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sp0o0kylights · 8 months

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Part Six / Part Seven (YOU ARE HERE) / Part Eight

A03

If the odd, small sounding Steve had been a weird pill to swallow, then the loudly swearing, furious one might as well have been a different person.

Worse?

He wanted Gareth and Eddie to stay behind.

“You are not going to the lab by yourself.” Eddie deadpanned, blocking the door while Steve acted like an agitated snake in front of it.

“You don’t understand.” Steve hissed, weaving back and forth on his feet, like he was trying to find a way out without bowling Eddie over.

Or breaking a window.

“Then help us understand!” Eddie shot back, throwing his hands up.

Which was just the crux of the issue--because Steve seemed fine to talk about the lab being a horrible place, but kept refusing to answer why.

“You don’t have to tell us the full thing man, but give us something.” Gareth pleaded, hoping it didn’t come off as desperate as he felt.

Not his fault Steve was setting off his own anxiety.

The jock stepped back, running a hand through his hair and making a mess of it.

"I don't have the time." He stressed, anger, worry and pure fear mixing together in his tone.

In a mutter he added; "You wouldn't believe me anyways."

Tentatively, Gareth reached out, putting a hand on Steve’s shoulder.

For the first time since they’d known each other, Steve didn’t react to being touched.

"Eddie and I are gonna go no matter what. So you can either give us a heads up now, or you can be mad at us later when we just follow you anyway.” Gareth said, a hell of a lot calmer than he felt.

Steve had turned partly to glare at him, but seemed to at least let the words sink in. To get through that no, really, they were going, and all this arguing was just wasting time.

Not that Gareth trusted it.

"I don't want you guys getting hurt." Steve burst out, and it looked like it cost him to admit even that much.

Like it was inevitable and all this was a Hail Mary attempt to keep them from that future.

Eddie seemed to pick up on it too, because he caught Steve's gaze and held it. "You're a part of Hellfire now. If you were in that lab, we'd be all coming for you. Not one of us--all of us.”

He followed it up by invading Steve’s space, jamming a finger into the jock's chest.

“I don’t know why you think we’d be okay with you getting hurt." Eddie stared hard at him, voice as serious as Gareth had ever heard it. “You’re our friend, too Steve. We’re not abandoning Tiff and the rest of the Scooby Doo gang, and we're also not letting you do something that has you this freaked out, alone.”

Which is what this all seemed to keep coming down to. How Steve was willing to throw himself at problems, how he kept wanting to handle his own issues, while trying to manage everyone else so that he was the only target.

The only person in the know, the only one in the line of fire.

Like he was a burden instead of a person.

Gareth kept wondering how the hell that had happened. If this had been anyone else he would have written it off as some macho bullshit, but Steve wasn't like that. He'd didn't need to be the one white knight.

The fear he spoke with had always been too real, for that.

It wasn't like they--or at least, Eddie and himself, hadn't picked up that something was happening, either. Something big.

Given the weird, hushed conversations Steve kept have with Nancy, and Jonathan and even the kids sometimes…

Once, just once, Gareth had seen Steve talk to the Chief of Police. The asshole had looked awkward as hell, giving Steve a few pats to his shoulder, and Steve looking equally as awkward, leaning into it--but they looked like two people who'd gone through the same shit and now were stuck together. Not a police officer giving a warning to a teenager. Not even a family friend catching up.

Something was up in Hawkins and now wasn't the time to dog Steve about it, but Gareth still wished he'd give them a hint.

A tidbit, a morsel, of what the fuck had him so riled up.

“And if all this means our friends are in danger, then we're absolutely going too.” Eddie continued, nearly nose to nose with Steve.

Steve put his hands on his hips, frustration written all over his face--but he didn’t step away. "I don't think you'd be okay with it, it's just-- I'm just--already involved! This is how it’s been."

As if that wasn’t fucking alarming.

"And now, so are we.” Eddie threw back, pointing at the phone. "It’d help if you at least told us what to watch out for, but if not then we need to stop arguing so we can go help.”

That definitely got through.

Steve tapped a foot, blowing out a breath and overall acted as if Gareth and Eddie were the ones being unreasonable here.

(Or a pissed off single mother of six, not that Gareth was voicing that image.)

"Fine." He snapped finally, pinching the bridge of his nose and backing away from Eddie. “Fine! But you listen to me when we get out there, and if I tell you two to run, I need you to trust me and run.”

A grin tried to blast across Eddie’s face, the smug one he wore when he won and he knew it, but he covered it up before Steve saw.

Gareth doubted it’d take much to slide Steve right back into trying to keep them at the trailer, or straight up pull some dirty ass move to force it.

(He belatedly wondered if he should worry about Steve trying to stab one of Eddie’s tires out, but didn’t think the older teen would go that far.

Not yet, anyway.)

"I wasn't kidding when I said you wouldn't believe me." Steve spoke over his shoulder, blowing through the door the second Eddie got out of the way, marching down the steps to his Beemer. "But let’s just say that lab did a lot worse than create shit like rabid dogs, and a few of their creations might still be there. Grab a weapon!"

“I thought there wasn’t any rabid dogs!” Gareth protested at the same time Eddie said;

"So the cops can get us on felony charges? What is trespassing not enough for you?"

Eddie shook his head, following Steve down to the gravel. "No thanks, man!"

“I never said their weren't rabid dogs at all, I said--wait, who told you that?” Steve asked, trying to turn and face Gareth but Eddie simply pushed him forward, kept him moving.

“They’ve waited for us long enough.” He whispered lowly, as Gareth scrambled about for something to use.

Managed to fetch the fire poker he knew Wayne kept around to scare away coyotes, or rival drug dealers, or anything else wandering about.

If Steve said bring a weapon, he'd bring a damn weapon.

Felony charges or not.

"The cops won't charge us. Not as long as Hopper’s the one who gets there first.” Steve said and the desperation in his voice had faded a little, revealing something hard and self-assured underneath.

Not cocky, but with the strength Hellfire had when approaching a boss or baddie they had conquered once before and were familiar with.

"And if El's involved? He will get there first." Steve said firmly, whipping the backdoor of his car open and yanking a bag out.

A bag that had muffled squawking coming out of it.

Steve snatched a walkie talkie out from it, interrupting a stream of high pitched, upset nonsense coming out the tinny speakers.

Gareth caught someone half asking, half yelling if "-literally anyone could pick up!" before Steve hit the talk button.

"What's happening!?" He demanded, as he slammed the car door and stormed to the trunk.

"Steve!" Several voices yelled at once, the speakers shrieking in static feedback.

One beat out the others, as its owner screeched into the walkie in a tone that only children under fourteen and small dogs seemed to be capable of. "Where the hell have you been!? We called a code red an hour ago!"

"Bitch later Henderson, explain now." Steve commanded, picking out a bat with fucking house nails hammered into it.

Several of which were stained a rusted, blood-red.

Eddie stopped dead in his tracks, eyeing Steve with his mouth ajar as the nails gleamed lazily in his porchlights.

Gareth couldn't blame him; his own heart had just picked up speed.

Steve gave the bat two experimental twirls, flipping it easily in his hand, before he seemed satisfied. Both the weapon and the movement worked together, elevating Steve into something straight out of the fantasy novels Hellfire traded around.

Like a fucking paladin come to life.

Gareth felt his breath hitch at the way it highlighted the guy's biceps, already on display since Steve had shoved his sleeves up. The movement was so smooth and well practiced that it was clear this was his weapon of choice--and that he’d definitely used it before.

Gareth wasn't even attracted to Steve Harrington, but one couldn't be blamed for having eyes.

"Mike insisted he saw lights on at the lab, and Will thought he might have felt something--" Henderson started, before being abruptly interrupted by someone on his end.

"He did feel something, Dustin!"

"Shut up, I'm talking to Steve!”

"Stop arguing and give me the short version. You're all in the lab?" Steve cut in.

‘It should be illegal to sound that annoyed while moving like that.’ Gareth thought idly, as Steve dropped the bat to the ground, then propped it up against his car.

He waved Eddie and Gareth over, one hand going to cover the walkie talkie’s speakers as it spat static. ‘Pick one.’ He mouthed, in the exact same way Gareth’s mom did when she was trying to talk to him and someone on the phone at the same time.

With a short glance at each other, they went.

"--we got to the lab and El and Max were already here--" Dustin tried again, and once again was talked over, making the conversation extremely hard to follow.

Kids, God.

