#I'm mostly happy with it

[trans-corvo]

It took me a month and a half, but I have finally finished my first character model in six years based on a necromancer character I drew in 2018. The model was built and rigged in maya, hand-painted in photoshop, and rendered in marmoset.

#myart #I'm mostly happy with it #it's not great. but the fact that I actually finished it is the real victory

[windfighter]

Lights Out 3

Takuya, Kouji, Izumi and Kouichi was on a classtrip. It had taken their class to a cabin out in the woods, which had two floors - the lower where the common areas and the teachers’ bedroom was and the upper where the students slept. There was two big rooms on the upper floor so the girls slept in one room and the boys in the other. Kouichi had retreated to the bedroom after dinner to recharge his social batteries and Kouji had followed him to keep him company and get some studying done. Takuya and Izumi had gone outside to play football with some of their classmates and had tried their best to get Kouji to come along, but the sun would soon start setting and Kouji refused to go outside knowing all too well that he’d lose his sight the moment that happened.

It had been quiet for about two hours when Takuya returned. Kouji looked up from the notebook he was writing in.

”Who won?”

”Izumi, but I think she cheated.”

”You probably let her.”

”You think I would do that?”

Kouji noticed the grin on Takuya’s face and rolled his eyes.

”You let me win once to get me to keep playing with you.”

Takuya laughed and started changing out of his dirty clothes.

”It didn’t work though.”

”I hate football.”

Kouji wrote down another answer in the notebook before closing it and sitting up. He stretched, put the books in his backpack and turned to Kouichi.

”You feeling better?”

”Reading”, Kouichi answered and Kouji raised his hands.

”Alright, take your time.”

”We’re gonna play boardgames downstairs, you wanna join?” Takuya asked.

”Sounds good”, Kouji answered. ”You’ll be fine here on your own?”

”I’m only one stair away, Kouji.” Kouichi rolled his eyes then kept reading. ”What’s the worst that could happen?”

Kouji bit his lips and choke back the answer ’you could die again’ because he had told himself to not think about that. Instead he stood up, waved goodbye to Kouichi and left the bedroom, Takuya right behind him.

”What games are we playing?”

He hesitated for a second when he came to the stairs. They were steep and he didn’t really trust them to just let him pass, but there was no other way to get up and down. Takuya patted his back and he took a deep breath before starting the descent.

He was just in the middle of a step when the lights went out.

The world went black. He had enough time to realize there would be pain in his near future and then he was falling. His head hit the railing, his right knee landed awkwardly on one of the steps and he then he landed hands first on the floor. His left wrist folded below him and for a few seconds there was only red-hot pain. He couldn’t even scream.

”Kouji?!”

He wanted to answer. He cradled his arm against his chest and rolled up as much as the pain would allow him. Shouts echoed through the building, people were moving as fast and confused as the sudden darkness would let them. The sounds bounced around Kouji’s head, made it pound. He felt nauseous, but couldn’t tell if it was because his head or his obviously broken wrist.

”Kouji?” Takuya asked again. Kouji let out a groan. He didn’t manage more. He needed to orient himself, gather himself. The wooden floor was rough against his cheek, his right knee popped when he tried to pull it up and he stopped moving.

”’kuya…”

”I’m coming, hang on.”

He tried to focus on Takuya’s steps. It seemed to take ages for him to get down the stairs.

”Lights went out”, Takuya remarked as if Kouji hadn’t painfully noticed that. ”Can barely see my hands infront of my face. Is this how it always is for you?”

Kouji let out a whine. His head wasn’t focused enough to process what Takuya was saying. The world was spinning and he was certain he had blacked out a few seconds because suddenly Takuya’s hands was on his arm and shaking him.

”Hey, Kouji? You alive?”

”hurts.”

”Should I get a teacher?”

Kouji considered, but he didn’t know what they could do that he couldn’t do himself (or with some help from Takuya and Kouichi) so he shook his head.

”...Can you stand?”

”M...maybe?”

Gentle wasn’t a world Kouji would use to describe Takuya, but Takuya leaned down, carefully wrapped an arm around Kouji’s back and gently pulled him into a sitting position.

”Dizzy”, Kouji said and leaned against Takuya. ”Hate stairs.”

Takuya laughed and Kouji winced at the sound. Takuya stopped laughing and lowered his voice again.

”You sure about the teacher?”

”Just want…” Kouji swallowed to keep the nausea at bay, ”...niisan…”

”Okay”, Takuya didn’t sound convinced but he wasn’t protesting, ”let’s get you back upstairs then.”

He grabbed Kouji’s left arm. Pain flared up from the wrist and Kouji let out a strangled sound that would have been a scream if he hadn’t used every trick in the book to keep it down. Takuya let go of him and froze and Kouji focused on breathing the pain away for a few seconds.

”What’s wrong?” Takuya asked when Kouji’s breathing had become less strained again.

”Other side”, Kouji answered. Takuya wasn’t gonna let it go.

”Obviously. Where are you hurt?”

”Just the arm?”

The wrist was definately the source of the worst pain, but if he was honest (with himself, he wasn’t going to tell Takuya) his whole body felt like he had been through a tumble dryer.

”And the head?” Takuya asked because of course he didn’t believe Kouji.

”Hmm”, Kouji answered which was the closest he’d admit anything at the moment. Takuya moved to his right side, wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him to his feet. Kouji’s stomach made a somersault of the bad kind and he bit his cheek to keep the dinner down. He put his own arm over Takuya’s shoulders and let Takuya take most of his weight. His knee threatened to fold under him as he put weight on it, but Takuya managed to keep him standing and they slowly made their way up the stairs again.

Kouji’s head was spinning when they made it over the last step. Takuya was pretty much carrying his whole weight at that point. A light danced across the floor infront of them and Kouichi’s voice cut throught the darkness.

”What happened?”

Kouichi’s hand was under Kouji’s chin and lifted his head. Kouji’s eyes were barely open and he couldn’t see the worried expression on Kouichi’s face.

”Lights went out”, Takuya said as if that would explain everything. Maybe it did. Takuya shifted his grip around Kouji ever so slightly and then started the slow walk towards the bedroom again. Kouichi walked infront of them, lit up the way so Takuya could see where they were going. Kouji still couldn’t see anything, but he trusted Takuya and Kouichi. He didn’t have a choice at the moment anyway. He heard Kouichi unzip a sleeping bag, then Takuya and Kouichi both helped him to the floor. Kouichi’s hands were on his leg and he winced as they pressed at his knee.

”’s fine”, he mumbled when a pillow was placed under it.

”I’d argue, but you’re barely lucid”, Takuya whispered.

”p’rfectl’ he’”, Kouji answered.

He lifted his hand and pulled off his bandana before attempting to fold it up so he could tie it around his wrist. Kouichi grabbed his hand and stopped him from working.

”We should get the teacher”, he said in an annoying ’I’m your big brother and I know best’-voice. Kouji stuck his tongue out in whatever direction he assumed Kouichi was in. It was definately wrong because Takuya snickered.

”Home tom’rr’w”, Kouji explained. He tilted to the side and someone caught him. Takuya. Kouichi took the bandana from him.

”Where do you want it?” he asked and Kouji gestured vaguely towards the wrist. Kouichi moved his arm to get it into a position where he could tie the bandana around it and Kouji buried his face in Takuya’s shoulder when the red-hot pain flared up again.

”I have painkillers”, Takuya suggested.

”No like”, Kouji answered.

”We don’t care what you like”, Kouichi said and this time there was no arguing against it. ”You take a painkiller and maybe we’ll be nice and let you sleep instead of dragging you to the teachers.”

Kouji didn’t argue. Kouichi disappeared and returned a couple minutes later with the painkillers and a glass of water. Kouji accepted it and when he’d taken the pill and half the glass Takuya helped him down. His whole body protested, he felt water gather in his eyes. He was glad the lights were out so the others couldn’t see him. Takuya wiped his tears (so much for Takuya not seeing him cry) and pulled a hand through his hair.

”Sleep well princess”, Takuya whispered.

Kouji wanted to throw something at him, but sleep sounded nice so he nodded and closed his eyes. It felt better now, when he was lying down and didn’t need to move and could just sleep and everyone was quiet.

”Lights went out”, someone said from the doorway. ”A fuse blew and we can’t find any spare ones.”

One of the teachers and Kouji groaned.

”Everything okay in here?” the teacher asked and Takuya and Kouichi glanced at each other.

”Yeah”, Kouichi’s voice sounded strange to Kouji’s ears. ”Everything’s fine, Kouji just has a headache.”

”Alright, let me know if you need anything. Do you have flashlights? We found some kerosene lamps for lightning otherwise.”

”We have flashlights”, Takuya said and lit the bright one he had for Kouji’s sake. The teacher blinked in the sudden light and nodded. Takuya turned it off again when he noticed how pain danced across Kouji’s face.

”There’s sandwiches downstairs if you’re hungry and they are just about to start some boardgames if you want to join for that.”

Takuya got up from the floor and left the flashlight in Kouichi lap.

”I’ll join, I don’t have anything better to do in this darkness anyway. Kouichi?”

”I’m staying, I have books to read and I don’t think I’d like people much right now anyway.”

