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#and it takes SO long to sort all the food back onto the shelves and find where it all belongs

cow-princess · 2 days

Text

Have been forgetting to do my laundry so I’m currently panties as I’m waiting for my laundry to finish and all I can think about is if I had to run a quick errand out of the house and having someone notice I’m wearing nothing underneath my shorts.

Maybe I trip and my shorts slip down a bit or maybe someone accidentally bumps me and it pulls down slightly but either way someone in the grocery noticed that I wasn’t wearing anything underneath. Before I even realize hes pressed me up to the shelves and slip a finger down my shorts, caressing my ass and giggling.

He grabs my hands before I have the chance to run and start to drag me over to the supply closet.

“You know if you didn’t want it you wouldn’t have gave me such easy access.” He mocks, shutting the door and tossing me across the room. I fall over as they pull my shorts off with ease, leaving my bare cunt exposed and vulnerable. “We’ve been needing a new milk producer for awhile, a slut like you should do perfectly.”

I take a second to look at my surroundings, a modest storage room stuffed full with typical grocery store stuff, as well as a small table in the back and a conveyer belt stacked with gallon jugs. In my stupor I’m picked up and slammed on the table face up. The attendant quickly straps my hands above my head and legs far apart so all my hose are easily accessible. My shirt and bra are torn off and dropped onto the floor.

“Hmm, you look plenty wet already, probably enjoying this so much aren’t you, so we’ll just get started right away,” he mumble as he sticks his finger into my slick cunt. He unzip his jeans and quickly thrust into my cunt. My moans and please are ignored as he pumps load after load into my pussy, making sure I’m properly bred.

After awhile has passed he pulls out and slots a fuck machine into my cunt, setting it on the medium speed. My stomach is bulging from his thick seed and my tits already feel swollen from milk. He attaches two suction cups to my breast and watches me moo helplessly as they start to tug, though no milk has come out.

“Aww don’t worry pet, it won’t take long for you to start producing. I’ll come back tommorow to breed you again, can’t have our precious cash cow going dry can we?” And with that he exits the closet.

Weeks pass and all I’ve become is a sloppy dumb cow. My only confirmation of time is the knowledge that each day a staff member breeds me deep, my womb always uncomfortably full with sperm. I’m fed a mixture of all sorts of fattening foods so my chubby breasts are always swollen with rich creamy milk. As my mind melts into brainless moos, all I can wonder is if my laundry is finished.

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yestrday · 4 months

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hihi! may i suggest the 2nd years’ reaction to a teasing but easily flustered darling? they’re like a mix of a hiyakasudere (teasedere) and a dandere. long story short, it’s kinda like “oooo you want to kiss me so bad aha” to “WAIT WHY ARE YOU GETTING SO CLOSE” kinda thingy + don’t forget to take care of yourself! don’t forget to drink water and get some rest! :)

hoooly shit this has been in my drafts for so long and i finally had a sudden spark of inspiration to finally finish it. i'm so sorry anon you've waited a terribly long time

now, for the moments where your yandere harem is not-so-yandere and relatively normal-looking

you might like: yan! academy genshin second years

you thought that you'd get to share a nice lunch with your dear friend albedo after he invited you to a nice secluded spot for the both of you to spend lunch together. the food was definitely nice— this is albedo we're talking about after all— but you couldn't help but find yourself pouting. all he had been doing all lunch was sketch away at his papers.

hmph. you think. shouldn't he give me a bit of his attention?

hoping to sneak some sort of reaction out of him, you inch closer to his drawings. he’s never had a problem with you looking at his unfinished work and yet his strong but gentle hand reach out and firmly root you to your position. “don’t move,” he mutters. and then a long period of silence follows, but this time his eyes study every inch of your face and body.

"don't you think you're starin' at me a bit too much?" you croon, flashing one of your mischievous grins at the ever stoic student with the hope of alleviating some of the awkardness you feel. "someone might think you have a crush on me.”

“maybe i do,” he hums. “what about it?” it’s so nonchalant that it’d pass through anyone’s ears as a joke, but you’re so hyper-aware of everything right now that the blush starts rising to your cheeks, gaping at him with an open mouth.

“wh– what?!” you hate how squeaky your voice is.

“oh nothing,” he resumes back to his sketching before he gives you a glance over and smirks at you. “don’t you think you’re blushing too much? someone might think you have a crush on me.”

“a– albedo!”

no one knows how xiao lets you get away with how overly touchy you are. you’re not exactly what they’d imagine to be hanging around xiao. you smile too much, flirt and tease with people, and you drag the boy around to places almost embarassing to be seen at. but xiao follows anyway. one moment he’ll go: “hmph. and why should i?” but when you pout and just whine about going with another boy, he’s immediately latching onto your arm.

you’re aware of how differently xiao treats you and to be honest, you’re a little bit smug. you like to exert your power over him time to time. pushing a little too close or trailing your fingers up his surprisingly toned muscles just to tease him.

“you’re shameful,” he’d huff and look away, but you’re delighted at how his porcelain face turns into a bright cherry shade and continue teasing him anyway.

xiao is aware of this power you have over him, but he doesn’t stop you. he likes this warm and fluttery feeling you overwhelm him with. still, it’d be nice if he could change the tables for a moment and make you stutter and blush instead.

this musing of his is shelved away in his mind until an impromptu study date comes up. poring over your textbooks for the upcoming quiz, you snack away on some nuts to help you concentrate. when xiao looks up, he sees some crumbs on you’re too focused to notice. absentmindedly, he reaches over the table and slides a finger to wipe away the crumbs. you take this the wrong.

“wh- what are you doing?!” you squeak, face blaring red. “we’re studying, you know!”

he hushes you. “hold still.”

he brings the finger to his mouth and licks up the food, confused at your shock and embarassment but no questioning it. he sits back down and resumes his studies while you spend the rest of the session covering your face with a book and fanning your face. xiao remains ever oblivious as he focuses on passing the test, unaware that his wish has already been granted.

kazuha takes your flirtatious advances seriously, because well, romance and love must be taken seriously. somewhere in the back of his mind he can sense that you’re just joking... still, let kazuha delude himself for a tiny bit.

all flirty remarks of yours are responded with sincere and genuine exclamations of love which has you blushing and running away with every encounter with him. you don’t even know why you bother anymore, but perhaps it’s the urge to see the ever so calm and serene kazuha lose his composure because of you.

it’s for the sake of blushy kazuha! you pump yourself up before pushing open the classroom doors. the boy idles by the window sill, away from the chatter of your classmates. your presence immediately has him perking up and smiling at you from across the room. you take a deep breath and close your eyes.

be still, be confident. you’re gonna get him today!

“hi kazu~” you grin, sauntering over to him with brimming confidence. “your most favorite person is here!” you open your mouth, planning to pour out another set of cheesy pick-up lines and compliments, but kazuha reacts quicker.

“indeed, you are here right now,” he says in nigh reverence. he takes a stray lock from your hair and twirls it around his finger. “i’ve missed you over the weekend, you know?” he kisses it and smiles at you. the morning sun lights his face aglow, and the wind brushing past the window makes his hair flutter along with your heart. “oh, [your name]? you’re redder than a maple leaf.”

steam puffs out of your ears at being called out, and you stumble back, glaring at him. “i-i’ll get you one day, kazu! i swear i will!” and when you make a tactical retreat, kazuha only laughs to himself before fondly kissing the finger that held your lock of hair so tenderly.

you honestly thought that thoma would be the easily flustered type, but he's really not. it's always the same reaction out of him: you flirt, he stops, stares, and his lips crack into a brilliant yet amused smile. your charms, that have flawlessly worked on both me and women, are received like an elder brother witnessing their sibling's antics.

it makes your blood boil! really! the audacity of this guy to just shrug off your remarks when you're already growing desperate to get a reaction out of him! you up your charisma, bat your lashes more, but no, nada! it makes you a bit insecure— juuuust a little. is your allure starting to wane?

you're sulkily poking at your lunchbox, too caught up with your little dilemma to actually eat. thoma notices from across you, and his brows pinch together in concern as he regards your expression.

"is everything okay, [your name]?" he asks softly, placing a gentle hand on yours to let you know he's there. "you don't seem to have an appetite today. is the lunchbox i made not up to your liking?"

you might be sulking, but archon forbid you make thoma think his cooking wasn't up to standard! you frantically shake your head, before settling down and letting out a sigh.

"thoma~" you let out a whine, grasping his hand on yours with both of yours. you pout as prettily as you can, letting the lips you meticulously glossed this morning do their job, bat your lashes, and doing everything and anything you can in your power to turn it up a hundred times more. "be honest with me. do you find me pretty at all?"

his eyes widen at the question. "o– of course, i do, [your name]! there's no one in this school who doesn't find you attractive." something dark flickers in his eyes for a moment as he mutters lowly. "believe me."

that shadow disappears as soon as it comes, and squeezes your hands reassuringly. "more than just being attractive, i like you for who you are." his soft green eyes crease downward in a fond look, and you think your heart is racing a hundred miles per second. "i'm here with you, aren't i?"

you do your utmost best to respond, but your tongue fails you. your brain has short-circuited, and you can barely hear anything than the pounding of your heart and the muffled worried calls of your name. you slump in your seat, steam coming out of your brain and dizzy from the heartburn. you are defeated at your game.

there are advantages and disadvantages to flirting with the scaramouche. when you shoot him one of your teasing remarks or sidle a bit too close to his side, the people around you look at you like you're crazy.

and you are. you're crazy obsessed with his reactions, how sardonic and dry-humor they are but so cute and feisty. so what if his glares keep getting scarier and scarier, if his lips curl up in a sneer whenever he sees you. you don't waste a single moment in trying to get a reaction out of him!

"hey, scara~♪" your head pops out from the corner while he's busy with his locker, and glances at you before resuming with his work. "you're as cute as ever as always!"

"and i can see that you still insist on being annoying," he says plainly, before slamming his locker shut and fixing you with his signature dirty glare. "when will you stop bothering me, or do i have to put up with your nonsense until graduation?"

"only if you'll have me~"

"idiot," he scoffs. "to be disturbing me like this day in and day out. you have some nerve, [last name]. are you really that keen on breaking my peace? or—" he studies your face carefully, before a smug smile breaks out on his lips. "are you really that obsessed with me?"

your mind blanks out at the sudden accusation and you can feel the heat rising in your face. "o–obsessed with you? don't be absurd! i– you– you're not the only one, you know! don't get too full of yourself." your face reddens further as his smirk only grows, and you stomp your foot childishly. "believe me!"

"tut, tut, [last name]. you won't get further in this society if you wear your hearts on a sleeve like that. but don't worry." he lifts your chin up with a slender finger, and as much as that knowing grin of his is humiliating, you can't help but appreciate how alluring the expression is on him. "since you're so obsessed with me, i don't mind letting a commoner like you live under my care when the time calls for it."

#yandere genshin impact #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #yandere x reader #genshin fluff #yandere albedo #yandere xiao #yandere kazuha #yandere thoma #yandere scaramouche #yester.au — academy 📓#yester.writes

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ofstarsandvibranium · 22 days

Text

My Sweetheart: Part 7

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x F!Reader

Summary: You purchase a vintage sweetheart bracelet from an antique store and with it, comes the spirit of the woman who owned it. Through her, you go on an interesting journey to find out what happened to her old lover.

Series Masterlist

The next time you see Bucky is when he's scheduled to come in. Alongside him is Yelena and Kamala. Alpine happens to be hanging on your shoulder, so when Bucky walks in, Alpine jumps from your shoulder to the front counter.

Bucky chuckles and picks up the white kitten, "Hey, buddy," the kitten meows and nuzzles into Bucky's neck.

"He was being a little fussy earlier today. He pooped all over himself and we had to bathe him. He wasn't having any of it, but we got through it."

Bucky looks at the kitten, "You being a little stubborn, Al?"

"Think you're rubbing off on him," Yelena says with a smirk, patting the white kitten's head.

Bucky rolls his eyes, "Don't think I've rubbed off on him that much yet." He then turns to you and softly smiles, "So, what's on the agenda boss?"

You check your watch, "It's about lunch time so divide and conquer. Take out and feed half. The ones out and eating need their enclosures cleaned. I'll need some help sorting donations we just received."

"I'll help you," Yelena immediately spoke up, which caused Bucky and Kamala to look at her with raised brows. She shrugged, "What? I like being helpful."

"Well okay. Kamala, Bucky, you guys know where the food and cleaning supplies are, right?"

"We got it, Captain!" she salutes to you and nudges Bucky to follow.

You politely smile at him and point at the kitten on his shoulder, "I assume I can trust you with Alpine?"

He shoots you a grin, "Of course!" his smile fades and then he looks concerned. He rubs the back of his neck "but, uh, you good? I'm sorry but you look a little frazzled today."

You can't help but laugh a little at his statement and you rub your forehead, "Yeah. Today's already been a long day and I've been here for only three hours."

Bucky steps closer, "Anything I can do to help?"

You give him a soft smile and place a hand on his shoulder, "You being here helps." Realizing how it sounds you immediately retract your hand and clear your throat, "I-I mean, you guys, like, you, Kamala, and Yelena being here helps. Extra hands means more stuff gets done and what not."

He smirks at you, "Right. Got it, but, uh, if there's anything you need, you let me know? Or, uh, Yelena or Kamala. We're always here to help."

You nod and nudge him, "Thanks, Bucky. I appreciate it."

Yelena clears her throat and you two completely forgot she was still there. You and Bucky step away from each other and you turn to Yelena, "Uh, follow me to the back and we can start sorting everything."

The blonde nods and turns to Bucky as you start walking away, "Smooth, Barnes."

He rolls his eyes, "Shut it, Lena." He turns on his heel and goes to join Kamala in the cat room.

___________________

Yelena helps you sort out the donations of food, beds, towels, etc. in the storage room. There's a comfortable silence as you two work. There's occasional grunts and sighs as you lift things onto shelves. You two eventually pause for some water and that's when Yelena decides to ask you, "So I hear you're being haunted."

You snort, "Yeah, I guess you can say that." You sigh and place a bag of dog food onto a shelf. You sit on a bin and explain, "I bought a bracelet from an antique store and turns out, the spirit of Bucky's girlfriend from the forties is still attached to it. In order for her to pass on, I need to help her with her unfinished business. At first, I thought it was just for her to see Bucky one last time, but she switched things up on me," you say with a chuckle and you feel a flick to your ear. You pout, "Quit it, Dot."

Yelena's brows rise, "Do you see her or something?"

You shake your head, "She flicked my ear. And, uh, she kinda goes wherever I go as long as I wear the bracelet," you hold up the vintage jewelry.

Yelena nods, "That's beautiful. I can understand why you wanted to buy it."

"Yeah. Apparently Bucky purchased it and gave it to Dot before he left for the war. After Dot passed, I guess the bracelet got passed around and eventually ended up in the antique store I like going to."

"It's funny how big yet small the world can be. Who'd have thought that a bracelet can bring the Avengers into your life?" Yelena asks with a playful grin.

You laugh, "I for sure didn't expect meeting the Avengers or having a ghost companion when I bought it," you look at the bracelet on your wrist, "but, honestly, I don't regret it. It's made my life a little more interesting and it's brought more help to the shelter," you wink at the blonde Avenger and she snorts.

__________________

As Kamala is wiping down an enclosure, she speaks up, "Is it me or did Y/N look a little-"

"I know. I talked to her," Bucky says as he wipes down another one of the cat's enclosures.

Kamala stops to fully face him with a smile on her face, "You talked to her?"

He rolls his eyes at the young Avenger not stopping his task and wanting to face her, "It was a friendly gesture."

"What did you say?"

He shrugs, "Just that if she ever needs anything to just ask."

"Ask you?" Kamala asks with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Again, he rolls his eyes, "Ask me, you, Yelena, any of us."

"Riiiight. Right. Got it." She doesn't say anything else after that and Bucky's relieved. He just wants to get his task done. He checks behind him to see if Alpine is still there. The white cat still eating on the floor along with the other few cats.

Two hours later it's around lunch time and you gather them all together in your office.

"So I ordered some pizza for us!"

"NICE!" Kamala cheers and immediately grabs a slice and moans in delight.

Bucky smiles in appreciation, "You didn't have to do this."

You shrug, "I was craving it and I'm sure the Avengers need to take a break and eat too right?"

You put out some foldable chairs out in your office and you settle in one. Bucky sits in the one near you and an invisible force pushes you closer to his side. You and everyone else in the room pause for a moment with wide eyes.

You're not sure what to say or do but then Bucky bursts out into a chuckle and everyone looks at him in surprise.

He shakes his head, "Dot's being mischievous still?"

"You have no idea," you say with a smirk before biting into your pizza.

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky imagine #bucky barnes imagine #fem!reader #female!reader #f!reader

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biillyhargroves · 2 years

Note

consider: eddie x steve x billy throuple

consider: I have no willpower and love (almost) every single ship involving Billy Hargrove. I am simply delighted, thank you for opening this little door for me, friend. for context, this is a kind of an alt-s4 vibe where Billy survived the Mind Flayer attack.

in the middle of it all (fic requests open)

"So," Robin says, slapping a stack of Sunday night returns on the counter. Steve yanks on the door to make sure it's locked, flips the window sign to Sorry, We're Closed. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing," Steve says. "I'm going to do nothing. I have Billy. I'm not losing him. This is just some stupid crush, you know? It doesn't — it can't mean anything."

"All hail monogamy," Robin proclaims. Steve raises a brow and she only shrugs, scanning in overdue teen dramas, old-school horror flicks. When she finishes, she shifts her spoils to a metal cart that she pushes she Steve's way. "All I'm saying," she goes on — Steve takes the opposite end of the cart, tugs it away from her and Robin follows along, her hands moving as she works through her thoughts, "is that maybe you can broach the topic. Delicately, you know? Casually." They pause at the new release shelf and Steve begins replacing the returns. Robin picks up a handful, moves around him to start sorting through rom-coms. Her voice drops an octave as she tries, "Hey, Billy. What do you think of Eddie Munson? He's not so bad, right?"

She turns to Steve, a half-hearted smile on her face. He rolls his eyes, shakes his head, shoves the cart further down the aisle. "You've met Billy before, right? Blond, muscley, about yay heigh?" Steve holds up a hand to demonstrate, then grabs another few tapes to shelve. "Has kicked my ass before?" he continues. "Could still kick it again? I'm not poking that bear."

"What if it's an adventurous bear," Robin muses. Steve waves her off, and Robin sighs. "I'm just saying," she shrugs. "Maybe he'd be into it."

"Okay, but that's the problem," Steve says. He abandons the videos, leaning against the corner of a shelf as Robin takes over rearranging the staff picks on an end cap. "Because if he's not into it, then all I've done is piss him off by asking. And if he is into it, then there's a whole other person to worry about. I mean, what if Eddie thinks it's insane? Then what?"

"Then you tried," Robin says.

"I don't know," Steve sighs.

Robin is quiet for a long while. She empties the returns cart, pushes it back to its usual place behind the counter. Steve follows her, neatening displays of cheap candy on his way. When they return to the counter, Robin hops up onto it, swinging her legs.

"So?" she asks.

Steve sighs dramatically, folds his arms on the counter beside her and lays his head on them, mumbles, "I don't know."

Robin rests a hand on his back. "You're seeing him tomorrow, right?" she asks. Steve shifts his head, one eye blinking up at her, and he nods. "Feel him out. Decide then." She is quite for a moment and then adds, "I just think if you say nothing, you might regret it."

Steve buries his face against his forearms and mutters, "I guess."

***

Billy is in a bad mood.

Steve can tell. He can tell by the way Billy has barely said a word, the way he pushes at his food without touching it, the way he hammers his heel against the ground as if punishing the grass for some first degree offense its somehow committed against him. He observes Billy silently, sipping at a can of soda as he does.

"Uh," Steve starts, and Billy doesn't look at him. "You good?"

It is their usual Monday ritual: a rickety picnic table outside of Hawkins High, stale fries and shitty burgers from the joint down the road, a little moment nestled between Billy's fifth period lunch and Steve's afternoon shift. It started way back in September, on those first early days when Billy returned to school, bandages still wound tight beneath shirts he'd started to button a little higher.

Billy glances and Steve, grunts, and then looks away.

Steve grabs his hand beneath the table, smooths his thumb over Billy's knuckles. Billy tenses but doesn't pull away. "Hey," Steve says softly, and Billy levels his gaze. "What's wrong?"

