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buckets-and-trees · 10 months

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Test Play

Title: Test Play Fandom: MCU Characters/Pairings: Game Designer!Bucky x Female!Reader Word Count: 1.8k

Summary: Sequel to Perfectionists. All hands on deck around the clock as SHIELD has to put in some extra work in order to get things ready for game approval before the beta test can be launched soon at PAX East, especially if they want to beat out HYDRA's new pending release. What will that mean for the new development between Bucky and SHIELD's top tier tester when there doesn't seem to be time for sleep, let alone... whatever this is?

Content/Concept Warnings: gamer AU; strong language; SMUT: vaginal fingering, cock warming; beefy Bucky who is soft but a menace

Notes: THE FIRST OF MY PROMISED ANNIVERSARY SLEEPOVER FICS! Also crossing off:

Catching up on @buckybarnesevents WEEK FOUR of Hot Bucky Summer: Free Week: suggested cock warming

Seventh square of @buckybarnesbingo C3: FREE SPACE - seemed fitting to couple it with HBS Free Week

When I wrote Perfectionists, I really didn't think I had more story to tell or that these two would get as much love as they did...so this is something I'm very excited to share for part of my Anniversary Sleepover event!

A/N: AND THANKS to @rookthorne who helped me with a bit of gamer lingo and encouraging these two and literally @vonalyn’s expertise in knowledge of the gaming industry! Chi especially not only steered me in the right direction, but you were so generous and indulgent of my inquiries!

story divider by @firefly-graphics, reblog graphic by @vase-of-lilies

Masterlist | Aspen's Ask Box | Field Guide to the Forest

Steve looked over from his desk to see Bucky’s fingers tapping anxiously across the way on the corner of his desk, chin propped on his other hand, staring – glaring, really – at the clock on the wall. As the leads on the new Avengers story release for SHIELD, he and Bucky were on hold until the feedback from the latest round of testing hit their inboxes.

“You good?” Steve asked. None of them were great right now, but Steve felt keenly the need to make sure as captain of this crew that everyone was at least good.

The glower turned to him. “I’m fine, just… hate waiting.”

The icy blue stare didn’t faze Steve – he knew it wasn’t for him. “Maybe there are some preliminary notes we could get a jump on. Do you want me to go check on her progr–?“

“No, I’ll go,” Bucky cut him off and stood abruptly in the same second. He was out of the engineering and design lab before Steve could even respond.

Steve frowned.

Nat and Sam had gone down to consult with the marketing department, but Joaquin was still in the lab with him. “You know he hates these spots where there’s nothing to do until there’s something to do even more than you, Cap,” he quipped.

Steve sighed. “I know. But he seems even more worked up than usual, he’s never liked having to talk with the testers before now, but I guess desperate times…”

Steve went back to refreshing his inbox because there definitely were more things he needed to communicate back to the other teams, even if the other part of his work was on hold, so he missed the slight smirk on Joaquin’s face.

Bucky was on a direct path, not to be deterred by anyone if they were trying to get his attention in any way. As he came around a corner, he nearly collided with T’Challah, lead writer on the story design team.

“Barnes! My apologies!”

“Oh, no!” Bucky’s face turned a bright red. Anyone else and Bucky with his broad chest and hulking frame would’ve probably bowled them over. “That was all me.”

Though they’d worked together from time to time over the last year, Bucky still didn’t know him very well, but T’Challah was one of the few others at SHIELD Bucky enjoyed working with outside of his own team and he had a fair bit of respect from the man.

“On your way to the test room?” T’Challah guessed.

Bucky rubbed the back of his neck. “Guilty.”

T’Challah smiled. “I just came from there. From our conversation, I expect we’re closer than we hoped on getting this mode online with the rest of the release. She’s not done yet, but I think you’ll like what she has to say.”

You glanced over your shoulder when you heard someone closing the door to the test room. “I can not go any faster, I promise.”

You did a double-take and paused the game when you saw the giant gaming engineer who had ruined you a week earlier crossing the room. “Hi,” you breathed and returned the soft smile you saw on his face. You were glad it was dim in the room so he couldn’t see every detail of your expression, feeling flushed at the sight of him, and biting the slight edge of your bottom lip.

“Hi,” he returned warmly. There was a slight twinkle in his eye as his gaze swept over you. “What is this?” he gestured up and down as he planted himself down next to you, body angled to you and not the gaming screen.

You were cocooned with only hands sticking out from one blanket draped over your head and your shoulders and another wrapped around your legs. “It is Women’s Winter! I’m trying not to freeze in the extremes of corporate American summer air conditioning temperatures!”

Bucky laughed. He laughed around the team, but rarely around anyone else. And this? With you? This was still so new, but it was nice.

“Here, I’ll help warm you up.” Bucky settled in on the couch directly next to you. His hulking frame made the couch dip slightly beneath him, and that brought your cocooned self partially into his lap. He wrapped one beefy arm around your back and the other rested over your legs.

“Hi,” you said again, a whisper this time.

“Hi.” The dimness of the room did not prevent you from seeing the heat that was building in his gaze.

That look made you want to squirm in the best way – to be writhing under him. He was so big you had to tilt up your head to look into each other’s eyes, but that was no problem. It meant a natural invitation for Bucky to lean down and capture your lips in a kiss.

Which he did.

The sweet greeting of the kiss, not having seen each other for a few days, melted away quickly into more. His tongue teased at the seam of your lips, and you opened your mouth to him eagerly. It was hungry and demanding, and he pulled a moan from your throat.

And for some reason your brain switched back on, and you laughed breathlessly and pulled away.

“Buck, no.”

“Buck, yes.”

He circled his arms around you completely now and burrowed his head into the crook of your neck, mouthing at the tender flesh there, a little nipping, kissing, and licking that had you moaning again.

The thud as the controller hit the floor reminded you again that you were supposed to be finishing the test play, not letting Bucky play with your body.

You jumped out of his arms and retrieved the controller.

“Buck, anyone could come in and see us! We’re lucky no one caught us the first time.”

The grin does not leave his devastatingly handsome face. “I specifically locked the door when I came in this time.”

You laughed but shook your head. “That was awfully presumptuous!”

His expression softened, and he reached for your hand. You let him pull you closer as he spoke. “It might have been presumptuous, but it wasn’t my only intention. I’ve been eager to see you, spend time with you. One night of fun last week and lunch the next day before the HYDRA shitstorm… that’s not all I wanted with you.”

He held your hand up and kissed your palm before pulling you even closer. You melted into him as he circled his arms around your waist, your blankets having pooled at your feet. One of your hands threaded into his hair, the other wrapped gently around his neck. He turned his head, resting his cheek against your front, and you felt and heard him take in a deep breath and then exhale slowly. You felt that energy mirror inside of you as well.

You didn’t think he had only used you for one hot night of pleasure – the hours spent wrapped up in each other on the couch after fucking, and then waking up in your own bed the next morning to a text already waiting asking if you wanted to get lunch had said a lot – but it had not been the week to jump into … whatever this was going to be. Ten days ago Barnes had only been the guy you had harbored a crush on and thought didn’t like you one bit since you had been professionally clashing for months as game engineer and game tester.

Literally while you had been at lunch, teasing him about his questionable choice of footwear, Bucky had received a flurry of Slack messages and then a call from Steve. They had intel on review notes from the beta release HYDRA had submitted to one of the first party platforms and Fury had decided to bring the Deep Shadow Conditions mode back into the release SHIELD was going to submit to the first party platforms for approval at the end of next week.

Meaning Bucky and the rest of his team had only by necessity taken any kind of breaks to sleep and refuel for the last seventy-two hours, you’d exchanged all of five texts, and had only seen him from across the main floor once in all that time.

So, this was nice.

Your Apple Watch buzzed at your wrist, and you groaned and pushed away from Bucky, hastily moving around to stand behind the couch.

“I’ve got to finish this test play!”

And you hit resume on the game, leaned forward, and planted your elbows on the back of the couch, getting back into the zone.

Bucky heaved himself over the back of the couch and closed in on you, caging you in on either side with his massive biceps, his big solid chest at your back.

“Bucky!” you tried to take a stern tone, but it was hard when you were relishing the measured weight of him against you.

“I’m not stopping you,” he murmured against the back of your neck.

“Bucky! Really!”

He shifted slightly and then you could feel the smirk of his lips on the side of your neck. He planted one hot kiss there, then said, “If you’re so damn good at what you do, keep playing.”

“Are you issuing me a challenge?”

“Just a chance to prove what a consummate professional you are.”

“Challenge accepted. You are an incorrigible menace,” you laughed.

“Actually, I’m cold.”

“You were judging me and my blankets not even five minutes ago,” you said, focused on the action on the screen.

While he remained hunched over your back, you felt him moving again, and you heard but didn’t register the sound of his belt unbuckling.

“Blankets? No,” he murmured in your ear, “I need you to warm me up.”

“Oh,” you moaned when his broad hand cupped your pussy.

“Think you can do that for me?”

He stroked firmly.

“Part of the testing is to see if we’ve got a game that captures the player’s attention, right? I’m just helping you test this aspect, see if a player can become easily distracted, lose interest – that’s the last thing we want.”

Slowly but purposefully Bucky undid your pants and you fought to keep your breathing even and your eyes open and where they were supposed to be as he pulled them down with your underwear. Then he nudged his right foot on the inside of yours to push your legs further apart while two of his fingers moved over your soft, slickening folds. Then he sunk his cock into you, and you both exhaled at the feel of him inside of you.

“How’s that?”

You let out a slight whimper.

“That good, huh? You’re never at a loss for words with that talented tongue.”

You elbowed him gently. “You really wanna play, Barnes? You tease that you just need some cock warming? You get me to break, and then you can fuck me however you like.”

“Oh, I can be patient. I’ll get you to beg for me to fuck you. We’ll see who gets desperate first.”

Masterlist | Aspen's Ask Box | Field Guide to the Forest

Link to the List of Sleepover Games

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x female reader #gamer au #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes smut #aspen's anniversary sleepover #aspen wrote something #hotbuckysummer2023 #buckybarnesbingo2023 #bbb2023 #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fanfic #omg reblogged thank you #kink: cock warming

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utilitycaster · 23 days

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between bertrand, bordor, orym and fearne, laudna, and now fcg, is this the campaign with the most deaths?

nope. Even if you discount Pike's pre-stream and discount Doty we're still at more than twice the number.

You forgot Chetney's very brief death this episode, but that still puts C2 ahead with eight to C3's seven: Molly (2x26), Spurt (2x50), Caduceus (2x55), Veth (2x83), Fjord (2x98), Yasha (2x131), Jester (2x140), and Caleb (2x140).

Now, this campaign does have three perma-deaths (assuming FCG's is permanent, which I think is likely) to Campaign 1 and 2's two, and I think in terms of harrowing perma-deaths it's clearly on top (Tiberius being offscreen, Vax being at the end with plenty of lead time to prepare, and Spurt being a very silly throwaway character by design) but they'll need to start dying more to catch up to prior campaigns!

#answered #Anonymous #cr spoilers

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bestworstcase · 6 months

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actually no i WILL elaborate re: #and the punchline is: salem’s playing the dragon variation (here)

ok. so. rwby’s chess motif is chiefly there to foreshadow and then articulate the paradigm shift that occurs between salem and cinder in V8; insofar as any other characters are involved in the chess symbolism it is largely in service of clarifying what’s being said about those two. but first we have to talk about

✨chess theory✨

for context. some basics. briefly.

if you’re not a Chess Person you probably have at least a vague idea of what the pieces are, how they move, and their relative value. but that’s as good a place as any to start, so:

a chessboard has numbered ranks (rows) 1-8 and lettered files (columns) a-h. you can notate a specific square this way: a1 is the dark square in the bottom left corner of the board. white’s pieces start on 1, black’s on 8. the queens start on the d file, the kings on e. pieces that start on a,b,c are called the queen’s or the queenside and likewise pieces that start on f,g,h are the king’s or kingside.

from the edge of the board in, the pieces go on in this order: rook -> knight -> bishop. then the eight pawns start in ranks 2 and 7.

pawns (P) can move 1 square forward and capture pieces that are 1 square diagonally in front of them (so a pawn on the light square e4 can move to the dark square e5 if it’s empty, or capture a piece occupying the light squares d5 or f5). from their starting position only they are allowed to advance 2 squares if both are empty. they also have a special and highly situational pawn capture (en passant) that Isn’t Important but i have to mention it because it’s really fucking funny to catch the unwary with. look it up. they cannot move backwards, but if a pawn travels all the way across the board to reach the 8th/1st rank they can be promoted to a piece of the player’s choosing (knight, bishop, rook, or queen)—usually queen but there are certain circumstances where a knight is preferable.

rooks (R) move in straight lines vertically or horizontally across any number of unoccupied squares. if they land on an occupied square the piece is captured. rooks also have a special move they can perform with the king if 1. neither the rook nor king have moved yet, 2. the king is not in check, 3. the king would not move through or into check, and 4. every square between the rook and the knight is empty. this move is called castling and it moves the king two squares in the direction of the rook whilst jumping the rook over the king into the light square adjacent to the king’s new position. so if white castles kingside, the king moves e1 to g1 and the rook moves h1 to f1; if white castles queenside the king moves to c1 and the rook moves a1 to d1.

knights (N) move in an L shape (1 square either horizontally or vertically, then 2 squares at a right angle to the first direction, or 2 then 1), jumping over any pieces in between. if they land on an occupied square the piece is captured; pieces they jump over are not captured.

bishops (B) move in straight lines diagonally across any number of unoccupied squares, capturing a piece if they land on it. both players have a dark square and a light square bishop; bishops can never move onto squares of a different color from their starting square.

queens (Q) can move and capture like a rook or a bishop; so, in a straight line horizontally, vertically, or diagonally across any number of unoccupied squares.

kings (K) can move 1 square in any direction (outside of castling). if an adjacent square is occupied they can capture the piece. the king has the unique restriction that it cannot move into a square where it would be under attack, so if there is a white rook on b3 and the black king is on c2, b2 and c3 are not legal moves.

a piece is attacked when it occupies a square that could be taken by an opposite-color piece; if the king is attacked it is in check and the player must use their turn to get the king out of check (by moving the king, blocking the path of attack with a different piece, or capturing the attacking piece). the goal of chess is to checkmate the opponent by forcing the king into an inescapable check; you do not win chess by capturing the king, you win by trapping the king in a position in which your opponent has no legal moves.