”Aight, I’ll see you later.”

Takuya waved goodbye, then left together with the teacher. Kouichi reached for his book, then grabbed Kouji’s uninjured hand.

”I’m not sure I did the right thing lying for the teacher…” he whispered.

”Dad’ll come tom’rr’w”, Kouji mumbled. ”Ask him… hospital…”

”Go to sleep”, Kouichi squeezed Kouji’s hand before opening the book. ”I’m here if you need anything.”

Kouji fell asleep almost instantly.

~~~~~~~~~

About two hours later Kouji started twitching in his sleep and five seconds later Kouichi could hear steps in the stairs and loud voices coming closer. The rest of the class was heading to bed. Kouji’s face turned 5 shades paler and he pulled free from Kouichi’s hand and pressed his palm against his mouth. Kouichi’s eyes widened and he got up. The door opened, flashlights flooded the room and the sounds of voices turned louder. Kouichi grabbed the closest trash can, put a hand under Kouji’s back and pushed him into a sitting position before nestling the trash can in his lap. Kouji leaned over the can, hand still pressed tightly against his mouth. Kouichi tried to find Takuya among the crowd, but Takuya was deep in a conversation and didn’t catch Kouichi’s eyes. Kouji’s hand moved from his mouth to the trash can as water and half-digested food forced itself up from Kouji’s stomach. Kouji’s eyes teared up and their classmates fell silent for two seconds.

”That is GROSS!”

”Disgusting.”

”Is he sick?”

Kouji closed his eyes, his breathing was fast. Takuya pressed himself between the others and sat down next to Kouji.

”I didn’t even consider a concussion”, he whispered. ”Kouji, look at me.”

Kouji kept his eyes closed and shook his head. Kouichi got up, pulled his hands across his face.

”He has a pretty bad headache”, he told the others. It helped, they lowered their voices and went to their sleeping bags. They didn’t stop talking and glancing at Kouji, but Kouji’s grip around the trash can loosened slightly.

”Do you need to throw up again?” Takuya asked.

Kouji shook his head but didn’t let go. Kouichi knelt next to him again.

”We’re taking you to the teachers.”

Kouji opened his mouth to protest, but Kouichi wasn’t about to take it.

”I don’t care. In worst case they’ll call an ambulance which you probably need, in best case you get to sleep in their room where it’s quiet.”

”Dad’ll…” Kouji’s voice was hoarse and Kouichi wanted to do anything in his power to make him feel better. He put a hand on Kouji’s shoulder.

”I know”, Kouichi softened his voice. ”Do you think you can walk?”

Kouji shook his head again and Takuya took the trash can from him.

”I’ll carry you, don’t worry.”

It was a testament to just how badly Kouji was feeling when he didn’t protest the suggestion. Takuya put the trash can on the floor, put one arm under Kouji’s knees and the other behind his back before lifting him still wrapped in the sleeping bag. Kouji pressed his face against Takuya’s neck when pain flared up in his knee and Takuya nodded to Kouichi.

”Lead the way.”

Kouichi grabbed a pair of sunglasses and the stupidly bright flashlight Takuya had given him. It wasn’t quite strong enough to blind him, but it made his eyes hurt and he put the sunglasses over his eyes before turning the light on. He considered walking backwards down the stairs so he would be ready to help if Takuya lost his balance on the steep steps, but that was too risky. Stairs were already against him, he didn’t need to aid them. Takuya waited for him to reach the end of the stairs so he could shine a light on them before walking down himself. Kouji let out the occassional groan as Takuya carried him and Kouichi’s stomach hurt at the sound.

Kouichi froze as he reached the teachers’ room. He had been so determined to get there that he hadn’t stopped to figure out what to say. His hand reached for the door, but he couldn’t bring himself to knocking, not without a plan. As he tried to quickly figure one out Takuya came up next to him and kicked at the door, which opened almost instantly by the same teacher that had told them about the fuse.

”Sorry to bother you, Okada-sensei”, Takuya said before Kouichi was even able to register what was going on. His voice was low and Kouichi turned the flashlight off and took off the sunglasses. Takuya nodded towards Kouji. ”Kouji’s headache is worse so we were wondering if he could sleep here.”

”Oh, sure”, Okada said and took a step to the side to let them in. There was one bed free and Takuya placed Kouji on it. ”Is there something wrong?”

”Just a migraine, I think”, Takuya lied without even batting an eye. ”He needs some peace and quiet and won’t get that in our room.”

Kouichi felt bad about the whole thing. He patted Kouji’s shoulder and Kouji blinked sluggishly towards him.

”I’ll come back in the morning”, Kouichi whispered. ”Try to get some sleep.”

Kouji nodded and closed his eyes again. He was less pale and Kouichi hoped that was a sign he was getting better. He bowed towards Okada.

”Thank you for the help”, he said before making a quick exit. He heard Takuya laugh, exchange another few words with Okada and then hurry to catch up with Kouichi.

”You lied”, Kouichi said through gritted teeth as they made their way up the stairs.

”Semi-lied”, Takuya corrected. ”Migraines are a type of headache and his head was hurting.”

Kouichi wanted to argue but Takuya was frowning and Kouichi lost his train of thought.

”...what?” he asked instead.

”It’s just… Has he been skipping meals again? I didn’t want to ask when I was carrying him, but he felt lighter.”

”Do you carry him often enough to be able to tell that?”

”With his track record of accidents?” Takuya laughed. ”Way more often than I’d like.”

”Kouji is a damsel in distress”, Kouichi also laughed, then he grew serious again. ”He might have, he’s been stressed lately. I’ll talk with him about it.”

He opened the door to the bedroom and gestured for Takuya to go first. Takuya made a deep, exaggerated bow before entering the room. Those who were still awake turned to look at them.

”Where’s Kouji?”

”Did he go to the hospital?”

”Is he dying?”

Kouichi stopped, then quickly turned around again. His body felt agitated, his mind worn out with worry for his brother, and he knew he wouldn't be able to deal wih all the questions.

”You deal with them, Takuya, I’m sleeping in the girls’ room tonight.”

He heard Takuya laugh as he left the room again. He closed the door, took a deep breath and opened the door to the other bedroom. Some of the girls raised an eyebrow when they saw him, but no one said anything. He assumed they had decided he was unthreatening enough sometime. Izumi smiled towards him and he sank down beside her with a sigh.

”Everything okay?” she whispered.

”Kouji fell down the stairs”, Kouichi whispered back. ”He’s in the teachers’ room now, but there were too many questions in our room.”

She nodded, pulled out a book and a blanket from her backpack and handed them to Kouichi. He smiled towards her, wrapped himself in the blanket and leaned back to read the book. Izumi went back to talking fashion with the others and Kouichi let himself relax. Things would be better in the morning.

~~~~~~~~~

Things weren’t really better in the morning. Kouji woke up to pain in a bed he couldn’t remember laying down in. Sunlight danced offensively through the window and made his head throb. He was alone. He didn’t know what time it was. He tried to sit up but everything hurt and he relaxed back into the mattress. He grabbed the pillow from under his head and put it over his face instead to close out the offending sunlight and his headache got a little bit less intense.

Kouji definately didn’t have any way to track time. The room was brighter next time he blinked awake and the sunlight managed to sneak under the pillow and into his eyes. He groaned and the sunlight disappeared. Had he gained the ability to turn light off at his command? He lifted the pillow ever so slightly.

”How are you feeling?” Kouichi asked.

Oh, okay, it was Kouichi that had turned the lights out, that made more sense. He pushed the pillow to the side and considered the question.

”...minced meat?” he suggested.

Kouichi was unimpressed and confused by the answer but Kouji couldn’t tell what was wrong with it. He hmmed and closed his eyes again and Kouichi sat down on the edge of the bed before placing a cold and damp towel on Kouji’s forehead. Some of the headache subsided and Kouji’s face relaxed ever so slightly.

”Thanks.”

”Do you want another painkiller?”

”Maybe?” Kouji blinked. ”Time?”

”Ten, I overslept a little.”

Kousei would arrive somewhere around three, if Kouji remembered correctly. He closed his eyes and tried to figure out when the best time to take a painkiller would be, but the pain in his head increased when he tried to do math and he gave up. Really, the fact that he was even considering accepting the offer was proof enough that he needed one.

”Eleven”, he decided and Kouichi nodded.

They were quiet for a while. Kouji started dozing off, but Kouichi changed his position and pain shot through Kouji’s body and pulled him awake again. He whined and Kouichi twisted his body to see him better, which shifted the mattress again and Kouji bit his lip to keep another whine down.

”It’s that bad?” Kouichi asked and Kouji wanted to say no, but at this point there was no way Kouichi would believe him. Instead he hmmed and let Kouichi take that however he wanted. Kouichi’s face turned sad.

”Sorry…”

”’s m’ fault.”

”It’s not….” Kouichi stopped himself from engaging in what would have become an argument. ”...Takuya is worried.”

”Bee’njured befo’”, Kouji answered because that should calm anyone down, shouldn’t it? Kouichi snorted and maybe it was the wrong answer but Kouji had been injured before and it had turned out okay.

”It’s not that”, Kouichi said, ”but we’ll talk about it when you’re less in pain.”