"-You told us to meet you here-"

"-and there were these older kids running around-'

"-excuse you, tiny bratling, we are not kids-"

"Was that Grant?" Gareth found himself asking, as Steve waved a hand above his open trunk distractedly, like a vendor showing off wares.

Except instead of trinkets, it held a gun, a knife and a fucking candlestick.

The latter of which sported another suspicious red stain.

There was a second explosion of noise, and what sounded like multiple walkie's being fought over before a young, female voice came on, its owner having apparently won the tug of war.

"The idiots thought they saw something but it turned out to just be some teenagers breaking into the lab for fun." She scoffed, and sounded suspiciously like a Tiff Jr.

It took a second, but Gareth finally placed the voice to the redheaded girl--the one who rolled her eyes a lot.

"The wall and part of the floor collapsed, some guy fell through a hole into a locked room and El thinks the collapse wasn't an accident." The words were spoken rapid fire, like a front line soldier relaying information. "She and Will both feel something."

Eddie picked up the knife while Gareth simply held up his fire poker.

Steve nodded to them, and closed the trunk.

"Can you all get out of there safely?" He asked.

"El thinks if we leave, the--thing here will attack the guy that's stuck."

'Thing' Gareth mouthed to himself.

Not a person.

Not a dog, or bear, or--anything else.

A thing.

"Fuck." Steve spat, taking his hand off the talk button so no one on the other side heard.

"She and Will aren't sure what it is yet but they're thinking it's from the Upside Down."

After a brief pause wherein someone could be heard shouting in the distance, she sarcastically added; "Honestly I'm happy to leave the guy that's stuck here, he's really annoying--"

"No sacrificing Stewart!" Steve snapped instantly, and despite all the swearing and dramatics, having contact with the kids seemed to ease something in him.

His movements were no longer frantic, back and shoulders looser.

Even the way he talked seemed to unclench, like he'd been told the worst had come and now that it was finally here, he could deal with it.

"If you're sure, because I'm pretty sure Billy is gonna start looking for me soon." Max argued.

Steve groaned. "I'll handle him if he shows up."

For the first time since Steve had picked up the walkie, silence descended.

Gareth wasn't exactly an expert in such things, but it felt judgmental.

"Are you gonna handle it like the last time you handled it? Cause we don't have anything to knock him out with and I don't know if your head can--"

"Thank you Max, but I can deal with him." Steve cut in immediately, face flaming and yeah, they were definitely out of whatever protective crazy mode Steve had started off in. "This time I have my bat and backup. So unless your brother has taken to carrying stacks of plates around, I think I'll be fine!"

"Step brother." Max corrected immediately, huffing.

Then in a slightly quieter voice, she added: "Hey Steve? Get here fast."

"I'm coming. Steve over and out." He said firmly, like an older brother reassuring a younger sibling.

How the hell the guy had ever managed to appear like a heartless asshole was beyond Gareth.

Apparently it was beyond Eddie too because the guy was practically drooling with heart eyes in Steve's direction.

The kids signed off, before quiet, blessedly descended.

"Can I ask one question?" Gareth asked, as Steve cursed at the finally silent walkie talkie.

Steve stopped, entire chest heaving in a sigh.

"Yeah, one." He said, as though even that cost him a lot.

Out of the corner of his eye Gareth watched Eddie shake himself to awareness, and then try to flip the knife with the same move Steve used on the bat's handle.

He fumbled it immediately, chasing the blade as it clattered to the ground.

"Why a candlestick?" Gareth asked quickly, before Steve turned and witnessed Eddie's awkward, scrambling retrieval.

"Jonathan tends to grab the weirdest shit as a weapon." Steve responded. "He's used a trophy, multiple chairs, a lamp," he made an etc. all gesture, as if any of that actually explained things instead of causing about ten more questions.

"The candlestick actually worked pretty well so I kept it." He finished.

"Jonathan Byers?" Eddie said, holding the knife once more and clearly pretending he'd never tried to copy Steve. "How very Cluedo of him."

Steve frowned, nose scrunching in confusion. "Cluedo?"

"He means the game Clue. It's called Cluedo in Europe, Eddie's just a tabletop snob." Gareth rambled anxiously, because throwing Jonathan Byers wielding a candlestick into the mix was just the icing on top of the weird cake.

Part of him wondered if it would be rude if he asked Steve to spin the bat again, while the other part vaguely wondered if any of this was actually happening.

Maybe Eddie had accidentally laced the pot with a hallucinogenic.

(Frankly he wasn't sure how he'd have missed the addition of extra drugs, but hey; you couldn't say that made any more sense than Steve Harrington, small town golden boy, parading around with a fucking bat with nails in it, using a walkie talkie to speak to children about how a thing might try to attack one of their friends.)

The kid’s involvement at least, made a little bit of sense.

They were young but they weren't that young--and they also weren't as quiet as they thought they were.

Particularly not when they were riled up at the arcade.

Gareth knew the lot of them thought one of the girls had superpowers. He also knew they often pretended Will Byers, the kid who'd gone missing, had spent some time acting as a "spy" for whatever evil they all pretended to be battling.

He'd mostly assumed it was a D&D-slash- LARP kind of thing, or even just traumatized kids playing pretend to cope with what had happened, but now?

"I might have lied about just having one question." Gareth admitted as Steve picked up his bat.

"I'll explain some of it later, after we get them out." Steve said, as if Gareth might actually trust him to do so after doing his damndest to dodge giving an explanation.

"Lead on, Sir Harrington." Eddie said before Gareth could say just that, like the lovestruck idiot he was. "We're going to need both cars to carry our wayward friends home, so Gareth and I will follow your lead."

Eddie spun his keys around his fingers, and given the smirk on his face, Gareth would bet money he was hoping it looked as cool as Steve's bat handling.

It didn't.

"Provided you promise to try not to lose us, because I've lived here all my life, I know where the lab is." He finished, and somehow managed to make the words sound fun and not the blatant warning it was.

Steve nodded once, hard. "Alright. Stay close to my car, and flash your high beams twice if you run into any problems--or see like, people in suites."

"People in suites?" Eddie asked, the knife still clutched awkwardly in his hand.

"Government agent kinda dudes, they're easy to spot." Steve said, like he was cautioning them to look out for deer darting across the road. "They usually look like they shouldn't be wherever they are."

"Alright." Gareth said, before his brain could come up with a list of questions regarding that.

Steve slung himself into the front seat of his car, Gareth claiming shotgun in Eddie's van shortly thereafter.

They waited to let Steve out first, and then stayed right on his tail as Steve promptly broke multiple laws to get to the lab.

"So this is all ominous as hell, right?" Eddie said, metal music pouring from the vans speakers and eyes on the taillights of the beamer.

"Oh dude, incredibly ominous. There was blood on that candlestick. " Gareth said, still in disbelief.

Whose candlestick had that even belonged to, originally? At what point in all this had Steve decided to hammer nails into a baseball bat?

Nevermind the weapon he was trying not to think about in the trunk of Steve’s car.

The gun.

Gareth knew instinctively why neither of them had gone for it. Eddie's father had drilled into him that the extra charge for carrying was never worth it and Gareth's own father had a firm "if you point it then you might as well have used it" mentality.

Steve didn't look like the kind of person to handle killing someone well himself, and yet the gun remained, locked up in the back of his trunk.

An option he'd offered to both Eddie and Gareth without bothering to fully fill them in.

"Blood on the bat too." Eddie said, dragging Gareth's attention back to the present.

Which at least, gave Gareth an opening for familiar ground. "I'm surprised you noticed that, given you looked like you lost all the blood in your head when he started swinging it around."

"Shut up." Eddie grumped, and though normally Gareth would tease him more, he found he just...couldn't.

Not right now.

"I'm more worried that they all kept calling whatever the thing was…well. A thing." He said, because God was it bothering him. “I mean I guess it could be an animal still but the way they were talking about it…” He trailed off, uncomfortable.

"Personally I'm hoping for monsters." Eddie said.

Gareth turned to shoot him a look. "Seriously Ed’s?"

"Mmm. Because if it's not monsters Gareth, it's humans," Eddie tapped the steering wheel in time with Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls. "and humans scare me more than anything."

Gareth leaned back, letting the seat absorb him, his own eyes sticking to the back of Steve's head. "I guess."

Not that he wanted to deal with either.

Best case scenario in all this?

Everyone got out safely, and they drilled Steve into what the hell had happened to him, later.

Not that life was ever that simple.

xXx

Tiff met them outside the lab.

