assholery he was a part of. Even if Eddie didn’t believe it at the time. Kept trying to be a big man on campus, but most of his moves fell flat until he quietly graduated. And that was that.

And then… next time Eddie saw Steve up close, he was pushing him against the wall of his dealer's boat house. Trying to come to terms with all the truly insane stuff Henderson was telling him, Steve just nodded along. Then Eddie was fighting for his life alongside him, a fight he was pretty sure he’d lost. But he didn't. And Steve stuck around.

Freaky.

And that’s coming from “The Freak.”

But Eddie didn’t have much longer to dwell on it, because a slightly timid voice spoke from his doorway,“ Eddie…”

And looking over to see - instead of a nurse - one of his own little Hellions, his mouth open up into a wide smile instantly,“ Lucas! How’d you get here so fast? Harrington just left.”

Lucas took his bright expression as a sign to come on further in, so he took steps forward as he made his way to the chair Steve had previously occupied,“ I was just across the hall. I’ve been spending time with Max whenever I can.”

“Ahhhh…” Eddie nodded sagely, as if he wasn’t still playing catch up on what exactly those two had going on,” So, what’re you doing over here on my side then?”

“Wanted to see you up,” Lucas answered simply as he took his seat.

“Wish I could give you a show. I’d do a flip for you if it weren’t for these beauties.” Eddie teased with a jingle of his cuffs against the bed rail.

And then Lucas’s face went something sadder as he carefully asked,“ … so you’re really okay?"

Eddie shrugged, hoping it’d ease the kid a little. He looked kind of nervous for some reason,“ Yeah, man. I guess. I’m a little tender all over, but I’ll be fine. Not planning to abandon you kids any time soon. You’d all make a mess of my club if I didn’t finish up business myself before graduation.”

Eddie ended his line with a light chuckle, but Lucas didn’t respond. He looked a little gone, like his mind was elsewhere. And maybe Eddie should’ve assumed he was thinking about Max next door, but for some reason, he just had this nagging feeling that it was something else.

“Hey, you alright, Sinclair?” he wondered, letting his tone dip a little softer than he usually used it.

“Yeah. Yeah. It’s nothing.” Lucas tried to shake his expression off, but Eddie saw it. And then it clicked.

Oh.

Hellfire.

One of the last things Eddie did before his whole world changed, was exclude Lucas from Hellfire. And things have been so unbelievably crazy the entire time since that day that… he completely forgot.

Shit.

He was a bad friend on Friday, and he hasn’t said anything to Lucas about it.

“I’m sorry, Lucas.”

And Lucas flinched back into himself. So surprised by the out of nowhere apology he had to sit up and try to joke,“ For being in a coma? I know you didn’t do it on purpose-”

“No. For Hellfire,” Eddie corrected,” I’m sorry you weren’t at the last game.”

“Oh,” Lucas seemed to be struggling to figure out what to do with the words that he just moved to brush them away,” I… it’s fine. I was busy at the championship-“

Eddie stopped him from acting like it wasn’t a big deal,“ Lucas. Would you just let me apologize to you?”

And Lucas was tense and quiet for a minute. But eventually, he let out a breath and sat back deeper into the chair,“ Okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

Eddie started it seriously. Let the words sit on their own for a second before he tried to explain himself.

“It feels silly now to think about how worked up I was on Friday. Okay? Like, there are way bigger things than me just wanting stuff to go the way I planned. And… at the end of the day, I wanted you to be there. I know you’ve been juggling Hellfire with basketball, and we usually made it work, but then Hawkins unexpectedly qualified for the big tournament, or whatever, and… I don’t know. I got pissed. I've always hated the basketball guys. Felt like you were different from them- and you are, for the record. You’re different than them in all the best ways. But I got disappointed when I thought about you being with the cool crowd instead of the freaks. Made me feel like you were rejecting us, or leaving us behind for popularity…”

Lucas was shaking his head,“ That’s not-“

“I know,” Eddie told him anyway,” I know that’s not something you’d do, Sinclair. I was just making myself mad when I could’ve been going about it another way. I’ve got a few faults, and quick to anger is one of ‘em. It was cool and all meeting the littler Sinclair - don’t get me wrong - but I do wish you’d been with us for the end of the campaign. And most of the reason you couldn’t be was my fault because I was being stubborn. So I’m sorry. Really.”

And Lucas looked so much lighter in that chair after Eddie was done. Like some secret fear he’d been harboring since Friday that Eddie hated him was just run off. He even looked a little misty-eyed as he brought back his smile.

“I forgive you,” he said, though after a moment. It took him a bit to realize Eddie was waiting for it.

And then Eddie smiled back at him,“ Thanks. Was it a good game at least?”

Well. That astounded the boy.

“You want to hear about my game? You? Eddie Munson? A basketball game?”

Eddie tossed his head side to side like he was mulling it over,“ Well, maybe skip all the boring sporty bits and just tell me the highlights. Final score and stuff. But yeah, tell me about it.”

“Well, um,” Lucas shifted a little closer as he tried to remember how it all happened now that it felt like forever ago,” We’d been kinda neck-in-neck with the last team all night, the Falcons. They’d score, we’d score, we’d score some more, they’d even it right out. It was back and forth the whole game. And then Adam got knocked down… so they pulled me off the bench.”

“Wait a minute, you're saying you actually made it on the floor?” Eddie noticed, which made Lucas light up a little brighter. Now more confident that Eddie was actually interested in listening to him talk about his game.

“Yeah.”

“Ain’t that the first time that’s happened all year?”

He let out a soft chuckle,“ Yeah. It was.”

“You’re kidding…” Eddie leaned back and shook his head, remembering all the times his freshman would complain to each other at the lunch table about Lucas not getting to do anything worth watching.

“Well, if you’re impressed by that, how do you feel about hearing that I made the buzzer beater that won the whole thing?” he tempted.

And then Eddie’s attention shot back up to him,“ What?”

“We were down by one point, just the one, and there were ten seconds left on the clock. Jason tried to make the shot, but the ball hit the rim and bounced off. And I was the one who caught it. I just- It was just in my hands, and I dove out of the huddle, and… there wasn’t any time to think about it. So I took the shot. And it spun around the rim, jumped back out, and hit the backboard, but then it sunk. We won. We beat ‘em, 70 to 69.”

“That’s… that’s incredible, Lucas.” Eddie sounded dumbfounded. He really wasn’t a sporty guy, but even he could picture it. He wasn’t dumbfounded out of confusion, he was just that amazed.

Lucas got a little bashful,“ It was just-“

“No. No, that’s really cool, man,” and then the realization hit,” And we stole your sister so she couldn’t cheer you on…”

“Yeah… I was a little mad about that,” he admitted.

“I’m sorry about that too. You shoulda had someone there.”

“I wasn’t alone. The team practically paraded me around. And Steve was there in the audience. Robin was with the band. Even Nancy was there for the school paper. They cheered pretty loud when it happened.”

He sighed a little wistfully,“ I wish I saw it too.”

And, well, Lucas knew Eddie was trying to make up for everything, but that had to have been an outright lie.

“You hate basketball.”

“Yeah, I do. But I like you, kid. You’re one of my little freaks, and it would have been nice to see you do something that cool. Watch the whole school cheer you on even though you’re a nerd like the rest of us in Hellfire.”

And that…

‘You’re one of my little freaks’

It did a lot for Lucas. He’d honestly been a little scared the whole time that the game would be the final straw. The thing that set him away from Hellfire completely. Until the club became something only Dustin and Mike got to be a part of. But Eddie still thought Lucas was one of his.

He wasn’t getting thrown away.

“Thanks, Eddie,” he finally said when he didn’t think his voice was going to crack.

“Thank you for letting me in on a little of it. Even though I was a dick on Friday.”

The boy tried to walk that back,“ I wouldn’t say-”

“You can say it. One-time free pass since I’m admitting my shortcomings and humbling myself right now.”

And so, through a warm laugh, Lucas agreed,“ Okay, yeah, you were kind of a dick.”

“Thank you,” Eddie laughed a little with him,“ Now, tell me something about this plan Harrington mentioned. Wanna make sure I’ll be able to play my part well.”

Lucas ran over the bare bones with him. Just spent enough time on it that Eddie would know what to say, and then he called a nurse in. Eddie played like he was a little loopy for a few minutes to pass as him off as having just woken up. She checked his vitals and then called in a doctor who told that same nurse to get on the phone with the police department and Eddie’s uncle.

That was when they kicked Lucas out and sent him back across the hall. To make sure the cops wouldn’t have any arguments about the honesty of his interrogation. They really underestimated this Party, if only they knew.

By the end of it, people were on the way and Eddie was getting worn out. Turned out it was hard work waking up from a coma and socializing. He’d fallen back asleep before anyone new arrived at the hospital, but the next time he woke up someone had arrived.

It was Wayne. His wrinkled uncle Wayne. Uncle Wayne, who just looked so exhausted with his eyebrows pinching together, carefully watching Eddie’s hand held within his. Wet eyes that didn't move or blink as he waited to see his boy come back to him.

So Eddie squeezed it and groaned out,“ Hey, old man.”

And the familiar sound of Wayne’s worn and lovingly gruff chuckle was like the sun after such a god-awful week. He took back one of his own hands to wipe under his eyes for a moment before putting it back and smiling at him,” There he is. The man of the hour.”

“Here I am.” Eddie smiled back at Wayne from under sleepy eyes.

His uncle squeezed his hand tighter,“ I got real scared there. Thought I wouldn’t ever see you again.”

“Aw, Wayne, you know you can’t get rid of me that easy. I’m still your problem just like I’ve always been.”

“No, never been a problem,” he corrected.

“Now, I know you’re getting too sappy and lying to me. I am nothing if not a headache.”

Wayne cracked a deeper smile and leaned in closer to brush his hand gently over Eddie’s dark curtain of hair.

“I’ll take the headache, kid.” He told him as he rested his thumb on his nephew’s cheek.