"You tell me," Billy says. Steve can't quite gauge his tone — not quite angry, perhaps annoyed, or something in between.

"What do you mean?" Steve asks.

Billy scoffs. "You're acting weird. Have been. For a while."

"I don't know what—" Steve starts, but something his catching his eye. Someone, across the school lawn, shoving open the heavy cafeteria doors: Eddie Munson, sporting his Hellfire tee and laughing at some half-assed insult some basketball jock slung his way. Billy follows Steve's gaze, watches Eddie disappear inside the school, one Converse sneaker kicking at the door at the last moment so that Eddie could flash his middle finger at the jock, his tongue out, his eyes comically wild.

Billy turns back to Steve, understanding clear across his face. "Oh."

"No," Steve says too quickly. "It's not—"

But Billy has already risen, licking French fry salt off his fingers and stalking after Eddie. Steve hesitates, hovers over his seat, eyes darting around before coming back to Billy's retreating back. "Shit," he mutters, and takes off after Billy.

***

The cafeteria is loud, all chatter and shouts, and Billy moves through it like a predator. His prey sits at the far end of the room, and Steve hurries to reach him. Robin catches his eye. She's sitting beside Nancy and her face blanches when she realize what's happening.

"Uh-oh," Robin says quietly.

"What?" Nancy asks.

"Uh," Robin stammers, frozen in place, unsure if she should go after Steve or seek higher ground. "Something's happening." Nancy follows her gaze, confusion setting in as she sees Billy getting closer and closer to Eddie Munson, Steve looking more and more distressed as he does. Robin says, "Something's definitely happening."

***

"Hey," Billy says loudly, gruffly, as he halts by the Hellfire table. Heads swivel toward him and chairs squeak across linoleum as kids scoot away from him. Eddie freezes, eyes moving from Billy to his friends, to Steve, and back to Billy again. Billy juts his chin toward Eddie, singling him out. "You got a minute?"

"Do I—" Eddie starts, but Steve grabs at Billy's arm, tries to tug him back, says something to him that Eddie can't quite make out. Billy yanks his arm away. He doesn't repeat himself, but his eyes don't leave Eddie. "Sure?"

Billy looks around at the table, meeting everyone's gaze in turn. It is Dustin who says, "Wow. Look at the time. Guys? We should go." and Mike Wheeler who nods along, motioning for everyone to get up. Billy can feel all of their eyes on him as the retreat.

Once they've gone, Billy grabs a chair, swings it around and sits on it backwards, his arms resting across the chair's back. He looks at Steve and Steve, unsure of what else to do, lowers himself into the seat beside Billy.

Billy is quite for a long while. He tugs a pack of Camels out of his jacket pocket, puts one in his mouth but doesn't light it. He tells Steve, "Go ahead."

"Go—" Steve stammers, then shakes his head. "It's not—"

"Shut up," Billy says sternly. "Don't lie. You've got that stupid kicked puppy look." Steve's face flushes. He opens his mouth to speak but Billy beats him to it. "He walks by and it's like there's a fucking movie soundtrack spinning in your head." Again, Steve tries to speak, but Billy holds up a hand. "We settle this now."

Billy turns away, but Steve feels no relief. That steely gaze is pinned on Eddie, who is glancing between them like a corner animal. "You into him?" Billy asks, jabbing a thumb toward Steve.

Eddie's mouth hangs open. He stutters a few mismatched syllables and Billy rolls his eyes. He is about to stand, about to push off the chair and stalk out of the room the same way he stalked in, but then Eddie says, "I'm sorry. Are you— are you guys propositioning me?"

"Yes," Billy says at the same time Steve says, "No!"

The two exchange a glance. Steve deflates. Billy lights his cigarette, school rules be damned, and blows a plume of smoke across the table at Eddie. He nods toward Steve and explains, "He's into you."

Eddie looks at Steve, who feels the hottest flush burning his skin. He nods confirmation as Billy goes on, "Personally, I couldn't give two shits about you. But..." He looks Eddie up and down as if he assessing him. He shrugs as says, "Maybe you'll grow on me."

There is along pause. Steve looks over Billy's head and sees Robin and Nancy standing against the wall, pretending to look busy, but he knows they're listening to every word. Robin meets his eyes. She sticks her thumb out, moves it slowly up and down, a question in her eyes, but Steve can only shrug.

"Okay," Eddie says eventually. Billy puffs at his cigarette, smoke curling between his lips as he smiles.

"Okay," he agrees. Steve looks between them, incredulous.

"Uh," he says, and again he meets Robin's gaze across the room. She is bouncing on her tip-toes, her fingers tapping nervously together in front of chest. "Okay?"

***

Three months later and they are all at Steve's house, a bowl of popcorn left half-finished on the coffee table, everyone smelling of chlorine and cheap beer. A movie — the crappiest one Robin and Steve could find in the store, some really awful B-flick with so-bad-its-good potential — plays on the television. Nancy is on the floor, legs stretched out in front of her, her back against an arm chair that Robin is perched in.

On the couch, Billy is laying down, his head in Steve's lap, dozing as Steve plays absently with his Billy's hair. At his other side, Eddie fidgets with a beer bottle, leaned toward and focused intently on the movie, Steve's hand on his back, thumb tracing small circles. One of Billy's arms is draped across Steve's legs, fingers lazily laced with Eddie's.

Steve can feel Robin looking at him. He peeks over at her and shakes his head at her I-fucking-knew-it grin. Billy shifts in that restless way he does when he's trying not to fall asleep. Eddie leans back, folds his legs beneath himself as he leans against Steve's side, his grip on Billy's hand tightening ever so slightly.

Told you, Robin mouths. Steve shakes his head, but he doesn't quip back. She was right, after all. Somehow, Robin is always right.

#anon #answered #harringroveson #harringrove #steddie #steve harrington #billy hargrove #eddie munson #with some slight background ronance for good measure #lex writes fics

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nohoney · 7 months

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sweetness I hope you’ve had a wonderful week mwah mwah! I was thinking about that one drabble that you wrote of us!dabi and us!keigo continuously cheating on us!yn and I was wondering if we could please get a bit of an angst drabble (I have departed from the smut/fluff train and I am now boarding the angst one)

hi darling! i hope you’ve been well and taking care of yourself! i’ve pretty much wrapped up that little cheating drabble timeline but i definitely will not deny you us series angst (´ ω `♡)

warnings: angsty-ish, touya carries reader briefly, like a sort of make up but also not?

Right now, all three of you are in a department store looking at dinnerware.

“Does it really matter what kind I get? We just need something to eat on." Touya sighs as his eyes gloss over the different styles, sizes, and shapes of plates that are presented on a shelf. Getting something new didn't necessitate that he needed to get anything fancy or flashy. All plates are there for the same purpose; to just put food on it and then eat off of.

Keigo looks over a set of five blue plates and compares it to a set of six that are in the color black. "You know that we're replacing more than just things to eat off of. What about the bowls and the cups too?" he points out.

"God, who cares?" Touya huffs out and he gestures vaguely to the entire shelf, "Let's just buy whatever we need to replace and get going. I do not care what they look like. It's not like it will be expensive for me anyway."

You stand off to the side and keep to yourself. The boys just talk only to each other while you are simply just there with them. They are not exactly ignoring you but you're not apart of the conversation either. In fact they wouldn't be here talking of dinner plates and fruit bowls if it weren't for you.

They wouldn't be here if it weren't for the tantrum you threw yesterday.

It's embarrassing when your anger gets the best of you and you become destructive. You can't even remember what had made you upset again just like many other fights before. Just another meaningless argument with your blue eyed boyfriend where he said that you were being dramatic again. He had angrily cursed and decided to step out.

When he had returned probably no more than ten minutes later, he came back to you having emptied out the cupboard of all the dinnerware. Broken ceramic pieces were shattered on the floor. Barely anything survived your rampage.

You stood on the opposite side of the kitchen, the only clear space with no broken pieces and chips of ceramic was only where you stood. With all the little sharp bits and pieces lay before you, the only option to be able to get out would have been to crawl up onto the countertop.

Touya had pulled on his boots only to be able to step over all the broken ceramic to retrieve you, putting you over his shoulder and carrying you off to the bedroom where you were essentially put on timeout.

While you cried into a pillow, he swept up everything into a trash bag and cleaned up after the mess you made. Even in your attempt to apologize, Touya didn't want to hear you speak and he went to bed with his back to you.

So now here you are, simply watching as Keigo tries to put thought into selecting dinnerware and Touya not wanting to put in any whatsoever. Your eyes drift over to the opposite end of shelves where where there are sets of mugs as well as individual ones as well. A white mug with pink clouds painted on it catches your attention. There's other designs and sizes with flowers or cats or some cheesy quote in funky lettering that are there for sale too.

"Stoneware would be good, yeah?" Keigo's voice break away your attention and you look back to see him holding a set in his arms. "It even comes with the bowls and mugs. Isn't that great?"

Touya doesn't have a comment and you just mumble a quiet 'yeah'.

The three of you move out the aisle to head to the checkout. You remain silent waiting in the long line and looking again at the rows set up along the checkout line for any last minute purchases. Again you happen upon the same mug that you saw in the aisle and your gaze lingers on it.

Before you can even react, Touya's reaching for the exact mug you're staring at it and holds it in his hand. "Quit staring at it like that, I'm gonna buy it." he states without looking at you and just keeps his gaze forward. You try to tell him it's fine and that you didn't really want it but Keigo's foot nudges against yours.

You stay silent and guess that maybe this might be Touya's way of also trying to move on from your tantrum.

The white mug with pink clouds sits on the countertop as you unbox the dinnerware set. It's heavier than you'd expected it to be and Keigo had chosen a pleasing color palette. Four plates, four bowls, and four mugs to replace the set he had before in the cupboard. You push aside the box so that it's out of your way, unknowing that it actually pushes and tips the white mug over the edge of the countertop. From the corner of your eye, you barely catch a glance as it falls and don't react quick enough to even attempt to catch it.

It smashes into little shards and big bits.

"Baby? You okay?" Keigo looked up from the book he was reading and comes to your side. He gives you a consoling little 'oh' when he looks at the mess by your feet. "It's okay, I'll clean it up."

You're sitting on the kitchen countertop as Touya emerges from the shower with a towel around his neck. He's drying his hair and he asks if he actually heard something break or if he was just imagining it. Keigo sweeps the broken mug into a dustpan and makes sure to sweep the broom in the little corners that stray pieces may have fallen to. It's disappointing that he had gone out of his way to buy it for you only for it to break the same day.

Touya offers no words though, just waiting patiently until Keigo finishes cleaning the mess and the dustpan is emptied into the garbage.

"'M sorry Touya." you tell him as he helps you off the countertop. He only offers the small gesture of rubbing your back and doesn't say anything.

It feels a little cruel almost that the gift he had given you to try to move on ended up being broken by your own actions. So you have to figure that this is karma for what you had done. You walk out of the kitchen only to step on something sharp. "Ow!"

"Aw man, must have missed one! C'mere dove, let me see and make sure it's not too bad."

Now it felt like a punishment.

#dabi x reader #todoroki touya x reader #us series

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paralianprince · 5 months

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@cryingyetcourageous

It's hard, embodying a place that could be generously described as "uniformly unpleasant", waiting impatiently for a visitor who has admitted himself to be, in his own words, "scared of almost everything, almost all of the times".

That Peter is expecting such a visitor today has left him both unable to relax or to focus on any one thing for very long. Since morning he has preoccupied himself with strategically upending small details of his home, to make it appear less conspicuously tidied. Flipping up the corner of a settee blanket, pulling a few books from the shelves and leaving them strewn about, posing his laptop on the kitchen counter instead of putting it away... and, yes, rearranging the cans in the pantry back into a disorganized state, for he had indeed neatly sorted them, a few days prior. That, he'd admit, had gone beyond "good host etiquette", and landed somewhere in the area of "silly and neurotic".

It is a placid and lovely blue-grey day for one's choice of either boating or flying, though to do either is a pretty big ask for someone not very used to it.

But Rai had made it very clear he wanted to visit - and, perhaps a bit selfishly, Peter wanted him to about as much, if not even more. Still - he has to wonder which it will be. His home possesses such an abundance of upsetting features and details that Peter had once, in a fit of good-humoured self loathing, made an entire bingo sheet out of them. The isolation (aloneness), the isolation again (inability to get help or easily leave), the ocean and its growling-belly drone, the heights, the wind, the cold, the towers' disorienting lack of windows, the godawful food selection, the water rationing, the physical danger, the boredom, the isolation a third time (vast emptiness as far as the eye can see)... which will it be?

Or maybe Raivis is perfectly resilient, and Peter is being a big dumb loser, and everything will be actually just fine. Maybe he should feel silly for wasting so much time doing something so unproductive as worry over problems that aren't even happening yet.

It's a very welcome relief, the feeling of some kind of vehicle entering his possibly-supernatural radius of awareness (a sensation he would describe as like a spider crawling up his arms). He jogs outside to take down the tall pole meant to stave off any unauthorized landings, finishes that task far too quickly and efficiently, and sounds the rest of his time pacing around the deck like a circling shark. Just as the helicopter finally (finally!) arrives, he rushes back onto the stairs leading up to the landing pad to get buffeted by the downdraft.

"Hey, so, you did it!"

Peter, fizzling with nervous energy like poprocks dropped into a soda, is clearly trying his best to seem nonchalant about the whole thing. It's not working. "I do hope the way over wasn't too terrible - how are you holding up? You're actually here, wow. Um - I can get your things if you want, you're not dizzy or anything, are you?"

#im so rustie oh my word.#cryingyetcourageous

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killemwithkawaii · 1 year

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Oh no now I’m thinking about sex with merman sal 😩💕 tucked away in a secret cove, halfway in the sun-warmed waters….oh but I can only imagine a land-dweller’s hand would be SO much warmer…gently rubbing your fingertips over that special slit until his cock starts to peek out 💕 so much longer than a human’s…maybe even prehensile/tentacle like so he doesn’t have to move his body to fuck you, he can just wrap his arms and tail tight around your body to hold you as close as possible

I forgot about mer!sal for a hot minute but now I remember so thank you and enjoy UwU 👌💕💦

Sex with Mer!Sal-

[CW: NSFW lemon/grapefruit, teratophilia, unsanitary, unprotected sex, reader is AFAB with neutral pronouns, readers body is referred to as ‘exotic’ because they’re a human getting fucked by a merman and this is all new to him but he’s very, very into it]

>I originally imagined Mer!Sal hanging out under the docks on the lake a lot (where he looks for food, searches for trinkets and observes the humans that come to the lake from beneath the boards) but he needs a safe place to sleep and keep his stuff (some of which needs to be kept dry). A little tucked-away cove (maybe hidden away by a thick curtain of weeping willow vines and surrounded by a steep rock face) would be absolutely perfect!

>Him taking you there would be just like him taking you to his room, and it’s a very big deal. He’s never voluntarily taken a human there before, and has gone to great lengths to discourage people from getting close to the entrance (scattering broken glass and rubbish on the beach to discourage swimmers, sticking branches in the mud at the lakebottom and hooking discarded fishing nets to them so that they’d snag the propellers of motorboats, weaving the vines hanging from the treeline so that they grew in tangled messes above the surface and make it nearly impossible to pass without cutting your way through…).

>After earning his trust over many hours of conversation through charades (and quite a few gifts of novelty trinkets and ‘exotic’ foods), he decides he wants to show you his secret hideaway. He gently tugs your arm and points to get you to swim where he leads, letting you hang onto his shoulders if you’re not great in the water, and guides you through the maze of vines until you both emerge into the half-sunned cove.

>Sal leads you to the far side of the clearing, in the warm shallows and under the protection of a mossy overhang, where he’s made himself a ‘home’. The setup is surprisingly tidy (for a creature that lives outside)- His collections of human odds-and-ends are thoughtfully displayed on the rocks and roots near the waterline he uses as shelving, including some old beach toys, pool floaties, jewelry, coins, shiny metal scraps, flashy fishing lures, and various other discarded items he’s gathered off the beach and from the bottom of the lake, but most of the things he's collected are carefully sorted and stored in coolers and tackle boxes for safe-keeping (of course, he’s very excited to have someone to show all of this to, and you make an admittedly slightly-exaggerated show of being impressed by what some would consider a lot of meticulously-sorted trash). The centerpieces of his collection are a few lovingly macgyvered musical instruments and a beat-up boom box (both of which he plays to try to impress you).

>He also makes a point to show you that he’d fashioned himself a surprisingly comfy looking daybed inside an abandoned row boat, using life jackets and beach towels as cushions. You’d seen him comfortably sunning himself and snoozing on rocks and fallen logs plenty of times, so you’re not really sure why he’d go through the trouble of putting together a ‘bed’, until you remember that time you stood from the dock and commented that your butt was a little sore from sitting on the wood for so long, only for Sal to swim away and come back a few minutes later with a few (soggy) towels for you to sit on…

>You point to him, then to the ‘bed’, then to yourself. “Did you make this for me?” He sinks a little lower into the water and nods, bringing his webbed hands above the surface. He held one hand flat and hung two fingers of the other over the side to mime the act of sitting on a platform, bobbing and sliding the sign so it was clear there were two figures sitting together, then pointing to you, then at himself, then to the ‘bed’, and finally pressed his hand into the ‘cushion’ to show it was soft. “I made it for the two of us to sit together comfortably.” You smile at him and waste no time climbing right in to try it out. He follows and settles in next to you, the boat rocking a little on the water with the weight shift.

>When you’d first arrived, he’d seemed very sure of himself, like 'look at all my cool stuff aren't you so impressed?' but he got visibly nervous and fidgety when you were finally in the ‘bed’ he’d made for you to share. He kept a respectful distance, his ears fluttering ever so slightly when he glanced in your direction and saw you were staring at him and not the view of the cove like he’d expected. Realizing you’d probably have to make the next move, you stretch out on the ‘bed’, closing the gap between you by slowly twirling a lock of his wet, blue hair around your finger for a minute. He was frozen until you turned and threw a leg over what could be considered his lap and nuzzled into his neck, dragging your nose and lips against the frills of his gill slits. You could tell he was starting to lose his shit by the way his fins were bristling and his tail kept flicking back and forth along the surface of the lake, but he still managed to put his arm over your shoulder and gingerly take your hand from his hair to guide it to his chest, signaling he wanted more contact, and then pressed his cold, uneven lips to yours, just like you’d taught him. (He didn’t know what kissing was before you showed him, but he was very impressed once you’d given him a demonstration.)

>From there, neither of you would knew what the fuck you were doing. While you both trusted each other, you figured you’d kind of have take the lead the first time, since he always seemed to be afraid he would scare or hurt you by accident. It was all very exploratory- feeling him all over, learning the different textures of his scales, noting what touches made his gills flutter open or made his ears perk up. Your hands were so warm and relaxing, gliding up and down his cool body… he ended up lying back and letting you do as you please- until you found the now-swollen slit between his dorsal fins and started giving it light, experimental presses.

>That makes him sit up on his elbows, but he doesn’t stop you- he just watches slack-jawed, his good eye half-closed, as your fingertips run up and down the opening, which was gradually parting and becoming slicker by the minute. As gently as possible, you put your fingers on either side of his slit and pull them apart, allowing a purplish, finger-tip sized nub to peek through. You couldn’t help but think it looked kind of cute… You barely grazed over it with your palm, and his gills flared open as he gasped at the touch. A few slow clicks escaped his open mouth, and he nodded when you looked up at him to check if what you were doing was alright. You kept going, prodding at the entrance, tracing around it, shallowly dipping your fingers in, grazing over the nub as it gradually unsheathed itself from his body and steadily swelled in size, making it very obvious to you that he was indeed a very impressive male specimen… It was exciting to see, albeit increasingly intimidating and certainly not what you would call ‘cute’ anymore. You looked from it to him and back again, biting your lip as you held eye contact and finally gave it a firm squeeze.