The place was desolate. Abandoned with the kind of tell-tale signs that boldly stated something awful had happened there.

Papers and a chair were still left in the guard shack and a phone dangling off the hook completing the look. The lab itself was dotted with broken windows, the corresponding shattered glass glittering all over the ground.

All it was missing was some lightning and it would be a great location for a slasher film.

One set of odd, claw-like marks on the ground later, right near where they all parked, and Gareth abruptly decided he'd rather focus on Tiffany rather than follow that thought more.

Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, her expression annoyed, but the dead giveaway to her freaked out status was the way she couldn't seem to stop moving. Not even after they’d gotten out of their respective cars and started towards her.

Gareth hadn't seen her this bad since the day she temporarily lost her SAT guide.

It didn't bode well for the adventure ahead.

"Finally." She complained as the trio approached. "Did you three stop for milkshakes on the way!?"

"Traffic Tiff, you know how it is." Eddie said with an easy smile and a wave of his hand.

She simply gave a pointed look at her watch before glaring back at them.

"Steve!" Someone yelled, and Dustin promptly launched out of some corner at the older teen, babbling a mile a minute.

“Slow down, God!” Steve interrupted, doing a clear head to toe sweep of the kid. “You okay? Everyone good? Nobody dead?”

“Not yet!” Dustin said chipperly, which caused Steve to swat at his hat.

“Are you okay?” Gareth asked Tiff, as Steve and Dustin began talking rapid-fire, in the kind of way that spoke of past events and made little to no sense to anyone not in the loop.

"Yeah." Tiff nodded stiffly. “Would have been a lot happier if Stewart had listened to me for once, but.” She shrugged, her version of ‘it is what it is.’

Eddie reached out, squeezing her shoulder gently. “Is everyone else in the lab?” He asked, peering about.

He got another nod. “The room the idiot’s stuck in is just up the stairs and down the hall a bit. I’m amazed he didn’t get hurt, he fell through the ceiling.” She shook her head, clearly worried and trying her best not to show it. “Everyone’s kind of been wandering between there and here, but the random children who showed up are insisting we all walk around in groups.”

She turned to eye Dustin, before looking towards the entryway to the lab.

“Probably a good thing given the wall collapsed, but they all think there’s some,” She huffed, arms shrugging helplessly. “monster lurking about.”

Gareth stared at the lab entrance for a moment, once again taking in random stains and smears that were all around them. Spotted a few more of those weird, elongated claw marks raking down the stairs, spread more like fingers than anything else, and the group of them that surrounded a suspiciously large stain in the entryway.

“What made you guys want to explore the lab tonight anyway? It’s Thursday.” Eddie asked.

This earned him a more animated eye roll.

“Would you believe me if I told you I owed Jeff a favor, and he owed Grant a favor, and Grant got into it with Stewart over whether or not the lab had glowing goo hiding inside?"

“Glowing goo?” Eddie and Gareth echoed as one.

“Like what Mikey the bartender was saying last time he was drunk? The whole thing with that weird green goo that fell out of some truck?” Gareth asked, and it wasn’t the stupidest thing that had riled up Stewart and Grant but by God was it up there.

Tiff sighed a second time, sounding pained. “Yeah. That goo. Stewart kept insisting Mikey got a “hot tip” that some military guys knew it was here,” Her fingers came up to make the quotation marks, somehow managing to make the movement sarcastic. “and wanted it moved over to that new mall they’re building. Starcourt.”

“So Stewart had to come see it.” Eddie finished, as if he wouldn’t have also been dying to go get a look.

Frankly, Gareth himself was slightly annoyed he and Eddie hadn’t been called upon as it were.

“Mikey also apparently believes something else wants the goo and chased the military guys who were here out of the building. That part must be going around, because the kids here are pretty insistent there’s a monster inside.” Tiffany added, waving a hand towards Dustin.

Eddie made a move to slung his arm over her shoulder, giving her a full body squeeze before letting her go.

Tiff allowed it, and for the briefest of seconds, even seemed to lean in.

“Hello Steve, nice murder weapon.” She greeted loudly, entirely unphased by the nail bat in his hands as Hellfire’s jock and his favorite small annoyance stepped up to them. “Having met your children, I have to say, your parenting skills are utter shit.”

Dustin frowned up at her, instantly offended. “Steve’s our friend.” He corrected, angrily emphasizing ‘friend,’ right over the top of Steve’s loud protest of;

“It’s not a murder weapon, jeez!”

“If anyone is lacking in skills it’s your little group’s!” Dustin cut in, waving a hand around. “Not one of you was prepared for breaking into the lab! No weapons, no back up, you’re the only one who even had quarters and one of you isn’t even wearing a jacket. If we hadn’t shown up you guys would have been in some real shit!”

Tiff stared flatly down at Dustin, ignoring Steve entirely. “Sure, pipsqueak."

“What are you guys even doing here?” Steve asked, before Dustin could fuss more.

“Glowing goo, apparently.” Eddie answered, moving with him.

Tiffany took the hint, starting to walk towards the stairs as Dustin trotted forward next to her, clearly intending to “lead” just as much as she was.

Gareth watched from the corner of his eyes as Steve automatically stepped to Dustin’s right, making sure the kid was surrounded on all sides.

‘Fuckin’ softie.’ He thought fondly, even as he gripped the fire poker he held in his hand tighter.

Eddie had managed to stow the knife away, making it vanish somewhere among his jacket and Judas Priest shirt, so it was just him and Steve looking like lunatics.

Thankfully, Tiff had spared Gareth her opinion on the fire poker.

“Goo?” Steve asked, and unlike the rest of them, he sounded downright alarmed.

“So there’s this bartender at the Hideout.” Eddie started, launching into the story with a lot more pizzazz than Gareth thought it really required. He and Tiff traded glances, and Gareth got to see the exact moment Dustin’s eyes caught sight of Eddie and went dinner plate wide.

Gareth would have nudged Tiff, maybe made a joke about how Eddie was gaining a new sheep just by his terminal need to be the loudest person in a room, but a movement on the left caught his gaze.

Gareth stopped, as something unmistakably fleshy slunk back in the shadows, one weirdly shaped paw flashing as something caught the light.

Fear raked through him, freezing Gareth dead to the spot, hands tightening on his fire poker.

“Hey, guys? He asked, interrupting whatever story Eddie had inevitably gone off of (likely one of the many, many backstories involving Mikey the bartender’s belief in UFOs) “That monster the kids think they saw. What uh, what’s it supposed to look like?”

“Why?” Tiff asked, at the same time Eddie yelled at him to; “Keep up, Gary, god!”

Gareth didn’t answer, instead staring deep into the shadows.

Nothing moved.

‘You’re seeing things.’ He told himself finally. ‘Unless it went through solid fucking wall, you would still be able to see it. You're just stressing yourself out because Steve’s being weird.’

Fuck knows it wouldn’t be the first time he thought he saw something when his anxiety started acting up.

"So Gare, did you bring the fire poker along because of the monster?" Tiff asked, amused, as she briefly dropped back towards him.

Clearly, she'd just been waiting for an opening to tease him about it.

He flushed scarlet.

"No!" He spat, hugging the thing closer.

A grin unfurled on Tiff's face, Cheshire-esque.

"I'm serious, Steve told us to bring it!" Gareth insisted, trying to look manly with it.

He knew he failed as badly as Eddie had earlier.

"You know, I'm starting to think Eddie's not the only one gone on our human fighter…" Tiff trailed off, raising one eyebrow, and causing Gareth to flip her off.

Thankfully that train of conversation was interrupted by loud arguing.

“We’re not cats Steve, you can’t just put us outside!” One of the kids was bitching, the group having caught sight of Steve and hustling over.

Jeff was seated on the floor in the hallway, one hand holding up his chin while Grant leaned against the wall next to him, both looking incredibly bored.

Across from them was a door that had looked like it had survived a full-blown seige. Cracks ran throughout the wood, and with the entire center of it bowed inward it was clear why no one could manage to get Stewart out of the room.

It was completely wedged in the frame, with thick enough edges to make it impossible to just pop it out by hand.

The hoard of gremlins were harder to make out now that they were all clumped together, but Gareth quickly made out their very….unique outfits.

Only the girls had dressed normally, while the boys looking like they either were planning on robbing a train.

Bandana’s over their faces and all.

“Yes, I can actually.” Steve retorted in the exact same bitchy tone. "Tiffany can stay with you guys by the cars while the rest of us figure out how to get Stewart.”