Kouichi got up from the mattress, which made Kouji’s body scream in pain again and he took a sharp breath. This was the absolute worst, he decided. Stairs was the worst invention of all time and when he got back home he’d ask his dad to remove all the stairs in the house and install elevators instead. He’d never gotten hurt in an elevator before. The pain fizzled out, returned to more manageable levels, and he noticed Kouichi looking at him.

”You should get some more sleep, I’ll come back at eleven. Should I bring food?”

”Something small?” Kouji suggested. He didn’t think he could eat a full meal, but something was better than nothing, especially in combination with medicine. Kouichi nodded, told him to sleep well and left the room and Kouji put the pillow under his head again. He didn’t fully fall asleep, the throbbing in his knee, wrist and head combined with the noises of his classmates made it hard to relax enough, but he entered some weird half-asleep state and didn’t quite notice the passage of time. Kouichi returned at eleven but only stayed long enough to make sure he ate and took the painkiller. Kouji fell asleep for real after that. Okada checked in on him around twelve and Takuya and Izumi also stopped by during the lunchbreak. Kouji wasn’t awake enough to remember if they had said anything. Kouichi stopped by again at two when Kouji was lucid enough to interact with the world again.

”Dad’s on his way, he’ll be here in 45 minutes”, Kouichi said.

Kouji tried to rub the sleep from his eyes as the news sank in and then he blinked.

”Should pack”, he mumbled and tried to sit up, but Kouichi put a hand on his shoulder to keep him down.

”Takuya and I are on it, we’ll come down when we’re done. Are you okay on your own until then?”

”Been okay this far.”

”True”, Kouichi smiled. ”You’re my baby brother though, it’s my job to worry.”

Kouji groaned. Kouichi knew how much he hated being called baby brother and only did it when he wanted to be annoying. Kouji assumed he deserved it, he had given them a pretty huge fright after all. Kouichi gave his shoulder a soft squeeze before saying good bye again. Kouji didn’t fall back to sleep. He stared at the ceiling, waited for Kouichi to return. Takuya was the one who appeared instead.

”He’s here!” was the only warning Kouji got before Takuya lifted him from the bed. Kouji’s knee popped again and his stomach made another somersault. He pressed his face into Takuya’s shoulder with a groan.

”Throw up if you need to”, Takuya whispered and Kouji shook his head. He was not going to let nausea win another battle. Cold air swept over him as they walked out of the cabin and he shivered despite still being wrapped in the sleeping bag. Kousei opened the door to the passenger seat and Takuya carefully manipulated Kouji into it. It wasn’t a painless procedure – Kouji’s wrist got bumped twice and any time they moved his knee it felt like a thousand tiny knives in it. Kouji had his eyes closed and focused on breathing evenly to keep himself from either panicking or throwing up, he wasn’t sure at this point. Maybe both. Kousei patted his shoulder when he was strapped in and he opened his eyes again.

”We’ll stop at the hospital when we’ve dropped the others off. Are you okay until then?”

”You can drive directly to the hospital”, Izumi suggested as she sat down in the seat behind the driver’s seat. ”We can get home on our own from there.”

Kousei closed the door to the passenger seat and shook his head.

”I’m responsible for you until you get home. It’s only another hour, it’s no problem.”

”No problem”, Kouji repeated and took a shaky breath.

Kouichi sat down in the middle of the backseat, Takuya behind Kouji and Kousei took his spot behind the wheel. The car wroomed to life and they left the cabin.

~~~~~~~~~

The verdict: A concussion (Kouji really wasn’t surprised at this point), dislocated kneecap complete with a tear in the ACL and three fractures in his wrist. They kept him overnight at the hospital because of his history with concussions, but decided he was well enough to return home the next day. Kousei let Kouichi know, and both Takuya and Kouichi showed up about one hour later.

”You look horrible”, Takuya said when he arrived.

Kouji rolled his eyes. He had a big bruise along the right side of his face, several more on his right arm and left leg. His right leg and left arm had been splinted and he’d need to return to the hospital in a week to get that replaced with casts. On top of that the hospital gown didn’t make him look any better either, but at least it covered the bruising on his torso.

”Nasty fall”, Kouji said.

”Are you… okay?” Kouichi asked and put a backpack on the bed.

”They loaded me on the good painkillers”, Kouji answered and grabbed the backpack. Kouichi had packed him a change of clothes and a couple sandwiches because hospital food was never fun. ”Still feel a bit dizzy, but the pain is manageable.”

Painkillers always made him tired and knocked him out for somewhere between one and eight hours, which is why he absolutely hated taking them, but he’d woken up half an hour earlier and felt a lot more like a human than he’d done since the fall.

”He’ll need a lot of rest”, Kousei said. His voice was strained in a way that made Kouji able to tell that he was still angry at Kouji for not telling the teachers and that if Kouichi and Takuya did anything that jepordized Kouji’s rest he wouldn’t be allowed to hang with them for at least a month. Kouji let out a sigh and pulled the clothes out of the backpack. Loose fitting, gray shorts and a too big, light blue sweatshirt that he suspected belonged to Junpei. At least it shouldn’t be too much trouble to get those over the splints. He blushed. He wouldn’t be able to do it on his own.

”Help?” he asked.

Kousei helped him. Takuya winced when the bruising on Kouji’s chest got revealed and Kouji looked everywhere except towards him. Once he was out of the hospital gown and into the clothes he felt even more human and even managed to eat one of the sandwiches Kouichi had brought. They chatted for a while, tried to figure out how to prevent anything like this from happening again and reached no conclusion. Kouji was given food at lunchtime, but he wasn’t hungry and Takuya ate it instead while Kousei and Kouichi went to the cafeteria. After lunch a doctor arrived, checked Kouji over one last time and told him he was free to leave. They exchanged a few words with Kousei before leaving and another ten minutes later a nurse he hadn’t seen before showed up with a wheelchair.

”Not a fan”, Kouji said.

”You don’t have much of a choice”, Kousei answered.

”I know.”

Kouji carefully shuffled closer to the edge of the bed, but froze when the nurse got closer to help him over to the wheelchair.

”I don’t like strangers touching me”, he mumbled.

”I won’t bite”, the nurse answered and Kouji blushed.

”It’s not you, it’s just… bad memories.”

He hated admitting it. Takuya and Kouichi looked curiously towards him and he knew he'd have to deal with their questions later. Kousei put a hand on the nurse’s shoulder.

”I’ve done this before, it’s fine.”

The nurse didn’t seem completely convinced, but took a step back anyway. Kouji didn’t need much help, he could move well enough on his own, and Kousei only needed to provide support while he moved between the bed and the chair. Kouji grabbed his hand and he put the other hand on Kouji’s back. Kouji took a couple of deep breaths before moving his legs over the edge of the bed and getting up. The world spun slightly as he stood up and he tightened his grip around Kousei’s hand.

”You’re doing fine”, Kousei said.

Takuya and Kouichi looked worried and Kouji was pretty sure some color had drained from his face as he got up. Kousei guided him until he was aligned with the seat and helped him sit down in it and Kouji let out a relieved sigh when he was seated.

”Would have been much easier with two hands”, he said and Kousei laughed.

”With two hands you’d have been on crutches instead.”

Kouichi grabbed the backpack again as the nurse grabbed the wheelchair and led them outside. Takuya walked next to Kouji while Kousei and Kouichi fell in line behind.

”You doing good?” Takuya asked.

”Painkiller’s wearing off”, Kouji answered. ”But yeah, as good as I can.”

”You almost looked like you’d faint when you got up from the bed.”

”Did I scare you?” Kouji grinned.

”Didn’t want your pretty face to get more banged up”, Takuya laughed.

”Are they flirting?” Kouichi asked. ”This does not seem to be the moment to flirt.”

The question didn’t get an answer as they arrived at the car. Kousei patted Kouji’s shoulder.

”Front or back?”

Kouji gestured to his splinted knee.

”I don’t think I’ll fit in the front seat.”

”Back it is then”, Kousei said and opened the door to the back seat.

”You can ride shotgun”, Takuya said to Kouichi and opened the door on the other side of the car. Kouichi shrugged and got seated in the passenger seat while Kousei helped Kouji into the car. Takuya stuck his upper body into the car, grabbed Kouji and pulled him across the seat to get him seated correctly. Kouji groaned.

”I’m not really this helpless.”

”You aren’t”, Takuya agreed. ”But that doesn’t mean you need to struggle on your own either.”

”...you’re being nice to me and I don’t like it.”

”Okay fine.” Takuya grinned. ”The casts are making you like ten kilos heavier.”

Kouji snorted.

”Aww, so you can no longer carry me like the princess I am?”

”You’ll always be a princess, don’t worry about that.”

Kouichi turned around in the front seat to look at them.

”Now I’m sure you’re flirting. Could that wait until my brother doesn’t have a concussion?”

”Spoilsport.” Takuya stuck his tongue out towards Kouichi. ”I’ll be nice.”

He handed Kouji the seatbelt and Kouji grabbed it. At least there’s something I can do myself, he though while fumbling with getting it in place. Takuya sat down in the seat behind Kouichi and placed Kouji’s splinted leg in his lap. Kouji closed his eyes and leaned his head back.

”Already exhausted”, he informed the others.

”We’ll be home soon”, Kousei said and finished packing up the wheelchair and putting it in the trunk.

”I am very tempted to tickle you right now”, Takuya said with barely held back laughter.

”Please don’t”, Kouji whispered and he could hear how close to tears he sounded. Takuya grabbed his hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

”I think I’m legally allowed to kill you if you do”, Kouichi said from the front seat.

”I’m fine with that”, Takuya answered.

Kouji took a shaky breath. His head was throbbing again and tears gathered in his eyes. Any resistance he had held up until that point just vanished and all the fear from the fall and the examinations at the hospital washed over him now that he was safe and on his way home.

”Sorry”, he mumbled and tried to dry off the tears. New ones came just as quickly. ”I’m blaming the painkillers”, he added.

”We’ll stop to pick up your meds on the way home”, Kousei said and sat down in the drivers seat. ”You’ll be fine until then.”

”Yeah”, Kouji sniffled and grabbed Takuya’s hand. Takuya squeezed his hand again and Kouichi glared at Kousei before turning looking at Kouji again.

”Takuya and I’ll be staying a while, if that’s okay with you.”

Kouji nodded and tried to bury his face against the seat. It didn’t quite work. The car started and Kouji gripped Takuya’s hand tighter to brace against the pain caused by the car’s movements. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing. Takuya and Kouichi talked to each other and Kousei hummed a song in the front seat. The throbbing in Kouji’s head turned into pounding and nausea was boiling in his stomach. He shouldn’t have eaten the sandwich. For every second he could feel his muscles get tenser. He twisted more to the side so he could actually bury his face into the seat, but his stomach was not a fan of the movement and he bit his cheek to stop the contents in it to come up. The car stopped just as the nausea was about to win and he swallowed. Takuya put a hand on his shoulder and he opened his eyes ever so slightly.

”What’s wrong?” Takuya asked.

”Too much.”

He closed his eyes again. Kousei got out of the car and Kouji’s shoulders relaxed a tiny bit.

”Too much sensory input”, Kouichi whispered. ”I’m sorry, we shouldn’t have been talking so much.”

Kouji wanted to shake his head, tell Kouichi it was fine, but it would be a lie. He didn’t answer and the car was silent while they waited for Kousei to return. Fifteen minutes later and the nausea was mostly gone and Kouji could free his face from the seat again. Kouichi had buried his nose in a book and Takuya was playing games on his phone and Kouji watched them until Kousei returned. Kousei sat down in the driver’s seat and handed the small bag to Kouichi, who turned to Kouji.

”Want it now?” he asked. Kouji shook his head.

”When we get home”, he said. Kouichi nodded and put the bag in the backpack together with the book he’d been reading. Kousei started the car and Kouji took a deep breath before hiding against the seat again.