>He gave a sharp exhale and turned on his side toward you, carefully pressing on your shoulder so that you were lying on your back against the lifejacket cushions. He pressed his mouth to yours again and slid his clawed, webbed hand over your skin, so gently you felt the need to grab his wrist and show him that you weren’t as fragile as he thought you were. You pressed his palm firmly against your body and curled your hand over his to encourage him to take a grip of your flesh. He did, and you felt his nails dig in just enough to coax a whimper out of you. You felt him try to draw back, mistaking your sound of pleasure as one of pain, before you stuck your tongue between his sharp teeth and held fast to his wrist, keeping his hand against you, guiding him downwards and bucking your hips to signal an invitation for him to continue. Now more sure of himself, he took his time in thoroughly exploring the exotic structures of your hips and thighs and ass, his cock twitching and slick against your leg, until he finally cupped your pussy above your swimsuit and dragged a few claws along the slit. You fumbled around to remove your garments, admittedly a little clumsy now that your head was swimming, but you confidently spread your legs to reveal yourself to him once they were off. He just stared at you for a few moments, and you began to wonder if he didn’t like what he saw until he sat up to get a much closer look.

>He spread your thighs wider and shoved his face within an inch or two of your crotch, tilting his head a little, inspecting you from multiple angles with a curious look on his face. Not negative at all, just a little perplexed…

“Uh, you can…” you reached down and parted yourself with your fingers, rubbing over your clit, petting along the lips and dipping a finger inside in demonstration, “Like this…”

>You removed your hand so he could try it for himself, and the first thing he did was softly pat your pubic hair and look absolutely delighted at the texture, taking some of the curls between his fingers and playing with them. He gave some excited clicks and looked up at you, and you couldn't help but giggle a little before he really started prodding around in the same exploratory way you’d been feeling him up before. He ran his fingers and claws along your lips, repeatedly parting them and letting them close again, running his palm over your clit (much like you’d done to him), and finally, just barely letting a claw breach your entrance, once again looking at you to get the greenlight. You nodded, and he carefully put it the rest of the way in, the webbing adding an interesting additional sensation. You held up two fingers, and he added another, then you moved them back and forth, and he began to gently fingerfuck you, watching as his digits sunk in and out of you, becoming increasingly wet and warm…

>The curiosity on his face slowly morphed into hunger. He started going a little harder, a little faster, then gave an experimental twist of his wrist that made his claw graze against your g-spot and got you to thilt your head back and moan. You felt teeth dragging against you, a cold tongue on your thigh. You grabbed him by the hair and guided him to where you needed him, putting your fingers in the shape of a V and putting your tongue through when he looked up for guidance. He got the message and compiled, twisting his fingers in you and lapping at your clit. It was strange and new and fucking delicious, and it wasn’t long before your were coming around his fingers, your involuntary spasms rocking the boat. He didn’t quite know what he had done, beyond it being very enjoyable for the both of you, and you had to scoot back and lift his jaw to get him to stop and look back up at you. After catching a few breaths, you pointed to him, pointed to yourself, made a circle with the thumb and pointer finger of one hand and put the pointer finger of the other through it, and then made a ‘come hither’ motion. ‘Come up here and fuck me.’

>He scooted back up on the cushions, and you wasted no time in guiding and positioning yourself under him. His cock was (presumably) fully on display now- impressively long, thick in the middle and tapered at the head, with firm, flexible ridges along the underside, and so slick with its own thick lubrication that it left strings trailing behind and connecting it with wherever it had touched. You spread your legs, guiding it to and rubbing it against your pussy, letting him know exactly where you wanted him. Sal let out a shuddering sigh against your ear, and to your surprise, his cock pushed forward from his slit while the rest of his body stayed in place, allowing you both to watch as it gradually penetrated you. With each ‘thrust’ it went a little deeper, stretched you a little more, cold and textured and slimy, a surprisingly pleasing contrast to how hot and swollen you felt inside after having already enjoyed an orgasm from his tongue and teeth and claws.

>Once you were comfortable taking it all, he pressed his body fully against yours and brought you into a tight hug, and you wrapped your limbs around him in return. It was admittedly odd, getting fucked so deep and so thoroughly while your partner gently nuzzled his scarred face into your hair and trembled and sighed with pleasure in your arms, but it was wonderfully intimate- gentle yet rough, comforting but intense, making love in perfect privacy while simultaneously fucking like animals out in the open….

>You felt his fins and gills start to twitch and bristle like you hadn’t before, his breath coming in quick gasps and clipped patterns of clicks escaping his throat. You babbled and moaned encouragement, “Yes, come, come in me, this feels so good, please, come in me…” even if he didn’t know what the word ‘come,’ meant yet, he understood your tone, your moaning like you were doing before, and body language, your panting and clinging and grinding your hips in tandem with his thrusts, and knew that it meant you enjoyed it, and that he could continue until he was finished.

>His hold on your became extremely tight, his clicks and sighs giving way to breathy hisses and his tail slapping against the water until he arched his back and bared his pointed teeth, bellowing something between a hiss and a roar, his cock twitching and spilling an impressive amount of cool, thick come as deep inside of you as it could reach. He went slack in your arms, trilling softly and curling his tail around you, and you kissed his head and ran your hand along his back as he came down from his orgasm, his cock slowly receding from your pussy where he’d left it and back inside himself.

>You stayed like that for a while, the ‘bed’ softly rocking you and lulling him to sleep, the breeze across the sparkling water of the cove rustling the vines of the willows above you. It was so peaceful and relaxing, a beautiful view in the perfect secluded spot… you were really happy he’d decided to show you his ‘home’. You’d have to tell him so, once he woke up from his post-sex snooze. For now, you’d just enjoy the view and the feeling of his scales as you relaxed on the bed he’d made for the two of you to share. It was really comfortable, and after today, you were looking forward to spending a lot more time in it with him.... 💙

#k.e.w.k. writes #sally face fanfiction #sally face au #sal fisher #sal fisher x reader #sal fisher x y/n #mer!sal #merman x reader #mermaid x human #tw teratophilia #tw unsanitary #lemon #grapefruit #sorry steve #Me: IM GONNA ANSWER SO MANY ASKS TODAY *spends 4 hours writing one(1) mer!sal lemon*#oh well uwu

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gt-blendergod · 5 months

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Chapter 1: Ritz has a collection

Ritz, a quiet teenager who keeps to herself, has a collection of dead things. She keeps different animal skulls on her shelves rather than books and lava lamps. Rather than anime and boy band posters hanging on her walls, butterfly wings and preserved animal parts take their place. Ritz lives in a large house. Her rich parents often leave her alone to her own devices. Some people believe they’re too afraid of her to stay there. When Ritz was younger, she was ten times worse. She was the type of kid who would kill ants and rats for fun. However, she no longer has the tendencies of a psychopath. She doesn’t kill butterflies or carve away the flesh of animals to harvest their skulls. She’s a collector. She uses her parent’s wealth to buy these authentic things. That’s what Ritz knows, and what her peers are too afraid to admit. She is normal.

Or, she was normal. Normal until she became a mother… of sorts.

At first, she thought she was hallucinating. She’d locked herself in her room for a few days and wasn’t surprised when she thought she saw something stealing a pencil from off her desk. Maybe she had rats, maybe she was imagining it, or maybe there was a little tiny person in her walls. Either way, it was nothing to worry about. However, she started noticing even more. A skull on the shelf, shifted ever so slightly ajar. A missing screw in the power outlet, a slightly open drawer here and there. She thought her house was haunted. Curious more than anything, Ritz decided to catch it in the action. It was dumb luck that she did. She had bought a small camera and hid it on her desk behind an unassuming picture frame. That night, emerging from the outlet in the wall above her desk, a little person appeared. They dropped down onto the wooden desk, careful not to make a sound. They had short hair and big eyes, but the video quality was too dark and grainy to make out any details or colors. After searching the desk, they ended up taking yet another pencil from Ritz’s abundant stash before going back into the outlet and shutting it tight.

When Ritz went to check the cameras in the morning, she was shocked, but humored as well. For all she knew, the one and only Thumbelina was taking residence… and taking resources, in her own home. Ritz decided to do no further inspection and put the camera back in order to record the next night. Ritz decided to plug in her laptop on her desk today using the power outlet which the tiny person had moved in order to get onto her desk. She also left her leftover snacks in a bowl right on the front edge of the desk, nearly about to topple over before she went to bed. She was sure the little thief would be fine.

She was wrong. Very, very wrong.

The camera caught everything. The little thief emerged from atop Ritz’s dresser, descending down her drawers, only to appear on the desk after a presumably long time climbing. The little thief took yet another pencil and investigated the bowl. They furrowed their brow in confusion before realizing that Ritz had left food inside. Not being tall enough to reach inside the bowl, they started climbing inside. As this happened, the bowl fell off of the desk, landing upside down on the carpeted floor.

Ritz woke up the next morning and didn’t even notice the bowl on the floor, nor the tiny unmoving leg sticking out from under it. She was hyper focused on checking the camera. Since she was oblivious to the bowl, she instantly tripped over it and hit the desk and chair on her way down. She then landed on the floor in a weird messed up position. What an oddly graceful fall. She sat up and rubbed her head a bit before turning and looking at what she’d tripped on. The bowl was now overturned, revealing the tiny person and uneaten snacks on the ground in broad daylight. Getting a closer look at them, Ritz covered her mouth. They were so small… a kid. Maybe not even ten years old. Unconscious and most likely injured on the ground. What was she supposed to do about this?

First, she cleaned up the bowl and snacks, leaving the small person alone for a bit, hoping they would wake up on their own. When they didn’t and Ritz was done, she begrudgingly relented, carefully picking them up, cupping the tiny body in her hands. She could feel them breathing. Shaking. They were strangely cold in Ritz’s warm hands. She carefully lowered them onto the desk. She sighed. This was her fault, wasn’t it? What could she possibly do to fix it?

—~~~—

The little girl, or at least, that’s all she remembers being called, is cursed. She remembers being a normal person, though she hasn’t been around long enough to remember much. How old is she? How old was she when she became like this? These people aren’t giants. She at least remembers that. The man and woman used to be the same size as her. It’s all fuzzy. She tried to recall their names, but never could. When she ran away, she saw pictures of them. Pictures of them with a little girl. It wasn’t her, but when she was traveling around the house, she found the little girl in the picture. She was older now. Some eavesdropping and the little girl discovered that the daughter’s name was Ritz. Ritz is terrifying. When the little girl first saw her room, she knew she’d be in danger if she was ever caught by Ritz. If she was ever caught by any of them. She decided she would build a shelter of her own in the house. Food would be extremely difficult to find, but materials would be easy enough, right? She tried. It was a month of thievery before the incident occurred.

When she finally woke up, she was confused. She was laying down, curled up on a warm wet towel. It was nice, she didn’t feel like she wanted to move. Everything felt hurt. Especially her legs. She couldn’t move them if she tried. What was wrong with them? Her torso hurt too… However, she couldn’t focus on the pain. She finally noticed the huge eyes staring at her. She felt sick. How could she let this happen? Was she that desperate for food that she fell straight into Ritz’s trap? Seeing Ritz’s… collection before… of course she would do this. Ritz had probably known about the little girl this whole time. She was just pretending not to know… to torment her, wasn’t she?? She wouldn’t speak. She couldn’t come up with anything to say even if she wanted to. She just buried her head into the towel, but even moving it was painful. How was she even alive? Her fall must have been broken by the soft carpet or something. She just wanted the pain to end. She practically begged in her mind for Ritz to just put her out of her misery. She knew it would happen eventually. That girl… was obsessed with death. She could tell. She didn’t know where the girl got her collection from, but she knew it couldn’t be good. At some point, while the little girl was still hiding her face, she felt Ritz looming over her as if she was about to do something.

“Sorry…” Ritz said as she suddenly grabbed the towel with the little girl on it, “I just need to make the towel warm again.. I don’t want to disturb you.”

The little girl was separated from the towel and gently placed back on the desk. She was alone, but still couldn’t move. Still defenseless and alone. Why was Ritz doing this? What was Ritz doing? The little girl finally looked down at her own legs. They had cuts of bandaids on them. Ritz was trying to fix her. Why? Ritz returned.

“Phew,” she sighed, “I was worried that you’d leave… now that you’re awake. But.. you haven’t even moved a muscle. Haha…”

Before coming to the desk, Ritz sat down on her bed. She held onto the bed’s railing and sighed. She seemed very upset.

“I really messed up this time. I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean for anything to happen to you. I was just trying to help, but I wasn’t careful enough,” she looked up at the little girl on the desk, who was looking back with a nearly emotionless stare, “are you okay?”

After a long moment of silence, the little girl finally spoke.

“Why are you being… so nice to me..?” She asked, her voice almost too quiet to hear, “I’m not… I-“

She was interrupted by a cough, not saying anything else. Ritz was happy that the person could talk and knew english. Who was this person, anyways? What happened to them? Ritz got up from the bed and carefully placed the little girl on top of the folded wet towel again. Ritz sat at her desk chair and rested her head on the desk. It was a lot of waiting and staring for both of them. Eventually, they both fell asleep.

When the little girl woke up, Ritz was gone. The towel was gone. She was extremely nervous to be all alone. Ritz came back, but the towel was still gone. She sat at her desk chair again and leaned back.

“So.. you’re awake. Would you mind if I ask some questions? We don’t have any more towels… and you can just nod yes or no.. if you need to.”

The little girl nodded. Ritz smiled a bit and leaned forward resting her head on her elbows. It was slightly more threatening, but the little girl didn’t want to say anything about it.

“So, do you have a name?”

She shook her head No.

“Are you human?”

There was a bit of hesitation before she nodded yes.

“Were you always small?”

“Do you know why you’re small? Did someone do this to you?”

A nod yes. She decided to explain a bit more as well.

“The man and woman… and I ran away.. in the pictures with you.”

Ritz was silent. She stared up at the wall for a moment. Why didn’t it surprise her that her parents would do something like this? The question is… why did they do it in the first place?”

“Do you know who I am?”

“You’re Ritz… and you’re really… really…” The little girl lost her train of thought.

Ritz was curious. She didn’t want to push, but decided not to ask another question until the little girl finished. She stared at the little girl and shifted her position. She was slightly surprised to see the little girl flinch at the slightest movement of Ritz’s hand. Ritz knew what she was going to say now.

“Oh… I’m sorry,” Ritz said, slightly dejected, “I’m… terrifying to you, aren’t I?”

The little girl nodded slowly before bursting into tears. All Ritz wanted was to give her a hug. Instead, she tried to calm her down, running her hand down the little girl’s back.

“Hey, hey… it’s okay. I understand. I’m the spawn of the people who hurt you, I hurt you, I’m basically holding you captive, my room is filled with… upsetting decorations, I get it.”

The little girl turned her head away, frustrated. Ritz pulled her hand back, it clearly wasn’t helping.

“I promise I’m not going to hurt you anymore. I promise my parents will never find you…” she said, trying to reassure the little girl, “And I promise I’ll help you get better.. well maybe not about the small thing. I don’t think I can do that. Haha…”

The little girl sniffed and rubbed her face to get the sadness out. Ritz seemed… very genuine, but the little girl really didn’t want to trust her.

“Okay so… your name. You need one. Is there anything you’d like to be called?

She shook her head no, “you can name me… I don’t.. have any ideas.”

Ritz thought for a minute, looking around the room for some ideas.

“Names for a… little… science experiment… who I rescued,”

Ritz made the cliche game theorists' thinking face. She soun around in her chair.

“Okay, I think I got it,” she said, “I’m gonna… use a futuristic name generator online.”

She reached past the little girl and opened her computer. The little girl, now more mobile and able to move, turned away from Ritz and looked at the computer screen which was more like the screen of a movie theater to her. Ritz looked up a generator and started generating.

“Wow,” Ritz said, laughing, “these names are terrible. How would you like to be called Abigael? With an A E.”

The little girl chuckled a bit.

“This is… bad. Not a good name. No,” she said, “I would rather… be called a dry leaf.”

“Dry leaf, hm? That gives me an idea,” Ritz said as she looked for some cute tree names online, she laughed, “How does Baobab sound?”

“I refuse to be called Baobab.”

“Okay then, how about… Cassia. It produces a spice similar to cinnamon. Cinnamon… like your hair?”

“Cassia sounds like Cassy and that name just sounds wrong. Lemme see.”

She limped over to the laptop and put her hands on the mouse pad, scrolling further down the list. Ritz intervened when they reached the Ms.

“I keep thinking back to Maple.”

“Too average. Maple leaves are big anyways.”

“Ok well let’s go back. How about Hazel.”

“…It’s not the worst. Better than all the others.”

“Okay then, nice to meet you, Hazel.”

Hazel turned around to face Ritz again. She still seemed very nervous. She literally couldn’t look her directly in the eyes. She looked down.

“I don’t… I just don’t get it..”

“Get what?”

“Why are you so different.. from them? They never ever talked to me. They hurt me.”

“…” Ritz thought for a moment, “it’s almost as if you want me to be an evil monster.”

#g/t #giant/tiny #ocs #original story #g/t writing

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sixty-silver-wishes · 4 months

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ok this one's for @my-t4t-romance! have never done a modern au but I'll try :) also you're getting besties content . because I said so

also Also this is a lighter fic so. not as dramatic but it's a fun character exercise

"No; you can't- you can't open an umbrella in the grocery store," Jane said. "I know you're not used to the lights, but- we'll figure something out." Cesare reluctantly closed the umbrella, squinting his large eyes. He was still getting used to sunlight; that was bright enough. But the lights in the store made his head ache, making it difficult to keep his eyes open for too long. He wanted to find somewhere dark and quiet where he could fall asleep, at least for a moment, but even if there was anywhere in the building that wasn't flooded with light, he couldn't start sleepwalking here; that would cause problems.

"How about these? Will they work?" Jane asked, taking out a pair of sunglasses from her purse.

Cesare blinked, then took them. To his relief, the lights muted once he put them on.

"Very stylish," she laughed. "Now, I'll read the list, and you can help me find what we're looking for." He glanced around the shelves through the glasses, surprised by just how much food was there- and how much he had never seen before. There were piles of fruit on one side, and vegetables on another. One aisle only held various soup cans, another cheeses. Was this what everyone else had, every day? All this time, they could choose from a seemingly endless supply of food, instead of-

"Oh that's- that's not the shopping list," Jane muttered behind him. "That's an old receipt from- five years ago? Hold on; I'll keep looking... No, wait; that's a candy wrapper... Oh, here it is. So, we need milk..." Cesare wandered away, intrigued by everything that surrounded them. He picked up an apple, sniffing it; he did like apples. He raised it to his mouth, about to bite into it, when a voice startled him, making him drop the apple back onto the pile. "All these options, and none of them are organic!" the voice ranted. "Do they want to poison us with pesticides and artificial preservatives?" Cesare didn't know what pesticides were, but he recognized the voice, and ducked behind the basket of apples. Sure enough, there was Francis, pushing his cart with his hands clenched tightly around the handle. He didn't know him too well, but one thing he knew was that Francis didn't like him, and made it known at every opportunity. Holding his breath, he watched as Francis sorted through the apples, hoping he'd leave soon. It seemed to take forever; he inspected every apple, holding them up to each other to compare their size and color, turning them around to check for bruises. The second he turned his head to look at the next basket, Cesare slipped away, looking for a wall he could press himself against. However, all he could see were rows of glass doors, behind which were refrigerated cartons.

"Wait," Francis muttered, looking up. "Is that-" Cesare opened the nearest door, darting inside and closing it behind him. It was cold inside, and he hoped he wouldn't have to be there too long; the crowded space reminded him of...