"Thanks for volunteering me." Tiff said flatly, but alas, was ignored by the group at large.

“Really? So you don’t want El to, you know. Help.” The terminally loud one spat.

“El’s gonna dump your ass if you don’t stop talking for her, Mike.” Steve warned, making the girl puff up proudly while Mike immediately cut a fearful glance to his girlfriend.

“And if El could have helped before, why wait for me to get here?” Steve continued, one hand on his hip, the other resting the nail bat over his shoulder, cutting in before Mike's scrambled apology derailed the conversation.

“I cannot move the door.” El admitted in that sort of flat, blunt way she spoke. “There is something here that is making my powers unstable.”

Steve pointed to her, face morphing into a clear “see?” gesture.

“Now unless Dustin is going to science the door open somehow--and I’m not saying you couldn’t,” Steve spoke the second part quickly, as Dustin’s mouth popped open, “then all of you are going to wait outside. Where the demo-the thing, isn’t.”

Gareth really, really hated how he kept referring to it as a thing.

One of the kids rolled their eyes and muttered; “We literally said we don’t know if it’s a--” and promptly got elbowed in the stomach for it.

Right.

Not suspicious at all.

“But we can help!” Dustin protested furiously.

Gareth wasn't sure if it was because Dustin truly thought he could help, or if it was because he wasn't used to the pushback.

For all that he was an only child, Steve had clearly inherited an older brother's prerogative of letting kids do stupid shit so long as he supervised (and typically, laughed at the outcome.

Gareth still fondly recalled the time Mike declared himself man enough to smoke.

Steve had conned him into chainsmoking outside the arcade until the kid finally threw up in the bushes on his fourth cigarette and declared Steve's smoking habit disgusting.)

“El could help.” Steve countered calmly. “Max probably, if I gave her my bat, but the rest of you are just moving targets. So make like a drum, and beat it.”

"That was lame, Steve." Dustin sniffed, while the other kids groaned loudly. “A real low effort pun.”

Steve just flicked his hand out in a shoo motion before leaning his bat up against the wall.

Jeff stared it before making immediate eye contact with Gareth, every inch of him screaming ‘what the hell!’

With a sigh, and an unfortunate side glance at Tiff, Gareth explained; “It’s for the monster.”

That at least, was easier than explaining Steve knew what was here and was doing his damndest not to tell them what it was.

Even if it made Tiff grin manically in his direction.

His only relief was that Steve got her attention right after, calling "Heads up!" before tossing her his car keys.

Because her hand eye coordination was superior to Eddie’s, she caught them easily.

If there's an emergency, get them out." Steve warned, voice just over the edge of too serious, losing the banter he’d kept up since they’d arrived.

"If there's an emergency we're coming back on to save your ass." Dustin snapped back, arms crossed, because of course he was listening.

“No.” Steve told him simply.

“Yes.”

“No, no, no-!”

Tiff let out a sharp whistle, the sound piercing in the echoing hallway.

"Gremlins with me!" She commanded, before catching Steve's eyes over their heads . "You fucking owe me, Harrington."

He nodded, before dropping a glare to the kids. "Just don't let them drive my car."

“God I can’t believe he’s still upset about that, it’s not like we fucked up the Camaro.” Mike complained loudly, allowing himself to be herded back outdoors.

“Max did hit a mailbox.” Lucas retorted, and then yelped a loud; “Ow, Max!” as he was presumably punished for voicing the fact out loud.

Their voices faded slightly as they went down the stairs, and Gareth managed to drag his attention back to the problem at hand.

One very fucked up door.

"Do you think we could kick it down?” Steve asked, as Eddie bent down to examine the door.

Refusing to look anyone in the face, Jeff said; “We may have tried that already.”

“My darling lambs, you’re approaching this wrong.” Eddie cooed, and got several glares for it.

“The door might be fucked by the hinges here, are not. Looks like all I need is the right screwdriver and lucky for Stewart!--” He yelled his friend's name, banging on the door and no doubt hoping to spook him.

A muffled shout of “Screw you Munson!” was all he got for his efforts.

“--I have my toolbox in my car.”

“Do I want to know what you have a toolbox for, Ed's?” Steve asked.

“Perfectly legal avenues only, I assure you.” Eddie replied, batting his eyelashes up at Steve innocently.

Grant and Jeff both gagged.

“Would the two of you gentlemen be so kind as to fetch me my box?” Eddie said, pulling out his keys and offering them up to Jeff. “I want to try one more thing. I don’t think it’ll work, but I can test it while you boys are gone.”

“He’s going to try to kick it in himself.” Gareth tattled flatly.

“I am not!” Eddie immediately denied, eyes wide in feigned hurt.

It was fake as shit.

“Let him!” Jeff said over as he got up. “That way I won’t be the only one getting made fun of for doing it!”

A car suddenly honked from outside, startling them all.

“Check that the shitheads aren’t murdering Tiff while you’re out there!” Steve called as Jeff and Grant took off towards the entrance, before moving out of Eddie’s way as he surged upwards.

“It’s more likely she’d be murdering them.” Eddie replied, and sure enough he was backing up like he was going to try and kick the door.

“Do you see how thick that thing is? The indent, here?” Steve sassed, pointing towards the giant dent slightly off center, where the door bowed inwards. “I’m pretty sure Jeff wasn’t the one who did that. These things are built to hold, man.”

“Ah but you’ve seen Jeffery's legs. Our beloved new cleric should stick to punching things, he’s not made for kicking.” Eddie said, tongue peaking out of his mouth as he sized up the door.

An odd, low chittering caught Gareth’s attention, the noise like nails on a chalkboard as the older teens continued to argue.

“Have you seen yourself?” Steve asked point blank, hip cocked and bitch mode on. “You aren’t either.”

“Don’t be mean, Steven, just because I don’t have jock muscles--”

The chittering got louder, and Gareth found himself taking a few steps away from his friends, in the opposite direction of the stairs as he tried to figure out where the fuck it was coming from.

A light at the farthest end of the long hallway gave out, barely noticeable. unless one was looking for it. Gareth hadn't even internalized the hallway had lighting, he'd been too busying with everything else--but it did.

Likely the place had a backup generator, but that didn't explain why the lights in this hallway were on--and now, suddenly, giving out.

'Maybe the kids did it...?' He thought, still trying to figure out why the chittering sounded like it was getting closer.

“You’re going to break your leg.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you need to believe in people more Stevie? Have some faith?”

“I have faith that you’re face is about to hit the floor, does that count?”

Another light failed, giving the appearance of the hallway warping. Not all of it, just one weird wall, that seemed to stretch like something was trying to break out.

"Okay but if I kick the door and it busts in, you owe me ten bucks."

"If you kick the door down not only will I give you ten bucks, Eddie, I'll go see that stupid new movie you won't shut up about with you."

"Oh we'll be seeing Fright Night with or without my door busting talents--"

Another light, out, and now Gareth could see a shape taking form. Later he'd swear it had actually, crawled out from the wall.

(Later, he'd find out the Upside Down creatures had a habit of doing that.)

He thought it was a tiger at first.

It has the same overall shape--long body with muscular shoulders, head low as it prowled forward.

Except the tail curled up over its back, hanging like a scorpion’s and its face…

It took a second for Gareth to make sense of what he was seeing.

The huge, oddly shaped bulb, like a flower’s before it unfurled.

Thick liquid drooled out from red tinged edges, dripping onto the floor. It was too far away to hear, but Gareth imagined the little plinks of noise it made anyway.

"Guys." He said, voice pitched impossibly high.

The Not-Tiger stepped further into the light, revealing it to be hairless.

Its skin was flecked red and grotesquely gray, with odd, thick folds of flesh hanging off its sides. Those pieces moved in weird little jerks and flutters, almost like another appendage entirely.

Another step forward, the weird, folded pieces of skin moving out and out and out on either side of it, hitching up in a U shape and oh, God.

They were wings.

'Lion body, scorpion tail, dragon wings.' A far off part of Gareth identified. 'It's missing the human face, but otherwise that's pretty dead on for a--"

"Manticore!" Gareth screamed, right as the things head split open into five petals filled with rows of fangs.

It screamed right back, then lunged at him, claws and teeth and tail all extending to attack.

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the-villainous-ace · 1 year

Text

Was thinking about Fraggy things...

Had a couple head canons come to mind... Mostly thoughts on Fred and his Bimbo-ness

Just to set things up I like the idea of them all being close childhood friends like in A Pup Named Scooby Doo.