Which was such a Wayne thing to do and say. He was a man’s man. Working with his hands and watching westerns on his days off. That's the kind of classic man he was. They didn’t get all mushy on one another very often. It was an unspoken but entirely understood thing, that they loved each other.

But that line was such a Wayne way to say it.

And then Wayne mentioned,“ You know, you didn’t didn’t get to tell me how the story went.”

“The story?” Eddie wondered for a moment.

“The one you were finishin’ up on Friday. With the big twist surprise you were settin’ up for those kiddos.”

“Oh.”

Because, of course, Wayne would bring up his DnD campaign.

Eddie told him about every single one.

He never bothered with giving him stats or explaining the different dice rolls and how that all worked, but he would practice the story with him. He’d share the bits he’d assume Hellfire would work through during that week’s session while he got all his notes prepared, and - usually the next day Wayne was able - they’d sit down over breakfast, and he’d tell his uncle all about how the party actually played through it.

Wayne loved it. It was like listening to his own private movie told by his nephew. He’d get version one with how it was supposed to work, and then he’d get version two with all meandering and funny jabs from the characters and how they came around the problem. And Eddie would always light up while he talked about it.

But he never got to see Eddie after Friday night, after what was supposed to be the big finale.

“So, how’d it go?” he asked again.

And maybe it would’ve been wise of Eddie to spend the time with his uncle telling him what sort of week he’s just had. Answering all the questions and explaining how serious he was when he talked about monsters this time. But, strangely, it seemed so much more important to talk about the session.

“Well, those rugrats… they really pulled out all the stops.” Eddie told him, shifting around as he continued,” You see, Lucas has this big game come up suddenly. He couldn’t be there. And it would have meant they couldn’t play through the end of the campaign that night. So Dustin and Mike were running all over school trying to find someone to sub in for him. And then they showed up at Hellfire with Lucas’s kid sister! I’m not kidding! This little middle schooler named Erica struts in. And I’m looking at her, thinking there’s no way she’s hardcore enough. She’s practically a baby- and she probably doesn’t even know how DnD works- and she’s all pretty ‘n pink- so there’s just no way! She doesn’t have the metal for it, end of story. I was sure of it. But she busts in any way with this little monologue about just how hardcore she is… And it honestly blew me away a little. So we initiate her as an unofficial member and then we all sat down to start the game…”

And they just talked. Talked and talked about the game. Every second of it made Wayne feel a hundred times better. The longer Eddie spoke about one of his greatest passions, the more Wayne could be sure he wasn’t going to crumble to pieces in his hands.

After that was when Eddie knew he had to tell him about all the shit he’s been through. He couldn’t even imagine not telling his Wayne how crazy it really was. Not explaining why he came home Saturday morning to a body in their trailer. Not explaining why he so absolutely couldn’t go back to his uncle to ask for help. Not explaining that he climbed into hell and almost died in there for a chance at ending some great evil.

That just wasn’t something he could keep from him. Wayne would know he was bottling something up. He was always good at making him talk.

So he talked.

When they got through it all, Wayne just huffed and told him,“ You really did scare me, you know? I wasn’t sure if I’d get a call to identify a body, or if you’d just run away from everything here and I’d never know any better-”

“Sorry…”

“No. Don’t you say you're sorry. You didn’t do nothing wrong. We’re going to make sure they know that.”

Eddie rolled his eyes,“ I don’t think they’ll just take your word for it.”

And then, from the door came the phrase,“ It’s not just his word.”

And it was Dustin Henderson, his mother standing right behind him.

“Henderson,” Eddie’s relief swelled to see the kid alright, then he added,“ And Mrs. Henderson.”

Officer Callahan had been hot on their heels showing up behind them as he started saying something about them not being allowed to see Eddie until they questioned him, how they had been instructed to go wait in Max’s room with the others. So the others were there too. But the two of them walked in anyway, completely ignoring the officer. Claudia took Eddie’s free hand, similarly to how she had Steve’s just the other morning.

And Eddie was just shocked that someone who was effectively a stranger was looking at him with kind eyes. He hadn’t expected to get that kind of treatment.

“My Dusty-bun tells me you stuck with him through the… earthquake. Made sure he was okay, and stayed safe even though the goddamn world was falling to pieces. Is that true?” she asked him, already very sure of the answer but wanting to hear him say it himself.

And something was flickering in the way she said it. ‘The… earthquake.’ So she knew it wasn’t really an earthquake. Which - as he thought about it - he remembered hearing Steve mutter about some parents finding out.

So Eddie gripped the bedrail and pushed himself to sit up in his bed, trying to be just a little awestruck, and answered.

“Yes ma’am,” like how Wayne always wanted him to say to adults. He usually bucked against the whole respecting your elders and authority figures thing, but for Dustin’s mother, he’d make an exception.

Her sweet smile pressed further into her plush cheeks, and she reached up to gently pat his hair with her hand, so very similar to how Wayne had,” Thank you. I will never be able to thank you enough for helping watch out for my baby-”

“Mom-” the kid groaned as if he could possibly still be surprised by the way his mother coddled him.

“So if you ever need anything, you can always reach out to us. Don’t even bother asking first, just take what you need.”

“That’s…”

Ridiculous. It was ridiculous to receive an offer like that from some little suburban mom. Even if she shared Dustin’s DNA and contributed to the weirdness of the little guy, she was still… just some mom. Not his.

But she pressed on,“ You saved me from my greatest fear. So whatever you need. And all of us are going to make sure everyone knows what really happened, as much as we can-”

“Okay,” Callahan tried to step in,” You can’t talk about the investigation before we’ve been able to question him-”

But then Ms. Henderson raised her finger to silence him while she turned back to Eddie,“ Do you feel up for their questions, honey?”

And that stunned him a second time. To watch Claudia Henderson shut up a policeman with a single finger and wait for Eddie’s cue before she was going to let anything happen. It was just stunning.

“Uh- yeah. Yeah, sure,” he croaked out when words came back to him.

“Alright,” she looked back at the man in blue,” Then ask him your questions so you can uncuff him and leave the poor boy alone.”

Callahan was readying to tell her about how that’s not exactly how it works,“ Ma’am-”

When Powell entered the room and interrupted him with a warning tone,“ Callahan.”

“They-” he began sputtering and motioning his hands at the pair who weren’t supposed to be in the room.

But before he could really argue, the Chief spoke to the mother,“ Ms. Henderson, you know you were supposed to go across the hall-”

“Well, we got over here just fine.” she innocently shrugged.

Chief Powell looked back at the officer with a disappointed glare as Callahan attempted to excuse himself,“ I tried-”

But Ms. Henderson was absolutely not allowing the two of them to waste time on it,“ Are you going to question him and get it over with?”

“Yes. Okay? If we could have everyone clear the room now? He’s not a minor; he can do this on his own.”

And then Claudia Henderson had the gall to look back at Eddie and wait for his blessing. Again. Like she was really willing to put her foot down and argue some more with the cops. Which- okay- maybe that was pretty badass. Way more than he was expecting from some prim and proper suburban mom. So Eddie gave her the nod she was looking for, and she placed her hands around Dustin’s shoulders to steer him into the other room.

Wayne gave his hand another tight squeeze and said,” You just holler and I’ll knock that door down, you hear?”

“I’ll be fine. Get outta here already,” Eddie squeezed his hand back.

Then Wayne let him go, and it was the first time he wasn’t being held since he arrived. His palm felt a little cold now. But he was okay. He was going to be okay.

Wayne left the room and followed the rest into the Max’s. They hadn’t all arrived yet. So far it was Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Lucas, Erica, Mike, and now Dustin. They are also accompanied by Karen, The Sinclairs, Susan, and now Claudia and Wayne.

Hop and Joyce were on their way with Will, El, and Argyle. Murray said he’d stay behind “strategizing”. And Vickie was supposed to be dropping Robin off any minute. Apparently, they had just sat down to eat an early lunch together when Steve reached out to everyone. Which had been news to him. So he’d been waiting with a very specific kind of impatience ever since. If he didn’t get to squeeze every ounce of information about her first date - because he was absolutely calling this a date - by the end of the night, he was going to go crazy.

In the meantime, everyone mingled the best they could. Wayne thanked Claudia for her ferocity for his boy, she thanked him for raising such a good one. Mike was on the walkie asking for updates on how close the Hopper-Byers car was to the hospital every few minutes, going on and on about how excited he was for El and Will to meet Eddie. Nancy seemed tense but told everyone they had used the morning to make some progress in cleaning things up. And Dustin was talking to Lucas and Erica about how Eddie looked before he and his mother were kicked out.

The questioning went well.

At least, it felt like it did.

Eddie didn’t really have anything to compare it to, seeing as he’d always kept himself out of too much trouble before. But it seemed like it wasn’t awful. There wasn’t any yelling, and while they asked him to be more specific or clarify what he was saying, they hadn't argued against his claims. So maybe Steve was right when he said they were leaning his way. And maybe Robin and Nancy would be able to turn it all around for him somehow.

But he reminded himself not to get carried away and hope for too much while Chief Powell finished up.

“We’ve taken your statement, and will be going over it with the evidence and the other testimonies we have collected. We don’t have an answer for you now, but we’ll be back tomorrow with the final decision on how the Hawkins Police Department will be proceeding with the charges.”

“Okay.”

“In the meantime, the cuffs stay on. And the visitors can come back in, but we’ll be posting an officer to keep an eye on you-”

And that was when the door swung open. Seemed like the people around there really didn’t care about following the rules. Chief Powell’s face twitched as he braced himself to tear into whoever just barged in when he found himself looking at a dead man.

“Chief…?”

It was the only word that came to him after referring to the man by the title for so many years. He looked different now, but he was still so unmistakably Jim Hopper.

He stepped into the room and motioned,“ From what I hear, that’s your job now, Cal.”

“You… you’re… how are you…” he sputtered, Callahan next to him just standing in silent shock with a hand over his mouth.

“Long story. One I don’t really want to go over. How about we call it a kidnapping and move on?”