No, he told himself. He couldn't think about that, not now. He was here, after all, to learn what he was supposed to do now that he was free- to find food on a shopping list and go out during the daytime and do what everyone who hadn't spent their lives locked up in a box had been doing for so long. Everything, from reading a list to knowing what to get, seemed like it came so easily to everyone else- how long would it take him to complete those same tasks effortlessly? He was lucky to have a friend willing to help him, but wondered- how long would his luck actually last? He shivered, looking at the cartons behind him. She said they needed milk; at least he could do something useful while he was here. But the labels were all different colors, and while he couldn't read the words, they all looked different as well. Which one did they actually need? He grabbed the one closest to him, finding it was heavier than he expected. "Hey!" Francis called from outside the door. Cesare startled, thinking he'd been spotted, when he noticed Francis waving his hand, smiling. Across the aisle, Jane glanced around nervously, but noticed him, and waved back. Cesare gasped, hoping her appearance meant he was saved, and cracked the door open so he could better hear their conversation. "Francis!" Jane smiled, a long list in her hands that trailed onto the ground. "I'm looking for-" "It's been a while since we've caught up!" Francis said. "How have you been doing?" "Oh- I'm, well, I need help finding-" Francis picked the end of the list off the ground. "The goat cheese? I think it's on the right." "Thank you, but right now, I need to find..." Cesare tapped on the glass to get her attention. She looked up, gasping. "Is something wrong?" Francis asked. "Oh, no; no. There's, um, I just remembered there's a sale on... bread? But that aisle is all the way across the store, and I did not pick the right shoes to go shopping in-" "Which bread do you want?" Francis interrupted. "I'll get it for you." "That is so sweet of you," she smiled. "Just- surprise me. You can call me when you find it, okay?" Francis took her hands. "I will," he said, looking her directly in the eyes. "I will." As soon as he left, Jane opened the glass door. Cesare shook his head, blinking behind the glasses as he stepped out. He thrust the milk carton out towards her, and she took it. "What were you doing in there?" she asked. "I was looking for you." He pointed in the direction Francis had gone. "Did... not... want..." he said. "You didn't want Francis to notice you? I figured." She sighed. "I wish you two could get along, but... you know how he can be." Cesare growled, hanging his head. "It wasn't your fault, remember? We've talked about this. Nothing that happened was your fault... or my fault, either."

He nodded, but hearing that didn't help anything. He knew it wasn't his fault. But it had still been his hands that had done all those terrible things, even if he was asleep at the time. "You did a good job finding the milk," she said. "Let's find the next thing on there, all right?"

He didn't want to find the next thing on the list. He wanted to go back to the little room she let him stay in, and sleep for a very long time. He didn't want to think about how long the list was, or how he was supposed to find everything on there, or what would happen if he ran into Francis- and all the reasons why Francis despised him. But then he looked around at all the food on the shelves, and thought of the cold, tasteless porridge he had been forced to eat in the past- and how different and good everything on the list would taste.

He hesitated, then nodded again.

#the cabinet of dr. caligari #fanfiction

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bmodiwrites · 2 years

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(For You) I'd Break These Walls

Pairing: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Rating: Explicit (E) Notes: There’s no excuse for this one, y'all. Word Count: ~11.8k Warnings: There’s a tiny bit of smut in here, but it’s me writing, so when is that not the case? Other than that, it’s pretty tame! Summary:

What if Steve was there the night Jason found Eddie in Rick’s boat shed? Steve makes a late night food run out to Eddie only to see that Jason has finally closed in. He’s there to see Patrick die, taking a cold dip in the lake, too. He’s there that night at Skull Rock and in the morning when Max finds them spooning - but that’s not the first time Max’s caught Steve with Eddie.

Find out what happens when Max opens Steve’s eyes to something he never considered before. Sometimes, the best shit happens when it’s least expected.

Or - a sorry excuse to write Max & Steve interactions!

Find it on A03

Taking up space in the local Hawkins grocery store felt entirely too odd when the world was close to ending. As Steve made his way down the snack and chip and booze aisles, he contemplated what it’d be like to usher in the end of days from a supermarket. Aside from having ample choice on supplies, Steve figured the tall shelves and sharp objects falling from above would make survival difficult. Nonetheless, Eddie Munson had to eat and Steve was on food run duty.

He'd been practically shoved out the door after dropping Dustin off for the evening. His young friend was obviously strung out and worried for their banished comrade, though the pushy attitude he treated Steve to wasn’t all that necessary; he already had the food run in mind, anyway. Steve could read the room well enough to know that the kid didn’t mean it, however – they were all on edge, creeping closer to it with every passing second. It was the least he could do; Eddie had no ability to move or change locations or even breathe without worrying for his safety. In the long run, Steve buying him beer wasn’t nearly enough to make up for Eddie’s predicament.

Since he was there and half-assing a snack run made little sense at all, Steve picked out all the best stuff. His cart was filled with salty goodness and non-melting types of candy that would fill Eddie with sugar for days if push came to shove. The lady behind the counter shot him the briefest judgmental look as Steve unloaded the cart, though her sweet old cashier mask was back on when Steve pushed said cart forward to watch each item pass across the belt. Steve met her fake smile with one of his own and proceeded to bag his own stuff, pay, and get the goddamn hell out of there.

He played his music loud throughout the drive, hoping the thump of the bass behind his seat would drown out some of the vividness of the day. Steve’s mind was still reeling from Max’s levitation act and the slim margin in which they were able to save her. Not for the first time, Steve was incredibly grateful for Dustin’s incessantly annoying behavior – they never would’ve gotten the information from Nancy and Robin in time if it weren’t for that little habit. And while Steve had no desire to step into Max’s shoes, he was pretty certain that watching something like that happen in real time was almost worse. He suddenly understood Eddie so much better now – that sort of fear, it changed a person.

Thinking of Eddie and the need to be stealth as he approached, Steve turned off his headlights after turning onto the road leading to Rick’s place. He drove slowly down the long gravel driveway, trying to make as little noise as possible. It looked like that didn’t matter, however – Steve didn’t need to be a genius to know the car parked haphazardly at the end of the lane was Jason’s. The doors were left wide open, like all the people in the car flew from their seats without a care in the world.

Steve’s heart started to beat hard against his chest; if Jason was there, that meant Eddie wasn’t safe.

Putting his car in park, Steve walked around to the trunk to grab the backpack he stuffed all his purchases into. It’d be stupid to have put forth the energy without following through – no matter what happened next, having a little food on hand never hurt anyone. With the straps securely on his shoulders, Steve started the trek down from the main house towards the boat shed where Eddie took cover over the last couple of days. There wasn’t a sign of Jason nearby, so Steve didn’t hesitate to quietly open the large wooden door.

Eddie, the manic boy that he was, swung his entire body towards the door from his spot by the window. His eyes were wide when they met Steve’s, almost like a scared raccoon caught out by the trashcan. Steve tried to smile as his hands came up in supplication, but the sound of loud shouts and harsh voices stopped him. Without thinking, Steve made his way over to Eddie where they both stared out the window.

The sight of Jason flanked by a handful of guys wasn’t all that terrifying until Steve noticed the weapons in their hands. He turned to look at Eddie, who was already nervously glancing around the shed looking for a way out. Steve watched the group get closer with panic setting in. Blinking, because standing transfixed to the spot wasn’t going to help anyone, Steve joined Eddie in his fruitless search – from the looks of it, they were sitting ducks.

Steve grinned at the thought, nodding eagerly towards the empty boat still covered by that blue tarp Eddie hid under earlier that day. Ducks made their getaway in the water and lucky for them, they had the means to do that, too. “Get in the boat, Munson,” Steve whispered hurriedly. His long legs were already carrying him that way when Eddie finally kicked into action. By the time they were both settled into the empty body of the boat with the engine running, Jason and his gang were in the water too, swimming after them.

Everything looked peachy for about a minute before the boat’s engine decided to kick the bucket, stranding them lifeless in the middle of Lover’s Lake. The little bit of a head start they got at the beginning was quickly narrowed down by powerful athletes that were on a head hunting mission. As Eddie got up from his spot to kick and complain at the water logged engine, Steve looked around the hull for oars he figured would be there. Though he only went to camp one summer, Steve vividly remembered the water safety training. He became a lifeguard because of it.

He let out a triumphant whoop when he found both oars pushed up against the side of the boat. Without thinking, Steve grabbed the back of Eddie’s leather jacket, yanking him away from the motor that was useless and getting more so by the second. “It’s flooded out, Eddie. Leave it!” Steve exclaimed. “Take this and paddle.” He threw the second oar Eddie’s way.

Between the two of them, the boat started to move again on the water. Steve let out a breath of relief as the figures behind them got smaller. Though, that was short lived. All of the sudden, a loud scream echoed off the water. Both he and Eddie stopped what they were doing to turn around and investigate. Immediate regret flashed across the forefront of Steve’s mind – the scream wasn’t a scream at all – one of Jason’s teammates was floating in the air like Max was earlier, quivering, and full body shaking under Vecna’s manipulations. Unlike Max, this victim didn’t make it.

Steve was so preoccupied by the flashing memory of Max in that same position that he didn’t notice Eddie getting up out of fear or the subtle shift in the boat until it was well past too late. The wooden boat capsized quicker than Steve could brace himself. Getting pitched into the water was like that first time being thrown in the pool – the surprise of the cool lake hitting his back made Steve breath in, which flooded his lungs with water. Scrambling to remember his training, Steve got his legs under him and pushed, propelling himself back towards the surface with a few fluttery kicks. When he crested the water, gasps and choking coughs echoed across the silent lake.

He waited until Eddie surfaced too before even attempting to get back into the boat. Looking in the other’s direction, Steve started babbling off instructions on how to heft themselves into the boat without pitching the other out in the process. Surprisingly, Eddie listened to him without adding any commentary, which made getting out of the water much easier.

Steve went first, using all of his still lingering strength to pull himself up and over the edge almost flawlessly. He would’ve given the whole thing a ten if it weren’t for the faceplant finishing off his landing. Taking a second to get his legs under him, Steve then turned back to the water, bracing himself for the unsteady rock and shift of the boat as Eddie climbed up. Thankfully, the brunette was nimble and shockingly fit; it took minimal effort to get him back on semi-solid ground. For a time after they were seated again, the only thing that could be heard were harsh breaths drawn in and shaky exhales. Though the immediate threat Jason and his gang posed was no more, what they’d just seen was a cold reminder that safety in any form was fleeting.

“Do you know anywhere we can go?” Eddie asked after quiet minutes of attempting to dry his hair and wringing out his vest. The thick leather of his jacket was done in for the time being, though Steve wasn’t going to be the one to tell him that. Instead, he focused on the question.

Looking around felt silly, fruitless, even, but Steve did it, anyway. He turned his head, trying to remember what the edge of the water looked like. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off – if they went all the way across the lake, Skull Rock wasn’t that far of a walk from the bank. With a smile, Steve said, “ever heard of Skull Rock?”

With a little discussion, Eddie was eagerly on board – they both were looking for any excuse to get off the water. It was surprisingly easy to find a rowing rhythm that was both mindless and successful; the old wooden boat moved like new as they worked in tandem. Steve hadn’t noticed it before but Eddie was strong and well built. His forearms flexed and tightened with each pass of the oar, giving just as well as Steve was. Not for the first time, Steve wondered if the charade Eddie made out of himself was hiding something more complex beneath the surface.

It took quite a bit of effort not to drop to his knees and kiss the dry land when they settled upon it. Steve knew the display would be extensive and overdramatic; still, the desire remained.

Dragging the boat the rest of the way out of the water took up his time and strength when all was said and done, easily erasing those thoughts of grandeur. He wasn’t aware of how tired he was until they were done with that task and facing a couple miles worth of walking. “If we go straight in that direction,” Steve started, pointing at a path butted alongside a giant gray rock flattened at the top, “we’ll be there in about an hour.” He smiled as he leaned over the boat and pulled out the backpack that brought him there in the first place. “At least we’ve got some beer for the trip.”

They took long enough for Eddie to produce a bottle opener from the keys belted onto his pants before taking off down the dark path. Steve made quick work of popping the cap off two beers to tide them over while they walked. When he handed Eddie’s his, their fingers brushed – that small touch sent a wave of heat to the center of Steve’s belly, making his face flush. Lucky for him, the woods around them were dark and Eddie’s stare was otherwise occupied. Without a light, everything looked a bit more eerie and unsettling.

Which meant navigating their path was slightly more difficult than Steve first imagined. During his other trips to Skull Rock, Steve was only half paying attention and the sun shone brightly to guide the way. In those instances, Steve was worried about one thing and one thing only; the important parts of his brain were already checked out. Sometimes, a small pang for those carefree days made Steve miss that old life.

That nostalgia always lasted for a second or two before Steve remembered how truly shitty living like that was. If he continued down that path, Steve wouldn’t have met Dustin or Robin or even Eddie. Despite the ease of sloth and gluttony, bigger, better pastures that were much greener caught Steve’s attention, keeping him in a chokehold that made his life so much better. Remembering that made it easy to brush away stupid desires when they managed to crop back up.

Nonetheless, Steve’s recollection of the rock was hazy at best and even harder to draw up in the pitch black. Never mind the fact that every dark shadow looked like a Demogorgon waiting to pounce. Eddie must’ve felt the trepidation because he moved in a little closer to Steve the longer they walked.

“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Eddie asked after the third time Steve stopped them on the path to take a look around.

Nervous and a bit discombobulated, Steve reached up to run a hand through his slowly drying hair. Without the hairspray, his fingers sailed through the locks easily, making the move all the more tactile. He did it again and again until a cropping of large bushes caught his eye. He was so sure he’d have to admit to getting them lost, too. “Yeah, Munson, I do. Look over there,” Steve answered, pointing at his latest discovery. In his excitement, Steve grabbed Eddie’s elbow and used that grip to pull him along.

Eddie spluttered out a “what” and “Steve, wait – “ before getting his feet under him and following along on his own accord. In another time, Steve would’ve been embarrassed by his aggressive behavior, yet the thought of finally being in a safe place softened that urge. Being in the woods in the dark in the middle of the night was a recipe for disaster – Steve figured survival by any means outweighed politeness.

Especially when they were finally standing in front of their intended location.

Steve whooped in delight as Skull Rock towered over them, casting it’s large and eerie shadow. He forgot, just for a second, that he still had Eddie’s arm in his hand – in his excitement, Steve drew the other boy closer. That same heat from that touch earlier came racing back and Steve, ever the emotional expert, did his best to bat it away. It wouldn’t do for something unexpected and silly like a crush or feelings to come into play. At this point in the adventure, Steve was stranded, cold, and planning to spend the night sleeping on the ground. Wants were useless when surviving was the name of the game.

It didn’t take long for either boy to settle into the hidden spots behind the rock. With the wind picking up, their wet clothes were starting to add another obstacle to their evening. Ducking under the larger side of the rock took a bit of the wind’s bite away but didn’t eradicate it completely. In an attempt to forget about the cold, Steve turned to his one reliable source of comfort, settling the backpack between them. “I got all the best junk food.” He shot Eddie an attempt at a smile as he spoke and spread out his shopping haul. When beer and chips and cupcakes and the best candy were before them, Steve opened his arms out wide, silently inviting Eddie to dig in.

Eating kept the chill at bay for a while. Between the two mile walk, treading water for their lives, and a collective adrenaline crash, both he and Eddie were hungry and tired. The sound of chewing, crunching, and soft sighs made that very clear. And while Steve wasn’t opposed to conversation, he was glad for the silence kept up between them. It almost felt normal in those quiet moments, even.

The cold quickly became too much, however. There wasn’t a magical number of Pringles or Snickers bars that would take it away, either. Little by little, Steve’s limbs started to get heavy, like they were weighted down. His socks squished when he moved at all yet felt stiff and hard against his skin all the same. The thin long sleeved polo he put on after his shower provided zero protection from the wind, especially as soaked as it was. The worst part, though, was the sound of Eddie’s teeth chattering. Despite what his body was going through, Steve’s main worry was the scared boy sitting in front of him.

Without saying anything, Steve started to move a little closer. He made his intentions apparent by moving the empty wrappers and other trash out of his way. The clear path made it easy for their legs to brush, then their arms and sides, too. Eddie’s eyes stayed wide the entire time, watching Steve’s every move. A flash of surprise overtook them when Steve settled against Eddie’s side and got bigger still when Steve wrapped an arm around him. Steve only noticed because they were so close (not because he too had been cataloguing Eddie in return).

Eddie’s “Steve, what – “ was very quickly drowned out by the immediate warmth their closeness provided. It seemed hard to argue with body heat and protection from the wind. So hard, in fact, that Eddie relaxed easily into Steve’s side without so much as another word uttered. Of course, that might’ve been because he fell asleep within those first few minutes, but Steve wasn’t complaining. He gave himself over to the comfort and allowed his own eyes to grow heavy, too, eventually following Eddie into dreamland.

There were a couple of things that became apparent very fast when Steve woke up the next day. The first and most important thing was Eddie Munson’s weight in his arms. While they started the night butted up against the rock, they were now on their sides, spooned up together chest to back. Steve’s arm was wrapped tightly around Eddie’s middle, keeping him close. Not wanting to disturb the sleeping boy, Steve didn’t move, though he kept processing the oddity of his position. Next, Steve realized his hips were pressed precariously close to Eddie’s ass and his typical morning problem was mere millimeters away from being Eddie’s issue, too.

That all became obsolete when the bushes surrounding the area started to rustle. “Eddie, Eddie – you gotta get up man,” Steve whispered hurriedly as the arm already around Eddie’s middle tightened. He opened his hand and tapped on Eddie’s sternum lightly, saying his name again. Brown eyes peeked open right around the time whoever was there made their way through the greenery.

Since they weren’t in a direct line of sight, Steve figured they had a minute or so before they were found. Instead of trying to spring apart and draw attention to them, Steve moved his hand from Eddie’s chest, putting a finger over his own lips in hopes that the gesture would keep Eddie quiet. The other’s eyes were big and wide, gorgeous in any other setting, looking desperately at Steve. Footsteps and further sounds of the bushes moving was the only thing that could be heard until an all too familiar voice echoed around them.

“Holy shit, you guys! It’s Eddie – and Steve – “ Max stood there with a curious expression on her face, the necessary headphones down and around her neck, though Steve heard Kate Bush loud and clear. She looked triumphant somehow, like seeing them this way was some big deal. If it were anyone but her, Steve would’ve been able to quickly shake off the oddly intuitive knowing Steve saw in Max’s eyes. No one else knew things about Steve that made his precarious position with Eddie seem like more than it was.

A couple months earlier –

Steve never meant to start smoking weed again. It reminded him of a time and place that he was happy not to revisit ever again. Most of his memories were wrapped up in Tommy and the piece of shit Steve used to be by his side. He wanted nothing to do with that part of himself again. And while that was a beautiful thought, it was entirely much easier said than done. Steve also remembered the flighty feeling and the way he sort of left himself behind when under the influence. His life was an odd little messy whirlwind and a little weightlessness was unfortunately exactly what he needed.

Up until he decided to seek Eddie out for his drug services, Steve made a point to avoid walking onto school grounds when Dustin talked him into giving the party rides home from the Hellfire Club. He already struggled with feeling pathetic, hanging around his old stomping grounds didn’t help alleviate that any. Nonetheless, Steve had no other option and the urge to lose himself was quickly becoming all consuming.

At first, Eddie was skeptical of Steve – and who could blame him? In all the time they went to school together, Steve could count on one hand the words shared between them. And while it wasn’t purposely done, Steve understood the way that part of the world worked – people automatically disliked others existing outside their bubble. Eddie was trained to watch his back around people like Steve. Knowing that helped, though; Steve took a page from Robin’s book and talked his way in the door.

Their first exchange was basic and stiff. Eddie waited for Steve outside of Family Video on a night that Robin didn’t work. When all the closing duties were done, Steve welcomed Eddie into his car where they swapped goods and went on their way. It would’ve been sketchy if it weren’t for the parting nod Eddie left him with. His ringed finger pointed at the radio – “your taste in music is trash, Harrington. Come by my place next time, instead.”

Steve thought the quarter he bought would be enough to get the itch out of his system, so he nodded politely without promising a visit in the future. He wanted to prove to himself that the weed was just as much a part of his past as the people he used to smoke it with. Too bad the weightlessness was better than he remembered.

So, heading to Eddie’s place eventually became just as much a part of Steve’s routine as washing his car once a week. He’d go over, share a bowl or two, and leave with his goods. Sometimes the high drive was filled with music from cassettes that Eddie would give him with the little baggie of green, and sometimes, Steve let the silent night air do all the talking.

Things changed when Steve started to ask about the music Eddie was always pushing his way. A couple of bowls together turned into joints shared; they’d pass the jay back and forth as Eddie showed him records and talked about bands Steve had never heard of before. It was easy to fall into the sort of hazy openness being with Eddie brought about. While Steve started out wanting to lose himself, he was quickly coming to find other, newer pieces of the Steve Harrington package, instead.

He never meant to strike up a friendship with Eddie Munson, though it happened all the same.

It probably would’ve stayed between just the two of them if it weren’t for Max. She’d always been a little more curious than the rest of the group – Steve shared an emotional acuity with her that no one else really had. Her eyes were bright and wide and always open, watching the world around her for clues and tells and answers to the bigger, more important questions. Never mind the fact that she moved into the trailer right across from Munson’s at the beginning of the year.