Because Fred and Daphne seem more like the high school sweethearts people always asked them if they were dating.

Eventually they caved and tried dating eachother but realised they felt more like best friends then a couple plus Daphne realises she has a crush on Velma (#lesbian visability).

Anyway back to Freddy

My head-canon is that Freddy finds Shaggy really attractive,

He thinks in his mind that it's totally platonic like "no homo" but it's really not.

Like Velma and Daphne don't think Shaggy is ugly,

And they notice that he's weirdly popular, they just don't see the appeal (cuz they're gay for eachother but also Shaggy is like a brother to them). But they both think it's kinda suss how much Fred compliments his appearance.

(Like they both notice how gay Fred is for Shaggy but Fried just hasn't realized yet)

Some examples I thought of that Fried might throw into a conversation, un-prompted

Like Velma and Daphne are talking about their straight celebrity crushes or smth and fried just pipes in with..

-"Shaggy is pretty handsome, I bet chicks dig Shaggy"

-"I mean he's tall, fit, athletic, he's got nice hair, he's handsome, he's a great cook, his family's pretty loaded, he has good bone structure...ect isn't that what chicks always talk about wanting in a guy?"

- "I'm pretty jealous of Shaggy, like his facial hair, it's pretty rugged and sexy, isn't it?

"I wish I could grow a beard or something but it's so sparse and patchy when I try and takes me months!"

Velma and Daphne just *bombastic side eye* "this dude gay"...

I also imagine that Fred is so oblivious when people are dating or attracted to other people.

Like this man dosen't have a clue, flirting goes right over his head and he can't pick up of those vibes at all...

And because he got no vibe check he dosen't notice that Shaggy IS ACTUALLY pretty popular

So it's like

Fred (in his head) -"I wonder why Shaggy isn't popular or dating anybody when he's handsome and such a great guy"

Meanwhile...

Shaggy - **actively being hit on right in front of him**

Anyway just a thought...

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once-upon-an-imagine · 2 years

Text

One Of Us - Eddie Munson & Steve Harrington

A/N: omg! I was able to complete this story! I really hope you guys like it cause it turned out to be really long but I liked how it turned out xD

Requests - Anonymous asked: i need more steddie x reader comfort plssss maybe when like the reader doesn’t feel good enough for them so she leaves them and theyre like ‘i know for a fact she didnt stop loving us’ and they somehow find out that she’s been beating herself up abt it and having breakdowns and really in need of them but she can’t go to them bc she doesn’t deserve them and just a lot of angst to the reader but comfort in the end??sorry this is long!!

- theweirdone2468 submitted: Hiiii!! I was wondering could you do steddie x reader where reader is/was always quiet growing up and has abandonment issues and easily left out and reader starts feeling left out and doesn’t know how to tell them. Basically angst to fluff please I love your writing!!!!

Warning: polyamorous!relationship (SteddiexReader); reader is feeling insecure and left out; mentions of sex; this is really angsty and super long; I think that’s it, but please let me know if I missed anything

Disclaimer: I don’t own Stranger Things :) gif isn’t mine :D

Your name: submit What is this?

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

One Of Us

One of us is crying, one of us is lying In a lonely bed... staring at the ceiling Wishing she was somewhere else instead One of us is lonely, one of us is only... waiting for a call Sorry for herself, feeling stupid, feeling small Wishing she had never left at all

“Good morning, Buster” you smiled when you felt your dog getting on your bed and waking you up.

You opened your eyes and saw the beautiful Bernese mountain dog looking at you and you scratched the back of his ear. You remembered the day you and Eddie brought him home. You found him wandering the streets by himself and you didn’t have the heart to leave him there. So you brought him back home with you and begged Steve to let you keep him. Which wasn’t really that hard since he put up that act of ‘I-don’t-want-a-dog’ that was over as soon as he saw Buster’s eyes and now he was the one who spoiled him the most.

“Where are your dads?” you asked, sitting up. And then you saw a note on Eddie’s side of the bed. “Oh, right” you sighed, opening the letter, letting you know that Steve had to go to work early and Eddie was planning some big campaign, so he needed Dustin’s help.

You didn’t really mind it. But always asked them to wake you up before they left to say goodbye. You knew they wanted to let you sleep in on your day off, but you still missed them. You felt like you had been seeing less of them in the past few weeks. Either your work schedule would cross with Steve’s or Eddie’s campaign or new job after school, or they would come home really late when you were already asleep, or leave before you got up. You were still trying to get into the routine now that you have been in your new apartment for a few months, which is why all of you were working more. You loved your new apartment and you knew they did too, but you still couldn’t help but miss them.

At least, since it was your day off, that meant you could take their lunch and have some time with each one of them. And, your anniversary was coming up soon in a couple of days and you three will spend the entire weekend together. You smiled to yourself, getting up from the bed and bringing Buster with you.

“Come on, boy. We have a big day ahead of us!” you said, excitedly as Buster followed you around the apartment.

After finishing your chores and making lunch for your two boys, you put each of them in the lunchboxes you got them. Even if they were a bit childish, you knew Steve loved his green Ninja Turtles lunchbox, and Eddie loved his Scooby Doo lunchbox so much he even threatened everyone in Hellfire if they made fun of it.

You headed out the door with Buster by your side. You knew Eddie and Steve hated the fact that you were his favorite. No matter how much the two of them spoiled him since he was a puppy (even if they loved to deny it) if you were to make him choose, you were certain Buster would run to you. Because you had. Eddie tried endless times to get him to go over to him instead, but he went to you. Every single time.

You drove Steve’s car, thankful that they took Eddie’s van since you were, as Steve liked to say ‘a hazard’ driving a car that big, and you headed over to Hawkins High first. You walked out of the car and were immediately surrounded by Dustin, Mike, Will, and Lucas. Mostly because they loved Buster.

“Hey, (Y/N)!” Dustin greeted you, happily as they approached you both and the other three did the same.

“Hi, guys, how are you?” you smiled at them as Lucas and Will knelt down to pet Buster.

“Hi, buddy!” Lucas said, happily as Buster started licking his face. He loved the kids almost as much as you and your boyfriends did.

“Have you guys seen Eddie? I brought his lunch for him” you smiled.

“Oh, yeah, he’s supposed to meet us in like ten minutes to go over something about the campaign” Dustin told you.

“He said something about handling a deal on the… benches like off campus or something” Mike said.

“Oh, yeah, I know where that is” you told them. “Thanks, guys! I’ll see you around” you smiled as you started walking to the spot where you knew Eddie handled most of his deals. “Come on, boy” you said, going with Buster.

You stopped when you heard someone laughing—someone who wasn’t Eddie. You stepped closer and saw Chrissy Cunningham sitting on one side of the table as Eddie dramatically fell to the floor and then got up, making her laugh.

"On the good news, flattery works with me so… 25% discount off your purchase, lovely lady” you heard him say with a smile.

You trusted Eddie wholeheartedly. Steve as well. But there were just a few moments where you couldn’t help but let your insecurities get the best of you. They were both really handsome men. You knew that. So, it didn’t help when perfect people, like Chrissy Cunningham, got their attention and he made her laugh the way he was doing it now. You knew Eddie and he did whatever he could to make people comfortable around him, and that’s probably what he was doing. But you hated the fact that sometimes it made an ugly feeling grow inside of you. One that always told you that they could do so much better than you. You tried to bury them deep inside. And you would think that it wouldn’t happen as much since you have been together for so long, living together and all. But you still had a bit of trouble controlling these feelings sometimes. You couldn't really help it. Everyone in your life had left at some point. Steve and Eddie were the people that had shown you what love really was. So you were constantly terrified that it would happen with them too. You were snapped out of your thoughts when Buster barked loudly when he saw one of his dads.

“Shit” you muttered. “Buster!”

“Is someone there?” you heard Chrissy ask, worriedly.

“Princess?” you heard Eddie walking towards you. “What are you doing here?” he smiled.

“S-sorry” you said, trying to calm Buster down. “We didn’t mean to scare you” you smiled looking at Chrissy.

“Oh, hello, (Y/N)” she smiled kindly at you. “Who is this cutie?” she asked excitedly when she saw Buster.

“Oh, this is my boy, Buster” Eddie said, grabbing him from you. He was going to walk over to Chrissy but Buster barked louder, startling her and running back towards you.

“Buster!” you said, kneeling down to pet him.

“Hey! We don’t do that!” Eddie scowled him. “Sorry, he’s usually really friendly” he apologized.