(if the king is not in check but one player has no legal moves, the game is a stalemate and ends in a draw.)

so it’s not about overpowering the enemy… :)

anyway. chess pieces are conventionally given relative valuations (standard is P=1, N=3, B=3, R=5, Q=9) for the purpose of having a loose rule-of-thumb to quickly assess positions during a game. but—and this is the important part—piece valuations are only rough approximations of the actual strength any given piece might have on the board, because how strong or weak a piece might be is contingent on a lot of things. the queen isn’t always the strongest piece on the board; pawns are extremely important in the opening and can be really strong in the endgame. etc

so! chess strategy and tactics! basic ideas:

space—that’s how much of the board you control—is very important. space can be evaluated by counting up how many squares a player currently occupies or has attacked (including empty squares that an opposing piece cannot safely move into because they are in an attack line) on the opposing side of the board.

control of the center—d4,e4,d5,e5, the four squares in the center of the board—is achieved by developing pieces to attack those squares. controlling the center is the goal of the opening because the player with the strongest control over those four squares has the advantage in

initiative, which belongs to whichever player is able to attack in a way that their opponent has no choice but to respond, like putting a king in check or otherwise forcing the opponent to defend rather than develop their own position.

placing one piece on a square from which it can attack a square currently occupied by a friendly piece defends the friendly piece; if the opponent captures a defended piece and the defender captures the captor that’s called an exchange. a piece in a defensive position to more than one other piece, or a piece under more than one attack, is overworked and therefore weak.

the strongest piece on the board at any given time is a piece that: 1. can attack through the center, 2. is defended, 3. is not overworked, 4. is not closed in by friendly pieces, and 5. is able to capture, put the opponent king in check, or defend another piece doing those things.

ok! this:

is the setup for an opening called the sicilian defense, dragon variation. black has just moved the kingside knight’s pawn to g6 and will on the next turn move the kingside bishop to g7, then castle kingside. this is notoriously one of if not the sharpest openings—a risky, aggressive, highly tactical play. if you open with the dragon your intention is to spend the rest of the game attacking and counterattacking; ideally you keep the bishop on g7 and knight on f6 until you can capture with the knight and reveal the bishop’s attack up the long diagonal. in this game the fianchettoed bishop on g7 is THE strongest and most strategically and tactically important piece on the black side, to the point that every major line for white to counter the dragon aims to weaken the bishop.

ok done talking chess theory now

back to rwby:

in the essentials, the chess symbolism is constructed around the metaphorical game between salem (playing black) and ozma (playing white); the white king is the relics and the black king is remnant freed from the brothers, basically. and the black queen—

—isn’t cinder.

the black queen is a virus written by arthur watts which cinder deploys in tandem with the grimm and the white fang to shatter beacon’s defenses and keep ozpin’s guardians pinned down while she captures the fall maiden and then takes down ozpin.

and that’s the dragon. conceptually. cinder is the bishop fianchettoed on g7 biding her time until the black queen, knights, and pawns launch the attack on white’s queenside defenses and open the long diagonal for her to go in for the kill.

the same setup happens at haven except that this time cinder’s chief opponent is raven, who can see what cinder is doing and counters by baiting her into a more vulnerable position with a decoy and then whacking her.

and then it happens again in atlas, twice, first when cinder plants the black queen in ironwood’s office to force the winter maiden into the open and second when she remembers how this play actually works and gets watts and neo to tear open the line for her before she forces checkmate.

ironwood is the white queen, and he believes salem is the black queen—hence them being positioned as such in the V8 opener. he sees the black queen as salem’s calling card; ruby connects it to cinder. but the black queen is watts—his virus, his icon—and salem identifies herself in both 3.12 and 8.1 as the one playing black; beacon was the first move and it’s her game to win. cinder “holds the key to [salem’s] victory” and cinder is “more valuable to [salem] than a pawn,” so much so that salem values her more highly than the notionally higher-value queen.

because salem plays the sicilian defense, dragon variation. and. well,

…cinder’s the dragon.

#cinder ''anthropomorphic personification of a fianchetto'' fall.#cinder ''chess but in an ‘i will fucking immolate you’ way'' fall.

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pxrxcxa · 2 years

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Opposite Ends

Chapter One - Welcome to Hawkins High

C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 | C6 | C7 | C8 | C9 | C10 | C11 | C12 | C13 pt 1 | C13 pt 2 |

Chapter 2 is out now - enjoy Sunflowers, P. x 🌻

Pairing | Eddie x Female reader 18+. Steve x Robin x Female reader platonic friendship

Series summary | Dustins older sister got brought into the group during the events of Starcourt mall, 3 months on she's in her senior year and the kids are starting high school. After everything that went down she feels that she has to keep them safe at all costs, that includes keeping them way from the charismatic 'freak' Eddie Munson that runs a club based on their favourite game. They've both hated each other since her freshman year -with good reason-, but when keeping distance between the kids and Eddie means putting herself in the firing line, boundaries get blurred, intentions get lost & the heart speaks louder than the brain.

The story is told from both Y/N & Eddies point of view.

What to expect | Slow burn enemies to lovers, Angst - with a happy ending, fluff & smut (in the later chapters). 18+ to read this story.

Series Warnings | Mentions of abuse, drug use, 18+ smut content

Chapter word count | 3.2k word count

Chapter warnings | Mention of physical abuse & Drug use

Any & All comments/reblogs are most appreciated - Love, P. x 🌿

Authors Note | I really hoped you enjoyed it & if you read the entire chapter then thank you for reading! I plan on putting a lot of effort into this story so it may be slow going at first before we see some development between Eddie x y/n. Feel free to let me know what you think! Take care sunflower 🌻, P. x

Y/N | October 1985

It had not even surpassed a month since the quote 'Fire of Starcourt Mall devastates Hawkins' had been splayed across static ridden TV sets in almost every household as it broke across our dearest - and allegedly cursed -towns news headlines and quickly spiralled into a national sensation, the deaths of the flayed blamed on it.

I didn't have to imagine what people thought about that "poor dammed Hawkins town' when they saw the news, up until June I was of the same mind as the rest of the towns terrified residents. Housewives had huddle together in the aisles of Hawkins stores; heads close together as the whispers broke out above the white noise.

“Yes, that’s right, ever since that Byers boy went missing, nothing has been right and all of these tragic deaths. I’m telling you Helen; it almost devilish what’s been happening. Hawkins can’t catch a break, we’re cursed, cursed I tell you.”

And with those venomous words loudly whispered into the eagerly awaiting ears of the notorious town gossip, it had taken only all of an afternoon for that gossip to turn factual and become the opinion held in the highest regard by most residents. Unlike those oblivious to the actual truth, I liked to think I wouldn’t have been so naive and gullible to believe the theories circulating the grapevine, some even more farfetched and implausible than what actually occurred last summer.

Well, almost, I amended. Sometimes I wondered if I would have been better off being continually blissfully unaware of what was beneath my feet at this exact moment. But my brother Dustin and his nerdy friends had come to me for help, whirling me into the most thrilling and traumatising week of my life.

Somehow having read some Russian literature and being able to crack some stupid code that Dustin wouldn’t explain the importance of, corelated to me being stuck in a secret Soviet Russian base elevator underground the famous Starcourt mall. I had sat with my head between my knees for hours, the cold metal of the grates in the floor pushing into my thighs while Dustin explained the past 3 years of our lives from his point of view.

I couldn’t keep up with his voice. Between some band geek from school that I recognised by face only, rubbing my back and kept asking if I was going to hurl, Lucas Sinclair’s kid sister humorous running commentary interrupting Dustin’s story at points and Steve the freaking hair Harrington pacing with his hands on his hips, inspecting the roof and telling Dustin to hurry up. I cut him off halfway through telling a story of something called a Dart. His goofy grin faded from his face as I stood up quickly, rubbing my hand roughly against my eyes to push away the images his irrational words had painted.

“Let me see if I’ve got this.” I had started ticking off my fingers.

“Byers wasn’t lost in the woods but was in fact in some other underground dimension of Hawkins.”

“The upside down.” Dustin interrupted me.

I continued like I hadn’t heard him “There’s some girl with superpowers who always saves you guys, and there’s something called a demodorgan that eats people?” Dustin opened his mouth to correct me, but Steve beat him to it.

“We don’t have time for this dingus, in case you haven’t noticed we are stuck in a literal Russian based filled with soldiers that are probably going to shoot us the moment they find us.” His voice raised to an unattractive shrill at the end, I examined him closer, dressed in that dorky ice-cream uniform with panic plastered across his face it was hard to imagine that he had once been my biggest crush in middle school. Although I doubted I looked much better.

“One last thing.” I grumbled as my hands flailed at my sides.

“Everyone else, literally everyone else knew about this except for me?” I questioned the room, but my eyes were on my baby brother. Anger was coursing through me, but also shame, it was hard to not believe that what he was saying was true given where I was standing at that very moment, no matter how preposterous all of it sounded, but shame at the fact that he hadn’t included me in this earlier. That Steve the hair Harrington had been a better older sibling than I had, I had been too focused on getting the best grades in school and over analysing every interaction I had with Billy while giggling with my friends, to see what clearly had to be happening in front of my eyes.

In that moment I had thought our situation couldn’t get worse. But then Steve, myself and Robin the band geek had held onto each other like a lifeline as we were each interrogated by the Russian soldiers, while Dustin and Erica ran for help. And the lasting physical damage from that didn’t even begin to compare to the consequences after the events of the fire, consequences that we were all still dealing with to this day.

I would have happily taken beatings from trained six foot grown Russian soldiers for the rest of my life if it meant the Mind Flayer never came top side. If it meant that I would catch glimpses of bruised skin out of the corner of my eyes as I passed my reflection in the hallways at school, instead of black worming lines that weren’t really there, crawling over my cheeks and pouring into my head. It had taken weeks for me to convince myself that it was just remnants of PTSD, or whatever the school counsellor had called it, that was causing the fleeting images to stalk me during my waking hours and follow me into my nightmares, seemingly doomed to plague my broken, murky mind forever.

That was the funny thing about shared trauma, the bond it created with those involved. Even though half of the group was split in more ways than one, it was ironic that I’d complained about being left out of the loop for so long, only to be practically joined at the hip with the members of the group that remained behind in Hawkins after the fire.

Max and I had found comfort in each other’s presence, silently understanding each other’s feelings over Billy. Since her stepfather had left and she had moved to the trailer park with her mom it had become the daily routine to drive her to and from school together every day, her home was out of the high school bus route and even though it wasn’t that far of a walk, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her to her own devices.

As I drove to the trailer park Max and her mother resided in, my eyes came to rest on the clothes flapping on the washing line next to her home, as I turned my car off Curly road, down her street. The familiar gravel of the makeshift street crunching away under the tires. She was perched on the weathered steps, wearing Billy’s jacket as always and headphones already covering her ears. No doubt playing that new ‘Hounds of love’ album, I could hear it sometimes when Max was having a particularly bad day and she blasted it as loud as possible it on her Walkman. Probably to drain out whatever thought or memory harassed her, the first time I wanted to chastise her about making her eardrums bleed I caught myself. I did things I wasn’t supposed to, to block out my own demons. Who was I to judge about how Max dealt with hers.

“Y/N” Dustin pulled me out of my thoughts from the seat next to me as the rolled the car to a stop, Max pulled the back door open and slid into the seat, nodding her head as her morning acknowledgment. “You’ve been in the school for three years longer than me so you should know what clubs there are!” Dustin smacked his walkie and shoved the antenna down in frustration. ”Dammit Mike!” The asphalt flew away beneath the car as I pushed the gas pedal down faster. Itching to get the day over as fast as possible.

“Do I look like I’m even remotely interested in your nerdy stuff to even pay the slightest bit of attention to what clubs you might like?” Although it might have been a good idea to see what group I could off load my brother and Mike wheeler to, it was the last day of the first week of high school and they were still following me around like lost sheep. My senior year, the one where I needed to concentrate the most and I was stuck running a baby-sitting club. I rocked in my seat as we drove over the speedbump leading into the school’s carpark.

“What’s hellfire?” My neck snapped to look at Dustin.

“Wh – what?” I sputtered, “How do you know about them?” He pointed to a duo walking in the swarm headed to the school’s entrance. Gareth and Jeff I thought, but it was hard to tell from the distance, my eyesight was worsening, and I made a mental note to find my glasses in my bombshell of a room, sooner rather than later. Dustin must have seen their shirts.

“So?” He pushed, eyeing me curiously.

“I don’t know man, they’re a club I guess, they play some game...” I tightened my grasp on the wheel and looked over my shoulder to park.

“What game?” He drew out his question like he already knew the answer. I groaned internally already sensing where this was heading. Apparently so did Max.

“Bye.” She murmured as she slinked out of the backseat, sliding her bag up her shoulder and burrowing down into the safety of her oversized jacket.

"Some fantasy game” I shrugged nonchalantly as his eyes bulged in his skull. Killing the engine and gathering my stuff, I spoke before he could. “You’re staying away from them, Eddie Munson’s a member and he’s a freak.” I explained forcefully, the words burned my tongue on the way out, I was sure the words ‘hypocrite’ were plastered on my forehead.

“He’s a freak because he plays a game?” He scoffed looking at me disbelievingly, with traces of disdain.