“Kidnapping?” Powell asked,” But you- eight months, Chie- Hop… Hop, it’s been eight months since… you ‘died’ in the mall fire. Did they all lie about you being there, or-”

“No, I was there. Don’t try to take away my Hero of Hawkins medal now. It was the dying part that just didn’t stick.” Hopper corrected.

Then Callahan found his voice,“ But what’re you…?”

Hop shrugged and looked at Eddie for a second, which was weird because they’d never really spoken, but now the guy was on his side, technically,“ Was listening by the door and thought I could ask about possibly forgoing some of that procedure.”

“What?”

“Look, the kid’s clearly been through hell enough already, Cal-”

“Hop…” Powell shook his head,” This case is already messy enough as is. Everything needs to be by the book from this point on-”

“Come on. Call it calling in a favor?” he tried.

Which pulled a small smile to the other’s face because it was just so much like him to ask,“ You have no favors to call in.”

“You’re right, I never stocked any up. But… what about it anyway?”

“Look… as soon as the choice has been made, you’ll know. We aren’t dragging our feet on this, but we can’t be caught making mistakes. I’ll assume you’ve seen the news?”

“Yes, I’ve seen the-”

“Then you know, this has to be done right. There are too many eyes on it, and too much has gone off the rails already.” He emphasized. Then he spared a glance back at Eddie, and the kid did seem kind of pathetic.

“But we can loosen the cuffs a notch. Looks like Daniels put ‘em on a little tight.” He gave, stepping up to unlock them and clicking them back in place more comfortably.

Hop came in close behind him to ask,“ Who’ll be assigned the babysitting duty?”

“I was going to give it to Nichols,” Powell answered.

“Okay…” Jim considered,” Yeah, Nichols is good…”

“Alright then. Go on and invite everyone else in and tell them the protocol. We have work to do back at the station.”

“Calvin?” he asked as the officers headed for the door.

“Jim?”

“Thank you.” He said,” Nichols is…”

“Nichols is good. I know. He’s good at his job and not an ass like some of them, so he shouldn’t make this next day of waiting too difficult on him.” Which was a phrase that made Eddie feel a whole lot better about the guy,” And even if you don’t want to explain where the hell you’ve been the last two-thirds of the year, least you could do is bring a cup of coffee by my new office and tell me what the hell you’re doing now.”

“Yeah. Least I could do.” Jim agreed.

Then Powell nodded and left. Just like that, Eddie had officially done all he could to clear up the mess, and then it was out of his hands. It felt weird, to be on the other side of the fear. He had been dreading it the entire time since he saw Chrissy die right in front of him. “How do I get out of this?” played over and over in his head whenever the world was too quiet. And now he faced it. And he just has to lie there and wait until there’s news.

But before he could stew in it any longer, there were all his kids - plus a few new faces - packed in the door of his room. The adults excused themselves, some heading off to pick up some food from the diner in town for everyone to eat for lunch while the rest just headed on home themselves. Each of them decided to let the youngsters reunite on their own for a little bit.

As soon as Eddie saw Michael Wheeler coming in, he broke out an excited,“ Hey! It’s Little Wheeler! Where have you been all week? Didn’t you hear we were all hanging out?”

Mike, who was just a moment ago beaming to see his DM awake, let his expression instantly drop at the nickname.

“Little Wheeler?” he questioned.

Eddie explained,“ Well, yeah, I can’t call you and your sister both ‘Wheeler’ after all.”

Mike argued,“ I should be the original ‘Wheeler’!”

“I’m not calling Nance ‘Big Wheeler’, dude.” Eddie rolled his eyes,“ Plus she’s cool. Way too cool to not be the standalone ‘Wheeler’. You know?”

Nancy was wearing a pretty smug look when Mike turned on her,“ You stole my DM.”

“What?”

“You stole my DM!” he repeated,” I leave for one week, and suddenly I’m ‘Little Wheeler’?”

She shrugged her shoulders at her brother,“ That’s not my fault. Stop being ‘Little Wheeler’ material.”

“I’m the taller one!”

Eddie reached out his hand to try and get in between them,“ Wheelers, Wheelers, you're both pretty. No need to fight for the affections of my heart-”

But Mike wasn’t even listening,“ Give it back!”

“Give it back?” she quoted back to him.

“Give it back!”

“I’m not ‘giving it back’, Mike. It’s a nickname. Earn a better one if you’re going to be so worked up about it. How about we give ‘Little Shit’ a try?” she offered.

They kept bickering between themselves as someone new stepped in a little closer to Eddie’s bedside.

He recognized her from the empty space in his head they’d met a few days ago, but he still didn’t really know her yet.

And then she looked at him with bashful eyes and began speaking,“ I like your hair. It’s… pretty.”

Eddie’s hair reminded her of her own before she woke up in that bed at the NINA project to see they'd cut it all off. She really liked having long hair. It was something that she was able to look at the mirror and say “It’s been so long since I was trapped there that now my hair goes past my shoulders.” She can’t say that anymore.

Because they caught her again.

And maybe she walked right into it but… she liked her long hair.

Missed it now.

And Eddie said, with a flourish,“ Why thank you, m’lady. Not exactly the style of flattery I usually aim for, but I am more than happy to accept it regardless.”

That’s right. Mike had said that Eddie was pretty “metal.” So maybe there was another word that fit him better.

“It’s also really… bitchin’.”

And Eddie just lit up. His eyes and smile widened at the soft-spoken girl,“ Oh my god, you’re my favorite now. Please, come closer, you little angel!”

He beckoned her with his hand as much as he could while still being restrained, and El’s own smile grew with her giggle as she stepped up to his bedside with more confidence. Her brother was just behind her, and Eddie had been about to greet him when two of the kids he already knew well enough yelled at him.

“Hey!” Mike and Dustin protested in unison. Both of them were clearly mad about the fact that he just called El his favorite, and he didn’t even know her name yet.

“Hey yourselves!” Eddie shot back,” This cutie saved my life and just gave me the greatest compliment I’ve ever received!”

“But that’s- That’s not-” Dustin sputtered before turning to one of the other older boys in the room,” STEVE!”

“What do you want me to do about it? I can’t magically make you his favorite again-“

To which Mike took offense,“ Hey!”

“Please, Mike, do you really think you were Eddie’s favorite?” Dustin asked him with that same tone Steve kept saying he’d do something about, yet hasn't,” It was obviously me. And it’s obviously going to be me again, once I retake my throne from this thief!”

El scrunched her eyebrows together at him,“ I did not steal it.”

“Yes, you did! With magic powers and sweet words!”

Eddie chimed in,“ Don’t forget the cute face.”

“And your cute face!” he added with an accusatory finger, though it just made El laugh again.

Lucas shrugged and sided,“ I’m on El’s team. You can’t not like her. I tried. Didn’t get very far.”

She gave him a courteous nod,” Thank you.”

However, Mike seethed “Traitor!” in the other boy's direction.

“So, El’s the name of the darling I owe my life to?” Eddie asked her, ignoring the boy’s play fighting.

“Yes. Short for Eleven.” She answered.

“Eleven?”

“There’s a lot we didn’t have time to explain fully the first time around,” Steve told him.

“I wasn’t even here when Eddie’s life went to shit! I think that means I get bonus points.” Mike got louder as he tried to argue.

Lucas was the one to disagree,“ That doesn’t make any sense. None of us screwed him over.”

“If anything, you weren’t even here to try and help him out of it. I think that means we deserve bonus points.” Dustin added.

“They are so immature.” Erica rolled her eyes and said to Steve.

“I know they are.” he agreed,” At least you behave when you aren’t too busy blackmailing us-”

“Eddie! You’re really awake!” Robin rushed in, finally arriving with the rest of them.

“Last one in, Robin?” Eddie asked.

“I was…” She spared a glance at Steve, who was already looking at her pretty intently, before she put her focus back on the one in the bed,” looking into something. For you!”

Erica leaned in closer to Steve and whispered while Robin rambled about her meeting with Mr. Thompson,“ It is not blackmailing when I am just insisting on the return of the goods and services that were pledged to me-”

“It’s a little blackmail-y, or like, at least blackmail-adjacent the way you do it,” Steve whispered back.

“And yet, I didn’t even need to apply the pressure for five minutes before you broke. Seems like you just knew I was right.”

Steve deadpanned at her,“ Okay, I take it back. You don’t behave. No one in The Party behaves.”

“Oh, that’s the truth.” Robin hastily agreed when she caught the back half of what he said.

“Oh, so this is The Party?” Eddie asked with a motion to the room.

Mike pipped up,“ Yeah. We’re The Party.”

Nancy gave a light shove to his head,“ It’s what they’ve been calling themselves since the day Dustin moved into town. And once we all got mixed up in everything together, we all kind of adopted it.”

"We're still the originals, though," Mike mentioned with a motion between the four boys.

“So that’s what the little angel meant. Not celebrating.” Eddie figured, finally connecting the dots. But should he really have expected the person he confused with God to be using fantasy terms that way? Can’t blame the guy for assuming she’d meant it by the normie definition.

“No, she was not referring to an actual party.” Will joked beside her.

“Good, because I was going to be pissed if you were all just having fun while I was dying.” He huffed.

Steve stepped forward,“ You weren’t dying-”

“Oh no, he absolutely was.” Robin interrupted him,” You heard El, she had to keep him together enough to even make it to the hospital-”

“What?”

And there was Wayne at the door, along with the other parents all holding to-go bags of food for everyone. Thus started the third - and hopefully last - explanation of what was actually going on. They couldn’t really pretend like everything was normal since Eddie had already told Wayne most of what happened to him. So they just explained it further. Went over the bits that Eddie didn’t know anything about or didn’t understand fully. They had the discussion over burgers and fries, and vending machine sodas and candies. Which made all the information go down a little bit easier.

Eddie learned why a child would be named Eleven.

Wayne learned that his boy’s innocence rests on the integrity of a mountain of lies.

Which was really scary to think about.

So they tried not to.