Steve didn’t remember that fact until he spilled out of Eddie’s place close to midnight one Saturday evening. They’d been balls deep in a collection of Van Halen tour video tapes Eddie wouldn’t shut up about, so Steve was leaving much later than usual. One joint turned into two and the night sort of melted away. He was happy and floaty and ready for a good night’s sleep when Max’s voice sobered him up so fast his head ached from it. Stopping in his tracks, Steve looked up to find her leaning casually against the wooden beam of her front porch. She stared at him for a long second before waving a hand with a flighty smirk on her face. “Having a good night, Steve?” Max asked then, the grin remaining.

Too high to deal with her quick wit, Steve threw back his customary dad question – “shouldn’t you be in bed, Maxine?” And like most of the kids, she scoffed and threw him the bird, dropping the question and the topic and Steve for that matter as she walked back through her front door with an annoyed huff. Steve stood there for an extra minute or two staring at the closed door – he wondered how much of that exchange would make it back to the rest of the party.

Yet, in the weeks that followed, Steve never got any grief about hanging out with Eddie Munson or spending long hours in a space that no one would ever really expect him to be. He didn’t stop going, which meant he didn’t stop running into Max, either. Steve wasn’t all that sure why she decided to keep his secret or what she was getting from doing so, but he appreciated it, nonetheless. While he wasn’t even sure why he was keeping Eddie’s influence in his life from others – hell, he didn’t know that he actually was, even – Steve was grateful to have something that was just for himself. All he knew was the hours spent in the Munson’s trailer were some of the best he’d experienced in a long time – selfishly, Steve wanted them to continue.

Max must’ve picked up on that because the last time Steve saw her before all the Vecna bull shit began, she looked at him with the sort of understanding that was too big for a fifteen year old. She took in the soft smile on his face and the easy slope of his shoulders that were otherwise pinched in worry and fear. Steve knew what he looked like, had seen it in the mirror he tried to pull himself together in every time he left Eddie’s. It was happiness he saw there and that scared him most of all. Especially because Max recognized it, too.

Instead of staying on her porch like she usually did, Max came down the stairs, meeting Steve at his car. She leaned against the driver’s side door, crossing her arms like the sassy teen she was. “No one is going to care, you know,” Max declared, seemingly out of nowhere.

Steve was taken aback by such a forward statement, and slightly confused by what she meant. “Who’s not going to care about what? It’s too late for riddles, Max.” He shuffled his feet in the dirt like he was annoyed or antsy, though he more than likely came off stoned and uncoordinated. The look on Max’s face when Steve glanced at her told him it was the latter – she even rolled her eyes at him for good measure.

“The party. They’re family, Steve. No one will care that Eddie Munson makes you happy.” Max shifted her posture, loosening up her arms so she looked more approachable. Steve immediately felt comforted by the gesture and cursed himself for being so easily manipulated. Though she was smart, Max didn’t know everything.

“It’s not like that, Max – “ Steve started to say, but was hastily cut off.

“It wouldn’t matter if it was. I haven’t seen you smile the way you are right now since I met you. You take care of us all and pretend like we can’t see you slacking when it comes to yourself.” Max paused for a second to run a hand through the ponytail over her shoulder. “With all we’ve seen, balking at genuine chances for something good just doesn’t make sense.”

Max didn’t let him say anything back, despite the fact that Steve wouldn’t have been able to, anyway. She reached out to pat his bicep a couple of times before turning back towards her trailer. After taking a few steps, she looked over her shoulder shooting him a smile. “Happy Saturday, Steve. Try not to think too hard.”

He spent most of his drive home doing exactly that, playing her words over and over again in his brain, trying to puzzle them out. It was no surprise that Max understood the unspoken parts of Steve that he tried so hard to keep from everyone. In his makeshift family, Steve served a purpose that left little room for tangible insecurities and feelings that lacked confidence. Each kid felt like one of his own and their safety was all that mattered. Even in the quiet times where nothing was causing any danger, Steve took on the caregiver responsibility.

Most of the crew was young enough or too preoccupied with their own shit not to notice that Steve put all of his energy into everyone else, purposely leaving none in the tank for himself. It was so much easier to do that than worry about silly shit like his own happiness – Steve had been in the driver’s seat of that runaway train his entire life without navigating it anywhere good. Why waste brain bytes about it when there were many other, much more important things and people to worry about?

So why did Max’s ability to see Steve make him feel so out of place? He wondered that for days until Dustin came barreling into Family Video freaking out about Eddie Munson and the problems he was facing. It was easy then, to let go of the wonder and cling to the fact that Eddie was his friend and that in the end, helping him meant way more than understanding the poisonous little ideas Max put into his head. Steve couldn’t continue to worry about his so-called happiness if the source was behind bars or in Jason’s clutches, or even worse, taken by the real monster doing the killing.

Max still looked like the cat that got the cream by the time the rest of the party joined them. She didn’t take her eyes off Steve as he got up from the hard ground, pulling all of his limbs away from Eddie. She watched Steve brush off the sticks and dirt clinging to his shirt, and even when he leaned down to help Eddie up from the ground, too. It wasn’t the brunette’s fault that Steve was having a silent battle with their redheaded friend.

Thankfully, there were bigger fish to fry than Steve and Eddie tangled together, so no one even thought to ask about the spooning they all were unfortunately privy to. Dustin spent a bit talking about magnets and electromagnetic waves, but Steve couldn’t keep up. He was dead tired and disoriented by the way Max still wouldn’t stop looking at him. She kept at it until Eddie was muttering about Mordor and the Shire (still shit Steve had no idea about) – then they were moving and Steve hoped to whatever was up there that Max had better things to look at.

It quickly became impossible to do anything other than work to save all of their lives, which really meant that the group split up and Steve no longer had to worry about Max’s all-knowing stare. Instead, he climbed back into the boat from last night (who’s engine suddenly worked just fine), watching the kids get smaller by the second. It was crazy, to be revisiting the scene of the latest mania, but Steve had no better ideas and the clock was ticking.

Testing Dustin’s theory meant stripping down to his jeans and diving into the icy water, though not before Eddie’s hand shot out to grab his wrist. Steve had already been cheeky, throwing his shirt at the older boy in the most teasing way possible. He was unsure what got into him but Eddie wasn’t – he looked at Steve clearly, all hard eyes and concern on his face. “Be careful, Steve.” Eddie spoke with such conviction that Steve was at a loss for words. In all the time they spent together, Eddie never put himself out there like that before. They stayed to neutral topics and kept as far as possible away from personal shit like feelings. This, however, had the look of care smothered all over it. Steve tried to smile, to acknowledge the shift.

Not knowing how successful he was, Steve did his best to shake the thought away as he turned from the people in the boat and dove into the water.

In all honesty, Steve was certain he was careful up until the point where something was tugging him back under the water. He’d been alert and aware of the way the Upside Down worked – he swam down, got the information, and swam back up. As far as he was concerned, the job should’ve been done. They had the information they needed to turn around and better prepare for a trip to nowhere. The hive mind itself had other plans, however.

Steve tried not to panic – his ride through the Upside Down was much different than any altercation with the Demodogs or Mind Flayer. It was almost peaceful until the terrifying screech of something dangerous sounded in his ears. All of the sudden, Steve was on his back and defenseless in a place where the whole damn world thought as one. Never mind the fact that he realized what made such a loud and intimidating noise as a hoard of them flew right to him.

The actual fighting was a blur of an oar swinging and sharp teeth digging into the soft flesh on his sides. With the thick tail wrapped tightly around his neck, Steve was losing oxygen (and hope) faster than he was able to squirm away and fight back. His death looked imminent, though he fought hard against the weight progressively weighing him down.

After the tense moments that followed, it was a pleasant surprise to feel the Demobat tail start to loosen around his neck enough to climb to his feet. Steve never expected any of his friends in the boat to chase him down into the unknown, let alone wield weapons in his defense. Steve was taken aback and impressed by the quick and easy handle of the remaining predators that might’ve snatched Steve’s life if things were different. Getting his hands on the one that tried to strangle him was so satisfying that he didn’t feel done with it until he’d ripped the damn thing in half.

As he spat out blood and took in oxygen and tried not to think about the hamburger meat that was his stomach and sides, Eddie watched him, taking Steve in until the invisible string they’d both been ignoring tugged. All of the sudden, Steve had an armful of Eddie Munson who was clinging to him desperately, wounds be damned. “Jesus Christ, man,” Eddie muttered, ducking his head into Steve’s neck. Despite the burning sensation and the tug of his sides, Steve dragged Eddie against his chest, returning the hug. It was the only thing he could do when Eddie whispered – “I thought we lost you.”

Steve didn’t miss the way Nancy and Robin looked between each other – the rise in Robin’s eyebrows had always been hard not to catch. He subsequently ignored it, though; Eddie’s arms were tight around him and after what just happened, Steve needed the grounding. Never mind the fact that Steve was certain trying to move Eddie would be a big mistake. They stayed in that tight hug for what might’ve been hours before Eddie finally pulled away. He tried to swipe at his eyes quickly, but Steve saw the tears caught in long eyelashes. Since Steve had already thrown caution to the wind, he didn’t think twice about reaching up to wipe at the lone tear still tracking down Eddie’s cheek.

It was surprising that everyone let it go long enough to get out of the open – thankfully, all of his friends had decent enough survival skills and self-control. They wandered into the Upside Down’s version of the woods Steve spent the last twenty-four hours in, taking cover under the canopy of trees and branches that would make flying difficult for any bat. Only then did they stop long enough to get Steve’s wounds covered.

Robin took the torn piece of fabric Nancy handed to her, getting a kick out of wrapping it tight enough around Steve to pull a low, pained moan from him. “Take a deep breath,” she demanded as the fabric tightened even further so the edges could meet. She waited until the bandage was in place before grabbing his cheeks in both of her hands. Robin looked at him for a second, like she was trying to read into his soul, then slapped his cheeks playfully. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

Reaching up to pull her hands away from him, Steve took the opportunity to locate Eddie, who was quietly talking to Nancy a few feet away. His heart settled down enough to return his attention to Robin, who seemed to be getting more impatient by the second. Her cheeks were red by the time Steve finally spoke. “Eddie’s my friend, Rob.”

She looked like she might spontaneously combust by Steve’s lack of answer, but the haunting screech of the Demobats echoing around them made it difficult to express her upset. “We’re not done talking about this, Steve,” Robin huffed under her breath before turning around to face the rest of the group. For the time being, the subject was dropped.

Except, Steve was stupid and reckless and feeling like the world might end, so he grabbed at Eddie’s hand when they started walking, like the gesture was a normal one and not something that was completely off the wall. Eddie took it in stride, though – his hand was warm wrapped up tightly in Steve’s. They walked hand in hand silently for a while; if it wasn’t for the hazy darkness and overall shitty feeling of the place, it might’ve actually been nice. Nevertheless, nothing that nice was ever so easy.

“You’re confusing your friends,” Eddie said, breaking their tentative silence.

Steve looked ahead at Robin and Nancy who were currently talking with their heads together, completely ignoring whatever was going on between himself and Eddie. Though, Steve wasn’t naïve enough to think Eddie’s words weren’t the least bit true. “I know,” Steve answered, giving Eddie’s fingers a squeeze. “It’s not what you think, either. My not telling them about you.”

“I wouldn’t want people to know I was friends with the freak, either.” Eddie sounded so dull when he spoke, like the words were something he’d repeated time and again. They were hurtful and Steve knew Eddie enough to know the pain wasn’t only felt by Steve.

“You’re wrong, Eddie.” Steve stopped their walk so Eddie could meet his eye while he spoke. “I spent a lot of time becoming this person that everyone wanted at the cost of everything good about me. I let popularity and being known rule my life when all I really wanted was to be liked enough for someone to genuinely get to know the real me.”

He scoffed at how silly he’d been, thinking anyone in that group he ran with could see further than their own noses. “It took work and meeting the right people to find a version of myself that I could live with. Even still, my reputation followed me around, sticking to my back like glue. There’s no happiness available when everyone is looking at you like you’re still the person you’ve been trying so hard not to be.”

Eddie’s eyebrows were pinched together, his expression confused. Steve trucked on, hoping he could get rid of that look. “When I met you, my reputation only followed me for a second. You weren’t afraid to tell me my music sucked without blinking an eye. You silently gave me suggestions and willingly told me about them when I came back to know more. From the beginning, you’ve been a source of freedom and – and – happiness that I selfishly didn’t want to share with anyone else. Because once it’s out there, it’s everyone’s to talk about and dissect. It was nice, to have something that was just mine for a while.”

Once again, Steve found himself with an armful of Eddie Munson. He leaned into the hug, wrapping his arms tightly around the older boy. Eddie said nothing as they stood there, pressed together from toe to chest. Though they’d never been so close before, Steve wasn’t about to fight the rightness of holding Eddie. Steve never gave a second thought to the reason why being with Eddie was such an easy thing to do but it all kind of made sense. Maybe the person to accept him for who he was and love him just the same didn’t have to be Nancy or some faceless girl. Sometimes shit like that just happened and the person standing on the other side was one that was least expected.

Steve tried to pretend that his profound discovery wasn’t a game changer, he truly did. As they made their way through the Upside Down first into Nancy’s house and then into Eddie’s, Steve’s mind was filled with what if’s and maybe’s he always kept locked away. It seemed like a completely shitty time to be thinking so existentially, but the thoughts were there and unmoving. The only way to deal with them was to process, act, and hopefully be around long enough to move on.

Never mind the fact that Eddie looked much livelier since their little conversation. Steve hadn’t noticed how droopy the other was until his shoulders came up and the smile on Eddie’s face became a real one that Steve actually recognized. Despite being back in Hawkins proper, where Eddie was a wanted man, things felt like they were looking up. There was a plan in place with the right characters on the gameboard. As long as things went to plan, they’d be golden on the other side.

It took quite a bit of preparation to make sure every phase of the plan went off without a hitch. While the kids put together weapons and survival equipment, Eddie, Steve, Robin, and Nancy worked on compiling a speaker system they hoped would provide a good enough distraction to allow for undetected movement throughout the Upside Down. When Eddie proudly presented his plan, everyone looked at him like he was insane, but the more the group thought about it, the better it started to sound. Steve, Dustin, and Max stood up in support, which made it impossible for everyone else not to go along. The other alternative was leaving Dustin and Eddie to fend for themselves and nobody wanted that.

It was difficult to leave Lucas, Ericka, and Max behind. Steve turned around to make sure they knew the plan at least a half dozen times before Robin got sick of it and pulled him away. If anyone could handle themselves, it was that trio of humans, even Steve knew that. Regardless, he worried until they were falling onto Eddie’s mattress in the Upside Down. There, they made quick work of setting up the sound system and all the speakers they collected to maximize the effect. If they made it out on the other side, Steve was certain he’d be hooking up something similar in his room in the future.

They ran through the plan one more time before Nancy gave Eddie the signal and the Metallica tape started to play. It was quick moving, getting onto the bikes and down the street to get out of the trailer park before the bats could see them. For the distraction to work, the group needed a pretty decent head start. Seven miles on a bike was still seven miles.

Thankfully, the route wasn’t a difficult one and they made it to the Creel house without any real trouble. In their battle gear, carrying weapons galore, Steve had the smallest feeling that maybe they were ready for what they were heading towards.

Which, of course, meant that they absolutely were not. Dustin was the first to get dragged against the wall, yelling for Steve, for Eddie, for anyone to help him. Steve was quick to start stabbing at the tentacles wrapping Dustin up, but that only worsened the problem. He ran to Dustin’s side, yanking at his arms, tugging at the tentacles tightening around him, but nothing worked. One by one, they were tightly pinned to the wall.

Steve held onto Eddie’s hand for as long as he could.

When Vecna overwhelmed him, Steve was thrown into a memory of his parents leaving him behind for the first time of what he now knew to be so many trips. He remembered the isolation he felt watching their car drive away. Even at thirteen, Steve understood the concept of abandonment. Every second he spent in that cycle, Steve found it harder to call out Eddie’s name, to think about Robin and Nancy and Dustin and the safety they weren’t guaranteed. Then, he thought about his earlier conversation with Max and his attitude changed.

Minutes before Eddie brought up his idea of grand theft auto to get their needed supplies, Max pulled Steve out onto the porch. “I think I should ditch the music, Steve. It’ll draw Vecna to me so you guys have a chance to take him out physically.” She looked immovable when Steve spluttered and caught her eye.

“Max, you can’t be serious.” Steve’s voice was borderline desperate, the fear he was feeling tangible within it.

In true Max fashion, she rolled her eyes at him. Though, she softened a moment later. “When you guys realized the music would work, to help bring me back, I figured something else out along the way. If I think about the things that make me happy I can sort of block him out.” Max smiled as she continued. “You guys have made my life so great these past couple of years, Steve. I have more than enough ammo to keep him at bay.”

Steve had been perplexed by her strength at the time but now he understood. Vecna was slowly feeding on all the bad memories he dragged up from hidden depths of minds riddled with them. For most individuals with trauma, that sort of thing would have isolated them, making an easy target out of each carefully selected victim.

Too bad Steve and his pieced together family had more than trauma to cling to. Calling up times with Dustin gave Steve the strength to wiggle a wrist free. Times with Robin made him able to blink back to the here and now where his friends were facing their own demons. Small details of Eddie with a joint in his mouth and a smile on his face had him yelling out, begging for his friends to think about happier times where Vecna could never truly reach.

When he thumped to the ground, Steve wasn’t certain whether it was ‘his think happy thoughts’ trick or El finally touching down for battle. It didn’t matter, either, because Steve was on his feet running to each of his friends to help them out of the tangled web that almost got them all. He tugged Nancy into a hug and rested his forehead against Robin’s. Dustin clung to him, whispering thank you over and over again. When Steve managed to escape his grasp, he stepped to Eddie, pulling him in by a hand on the cheek. Though it was the worst time for a first kiss, Steve couldn’t help the way their lips found each other’s.

Steve kept Eddie close to him for as long as possible, but there was still work to be done. They shared a meaningful look before turning back to the group as if nothing had happened. Three sets of eyes on them said otherwise, but Steve refused to be worried about it when there were bigger fish to fry. A shake of the house had everyone remembering that, too.

It was dumbfounding to watch Nancy tap into a part of herself that was both badass and brave as she wielded a gun she’d filed down on her own. Steve, Dustin, Eddie, and Robin took a willing backseat to the knowledge Nancy Wheeler had acquired over years of taking on parts of the Upside Down that trickled and leaked and caused havoc. Steve was certain she took great pride in getting to finish off the true villain of their story.

Their work looked to be done when the house suddenly started to shake and the black tentacles made one last push to secure some kind of leg up. They looked between each other before the flight urge kicked in – Steve was sure they were in the clear when all the breath in his lungs left him. He didn’t need to reach down to know that something had gotten him. There was the faintest recognition of voices as Steve first hit his knees, then ground, though distinguishing who and what they were saying was impossible. He looked up at frightened faces just long enough to recognize their worry. Then, blackness set in.

Steve’s slow return to reality started with a bright light in his eyes. It took a few blinks to clear the haze enough to realize that a window was open, letting natural sunlight into the room. He squeezed his eyes shut against the relief that washed over him – Steve hadn’t believed in any of that white light shit until that very moment. Thankfully, the room he was in just had great lighting.

As he slowly started to recognize more things around him, Steve heard a rustle and shift from the other side of the room. He gingerly turned his head to see Robin and Max sitting by the side of his bed. Despite the effort moving demanded, Steve smiled at the sight. He wasn’t all that certain how long he’d been under or what actually happened, but he eventually made it out on the other side. For the time being, that’s all that really mattered.

“You guys are a sight for sore eyes,” Steve said, testing out his voice. It was gravely and rough, yet still usable.

Robin straightened up in her seat, the move bringing her in closer to Steve. She used both hands to grip onto Steve’s forearm – her fingers lit up nerves there Steve was glad to see still working. If he had enough energy, he would’ve turned his hand over, locked it with hers. Instead, he soaked up her warmth and enjoyed the touch.

Max was a little tougher to break. She stayed in her chair for the first few minutes as Steve asked Robin questions about what happened and where they were. Steve waited patiently for her to move in closer until her hands were on Steve’s arm, too. By then, tears were tracking down her cheeks – the easy feeling in the room was quickly replaced by overwhelming relief best expressed by three people crying their eyes out while holding each other. It was a catharsis that Steve was sure Robin and Max needed much more than he did.