I rushed to explain myself “No I just – he just – look, he’s dangerous and you aren’t to go near him, no discussion.” He just grinned and jumped out. Rolling down the passenger side window I shouted at his retreating back “No discussion!”

With robotical movements, ingrained from following the same path for almost four years, I made my way to my locker to grab the necessary books for my first class of the day. Ignoring the lingering and longing stares thrown my way, the whispers had dissipated weeks ago. New morsels of gossip were either discovered or created far too often to focus on any specific one to cause any real discomfort.

After the fire, everything had changed, it wasn’t just the physical impact it had. Anyone could see the holes that the deaths had created in Hawkins, but there was one that affected me more than anyone else's. Suddenly the basketball team wasn’t as loud, the hallways were missing a certain cologne and I still waited five minutes after the last bell rung to hear the smooth purr of an engine that would never roar to life again.

In the terms of Hawkins Highs newsletter, I may as well be a victim of the fire to. Sweet perfect Y/F/N didn’t care about cheerleading, or basketball, or parties, or boys or friends anymore. I was just an empty shell, an echo of the bright person they grew up with. They said Billy’s death changed me, that I was too heartbroken to continue on without him. They weren’t all wrong, loosing Billy, and – my heart squeezed painfully with the memories of what happened right after that - did change me. I would never admit it to listening ears, lest it get back to Max, but I was well and truly over Billy in a romantic sense. The past 4 months brought my inane problems and mundane life into excruciating clear focus, suddenly what I was going to wear to the after-game party didn’t matter. Graduating as soon as possible so I could escape the town that had its talons in deeper than just my skin - it had my soul in its grasp - was the most important purpose in my life.

That still didn’t stop my old friends from caressing at the surface, probing to see if I’d would come back to life. A strong hand slammed down on the locker next to me, sending a ringing in my ears and my carefully stacked books to clatter the floor. Sighing, I stilled the rattling open door of my locker.

“You coming to cheer me on tonight Y/N?” Jason Carver. His overpowering stench of expensive cologne and sweat after basketball practise assaulted my senses, invading my body and mind. I took an involuntary step back and crinkled my nose.

“Just like every other Friday you’ve asked me Jason, no. For the last time no.” His nonchalant laugh insulted the seriousness of my tone, but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. There was something lurking there.

“Come on, I know your squad misses you.” His voice was whiny as he reached behind my head to bring the end of my ponytail over my shoulder, the brush of his fingers sent a chill up my spine as he fiddled with the green ribbon tied there. I could feel eyes pouring into my back, but when I spun away from Jason, slamming my locker shut, sending a fresh breeze over the both of us, there was no one I could see watching me.

“I’m going to be late for Mr Mundy.” I called as an afterthought, barely glancing back at a confused Jason still standing by my locker, not wanting to have him seek me out later. I hadn’t heard the second bell ring while he cornered me, too preoccupied with the sickening feeling that had begun in my stomach when Jason’s blue eyes bored into mine and now settled in the low pits of my frame as I tore through the empty corridors. I paused at the edge of Mr Mundy’s classroom door to fix my hair back into place when I got a glimpse of my reflection in the window. My breath hitched in my throat as a prickly heat spread out across my body. She smiled back at me with lips that were trembling on my own face.

“Y/N” She drawled, “I’m still here, waiting.” Black lines appeared on my neck, crawling up my face. My head swam as I hung my head down, ripping my eyes away from the stranger in the window. No, not a stranger echoed in my mind, the same black lines started to flourish from my fingertips, spreading up my forearms.

Something hard but fleshy slammed into my back, bringing me out of my nightmare. Tommy H spun around to grin at me holding his hands up in an apologetic way as he walked backwards into the class. My head snapped back up to the window, but it was my own eyes, glassy with fresh tears that stared back at me. I quickly followed suit after Tommy, hoping to slip in undetected. Fortunately, Mr Mundy was preoccupied with reprimanding Carol over some violation or another as I hastily found my seat in the third row. I shoved my bag under the desk and flipped to an empty page in my notebook, a strong breeze blowing through the open windows helped even my breathing as I focused on the coolness of the air. I groaned as I felt the warm body on my left shift in my direction. With everything that had happened that morning I hadn’t let myself think about this class. Mr Mundy had been out sick for the first two days of the week, so it was actually the first class of senior year, and like the past three years of high school in calculus, I was situated in my regular seat with some quiet band geek on my right side and –

“Miss Y/N,” He cleared his throat leaning forward “You uh –“

“Shut it Munson, you’d think since it was you’re third year trying to pass high school you would at least bring a pencil, regardless – not my issue.” I snapped, crossing my legs and angling my body away from Edward Munson, Hawkins Highs very own organically grown Metal head.

As much I appreciated Mr Mundy’s teaching style, i wasn’t a fan of his inability to deal with change, hence why – after clearly pissing off some high power from above– I ended up sitting next to Eddie on an iron clad seating chart. No amount of begging and bargaining with the Calculus teacher got me anywhere

‘The best and the worst students in the class, you might rub off on him Y/N.’ Mr Mundy then just winked, laughed and snatched his brief case up on his way out before I had a chance to respond. But if he thought for one second that I was going to tutor or be some sort of good role model, then Mr Mundy wasn’t as smart as he thought he was, or I just was as stubborn as I thought I was. Eddie was a lost cause, for the most part of our four years of school, I’d managed to avoid and ignore the metal head. We’d probably said about five sentences to each other and that was only because of partnered projects we were forced to share. Even so, I swore his sole purpose on earth was to piss me off and he seemed determined to live up to the title or die trying.

The way he’d twist the rings that adorned almost all of his knuckles, so they’d catch the sunlight and blind me, or how he’d bang a couple of pencils on his desk pretending to play a fake drum set while humming a song I didn’t know under his breath. The scratching of his pencil against his desk piercing through my concertation as he doodled away, completing ignoring whatever important material Mr Mundy would be teaching. Most infuriating of all though was the fresh smell of weed that would hit me like a rock as he sauntered past my desk, arriving late to class because he was busy smoking. More infuriating now, as it was what I used to be able to sleep through the night. Since the fire I hadn't one night where I didn't wake screaming or locked in a frozen cage of terror.

The earthy smell, even diluted by Eddie's cologne, sent a stab of wanting through my core, not a feeling I wanted to associate with Eddie.

A wolf whistle erupted behind me and I slowly turned to see Tommy and some cronies eyeing me up and down like a piece of meat.

“Nice show Y/N” They chuckled loudly, ensuring everyone could hear them, Mr Mundy started to make his way over to the commotion. I scowled at the group of boys confused, until realisation dawned on my face.

Chapter Two

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter & my very first post! If you would like to be added to my Eddie tag list, let me know! :) Enjoy Sunflowers - P. x

#eddie munson fan fiction #eddie munson headcanon #eddie stranger things #eddie munson one shot #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #stranger things s4 #stranger things 4 #stranger things #eddie fanfic #eddie smut #eddie fluff #eddie x reader smut #eddie munson x reader smut #eddie x reader #eddie x you #opposite ends

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daggersandarrows · 10 months

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reading cr discourse posts as someone who's super behind on c3 and likely will never bother to catch up has looped right around from me wanting to hit something to being funny as fuck. matt introduces so many new place and character and organization names that even though i'm very familiar with ~250 episodes of cr across all the campaigns, i have no fucking clue what anyone's talking about except for the odd pc name or guest character that i'm like "i THINK that one's emily axford? but who knows"

discourse posts that read like "i can't BELIEVE that y'all [charlie brown adult noises] [static buzzing] matt LITERALLY confirmed on twitter that [screeching feedback] [dialup tones] and when orym told fearne that [kazoo noises] [wilhelm scream] come on people it's OBVIOUS that the conflict between [accordion crashing down a staircase] anyway, this is the exact same thing that happened when laudna [slide whistle] [clown nose honk] so i don't know why i'm surprised. always the same with this fandom."

#bell's hells #critical role #thane.txt

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naddpod-encounter-tourney · 5 months

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Option 1:

Enemy: Lord Ultrus and the Order of the Runny Eye

Episode: C3 E44: Trial by Steel and C3 E45: Lord Ultrus

Time: 1:04:08 (44) - 1:42:08 (45)

Finish: Hardwon (traps Ultrus in the Kingshammer)

Notes: Hardwon starts the battle with a Battlemaster ability. Jaina and Calder finally get involved in a fight (from inside the helm!!). Callie joins them inside the helm, and Ultrus and the cultists keep swapping who is inside the helm and who is outside the helm. Hardwon has a real Hardwon moment of standing alone, facing down a god (or a giant who made a deal with a god and has the powers of a god, who was responsible for the death of his best friend). Sol does some shenanigans and kind of keeps missing but is also impossible to hit. Kenna keeps saving lives. I cannot actually describe in words the moment where Hardwon regains the Kingshammer, casts Spirit Guardians, and an army joins them, as we get to finally see Cobb's final moments and the memory that was stored in the hammer. Jake is playing 2 PCs wonderfully. Also: "Hardwon! Catch!"

Propaganda: (anonymous) The concurrent battles in the material plane and in the demiplane, Ultrus's ability to switch between the two so everyone got to fight both him and the warlock goons, the extra abilities stolen from the trapped prisoners, the mechanics for breaking out of the helm, HARDWON AND JAINA AND THE DWARF DADDIES

Option 2:

Enemy: Dragon Wilhelm Bronzebeard, Marabelle's Pretender, Beverly Toegold IV

Episodes: C1 E81: Greed, Anger, Heresy

Time: 7:31-56:33

Finish: everybody gets their guy (Moonshine first, then Hardwon, then Bev)

Notes: 3 separate one on one battles. Moonshine has to save Paw Paw, defend her role as fungal queen, and her spores damage changes (permanently option to change as well) to adapt to the circumstance. She also finishes with the dope max damage mechanic from Blight. Hardwon has to fight a dragon with just his dads, the dragon steals his hammer so he finds the Bronzebeard one. Bronzebeard is rejected by the hammer, even when he has it, and Hardwon gets to prove that he's the better man, once and for all. Bev is fighting his dad. It's not great. He smites his dad, hastes himself, and crits because of his casino drink. He then goes unconscious and is brought back up due to his dad storing Lay on Hands in the Devil Book long ago. He then sends his dad to Shadowfell and the Dusk Mother.

Propaganda: (anonymous) i literally dont even feel the need to say anything about it because the encounter speaks for itself. it's absolutely incredible

#naddpod #not another dnd podcast #bahumia #ba2mia #naddpod encounter tournament #round 4

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best-underrated-anime · 5 months

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Best Underrated Anime Group A Round 2: #A6 vs #A4

#A6: Sad lesbians sing while fighting monsters

#A4: Immortal vampires with daddy issues and family drama

Titles, summary, trailers, propaganda, and poll under the cut!

#A6: Symphogear (Senki Zesshou Symphogear)

Summary:

The world is beset by alien creatures known as the Noise. Nothing can touch them, and if they touch a human being, both turn into carbon dust. But, with the symphogear system-magitech battle armor powered by music and singing, humanity has a chance to fight back.

Propaganda:

This is the best example of music fights I’ve ever seen. They sing WHILE fighting. It’s amazing. The fight choreography, how the music plays into it, and let’s not forget the incredible character development. The entire cast is full of characters that would be the highlight of any other show. And last but not least, it is off the walls insane fun. You think it reaches its heights at the end of season 1, but no. It keeps climbing, and you are along for the ride.

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Pedophilia, Rape/Non-Con, Suicide

#A4: Servamp

youtube

Summary:

A normal 15-year-old boy named Mahiru Shirota, who likes to keep things ‘simple’ and uncomplicated, finds a black kitten in an alleyway and decides to take him home. He names the cat Kuro. Mahiru later discovers that Kuro is actually a Servamp (a servant vampire), and that by giving him a name he has formed a contract with him. This results in him getting dragged into a war between the other vampires and a vampire-hunting organization called C3.

Propaganda:

Servamp deals with intergenerational trauma and how wars don’t always have a clear-cut good/bad guy. The main antagonist Tsubaki, the Servamp of melancholy, and his subclasses (people he turned into vampires) seem reluctant at times to fight/hurt Mahiru unless they feel like it is necessary, and they all clearly care about each other (evil found family). Tsubaki even seems to have a bit of a bleeding heart considering how often he brings in new people even if they aren’t good at fighting. But that doesn’t change the fact that he is willing to let the world burn to achieve his goals as long as his people aren’t hurt in the process.

Then you have C3, the vampire-hunting organization. They view themselves as protectors of humanity and are willing to do anything to defeat Tsubaki, even kidnapping Mahiru to try and convince him to work with them under threat of death.

Then you have how the different Servamps deal with immortality. You have Lily, the Servamp of lust, who takes in and raises kids who are abandoned or abused. If any of the kids died before he could save them, he turns them into his subclasses instead. Then, there is Kuro, the Servamp of sloth. He doesn’t have any subclasses because you can’t know if someone want to be immortal, and it is cruel to force that upon someone. And finally, Lawless, who, for some reason, has started to kill his eves (the people he forms a contract with) once he gets bored with them.

The anime also has some absolutely beautiful animation and music. Plus, all the characters are well written and fun. (Fun fact: the person who sings the opening “Deal With” also voices Tsubaki.)

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Suicide

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how they’re presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

#anime #best underrated anime #polls #poll tournament #tournament #anime tournament #animation #group stage #group stage round 2 #tournament polls #symphogear #servamp #senki zesshou symphogear #group a

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stygius-cr-sideblog · 10 months

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hi! for the kiss meme, if you feel up to doing campaign 3: laudna and delilah, 28?

hey anon! I've been trying to catch up on c3 and this is a tasty prompt ("a kiss as a lie"), so here you go!