~~~~~~~~~

Painkillers knocked Kouji out completely and for once Kouichi was happy about it. He hated seeing his younger brother in pain and the car ride had been agony for both of them. Kouji had thrown up halfway home and neither Kouichi nor Takuya had accepted a no for an answer after that, and because of that Kouji had fallen asleep just before they arrived at his home. Kousei had carried him inside and he was now sleeping on the couch. Takuya and Kouichi were playing Go Fish on the floor next to the couch while Kousei and Satomi had left to get groceries. Takuya kept glancing at Kouji and Kouichi rolled his eyes.

”Just confess to him, you’re already pretty much together anyway.”

Takuya blushed.

”I wasn’t thinking about that!”

Kouichi raised an eyebrow.

”I wasn’t only thinking about that”, Takuya corrected himself. ”I was just thinking… We’re never letting Kouji go down the stairs again after this, right?”

”His room is on the upper floor”, Kouichi said and put down four fives. ”I don’t think we can stop him.”

”He could have died.”

”Takuya…” Kouichi put his cards to the side. ”Kouji and I fall on the stairs all the time. He wasn’t even close to dying. I don’t like seeing him hurt either but… We can’t stop him from living just because we’re worried.”

”Elevators”, Kouji muttered and yawned. Both Takuya and Kouichi jumped slightly, but Takuya recovered faster.

”Did we wake you up?”

”Less hurty”, Kouji answered. ”Gonna sleep more.”

Kouji turned his face away from Kouichi and Takuya and fell right back asleep. Kouichi laughed and shook his head. The meds helped, but Kouji had always been able to fall asleep instantly, at least during the time Kouichi had known him. Takuya still had a serious look at his face and Kouichi grabbed his cards again.

”I’m not gonna let him go first down the stairs again though”, Takuya said.

Kouichi wanted to protest, but the exact same thought had crossed his mind as well. No one had died this time, but what if it happened again? He let out a sigh. Kouji wouldn’t let them and it really wasn’t an optimal idea either. They needed to figure out another solution to both The Curse and Kouji’s lack of night vision. He glanced at his cards. That was a problem for future them.

”Got any threes?” he asked and the game continued.

#my writing #digimon frontier #Lights Out AU #kouji minamoto #kouichi kimura #takuya kanbara #hurt kouji #this got long because I absolutely needed to have Kouji say 'so you can no longer carry me like the princess I am' #I'm mostly happy with it #like I can tell there's things that could be better written #but I get hooked every time I read through it (ten times now!) so honestly it's fine enough #this is the last chapter of Lights Out #but I'm not gonna abandon this AU #I have a few more ideas #I want to get back to the 15 hurt/comfort prompts I was working on tho #so I'm gonna try and focus on that again before going on with this #but we'll see what happens xD

[tworattuesday]

Philza lore :D

I desperately want to make a full animation but I'm wary of losing motivation/not having enough time so I wanted to post some frames just in case I don't get farther

#qsmp #qsmp philza #qsmp chayanne #qsmp talullah #qsmp philza lore #I'm so happy with this style #I always want full animation but thats so draining so mostly still scenes with little movements seem to be a good halfway point #i have no clue if these kept the quality they had butwe shall see #also 5fps might be too quick for some of these but maybe its fine and Im overthinking idk #ratsday-art

[tapakah0]

Okay! I don't know where you got the idea from and my best guess is that your brain is connected to mine via bluetooth but.

Me and Hoddie have a royal au and your animation made me think of it again.

Nothing crazy special, but...ah...I should probably give a little context yeah...hmm.

Uh, okay. There's a kingdom. whose king and queen have died, leaving behind several possible heirs who are not their direct children. Right now, the king's first general is sitting on the throne, because the power of the army is, you know, a pretty powerful argument in a fight for the throne, right? This creepy regent is Cass. And Cass came to power thanks to Hoddie, who's basically the king's heir too, but she's pretty distant and her chances of the throne are quite slim. This has made her a professional rat and back stabber. The whole palace is busy weaving intrigue and destroying each other in a competition for power. Contests in cunning and sneakiness. A maximally intellectually uncomfortable environment in general.

Until Hoddie finds the true heiress. The king's blood daughter, to whom the throne should rightfully belong.

Problem? The problem is that the heiress needs to be two years older to be old enough to rule. And Hoddie and Cass' goal is to make sure she lives to that age in an environment where every other person wants to frame or kill her.

That heiress is you, Tap. But we couldn't think of what you'd look like in this au ahaha.

MHHMMM I SEE ONCE IN A WHILE BRAIN BLUETOOTH IS A GOOD THING you left me a window for my part and I grabbed this opportunity with sharp teeth Since there was no mention of my part, I have the audacity to add my own version. Did I understand correctly that my existence as an heiress was not known? It would be strange if the king was not looking for me, if I was the only heir (by blood), which means they were hoping for a new child, or already had plans for an indirect heir, or wanted to hide me. What other power is there, besides the king and the army, that holds the common people? Church. The king could have sent me to be trained as a priestess in order to gain support from them (either I was not considered worthy of receiving the throne in the future, which is why they preferred to hide me, or the king so badly needed their support that he was ready to sacrifice his only blood daughter) . Thus, from a young age, the beauty of a non-existent world somewhere beyond the heavens was drummed into my head and, in general, “God speaks all our actions.” I have an inconspicuous appearance, a position above a simple servant, but such priests are usually considered to be the daughters of high nobles, but not the king himself, which is why not everyone could know who I really was. Thus, they forgot about my existence ~ After the death of the king and all the heirs, the church quickly realized what to do next, and crushed me to itself, hiding me from the world until I reached the age of succession to the throne. (But children could take the throne under a regent. Could Hoodi become my regent as one of the older contenders for the throne?) So, back to the turmoil. Hoodie found me at church. Since childhood, my worldview could have changed greatly under the influence of the church, so, well, you will have to hammer a lot into my head, in addition to the throne’s education (You know... it's bit complicated to make a human sona not as a stupid little ball XDD... it literally can't get a shape at this point... maybe you will place a real bunny as the new king? It will be eating cabbage 24/7 and everyone will be happy)

#You know~ I'm sure you know that church isn't a very good place~ #commoner servants or lowly noble servants do not dare to say a word against the nobles. (The laws are no better than in the kingdom itself) #Tapa saw some horrors in here~ #I tried to make a look closer to the rabbit #but I guess it will be mostly about the way I behave #And sometimes the most beloved kind of hairstyle - rabbit looking one #But it's a bit complicated to get used to all these after strict rules of the church #Tapa #Cass #Hoddi #royal au #my little happiness

[artofalassa]

The Lightning

Wolfwood lives. I said so. Here's part one of the AU.