“That’s okay” Chrissy said, still a little nervous, and sat back down.

“Sorry” you said. “We were just um-” you said, putting Eddie’s lunchbox up. “Bringing your lunch” you said, smiling at Eddie.

“Oh shit!” Eddie said, realizing he completely forgot. “I’m so sorry, princess! I swear I’ll just be five minutes-”

“Oh, I can come back later-”

“N-no, don’t be silly. I know you two have to go to class soon” you said, handing Eddie his lunchbox, making his smile fall completely.

“But… we always have lunch together on your day off” he frowned. “I’m sorry I forgot, love, I swear-”

“No, love, it’s okay” you smiled at him. “We have some errands to run” you said, pointing at Buster. “And we also have to go give Steve his lunch” you insisted. “It’s okay, really, you have things to do” you told him.

“You sure?” he asked, still not convinced.

“Yeah, love” you insisted. “We should uh- get going” you told him. “B-bye, Chrissy” you waved at the cheerleader.

“Bye, it was so good to see you” she waved politely. It really didn’t help that she was so sweet.

“Hey” Eddie said, pulling you away a little. “Are you sure everything’s okay? I can be free in like five minutes-”

“Eddie, it’s fine, love” you insisted. “I know you still have to meet up with the guys to talk about the campaign” you told him.

Eddie sighed, still unconvinced but he did forget and it was his fault that his time with you was now cut short. He loved your lunches together. Especially fighting over who got the best post-it by Steve. But he thought maybe you were really running errands and he actually had to talk about the campaign with Dustin and some of the other guys.

“Okay” he gave up. “See you tonight? I’ll make it up to you, okay?” he smiled.

“You don’t have to make it up to me, love” you smiled but he leaned down to kiss you quickly on the lips and then the cheek and then the forehead.

“Too late. I’m doing it anyways” he said, making you giggle. “See you later, man” he said, kneeling down to pat Buster and kissing his head. “You take care of her, okay?” he said, before getting up. “I love you” he said, kissing your forehead again.

“Love you too” you smiled before walking away with Buster and Eddie went back to Chrissy. “Let’s go, boy” you told your partner walking back to the car.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Second stop, Family Video. You parked your car and opened the door for Buster to walk out with you. You put his leash on him, knowing that you had to keep him closer in busier places. You stopped right outside the door when a group of girls walked out of the store.

“I told you he was working today!” you heard one of them laugh with the rest. “He is so cute!”

“I think he’s into you” you heard another one tell the third friend as they walked the other way.

You looked inside and saw Steve leaning over the counter talking to two other girls. Again, you knew this was a regular occurrence. Your boyfriend was stupidly handsome and girls literally came in just to see him. But you trusted him. With your entire heart. It just made you feel uneasy sometimes when pretty girls basically threw themselves at your boyfriends. You knew Chrissy wasn’t throwing herself at Eddie. She had a boyfriend, as much of a jerk as he was, and she knew Eddie was with you and Steve. But sometimes, the girls that flirted with Steve didn’t know that. So, the ugly feeling tended to come back when that happened. Like now. You entered the store and saw the two girls laughing, a little too hard, at something that Steve was saying. And once again, your furry little friend gave you away.

“Uh, sorry, we don’t allow pets in here” Steve said before looking your way, but then he saw you. “Oh hey, sweetheart!” he said, smiling brightly at you. You noticed the two girls’ smiles drop and them glaring at you as Steve walked over to you, completely leaving them unattended, and gave you a kiss on your forehead. “Buster!” he said, kneeling down excitedly and petting him.

“Love, you have customers” you reminded him and he got up again.

“Right” he said, looking back at the girls. “Just one minute, okay?” he said, running over to the counter. You started walking around the store and browsing through the movies to get one for tonight. “Hello there, pretty lady” Steve said, appearing at the end of the hall you were currently in.

“Hi, love” you smiled at him.

“You’re here early” he frowned.

“Oh, yeah um… Eddie was busy so, we didn’t get to have lunch together” you explained, and then you saw his expression change. “What?”

“Shit, I’m sorry, sunshine” he told you. “Keith called this morning and he’s gonna be here in like ten minutes for a meeting so-”

“Oh” you said, feeling a little disappointed again. But it wasn’t Steve’s fault. Just like it wasn’t Eddie’s fault. They were just busy. “It’s okay, we just came over to bring you your lunch” you said, handing him his lunchbox. “We have some errands to run” you told him.

“I’m really sorry, sweetheart-”

“No, don’t be silly, love” you smiled. “I know you’re busy, and plus, I don’t think Keith would be happy to find Buster here” you insisted. “We’ll see you later tonight?” you smiled.

“Yes! I promise I’ll make it up to you, okay?”

“You don’t have to do that” you told him.

“Still going to” he said, giving you a peck on the lips. “I’m taking your favorite movie and we can all watch it tonight, okay?”

“But it’s your turn to-”

“Doesn’t matter” he insisted, grabbing the movie he knew you were going to reach for and smiling at you. “Okay?”

“Okay” you nodded, smiling at him. Steve leaned in to kiss you again when the bell of the door opening was heard again. “Shit, I have to go” he said, pulling away. “I’m sorry, love” he said, kissing your forehead. “I’ll see you tonight, alright? I love you” he smiled.

“I love you too” you said as he walked back to the counter to help the new guests. Girls again.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The days went by just the same. You barely saw them around. Even that day when both told you they’d make it up to you they came home when you were already asleep. It was now Thursday night and you were once again by yourself, making dinner, waiting for Steve and Eddie to come home. You thought you might finally get some time with them tonight and you had the weekend ahead which was reserved for just the three of you.

Including Friday, since Eddie didn’t have school because of some teacher conference so you and Steve asked for the day off. You were excited and you couldn't wait to have them all to yourself for three whole days. You missed them so much. And you were certain they missed you too. You heard Buster barking and running to the door and you heard Eddie’s van coming from outside, since it could be heard for like three blocks away, really. They were home.

“Hey, buddy” you heard Eddie coming through the door. “Hi, princess” he said, coming over to you as Steve greeted Buster.

“Hi, love” you smiled and then turned to Steve.

“Hey, sunshine” he said, kissing your forehead.

“Dinner’s almost ready” you told them, but your smile dropped when you noticed them share a look. “What?”

“Love, we’re going to Jonathan’s tonight, remember?” Steve said, frowning.

“Yeah, Argyle’s in town and we had this guys night planned with the kids and all-”

“Oh, right” you said, remembering when they told you about it a couple of days ago. You still couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. It was the first night in all week you had seen them. But at least you had the entire weekend ahead of you. “I guess I forgot” you smiled at them.

“Do you want us to stay?” Steve asked, wrapping his arms around your waist.

“No, don’t be silly” you insisted, smiling at them. “You guys go have fun, I’ll just watch a movie and go to bed early snuggling with Buster” you told them.

“Lucky Buster” Eddie said, pulling you from Steve, making you laugh a little.

“We’ll make it up to you on Sunday, love” Steve said smiling at you.

You froze a little and looked up at him and then Eddie with a frown on your face.

“Sunday?” you asked, confused.

“Yeah, I have to work all day tomorrow” he said as if it was obvious, walking over to your bedroom to get changed.

“And we’re using the free day to move forward in our campaign” Eddie told you, following Steve.

Your heart felt like it broke into a million pieces. Did they honestly forget? Maybe they were just messing with you and this was part of a surprise they would have for your anniversary.

“Wait, so you’re going to be busy all day tomorrow?” you asked, following them.

“Yeah” they shrugged as if it was nothing.

“W-what about Saturday?” you asked, thinking maybe they just forgot about tomorrow.

“Well, since we’re playing D&D all day tomorrow, the band is practicing on Saturday” Eddie explained as he changed.

“Yeah, and Keith asked me to come in the morning to train a new guy starting at Family Video” Steve said proudly.

You tried your best to smile since this meant he was getting more responsibilities and on his way to maybe becoming shift manager, but your heart ached horribly. They really just forgot all about your plans.

“S-so you’re going to be busy all weekend?” you asked, trying your best to not have your voice break.

“Not Sunday” Eddie replied. “We promise, Sunday is all yours, princess. Whatever you want” he said, quickly kissing your head and going over to get his keys. “Let’s go, Steve, we’re gonna be late!”

“But-”

“Sorry, sunshine” Steve said, mimicking Eddie’s actions. “We’ll make it up to you, okay? Promise!”

“I just-”

“Bye Buster” Steve said, patting him at the entrance.