(meme here)

The Lady of Whitestone is so beautiful: perfect unblemished skin (unlike yours), a deep plum dress that (unlike yours) fits her figure snugly in all the most flattering ways. She puts you in mind of the expensive dolls you admired when you were younger; so lovely, you almost expect to see the gleam of a coat of varnish when you approach her. You do approach her, though you hadn't meant to. There are others here who were also granted this highest of honors—dinner with Lord and Lady Briarwood—but their presence fades away when she looks at you. "Oh, look at you, dear," she says. Her smile is so warm you instinctively glance behind you, because surely she must be addressing someone else. But as you do, she reaches out to tuck two loose strands of your hair behind your ears. She lingers in the gesture, and you freeze, caught off-guard by her gentleness. "You look perfect." And she even knows your name. Your face burns; you can't meet her eye. The Lady wears an elegant choker around her neck, and seeing that, the bareness of your own neck bothers you. You wish you could wear the same, or something like it at least. Then, in the most unbelievable turn of events yet: You feel the ghost of her lips brush the air just above your temple: a kiss. "Come along, now, dear child," she tells you, and places her hand between your shoulder blades and leads you deeper into the castle, and you blush and stammer gratitude and think: I will never forget tonight. You don't yet know how right you are.

#delilah briarwood #laudna #stygius writes cr

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greetingfromthedead · 3 months

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C3: Acts of Kindness

For more information on the series (tags, CW, etc) click the banner!

Series Rating: 18+ / Explicit

Chapter: 3/84

Words: 1.9k

Warning: Talk of suicide and self-harm.

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You slip in and out of consciousness, and even when you come to, your body won't listen to your command; the sounds in your head are too loud. So you focus on what you can. You notice the arm securely around you and the bouncing of the bird as it makes its way across the desert. You feel warm; normally, you don't register the temperature, as neither the cold nights nor the scorching days have bothered you, but this feels strange. You think you hear a whisper, but it's too quiet to make out.

Next time you start noticing something again, it's the sound of footsteps. You are now sitting up against something hard. The steps move away from you, and soon you hear little bird noises followed by a thump on the ground. Focusing on the happenings around you and trying to piece it all together keeps you occupied to the point where the high-pitched noises are pushed back, giving you just a little bit of relief. You hear a slight fumbling of fabric and then steps coming closer.

"Alright, come, let's get you to bed." You hear soft words spoken to you. Does he know you're awake and listening? You want to open your eyes; you want to get up and keep moving, but none of your muscles will obey. Without waiting for any reaction from you anyway, a hand is slipped behind your back, the other under your knees, as you are rolled into an embrace. Your head softly hits fabric, and you feel a zipper under your cheek. All of these sensations are a welcome distraction from the brewing storm in your head. You feel Vash take a few steps and then crouch down to gently lay you on a mat with something under your head, moments later covering you with a blanket, making sure you are snug and covered.

Time passes as you keep listening. You hear drawstrings from a bag; you hear metallic sounds that you can't place; a quiet and constant hissing; some scraping; your mind quieting down enough to even hear breathing not far from you. A weird peace fills your chest, and soon you have recovered enough to slowly open your eyes. It's dusk, not quite dark yet, and the very last rays of sunshine are visible from between the rocks. The smell of food that reached you a while ago comes from a little mess kit that is still on a gas burner. You move your head enough to catch a glimpse of the bright red coat, your eyes trailing up along it. You see how the strange blond man turns his head towards you, sunglasses still on his nose, as he shoots you a kind smile.

"Good, you're awake." He reaches into his coat, pulls out a metal canteen, and offers it to you. "Here, drink something, and I left you some stew."

You slowly regain control over your arms as you move them under your side and push up to sit. A look of confusion dawns on your face as you look at the man so kindly sharing what's his; even the bed is all yours. Your arms are still supporting your body while you try to make sense of things, thinking of all the possible motivations he might have.

"It's okay, Celeste. Here," he says, opening the canteen and drinking from it. "It's fine, see?"

The open water container is once again reaching towards you, and you stare at it. This dude surely is clueless; poison doesn't concern you. But you take the bottle regardless; you don't need it to survive, but it might help to get you back on your feet faster and silence the cacophony in your head. You take a swig of the fresh water, and he smiles before reaching out and putting a portion of stew in a bowl, setting it on the ground next to you with a spoon.

"Why are you doing this?" you ask as you close the canteen and place it on the ground.

Hesitantly, you take the food and give it a sniff. The smell is vaguely familiar, but the memories are still too hazy to return. You take the spoon and give it a taste. It's nice, and in a way, it's comforting. Again, you know you don't need it; you just try to get your body to function, but it also fills you with the same kind of warmth as you had felt before.

"It seemed like you needed it." He smiles brightly at you. "I couldn't just leave you in the desert, face down in the sand. Also, it seemed like you were furious at me back in town. I don't fully understand what I did wrong. So maybe I can make up for it with a touch of kindness."

"You're a strange one." You keep eating the stew. "Most sane people would go running for the hills if they saw the same things you did. Instead, you follow me around and even take care of me when you know I can't return the favor."

"Well, I'm not the most sane person around; I've been told that before." He shoots you a sheepish smile. "Oh, and I don't need anything from you; that's not why I do it. I do it because I want to, and I want to make up for whatever I did to upset you."

"If that's really what you want, then you can just stick a knife back into my chest and bury me between these rocks." You sigh, lowering the half-empty bowl into your lap, your eyes turned away.

"No! I could never do something like that!" exclaims Vash loudly. "All life is sacred! Everyone has a right to live and a duty to take care of themselves."

You turn back to look at him, as he has an unshakable expression on his face. He looks almost dutiful, like it's his mission in life to make sure everyone does exactly that—live. The feelings you normally hold for humans are replaced by some strange ease in you as his expression softens again into a light smile.

"Who are you, strange man?" You look at him with a frown, your eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Vash hesitates for a moment, thinking what name he should give, but then decides that you look kind and he doesn't want to lie to you, "Vash the Stampede."

"Should I be impressed?" you ask as you take his outreached hand into yours and give it a shake.

"No, there's nothing impressive about me." He chuckles and gives your hand a light squeeze before releasing it.

You go back to your food, finishing the bowl and placing it next to the canteen before taking another swing from it.

"I hope I can repay you for this somehow, maybe not now, but later," you mumble, hating that you now feel like you owe him. If he wasn't so nice, you would just look at it as payback for waking you up. But all this time, he has had a kind smile on his face, clearly not minding sharing with you at all.

"I'm glad to hear that there will be a "later"." He smiles and then lays down on the sand, his arms folded under his head. He looks up into the sky, and as you follow his gaze, you see the thousands, if not millions, of stars twinkling back at you, unsure if he can see all of them too.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he finally quietly asks after the two of you have been watching the stars for a while.

"About what?" you reply as your gaze moves back to him. You still see a light smile plastered on his lips, but it doesn't reach his blue eyes, which you can see through the side of his glasses. You look at him, his arms, his jacket, his clothes, his hair, his face. He looks different from what you were used to seeing. You're unsure if it's from the changed times, considering you don't know how much time has passed since you last roamed around, or if it was something specific to him.

"Why are you so hellbent on dying?" His quiet voice carries his words to you, "Why would you ask me to do something so horrible? And you look like you're still planning on finding some other soul who is willing to do it."

"That's not quite correct. I doubt I can actually die; nothing so far hints at it, at least. I've gotten shot, it didn't do much; it was just a bit annoying. I've tried poisons, but they didn't do anything at all. I tried getting eaten by a worm; it wasn't fun and didn't produce the desired results either. Once I tried blowing my brains out, all it ended up doing was traumatizing the nomads. It wasn't a pretty sight." The words almost slip out of you, unsure why you are telling him such things. "I'm sure there have been more instances, but currently I seem to be unable to remember. I had hoped that if they gauged out my innards, they would be unable to regenerate and I would actually die, but I didn't manage to convince the woman in the village to go that far for 10 cans of preserved food, so I made do with a knife in my chest."

You see his shocked eyes looking at you as he turns his head. Slowly turning on his side and pushing up, he looks at you intently. You look away, not wanting to meet his gaze; you don't want to see the pity in it.

"Needless to say, a lack of water or food won't bother me. Neither will hypothermia or a heat stroke take me down. Old age won't come for me either, it seems." You state the obvious.

"I'm so sorry; it must have been awful," he says, but you are unsure what he is referring to.

"You have nothing to be sorry for; it has nothing to do with you," you say as you pull your knees closer and wrap your arms around them. You feel a kind of vulnerability you doubt you ever have before. You feel small, and there is a discomfort in your chest around where the knife had been, but that pain had been long gone before you even reached the edge of town.

"How long? How long have you been around?" He whispers, Vash is unsure why he is poking around in this; sure that the topic brings you pain, but morbid curiosity forces him to ask.

"I don't know. I was here when the ships crashed; I was probably on one of them. But I don't remember. I just remember the rubble, being among it." You leave your earliest memory vague, not getting into more details, and decide you have already talked too much.

"The crash was nearly 150 years ago," he says quietly. Vash's heart is breaking at his own memories of the event, leaving them unvoiced.

"So I was in that town for nearly a century," you say more to yourself than to him.

"You have a healing factor, I guess?" Vash knows that is an understatement; he has never heard of anyone coming back from the dead like that, healing or not.

"Something like that; I'm not sure what is wrong with me or how it happened." You squeeze tighter around your legs. "Just that I'm a freak of nature."

For more information and chapters, check out the MASTERLIST.

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#tempest wind #fanfic #fanfiction #writing #Trigun #trigun stampede #tristamp #Humanoid Typhoon #vashxreader #vash x reader #x reader #plant boi #Vash the Stampede

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laurasbailey · 3 months

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As someone who joined the fandom earlyish (caught up live by the end of the Briarwood arc) in C1, the main difference I see in the transition between campaigns is that C1 had enough problems early on production-wise that the broad consensus was to just hop on board with C2. While C2 was consistently competent enough as a production that there was a stronger push to roll through C2 before watching C3. Which I believe has prevented the situation of C3 fans overtaking C2 fans from taking up the same situation that new C2 fans did overcoming the C1 fans disliking the change in campaign.

also a third of c2 aired during the lockdown portion of the pandemic where people had a lot of time to watch plus the massive break at the beginning of covid where people could catch up. now they fall behind and don't have time to/don't want to catch up (which is fair) so c3 just has a ton of disadvantages stacked against it

#anonymous #ask #i said this about c3 too so i could be wrong #but look i'd be VERY surprised if we actually got a full length campaign 4 with the current cast #it'd be a pleasant surprise! but still a surprise

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operationslipperypuppet · 6 months

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Absolutely am feral for all your hardshine. Anything about them post Hardwon’s return in C3 or sometime in the 200 years between C1 and C3?

Oh, thank you! To do a slightly shameless plug, the last chapter of part 2 and part 3 of this series are specifically what could happen post-reunion.

Between campaigns:

As they travel Bahumia, helping repairs in the aftermath of the cataclysm, people they meet keep assuming they’re married. It’s never said to both of them at the same time. Hardwon’s at a bar, ordering more drinks, and the bartender says “I think your wife is looking for you”, and Hardwon turns to see Moonshine scanning the dance floor for him, inviting him over as soon as she catches his eye. Moonshine is buying food for an upcoming trip in the Stormborn, and the cashier says “Your husband is about to topple an orange pyramid and get crushed” so Moonshine sends PawPaw over to stabilize the display. What they don’t do, when this happens, is correct the speaker. Ever.

I’ve mentioned this before, but i do think they co-parent Big Bev. He considers them both to be his parents. I don’t think surnames are all too popular or necessary in the Crick, but they tend to use them for official business, especially since they have to be more organized given the current political situation in the Living Wood. Ranger captains all choose their own last name for business, and Cybin is off the table, since about 80% of them are or consider themselves Cybins. For official purposes, Big Bev is a Surefoot.

They get into a hotly contested debate over who will get to be Bev’s best man at his wedding. It’s one of the biggest “arguments” they ever have, and no one else in the world would actually consider it an argument. In the end, Bev asks them both, they share the role beautifully, and their speech causes so many tears that the other speeches are delayed by 10 minutes so people can regroup. They also dance every dance of the night together.

Often, they go out and wingman each other. When they do, they gas each other up so much, and regroup for confidence every couple hours. Anyone they’re trying to hook up with sees this, and assumes (correctly) that the two of them are in love. More often than not, they end up going back to the ship together. But they might be happier that way.

Post-Reunion:

If you have read this fic of mine, you may have noticed that Hardwon grabs Moonshine’s hand when he finishes hugging her hello. He doesn’t actually let go of it for 2 hours. She doesn’t mind. Winch, upon meeting Moonshine and Bev, also assumes that Moonshine and Hardwon are married, or at least have been together for a while. He does not bring this assumption up with anyone, but is happy for them. A bit sad it was left out of the books he read about them, because it would have made them more interesting.

Bev is very much over their bullshit at this point, and is at any point minutes away from casting Zone of Truth and locking them in a closet. Erlin keeps stopping him, but it’s getting harder every day.

“Hardwon Surefoot: Small Folk, Big Fuck” makes its way to the Astral Plane much faster than anyone could have anticipated. Lucanus actually hears it first, and sends a singing telegram to their house in Gladeholm so they all hear it right away (he’s gotten into pranks recently). Moonshine laughs so hard at the words that she nearly falls over. And, perhaps, it finally does lead them to have a discussion they’ve successfully put off for two centuries.

#hardshine is very fun to write #some of these are less obviously romantic sorry #also sorry for shamelessly plugging my own shit lol #naddpod #asks #anon #hardshine #hc

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utilitycaster · 1 year

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My head has been spinning recently just thinking about the sort of backlash that Laura and Marisha would get from fans if Imogen and Laudna didn't end up together.

For example, I can imagine them roleplaying a conversation in which one of pair reveals they have a crush on someone else in the party, and the other supports them fully in that endeavour. I can only imagine the people who would say "she looked away when she said that line so she's lying!!!" or "they're just denying their feelings for each other"

C3 is the first campaign I've managed to catch live, so I'm not sure if this sort of shipping happened in C2 or C1. I feel like Beau/Yasha would be most likely to have caused similar reactions, but even then, I don't think I've seen this amount of protectiveness over a ship that is this vague. Marisha and Ashley at least made it clear from e1 that their characters had (at the very least, one-sided) romantic interest.