Part TWO

#trigun #vashwood #nicholas d. wolfwood #vash the stampede #trigun maximum #wolfwood lives au #las!art #hi i'm las and i'm drawing a doujin i guess #this time we're grayscale mostly #because I want to tell the story without spending a week on just one page #gonna be hard because i love colours #but i hope it won't disappoint you ;; #i just want to see the bois happy together okay #trimax setting with some aspects of tristamp

[cryptozo]

Movement is the motivation tonight

#gear 5 #luffy #Monkey D. Luffy #Nika #the song is: Movement by Jamie Woon for those interested #mostly just a practice on colouring since i havent done much colour drawings recently #i'm somewhat happy with it

[callmehere-iwillappear]

art from chapter 7 of idiot's guide! twins my beloved <3

(id in alt)

#rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt leo #idiots guide #my art #fic art #this has been sitting on my computer for literally months and i can FINALYY post it good lird #there's uh. definitely a few things i'd change if i did it Now but. i did not. so #and i'm still mostly happy with it which is what matters ajfldsjflksd

[marshmallowgoop]

no thoughts just Heiji Hattori (HD)

#detective conan #case closed #amv #my amvs #eye strain #heiji hattori #harley hartwell #conan edogawa #shinichi kudo #funimation english dub script #video #happy two-year anniversary to 'no thoughts just heiji hattori'! #while it's not my first amv (it's maybe my... fifth?) #it was the first one i made with davinci resolve and the amv that really got me into editing amvs for real #it's the amv that made me believe i could make amvs 🥺 #and in remastering it i deeply understood how ambitious it was! i thought i did a lot of audio mixing for 'messed up' #but that's not even close to all the audio mixing i did here--cannot believe that i did all this for my first big amv project #it took about 20 hours *just* to remaster! #which is something i've been meaning to do for a while now so i'm very happy to finally share the results! #to make this a 'remaster' and not a 'redo' the only changes i tried to make were to the source footage and audio #video now uses almost entirely hd remastered footage from my blu-rays or netflix rather than my dvds #but oh gosh was it *hard* not to touch anything else! i'd do so many things differently now #but this video will always be really special to me (and i can't believe i did it at all tbh!) #i hope seeing it in hd is fun too! i'm so blown away by all the love this vid's gotten #and that it helped increase interest in funi's old english dub is amazing and 100% what i was trying to do with it! #thank you everyone for all the support <333 i wouldn't be the video editor i am today without this vid or your encouragement for it <3333 #like the original the sources used are mostly from what funi dubbed (but mixed in hd by me!): eps 48-49 57-58 77-78 117 and 118 and movie 3 #but i also used episodes 141-142 174 189 239 263 277 291 293 345 479 491 517 and 522 #and ova 3 and tv special 6 (episode one) and movies 10 and 13 and ops 27 31 and 33 and the funi 5.2 dvd blooper for the one line lol #i'm sorry i've been so absent lately! i hope to be more active now... and there are 2 completely done amvs that i'm just waiting to post...

[babygirlkaramatsu]

hello, my fellow karamatsu comrades.

⛔ BLMATSU / PROSHIPPERS DNI!! ⛔

#i was trying to figure out a happy medium between my style of ososan's style for casual doodling on here... i'm still working w/ it #the other sketches are older and in my regular style tho #i haven't drawn these guys in years so i'm trying to get back into the swing of things #for any ososan girlies if you have seen someone w/ the user wildflowercryptid in your notifications dats me hi 👋 #i've mostly been lurking but i wanna try making more ososan stuff bc the blogs i follow really inspire me... #i also have an oc i've been working on so i'll post about them soon :) #osomatsu san #ososan #karamatsu matsuno #karamatsu #todomatsu matsuno #todomatsu #mj draws

[synthaphone]

And here's all of the converted Centibytes together! I had to chop the big image I had into pieces because otherwise it gets compressed to hell, lol

#centibytes #my art #i don't have anything meaningful to say really... i'm very happy to have finished all of these #i'm not done with them altogether though- i've got a couple different things i still want to do now that all the colors are done #thanks to everyone who followed along!! #i've been mostly doing these for myself- i find it really satisfying to learn how to match the style and push myself #but it makes me super happy that other people like them too!!!

[okkennymay]

Commission for @xxmischieflovesxx (aww man why wont it let me @ you??)

Listen I know the vast majority of what i post is commissions, but a mans gotta keep a roof over his head one way or another 9w9"

At least I get a lot of really fun ones!~ 💖

Ahhh Dan under house arrest by Clockwork, his "warden" a demon, and his attempts at intimidation in that last panel were most certainly futile.

#danny phantom #okkennymay #commission #sketch page commission #Dan Phantom #someone else's oc #comic #mini comic #she's a begrudging warden at that #“yes I invited you to join me for a drink because fuck this situation but I didn't mean mINE ASSHOLE” #DAN THE FUCKING TOILET SEAT MAN. HOW MANY TIMES. #me using manga tones for the first time: aM i doIN thiS SHIt riGHT?? #honestly i'm just happy to be drawing and posting more at all- even if its all mostly commissions #i've come a long way and a friend recently helped me truly see that 💖 #I'm often too hard on myself- I hate that its taken me years to get to this point but it's certainly better than never reaching it at all 💖

[super-nowa-art]

little eggplant learns to fish!

#art #digital art #fanart #one piece #one piece fanart #sanji #red leg reff #painting #i'm mostly really happy with how this came out???? that's so cringe of me #if it wasn't past midnight i'd have made the water look better but i have and early day tomorrow so fuck that #anyway when i was looking up reference for baby sanji i almost cried bc he's so fucking precious

[mattodore]

theo’s bedroom is slowly coming together

#river dipping #theodore doe #echthroi #ts4 #ts4 edit #after the save broke yesterday morning for the fourth! time i finally pulled up mod manager and started looking through the hundreds of #conflicts i apparently had and also deleted well over 500+ duplicates... my mods folder is SO rancid i'm sure i missed some conflicts #bc see those dark blue pillows on theo's bed? those are actually white :) but for some reason when i move the pillows near the wall they #change color depending on the time of day... it's not just those pillows some other objects do it too... just closing my eyes at it <3 #the bed and desk are where theo spends most of his time so i spent forever on them. his bed needed to be overwhelmed by stuff #there are... ten pillows i believe two large covers a sheet and a blanket. theo kind of just... burrows into the center and hides. #bunny boy behavior........ and yeah those are matthias's gloves on theo's desk <3 #i have to recolor the stuff on theo's walls later. i imagine his walls are mostly empty and it's just the floors in his apt. that're messy #but i wanted sticky notes to help him remember things and that back wall is going to have matthias's art and love letters #<- which theo definitely takes down and hides whenever matthias actually comes over lmaoooo #also i finally moved all of the pins from theo and matthias's boards over to @theodoredoe (mattodore was taken 😞) #i wanted a place just for my oc boards and i also wanted to be able to add sections to each oc's boards so! new acc! #yk how i mentioned theo's board looking so cluttered? yeah so. figured out it's bc over half of his board is just quotes #i made a section and threw all the 200+ quotes in there and will slowly put some of them in his main board #his board just looks so much better now like i'm so happy about it 🥰 it was definitely worth the time #OH ALSO!!!! IF ANYONE HAS SOME DEAD PLANT CC PLEASEEEE SEND IT MY WAY!!!! #theo really loves just. ripping plants and flowers out of the ground and taking them home to put in little pots but. he always kills them #jsknndkhj so i need dead plants!! limp!! DEAD!!!! #but i seriously can't find any #anyway... that's my build update <3 fr not much has happened bc i've had to start over four :) separate :) times :) but it's getting there. #i miss mattodore tho...... gkhjndfkhjn so i might take a break and get some poses and an edit going soon

[corpsoir]

i made a couple of tarot inspired vento aureo drawings!! by far my favourite little project i've done so far :)

the rest of them can be found here!

#I'M SO FUCKING HAPPY WITH THESE YOU HAVE NO IDEA #also almost missed that i had written the wrong number on fugos card but i fixed it lol #i tried keeping some elements of the traditional cards but mostly i just went with what i thought looked nice #mistas infinity sign on his hat is deliberate! #im gonna print all of them and put on my wall and also give to some friends <3333 #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #golden wind #vento aureo #bruno bucciarati #bruno buccellati #leone abbacchio #bruabba #guido mista #giorno giovanna #narancia ghirga #trish una #diavolo #purple haze #jean pierre polnareff #polnareff #corps art

[rogerdeakinsdp]

Cillian Murphy + favorite music moments

happy birthday, Robin! (@madeline-kahn)

#userrobin #cillian murphy #breakfast on pluto #perrier's bounty #peaky blinders #the delinquent season #sunshine #red lights #inception #a quiet place part ii #anna #free fire #28 days later #watching the detectives #HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBIN!!!!!!! #this is very reductive i'm sorry #at first i only wanted to include songs but he really was in movies with some of the most iconic scores so...... #and i haven't seen oppenheimer yet..... #i mostly went for the comedy angle bc i think cillian is hilarious #breakfast on pluto had a lot of great songs but i chose fly robin fly bc it's literally your name #john denver is here bc i put him in the previous mix too #and 'new in town' is funny bc it's also in jennifer's body #anyway hope youre having an amazing day!! wishing you so much happiness and love <3 #*if you want a spotify link to the mix (yes i made it. it exists) just let me know #MWAHH

[dreamofbecoming]

more stobin nonsense from your resident trash goblin. feat. shitty harrington parents, lavender marriage, full party found family shenanigans, steddie flirting, steve&will bonding, and a severe lack of dialogue tags

rating: t wc: 5k ao3

“I knew it!”