They all started getting to know one another a little better, seeing as how they’d be putting together more plans to fight off the end of the world. Wayne and Hopper noticed a few similar mannerisms between them. Eddie was more properly introduced to El and Will. And Jonathan and Argyle. And Joyce. Those were all the new faces he was getting a real conversation with. According to everyone, there was some guy who didn’t feel like coming in, two more on the way, and the other parents had headed off back to their homes until visiting hours were over. They didn't want to overwhelm Eddie and thought the kids should get to spend some time with him. Which was pretty sweet, considering he was a wanted man who had been on the run just a few days before.

It was about then that they were suddenly interrupted by a distressed woman in a pantsuit and sunglasses at their door.

But before she even got a word in, Nancy was standing up from her seat and very sharply telling her,” Out.”

The woman peeled off her sunglasses and responded through a clenched jaw,” I see you found our missing persons… and then some.”

She added that last bit while eyeing Jim.

“Get out.” Nancy insisted.

“Ms. Wheeler-”

“I said ‘Get out’. So get out of this room.”

“Nancy…?” Joyce asked, concerned. Nancy had never revisited her grudge against this particular government agent any of the times they ran over things.

The woman pushed,“ We have to talk about what happened.”

“I’m not saying a goddamn word to you people. Since we can’t trust you not to make it worse.”

Then it was Hopper trying to calm her down,“ Kid-”

“They handed her back to him.” Nancy said firmly, making strides around Eddie’s bed to put herself between the woman and the rest of the room, tucking El right behind her,” So no. They don’t get to get close to her again.”

“However you feel about things, we still need to get on the same page if we have any hope of cleaning things up around here.”

“It’s not happening. Not here, not today, and not anywhere near El. I don’t care what you say, it’s not.”

The woman seemed exacerbated,“ We have to-”

Finally, Nancy let out the yell she had been fighting back all day,“ Get out!”

Which was a sight. For everyone. To see her lose her cool like that.

It was different than the way she fought monsters.

It was… something else.

“Ms. Wheeler-”

“Tomorrow then? We all get together and discuss things tomorrow?” Joyce offered the compromise, still making up her mind on how exactly she felt about the situation but sure about wanting to get it taken care of.

Hopper answered for their guest in his own gruff voice,“ We’ll talk tomorrow.”

After a moment of silence, the agent decided to take the deal on the table,“ I’ll leave my card. There’s a number on it. Call and make plans for the meeting, or I’ll show up unannounced again. With backup.”

Nancy was gearing up to walk closer when Steve grabbed her shoulder,“ Get out-”

“I’m leaving. Make sure you call.” She said, pressing the slip on top of the light fixture by the door.

And then she was gone.

“You know… I was going to give this welcoming committee a five-star review in the paper until she showed up. Really soured the mood, you know?” Eddie joked, trying to relieve some tension.

Nancy huffed and returned to her seat,” Sorry. The news must’ve aired footage of the police arriving for questioning and were probably still running the cameras when everyone showed up, so…”

“We weren’t even thinking about that when we got here…” Jonathan muttered beside her.

“It’s okay. Still a pretty rockin’ day from my end. Being not dead and all.”

“That’s it, man. We just gotta focus on the positives.” Argyle smiled back at him.

“What’s the plan for the meeting?” Robin asked nervously.

“El’s not coming.” Nancy set the condition sternly.

“Agreed.” Hop nodded and crossed his arms.

“But-” the girl tried to argue.

“No. We have to assume she won’t be alone, and while Sam might’ve been on your side, we don’t know what they’re doing now on their own. We need to know how everything stands. If there are people who aren’t our allies, we aren’t giving them an opportunity to get ahold of you again.”

“We can’t just leave her alone, Hop,” Joyce noted.

“So, you don’t.” Wayne thought,” You bring her here on the way to the meeting. There are all the cameras at the entrance, an officer will be posted by the room, and this hospital is still full of people. If someone tried to break her out of her against her will, they wouldn’t get very far without drawing a lot of attention.”

Jim nodded some more,” Yes. Yes, that’s a good idea. El can stay here until we finish.”

“More time to hang out with my guardian angel? Sounds good to me.” Eddie agreed with a smile, hoping El wouldn’t be nervous about the idea.

“So then, tomorrow morning. Most of the rest of us. Some place public. Get this dealt with so we can figure out the next move.” Jim concluded.

And no one else said anything, but they all agreed. That was the plan.

There wasn’t much more to say the evening, so when four o’clock arrived and a nurse was kicking everyone besides Wayne out and introducing Officer Nichols, they all went their separate ways. Most of the kids' parents were pulled up by the hospital entrance for pickup. Except for Robin who Steve whisked away so they could spend a few hours doing some much-needed checking in. Robin just had her first date after all, so there was so much to talk about before he needed to drop her off at home.

She told him everything. All about the phone call and Vickie's new earrings. About all the ways Vickie made her laugh and how she could swear she’d noticed Vickie’s eyes lingering on her when she would get lost in her rambles. About the way that Vickie sat right next to her while they talked to Mr. Thompson on his front porch. About the way that Vickie leaned against her and touched her shoulder and seemed to be so close sometimes that Robin swore her head was spinning.

She talked about it all with Steve.

Because telling her best friend about her amazing day made it so much more real.

And that was the moment Steve decided Robin wasn’t coming with them to the meeting. He had already been pretty sure about it but watching her bursting with excitement about her first real chance at loving a girl made him certain.

There was probably going to be nothing major that happened. It would be stupid of the Feds to try and take out something like a dozen people in a small town where everyone knows each other. But he wasn’t going to risk it. Just couldn’t imagine risking Robin disappearing before she got to kiss Vickie for the first time and feel loved in that sweet special way that romance can hold.

With everything Steve knew about love and everything he didn’t, he knew that Robin deserved to have her chance to find out about it.

#I AM SO SORRY LOVELIES!!! #I KEEP FORGETTING TO UPDATE TUMBLR WITH THESE CHAPTERS!!! #I'm copying over 3 chapters that are already on AO3 #And there are going to be another 2 coming out in the next few days! #Sorry again about the delay. I just completely forgot Tumblr existed for a minute because I've been focused on Twitter #Ronance Drama? #Oops. I didn't originally plan to give them much to 'overcome' #But I decided we'd make their story a little bit more turbulent for fun :) #And I hope y'all liked the Eddie apology to Lucas - I hope it didn't feel occ #But I really needed Eddie to say he was sorry for what he did bc I'm mad at him about it #and I got to start the saga of 'Wayne being the best uncle ever' bc I've been wanting to write my 'they talk about dnd together' bit so bad #And the beginnings of the Eddie&Nancy bestfriendism agenda I'm going to push #I adore them and they'll get a lot of attention and development together! #I'm also incredibly exciting about more El and Eddie interactions - El and Nancy bonds - and so many others #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

[14dyh]

Nerdy Love | H.Z.

Pairing: Hange Zoë x reader Summary: Hange with a nerdy lover headcanons! (Science Edition: Chemistry, Botany, Physics, and Astronomy) A/N: the physics part was pretty self-indulgent, i just want to share the world of science with Hange :")

Hange with a nerdy lover...

Chemistry

if you're a chemistry nerd,

Hange would be overjoyed at having someone who shares their favorite subject with them

when you first met, they sat beside you in the lab and went on talking about chemistry and such

enthused by your knowledge, Hange will begin to search even deeper chemistry knowledge so they can keep longer conversations with you

periodic table of elements jokes (Hange will, I just know)

will probably bring their own microscope kit when there is no schedule for lab

will look at you like you hung the stars even when you're talking about highly toxic chemicals

looks at you with heart eyes even if your hair is mostly disheveled from working for hours in certain chemicals

thinks you look adorable in safety goggles

shares a matching chemistry-themed coffee mug with you that looks like a beaker

one time, you had a lab accident but Hange was there, and unsurprisingly, they are efficient at first aid. their presence was a huge comfort, and they made sure you wouldn't panic the entire time

making sure you have appropriate experiment equipment is their love language

Botany

if you're a botany nerd,

Hange will try to impress you by identifying leaves around the school garden

will give you a leaf with a unique shape they found

will also pick the best tree bark piece for you (the one that doesn't have a brittle texture, it's sturdy enough that you can turn it into a pendant)

will show you a collection of dried leaves they tucked on their enormous books as a bookmark

they adore textured plants so they would be so happy to find some in your garden

loves the vibrant flowers that grow in your garden

they would likely want to surprise you by growing a plant and giving it to you on valentine's day

lotsssss of plant puns

knows how you water each of your plants because they always observe you when doing it

loves the way you observe each plant, knowing well if it grew new leaves, flowers, or fruits

they take you to garden dates <3

Physics

if you're a physics nerd,

Hange loves interactive toys that use physics. they would probably share lots of that with you

both of you would fall asleep together listening to Feynman lectures (it was relaxing, trust me)

this post:

you could talk to them about the most obscure physics theories and they'll know what you're talking about (which makes your heart leap with joy and end up kissing them on the cheek several times)

they're genuinely interested even if you're talking about steam engine history for hours

you get pissed off when the laws of motion are discussed in such a shallow, abecedarian way in high school and Hange adores your pouting face.

loves helping you out with calculus problems in physics

they became invested in chemical physics because of you

exchanges science books with annotations for you at least every week

loves silly, theoretical questions with you

listens attentively to you even if you're describing light and optics during a school disco party

adores you when you discuss torque mechanics using a basketball during PE

even when walking past a river, you can't help but tell them the amazing hydrodynamics of the flowing water. Hange loves seeing the sparkle in your eyes whenever you describe the beauty of the world using physics

volunteers to participate in your mini physics experiments

they are very resourceful so they mostly help you with applying physics to real-life devices/inventions

their eyes lit up when they see both of your inventions materialize but they're more happy to see how delighted you are

(i still remember how happy they were when they successfully developed the "Executioner from Hell")

it's canon that Hange has the best intuition and analyzing skills in AOT so you get along very well since those qualities abide by the principles of physics

these headcanons are mostly modern au bc AOT is depressing but I bet you and Hange would most likely bond over developing or designing weapons or devices for the Survey Corps

(personally, I believe that they would most likely be a physics teacher in modern au since most of their inventions use physics)

This teacher reminds me of Hange so much

Astronomy

if you're an astronomy nerd,

Hange still teases you about the day you met because your conversation starter is what is your favorite star

they adore you and even tell you their favorite constellation

probably gave you one of those glowing circular glass lamps with the solar system inside for valentine's day

romantic stargazing :D

and planetarium dates!

they love hanging out in your room because you can talk for hours while gazing at glow-in-the-dark astronomy stickers on your ceiling

you have matching astronomical sphere ball necklaces (probably have both of your initials too)

you share an astronomy playlist (could just be music or podcasts)

(self-indulgent but I think they would enjoy StarTalk and SciShow Space marathon with you)

they have this cute habit of giving you star-shaped food or any object that happens to be star-shaped ("this reminded me of you :D" they'll say)

your space movies watchlist will be playing on movie nights, Hange will also share a sci-fi movie list with you in return

they'll surprise you with intriguing astronomy questions and your heart leaps because you know they've been paying attention whenever you talk about your interests

-

I'm pretty sure Hange would also enjoy watching Rick and Morty, Futurama, The Big Bang Theory, Fullmetal Alchemist and such with you, especially in their downtime. Aside from science documentaries, that is.