Hi anon,

I've gotten a few questions to this effect and have declined to answer some because it does feel a bit like borrowing trouble, even though I will fully admit some of my private DMs look not unlike this. So I'm going to try to answer this with as much sensitivity and thoroughness as I can despite a number of frustrations (not with you, to be clear) and let this serve as my answer going forward unless anything drastically changes. I am making it non-rebloggable, under a cut, and will be blocking any clownery.

Let's rip off the bandaid right away: for some reason, and I have my theories but they are unconfirmed at in some cases, rather ungenerous, Marisha and Laura's characters have been heavily shipped in all three campaigns despite a chemistry I would call middling at best. I think the most generous way to put it is that while Ashley was working on Blindspot, they were often the only two women at the table (though one must look a bit askance at how Veth is often ignored as a female character, despite unambiguously being one). So I suspect that a lot of it comes from simply wanting an F/F romance between main cast PCs during Campaign 1 and having no good options, and then...remaining fixated on that particular cast dynamic, despite, as stated before, chemistry that has never particularly impressed me.

I did not watch Campaign 1 live, so I don't know what the discourse was at the time. I did watch Campaign 2 live and your prediction is accurate. The ship that caused similar reactions was actually Beau and Jester; you can still find people who claim it was a "mistake" to pursue Beauyasha instead and that Beauyasha "came out of nowhere" and was "for the straights." You are also entirely correct that people will grasp at the weakest of straws to support a ship, though, in all fairness, this is not remotely limited to femslash shippers but is a general shipping problem. (The worst offender during Campaign 2 for that, in my opinion, were people who shipped Caleb and Jester and who became creepily obsessed with Laura's expressions late in the game; that is also incidentally still the ship that I think has the most parallels to Imogen and Laudna in terms of canon character relationship vs. fanon perceptions.)

I do expect that if Imogen and Laudna do not get together, for whatever reason, there will be considerable denial. We've already seen some misplaced vitriol towards Ashton, and the response among shippers towards Imogen has, as I've pointed out over the past two weeks, been wildly inconsistent and deeply ungenerous in a desperate attempt to twist her actions in favor not just of the ship, but towards a highly specific idea of the ship as soft girlfriends against the cruel world, instead of a complicated codependence with the potential for becoming something more. I and others have also pointed out that the ship has gone from "they are already in love" to "a QPR would also be totally cool" which is rather unkind to QPRs.

I should also acknowledge the elephant in the room. I am well aware that I am probably public enemy number one on the Imogen/Laudna server where they come up with such bon mots as "bone-dry takes". I suspect this is because I genuinely enjoy both Imogen and Laudna as individual characters and write about them a lot, but in doing so, acknowledge the cracks and tension within their relationship. So on some level, even though the ship could absolutely still happen, they've already kind of started with some of the behaviors you mention, which is rather disappointing.

Anyway, I think this is all to say that this is a general problem in shipping across the board that is not confined to Imogen and Laudna nor F/F ships, but because that specific ship is both, as you say, vague, and yet has an extremely popular and extremely narrow fanon interpretation, it's in particular focus this campaign. I think you're correct that there will be backlash should it not happen, though I would be pleasantly surprised and deeply humbled if there is not. Fortunately I have found that Critical Role is fairly impervious to fandom backlash in terms of the decisions they make in-game, because let's face it, people will push back on anything, including such necessary parts of story as "dramatic tension" and "conflict." If you listened to them you would make the world's shittiest story, and because there are frequently multiple conflicting ships, you can't please everyone. I'm here to watch a story, and I do think ships are intrinsically part of character arcs, so if the ships serve the characters, whatever they are, I think it will be a worthwhile endeavor.

#answered #Anonymous #cr tag

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gaelfox · 1 year

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Getting a lot of activity here more than usual, so I guess Tumblr is up and thriving again! I figure its time for me to reintroduce myself for all you knew and returning lovely folk. So —

Hello, my name is Gael!

I am a lady cartoonist that went to college for animation and since graduating I’ve been a part of a whole bunch of projects - from internet media companies to solo YouTubers to my own merch to online fandoms, I’ve found myself in a lot of places for my work. My favorite things to create are comics and short-blurb joke images, but I also love narrative storytelling and character design. Right now, I work on YouTube thumbnails for my favorite Theme Park Podcast (Annual Pass) and a wonderful dude named Ray Narvaez Jr. over on Twitch!

I live with my fiancé (who I will refer to as Babbus) in the PNW and we’re getting married this Summer ~ He’s my light and joy and my biggest muse, you’ll recognize him on my blog as a large-horned Tiefling character of the same name next to my own Persona, Lich Queen Gael, when he’s not being my partner-in-crime in other fandoms.

What Kinds of Things do You Like?

Well, y’all found my blog for a reason - whether you were here since the beginning for my AH/RT designing and worldbuilding to my own worldbuilding with LQG/DPB to various other tidbits, y’all know I like many things. What fandoms can you expect from this blog? Things including, but not limited to:

YouTube Gamers (AH, GameGrumps, Jack, Mark, etc) - my radio for the day. Especially loving the variety of my channels between game play, horror game lore, theme park and history documentaries, and whatever the hell

One Piece (constantly on the hunt for more good good Law FanArt and uh…may be trying something a little new for NaNoWriMo this year…?) I just want more of my Trash Husband

Video Games - These shift and change depending on what I’m playing at the time to be honest, but some of my solidified favorites are Stardew Valley, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Minecraft, Pokemon, the Phoenix Wright series, Monster Hunter, Yakuza, and small indie games that I discover. My sisters and I bonded over video games growing up so they hold a special place in my heart, always.

Critical Role - I’ve started watching pretty regular since C2E1, and I’m watching all of C3 while slowly catching up on C1. Maybe you’ve seen me in the old art reel a few times?

Theme Parks - I’ve got a deep love for the way that theming and storytelling comes into play in the Theme Park world, its a sort of special niche of mine that I hold dearly since my grandmother was a cast member and the joy of theme parks runs deep in my family

TTRPG’s - I do love me a good tabletop system! I have a lot of games I’ve played in the past, and many more ideas for the future. I always love a good character, whether they start out as a joke and come completely into their own (Riss) or they just remain a silly protagonist for the sake of keeping the mood of the table light (Bobert Rossington, Esq., who beats the devil out of his enemies) I always love the design elements that can come from a simple system that can lead to incredible character development and choices.

Food - what more is there to say? I love food.

But ultimately, overall? Expect art and jokes. Art and jokes to me are the spice of a good smile, and even if you’re having the worst of days, sometimes all it takes is a smile from a good post to get you though. I want for my art to give people joy, for that in turn gives me joy. And that’s why I do what I do.

Do You Take Commissions?

I do! On occasion. They have to open up and I can garner a bit of a long waitlist if I do - but because I don’t require payment until the work is complete, all you gotta spend is an email and some patience. Right now they aren’t open due to time constraints, previous commission queue and contract work, and I can’t say when they’ll open back up again. But I’ll make an announcement here if they do!

Do You Do Anything Else Aside from Fine Dining Art and Breathing?

I do! Strangely enough. I have a Twitch channel that I sometimes haunt playing games/doing art with friends of mine (under my same pseudonym) and I’m at the gym 4 days a week for HIIT/weightlifting. I enjoy a good podcast, a good book, and binging Netflix. I love animation as a medium and comics and stage plays, I’m getting into NHL/hockey when my gym shows me games. Variety is the spice of life, after all!

So, there ya go. Maybe we have more similar interests than you think? In any case, thank you for coming along for the ride, and hope you enjoy what we have together!

Welcome aboard this Life in Cartoon Motion!

#personal #artists on tumblr #twitter migration

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pxrxcxa · 2 years

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Opposite Ends

Chapter Eight - A Brief Moment Of Happiness

C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | C5 | C6 | C7 | C9 | C10 | C11 | C12 | C13 pt 1 | C13 pt 2 |

Chapter Nine is out now, enjoy Sunflowers x 🌻

Pairing | Eddie x Female reader 18+. Steve x Robin x Female reader platonic friendship

Series summary | Dustins older sister got brought into the group during the events of Starcourt mall, 3 months on she's in her senior year and the kids are starting high school. After everything that went down she feels that she has to keep them safe at all costs, that includes keeping them way from the charismatic 'freak' Eddie Munson that runs a club based on their favourite game. They've both hated each other since freshman year -with good reason-, but when keeping distance between the kids and Eddie means putting herself in the firing line, boundaries get blurred, intentions get lost & the heart speaks louder than the brain.

The story is told from both Y/N & Eddies point of view.

What to expect | Slow burn enemies to lovers, Angst - with a happy ending (fix-it-fic if you will), fluff & smut (in the later chapters). 18+ to read this story.

Series Warnings | Mentions of abuse, drug use, 18+ smut content

Chapter word count | 10 K Word Count

Chapter warnings | Just a whole lot of fluff and a little bit of smut

As always, any & all comments/reblogs are most appreciated - Love, P. x 🌿

Authors Note | As always, if you've read the entire chapter then thank you for reading! I had to cut it off here otherwise we were going to end up with a 20 k word count chapter, that's why Eddie's POV is short - but I figured you deserve one nice chapter of happiness before I break mine & your hearts - I hope you enjoyed this sweet chapter cause 9 is where it all kicks off :( Love always P. x 🌻

Y/N | December 1985

I had very nearly decided to skip out on the last day of school before Christmas break, my bedroom was a disaster site as it reflected my frustrations of the morning. The bare hangers in my closet rattled lightly as I tore shirts off of them, my mom had nearly caught the scalloped edge of a winter coat as I sent it flying across the room when she had come to ask what I wanted for breakfast. I had even nearly landed myself in the emergency room as I tripped on a pile of jeans, catching myself on the corner of my desk with my hand before my head bashed into the sharp corner of it. That still hadn’t stopped me from trying on everything I owned. Twice.

The golden light from the quickly rising sun spilled through my window as I stared at myself in my bedroom mirror, enlightening the swirling dust particles around me. My current outfit was hanging too loosely on my frame, doing absolutely nothing to accentuate my slight curves. I sighed, my blood shot eyes reflecting my hangover. I originally thought it was humorous that I could out smoke almost everyone I knew, but it only took me three shots to get me drunk enough to lose all my inhibitions. It was less funny when I was curled around our toilet at two am this morning.

A light pink flushed my cheeks as the memories that had seared themselves into my brain permanently, flashed behind my eyelids. The blurry image of Eddie gently unwrapping my arms from around his neck as I begged him not to stop, his deep voice layered with lust as he refused me. Telling me that if we were going to sleep together, he would rather me be one hundred percent sober for it.

His words had paralysed me, echoing in my mind and keeping me silent through the entire ride as Eddie drove me home in his van, the scent of what had transpired between us moments before still lingering in the air. I couldn’t tell if he meant that he regretted that I was slightly intoxicated during it or the fact that what happened between us had occurred at all. Each soundless second of the drive becoming heavier with tension until I felt like my nerves would snap at the slightest pressure. I distracted myself by watching the frost-bitten bare trees flit past my window, their swaying branches sending dancing shadows through the windshield.

It didn’t last very long before I turned back to Eddie. His knuckles whitened as his hands tightened around the steering wheel when he felt my eyes on his face, suddenly becoming too focused on the road. I took advantage over his refusal to meet my gaze, studying the outline of his perfect side portfolio. His slightly parted lips were fuller than mine and he had that type of perfect straight nose with a cute upwards curl at the tip that had all the high school girls begging their parents to pay for a nose job. His voice cut through the stillness sharply, making me jump.

“Staring is considered rude y’know y/n.” I clasped my hands together in my lap, chewing on my bottom lip.

“Yeah.” I muttered unashamedly, staring at his lashes caressing his brows as he narrowed them.

“What’s wrong.” The van drifted into the opposite lane slightly as he turned to look at me quickly. I avoided his eyes, staring into the illuminated darkness from his headlights.

I recognised the street sign as we pulled off a main road, making my words flow easier since I figured we were close to my house, and I could escape soon if necessary. “Are you mad at me?” I asked after a slight pause.

He jolted in his seat slightly as dark eyes turned to stare at me incredulously. “What? Why would I be angry with you.” Guilt curled around my heart as I prepared myself for his answer.

“Because of what happened tonight… And everything else.” I dug my sharp nails into my palms at my side, forcing myself to breathe as Eddie considered my words. He slowed down as we turned onto my street, the dark outlines of my house in the distance growing closer.

“I mean, yeah there’s probably some stuff we should talk about. But tonight?” He creased his eyebrows together and flicked his tongue over his lips, letting the van come to a crawl as a nearby streetlight washed over us. “Y/n I thought you were angry with me. I didn’t want you to feel like I took advantage over you, I should have waited until a night where you hadn’t been engaging in underage drinking.” His eyes flashed back to me, wordlessly reprimanding me but I was hanging onto his every word.

“Is that why you said no when I-?” My heart throbbed as he cut me off.

“You deserve better than a quick fuck in some dirty carpark of a dive bar y/n.” His free hand clenched in his lap as he drove with one hand, tilting his head against the headrest, causing his curls to fall back to expose his neck.

“But I couldn’t resist you completely, I had been fantasising about doing that to you for weeks, months really. I’ve been trying to figure out what to say to you, how to apologise –“ I cut his words off as I placed my cold hand on his cheek, our skin burned together as the blush on his face grew hotter beneath my touch.

I waited until his van rolled to a stop at the bottom of my driveway, he quickly switched his lights off, so nosey parents weren’t alerted to our arrival. Darkness poured into our seats from all sides, shrouding us in a secure blanket of safety that nothing could penetrate. Eddie turned in his seat, so he was facing me completely, leaning into my hand as my fingers traced the soft skin over his cheekbone.