“Take care of our girl, okay?” Eddie said as they left the apartment, closing the door behind them.

As soon as you heard Eddie’s van start again, you let the tears fall down your face. You couldn’t believe this was happening. They literally forgot your anniversary. Both of them. You ran over to the kitchen and grabbed the phone to call the two people that knew about your insecurities eating away at you. You heard it ring a couple of times before Nancy answered.

“Hello?”

“Nancy?” you asked, with your voice betraying you a little.

“(Y/N)? What’s wrong, are you okay?”

“Um… not really” you admitted. “Could you… maybe come over? Is Robin with you?”

“Yeah, of course, do you need us to bring anything?”

“No, I had actually made dinner for Steve and Eddie but they-”

“Ugh, let me guess, boys night? Mike made me drive him” she said, sounding annoyed.

“Yeah” you said, quietly.

“Okay, honey, hold on, we’ll be right there, okay?” she said. You could hear Robin in the background, grabbing whatever they needed. You could only nod before the line went dead and you sat on the floor. Buster was instantly by your side and you hugged him tightly to you.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

On Friday afternoon, Eddie walked inside your apartment earlier than he thought he would. The guys at Hellfire were better at the campaign than he anticipated and they managed to complete it early. He would be more upset if it didn’t mean that he got to come home to you and that Steve would be out soon. He was even able to pick up some of your favorite brownies and pastries from a bakery you loved down the street.

“Hey princess, I’m home!” he called when he entered the empty apartment. He frowned, confused, and started looking around. You were always home by the time he got there, and if you weren’t, at least Buster would be home. “Buster? C’mere buddy!” he called whistling, thinking he was just being a little shit and not wanting to leave your side like he usually did.

He walked over to the kitchen but found it empty. He then went to your bedroom to see if maybe the two of you were taking a nap, but nobody was there. He was certain that you’d be out of work by now. He went over to the kitchen and grab the phone to call your work. But he got even more confused when Jonathan told him that you had taken the day off and the rest of the weekend as well. So, he decided to call Steve.

“What’s wrong, love?” Steve asked as soon as he heard Eddie’s worried voice.

“(Y/N) is not home and neither is Buster!” he said, panicking.

“What do you mean they’re not home? She should be out of work by now and Buster should be home!”

“I called her job, Jonathan said she asked for the day off! And the whole weekend!”

“What? Do you think she wasn’t feeling good and didn’t tell us?”

“But then she would be here! With Buster!” Eddie said, worriedly.

“Okay, love calm down. I will be home in ten minutes and we’ll figure this out, okay? Maybe she’s over at Nancy’s or Robin’s. Robin’s off today too!”

“No! I’m not staying here, I’ll pick you up and we’ll go to Wheeler’s!”

“Eddie-”

“I’ll be there in five minutes!”

Eddie and Steve were now driving around town, over to Nancy’s house. That was their first thought.

“Eddie, love, I know you’re worried, but you need to calm down! You’re driving like a mad man!”

“Why aren’t you more worried, Steve? She is nowhere to be found! She didn’t go to work and she took Buster with her!”

“What do you mean she took Buster with her-?”

“She doesn’t do that unless she’s going to visit either one of us!” he told him. “She always tells us when she has the day off and what she's doing! And she’s always home when we get there, Steve!”

“Eddie, calm down. I’m sure she has an explanation for this, okay? Maybe she’s having girls' night with Nancy and Robin and just forgot to tell us and she brought Buster because she hates leaving him alone-”

“She took some stuff with her” Eddie said all of the sudden.

“W-what?” Steve asked, feeling his heart drop. “What do you mean? What did she take?”

“Just some clothes and her toothbrush” Eddie told him. “Her pillow was also gone” he said, gripping the steering wheel tightly. “You don’t think she-” he sighed. “You don’t think she would leave, right?”

“Eddie-” Steve said, feeling a huge pain in his heart. He knew that Eddie always feared that either you or he would leave. Just like his parents did. “Of course, not! She would never do that!”

“I just-” he said as he parked outside of Nancy’s house. “I know for a fact she didn’t just stop loving us! But… why would she do something like this-?”

“Eddie, listen to me” Steve said, grabbing his hands. “She wouldn’t just leave, okay?” he assured him. “We both know that. I know that you’re worried, but I swear that this will all have an explanation, okay?” he said, placing one of his hands on Eddie’s cheek as a few tears rolled down his cheek.

“Okay” he whispered, nodding.

“I love you” Steve smiled, giving him a peck on the lips.

“I love you too” he said, trying to smile back.

“Let’s go get our girl, okay?” Steve said as they both got out of the car.

The two of them walked over and Steve knocked on the door. He was surprised when it was Robin who answered.

“Hey, dingus” she smiled at Steve. “Dingus number two” she said, turning to Eddie. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Rob, is (Y/N) here?” Steve asked.

“No” she replied as if it was obvious. “Isn’t she with you?”

“Hey, Robin who was at the door?” Nancy asked, coming over and looking at the two boys standing at the entrance of her house. “Steve? Eddie? What are you guys doing here?”

“We’re looking for (Y/N)” Eddie told her. “Do you know where she is?”

“What are you talking about? She’s supposed to be with you” Nancy asked confused.

“What?” Steve asked, starting to get worried.

“Didn’t you spend all day together?” Robin asked just as confused as Nancy.

“What do you mean?” Eddie asked.

“Oh my God! She was right. You two actually forgot!” Nancy asked, getting upset.

“Forget what? Wheeler!” Eddie complained.

“Eddie, calm down” Steve said, grabbing his hand. “What are you girls talking about?”

“What day is today?” Robin asked them.

“Friday?” Eddie said as if it was obvious.

“Not the day of the week, you dingus! What date is today?” she repeated. And then, they saw the two boys pale and look at each other.

“Holy shit!” they muttered at the same time.

“Fuck! We both forgot our anniversary” Eddie said, feeling horrible.

“We had plans for the whole weekend together” Steve added. “How could we both forget?”

“Wait, but that still doesn’t explain why she’s gone” Eddie told them. “I mean, why didn’t she tell us? And when she’s angry she just stops talking to us but she doesn’t leave” he said.

The two boys noticed the girls sharing a look nervously.

“What?” Steve asked and they turned to look at him. They were certain that they knew something and weren’t telling them. “Robin!” he tried. He knew Nancy could take it to the grave, but Robin was a terrible liar.

“Well-”

“It’s not our place to say” Nancy interrupted her.

“Wheeler! We’re dying here!” Eddie begged.

“Nance, please, what are you two hiding from us? Is there something that we have to know?”

“Look… have you… have you noticed anything about her, lately?”

“What do you mean?”

“Has she been acting differently?”

“Different how? Look we’re really worried here okay? She’s not home! And she took Buster!” Eddie said, desperate. “Just tell us for fucks sake!”

“Alright, look” Nancy started. “She was really upset last night and she asked us to come over” she started explaining. “She said she’s been feeling a bit… neglected lately” she told them.

“What? Why?” Steve asked, feeling even worse.

“Well, you guys have been working a lot lately and so has she and she just said that it has been a long time since the three of you spent some time together so she was really looking forward to this weekend and you two idiots didn’t even remember!”

“Also how she feels insecure when you two flirt with other girls” Robin added.

“Robin!” Nancy widened her eyes at her.

“What? We don’t flirt with other girls!” Eddie asked, upset.

“Look” Nancy sighed. “You know that she has always struggled with being left out of things and people leaving her, right? She didn’t grow up in the best home-” she started.

“Yes, we know” Eddie snapped a little. “But we have made everything to let her know how much we love her! So we don’t really appreciate you accusing us of-”

“Eddie, love, calm down” Steve said, grabbing his hand again. “Nance, you know we would never intentionally make her feel that way-”

“I know” she nodded. “But she mentioned that lately, she started feeling a little… self-conscious about… some things” she explained. “A couple of situations, I guess, just added up and I guess you two forgetting your anniversary just made it even more real” she told them.

“Made what more real?!”

“She doesn’t feel important to you anymore!” Nancy blurted out, hating the hurt look on the boys.

“You have to be fucking kidding me!” Eddie muttered before he just walked away from everyone and back to his van.

“Look, we obviously fucked up, big time” Steve said brushing a hand through his hair.

“You think?” Robin told him and he glared at her.

“But we didn’t mean to! Of course, she’s important to us! She’s the most important thing in our lives!” he insisted.