#hange zoë #hange zoe #hanji zoë #hanji #hanji zoe #hange zoe headcanons #hange snk #hange x y/n #hange x reader #hange x you #hange zoe x reader #hange zoe x you #hange zoe x y/n #hange aot #aot x you #aot fanfiction #aot x reader #aot headcanons #attack on titan #snk headcanons #shingeki no kyojin #snk fanfiction #snk #14dyh-writes

[piracytheorist]

Episode 35 screaming notes!

So what if I'm emotional over a fictional, fake family spending one day of vacations together?

I love Twilight's comment about how he's glad the SSS is looking out for the bombing threat (and we know it's in vain), but it still puts him on edge to be stared at like this. He trusts them to protect civilian life (and Ostania's pride and joy of a ship) but he doesn't trust trust them, you get what I mean?

We shan't forget. The one thing this man can't pretend to be is someone who is having genuine fun and we'll drag his ass about it and then cry because this is a direct result of his traumatic childhood

Loid blushing when he spots Yor is so precious. I think it might be him blushing half because she saw his dorky skipping and half because… well. He might be falling in love :)

He notices the swelling on Yor's face, but I think he wouldn't even suspect her at this point. He sounded mostly worried about her.

And of course, Anya wasn't plaguing her with questions because she knows all, but it's funny that neither went like "Isn't our super curious five six-year-old going to ask where this bruise and swelling is from?"

SCREAMS

The following montage was absolutely adorable, and the insert song just made it even cuter. I love how it was Anya who lead them to each activity; neither Loid nor Yor had to drag her around anywhere, their attention was on her and on what she wanted. They even explored a cave! She was their priority, she truly must have had an amazing time and this is such a sweet way to end this cruise!

I mean, look. One of the ways Twilight learns how to parent is by fearing 24/7 that his daughter may fall. Very normal things.

Maybe it's because I'm the youngest child, so whenever we were out as a family and I asked to do something my parents would usually decline, because they had two more kids to look after and a place to go, but I have a lot of appreciation for the Forgers going around the resort and stopping to do whatever and anything Anya asked to do.

Very normal man who is definitely not an elite-trained spy trying to fit in. Normal things.

And like. Okay. Yor looking at Anya with such a soft face as Anya is having pure unrestrained fun is one thing.

BUT THEN THEY HIT US WITH THIS???

OH MY GOD. MY GOD. THIS MAN IS IN LOVE AND HE HAS NO FUCKING CLUE.

Like, for real. I can't stop looking at this. It's just his eyes but there's so much longing and yearning in them and also some sadness because deep down he thinks that what he wants is something he'll never get but this is really deep because it'll take him about three to five business years to accept he's grown feelings.

Like. It's not just "growing feelings" anymore. You don't look at someone like THIS when you're just "warming up" to them. He'd grown so accustomed to life with the Forgers that after Yor was away - though in the very same ship as them - for a couple of days he went all yearning looks and doe-y eyes at her when he met with her again. He's in LOVE.

I am so excited to see how their dynamic will develop from now on! It's gone on an entirely new page!

Anyway. I love how Yor went like "Oh they might see the wound on my chest" for the snorkeling but when she saw they could wear wetsuits she went like oh that's okay then and DIDN'T WORRY AT ALL ABOUT THE FACT THAT SHE'D GET SALTWATER ON HER WOUNDS. THIS WOMAN EATS HOT COALS FOR BREAKFAST AND WHITE HOT IRONS FOR LUNCH.

I mean, I'm guessing she is a fast healer and her wounds are not openly bleeding anymore but still. Hardcore.

And of course she'd beat the shit out of sharks. It's funny seeing the trio try to come up with excuses now but I think it's going to be a different type of good post-reveal, cause they'll be like "I have nothing to hide" and act on their abilities without a single moment of hesitation. Imagine Yor beating up sharks and Loid and Anya looking at her with heart eyes.

Aw, but look at them snorkeling. It's Yor who is holding Anya. I wonder what Yor's thinking is on that since she thinks that Loid is Anya's biological father and has been longer in her life. I doubt she thinks anything bad about Loid, but it is something that would make someone wonder.

I was so impressed by everything in the episode up until that point that I completely missed what the dialogue there was XD I only had more thoughts after I rewatched it.

Anya is having fun looking at the colourful fish. Yor has hunting in mind. Loid is… not impressed XD

Though very light, this could be a reflection of their characters. Anya is a child full of curiosity for the world, easily impressed by new stuff; she loved the aquarium, and she loved seeing new fish from up close.

Yor's encounters with animals were either for hunting (for food) or with guard dogs from people she was sent to kill. She understands the concept of pet animals, of course, but it seems to be a "secret third option", as tumblr would say. Her first instincts are either hunting or fighting, and since those fish were too small to be any threat (I mean, she's confident about fighting sharks), her mind went to food.

And then you have Loid. His wide knowledge of the world has rendered him almost incapable of getting impressed. There's nothing new for him to learn in anything… except for child rearing, of course. And maybe human connection. And so, he seems to be looking at those two in the last shot.

Just like Gram, Anya gets thrown around by a professional, super strong assassin and she just goes like "Again!" And Loid doesn't even make a comment about Yor pushing Anya too strong. He really took to heart and meant it when he told Yor that her being strong is one of the things that make her an amazing mother.

AND THEN THAT SCENE

I had guessed right, as Yor had indeed not rested at all for the entire three days of the cruise and had a long and intense fight the night before. AND THUS FANSERVICE HAPPENS <3 <3 <3

DON'T MIND IF I DO <3

ENDO KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING <3

No but seriously, there's a lot to love about this moment. Apart from how cute it is, Twilight at first only seems annoyed by how this attracts attention to them. He was already alert from how the SSS was looking at everyone, this would only add to his uneasiness.

But it doesn't take long for him to find an excuse for his wife. Blaming all her exhaustion on her work, being thankful for her going along with everything Anya asked to do, and smiling at her!! Bruh!! And he STILL can't see it, this man is such a good liar he can even lie to himself!!

Seriously the way Eguchi delivered those lines? Superb <3

AND THEN THE FAMILY THEME PLAYED AND I WAS LOSING MY MIND.

They didn't have to go so hard T_T It was a relaxing (and quite prolonged!) chapter to wrap up the cruise arc, but it was wonderful T_T

Even the Handler is up to him, though. Fullmetal Lady won't fall for his emotionally constipated bullshit.

AND I THOUGHT IT COULDN'T GET ANY CUTER!

She even drew the family in their colours! Yor in red, herself in pink, and Loid in a muted green! I can see Yor holding one of her stilettos, but what is the other thing? A rose? I don't think I can tell what Anya is doing in the drawing, but Loid looks like he's holding a bomb? Or a surfboard?

AAAAAHHH It was wonderful!! T_T

The parts with Yor and her coworkers and Yuri and Lieutenant Guy were actually added by the anime! I feel Yor about the gifts. I'm so bad at gifts you have no idea. And Yuri is on another level, he doesn't stop talking about his sister and he tells Lieutenant Guy "Are you psychic or something" and he's like "Sure sure". And this being this kind of show I was like "MAYBE???" but yeah no he was just messing with Yuri XD

Hey psst. You know what will look even more convincing? If you both slept on those pillows 👀👀 next to each other 👀👀

I was cringing so hard at the scene in the school! Anya! We love you as you are, you don't need to go embarrass yourself!

It was interesting, though, to see that Damian stayed out of it all. It's proof that he can mind his business and keep his opinion to himself. I hope he learns to do that more often.

Becky continues being best friend material <3 Anya is so lucky for real

It's been less than a week

It's so funny to me that the anime added the detail that it was Loid who picked the snacks for Yuri. I wonder how quickly Yuri would spit them out upon learning that XD

My mans tired. I felt kinda sad for him ngl XD

Okay, this was hilarious. His paternal instincts are starting to kick in to the point where he imagines teaching Anya the proper methods of deception. It was also funny that as Yuri was imagining his speech, I went like "Uhm you lie to your sister no?" and before I got to finish that thought, the excuses kicked in.

And Anya is starting to learn that actions have consequences.

This isn't what she manipulated two enemies of the state into adopting her for.

TWO EPISODES LEFT T_T I might have to pick up making crack recaps again for however long the next hiatus will last :'D

#Spy x Family #sxf spoilers #sxf reaction

[lemon-shortbread]

okay but about the last post i reblogged from you what about two friends who love each other (platonically) very much who both have wanted children yet neither has found someone suitable. every failed relationship and negative test they console each other, growing in desperation about having a family.

that is until they realize that they could make their own family. platonic partners do this all the time—why couldn't they have kids together and have a good life? they love each other in their own special way and the kids will be absolutely adored no matter what. plus with the arrangement if one of them finds a suitable partner they'll happily be brought into the family without hesitation.

thinking about when one of them gets pregnant and all the cuteness that ensues because aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! especially with there being no awkwardness they can kiss and love up the belly as well as being affectionate with each other while not feeling obligated for sexual intimacy.