I moved my hand to tap his chin up lightly, forcing him to meet my gaze. “If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have let you. Believe me Eddie, sober or not, I wanted to.” The ferocity of my words sounded too loud in the small cabin of his van, but I needed him to hear the truth of my speech. He had relieved me from the growing angst when I assumed he was lamenting over running into me tonight, it was my turn to sooth his concerns.

I leaned forward across the space between us, moving my hand from his face to curl around the back of his neck, bringing him closer so I didn’t have to bend so far. His eager mouth met mine passionately, moulding against my lips. He reached up to cup my face firmly, his free hand resting on my bare thigh just below my skirt line as I sighed against him. He stilled instantly as the lingering scent of whiskey filled the air around us. He reached up to pull my hand away from him, intwining his fingers around mine as he placed it on the seat beside me.

“I think you should go inside y/n.” I rolled my eyes and slouched back against the rough fabric of the passenger chair, pulling my grasp from his and staring into the side mirror. I reached up to pat my hair down as I realised what a mess I was, my mascara had smudged under my eyes and my rose-tinted lip gloss was spread around the corners of my mouth.

“Always so dramatic.” He laughed quietly to himself. I turned to snap at him, but his closeness caught me off guard, his seatbelt strained against his chest as he leaned towards me, his lips lightly brushing against mine as he reached past me to unlock my door. Cool night air rushed into the van as it swirled my stray hairs around my face. I shivered as Eddie pulled back, unclicking my belt for me.

“Goodnight y/n.” He smiled cockily at me as I struggled to even my breathing, I slowly pulled my feet from the van, being careful to not dislodge any of the trash that littered the floor of my seat. I pulled my thin sweater around me tightly as I let the door close quietly, jogging around his van towards my front door. The frozen grass crunched and snapped beneath my shoes as I spun to turn back to Eddie, the sound of his creaking window reverberating into the silent night as he rolled it down.

He loudly whispered my name as he tossed something shiny in my direction, Steve’s keys jingled as they landed in my cupped hands. I internally groaned as I pictured his face when he woke up and realised both his car and I were missing. When I had initially tried to leave the bar, Eddie had reached out to grab the end of my sweater, trapping my wrist in his grasp as I flailed despondently against his strong grip. He had laughed and snatched Steve’s keys from my fingers, twirling them around in his own as I glowered at him.

“Friends don’t let friends drive drunk y/n.” Accepting defeat I had shoved past him, storming around to the passenger side of his van and slamming the door harder than needed, trying not to let it show on my face that I was more upset at Eddie calling me his friend rather than him stopping me from driving myself home.

I tucked them into my pocket as I looked back at his eyes, glinting brightly in the darkness. “I’ll see you at school?” My voice drifted into a higher pitch as my statement trailed off into a question. I didn’t get a response except for a wide, eye crinkling cheeky grin as Eddie’s van roared to life, the sound resonating off the rock wall at the bottom of our property. He raised his brows and jerked his chin towards my front door, a silent command passing between us. Warmth filled me as I realised he was waiting for me to make it inside safely, throwing him a sweet smile that I was sure he couldn’t see in the dim light, I turned and jogged up our angled driveway. I twisted back to watch the cloud of smoke puff from his exhaust as he chugged down my street, the sound of his favourite band drifting into the empty air. I couldn’t help the giddy smile that adorned my face as I pulled my own set of keys from my sweater, the soft sound of jangling metal echoed off the brick as I struggled to get the door unlocked. Even as I tip toed as lightly as I could through the entry way, my footsteps were still far too loud as my eyes adjusted to the outlines of familiar furniture in the pitch black.

My hand shot up to protect my eyes as the living room light flashed on, momentarily blinding me.

“Well well well.” I lowered my arm to glare at Dustin as he spun around in one of the recliners, the family cat purring on his lap as he stroked it, looking like a scene of some evil villain from a corny movie.

“Care to explain yourself y/n?” My own enchanted smile slid from my face as a knowing one spread across my brothers.

My bedroom door creaked as someone nudged it open, snapping me out of my thoughts. My eyes flashed up in the mirror to meet Dustin’s, he had his school bag slung up his shoulder and his walkie grasped in his hand. His annoyed expression was replaced with an amused one as he glanced around my room, taking in the view in front of him.

“Shut up.” I warned him as he opened his mouth, causing a taunting laugh to explode from him. I sighed and ripped one of my better jackets off, shrugging out of it and tossing it onto my bed, reaching for my regular thread-bare jean one. Dustin doubled over as his laughter wracked him, grabbing onto the door frame for support.

“I’m sorry I’m sorry.” He gulped between breaths, waving his hand to try to calm himself. As he eyes met mine, he lost it completely and bent over, his hands on his knees as his bag slid down his arm.

My entire effort was undoubtedly wasted, I had no idea where Eddie and I stood after last night, he probably wouldn’t even turn up for the last day before break. And just because we – he – after what happened between us didn’t mean things had completely changed, we didn’t talk about everything what we needed to, actually we hadn’t done a lot of talking at all. I wasn’t sure what I planned on doing if he wasn’t at school this morning. We did need to speak, I figured that I could go to his trailer after school, but the memory of what happened the last time I tired that, churned uncomfortably in my abdomen.

“What’s all this?” My mother’s sweet voice tinkled from the doorway as she stood next to Dustin, watching him wipe away his tears of amusement.

“Nothing.” I snapped, slamming my own bag down and shoving heavy textbooks into it. “Can I just get one damn moment of privacy? Is that too much to ask for in this house.” Tension filled the air at my cruel words, regret filling me the moment they left my mouth.

“Y/n.” She yelled, Dustin straightened up next to her as shock spread across his features, our mom never really got cranky with us, especially since dad left, but when she did, we knew we’d messed up. “Don’t you take that tone with me; I don’t know what’s been up with you the past few weeks, but you’ve been stroppy and moody and rude. It stops now.” She gestured her hand wildly around my bedroom, clicking her fingers at the piles of clothes on my floor.

“And it’s an absolute mess in here, you’re grounded until it’s clean.” The cat appeared in the doorway, slinking in between her legs and wrapping its tail around her, she bent down to pick it up, holding my gaze disappointingly.

Dustin quietly slunk away down the hall, undoubtedly to quickly shove his own mess out of sight to avoid a similar punishment. I relaxed my posture and turned to my mom, my face softening.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll clean it when I get home from school. Thank you for making us breakfast by the way.” I apologised, smiling at her face lighting up at my agreement to eat the food she had cooked. I heard Dustin groan from his room as she exclaimed happily, saying that she would serve up a plate for both of us before we left for school. He glowered at me as he passed my door, heading to the kitchen when our mom called out to us, I grimaced at him sarcastically, a sense of glee floating through me that I was able to get back at him slightly for laughing at me earlier.

It was my turn to laugh as he met me at my car to drive to school, pulling handfuls of what were supposed to homemade hashbrowns, from his pockets and chucking it into the rose bushes along our driveway.

“Shut up.” He grumbled, brushing off the crumbs from his hands as I pulled my door open. “You didn’t eat them either.” I chuckled and tossed my bag into the backseat, sliding into my car. I had just started to let it roll down the hill when I slammed on my breaks with a loud screech, sending Dustin to slam against the dashboard.

My wide, panic-stricken eyes met Steve Harringtons raging ones in the rear-view mirror as he stood behind my car, his arms crossed as he blocked our path, my overnight bag gently swaying over his shoulder. The bike he had evidently ridden to my house was casted aside carelessly, the back wheel still spinning manically. His expression darkened as his lips pressed into a thin, disappointed line, morphing into the specific ‘outraged mother’ look that only Steve could pull off.

“Shit.” I muttered, sliding the gearstick back into park.

I didn’t think I had ever felt so nervous in my entire life as I headed towards my first class, like there was a flock of butterflies trying to fly up my throat. I hadn’t even felt this nervous when I had to dance in front of my entire middle school at the talent show, I sent a silent prayer to the powers above that today wouldn’t finish in a similar embarrassing end.

Steve’s twenty minuet long lecture about ‘stealing his baby’ this morning hadn’t exactly helped to calm my nerves either, he only relented when I’d promised to cover his shifts at family video whenever he had a date for the next six months. A pretty easy offer on my part since I had little faith in Steve’s ability to pull chicks. He, on the other hand, had a different opinion regarding his prowess.

I let the heard of students push me towards the Calculus classroom door as they all rushed to get to their desks before the bell rung, none of us wanting to be subjected to another classic ‘Mr Mundy complaint special’. I faltered at the door to check my reflection in the window, making sure my makeup was still as perfect as it was when I applied it with careful hands hours ago. Rough shoulders shoved past me as we all squeezed in through the small doorframe.

A mixture of relief and disappointment flooded through me as my eyes flashed to the empty chair next to mine, a breath I didn’t realise I had been holding rushed past my lips as I swerved around tables to take a seat at my desk. It appeared that Eddie wasn’t the only one who had decided to ditch, I was the only one in the third row of the practically half empty class.

The low hum of tedious chatter died down as Mr Mundy strutted into the room, slamming his briefcase down on his desk and taking a deep drink from his travel mug. He cringed and shook his head slightly, breathing through his mouth as whatever he had added to his coffee hit him a little too hard.

He set it down carefully and replaced it with a stick of chalk, waving his hands as he turned towards the blackboard. “Don’t sit there like a bunch of morons, get your books out.”

With stiff movements I bent down under my chair to grab my notebook from my bag, my hair fell across my vision as someone shoved the door open loudly, sending a wave of fresh air across me. I froze as I recognised the scuffed, once white, reebok sneakers smacking against the dirty floor as he made his way past my desk.

“Ah, thank you for gracing us with your presence today, Mr Munson.” My cheeks flamed at the teachers’ words, still hunched over and hiding away in my hair.

“Pleasures all mine Mr Mundy, I’m sure.” I could hear the grin in his voice, I pressed my lips together to hide my own smile as I leant back up before I could draw attention to myself, slowly flipping my book to an empty page.

I could feel Eddie’s eyes on my face, but I refused to meet his stare. I felt like my stomach was in my throat, my heartbeat thundering in my ears as the memories and feelings of last night came flooding back, I wasn’t sure what was going to be reflecting on his face when I met his gaze, but I knew I wasn’t ready to find out. In the bleak coldness of the winter morning, free of alcohol and desire and heady smoke, Eddie very well may have changed his mind completely about me, deciding that he didn’t want damaged good after all.

Last night had only confirmed what I had been lying to myself about for weeks, I couldn’t deny that Eddie had a hold on me, and I had been a fool to think I could reject my feelings by ignoring him. He wasn’t the type of person anyone could forget, he shone far too brightly, demanding the attention of every room he walked into by just being himself. I was astounded how I had never noticed it before, how I only ever saw the label that lesser men had branded him with. Freak.

His dark eyes that crinkled with his wide grins made my heart sing, his infectious smiles never failing to place one of my own on my face. He made the world a better place by just existing, how anyone – myself included- had ever seen him as dangerous, or evil or weird, was beyond me. Not one damn person in the cesspit that was Hawkins, was perfect, but if anyone came close it was him. Down to his core, Eddie was good, pure. And that was a hell of a lot more than could be said for anyone else in this hypercritical town.

I wanted every part of him, everything he had to offer this miserable world. I wanted to know everything about him, all the secrets he kept safely hidden away from the judgement of Hawkins. In that moment I had wanted to reveal myself to him, overcome with the need to tear my façade away and bear the scars beneath the surface to him. Since Starcourt, no one had come close to making me feel as safe as Eddie had last night, and it wasn’t the touches shared between us or the sweet words he whispered into my ear. It was him; it was Eddie himself that kept the chilling voices and disturbing memories at bay. His warm embrace had cloaked me in a protective peace I couldn’t even really remember ever experiencing. He was the most intoxicating drug that I had come across, one hit of him was more potent than anything else I had smoked or drank. I was never going to be able to give him up.

Not by my choice at least.

My heart twisted painfully at the thought of his reaction to the real me, when he realises how corrupt and dark my festering soul remained, and how unworthy of him I was. The battle of wanting to be honest with him about who I was, and the selfish desire to keep him in the dark so he wouldn’t run screaming from me, waged viciously in the forefront of my mind.

A strong, veiny hand shot across my vision, the sunlight glinting off his rings prettily as he tore a piece of paper from the bottom of my blank page. I looked up curiously to meet his gaze, his eyes twinkled suspiciously as he stared back at me up through his long lashes, the scratching of his pencil competing with Mr Mundy’s as he scribbled something hastily on the paper.

A heated blush crept up my neck as he hooked his foot around the leg of my chair, pulling me towards him. I held my breath as he crossed the space between us, the band of my jeans snapping back into place as he slipped the note into the top of my waist. Eddie winked at me as I dropped my gaze in awkwardness, a light laugh bubbling in my chest. He cocked an eyebrow as I read his question, my smile widening as I hurriedly wrote my answer on the back of it, checking that no one was watching as I slid the paper across his desk, his fingers tickled mine as he swept it out from under my grasp, the slight touch sending a shock of heat up my arm to blossom throughout the rest of my frame.

The last time I met Eddie in the woods, the trees were covered in burnt oranges leaves that crinkled underfoot when they finally fell to the ground. But as I walked through them now down the beaten track towards the picnic table, the branches were bare. Eerily daunting as they rocked in the wind, the trees sharp arms turned into claws out of the corner of my sight, reaching out towards me to tear at my jumper as I rushed to escape their depths. My hyperventilating breath slowed as I neared the break in the tree line, spotting Eddie’s hulking shadow leaning across the table through the cluster of trees at the end of the path.

The tightness in my chest eased as I watched him, he was leaning back on both elbows with his face turned up to the dark sky, watching vividly as his clouds of cigarette smoke swirled in the air in lazy patterns. A sweet smile spread across his face as he turned towards my noisy entrance.