Steve sighs. Listen, he knew the minute he opened his mouth that this was coming. There was always a zero percent chance Dustin was ever gonna let him get out the whole thing before bursting in with this exact interruption, but that doesn’t make it less annoying. If the little shithead would just let him finish--

"I knew you were perfect together, I can't believe you didn't tell us you were dating! How long have you been a thing? I have money to collect! Can I be your best man? Never mind, obviously I'm gonna be your best man. You so owe me for not telling me sooner! I cannot believe-"

"Henderson!"

"What?"

"We're not together like that."

In fairness, Dustin is not the only one to give them an incredulous look for that one.

"Steve. You literally just announced you and Robin are getting married. What is even the point of pretending you're not in love anymore? What are you still trying to prove? Just admit I was right the whole time!"

Steve pinches the bridge of his nose and forces himself to take a deep breath, instead of wringing Dustin's weird little boneless neck. It's not his fault, he reminds himself. They haven't gotten to the second part of the announcement, so his assumptions are natural.

Now, it is Henderson's fault that they haven't managed to say the rest of what they came here to say, so maybe he can keep blaming him after all.

"Do you remember when we sat down and we asked you guys to let us say everything we were gonna say without interrupting?"

"Uh, yeah dude, it was like ten minutes ago. We're not stupid."

"Has it occurred to you that maybe we weren't done saying everything we were gonna say, considering I was halfway through a sentence when you jumped in?"

"I mean, I guess, but like, it's pretty obvious where you're going with this, Steve. You're not a complicated guy, no offense. Now, where did we land on the best man issue?"

Nancy must see the offense very much taken on his face, because before he can open his mouth and say something probably horrifically rude that would feel amazing in the moment and which he would immediately regret, she jumps to his rescue.

"Dustin, you're being very rude. Steve and Robin came here to talk to us, and we promised to listen. Let them finish."

It's nice of her to back Steve up, considering how weird this conversation must be for her. Hopefully it gets less awkward soon.

Henderson grumbles mutinously, but years of dealing with first Mike and then the rest of the little dickheads have left Nancy's control ironclad, and he waves sarcastically for Steve to continue.

This kid is spending too much time with Eddie, the attitude is getting out of hand.

"Right. Thanks, Nance. As I was saying, Robin and I are getting married, yes. But not because we're in love. I mean, I love her, obviously, but as a friend. Only a friend. Or, well, I guess a friend and soon a...friend...wife? Frife? Wend? You guys get it."

"We very much don't." Alright, well, fine, add Max to the shitlist.

He looks over at Robin, hoping for help, but she's stiff as a board and trembling all over.

He doesn't want to be the one to say the words for her. They agreed together to tell everyone the truth, it was her idea even, but the last thing he wants to do is steal that moment from her.

Maybe he can just…talk around it, until she feels up to it. And if not, he’ll just tell them his part of it and call it good.

“We’re getting lavender married.”

Okay, so that’s probably not like. A normal way to say that or whatever. Robin just used that term like fifty times last night, alright? She was really excited about the article she just read about it, something about how it was a thing in, like, olden times or whatever, and now it’s coming back because Reagan is a fucking tool, Steve’s not sure, he was only kind of listening. Regardless, now it’s stuck in his head. Sue him or whatever, geez.

Anyway, he isn’t sure how many people in this room will actually understand what that means, but Nancy’s mouth drops open in a perfect little O the way it only does when she’s genuinely surprised by something, and there’s a tiny gasp from over by the table that he thinks might have come from Will, and Max mutters to herself “Oh shit, that explains so much,” so it’s not none of them, which helps. No pitchforks yet, at least.

Jonathan is eyeing him speculatively, and Argyle is offering him an enthusiastic thumbs up, which is nice.

Unfortunately, the other boys and El are giving him blank, expectant stares, and Erica is eyeing him with both confusion and annoyance, so it looks like he still has some explaining to do.

“What the hell does your color scheme have to do with this? I’m not helping plan the wedding, dude, I don’t care that much.”

Steve mumbles a “Language,” on reflex, but his heart isn’t in it. This is somehow more nerve-wracking than evil Russians.

“Mike, that’s not what it means. Now shut up and listen, or I’ll tell Mom how that red sock ended up in her load of white delicates.”

“Oh come on, she’ll kill me!” When all he gets in return is a single raised eyebrow, he groans and slumps further into his seat, glaring at Steve.

“Right. Okay. So basically, last night, my parents--”

“I’m a lesbian!”

There’s a beat of dead silence, which in this group is more unsettling than just about anything else.

Steve keeps his eyes on Robin, who looks just about as shocked at her own outburst as everyone else in the room. He takes her hand, squeezing gently until she unfreezes a little and looks back over at him. She looks terrified, and it breaks his heart a little.

“You okay, babe?” He keeps his voice low, murmuring just loud enough for her to hear. He knows this moment is the opposite of private, but she needs him to pretend for a second, so that’s what he’s gonna do.

She nods, a little jerkily, but she grips his hand back and intentionally evens out her breathing. She’s so fucking brave. He would burn the world down for Robin Buckley, and he doesn’t care who knows it.

He can’t believe she’s willing to do this for him, but he’s so grateful he feels like he’s choking on it.

“Henderdork will literally never shut up and let you live it down if we do this and he doesn’t know the truth. Not even for a single second for the rest of forever, and I, for one, am not putting up with that shit until death or legal marriage reforms do us part, Dingus.”

It was a solid point last night when they came up with the plan, curled on her bed while she stroked his hair and generously pretended he hadn’t soaked the shoulder of her shirt with his sobs, all his worldly possessions packed into a duffel on her bedroom floor, but he knows her insistence was more about knowing how much he hates lying to the kids than it was about protecting herself from irritating teenagers.

He doesn’t think there’s enough room on the whole planet to hold all the love he feels for her, even if you count the Upside Down and any other weirdo dimensions floating around out there waiting to ruin his day.

“I’m okay, bubba. Don’t let go?” Her hand is shaking in his, but he just squeezes harder.

“Never.” He turns back to the room, eyes hard as he scans the faces of their family for any hostility. He wouldn’t have agreed to this part of the plan if he thought any of them would be a problem, but he’s not taking anything for granted with Robbie’s safety. Not now, not ever. "Everyone's gonna be cool about that, right?"

"Of course we are, right, guys?" From the pained grunt that follows her words, Steve assumes Max has dug her elbow into Mike's ribs.

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

"I suppose this makes you slightly less lame, Buckley. It's definitely better than when I thought you liked this loser." Wow, okay, thank you Erica.

"Yeah totally! Thanks for trusting us, Robin." Lucas is a sweetheart, he really is. He's also glancing surreptitiously at Will while he nods enthusiastically, who is still staring open-mouthed at Robin with wide, shiny eyes.

"Yes, thank you for trusting us, Robin." Nancy is smiling kindly, but she's got that glint in her eye that Steve knows means she just came up with more questions and is waiting for the right moment to strike. Fair enough, at least she's letting Robs have her moment first.

He finally drags his eyes back to Dustin, who he doesn't really want to admit, even to himself, he's a little worried about. Not that he'll be shitty about it, necessarily, but there's nothing that brings out Henderson's bitchy side like being wrong, and he's been so fucking wrong this entire time. It's bound to upset him.

And maybe Steve will never say this out loud where the other kids might hear, but the truth is that Dustin's opinion matters to him more than just about everyone else's. Dustin was the first person in the whole world who saw Steve, the real Steve, and decided he was worth keeping around. If Henderson can't accept this part of Robin, it means he can't accept this part of Steve, and if that happens...if that happens Steve isn't sure he'll be able to come back from it.

So he's...not worried, okay? Worried is not the right word. Anxious, maybe. Concerned.

Okay fine fuck off he's worried.

Dustin...looks like he's about to cry. Shit.

"Did you think you couldn't trust me?" His voice is so small. Steve doesn't think he's ever heard it so small. It feels wrong. Henderson's voice should fill every room he's in, always. "You didn't have to lie. You could have told me the truth."

Aw, fuck.

"Buddy,--"

"It's not that simple, little man."

Steve whips back around to look at Robin. Are you sure you’re up for this? She purses her lips and narrows her eyes. Yeah, Dingus, this is my mess. Let me clean it up. Put the lance down, White Knight. Well, alright then. He waves for her to continue, ignoring the looks the others always shoot them when they do their silent conversation thing. Not his fault they can’t read each other as well, it’s not like it’s hard.