Yes!!! Oh my gosh G your MIND!!

Friends making a plan to get pregnant and just coparenting and having a great time together! Bestie supporting their bestie when the morning sickness gets annoying, buying pregnancy tests and waiting for them to develop together, nervously holding hands, listening to music and joking to make it a little less stressful. Who knows your cravings better than your best friends? Who’s there making the obgyn appointments less awkward? Best friend! Perfect folks to plan out raising a couple lil ones with? Best friends! Yall already probably agree on a lot anyway!

Jokey little pictures of bumps growing sent to the friend group chat, household baby shower for the pals, chilling on the couch together just cuddled up giving the bump lots of attention while they game or binge a show and laugh, jokes and memes being discussed as baby names, platonic kisses and affection and supporting eachother, just a good time!

No doubt that the little ones gonna be loved by their parents, happy platonic little family ❤️

#top favies #dude hear me out a friend group raising some little dudes in a house

[r0b1ns]

BOYFRIEND WHO GOES TO A PUBLIC SCHOOL - ELITE

X MALE READER

CHARACTERS: Samuel, Omar, Guzman, Ander, Polo, Patrick, Ivan, Valerio, Bilal

CW: none

WORD COUNT: 800+

°°°°°°°°′°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

SAMUEL

He doesn't care.

Obviously.

You went to school together but separated when he went to the rich kids school.

You meet every day after classes to gossip.

If you need he helps you with school work

He's smart

He was never ashamed to admit to everyone you're dating

You like sitting on a cliff near you at night while he tells you about the assholes he goes to class with

GUZMAN

It took him long enough to actually start dating you.

Both because you're a guy and because of your money status.

So he keeps you a secret.

Of course you don't like it, but you understand.

You meet up almost every day in a secret place only the two of you know.

Or in your house, if your parents or whoever you live with know.

Eventually you get sick of hiding and you get into an argument.

You break up and he feels too miserable without you so he tells his friends first

And than his family

The don't take it so well, not because you're a guy, but because you're not rich.

But they get used to it

He invites you to every party he goes to

And buys you expensive things

You always tell him not to, he listens but occasionally still buys you something

OMAR

If you go to school together you're unseparatable.

You sit together every class, and if you have different ones you meet immediately after.

You try to keep it down and look life regular friends

So his family won't find out.

If you go to different schools you both snick in the middle of the day to meet halfway and smoke

Sometimes you get in trouble cause you arrive late to class

You love making jokes about samu and Nadia, how they're both with the rich kids they used to make fun of.

ANDER

He really doesn't care

Neither does his mom

You practically live with them

She really adores you.

You always go clubbing together, and Guzman really likes you

You make him happy and encourage him to send you to his father

Ander, unlike Guzman, doesn't buy you expensive shit.

He understands it makes you feel weird and respects it.

POLO

It took him time to accept it

He did grow up rich and IS rich

But with that character development I believe he'll be completely ok with it

His moms obviously dgaf about you being a guy, but the fact that you're not rich?

They'll accept it eventually too

He brings you to every event

He takes big pride in you, and if you have a school dance or something he'll absolutely go with you

He likes buying you stuff, but you made a deal it won't be too often or too expensive.

He even picks you up from school sometimes.

PATRICK

He doesn't care, but he does use it as a rebellious act towards his father

He invites you to his house constantly.

Doesn't buy you things, but he does pay for dinner, clubs, drinks etc..

He's afraid you're with him only for his money

He has some trust issues

So he pushes you away.

But you're stubborn and don't give up easily

You constantly have to reassure him you live him and he deserves happiness

IVAN

He honestly doesn't even thinks about that sort of things

He likes you because of you, not your money.

After his dad accepts himself he's very chill with you,

If you like football you're his new best friend.

Ivan prefers staying at your house, to escape all that partying his dad does.

He likes your house, it's small and cozy, and quiet.

He sometimes wishes he was normal like you, not famous dad, no too much money on his hands, but you have to remind him that he's very privileged and he needs to appreciate.

Doesn't like showing up at your school, there are a lot of fans and he doesn't like the attention

VALERIO

Totally ok with it.

Likes to shove your relationship to his dad

He's very handsy with you no matter where or who you're with

Takes you to every club known to men

Buys you so many drinks

Treats you like a prince

If someone says something about you he's already there kicking their ass

He likes randomly showing up to your classes and getting you in trouble so he can have more time with you

BILAL

Doesn't give two shits

He wasn't interested in your money status before and does not now

He even feels more at ease with you because he's surrounded with a lot of rich people, and you make him feel equal

Idk where he lives but you two like going out more than staying home

Just sitting in a random park or abandoned site.

It takes the pressure off of him to be with someone who gets him

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

!GIFS ARE NOT MINE!

#x male reader #headcanons #x masc reader #male!reader #elite #elite x male reader #samuel garcia #guzman nunier #omar shanaa #ander munoz #patrick blanco #ivan carvalho #valerio montesinos #bilal ibrahim #elite netflix

[jeremoved]

now that i got myself going on this topic, jeremiah wanted to be with belly, but not because conrad loved her. it wasn’t about his pride or proving that he could just “get the girl”. especially when it came to belly, she’s his best friend. he would never see her as a prize to be won. jeremiah just had feelings for her. yes, a big part of him wanted a lot of what conrad had while they were growing up — lifeguarding, football, his dads attention — growing up he did admire and look up to his brother. he did want to follow in his footsteps. but he didn’t want these things by taking them away from conrad. it’s not like he wanted them it if meant conrad couldn’t ever have them. and one of these just so happened to be belly, he just fell for her. it's as simple as that, it's not that deep, there's no ulterior motive, it's not diabolical. jere adores his brother and none of this means that he doesn’t.

with that being said, there’s a difference between developing feelings and following your heart vs developing feelings and stopping to consider someone else’s. someone's emotions that can be hurt as a result of following one's heart. much like belly, he’s a guy who’s driven by emotions and thinks after. this is something jeremiah's clearly flip floppy with, he’s inconsistent with it because he loves them both. it’s just messy, and difficult, and they don’t have any guidance during this time. it's human to make unwise decisions. although jeremiah did consider both conrad and belly's emotions while at the motel, by urging them both individually to talk to each other, i mean he still did choose to be with belly when she chose him. and he could’ve said no, instead jere listened to his heart. he ran with his emotions because he wanted this to happen for so long. does that make him the worst person on the planet? no, it doesn't. does that mean he hates his brother? also no. could he have done differently? yeah. now why didn't he? cause he simply wanted to be with her, so he let himself believe that belly only wanted to be with him, too.

“she deserves to know how you feel. is she picks you, then i’ll let her go. you know, if it was anyone else in the world, i’d fight like hell. but if you’re what she needs, then i won’t get in the way again. i just won’t. cause i just want her to be happy. and i want you to be happy, too.”  

at the end of the day, i wish that had ended differently. i do wish that conrad and belly ended up together earlier. but am i gonna be happy for jere and belly during the time they do have? i am. cause they'll have their time, and then it'll end. they'll learn, love, and grow. he knows there will always be something between her and con, and he doesn’t want to go back and forth anymore. in knowing that they’ll always be something there, that’s what helps him see that he and belly aren’t meant to be. he loves his brother, he loves belly, he loves them both way more than being with her. and like i said in a previous post, it’s not that i don’t think jer and belly work, i just don’t think they’d work when conrad and belly exist. i also think he later on realizes that he loves his brother, and that he loves belly, not more than any relationship, just differently than any other relationship. they're his family, his best friends, steven too. it takes him a bit to get there, but he gets there. their friendships, and their happiness, mean so much to him.

#i will die on this hill jeremiah and conrad love each other so much #they're grieving and learning to live in a world without their mom #fr being critical of your muses really does help you be more like #compassionate and understanding of them at the same time #i'm done rambling about these three today 😂 #headcanon. #tsitp spoilers /

[brandwhorestarscream]

was thinking about the subnatica au and realized that we never added the jettwins to it. so let's do that.

You have my attention 👀

The jet twins always have their sibling die, right? Well, I have an idea for how we can flip it around!

Let's say that this is post-mutation, and the seekers live both in the vast seas and in the air on the little pockets of land. Starscream... idk what species he becomes. I considered maybe a ghost leviathan just because of the way they scream. Someone in my discord suggested he be a peeper cuz, lbr, that's adorable. He'd just constantly be O.O at everyone. I also considered a mesmer, because his wings could be used to hypnotize and a hypnotic Starscream sounds awesome.

Anyway! Starscream and his mates + Skyfire have carved out an undersea city, having modified their fabricators to make buildings and facilities that can function completely submerged. And Star starts to feel sick, starts to get really hot and sore and realizes before long that he's carrying a clutch of eggs. True to seeker form he has them in multiples of three; there's 6 beautiful eggs and he's equal parts excited and terrified. He has no idea how to incubate or hatch these little ones, he has no idea if they'll even be viable! They don't have any data to work with, considering this is a first for their kind, so he reluctantly lets instinct guide him in caring for them.

We can do a lot with those instincts! They may push him to move the eggs, to seek out privacy, or perhaps water of a different depth or temperature. He may settle in to guard a nest 500 meters down, or he could bury them in the safe shallows to hatch under the warmth of the sun. Regardless of what he does, when hatching day comes, the twins give him quite a surpruse! As spllit sparks, the jet twins developed within the same egg, and came breaking out of the shell together. Starscream's so proud of them :') whether or not their siblings made it is up to you. It's possible they're the only ones that hatched. Perhaps the others weren't fertilized. Or maybe we just say fuck it and say they all hatched! 7 babies? Why not!

#subnautica au

[ms-indifferwnt]

I’m Cold

“I'm cold"

"And?"

"Can't you give me your jacket or something?"

"Can't you accept my proposal and marry me already?"