“Y/n.” He chucked away his smoke and squished it into the dirt with his shoe as he stood from the table, opening his arms as I jogged across the remaining space between us, throwing myself against his chest as he wrapped me in his jacket.

“Thought you’d never make it.” He grunted and stumbled a little under my weight, his face flickering with shock at my excitement to see him. We both paused for a moment as the memories of our last meeting in the same spot washed over us. I shook my head at how different our situation was compared to last time, grateful that last night had ripped away the façade that both of us were holding up.

“Mmmm.” I mumbled against his chest; my face smothered against the fabric as his earthy scent filled me. I didn’t bother to waste our precious time by telling him that Jason had cornered me after class, slamming his arm against my locker to block my path, demanding that I meet up with him again. After I got over my brief shock from his audacity – and the fear his psychotic gaze shot through me, I had told him that if he even as much as breathed in my direction, we would have a repeat of what happened at the 7/11, except this time I would hit him with my car. The safety of witnesses parading through the corridor made me braver than I would have been if he caught me alone, I tightened my arms around Eddie as the thought made my stomach flip anxiously.

Eddie laughed and pressed his face into my hair, inhaling deeply.

“I love your smell.” I scoffed and pulled back to look at him disbelievingly, he looked abashed like he hadn’t meant to say it out loud. I raised an eyebrow as his face reddened.

“Uh what?” I laughed, pulling back from his arms slightly to get a better look at him. A nervous chuckled slipped past his lips as he avoided my gaze.

“Your new perfume, I noticed it the first time you came over to my place.” He removed a hand from my side to rub the back of his neck. My mouth popped open lightly in surprise, astonished the Eddie had noticed my fragrance, and the fact that it was a different one.

“Anyway.” He continued when I didn’t respond, leaning back against the table and spreading his legs as he tugged me between them, pulling me closer until I lost my balance and fell against him. He pushed a stray hair away from my face and tucked it behind my ear as my hands settled on his upper thighs to regain my poise. His smile spread impossibly wider as my cheeks blushed from our closeness, becoming increasingly aware of how near my hands were to him. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since last night.”

His words pierced through me like an arrow, burrowing into my heart. Pure joy flowed through me for a split second as his words made me feel like I was floating, but it was short lived as the way Eddie was looking at me made me come crashing back down to earth, a cold wave of realisation washing over me. I cared about him far too much to not allow him the option of walking away from this right now, from me.

The thought sent a lump in my throat making it hard for me to breathe. My hands shook slightly as I tried to form the words that Eddie needed to hear, I shoved them into my pockets to hide my panic. The thought of losing him was unbearable, but the knowledge of how much he would hate me if I let him fall into the perfectly shaped hole in my life (like it was ripped apart specifically for him to put back together), finding out who I actually was and what I was truly capable of only too late, was excruciating. Tears welled in my eyes as I prepared for the endearing look in his eyes to turn to one of disgust.

“Eddie-“ I was cut off as he stood up abruptly, switching our place as he shoved me back against the table, he trampled my toes lightly as he moved closer, but my groan of protest was stolen from me as his eyes blazed with fury.

“Don’t y/n.” His hair whipped around his face wildly as a cold breeze danced across the clearing, goosebumps raised on my arms beneath his large warm hands, his fingers digging into my skin as his dark eyes widened.

“Don’t what?” I breathed, a grey squirrel scattered up the trunk of a tree nearby, sending flakes of bark to flutter to the ground. We both jumped as the intrusive sound broke our eye contact.

“Don’t ruin this.” My eyes that had drifted to a small beauty mark near the corner of his mouth, snapped back to meet his as his words sent a shiver through me.

“Wha-“

“That’s your ‘I am about to deliver really bad news’ face.” My expression contorted at his crude impression of me.

“I do not sound like that.” I pressed my mouth into a thin line to show him I was not impressed.

Eddie laughed boomingly, throwing his head back as the sound reverberated off the trees. His voice twinkled like sweet music, and I couldn’t help but smile at his carefree attitude, marvelling at the glimpse of the real him slipping through the cracks, each second he was away from the arbitration of our school classmates, his carefully construed mask of defence crumbled away.

“Y/n, you always sound like that. But this is the happiest I can remember being, I just want to live in it a little longer, being around you… It’s like there was this screaming white noise swirling around in my head that I didn’t notice before, and every time I’m around you… It’s dead quiet, peaceful. Pretending to ignore you for the last few weeks has been torture, the noise has been deafening louder than ever before. But watching you act like I didn’t exist… ” His voice caught in his throat as he tilted his forehead against mine, his breath fanning my face as his chest heaved with his words. I squirmed as his crotch pushed against me, the fabric of our jeans rubbing together as he pressed deeper into me, I gasped in pain as the jagged edge of the picnic table stabbed into the backs of my thighs.

“I know we have a lot to figure out after the past couple of weeks, but just let me enjoy the quiet for a little bit, please y/n.” His eyes burned passionately as he brought his lips down to mine, effectively drowning any of sort of protest from me, even though I hadn’t had one. He was making this impossible, how could I deny giving Eddie what he was begging for when it was everything I wanted aswell?

I tried to form an argument that made sense to both of us, or even something sweet to whisper back to his admission, but his kiss sent my mind blank. The taste of his tongue as it slipped across my bottom lip made my knees shake. The precarious willpower I was holding onto collapsed in an instant, like it was made from dust.

“Okay.” I moaned against his face, reaching up to twist my fingers in his hair to hold him to me as he began to pull away. He grinned as my face fell into a pout, bumping his nose against mine to place one quick peck against my lips. His face was flushed with excitement as he watched a flock of birds fly overhead, their shadows spurring over us.

“Okay.” He mocked me, laughing as he stepped back from me completely. He held my hand and swung it between us as he thought about something hard, sticking his tongue out the corner of his mouth as I narrowed my eyes questioningly.

“Come to my place tonight.” He said suddenly, standing up straight as his tone turned serious, watching my expression carefully for my reaction. Nerves chocked me at the implication behind his words. Without the courage of alcohol urging me on, as it had last night, I was terrified. It wasn’t that I had changed my mind about it, or Eddie, I just wasn’t experienced and he clearly was. The fleeting moment of daring that overpowered me last night, was nowhere to be found now as I shivered uncontrollably in the cold, secluded clearing.

It didn’t matter anyway; I couldn’t risk getting caught sneaking to his place and being grounded until I was well into my fifties. I sighed as his face shone with earnest, his expression dropping into a mortified one as his misread my reaction.

“Oh -uh – we don’t have to, I just thought after last night that –“ His face reddened as he stuttered over his words, spinning away from me to kick a rock as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. I reached out to grab the tail of his vest, refusing to let him walk further away.

“No, it’s not that – I mean I did. I still do… Eddie… there’s a reason we had to ditch last class and not meet up after school.” I pointed out to him, amused that he hadn’t questioned it earlier. I figured he was so used to breaking school rules on a daily basis that he hadn’t even bothered to argue or ask why.

“I’m grounded.” I resigned, feeling stupid to even be saying those words at the ripe age of eighteen. I ducked my head as chagrin filled my face, listening to his teasing laugh echo off the surrounding trees.

“Bit of a bad girl are we y/n?” He smirked at me, reaching out to stroke my cheekbone with the back of his hand. The metal of his bulky rings was even colder than usual in the winter air, stinging against my skin as he dragged them back and forth.

“Something like that.” I muttered, refusing to meet his gaze.

“Wait.” His hand stilled against my face. “Did you get in trouble over last night? Because of me?”

I laughed at the panic stretching across his features, his brows narrowing as his mouth turned down in worry. “No Eddie, my mom loves you, she keeps asking Dustin when he’s going to bring you around again. ‘Such a nice boy, I’m glad he’s been looking after Dustykins at school. Too skinny though, he needs to let me feed him.’”

A wide grin slowly spread across his face at my poor imitation of my mom. Dustin had been dodging her requests awkwardly whenever I was in earshot, shooting me a concerned glance as he waited for me to blow up at the mention of Eddie’s name, after I stopped driving them to Hellfire, he was smart enough to have figured out something was wrong, but scared enough to keep his mouth shut and not ask me for details.

Our mom was obliviously in the dark about everything of course, so she didn’t notice the painful grimaces on my face and my quick escapes every time she discussed him. She had realised my black miserable moods over the past month, but just not the reason for them.

“Are you going invite me to dinner with your mother y/n? How very normal of you.” He laughed as I pinched him playfully, the image of him playing house with my family sending strange stirring through my frame, I couldn’t picture a more obscure scenario of Eddie, but the thought of him charming my mom and laughing with Dustin over a lovingly burnt meal, set a smile on my face.

“Maybe – if I wasn’t grounded.” I reminded him gently, his laughter died down as he examined me, I could practically hear his brain ticking away behind his stare as a mischievous expression filled his face.

“What?” I groaned, not trusting the look in his eyes.

“Nothing.” He pressed his lips together like he was hiding a secret, he pushed away from the table next to me, grabbing my hand to tug me along behind him. “C’mon, schools about to finish and you need to get home since you’re grounded.” He raised his eyebrows and smirked at me over his shoulder as he dragged me into the darkness of the forest, the trees whipping even wilder than before. My stomach did a little flip as his smile made me wary of what he was planning, not trusting him at all.

I knocked a small potted plant of the top of my dresser onto my soft carpet as I jumped in fright, dropping my folded pair of jeans into the open draw. I spun around as fear gripped me, peering into the darkness outside my window.

Ping

I watched the rock clatter against my windowsill before tumbling out of sight, my breath whooshed from me as my panic faded. The top of a familiar curly head of hair popped up briefly in the bottom corner of the window. Sighing in disbelief I slid the draw shut and crossed my empty floor, my now extremely clean room was completely devoid of any mess. As soon as I got home from school I set to tidying up, now it looked better than the day we first moved in.

I checked over my shoulder to make sure my door was properly closed before I wrenched the window up, the glass creaking slightly as it resisted against me. Cold air swarmed into the room as I leant over the edge.

“Eddie.” I whispered into the nothingness, golden light from my desk lamp poured out onto the grass below but I couldn’t see anyone. I had just begun to think I’d imagined it when something large moved in the shadows.

“Jesus.” I gasped as Eddies wide grin slid into view, his leather jacket banged against the wood panelling as he leant next to the window, rolling a smoke between his fingers.

“No, just me. Sorry.” He laughed, not sounding apologetic in the slightest.

“You scared me asshole.” I swallowed as my breathing slowed, my heart hammering away loudly in my chest.

“What are you doing here?” I leant forward on my elbows through the window as he stood up from where he was leaning to light his cigarette. The flame illuminated his face in an orange glow before we were purged back in darkness, the cherry of his smoke running hot as he took a drag.

“Well, you said you were grounded. I figured that meant you couldn’t leave your house. And this way, you’re not.” He shrugged his shoulders as he placed his hands above my window, leaning in towards me as his smoke billowed around my face. As he moved, his shirt rode up, exposing a pale strip of skin just above his belt. My breathing quickened as he waited for my response.

“You’re an idiot Eddie Munson.” I laughed, letting my eyes travel up his chest until I met his penetrating gaze, the ash at the tip of his cigarette dropped dangerously as he watched me. He inhaled deeply before pulling it from his mouth and extinguishing it in the dead grass beneath his feet, lifting his shoulders up and down as he shivered comically.

“You gonna move Henderson or am I going to freeze out here?” I stepped backed in shock as he gripped the sides of windowsill, his rings straining against the thin skin of his knuckles as he agilely pulled himself through it. I bit back a retort of surprise as he unfolded himself in front of me, impressed that he had managed to climb through the window so smoothly even being as he tall as he was.

His strong aura quickly filled my small room, no matter how far I stepped back I felt like I was too close to him. The intimacy of the situation hit me like a tonne of bricks, becoming acutely aware of how thin the material of my grey pyjama shorts and singlet were. I swore at myself for not wearing a cuter matching set, my old gym shorts were in better condition than the rags I chose to put on tonight. He barely spared me a quick glance as I crossed my arms over my chest, turning to examine my clean room, he looked at my half-made bed for a split second before turning back to me with a knowing grin.

“Expecting company, are you?” He raised an eyebrow cockily, running his hand across the chain bracelet around his wrist as he smirked at me.

“Yeah, my boyfriend’s going to be here in a minuet, so you better go.” I wasn’t sure what made me say it, but a feeling of shock zapped through us both as he met my gaze questioningly at my words.

“Who is he?” He joked threateningly, not quite concealing a tinge of hardness layering his tone.

Dustin strolled past my closed door at that moment, banging on it as he passed. “Thanks for using all the hot water dingus.” We held our breaths as his footsteps faded, his own door slamming shut a few seconds later. The tension dissipated as we both let out nervous gulps of laughter. I tip toed to my bedroom door to lock it, rattling it just to make sure.

“We better be quiet, don’t want little Henderson knowing I’m in here. Kid might have a heart attack, aren’t you supposed to hate me or something?” I could hear his barely concealed laugh as I rolled up a towel and shoved it against the gap under the door, hoping it might work as a sound barrier.

“Actually…” I drawled, slowly rising to face him, embarrassment showing on my face. “We’re already kinda busted.” Eddie crossed his arms across his Hellfire shirt, raising his eyebrows curiously as he scoffed, waiting for me to continue.

“He saw you drop me home last night, so I had to tell him.” His eyes flashed up to mine shocked, opening his mouth in protest before I cut him off, knowing what he was about to ask.

“Ew no, you think I’d tell my brother about my sex life?” I whispered harshly, watching his exclamation bubble to his lips.

“What did you tell him then?” He whispered back fiercely, as the sound of my mom putting away dishes in the kitchen drifted through the walls.

“I just said that we’d had a misunderstanding, but that we’d figured it out.”

“What did he say to that?” His brows lowered as he relaxed slightly.