"Before today, Steve was the only person in the world who knew about me. And honestly, I don't know if I would have told him if we weren't both coming off torture and truth serum. I've worked hard to hide it my whole life, baby Dingus, that's not an easy thing to stop doing. It's scary."

"But we're your friends. We're your family! We saved the world together! You should trust your family, right?"

Aw, jeez. Steve forgets, sometimes, how young they are. They've been through horrific supernatural trauma, but they're still the kind of kids who think life is a story with a happy ending, like their little dragon game.

"Yeah, bud, you should, but it's not always that easy. There can be really serious consequences for telling the wrong person. Like, last night my parents found out I'm bisexual by accident and now I...well. Now I don't have parents anymore." Oof, okay, little blunter than he meant to be, but Robbie's getting anxious again so he has to take the focus back.

There's an eruption of sound, as every voice in the Party starts shouting all at once, turning the Wheeler's basement into Steve's own personal migraine generator.

"Did they kick you out?"

"You're bisexual?!"

"What's bisexual?"

"They can't just do that!"

"Does this mean we have to find somewhere else for Hellfire nights?"

That last one earns Erica several Looks, but she doesn't flinch. "What? I'm just being practical."

He wishes Eddie was here. The gremlins actually listen to him, unlike Steve, on account of as their Hellfire DM, he has leverage they care about to threaten them with. Well, most of them, but it's definitely a help when he's around.

Sadly he and Wayne are at some kind of Munson family reunion down in West Virginia this week, so Steve is gonna have to do this whole spiel over again when he gets back. He and Robin thought about waiting until he got back and the whole Party could be together, but the kids would definitely notice him not living in Loch Nora anymore pretty much immediately. And Steve hates the idea of telling him over the phone, so double coming out/engagement announcement it is.

"Alright, Jesus Christ, enough! One at a goddamn time, you animals."

He looks back at Dustin, who's definitely crying now. "Yeah, buddy, they kicked me out, but I'm okay. I'm staying with the Buckleys for now, and Rob and I have been saving up to move in together soon anyway, so all this did is move up our timeline. I'm safe and I'm fine, okay? I promise."

Dustin plasters himself to Steve's front, squeezing like he's worried Steve is going to shatter into pieces and he can hold him together by sheer force of will. It's very sweet, even if it's crushing his lungs a little.

"I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't tell me." The words are muffled in Steve's chest, he's not sure anyone else heard him.

"Aw, kid, it's okay. I trust you, alright? Always. You die, I die, remember? I was just...figuring my shit out, that's all."

"Your parents are mouthbreathers." Steve chuckles a little at the mutinous glare on El's face, not pausing his hand where he's stroking Dustin's hair.

"You're not wrong, Supergirl. But it's fine, honestly. They've always been dicks, I've been planning to move out for a long time. They just...gave me the final push, is all." He's definitely leaving out the part where he broke down sobbing in Robbie's bed last night, asking her over and over why he was so broken that his own parents couldn't love him, but the kids don't need to hear that part of the story.

"Does this have something to do with your whirlwind engagement?" There she is, ace reporter Nancy Wheeler. Observant as always.

"Yeah, pretty much. They disinherited me, but they're still legally my next of kin."

"And Dingus has had far too much head trauma for me to trust he's not gonna end up back in the hospital for something at some point, and the last thing we need is Mr. and Mrs. von Child Neglect getting that call. And I was just reading about gay men and women who are marrying each other so they can have someone allowed in to see in them in the hospital, because of the virus, you know? And I thought, hey that's not a half bad idea! We're gonna be living together anyway, and it's not like I'm marrying anyone else, and it'll be good for both of us to have someone who knows about, y'know, monsters and all that jazz, to do our power of attorney stuff, so, voila! Mr. and Mrs. Bucklington!"

"We are not changing our name to Bucklington."

"Well Harringley is worse, so suck it up, buttercup."

"I'm not interested in keeping the Harrington name, Bobs, I'd rather just be a Buckley."

"Aw, bubba, you're gonna make me cry!"

"You should both become Hendersons! Then we'd really be brothers!"

Steve erupts into laughter, the tension effectively broken by Dustin's wide, toothy grin. "What d'ya say, Bobbie? Steve and Robin Henderson?"

"Would we get access to Claudia's lasagna recipe? Because if so, I'm behind this plan one hundred percent.”

"By 'we' you do mean me, right? Because I love you more than life, Bobs, but I'm not letting you anywhere near a casserole dish. I've learned that lesson."

"It was one time!"

"It took me three days to get all the cheese off the ceiling! There's still a stain!"

"Well good! Ceiling grease stains can be the Harrington's problem now, anyway. They deserve it!"

Argyle is nodding sagely from on top of the incredibly deflated bean bag he's sharing with Jonathan. "I do like Bucklington, it makes you sound like a fancy butler. But family is important, brochachos, and so is lasagna. I vote Henderson."

This spurs impassioned arguments from all corners, which Steve is more than happy to relax into the couch cushions and let wash over him.

There's a light, bubbly feeling in his chest. For the first time since his dad walked in unannounced yesterday, interrupting his phone call with Robin at the worst possible moment, the knot of fear and grief in his stomach starts to loosen.

Robin smiles at him, and he grins helplessly back. Who needs parents when he's got a soulmate? They're together, they're safe, they're surrounded by their family. Steve holds Dustin tighter to his side and lets himself feel loved.

He takes advantage of a lull in the Last Name Wars to get out the last of the speech he'd planned. "Anyway, we decided to tell all of you the truth when we came up with this plan last night, because we do trust you and we didn't want to lie to you, and also because we knew you shitheads would never shut up about us being in love if we didn't and that sounded awful."

He laughs delightedly at the chorus of indignant outbursts this gets him before continuing.

"It's really important that you don't tell anyone outside the Party the truth, alright? We're gonna tell Eddie when he gets back, and we might tell Joyce and Hop eventually, but that needs to be our choice to do. You can't do it for us, and you absolutely can't tell anyone else. The whole point of this is to keep us safe by keeping people from finding out the truth, okay?"

El looks vaguely uncomfortable, but not upset. "Will you tell my Dad soon?"

Steve glances at Robbie, who's looking anxious again, and then over at Will. His shoulders are tense, hunched up around his ears, and he's staring intently at the table in front of him.

Steve isn't sure if anyone else knows what he thinks he knows about Will, but he's pretty sure he recognizes the specific flavor of isolation he can see Will struggling with sometimes, and he's definitely sure he recognizes the looks Will shoots at Mike whenever Wheeler isn't looking. Tommy used to look at him like that.

Either way, he knows the kind of fear the kid must be suffering, just like he knows how terrifying today was for Robin. For Steve, the worst case scenario has already happened, so he has a lot less left to lose. He can afford to smooth the way a little, to test the waters and make sure they're safe for everyone else.

It's not that different from his normal role in this group anyway, just a different kind of monster. He's always been good at taking hits so the others don't have to-- this is just another threat to step in front of.

"Tell you what, Ellie, I'll talk to Hop and Joyce this weekend, that way you won't have to keep secrets from him for too long. I'll just tell him about me, though, at first, okay? That way we'll know if it's safe for Robbie." Or anyone else, he doesn't say.

Jonathan hears it, at the very least, and shoots him a look that's equal parts surprised and grateful. Maybe Will has someone else in his corner after all, then.

El nods happily, satisfied with that.

Before anyone else can jump in, there's a clattering on the basement stairs. None of them have time to tense up too badly before the door bursts open and Eddie comes tumbling through it in a flurry of dark curls and frayed denim.

"Fear not, my wayward wastrels, for I have returned from far off lands, bearing tidings and the promise of libations!"

Steve only recognizes, like, four of those words, but seeing Eddie gives him the same happy, fizzy feeling in his gut that it always does these days, so he grins.

"You're back early, Eds, everything ok?"

Eddie blinks at him, then around the room, looking surprised to see it so packed.

"Yeah, my cousin Clarence accidentally broke my MeeMaw's pasture fencing and set all the goats loose in the hills, and if we stuck around we were gonna have to help round them back up, so Wayne and I snuck out early. I was coming to invite the gremlins out for pizza to tell you all about it, but this is more people than I was expecting. Y'all having a family meeting? Without little old moi?"

Steve valiantly suppresses the shiver that the twang in Eddie's voice triggers. Steve's not sure if Eddie notices the way his accent gets stronger when he's been talking to family, but he's had to work very hard to make sure he doesn't notice the way it affects Steve.

Steve has barely tested the flirting waters with Eddie since admitting his crush to Robin, he's definitely not jumping right in with 'It makes me tingly all over when you start talking with a drawl, wanna call me darlin' and see what happens?'

Luckily Bobbie notices his inner struggle and comes to his rescue.

"It was kind of a time sensitive issue- not a life or death one! Or like. Not a monster one, anyway. But shit went down last night and we needed to brief everyone before the geek squad figured out something was funky and came beating down the door. Steve wanted to tell you in person so we were gonna wait til you got back, but here you are!"

Eddie's looking at Robin with an amused smile on his face, one eyebrow raised and his lips quirked in a lopsided grin that is, frankly, unreasonably attractive. "Here I am indeed, my fair Lady of Feathers. So what's the scoop?"