It was a lot easier to talk after that. Steve was still trying to orient himself to the fact that three weeks had passed by and more than half of the party wasn’t there. “Where’s Dustin? And Eddie for that matter? Are they okay?”

The look shared between Max and Robin immediately set him on edge. He tried to sit up a little but the thick bandages on his side stopped him. Robin’s hand was on his chest so fast, Steve wondered where she’d been keeping that kind of coordination. “I’ll tell you, but you have to relax. Popping a stitch isn’t going to change anything.”

Taking a deep breath, Steve let Robin’s words calm him down. Now that his head was a little more clear, Steve understood he missed a lot in the weeks he was down. The only way to make up that ground was to stay calm, and while that almost seemed impossible, Steve remembered those last moments of triumph with Eddie and Dustin before the world went black. He could buckle down the panic long enough to get to the bottom of things.

Or so he thought, anyway. The second Steve heard Robin say “Eddie’s been arrested,” the resolve to be calm crumbled to pieces.

“Arrested? He’s innocent!” Steve felt his heart rate increase and the machine he was attached to further proved that by starting to beep loudly. They all looked at the screen with wide eyes. If it went on for much longer, they wouldn’t be alone and Steve would be shit out of luck. Thankfully, Max was perceptive enough to stand up from her chair and settle by his shin on the bed.

She placed a hand on his leg, then proceeded to quietly tell him everything that happened from the beginning. The Hawkins’ police were waiting at the hospital when Steve was brought in. They followed Jason’s hunch that Eddie would be with Dustin, who called 9-1-1 in the first place. Eddie didn’t fight or try to argue, he simply let them cuff him and walked silently to the car. Hopper and Joyce didn’t get there until a couple of days later, so Eddie spent some time behind bars. And while the secret organization working with El was able to get rid of all the criminal charges, the public still wanted someone to blame. The civil suit trial was currently a day or two from being finished and things looked okay for Eddie. But –

“He doesn’t want to see you.” Max looked pained saying the words, like they tasted gross in her mouth, or something. Which made sense because Steve’s entire body prickled upon hearing them.

Steve squinted as he processed what he heard, though it still didn’t make any sense. He remembered Eddie’s smile and the soft press of his lips. What in any of that precious memory caused the older boy to withdraw? “He doesn’t want to see me,” Steve repeated, hoping the statement coming from his own mouth would lessen the blow. It didn’t, but what else was new?

For the next little while, Max and Robin tried to distract him by talking about the massive exit of more than half of Hawkins’s citizens and the Byers’s return from California, but it was all moot. Steve was wrapped up in the thought that Eddie refused to see him. He found it difficult to believe that the moments they shared were a byproduct of trauma bonding, so there had to be something else.

Steve continued to think on it after Robin and Max left to catch the tail end of Eddie’s court proceedings for the day. He searched and replayed all of their time together before the realization that Steve’s worry over his reputation following him around probably played a huge part in why Eddie pulled away from him. With so many eyes on the metalhead, Steve would be thrown in the mix of that, too, simply by being in Eddie’s orbit. Though he appreciated the gesture, Steve couldn’t deny his own frustration with it all.

The second he could, Steve checked himself out of the hospital. The doctor recommended continual bed rest that he could do from absolutely anywhere else. He made a couple of calls before stepping into a pair of scrubs the nurse gave him. His own clothes were beyond ruined when he came in. They took him on the customary wheelchair ride out to the front of the hospital where he slowly limped into Jim Hopper’s truck.

“Thanks for picking me up, Hop.” They were already well on their way by the time that Steve spoke up, though Jim didn’t seem to mind. His silence was a lot like Eddie’s, smooth and easy to exist in.

“You bet, kid,” Hopper said, taking his eyes off the road long enough to nod Steve’s way. “I’m glad to see you up and about. Everyone was worried for a while.”

Steve was positive of that, too. Robin talked about the first few days that were touch and go. Between his instability and Eddie’s fight with the law, the party didn’t have it easy. Vecna’s defeat was nothing compared to Steve almost dying. Eddie in handcuffs was just the cherry on top.

They made a bit more small talk as Steve tried to fish for things about Eddie’s case. Hopper was ever the cop and evaded him seamlessly, however. He was nice about it to the point where Steve wasn’t even sure what he’d been fishing for to begin with. By the time Steve was walking up to his front door, he was well aware that the only way to get information was to go to the source. Slowly, Steve limped through the door just enough to grab his car keys and turn right back around.

It was harder to drive with a stomach wound than Steve first figured. Turning meant bracing his core, which caused a pain so sharp Steve almost drove into another lane of traffic. It took him most of the drive to Eddie’s to figure out a breathing pattern that worked enough to allow him to move the wheel without succumbing to the desire to faint from the subtlest shift of his stitches. He drove so slowly through the trailer park’s dirt road that a small child on a bike passed him in annoyance.

With a pained sigh of triumph, Steve parked his car out in front of Eddie’s. He couldn’t help the smile that overtook his face at the sight of Eddie’s van. He’d been occupied enough throughout the day with trivial shit not to think much about missing the older boy, but now that he was close, Steve’s brain was stuck there, making him ache even more.

Slowly, Steve got himself out of the car and up Eddie’s stairs. He was about to start knocking on the door when it opened to produce the single best vision Steve had seen to date. Eddie was there, all in one piece. Without thinking, Steve stepped forward so he could lean on the doorframe, right in Eddie’s space.

“I heard you didn’t want to see me,” Steve stated, not waiting for Eddie to greet him or protest his presence.

Eddie tried to avoid his eyes, but Steve was insistent. “Don’t avoid me, Munson. You can’t kiss a guy like that and disappear. Regardless of his three week coma.”

Steve could see that Eddie was still trying to cling to his resolve, but the joke was too much – the smallest of smiles broke across Eddie’s lips. It was enough to bring down the poorly patched up dam Eddie tried to build in a sweet attempt to protect Steve.

This time, Steve was the one walking into Eddie’s arms, tucking his face into the warm spot between shoulder and neck. He buried himself in the firm hold of arms that Steve was certain were sturdy enough to fight against anything that might come their way. Steve clung until words started to claw their way up from his chest.

“I choose this, Eddie – to fall, to cross all the lines.” Steve pulled back enough for Eddie to see him, for their eyes to meet. “No matter what, okay?” His hands trailed up from the clutch on Eddie’s back to his neck, where Steve tangled his fingers into the locks of hair there.

Eddie muttered back an “okay” but Steve already knew. The look in Eddie’s eye and the way he was pulling him closer said more than enough. Though, the eventual “why are you in scrubs?” certainly didn’t hurt, either.

Huffing out a laugh, Steve nodded towards the inside of Eddie’s trailer. “Invite me in and I’ll tell you all about it.”

It was easy to sprawl out onto Eddie’s couch like old times as the awkwardness of three weeks apart started to melt away. Eddie rolled a joint and caught Steve up on all the stuff happening with the trial. Dr. Owens hooked the Munson’s up with a great lawyer that was making Eddie’s experience as a suspect into the unjust torture that it truly was. Steve was awake just in time to see the ruling that very next day.

As talk of the case trailed off and the marijuana haze started to kick in, Steve lost track of time and space. The meds he’d been giving at the hospital and the joint they smoked were a perfect combination for true weightlessness. Steve gingerly shifted on the couch until he could lean his head on Eddie’s shoulder, then relaxed completely.

Wayne found them that same way early the next morning.

The court room was surprisingly packed when Steve walked in with Eddie a little while later. It suddenly made sense why the rest of the party wasn’t there when he woke up the previous day, each of the kids was packed into the front row on Eddie’s side, looking around anxiously. Steve left Eddie at the door with a gentle squeeze to the hand and hobbled down the aisle to join them.

He was bombarded with whispered hello’s and a sideways hug from Dustin, who fought to get to the end of the bench to be next to Steve when he sat down. “Sorry I wasn’t there yesterday.” Dustin turned his head to look at Steve with such genuine sincerity that Steve couldn’t help but throw his arm back around the kid and pull him close.

“I’m glad you were here. He needs you, Dusty.” Steve nodded over at Eddie who’d taken his seat next to a well-dressed older man. They were graced with an Eddie Munson smirk before his lawyer was leaning in to whisper last minute plans and words of advice.

Dustin was smiling when Steve turned his attention back to him. “He needs you, too, Steve.” There was something in Dustin’s glance as he spoke, but Steve brushed it off as the boy continued. “It’s all going to work out now. It has to.”

Steve was at a loss for words and thankfully interrupted by the bailiff calling court to order. He slowly stood for the judge and listened impatiently while both lawyers made their closing remarks. Though he paid little attention to the prosecution, Steve was blown away by the narrative Eddie’s lawyer managed to create. Since no one would believe the truth, the defense attorney created a story about an innocent boy hunted by a town that condemned him without any evidence or reason to do so. When the jury came back with an innocent verdict, Steve wasn’t the least bit surprised. While Dr. Owens couldn’t get him off on his own, he definitely equipped Eddie with the best person to do so in his stead.

Everyone anxiously waited for Eddie to come through the court house doors after they were dismissed from the room. There were more than enough people who weren’t happy with the ruling that it was nice to get out of shared air with people that still wanted to curse Eddie’s name. For some people, a label was all they saw and would ever see. Steve had enough hands-on knowledge to understand that fact. Yet, the group of kids that stood next to him made it clear that the right people, who took the time to look, saw through that casing into the something more underneath.

Life was gloriously slow after that. Steve took the needed weeks to recover before making his way back to Family Video. Eddie covered his shifts in the meantime. Days went by without the threat and overt terror of an alternate dimension trying to tear Hawkins apart. Like most things, their little town healed and slowly forgot all the mayhem. Graduation came and went with Nancy, Robin, and Eddie walking the stage. And while everyone was there, Steve was certain he screamed the loudest for all of his friends.

Steve and Eddie spent the summer getting to know each other in all the ways possible. Since Steve’s parents weren’t going to sell the house, they spent most of their time there, slowly filling in all the empty spaces Steve learned to ignore over the years. In the mornings, Eddie woke Steve up with coffee. In the evenings, Steve carried Eddie to bed when the weed and tv became too drowsy of a combination. Things were simple, making the choice to be there with Eddie easier by the day.

He wasn’t all that sure how they’d done it, but Steve lived in the sort of domestic haze he thought could never truly exist. Walking in the door at night was something Steve looked forward to every single day.

Especially when Eddie had the day off and spent most of it wrapped up in writing a DnD campaign. His hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, showing off the long curve of his neck. Glasses, which Steve wasn’t aware of until they started sharing space together, sat on his nose, enhancing the look. Never mind the fact that Eddie had taken to walking around the house in only cut off jean shorts and a cropped Hellfire Club t-shirt. While Steve knew the organized chaos that was Eddie Munson in that moment wasn’t really for him, he appreciated the appearance greatly, nonetheless.

So much so that he snatched the pencil out of Eddie’s hand to capture his attention. He was met with an annoyed look for about a second before Steve had an armful of Eddie Munson, instead. Ever since that first embrace in the Upside Down, Steve liked the way they just sort of fit together.

Eddie shifted onto the balls of his feet to kiss Steve, pulling him away from that thought. His lips tasted like Mountain Dew and the specific pretzels Eddie liked, drawing a soft moan from the depths of Steve’s chest. He loved the little reminders that Eddie was Eddie, that the person he came home to every day was still the glorious human Steve unknowingly fell for in those quiet, in between moments.

Tilting his head to deepen the kiss, Steve chased that flavor. Their tongues tangled in a well-known dance. An empty house left to two twenty year old’s made way for lots of exploration and Steve was a willing adventurer. They fought and succumbed and shifted themselves in the battle of wills until Eddie was puddy under Steve’s ministrations.

It was easy then to make the trip up the stairs to what Steve liked to call “their” room. When they got there, Steve pressed Eddie up against the door and made quick work of the black jean shorts that always drove him crazy. He nosed at the prominent bulge pushing up against boxer briefs Steve was sure were his own. Eager fingers peeled Eddie out of those too so Steve could have free access to all of him.

His lips were eager, wrapping around the head of Eddie’s cock with only a brief look between them. Steve was originally surprised to learn that Eddie got quiet in the more intimate moments – Steve took that fact as a challenge to be good enough to draw those little noises from Eddie’s mouth. In the time they’d spent together, Steve got better at doing that each and every time. He’d never been that great of a student in school, but he loved learning about Eddie. What got him going, what drew him to the edge, what dragged him over it and what had him jumping to that finish. It was much more interesting than English ever was.

A hand in his hair stopped him before Steve really got to work on Eddie’s cock. Steve looked up to see Eddie staring down at him with the brightest eyes. “The bed would probably be better for this,” Eddie panted out with a smirk. Though he was half dressed with his dick out, Eddie oozed confidence that always got Steve going.

It was all hands and mouths and clothes hitting the floor as they made their way over to the bed. Steve found himself on his stomach with Eddie between his thighs the next time he bothered to look up. His hand was fisted in the comforter, the muscles in his thighs shaking. Eddie’s tongue had a magical way of finding all the right spots within him.

Steve was brainless with want when Eddie eventually dug into the side drawer to snag a condom. He didn’t remember much of the prep, aside from the wicked fingertips playing so knowledgably over his prostate. As Eddie sank inside, Steve hung on for dear life.

With whispered words and hard thrusts, Eddie took him apart. His fingers knew all the right places to touch and press so Steve could do nothing but push back to meet each of Eddie’s thrusts. No matter how many times they found themselves like this, Steve could never quite grasp onto the overwhelming passion that colored their time together. And maybe that’s what made it so damn good.

Steve happily gave the entirety of his being over to their connection and the knowledge that when he chose to fall, Eddie would be right there with him, experiencing the free fall by his side. It wasn’t about being caught, Steve realized that every time Eddie brought him over the edge. What existed between them would always be a safe place to land. All the fun and exhilaration came from the choice Steve made to step off the cliff and let gravity do its thing.

Lucky for him, Eddie always thought the risk was worth it, too.

#steddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie munson x steve harrington #steve x eddie #eddie x steve #steveddie #steve/eddie #steddie fanfic #steddie fics #steve harrington #eddie munson #bobbie writes #(for you) i'd break these walls

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pterodactylterrace · 2 years

Text

Dating Paul Bullion

Because BOY HOWDY do I have thoughts about dating this man!

He will send you a picture of every dog he sees.

When he is filming for the Witcher, you get multiple pictures of Kal every day.

You will never understand his need to get up at stupid o’clock for his first workout of the day.

It makes him happy, though, so you just burrow further into the warm spot he left behind and go back to sleep.

Plus the physique that comes from his fitness dedication is a nice bonus.

He seems almost magnetically drawn to you.

Sitting quietly on the couch? BAM! Giant ginger suddenly pressed against you.

Cooking dinner? Better not bend down or his giant hand will be all over your ass and you’ll end up burning the food. Again.

The house is always filled with music.

Either coming from a speaker, or Paul just belting out whatever comes to him.

You never knew just how handy he was until you moved in with him.

One day you were climbing the pantry shelves because your boyfriend is 6’3 and hasn’t seemed to realize that the top shelf of all but useless to you.

The shelf you were standing in gave way beneath you, sending you sprawling onto your ass on the ground, various shelf stable foods littering the ground around you.

He ran across the house to you when he heard the crash and was kneeling at your side with hover hands before you even registered what happened.

You braced yourself for a lecture, so sure he was going to be upset with you for ignoring his constant requests to ask him for help instead of climbing.

But once he realizes the tears are because you’re upset and not from physical pain, he gathers you up in his arms and plants the pair of you on the couch for the rest of the day.

The shelf is repaired the next day before you even get home, and you tear up a little when you see a step stool made of the same wood as the new shelf.

Neither of you ever showers alone if the other is home.

Not even always a sex thing, more just an intimacy thing.

It used to freak you out, having your privacy invaded by a giant ginger pushing the curtain aside and climbing in with you.

Don’t get me wrong, he’d seen you naked several times before, but he’d never seen you like this.

Naked, looking like a drowned rat with half your bush shaved. You couldn’t bring yourself to resume your shower yoga to properly shave your junk, so you just pretend you meant to only shave one labia and half your mound.

One week, and seven ginger invaded showers later, you gave up on being able to sneak shave.

You sort of expect him to cut his shower short when you start positioning yourself in the odd poses required to shave everything. Instead he drops to his knees in front of you, taking the razor from you like it was the normal thing to do and just takes over for you.

He dutifully removes all the hair from your nethers, pulling the shower head down for a more through rinse. The little shit knows exactly what he’s doing when he aims the jet at your clit.

He waits just long enough to make his intentions clear before abandoning the shower head and diving in with his mouth instead.

You develop a nightly routine of sorts after a while when he is home in the evenings. You’d both laze around on the couch, your legs often thrown over his lap while he absently massaged your calves and feet.

At some point you always end up falling asleep, and yet you always wake up in bed.

And nothing can compare to the feeling of being wrapped up in his arms at night, safe and sound as you dream away.

Taglist:

Tags: @weallhaveadestiny @lunedelorient @summersong69 @mis-lil-red @lharrietg @amberangel112 @mansaaay @packerfan43 @cavillsthighs @poledancingdinos @pretty-toxic-revolver @oh-for-fic-sake @geralt-of-baevia @littleone65 @littlefreya @eldarwen333 @sillyrabbit81 @beck07990 @pandaxnienke @marytudorbrandon @identity2212 @kebabgirl67 @omgkatinka @stardusted26 @cardierreh15

#Paul Bullion #Paul Bullion head cannon #Paul Bullion headcannon

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tuliprry · 2 years

Note

can you tell us the story of how cloudburst y/n and harry met?

yes!!! here it goes :)

y/n was dreading leaving the bed, even though being a teacher was a life long dream she was absolutely panicky about having to go to an actual pre school, introduce herself, meet new people and actually become an adult but still just out of university. tony was still asleep, his forehead visibly sweating from a mid august summer heat, sheets pushed back and y/n's cat, pickles, at the end of the bed asleep as well, y/n groans and sits in bed, funnily enough, there's a storm outside, still awfully hot though. pickles stretches and jumps to the floor, meowing as she walks ahead of y/n in the direction of the kitchen, y/n fills her pet bowl with pickles' favourite food. y/n fills up the the espresso machine with oat milk to foam it, and then presses the button for the well desired shot of strong espresso, it immediately gives her a boost of energy for the rest of the day. it's been 45 minutes and y/n is curling her lashes as the last step before applying mascara and leaving the house, she's frustrated, she's in summer clothing but dreading the rain outside, a black cropped t-shirt and a long brown and green skirt that hugs her hips just fine and sneakers that would save her from getting her feet all wet, her long brown hair is wavy from yesterday's beach day and her freckles more notable than usual.

the tube ride isn't long but she can feel her back sweating like crazy, as well as her thighs, she mentally cursed herself for not wearing shorts underneath. the school is an eco-school, y/n has seen some of the pictures and she's so excited to actually see the school irl. she hears her stop and gets up, awaiting for the doors to open, she gets out, holding onto her laptop bag a little tighter as she walks through the swarm of people, "a perfect beach day and you're in the tube" she thinks to herself.

the school building is typically british brown but has a beautiful outdoor space with swing sets and slices, as well as a sort of big patch of lettuces, carrots, tomatoes and other veggies y/n can't quite put her finger on and lastly a big space with various farm animals. inside the school the walls are white, there's a little play house with a slide, there's a play kitchen and a play bedroom and big table with crafts on top of it as well as big book shelves with countless books. the walls are filled with drawings, mostly signed by the preschool teachers with the name and their age/room they have classes in. y/n feels immediately at home.

she walks towards the reception and smiles at the lady she had once talked on the phone with, "hello ms charter! i came in to sign my contract!" y/n smiles and ms charter does some chit chatting as she goes through the paperwork for the upcoming school year. "oh ms charter i need you so bad, billy, aimee's son was in my class while she went to grab their lunch and now his nose is bleeding and he won't let me near him- oh fork i'm so sorry i didn't know you were busy" he says, "i'm harry... or mr styles i don't know if you're a parent..." harry, harry styles. that's a pretty name for a pretty face, "oh i'm y/n y/l/n i'm here to sign the contract, i start next month!" y/n gives him a big smile, "about that boy, do u want me to try and help?" y/n places her bag on top of the counter and follows harry into his classroom.

at the door there's his name, "mr styles" and a blank space, y/n immediately thinks "god i hope it's me", she doesn't take long to look into the room as little billy is now filled with blood on his t-shirt, "hello billy! i'm y/n, do u think i can help?" billy showed no restraint and let y/n clean and get him cotton for his nose, harry was mesmerised, he could feel his biological clock ticking as y/n praised the little boy and gave him gentle head caresses as his sobbing stopped. y/n held the 3 year old and he rest his head on her shoulder as his breathing eased, "wow. how did u do that" harry asked still astonished, "well i'm a special ed teacher, i have the gentle touch" y/n keeps caressing the little boy as his eyes got heavy, "oh! i think you're the girl coming into my class, i'm starting a set of new students in september and the headmaster told me they were looking for a special ed teacher for my class" harry's eyes lit up, he couldn't stop staring at the girl and explaining she was gonna spend every day with him. "oh really? that's fantastic! the vibes in this classroom are amazing by the way, mr styles" y/n giggles, thinking of when he said "i don't know if you're a parent", "oh god i'm so sorry about that, i get so nervous around parents still!" his palms are sweaty and his heartbeat sped up, he feels like a teen looking at y/n but at the same time he feels like asking her to marry him immediately and have his babies. completely infatuated.

hope u enjoyed it!!!