“Nothing important, he’s just happy that he can bore me with DnD stories again.” I rolled my eyes, but Eddie didn’t see, he had started pacing back and forth across my room. I busied myself by tossing the rest of my pillows onto my bed, pulling the covers back and switching on my heated blanket.

“Feels weird being in here without you yelling at me.” He muttered after a moment; his voice was a gentle whisper as I heard him slide my window shut. When I spun around to face him, he had turned away from me, drumming his fingers against my wooden side table as he traced the outlines of the water stains forming odd patterns on the top.

“Yeah well, I don’t mind you being in here this time.” I beamed as I watched the corner of his cheek lift, like he was hiding his own smile.

“You don’t mind?” He walked over to my desk and leant against it, placing his hands on either side of him against the tabletop. I groaned as I tried to usher him back off of it, as the edge of his jacket knocked my carefully stacked notebooks. Eddie laughed and stayed rooted to the spot, so I had to lean across him to fix them back into place, reaching out to trap my wrist in his hand as I pulled away from him.

“Is it okay that I’m here y/n?” I stopped breathing as his touch sent flames up my arm, his eyes blackened as I moved closer to him unconsciously, the rich smell of cigarettes and cologne invading my senses. Goosebumps prickled on my skin as his eyes darted across my bare chest, the lacy fringe of my shirt siting just below my cleavage line. I watched Eddie’s Adams apple roll up and down as he gulped nervously, his breathing coming quicker as I lifted my hand to caress his lips, his hot gasp tickling my skin.

I nodded slightly, pressing my lips together as cold droplets of water rolled off the ends of my freshly washed hair and down my back, the sensation sending a shive up my spine.

“It’s okay.” I sighed, he stood up straight and shrugged out of his jacket, draping it lightly over my desk chair. He pushed my wet hair away from my face as he studied me, I caught his hand as it brushed across my cheek, lacing my fingers through his as I turned and towed him towards my bed. Eddie waited as I crawled across the covers, my tiny shorts riding up dangerously as I shuffled on my hands and knees until I was pressed against the wall, making room for him to lay down with me. My confidence faltered as I turned back to see him resisting a smile, his crossed arms covering his mouth slightly as his eyes met mine. The laughter left his eyes as he watched my face fall, reaching down to pull the covers over me and tuck them around my body.

“Beautiful y/n, do you want to go to sleep?” He asked me, as he wiped his palms against his jeans, his shadow on the wall behind us moved with him as my bedroom lamp glowed softly. I bit down on my warm lip as I shook my head, unable to tell him what I really wanted. I patted the empty space beside me and shuffled back, Eddie didn’t hesitate to kick off his sneakers as he laid down next to me gently, trapping me under the covers as he lounged on top of them.

I huffed and pouted as he repositioned himself until he got comfortable, brushing his curls away that fell into my face. I didn’t know how to – as Steve would say – make a move, he tilted his head down towards me as he heard me sigh in frustration, wrapping his arm around me and pulling my head onto his chest.

Okay, this wasn’t a bad start. After a moment of silence filled the air between us, our synchronised breathing the only noise, his body vibrated as he started to hum a tune I wasn’t familiar with. Nerves suffocated me as I pictured myself reaching up to pull his mouth down to mine, I didn’t understand why I was so nervous, I’d kissed Eddie enough times by now to know how his lips would feel.

In the cold night air swirling around us, it just felt a little too real as we laid in my bed, scary.

Electricity zinged in the space between us as I pushed away all my thoughts and fears and prepared myself, telling myself not to be a coward. But as I looked up at Eddies face, I found his eyes already trained on me, and my hand that was resting on his chest, feeling his beating heart, bunched up the fabric of his shirt as his stare sent an overwhelming feeling of want through me.

“Eddie…” I whispered between us; his heart hammering away faster beneath my palm. “Please-“ My pleas were cut off as Eddie crushed his lips to mine.

Eddie | December 1985

This had to be about her. But it was torturous as she squirmed beneath me, I pressed myself further into her as she gasped against my mouth, the thin fabric of our clothes and flimsy sheets barely separating our searing bodies. She’d told me she was a virgin last night after I’d pulled my mouth from her, I didn’t think she’d remembered telling me but as soon as she let it slip, I’d knew I wasn’t going to be able to let her first time be in some dingy carpark in front of a bar.

Y/n deserved better.

I wasn’t, however, strong enough to stay away from her for more than twenty-four hours. The pounding white noise in the back of my head sent me running straight back into her clutches. Even after she’d told me about being grounded, my mind had worked overtime to figure out how to get her alone. Running the risk of her mom or worse – Dustin – catching us, was worth it in my eyes. The box of condoms I had picked up on the way to her house, burned in my back pocket.

She moaned against my mouth as she allowed my further access into her, running my tongue along her sweet lips, the taste of her sending me into an almost frenzy. Y/n reached up to wrap her hands in my hair, sparks of pleasure shooting through me as she tugged on it lightly. I brought my knees up slightly to bare my weight so I wasn’t crushing her beneath me, leaning down on my elbow beside her head so I could use my free had to explore her body.

My fingers traced the soft lines of her chest, dancing across the light fabric that covered her breasts, she shuddered beneath my touch making my dick twitch beneath my jeans. She moaned quietly as she felt me move above her, rolling her hips up to meet mine. I reached up to grab her headboard to steady myself, reminding myself to be gentle and slow with her. Y/n breathed my name as my mouth moved against her neck, leaving soft kisses as I trailed across her jaw. Pulling her hand from my hair to grasp my shoulder, she wrapped her legs around my waist, digging her heel into my lower back to pull me in deeper to her, I groaned in frustration as she melted against me.

God she was making it impossible to hold back.

Before I became undone completely, I sat back on my heels to devour the perfect view in front of me. Her mouth fell into an attractive pout as she groped the empty air between us, murmuring for me to come back to her. My ravenous eyes consumed the milky soft white skin of her lower abdomen to where her shirt had been pushed up. Soaking up every second of it, I brought my hands to her sides to pull it up over her chest, she leant forward from the pillows a little to help as I slid it over her head. She collapsed back against the bed as she reached up to cross her arms over her bare chest, chewing on her lips nervously. I wrapped my hands around her wrists to pull them to her side, leaning forward to press a kiss to her soft lips.

“You’re so beautiful y/n.” An incredible blush filled her cheeks as she relaxed beneath me, spreading her legs so I fit against her comfortably. My hard-on was screaming in pressure as it struggled against my jeans, but I needed to make y/n ready first.

A pretty smile played on her lips as I left wet kisses along her neck, my nose brushing against her skin as I trailed down her chest, taking her nipple into my mouth and sucking slightly until I felt it harden beneath my tongue, swiftly moving my head to her other one. I still had her hands pinned beneath my grasp; she moaned a little too loudly as she struggled against me. I let go of her to slip my hand against her mouth, laughing into her stomach as I realised she was definitely a screamer.

A devilish smile spread across my face as I thought about where I could take her to explore that particular trait.

She nodded against my hand as someone’s snores down the hall faltered, showing me that she understood.

I removed my hand to caress the soft inner skin of her thighs, squeezing them as I got closer to her sensitive spot. She gasped as my fingers brushed past her clothed slit, my eyes burned as they flashed up to meet her flushed face, intrigued by the noises my touches were eliciting from her delicious mouth. I spurred forward to kiss away the moan from her lips.

She bent her knees, widening her legs as I settled in closer to her, pressing my hardened cock against her. Another quiet gasp slipped past her lips as her eyes broadened. The pressure beneath my jeans causing her eyes to go wide.

“It’s okay y/n, I’ll go slow. I’ll be gentle. I promise.” I waited for her to nod before bringing my mouth back to hers.

My purposeful fingers trailed down her abdomen, tracing her bare skin above the band of her shorts. My hand hesitated as it skimmed across tender skin, I tugged down on her pyjamas to expose a long, red jagged scar that wrapped along her side, she froze beneath my touch as our gazes met.

“Who did this?” I demanded, my rough voice breaking through the quiet. Tears welled in her eyes and I wrenched forward to kiss them away, not knowing the cause behind her pain but wishing I could take it on myself. A silent sob wracked her chest as she shook her head, wrapping her arms around my neck to crush our lips together. I groaned as I surrendered to her touch.

It was different this time, the distant childhood friend that I had lost my own virginity to, the blonde bartender from The Hideout that had been the extent of my sexual experience- neither of them could compare. Y/n meant something to me, even though the feeling of her beneath my body sent dangerous thoughts into my mind of all kinds of dirty things I wanted to do to her, above all I just wanted to rip her up into my arms and shield her from the the pain of the world, protecting her from anything that would dare lay it’s hand on something so precious.

I tightened my arms around her until it felt like she would snap under the pressure, but y/n didn’t complain, she sighed in content as our lips moved flawlessly together

As I gripped her hips to slow down her grinding up against me, she groaned with frustration, her impatience breaking through. I lent forward, bumping against her to rip my shirt over my head, I moaned as she knotted her fingers through my curls, pulling my chest down against her naked one, our hot skin molding together perfectly. My hips bucked down into her with each pleasure shock her mouth sent through me.

I removed my lips from hers to trace kisses down her sternum, pausing as I reached the top of her shorts.

Her heavy breathing stopped as she looked down to meet my eyes staring back at her, she splayed her hands across her stomach self-consciously. I pried her hands away and pinned them at her sides. I intertwined our fingers together, my thick rings pressed against her hands. My free hand slowly rubbed up and down her slit beneath her clothes, finding her sensitive spot and rubbing soft circles on it, feeling her heat burn under my touch. She moaned and rolled her head back, squeezing her eyes shut as my pace increased.

I stopped abruptly as my own abdomen clenched, just the mere sight of her writhing beneath my hands was enough to send me over the edge. I tapped the side of her ass to get her to lift up slightly, shimming down her shorts until they reached her ankles. I pulled them from her and tossed them aside, running my hands along her soft skin as I noticed the damp patch in her panties. She reached up to run her fingers over my chest, tracing the line of hair that ran down my stomach. Her hands fell to my belt buckle as our eyes met.

I flattened myself against her, cupping her cheek as her mouth moved with mine, my free hand skilfully freeing a condom from the packet and bringing it between us, I broke apart from her for a second to tear it open with my teeth, crushing my mouth back to hers in an instant. I fidgeted a bit as I hastened to undo my belt, pulling my jeans down slightly. She gasped as my cock fell out against her stomach, my pre cum dripping against her skin. Her eyes flashed down between us before looking back up at me, a mixture of nervousness and excitement on her face.

She bit her bottom lip between her teeth as I rolled the condom over my cock, nervously waiting for what came next. I hovered above her for a still moment, our beaths mingling. Leaning down on one arm, my hand still cupping her cheek, I pulled her panties to the side as I pressed my dick against her entrance, running it up and down her opening, collecting the wetness my fingers had created.

I gasped and she writhed madly as the new sensation took over us, y/n's arms tightened around me as she hid her face in my chest. I clutched her sheets next to her head, twisting and pulling them until they came off the mattress as her warmth and wetness surrounded me, trying not to explode. I had never felt something more heavenly; the feeling of y/n was other worldly. Sinful. Illegal.

She gasped loudly as I pushed my first few inches in, stopping for a moment as her walls expanded, making room for me. I moaned against her neck as I felt her wetness dripping around me.

“Fuck y/n, all for me?” Her breath shuddered and her nails dug into my skin.

“Eddie…” She moaned; I nearly fell to pieces at the sound of my name on her lips.

I continued to push into her slowly like that for a few minutes until I bottomed out in her, both of us groaning in pleasure as I filled her up. I hesitated for a moment to press a shaky kiss to her lips, letting myself come back from the edge a little before I started pumping in and out of her. She grabbed onto my shoulders to steady herself, her nails leaving deep marks on my sensitive skin.

“Are you okay?” I groaned, biting down on my fist as she gasped, trying to not to finish as the sensations overwhelmed me.

She looked so fucking sexy as she creased her eyebrows and caught her bottom lip between her teeth, looking down at our bodies connecting as each movement made us both moan in pleasure. Her eyes flicked back up to mine as she nodded.

As my pleasure threatened to spill over, I slipped my hand back to her clit and started rubbing soft circles there, hurtling her towards the edge as well, building faster with each thrust I pushed into her. I couldn’t hold back the ecstatic feelings pulsing through me, she was too irresistible, but I was nothing if not a gentleman and she was going to finish first. She wrapped her legs around my waist as her body convulsed, my hand keeping up a constant pace as she faltered against me, gasping as I pushed deeper into her.

She buried her face in the crook of my neck, moaning as the peak of her pleasure rolled through her body in waves. I held her tightly as I continued to thrust into her more for a few more moments, bright light blinding me as the most incredible feeling flooded through me. Low groans fell from my mouth as I shuddered and collapsed against her chest. We stayed locked in each other’s embrace for a private moment, our breathing and heartbeats slowing down together. Silence settled around us comfortably before I rolled off of her to the side, I quickly stuffed the condom into the bin next to her side table – reminding myself to get up and empty it for her in the morning – before pulling her head down onto my chest and wrapping my arms around her.

As I sensed her breathing even and felt her soft snores against my cheek, I lifted her sleepy form against my chest, her soft naked torso pressing into me gloriously as I slid my Hellfire t-shirt over her head. Her now dry locks of silky hair framed her sweet face, swaying slightly as her soft breath fanned across her pillow. Just in case Little Henderson busted into her room while we were sleeping, I stood to pull my jeans on to save him the scarring images of seeing me naked, her hand snaked out across the sheets as she felt me leave the mattress.

“Eddie?” She mumbled, squinting into the darkness.

“Right here baby.” She smiled at my pet name, finding my hand and wrapping her fingers around it.

“Stay?” She begged. My heart swelled to twice its normal size and then broke, unable to handle the weight of affection that rushed through me.

“Always.” I whispered back, pressing my lips to her cheek.

Chapter Nine

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