In which Prince Donghyuck's parents are forcing him to get married and he decided to propose to the first girl he sees to shut his parents up

Genre: Prince!Lee Donghyuck x Maid!Reader, Angst, Fluff, Arranged Marriage (kinda), Slowburn

Warnings: Curse words, Suggestive (I'll add more if there are)

Notes: Chapter 4 of Im Cold. Sorry this one took longer, hope you guys enjoy

WORD COUNT: 1.8k

Prev / Chapter 4 / Next

Y/n sat, legs crossed by the ankles as she tries her best to avoid eye contact with the person infront of her, granted he was busy trying to sell his proposal to the Prince but the way he stared at her made Y/n uncomfortable and kept adjusting ho she sat in order to keep her mind of the man

Donghyuck noticed how uncomfortable she was, through out the conversation he had with the man across from him and Y/n he was inching closer to Y/n in order to shield her but the man would stare at any pretty thing that would pass them by and Donghyuck was absolutely disgusted, he placed a caring and affectionate hand on Y/n's knee to catch her attention and once their eyes meet he could already see how distressed she was, pulling away to unbutton his blazer and placed it on her legs

"Get out" The Prince says to the man with an obnoxious grin, his eyes serious and harsh, making the man stop and stare at the prince in shock "Didn't you hear me?"

"B-but" the man started to defend himself and the Prince sighs and crosses his arms

"If there's one thing I don't tolerate is when people like you treat women like some kind of prize, you've been doing it to every single thing that has two legs and a pulse since we got here and it's rude, doing it to my fiance is just down right disgusting, I don't tolerate that behavior in my kingdom nor in my presence so I'm going to say it again," He says in a calm tone yet it held authority "Get out, you've wasted our time enough"

Y/n watches as the man bows and leaves, "Thank you" she whispers

The Prince looks at her with a raised eyebrow and fixed his blazer that on her legs "Next time tell me" He replies calmly to soothe the girl's frightened gaze, The Prince could be scary if he wanted to and he didn't want to scare her more than she already is "I dragged you into this mess, let me protect you when you're scared"

She nods slowly "Y-you didn't have to kick him out-"

"Were you even listening to what he said?"

She shakes her head

"Me neither"

She looks at him "Sorry?"

"I stopped listening after the first sentence, I noticed he was eyeing a couple of waitresses and I noticed you were uncomfortable but you weren't saying anything, anyway, I paid more attention to you then whatever he said," He concludes and noticed she had her head down and he hums in an attempt to get her mind off it "We should eat lunch, anything you want in particular?"

"Anything is fine"

"No seriously? Seafood, Pasta, Chicken, Beef, Pork? Anything?"

"Whatever is ok, My Prince"

"Ok, next time I will not answer you if it isn't Donghyuck. Second," He cups her cheeks so she'll look at him "Right now you're my Fiance , so do me a favor and take advantage of me yeah?"

She blushes and looks down, nodding

"Words, love" he presses

"Yes, ok"

"Yes, ok, what?"

"um?" she looks up and into his eyes "Donghyuck?"

He nods "Good girl," he approves and smiles sweetly "So lunch? made up your mind yet?"

"Yes, um Seafood?"

"ooh, there's this really good restaurant Taeyong Hyung brought me too, I'll take you there"

"Just two more meetings," He informs and held her hand "And I promise I'll take you shopping"

"You really don't-" Y/n was cut off when she yelped in pain when the prince squeezed her hand, giving her a sweet yet warning smile she sighs and decided to get into character, making a mental note to scold the Prince "But- Its so boring, Please can we go now?"

Donghyuck looks at the man opposite them and smiles softly and apologetically "Love, just a little longer," she pouts and Donghyuck wanted to pinch her cheeks, granted he was the one who asked her be disagreeable so he can doesn't have to stay and attend this meeting, but he found her whining absolutely adorable that he might actually obey her if leaving was what she really wanted "ten minutes, then we go ok?"

She grins, Y/n and the Prince spoke about this while they ate lunch that he was not in the best mood after dealing with the man with an obnoxious grin and that he doesn't want to attend the meeting, so he developed a plan, managing to get the female to join his plan, "Alright"

After ten minutes as promised, the man bowed and apologized with the prince assuring him that it was alright and that they'll talk tomorrow

The Prince watched as the man leaves then beams at Y/n "life saver," he says and nods "I'll buy you anything you want" he promises and Y/n shakes her head "and before you decline, choose, you pick out something you like or I'll buy the whole store?"

She gasps and grabs his sleeve "Donghyuck!" she exclaimed in a scolding voice, like you would to a child but instead of the prince beibg offended or atleast shocked by the female's tone he grinned

"You," He looks at her happily "You called me by my name"

"No-"

"Yes you did! Say it again, come on Y/n"

"Your Highness-"

He clicks his tongue and raises his eyebrow "Come again?"

"Donghyuck"

He grins and nods "half an hour before the next meeting then shopping, ok?"

"We really don't have to"

"Well, true" He hums and orders two more hot chocolate "but its good publicity, people see me, the prince shopping with his fiance, you, and I'd get recognition and my The King and Queen would believe our love" he thanks the waiter and looks at her again, leaning in making the Prince's breath fan against hear cheek, voice quiet as he whispers "besides you need more clothes that will match with me"

"Prince Donghyuck?" A man calls from behind him and Y/n pulls away and looks to the side, a bit of pink coloring her cheeks at how they were caught

The Prince turns and smiles "Oh, you're early, please, have a seat" and the man obeyed "Can I get you anything?"

The mam shakes his head "No, thank you" His maroon suit standing out in the cafe, his whole persona made Y/n feel uneasy like something was wrong with him, she was on edge

The Prince smiles and nodded "You may start whenever you are ready"

"By putting this new building up it will give  us more chance to meet with people outside of the kingdom" He proposes and then looks at the Prince for approval who had his eyebrows furrowed at the man's words

"And where are you proposing we build that?" He asks

Y/n looks at the Prince as he spoke, something about his tone was off, and Y/n doesn't like it

"There's this plot of land that would be absolutely perfect for it," He takes his phone out and shows the Prince where it was planned "This spot would surely get a lot of attention"

Y/n's breath caught on to her throat, "That is a neighborhood" she says in disbelief, "Where would those people live? Where would they go?"

Donghyuck looks at her and tilts his head "Are you seriously planning on building that in a place were people live? where they have claimed as their home?" he glares at the man "Y/n how do you know this neighborhood?"

She looks at the Prince only to see him calmly yet dangerously looking at the man, like a predator would, The Prince was furious, "My Grandparents live there" She answers

The prince scoffs in disbelief "There are people there, Mr. Choi Samin. What do you propose we do to them? where will you put them?"

"Well I didn't really-" He started and The Prince cuts him off

"That's enough," He says and waves him off "Thank you for your time, you may leave now"

"But, my Prince-" He starts

"I'm sorry I think I didn't make my self clear, I no longer have any business with you," He declares "I have no business with someone who would do anything for money, even when it means making hundreds of families loose their homes? You don't deserve speaking to me, to my fiance or my family, get out"

Y/n flinches and looks at the Prince in fear, one thing was known about the Prince is that he was happy-go-lucky, playful and absolutely flirty but if there is one thing that every single person in the palace avoids it the Prince getting angry, granted he doesn't get angry often but when he does he's intimidating.

Y/n grabs the Prince by the sleeves holding in to it when he makes a move to stand, she doesn't understand where she developed the courage to do that, but she did and the Prince stopped looking at her with a harsh glare only to see her e/c colored eyes staring at him in fear, he takes a breath to calm himself down, taking the female's hand with his other one to pull it away from his sleeve and place it down to his hand, to hold it, protectively and carefully, locking their fingers together as he looks at the man

"well?" The Prince asks, he was still angry, but he was calmer, Y/n helped calm him down, his thumb rubbing softly against Y/n's skin "Leave"

The man stands and bows, leaving the two of them in the cafe, The prince looks at Y/n "You ok? I scared you didn't I?"

She shakes her head "I'm ok, thank you" he keeps on watching her as she spoke "I'm definitely ok, thankyou for not approving the proposal, I don't know what my grandparents would have done, oh and the children there, I'm thankful you declined but you didn't have to get angry at a public pace your reputation might-"

But did any of that get through to the Prince? No. He wasn't listening, actually he stopped listening, he got sidetracked by watching her speak and the way her hand moves while she tells him truths, speaking of hand, he looks down, the two of them still have hands interlocked and the rubbing of his thumb against her skin still hasn't stopped, Donghyuck's cheeks grow warm, was this not affecting her? "Y/n, stop your rambling," he comments and stands tugging her along by the hand making her stop "I wanna give you something, come on"

I’m cold Taglist:

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#HaeChan #haechan x reader #haechan smut #ROYAL AU #royaltyAU #royal!haechan #royal7dream #7Dream #7dream plus Lucas #renjun #Jeno #jaemin #chenle #jisung #prince lee donghyuck #lee donghyuck #lee donghyuck x reader

[queenofwordsandnerds]

My favorite Obiyuki Moments from Ch. 117!

Ok so we're gonna get a MASQUERADE BALL and I'm SO FREAKING EXCITED like we know IMPORTANT STUFF is gonna happen at this ball

First of all, this cover art. My boi OBI LOOKING FINEEEEEEEE my eyes literally bulged when I saw this picture. Everything about it, from the color scheme to the clothing style to OBI'S expression is just--*fans self* even if Sorata doesn't plan for Obiyuki to be endgame (which I don't believe) she's certainly trying very hard to make us all fall in love with Obi which I think should say something.

I love the parallels in this one, how Shirayuki's determined face on the top right mirrors Obi's confident face on the bottom left (confidence in HER may I add).

Also it's just hilarious how when she says she wants to go too he acts confused as a joke before assuring her that of course she can go. She's his Mistress, whatever she wants he will assist. Obi would as soon dream of stopping Shirayuki as killing her, except if it's a situation where her safety could be in legitimate jeopardy. I absolutely adore how Shirayuki has grown from a naive girl new to Clarines court life into this strong, smart and savvy young lady who knows what she wants and can hold her own in political situations. And yes that may seem like a point for ZenYuki, but who was there to help her on her journey to that point in her character development? Obi. Not Zen. OBI. This boi will always support his lady and I am HERE FOR IT.