#harry fic #harry styles #harry styles au #harry styles blurb #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fic #harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry x reader #tuliprry #cloudburst!harry

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deep-blue-novella · 1 year

Text

CH 09 Same as it ever was.

Viktor had struggled with a lot of things in his life. Things like school, his family relationships, juggling work and his constant internal dialogue that told him he should just quit everything he was doing. Most of the things he struggled with were actually of his own creation… and this time it was definitely no different.

In fact it was absolutely only his own creation, and he was completely and utterly unimpressed with himself over the fact that he let things get this bad.

Viktor had been working on cleaning his room for almost half the day, even going so far as to get up early to make some sort of ‘head start’ on the absolute terror that was his living space. When he started, most of his floor was almost unseen and covered predominantly in clothing. Most of said clothing was in a state of limbo as to whether or not it was clean, or dirty. He’d looked in his drawers of his dresser and found not much to be left, and took it upon himself to simply dump everything he owned into the poor overworked washing machine in the far bathroom.

He’d managed to tackle some of the paper mess he had as well, and also realized that he had been throwing his trash around to the point that most of the mess of ‘paper’ had been garbage shoved into several brown bags on the floor.

Viktor knew he was getting bad about haphazardly throwing things about, but he didn't think he’d find old fast food wrappers from over a month ago attempting to get under his bed-frame. On top of that, he even managed to find his old wallet that he’d thought he’d lost three months back.

He didn’t realize it had been that long since he last really considered his ‘problem’ of a space.

By this point it was almost 3pm, he hadn’t had much of a single thing to eat since his initial rise from bed, and had only managed to get as far as getting things off the floor that were all bulky. The floor was still a mess, the dark grey carpet clearly stained and coated in dust among other things, and he still had his desk, dresser and shelves to tackle as well.

He had flopped onto his bed face first, and let out a very exasperated sigh.

“I’m going to need to figure out a better way to do this, it feels like it’s taking forever and I’ve barely done anything.” He whined, covering his head with a pillow.

He had admittedly gotten distracted no less than five times in the past few hours and had to catch himself from playing with the miscellaneous items he kept finding around his room, it was something he struggled with but it was probably just the fact that cleaning never did hold his attention well.

Docia had entered by this point, leaning on his door in the exact same manner that Vik always did when he went to disturb her in her room. She had a smile on her face, not in the usual smug manner the two would exchange, but something more genuine as she called out to him.

Viktor turned his head to face her, still laying on his bed, and in a muffled tone gave her a simple reply of, “Ey.”

“Well Vik, I’m definitely impressed. I can actually see the sorry state your floor is in.” She shook her head. “We’re making progress out there as well, it’s starting to get back to normal.”

“That’s at least good… I’m still shocked that you all managed to make it me levels of messy out there.” He gave a weak laugh, then shoved his head back into his blankets. “Remind me to do two things.”

“Two things?” Docia tilted her head, walking into the room to sit on Viktor’s bed beside him.

“One, to at least do some kind of… light tidy every two weeks in here so I don’t have to spend an entire week to fix the awful mess I made.” He started moving to flip himself over.

“The other?”

“Clean these gross-ass sheets.” He had a grimace on his face, his nose clearly curled in disgust.

Docia burst out laughing at him.

“Don’t worry we can definitely do that. Speaking of those sheets… I’m going to be honest, Vik. Those… are not salvageable.” She shook her head. “When did they get so thread-barren? Why didn’t you tell me? We could have gotten you new ones you know?”

“I don’t like it when you spend money on me and you know that.” He huffed, grabbing a pillow and yanking its ratty cover off, ripping it and making a surprised expression.

“I know you don’t- but I also know you won’t spend anything on yourself if it’s not for your ‘Cuda.” She placed a hand on his head, ruffling his hair. “That or cigarettes, burgers, and orange juice. You have such specific taste.”

“Yeah, yeah….” He took her hand, plopping it to the side of his head and away from his hair. “So what brings you to the humble abode of The One and Only Viktor Rachman?”

“I actually… wanted to ask if you wanted help maybe.” She lied down on the bed, facing the opposite direction of him. “I know you struggle with this, it’s not fun or interesting and I know you get distracted too.”

“Yeah… that’s why you used to clean my room for me when we were young.” He chuckled looking up at his shelves that were half crammed with miscellaneous nonsense. “I don’t blame you for stopping though I’m a lot to handle.”

“You’re not a lot to handle. I just wasn’t home as often to keep you company while you worked on it.” She punched him, Viktor recoiling a bit and holding his arm. “You know, I was talking to Ymo about this and she had some really good ideas of how we can maybe make this easier for you.”

Viktor pulled himself up, leaping off the bed. “I mean I…. guess I’m down to hear it. I haven’t even started the other half of this and I’m admittedly in over my head and overwh-”

“Don’t worry I got a plan, but we need to hit the mall first.” She pushed herself up and walked over to him. “Do you wanna come? It’ll be just you me and Ymo… we haven’t been to the mall in forever and honestly you made huge progress, so consider this an excuse to take a break, maybe get a burger or something.”

“Fuck, if it means I can be done with this room for five minutes I will gladly slide out. I uh… only have my current shirt and ugly jeans to wear though, so if you don’t mind me looking like a slob we can just leave. I don’t really wanna wait on the dryer admittedly.” Viktor shrugged to her, starting to walk towards the door.

He could hear Docia laughing, making excuses for him that bordered on absurd and other little jokes while they gathered themselves, and Ymo to head out.

The mall was a decent distance away- at the very least it wasn’t a place you wanted to walk to while carrying a lot home anyway. It was good if you wanted a three hour walk there and back just to spend the day out of the house. It was in a slightly less trashy part of town, nowhere near the Wolves’ side and was a nice and almost home-y feeling place. It’s not even that the mall that was on the Wolves’ side was worse, it’s more that it was the one they’d gone to so many times as kids it was just a place of comfort, especially for Vik and Docia.

On top of the fact it was a place they always felt nostalgic for, there was also a shop there that sold guitars and other musical instruments that both Ymo and Vik absolutely adored sliding into now and then, even if only to window shop. It was always nice since it got the two of them chatting and rambling and really helped them to forget about the world for a while.

The three had chosen to sit in the crowded and messy food court, getting something to eat first since they’d been working all morning on trying to make some kind of sense out of the chaos they created back home. Viktor always found that there was something so much more enjoyable about eating a good burger after doing work… it could also have been the fact that he wished he could make a burger even half as good as the ones they got from the food court.

“You know guys, it’s real nice to get the chance to hang out like this again. It’s been so long since the three of us just got to head to the mall together.” Ymo grinned, before shoveling a fistful of french fries into her mouth.

“Yeah, we should take the time to head out together more often… maybe see if we can convince Asheton to ditch wherever he works for a day to join us.” Docia added, sipping on her drink. “He needs to get out more.”

“Eh, its Ashe. If he wants to go out he’ll find an excuse.” Viktor shrugged. “He’s been kinda to himself more lately though admittedly and it does worry me sometimes.”

“Well, it’s possible that it could just be his work?” Ymo pointed out.

“Yeah see I would agree and all- if he would actually tell us what the hell it is he does that rakes in the cash he makes.” Viktor rolls his eyes. “He promised me it wasn’t drugs, so I chose not to pry… but he’s still not in the clear with the damn secrecy.”

“Asheton soooo wouldn’t do drugs anyway though, that’s not his thing. For a guy who loves to talk shit, he really isn’t into doing anything fun you know?” Ymo rolled her eyes, slurping noisily from her drink.

“Ymo, are you still mad he said no to smoking weed with you last week while everyone was busy?” Docia chuckled, stealing fries from her bag.

“Look! I’m just saying for a guy that goes through as many ‘cigs as Vik during a bad week, you’d think he’d be more open to it is all?” She crumpled her wrapper, shaping it into a little ball and whacked it with her straw at Vik. “Also yeah I’m still bummed. I was hoping to use it as an excuse to get to know the guy a little better. Me n’ him don’t talk too much and I totally need to fix that.”

Viktor flicked the ball back into Ymo’s face with his straw. “He’s just reserved right now. As I said, I think somethin’s on his mind and he’s just not letting anyone in on whatever it is. I’m wonderin’ if maybe he saw something.”

“Possibly. I’m going to harass him later and try to figure things out.” Docia crumpled her trash together, taking the ‘ball’ from Ymo before she could shoot it again. “Perhaps its time for the trio to come to him… or I can just go on my own since he was always more open to just talking to me about his goings-on. I just need the right time off.”

“Better you than me, as much as Asheton loves me he’s still kinda… mad at me for those years back. Which is fair.” Vik sat his chin on his cup. “It’s not my fault things didn’t vibe, he just got overbearing and it wasn’t something I could handle.”

“We know Vik, sweetie, don’t be beating yourself up again over it that’s like, seriously old news now.” Ymo pat his head, getting up to take the trash from Docia out. “Besides we still love you~!”

“I know, I know.” He got up as well, almost spilling his drink and failing a little as a result. “Thanks for this by the way, I miss going to lunch with you guys, I really gotta book some time off or somethin, maybe the boss will bend.”

“I mean he might? Your head honcho guy seems like a decent dude and he didn’t panic when a pack of young troublemakers came running into his store for booze.” Docia laughed, leaning back in her chair to throw her now empty cup into the bin that Ymo was holding open.

“Still stupid as hell that a rebel like me has to work for some stupid bossman. I hate workin’ like a dog for dogshit pay.” Viktor huffed, watching Docia miss her shot dramatically, a large man passing by swiftly and scoffing at them.

“Vik you know we’re too notorious now to be going about living off thievery alone.” Ymo picked up the trash, Docia getting up out of her chair. “A lil’ bit of pick-pocketing isn’t gonna get us anywhere fast either, that’s too much like luck based shit, and if I wanted to gamble I’d be hittin’ the casino.

“The fact the twins still get away with it is terrible in itself.. but you did teach them well, and they do have a good fence.” Docia shook her head, speaking in a hushed tone.

“I know…. I do miss it a lot though. I used to make some real bank.” Viktor shrugged. “Anyway… do you mind too much if Ymo and I head off to our favorite place? We can meet back up at that little dollar shop when we’re done.”

“Fine, but only because I need to get you new sheets first and that’s on the other end of the mall. Just don’t be doing anything illegal.” Docia waggled a finger at them, Ymo and Viktor laughing their asses off.

The three split, Docia off on her own while Viktor and Ymo cracked jokes the entire way down the main strip of the mall. There was a decent amount of different store types, and most of the venues were full with a couple of new stores on the way to opening. It was decently busy, the usual sounds of screaming children, teenagers laughing while getting run out of shops, and usual whiny people echoed the retro-fitted walkways. There was a lot of fun colours splayed about the floor in teals, pinks, tans, whites and greys, along with hanging decorations from the ceilings.

The two of them didn’t really seem to notice much of this, the first few times they came through they always noted every little detail, like how the elevator in the main lobby never seemed to work, how the escalators had little starburst designs etched into the glass on the sides, and how the plants in the mall never seemed to be out of the way of the overhead glass windows. After the tenth or twentieth time, you don’t tend to pay nearly as much attention, and that was sort of the point where Vik and the crew had gotten with it. Sure you noticed the new shops, but were mostly there to do your thing and leave. You don’t usually pay too much attention to your surroundings which isn’t always a good thing.

Vik and Ymo were very zoned in on their single task, which was initially to check out the new records that got shipped in. This was always their favorite day of the week to visit the little music shop in the mall, they had big neon signs in the windows and tons of new gear in stock, everyone always seeming to come out with the ‘next big thing’ in effects pedals.

Which was immediately where Vik and Ymo had gone first instead of their initial starting place.

Viktor was holding up different boxes, telling Ymo about the ones he was thinking of getting for his bass once he had enough saved up, how the new sounds they made were so ‘funky’ trying to mimic the noises he heard when he went to see a live demo of the test versions several months back. Ymo laughed, telling him he could be his own effects pedal if he tried, then pointed him to some older variants where she explained to him the way some of their favorite musicians used them to make the unique guitar riffs and get more into the tech side of it.

The shop keep had an eye on the two of them the entire time.

Viktor and her moved closer to the front of the shop, chattering about the new guitar models, before finally making it to the records side.

“So which side were the new releases on anyway-? Did they do them left to right or was it right to left?” Viktor rested a couple of fingers on his chin, scratching at his scruff.

“It’s been a while so I’m not entirely sure but-”

“Left to right. You two better not be up to anything.” The burly shopkeeper barked from the back, cigar in mouth and looking right at them. “I’ll toss you faster than you can yell my name if you’re up to shit.”

“No, Joe we promise. How many times do I gotta tell you we ain’t how we used to be?” Ymo put her hands to her hips, facing him.

“Once a crook always a crook. Thieves don’t just ‘grow out of it’,” He growled, leaning back in his chair. “-and don’t waste my time today.”

Viktor rolled his eyes walking over to the far left, rifling through the records. “I swear he really can’t let things go.”

“I mean I can’t really blame him y’know hun?” Ymo sighed. “I’m actually shocked he even lets us back in here most days.”

“To be fair, we’re always the best payin’ customers when we can afford it.” Viktor pulled up a sleeve, getting distracted. “Hey, heyyy, this is that rock band you like ain’t it? I don’t recognize this one.”

“Oh! Oh, Vik this is their newest release- you know that one song I taped and kept replaying over and over again on my radio upstairs?” She suddenly looked very excited, taking it out of his hands. “That one is only the opening song for the album apparently the rest of it is so good they’ve started playing it on the big main radio stations!”

“Really? Talk about impressive, the old bastards barely stop playing their dinky piano music. Don’t get me wrong man I love a good piano but stop playing it like your ma just died, ya dig?” He rolled his eyes. “One day they’ll get it that guitars and those techy sound-waves are just way more fun and exciting. Music should make you wanna dance!”

“Or feel something!” Ymo laughed. “Yeah maybe one day… Well, tell you what, once we get the stuff for your room I’m gonna get your record player set up and all three of us can have a jam to this new one.”

Viktor was still rifling looking for something that interested him, but attempting to talk with Ymo. “So, Docia said you had some kinda idea of how to help me clean my shit… what was it anyway that required us coming all the way out here?”

She slipped past him, pulling out a rockabilly record and taking it over to the test player, popping out the headset and turning the volume up a bit. “Oh, so the idea is actually bins.”

“What?” Viktor turned to her as she set the record in, letting it run.

“Yeah, see like you also kinda get that same problem as my brother does, where you get disinterested in stuff fast and cant focus much.” She said it so chipper as Viktor frowned.

“Er… Yeah.” He picked up a couple of records, his foot tapping along to the record playing. He didn’t really like the way his brain made it hard to focus all the time so it was always a bit of a sting to hear people mention it like it was nothing.

“So the thing I do with him is we take everything from one area and shove it into a bin.” Ymo pulled out another rock album, checking out the back of it. “Once it’s in the bin and out of the way, we kinda go through and put stuff back but in a neater fashion-specifically so you can see what you’re looking for with ease! I like to see what lingers behind, maybe see if it’s not needed y’dig?” She smiled down at him.

“So its just… moving the mess so it looks less bad basically.” Viktor didn’t seem to get it, shrugging and humming loudly to the music playing.

“Sort of-! It will like, make a huuuuuuge difference okay!” She tapped her feet as well. “Trust me! You’ll see when we actually do it, it sounds silly right now, I know, but once we have those clear little bins and labels you’ll be able to tell what goes where really easy so it should be easier to put stuff back for you!”

“Well, I’ll see it then... but for now I’m gonna take the ol’ route 66- well cruisin’ to Vegas’ gonna get my kicks!” Viktor had started singing along, doing a little dance as he moved towards the counter with a few records in hand.

“I’m wearin’ pink black pants and I greased my hair~!” Ymo joined in, the two jiving their way to the back.

“I’m the rockin’est cat found anywhere!” He laughed as the two sung the chorus, obnoxiously as they got to the counter, Viktor letting out a loud yowl along with the singer at the end of it.

Joe looked at them very tired.

“Look, just pay and go okay, you two are way too noisy today.” He held out his hand, the two dropping their bills into it, heading out.

“Catch’ya round Mo’Jo.” Ymo waved back as they left.

The two could hear him yell back, “Do Not.” at them.

“Y’know Vik, I don’t think the old guy will admit it but I think Joe likes us.” Ymo grinned.

“I’m not so sure about that, but he doesn’t usually take jabs at me like everyone else does so I guess that’s gotta mean somethin’ good.” Viktor mumbled.

They were now stood in the middle of the mall, looking about.

“So where to? I think we still got time before meeting with Docia?” Viktor tilted his head before leaning back against a large potted plant.

“Weeeeeell, you ain’t gonna like it, but I was kinda hoping maybe I could twist your hand into coming to that one leather shop with me.” She was holding his hand, looking at him with a very sad attempt at making puppy eyes.

“Ymo… You know how I feel about that one.” He didn’t seem convinced.

“Look… I know she’s still… very rude to you about having caught you before, but I really need to replace my shoes, these ones are practically falling apart, and I need someone with a good eye to tell me which ones work best.” She was gently tugging on his hand.

“I know you value my opinion but like, really Ymo, you have good taste I have full faith that-” He was cut off by her whining.

He hesitated, holding his records quietly for a moment.

“Fine, but please let me hold all of our records, if my hands are full maybe she’ll be less terrible this time since I clearly won’t be able to do anything else. Vinyl is a touchy bitch and they don’t like being lied flat you know?” He sighed, Ymo handing him her records.

“Thank you Vik, you really are the best- I’m trying to find some really sexy ones that Docia’s gonna go nuts for-”

“Yes. Yes I know, and you know I know her taste well so let’s just go get this over with.” He followed her, the two entering a dingy and dark shop, poorly lit and very overfilled with a large selection of fine leather jackets, belts, boots pants and other miscellany.

The boots of course, were as far away from the front as possible, Viktor’s face scrunching in as he stuck close to Ymo, hoping the owner wasn’t in today. He’d done a lot of theft back when he was a kid, only getting caught in two or three places in the mall, which this of course had been his first. Most of the owners never let him live it down, but the one in the current shop gave him hell constantly, usually resorting to name-calling among other things, sometimes going too far given her history with his family.

It made Viktor generally uncomfortable to be in the place at all, even if he’d changed. However it was the only place in the entire district that actually carried the boots Ymo loved so much. Though he had a hunch why...

Even then, sometimes when you do try to change, there’ll always be someone who only cares to drudge up the past on you. It gets hard to ignore sometimes.

They did fine for a while Ymo picking out a few to try on, side by side, and see what might work best. Whoever was running the place was clearly with a customer in the changing room area.

Viktor had to shoo her away from the larger heels not because Docia wouldn’t like them but because he knew that she didn’t have the leg power to lift them properly and he didn’t want to see her face flat on the ground before she could even get to her girlfriend.

Ymo had chosen a few other questionable ones for the two to laugh at before coming to a decision on a nice set with pointed toes and a bit of support, without being too big. Of course as they got to the counter, Viktor was already turning to leave before feeling a hand on his shoulder throw him back towards the counter.