He plops down next to Jonathan and Argyle on the beanbags, nearly sending them all toppling before Argyle hooks both of them around the waists and drags them practically into his lap.

Steve is not seething with jealousy. He's not.

A half a dozen voices chime out all at once.

"Robin's gay!"

"Steve's homeless."

"Robin and Steve are getting married!"

“Purple married.”

“It’s lavender, dummy.”

“Lavender’s a kind of purple!”

"They're gonna be Hendersons!"

"No they aren't, weirdo, they're gonna be Buckleys."

"Bucklington is clearly the superior choice, even if Argyle was right about the butler thing."

“Bucklington my ass, y’all dumb as hell if you think Mom and Dad aren’t gonna try and make him a Sinclair after this.”

"Mama and Papa Harrington didn't like that Stevie boy has double the love to give. Totally bogus. Bi bros for life, man."

"I still call Steve's best man!"

Eddie blinks a little when everyone quiets down, looking vaguely shellshocked. "That was. A lot of information to get in thirty seconds."

And, listen, Steve is like, 97% sure Eddie's cool. More than cool, even. He moves that bandana to the same pocket every time he changes his jeans, no matter what outfit he's wearing. There's no way that's an accident. But if Steve is being totally honest, which he's trying to do more these days, at least inside his own brain, this is maybe not the way he'd have chosen to come out to his crush. It's somehow way more nerve-wracking when he didn't even get to say it himself.

Oh well, it's out there now. It's fine, probably.

Still, there’s a definite feeling of relief when Eddie turns that megawatt grin on him again.

"Man, I wish I'd known there were other queers in Hawkins, I might have listened sooner when Henderson told me how cool you guys were!"

Steve laughs, only a little hysterically. "Dude, if you thought you were the only one, what the hell have you been wearing that hanky for? Who are you hoping will see it?"

It's a little gratifying to see Eddie go flaming tomato red in seconds. "I am not talking about that in mixed company, Steven. There are children here!"

"Ugh, we're literally teenagers."

"Tiny baby infants! If you're so curious, you can ask me again later."

"Promise?" Steve can't stop himself from grinning wolfishly.

Eddie tugs his hair in front of his face to hide, and the frantic little giggle and the quiet "Oh my god," he lets out both sound more than a little strangled. Steve's having the time of his life right now.

"Gross." Ugh, rude. He glares at Robin for ruining his fun. She sticks her tongue out at him.

Before they can devolve into the inevitable slapfight, Nancy cuts in again.

"Alright, unless anyone else has anything to share in private, I think we should take Eddie's suggestion and get something to eat." Good thinking, Nance. "To celebrate the happy couple, of course," she adds with a smirk. Yeah, that makes more sense.

"Onward then, my noble companions, to pizza and to paradise!" Eddie vaults off the beanbag, sending Jonathan and Argyle tumbling. Argyle laughs and accepts Eddie's hand up, while Jonathan just rolls his eyes good-naturedly.

Eddie slings an arm around Robin's shoulders as they head for the basement door. "So, Birdie, what's this I hear about a wedding? I need context."

As the kids go thundering up the stairs, arguing about who gets to drive in which car, Steve lingers. He noticed Will hanging back from the others, and now they're the last ones left, Will still slowly packing up the pens and notebooks he seems to carry around with him everywhere. Jonathan is hovering anxiously in the doorway, so Steve sends him a nod and waves him off. He's got this.

"You ready to go, kid?"

Will fidgets with the zipper on his bag for another few seconds before looking up at Steve through his, frankly tragic, fringe. "I'm sorry your parents suck."

"Yeah, man, me too." Steve shoots him a wry little smile. "It's alright though, sometimes we're better off without them. I've got plenty of family here that love me, I'll survive without Richard and Diane."

Will studies him for a minute. Steve's not sure what he's looking for, but he hopes he finds it.

"That's what Jonathan says about Lonnie." Steve nods, trying not to wince at the memory of the things he spat at Jonathan that day in '83 when everything changed. "I used to think it was my fault he left, but Jonathan says he was just a bastard, and it's better he's gone anyway."

"I didn't know Lonnie," he's careful not to say your dad, "but from what I've heard, Jonathan's probably right. And he's definitely right that it's not your fault."

"Like it's not your fault your parents kicked you out?"

"Yeah, exactly like that. If it was my fault, that would mean I did something wrong. The only thing I did was exist, and be different than they thought I would be. If they can't love the kid they had, then they shouldn't have had a kid at all. That's their problem, not mine. There's nothing wrong with me."

It doesn't matter if he heard all of these things from Robin first, if he's still trying to learn to believe them. Will needs to hear them like they're true, the same way Steve does.

"Are you sure?" Will's voice is trembling now. He's looking at the floor, but Steve can tell there are tears coming. "How can you be sure this is how you're supposed to be? Wouldn't you rather be normal?"

Oh, kid. "I mean, yeah, maybe it would be easier if I only liked girls, but I don't. I tried for a long time to pretend that I did, but it didn't make it true. And yeah, part of me wants to hate myself, because that's what they taught me to think, and I still kinda wish doing that would make them love me, but it won't. But honestly, you wanna know the biggest thing?" Will nods.

"I can't hate that part of myself without hating Robin, and there's no universe where I could hate Robin. Robin's perfect. She's the best person in the world, and she's gay, so being gay can't be bad. It's impossible. So whenever that voice in my head starts saying shitty things to me, I just think about how much I love Robin and tell it to shut up."

There's a beat where Will seems to be absorbing this.

"How did you know it would be safe? To tell us the truth?"

"I didn't."

Will stares at him in shock.

"Not a hundred percent, anyway. I was pretty sure, but it's never a guarantee with stuff like this, you know? But the other option was never telling anyone, and that...it gets tiring, you know? Always having to hide. Always having to check yourself. Lying when people ask the wrong questions. It wears you down. And I've fought monsters with you guys. I've been tortured by spies with you guys. If I can't trust this group to have my back, I can't trust anyone, can I? And I didn't want to live a life of not trusting anyone. I didn't want Bobbie to live a life like that. So, we took a chance. And it paid off, because all of you are the people we thought you were, and we were right to trust you. But it was a leap of faith, dude. It always is."

"What if I'm not ready?" Fucking shit, this kid. He's been through more than any of them, except maybe El, and he's still so goddamn brave. Steve would have crumpled like a tin can in his place.

"Then you're not ready. It's not a test, Will. There's no right or wrong answers. But I will say that every single person out there loves you, and they'll keep loving you no matter what you do. They're not like my parents, or Lonnie. Our friends aren't broken inside the way they are. Their love isn't conditional. You won't chase them away. You couldn't if you tried."

Will lets out a shaky breath, clearly fighting back tears. Steve leans against the table and keeps his head down, offering the kid the illusion of privacy while he pulls himself together. After a few minutes he speaks up again.

"You ready to go, you think?"

Will nods. He goes to walk past Steve to the stairs before hesitating and, to Steve's surprise, wrapping his gangly arms around him in an awkward hug.

"Thanks, Steve," he mumbles into Steve's shoulder.

Steve runs a hand down his back uncertainly. "Anytime, kid."

He keeps his arm around Will's shoulders tentative, but when the kid doesn't shrug him off or move away, he lets it settle more firmly, tugging him closer.

“Come on Baby Byers, let's go get some pizza. You think I can milk the disownment thing to get Eddie to pay for extra toppings?"

Will snorts. "I think Eddie would pay for as many toppings as you want as long as you do that little eyelash thing at him again."

Steve throws his head back and laughs, long and loud from his belly. Yeah, it's gonna be a good night.

my head hurts too much to keep writing this but please know that the pizza parlor engagement party involves plenty of arguing about roles in the wedding party, resulting in MOH erica/best man dustin (scoops troop babeyy), flower girl team lumax (max demanded the role bc her wheelchair means she can carry extra baskets of petals, and lucas will be pushing the chair so her hands are free. he's just excited to be there.) nancy/el bridesmaids and byler groomsmen (mike grumbles and groans but he's secretly thrilled). jonathan does the pictures and it turns out argyle got ordained back in cali as a joke so he officiates. eddie plays crimson and clover for robin’s wedding march. there’s a bit of a kerfuffle when claudia and the sinclairs both try to claim steve as their son, but after someone makes the argument that charles and sue have two kids to carry their name while claudia only has one, they end up hyphenating and becoming the buckley-hendersons. yes, claudia cries. yes, they get the lasagna recipe.

(at the pizza place, eddie asks what his role will be and steve says he doesn't know yet, but he'll save him a dance regardless. eddie has to hide in the bathroom to stop blushing.)

#stranger things #steve harrington #robin buckley #platonic stobin #dustin henderson #will byers #eddie munson #appalachian eddie munson #the party #not tagging everyone bc i don't want to clog character tags but the gang's all here #inklings of steddie #for what it’s worth i’m firmly in the camp of ‘will is out to el so she knows about gay people’ #the stobin lavender marriage fic #almost #the pre-stobin lavender marriage fic is more accurate #this is mostly a coming out to the party fic #idk i had fun with it #but my head hurts and tags are hard #happy reading i'm going to sleep #my writing