Also OBI AND HIS DOUBLE ENTENDRE IN THE LAST PANEL. "Sometimes someone else will wait for you" I think this line should be added to the canon of iconic Obiyuki lines because on level 1, he's telling her that he'll be by her side and empowering her that she will not be pushed to the sidelines, but rather that she and her skills will be useful. On level 2, however, he's telling her that HE WILL WAIT FOR HER. Obi's love for Shirayuki is NOT going anywhere. No matter how long it takes or whatever she does, Obi loves her and will wait for her. And his EXPRESSION when he says it...we've seen that expression on Obi's face before and we all know what it means. Just...that's an underrated line and I think the Obiyuki fandom should notice it.

And this section comes right after the above. OH MY LORD there's so many little things I've noticed about each panel.

The first one: LOOK AT SHIRAYUKI'S EXPRESSION. Look at how surprised she is at WHAT OBI HAS SAID TO HER. IMO, I'm sure she is rather impressed by how he has reassured her that she is necessary, useful and wanted in the masquerade mission. But also... Shirayuki is a confident girl. She knows herself, she knows her assets. And she also knows that there has never been any doubt that Obi will support her unless the consequences of her actions might be dire. She's USED to Obi supporting her. So why does she look so startled and taken aback by his words? She looks speechless, as if she LEARNED SOMETHING. I believe that this might be a moment where Shirayuki might see past Obi's words to his double meaning. He says he will wait for her. Why would that shock Shirayuki so much unless there was something deeper that she didn't expect?

The second panel reinforces her speechlessness. Here, she looks slightly less startled and more determined, but her surprise is still there. Yet she does pay attention when Obi says that they'll be assisting each other. Instance #1734839101 of Obiyuki relying on each other through a tough situation. And the way they face each other framing the word bubble and the panel...*chefs kiss*. For all Shirayuki talks about supporting Zen, she certainly does an awful lot of supporting Obi. And IMO, Obi has done WAAAAAAYYY more supporting of Shirayuki than Zen has. Obiyuki shippers know how often Obiyuki is paired and seen as a duo. They just...they work together so well and their chemistry and compatibility as partners is not only amazing, but LITERALLY RECOGNIZED AS CANON. I can't remember who says it (Shidan?) But someone observes Obiyuki's "compatibility as a duo" as proof of how well they can accomplish tasks together. And now I'm getting off course. But this section is already screaming Obiyuki for me (obviously).

Anyway, third/middle panel. Shirayuki regains her composure, and she agrees with Obi of course. But not after the word bubble appears that shows that SHE WAS STILL SPEECHLESS. She was still processing his words for probably about 5 seconds. Honestly, although what Obi said was important, it wasn't all that groundbreaking or atypical for him as a character. So why does Shirayuki react so strongly to it?

I believe the answer lies in the fourth and fifth panels on the bottom right. They show one of many framings of Obiyuki where they share a gaze. Obi's face looks rather unperturbed. He's confident in his abilities as well as Shirayuki's to figure out this problem, and in this glance where they seem to come to a mutual unspoken agreement he just looks at her proudly and admiringly. You know, typical Obi.

But more and more were seeing Shirayuki direct these warm, gentle glances towards Obi. Just look at her expression! She looks so happy, confident, and at ease with their plan and the fact that they'll be working together. Obi helped her feel this way! Shirayuki's warm glances are always part of a major Obiyuki moment (see "welcome home, Obi."). But if you consider how this particular warm glances immediately follows her surprised speechlessness, I think this is more telling than it seems. We've been getting little hints throughout the latest chapters that Shirayuki may be starting to either realize Obi's feelings for her, or develop more-than-friends feelings for him, or both. We all know the depth of the bond they share, platonic, romantic, or otherwise. But I think Shirayuki is starting to see that something more may be going on here. I think she's realizing how much Obi means to her and the strength and complexity of their relationship. Her eyes are starting to open, and this panel is just one of several examples. I think that Sorata will continue to expand on this, and I certainly hope she does (because that means MORE OBIYUKI DEVELOPMENT).

Also I forgot to download the panel, but when they found that cloaked figure near the end who would also be helping I FREAKED OUT. I was SO MAD because I saw that cloak and the person's attitude and my mind immediately went to Send. I remembered when he wore a cloak in a previous chapter. Also, when they said that this person would help them out a lot to find the lady, that also seems like a Zen thing. I freaked out, not in the good way, because this chapter had been giving us QUALITY OBIYUKI CONTENT and then to throw Zen in at the end to distract Shirayuki, maybe fluster her and make her lose focus, to ruin it all (Zen I love you but not with Shirayuki)... I would NOT have been happy.

But of course it wasn't Zen, it was one of the Bergatt twins and I squeeeed because 1) I love the Bergatt Bois and 2) everything was ok and I'm looking forward to more Obiyuki content in the next chapter.

#these are just my rambles #i haven't seen a whole lot of discussion yet on chapter 117 #so i decided to create my own #because I have FEELINGS about this chapter #although I have feelings about every chapter obviously #obiyuki is going to kill me #they're such a good duo #i can't #please sorata make this ship canon #please #obiyuki #obi x shirayuki #obi #Shirayuki #akagami no shirayukihime manga #akagami no shirayukihime #zen x shirayuki #ZenYuki #manga #otp #ship #zen #mitsuhide #kiki #kiki x mitsuhide #kiki seiran #mitsuhide lowen #Bergatt #chapter 117

[dogtraino]

Simple Method To Stop Your Dog From Begging For Food

If you really want to stop your dog from begging for food, you're going to need to learn to refrain from giving in to his begging every time there is food around.

It is not a secret as to the reason why a dog begs, well, it is because they would like food as soon as you have food anywhere near you or as soon as you go in the kitchen.

Begging isn't disrespectful or weird to your puppy; it's instinctive, so it takes a great deal of consistency to reverse that behavior if we've been reinforcing it. 

This begging "attitude" began a long time ago with the dog's descendants. With time, this became instinctive to wolves which carried over to dogs through their DNA.

Our dogs are hard-wired to seek opportunities to get food from us and given that they're observant they quickly grasp that begging brings about payoffs when we respond to all these signals that they have gained mastery so well over time.

It is one of the most common complaints of pet owners, however, there is hope. You can keep your pet dog from your food while your dining, you just have to be persistent.

- How Can I Stop My Dog From Begging?

The initial step when teaching your dog not to beg is to make a pledge to yourself which is to stop submitting. Every time you offer your puppy a treat from the table it's teaching them that begging is a winning action. It may perhaps not work all the time, but our dogs have excellent memories; they'll maintain trying if they figured out it did the job anytime before

Dogs beg more when we're looking at them; they know it works. Those big puppy dog eyes and all that whining-- it works really well on all of us.

If you want your dog to stop begging you have to ensure that you're not giving him mixed signals. It is not reasonable to expect good behavior from our puppies if we ourselves don't remain consistent.

Training ourselves as being constant is usually the most challenging part, the rest is relatively simple. Here are 3 methods that will definitely help you stop your dog from begging.

Pay no attention to Your Dog's Begging

Don't look at your puppy while he begs. Just ignore him.

Whenever your dog starts his routine of begging for food you have to totally pay no attention to the disruptive behavior. Should he get a scrap from you one single time he realizes that his time and efforts might just pay off next time.

If you look into those big eyes when he's begging you can feel bad for him and offer him a morsel. Almost any attention you give him when he's begging might make him believe you're close to giving him some food given that it's done the job so well previously.

He will most likely fuss and resist if he's a prolific beggar, nevertheless, you are going to have to learn to pay no attention to it. Your pet dog should eventually figure out that "hey, I think that's not going to do the job anymore."

Don't associate food together with love. Your puppy is certainly not starving. You nourish him very well every morning and evening. Over 50% of American dogs are generally too heavy, your puppy doesn't need to have any extras. If you still feel bad just keep in mind-- he's manipulating you.

Pet dogs have developed to getting those big sad eyes and floppy ears for merely that reason, to maneuver you into caring for them. They've evolved more puppy-like features and tend to share plenty of attributes of wolf puppies rather than adult wolves.

2- Limit Your Dog From the Dinner Table

Among the easiest solutions to stop your from begging is by preventing the behavior early on. You may do this by separating your pet dog from the dinner table.

You can educate your dog to lay down away from where you are eating, or you can make use of a baby gate to retain them in a different area. If your dog is already a beggar keep in mind that his behavior is most likely going to be fairly resistant for a little bit before it improves, but the consistency will ultimately pay off.

Have your dog lay down in his bed or specific space you've picked for him, compliment him as soon as he lays down and give him some treats within this spot. Depending on his stay command you might possibly need to work at this for some time before he's continually remaining in his new spot.

After you've eaten visit him and give him lots of praise, give him treats. Let him know the behavior of sitting steadily while the family members eat is just what's going to generate the most desired compensation.

If you don't believe your puppy is going to be able to stay for any period of time or you don't have a decent stay command mastered you can prefer to separate him with a barricade such as a baby gate, a very common selection.

3- Redirect His Focus While You Eat

Give your pet dog something else to concentrate on while you eat. If you don't wish your dog to stay completely separated from you while you eat you may redirect his focus to some snacks, toys, or treats of his own. Offer him one of his popular bully sticks, or jam some peanut butter inside of a Kong.

Ignore him if he gets up from his treat to beg. He is going to most likely do this for a while if he's used to begging. Just as long as you don't give in and nourish him from the table at all he will eventually understand that his begging abilities aren't going to pay off anymore.

If you're consistent and decide to persevere begging could be considerably quick and easy to deal with. It merely takes determination and consistency. You need all of the household engaged; if any member is not going to play along and gives up you are definitely not going to be successful.

You simply cannot surrender, regardless of how adorable he is actually or what sounds your puppy is producing, it will set you back to square one

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