“Oh no, you don’t get to just leave before I search you, brat.” A very aggravated and short woman was face to face with Viktor, who clearly just wanted to get out at this point.

“Look all I have on me is the stuff I walked in with okay?” He held up the records, shaking his arms as his jacket flopped about. “You can stop with the accusations.”

“You know if you just stayed out it would be easier and I wouldn’t have to check.” She flipped up the back of his jacket, staring him down.

“I don’t remember y’gettin’ a search warrant on my person. Look? I have nothin’ on me, can I please just leave?” Viktor was getting agitated, Ymo stepping in.

“Um, can I buy my boots?” She tapped the woman’s arm, watching as she flung herself back to look at Ymo with a sudden extreme change in expression.

“Yes, yes! Of course dear, but you really ought to choose better company love, that one is nothing but a court case waiting to happen.” She went back behind the counter, doing some math on a sheet.

“He’s really not that bad, he’s grown up a lot since then you know g-”

“Boys like that never grow up, they only get worse, Ymo.” She huffed, curling her hair behind her pointed ears. “You’d think he would have just gone and moved to a new city after that whole kerfuffle with D’erehan.”

Viktor was seething quietly where she had left him.

“W-Well, to be fair-” She was handed a paper with the total on it, pulling out her wallet.

“To be fair, D’erehan didn’t have the time to raise a terror like him right. His mother should have stepped in, its hard to raise an unruly little shit when you’re the best defense attorney in the entire city.” She continued, taking Ymo’s money. “He works so hard and such long hours-”

“Listen here, bitch.” Viktor growled, Ymo holding him back poorly while also trying to hold her shoe box. “You don’t fucking know anything about me or my good for nothing father.”

“How dare you speak to your elders like that you little greaser! I should have you kicked out and banned from this mall with such fowl speech and threatening attitude-”

“You literally always treat me like garbage the minute I am nearby- you’re the one with the threatening attitude!” Viktor had lost his cool, his lack of nicotine had definitely started to make him more agitated.

The conversation between the two was escalating, Ymo certain they were about to almost brawl when Docia came in, grabbing both Ymo and Viktor under her arms and giving the owner a bow.

“Very sorry Ms, Yamae. I need to take these two with me, please have a pleasant day and I hope they haven’t been too much trouble.” She looked back up, then immediately left.

Docia bolted with the two of them before she could even speak, stopping halfway down the strip before finally dropping the two. Viktor was very quiet and didn’t seem like talking, Ymo however tugged at Docia’s sleeve.

“Docia! You have the best timing I swear!” She over exaggeratedly sighed, sitting on a bench. “I swear the minute she goes off I can never get a word in...”

She twiddled her thumbs a bit before looking down to Viktor who was still sitting on the floor.

“I... am so sorry Viktor… I guess I still don’t have the right words to fight with Grandma for your sake. I thought maybe this time I could keep her under control...” She frowned, definitely able to tell she stressed him out again.

Viktor was slumped against a trash bin, biting the inside of his cheek.

“I won’t take you back in I promise… that or I’ll try and find a better place, but its hard when gran has the nicer wares out of the shops in this half of the city…” She frowned.

“You owe me.” He scoffed, clearly in a bad mood.

Docia stepped in to ease the tension.

“You two really should know better than to go anywhere near granny, that woman is… cruel. Absolutely cruel. Especially when Vik isn’t allowed a smoke.” Docia huffed.

“Wait- what I didn’t know that-” Ymo panicked. “When did that happen was it last night? Shit.”

Docia crossed her arms. “ Besides that, you were late. You’re lucky I know how to easily find you two.”

“Sorry hun, I didn’t mean to drag us away that long but I promise I’ll make it up to both of you okay?” Ymo tapped her foot, anxiously.

“Vik, are you gonna be good?” Docia looked at him.

Viktor seemed hesitant to respond, but finally spat out something after a delayed amount of time.

“I could use a run-in with one of those wolves, since I would love to let off some steam but I should be fine.” He got up checking over the records to make sure nothing was damaged. “Let’s maybe try and focus so we can get back, I’m starting to get a little overwhelmed.”

“Yeah good plan… it’ll be faster if we uh, go through ‘that’ end of the mall, so let’s just scoot through and get what we need and head out yeah?” Ymo hopped up, walking over to Viktor and helping him up.

The three of them headed out, Docia leading them, as Ymo stayed close to Vik, apologizing to him profusely the entire way.

The other half of the mall was far less nice than the end they’d come in through. This side lead half outside and was actually part of the original mall when it had been first built. The entire area was practically falling apart, most of the shops were low end and run on dimes- and the people who populated the area were far from pleasant. It was home to a lot of questionable shops, and persons who were clearly not themselves and were far from being on this side of reality. Rather than going back the way they came it was easier to just cross through that section to get back to the other side, especially with the dollar shop being quite literally just past the second set of outside doors that lead to the west entrance.

Viktor was used to going this way, only because back when he was a teenager he’d go there purposefully to hunt down people he could fight- especially after the incident with his father. He never had much fear for going down that way, nor did Docia or Ymo since they had one another usually and Docia could easily throw anyone in her way when she had her head level.

This time around, their walk was rudely interrupted by a very large man; mostly just tall in stature not so much muscle, and that carried a very rancid aura. He was very familiar, and looked to be the same one that scoffed at them back in the food court. He’d very deliberately smacked into Docia, shoving her aside and crashing her into both Ymo and Viktor, causing the entire trio to stumble about while he cackled at them.

“Watch where the hell you’re going, brute!” Docia snarled, which wasn’t something Ymo or Viktor saw from her often.

The man turned around, his scarred grin was not one that either Viktor or Docia liked to see, as it was someone who had given them a lot of problems in the past. Docia’s demeanor changed, seeming very uncomfortable as he flicked his head to the side and rolled his shoulders, brushing back his black short hair.

“Oh please, call me Mr. Brute, give me a nice title like I deserve, doll-face.” He grinned staring down Docia. “How are you, darling? It’s been a few moons.”

“Cut the talk- we both know you’re just warming up to cause problems. What you do want, you dog?” She gritted her teeth, the man stepping forward.

“Why would I ever wish to do that, Docia, dear? Are you just wound up from not getting any again after so long or are you just eager for me to knock some sense back into you, ya filthy broad?”

Viktor recognized this man as Docia’s ex, and started to get into a defensive posture.

“… As if.” Docia was clearly starting to lose her cool, Viktor could tell. “You know you don’t have to be a rude bitch every time you happen to see me, how about you consider getting bent Darryl.”

“I see the only bending that’s going on around here is still you bending ears, huh?” He scoffed, looming over her. “You know I liked you a lot better when you were my submissive little-”

He was cut off by Viktor stepping in- handing his records to Ymo before rolling up his sleeves.

“Back off, Darryl. You’re cruising for a bruisin’ with every damn word that comes outta your mouth.” He shoved a finger into the man’s chest.

“Ah, I see the runt is still your little lapdog that fights your battles for ya-”

“I ain’t no fuckin’ runt you slimy prick-” Viktor jumped the guy, throwing him off balance for a moment, clinging to his shirt and digging his heel deep into Darryl’s chest, grabbing his hair with his other hand. “If you don’t fuckin’ back off now I’m gonna wipe your damn face with the floor and make you wish your momma didn’t let you out’ her cunt!”

Ymo and Docia panicked, immediately grabbing Viktor and pulled him off of Darryl, just as Viktor was starting to pull out his switchblade.

“Whatever, I don’t have time for you brats. Watch your fucking backs because I won’t be so kind if I catch you out here alone.” He spat towards Viktor, missing.

The three of them stood there for a minute, watching as he turned the corner.

Viktor looked back to Docia and Ymo. The two were talking, Viktor unsure entirely about what but he could see that Docia was a bit shook.

Understandably as well, given their history.

He flicked his blade, slipping it back in place before seeing Docia reaching into her pocket for her smokes. He frowned, taking her hand into his.

“Hey. How’s about we blow this place and get what we came here for, that way we can get back to some less tainted air.” He gave her a small smile, even if it was a little forced.

“Yeah, hun. That guy reeks, and isn’t worth your time.” She placed a hand to her hip, gathering all of their things together. “Besides, we still got Vik’s room to deal with remember? Though I guess it might reek too.”

“Hey, look I know it’s a mess but I don’t stink that bad- c’mon!” He barked, jumping up to hang off both of their shoulders in his usual goofy manner, hoping to get Docia to smile again.

Docia couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“That’s a good idea though. We still have a lot to do whether Viktor likes it or not.” She nodded, the three making their way to the exit.

They ended up chatting for the latter half of their trip, Viktor doing what he does best which is being a joker and acting like a dork to do his best to get Docia to be distracted from the unfortunate incident earlier. While Viktor himself was still pissed off from dealing with Ymo’s grandmother- he shoved that aside because there was no one he hated seeing upset more than Docia.

Upon returning to the Catz’ place they ended up having a nice little welcome party, plus a very surprisingly tidy lounge to boot. The twins had focused their energy on working on cleaning it, while Asheton dealt with dishes and getting Wally to put them away for him.

The twins had passed out on the couch long ago, and the crew ended up catching up with one another to talk and explain what had happened. Thankfully Wally had made a pot of tea for Ymo and Docia, while Vik pulled his usual, tossing his jeans to the side and drinking his carton of juice from the fridge in his boxers. They had a long chat, about everything and nothing all at once, before heading back to deal with Viktor’s room.

They definitely had their work cut out for them.

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two-calicos-in-a-trenchcoat · 2 years

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April 30th: Do you like to plan ahead for things or do you like to just "go with the flow" and see what happens? A mix of both? Does it vary by day to day?

I like to keep certain things the same (ex: taking the same route to place every time unless I absolutely can't (which is very stressful), eating at least one of my same foods every day (everything bagel with cream cheese when I first get up, specific snacks before bed), or just doing my tasks in the same order) and as long as I keep those things the same I can usually handle anything unexpected and can just sort of roll with it.

I like to have a plan when going new places or to the grocery store but im not very good at doing that myself. Which is why I like having another person with me. If I go by myself I have to take the same route around the store. And while I always ask my parents if they need anything I'm always hoping they dont cuz adding things onto my list that I wouldn't normally get (thus making me go down aisles I wouldn't normally go down) is super stressful. Not to mention I get super visually overwhelmed by everything on the shelves and it can take me a long time to find specific things if I don't know exactly where they are.

It drives me crazy when stores move things around. I guess it makes neurotypicals buy more stuff? All it does for me is make me wanna leave and go somewhere else where they haven't moved things around. Its just tedious and needlessly stressful. Back before I had a debit card and usually only had cash I would buy myself Amazon gift cards so I could buy things online just so I wouldn't have to deal with the stress of trying to find certain things in store.

I can go with the flow if I absolutely have to but its honestly really stressful 😅

#actually autistic #30 days of autism acceptance #this kinda got away from me lol #i had a monster earlier so my brain is going in a million different directions #caffeine makes thoughts go fast and sometimes i lose track of them #not that that doesnt happen without caffeine but caffeine does make it way worse lol

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collecting-stories · 3 years

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Inventory - Daryl Dixon

Request: you can write anything tbh! just something small and sweet, if you don’t mind :) (daryl anon)

A/N: This is honestly just random established relationship fluff or something.

The Walking Dead Masterlist

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

You weren’t entirely sure that you liked Alexandria. It felt like someone had captured the old world in a time capsule and you were viewing all the things that you had forgotten about. Shower pressure and hot water and actual running water weren’t things that you took for granted and you’d practically cried in the bathroom when the toilet flushed but all the other parts felt uncomfortable. Like clothing that didn’t fit you anymore. You weren’t Daryl, waiting with his hand on a gun for the moment everything went to shit, but you certainly weren’t about to done a cardigan and act like a soccer mom getting ready for a bake sale either. You would let Carol handle the assimilating and gossip. Or at least the former, the latter, you couldn’t escape.

“I wouldn’t’ve pegged him as your type.” Olivia mentioned, hellbent on making inventory a gossip session.

“What?” You looked away from the open garage door to where Olivia was stacking cans of corn and writing down their number in her composition book.

“Daryl. I noticed you watch him a lot...is that like, you guys got a thing going on or you just looking?” She asked.

You paused in your rearranging of cans to look back out the garage door again. Daryl was across the street talking to Aaron and Michonne and you tried to formulate an answer that made sense for Olivia and for you. She hadn’t technically asked if you were ‘together’ (that ominous word that felt so weighty when you said it to yourself) but she was definitely asking for a definition. Were you more than friends, absolutely. That wasn’t even something you needed to think about. You certainly weren’t sharing beds with your friends the way you did with Daryl. But he’d never given any definition to your togetherness and somehow, even defining it felt like such an archaic thing. Another piece of the old world pulled from the time capsule.

“I mean...” you shrugged, “both I guess?” There was a thing, for lack of a more concrete term, but you also liked looking at him a whole lot. You’d been enjoying looking at him for a while now and sometimes on the road you’d thought, if something happened, who would you look for in a crowd. It wasn’t just that you liked the view, it was that feeling of something that anchored you into the moment, made your head a little less dizzy, made all this more bearable.

“I guess he’s not bad looking.” Olivia laughed a little, her cheeks reddening at the thought and you wanted to agree. He most certainly was not bad looking. And you had told him so plenty of times, in the privacy of your own room. “He doesn’t seem very...” she paused, looking over at you as if she had caught herself speaking out of turn.

Small talk and social etiquettes felt like something you’d left behind too, far too used to being direct with people. It almost felt odd for her to be so unforthcoming.

“Friendly?” You asked. She didn’t need to say it for you to know what she was thinking. It seemed to be a consensus throughout Alexandria. The community had differing opinions about all of you but the one thing they all agreed on was Daryl’s lack of acceptable behavior. He wasn’t particularly friendly with any of them (aside from Aaron maybe) and he acted more like a caged animal than someone who was grateful for shelter and protection.

“Uh, yeah.” Olivia nodded, pink cheeks staining darker, “I mean, I’m sure he talks to you, of course...it’s just, I’ve never found him to be particularly...warm.”

Warm, you felt like the word echoed in your mind once she said it. You’d never really spent too much time thinking about the way you would describe Daryl, he was just, himself, and that was it. You didn’t linger on what he was, what you expected him to be. Even if you didn’t ever think of yourselves as ‘together’ you knew exactly what you were.

You thought about offering up a defense for him, explaining that he was warm. He was being wrapped in a blanket on a cold night or feeling the sun on your shoulders in the early morning. It wasn’t something you considered often, that you felt like you needed to name, but you knew it right away. The words came on the tip of your tongue, like you’d been waiting to think them. But you didn’t get the chance.

Daryl came up the driveway while you were staring at him and the softest of smiles graced your features as you watched him, giving a small wave. Maybe you wouldn’t have thought about it if you hadn’t been talking to Olivia but, as Daryl held your gaze the whole up the drive, you were reminded of when you might’ve categorised his behaviour as more shy than reserved. Now it felt like he held back because he chose to, deciding what parts of himself other people got to see. When you’d first known him it was more a defense mechanism than an ordinary occurrence, and he’d never been comfortable meeting your eye.

“Did you come to help with inventory?” You teased, already hearing the grumbled response in your mind before he said it.

“Just passing by,” he replied, glancing over to the far corner where Olivia was still sitting, notebook open in her lap. “Morning.”

You wondered if she was scrutinising the interaction. Trying to see for herself what you saw in Daryl, as if that was possible.

“I’ll go check to make sure we’ve got all the dry foods from upstairs.” Olivia announced, standing from her spot and bumping her chair back against the sorting table. It rattled but nothing fell over and she went so quickly out of the room she looked like she was power-walking.

“What’s a matter with her?” Daryl asked, taking your water bottle from the ground by your chair and unscrewing the cap so he could drink some.

“She was asking about you, weren’t your ears burning?” You joked.

He glanced down at you, unamused, before finally taking the bait, “why’s she asking?”

“Said I stare at you all the time.”

“So quit staring.” He capped the water bottle and set it back in its place before fiddling with different cans on the shelves, pulling them off and reading the labels.

“Easier said then done,” you replied, grabbing your notebook off the shelf in front of you, “besides, I don’t wanna forget what you look like.”

“Why? You going somewhere?”

You scrunched your nose at his words and shook your head, “no, but you are right…saw you talking to Aaron.”

“Think ya watch me just ta spy on what I’m doing.”

“I’m right though, you two are headed out?” You asked.

“Don’t make it something it ain’t…I’ll be back in a few days time.”

Daryl was good at coming back when he left, you knew it from experience. He’d come back when he’d left with Merle, he’d come back when he’d left to find Beth, when he went off on his own to hunt he always came back. As sure as you were that he would leave, you were just as sure he would find his way back again. It wasn’t something you had to think about or reassure yourself of but sometimes it was easier to give in to that worst case scenario that sat in the back of your mind.

“I know,” you said it like you were promising him, “but that’s a few days without seeing you…who am I supposed to look for?”

Daryl set down the can of beets he was looking at and walked the short distance back to you. His hand wrapped around the end of your ponytail and he gave a gentle tug, guiding your head all the way back so you were looking straight up at him. You thought it was probably a good thing Olivia wasn’t here, she’d seemed scandalised enough at his presence in the room, you could imagine all the things she’s knock over if she saw him now, one hand holding your ponytail and the other on your neck as he leaned down and kissed you.

It was a softer kiss than the hold implied and you considered the juxtaposition of Daryl’s softness and roughness your favorite thing about him. It’d taken a while, to see the soft bits, but now you saw them all the time. How he kissed you so comfortably, like he’d always been doing it. His tongue brushing your bottom lip almost teasingly but he pulled away before you could do more, standing back up straight and dropping his hands. He gripped the back of your folding chair and you leaned against his hand, feeling them press into the skin between your shoulder blades, bare from your tank top. You kept your head tilted back, a little more comfortably though.

“When do you leave?” You asked, half expecting him to tell you he was headed to the gate now. Your brain still felt a little dizzy from the kiss but that was a normal occurrence.

“Tomorrow morning.” He replied, letting go of the chair to run his knuckles along your spine. “Shouldn’t be longer than a day or two.”

There was a quieter bumping noise and a soft curse as Olivia peeked back into the doorway, a few boxes of pasta haphazardly held in her arms. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s alright,” you replied but truthfully you were just being nice. Because Daryl had already retracted his hand you felt goosebumps on your skin in his absence, as if your body was trying to chase the sensation of him.

“Ya need help?” He asked, motioning to the boxes as she dropped them onto the sorting table.

“Would you mind? I’ve got another laundry basket full of them to bring down here and I dropped like five on the staircase.” She explained, following after him to point them out.

Daryl disappeared through the door, Olivia right behind him, and you went back to organising the latter half of the alphabetically arranged cans. Olivia tended to be more loose-lipped than her other Alexandria counterparts and you couldn’t help imagining her asking him questions, trying to dig out some part of a person under the cold exterior he’d given off while he was here. Searching for the warmth she thought was lacking. They weren’t gone long, Olivia’s chipper voice carrying down the stairs.

Daryl came through first, laundry basket piled high and the slightest hint of a glare as his eyes met yours, as if you’d somehow put him up to the task of helping.

“You can set them on the sorting table,” Olivia instructed, “I’ll go through them once I’m finished the canned goods.”

Setting them down, Daryl just nodded in agreement. You stopped from saying you’d see him tonight, in case that information was somehow on a need to know basis. But he was obviously being less purposefully withdrawn than you’d thought because he took another sip from your water bottle before telling you the exact thing you’d been too reserved to say.

“I’ll see ya tonight,” he promised, putting your water bottle back and giving your ponytail a playful tug before leaving back down the driveway.

You watched after him until he turned the corner and was out of eyesight.

“I can see why you like him so much…” Olivia finally said, getting your attention as you looked back at her.

“What?” You asked, wondering if he’d said something to her that changed her mind.

Her cheeks tinged pink again and she looked down at her notebook, “I wasn’t trying to spy or anything…just, you know, wanted to bring those boxes in.”

You nodded, prompting her to continue.

“I saw him kissing you…” she let out an airy sigh, “I’d be staring at somebody all day if they kissed me like that.”

#daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fic #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x y/n #the walking dead fanfic #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead fic #the walking dead imagine #twd imagine #twd fanfic #twd fic #twd fanfiction #collecting stories imagine

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