“We tried to tell her that” Nancy told him. “We told her you wouldn’t forget your anniversary and you probably were just planning a surprise for her” she said.

“Did she say anything about today to you? Where she might go or something? I know she doesn’t have many places to go but… we thought she would be here” he tried.

“Sorry, Steve. She didn’t mention any of that. We just thought she’d stay home and maybe talk to you guys about it” Nancy told him.

“Okay” he said, sadly. “Please if you hear from her or if she comes here-”

“We’ll let you know, promise” Nancy assured him.

“Thanks” he said. “We have the walkie-talkie Henderson gave us so just use the channel okay?”

“Okay” Robin nodded. “Hey, Steve, she’s gonna be fine. Maybe she just needed some time to herself” she suggested.

“Yeah, maybe” Steve smiled sadly before walking over to Eddie who was now hitting and kicking his car. “Eddie, love stop!”

“No! We fucked up, Steve! We let her down! We did the one thing we promised her we’d never do!”

“Eddie, we’re gonna fix this!”

“How? We don’t even know where she is!” he said, with tears streaming down his face.

“Hold on” Steve sighed, going over to the front and grabbing the walkie-talkie. “Henderson!”

“Steve?”

“Yes, Henderson, we need a favor! We need you, Wheeler, Sinclair, Byers, El, Max, anyone to tell us if you have seen (Y/N)!”

“What? What do you mean? Is she missing?”

“Look, I don’t have time to explain, we just need to find her! Please just help me!”

“Alright, hold on, let me ask if someone’s seen her” he responded.

“Thanks, man” he replied, going back to Eddie.

“It’s getting darker, Steve-!”

“We’re going to find her. And then we’re going to apologize and we’ll make this up to her and fix this. And, Buster is with her, and we know he takes care of her. It’s gonna be okay, love, I promise! Let’s just… go to some of her favorite places okay?”

“Okay” Eddie nodded and Steve took the keys out of his hand.

“I’ll drive, love” he smiled, kissing his forehead. “Let’s go!”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The two of them had been driving around for a while to all of the places they knew you loved, but no such luck. Until Eddie heard Dustin’s voice again.

“Hey, Steve!”

“Dustin! What do you have, man?”

“Eddie! So, none of the guys have seen her, but Max mentioned something about seeing Steve’s car in the trailer park” he said, as the two of them looked at each other confused.

“Are you sure? Is Red there with you?”

The two of them heard a ruckus on the other side and then Max’s voice came up.

“Hey! Yes, I thought it was weird, but it was parked right outside your old trailer” she explained. “I didn’t see if she was in there, but you guys can try- shut up, Dustin! I’m busy here!”

“Okay, that’s great! Thanks, so much, Max! If you see her or if she gets in touch with you, please let us know!” Steve said, grabbing the radio from Eddie.

“You guys fucked up, huh?”

“We don’t have time for this, Red! Bye!” Eddie said, turning the radio off as Steve turned around and drove as fast as he could to the trailer park. “Okay, there it is! That’s your car!” Eddie pointed at the old trailer where the three of you lived and they noticed the lights were on.

Eddie didn’t even wait for Steve to stop the car to jump out and started running towards the trailer, Steve close behind him, pulling him back.

“Eddie, slow down, love” he said as they stopped in front of a window.

They looked inside and saw you asleep on your old couch. It had been a few months since the three of you moved into your new apartment but everything still looked the same, only emptier. You were wearing one of Steve’s old basketball t-shirts and one of Eddie’s sweaters on top and your favorite movie was playing on the TV. They slowly walked over to the door and walked inside. As soon as they did, Buster launched at them barking furiously and making them jump back a little, Eddie stepping in front of Steve.

“Hey! Dude, what the hell? It’s us! Your fathers!” he complained as Buster calmed down but kept growling at them, standing in front of you, not letting them walk through.

“Buster” Steve said, kneeling down, only managing to make him bark again, louder this time and waking you up.

“Buster, what’s going on?” you asked, still asleep and opening your eyes and then you noticed your two boyfriends standing there. “Oh” you said, sitting up. “Hi” you smiled weakly at them. “Buster, c’mere boy!” you said, patting the spot next to you since he kept growling at Steve and Eddie. He instantly turned around and ran towards you, resting his head on your lap.

“Princess!” Eddie said, walking closer to you and sitting on the ground in front of you and Buster, Steve, following him. The two of them wanted to cry when they saw your red eyes and puffy cheeks. They could tell you had been crying, which is probably why Buster didn’t want them anywhere near you. “Love, we have been looking everywhere for you!”

“We are so sorry, sunshine!” Steve said, trying to hold your hand but Buster barked at him.

“Busty, that’s enough” you scowled at him in a soft tone and scratched his ear. “What are you guys doing here?” you asked, quietly, looking down at your lap.

“What are we-? Love, we have been looking everywhere for you! I got home and you and Buster weren’t there!” Eddie started.

“I’m sorry” you murmured. “I fell asleep. I was going to be back by dinner-”

“No, sweetheart, that’s not the point” Steve said, scootching a little closer and trying to grab your hand again but looking at Buster. When he didn’t do anything, he grabbed your hand and Eddie grabbed the other one. “We are so sorry!”

“We are the worst boyfriends in the world!”

“That’s not true” you said, looking up at them.

“Yes, it is!” Eddie argued. “We both forgot our anniversary!”

“And also… we went to look for you at Nancy’s and she and Robin told us that you talked with them last night” he said, making you pull away from them. You put your legs up on the couch and placed your hands on top of them. “Why didn’t you talk to us?”

“I’m sorry” you said, feeling your throat tightening a little.

“Princess, we’re not mad at you” Eddie said, sitting closer to you and placing his hand on your knee. “We just want to know how you’re feeling and what to do to make it better” he said.

“It’s just stupid. That’s why I didn’t want to say anything” you insisted.

“It’s not stupid” Steve said, placing his hand on your other knee. “It made you run away from us-”

“No, I didn’t run away, I would never do that!” you said with a couple of tears falling down your cheeks. “I just… I don’t know” you admitted.

“Talk to us, love” Eddie said, trying to contain his own tears. “Please” he said, squeezing his grip on your knee.

“It’s just…” you sighed. “Things have been changing a lot” you started. “And I know it’s good things because you’re moving up in your job” you said, looking at Steve. “And you got a new job and your band is getting more gigs and your D&D campaign and all” you told Eddie. “But I just… I missed you. I missed how things were when we wre still living here, which is why… I came here” you told them. “Ever since we moved into our new apartment, I feel like I barely see you. You’re always gone when I wake up and I fall asleep before you come home” you told them. “And this past week I couldn’t have lunch with either of you and you got to spend last night together and…” you said, crying a little more. “Y-you forgot about our weekend-”

“We know, and we are so sorry, love” Eddie said, holding your hand again and Steve did the same.

“We feel horrible about that, we didn’t mean to, sweetheart-”

“I know” you nodded. “I know you didn’t mean to, it’s just…” you sighed, looking at Buster and scratching his ear. “You didn’t seem to miss me as much as I missed you and I just thought… I don’t know” you said, with a few tears falling down your cheeks again.

“Princess, of course, we miss you” Eddie said, getting up and sitting down next to you, Buster, growling a little when he was moved away from you.

“Tell us what else is going through your pretty mind, sweetheart” Steve said, sitting on your other side and kissing your forehead.

“It’s nothing” you said, resting your head on his shoulder and holding Eddie’s hand.

“Love” Eddie said, bringing your hand to his lips.

“It was just a lot this week, I guess” you said, quietly. “Look, I love you guys, so much and I know you love me too, I do, but… it’s just… sometimes it’s hard” you admitted.

“What is?” Steve asked.

“Well, it’s just…” you sighed again and got up. “You have to promise me you won’t freak out and let me talk” you told them. “Okay?”

“Okay” Steve nodded.

“Promise” Eddie agreed.

“Sometimes it’s just hard because you two are just… like… so perfect it’s infuriating, okay? And I just don’t get why you would want to be with me-”

“What-?”

“How can-?”

“You promised” you said, throwing them a look and they closed their mouths. “I know that you two love me, okay, I do! I just… sometimes I don’t get why, okay? I mean, my own family didn’t want me! Every person I dated before you just… left me for someone better and sometimes I’m just scared that you two are going to realize that and… do the same thing” you said, sadly. “Like… this week, on my day off when I went to give you two your lunch I…” you sighed and looked at Eddie. “You were talking with Chrissy and she was laughing a lot and I know you were just being nice to her but… she’s so pretty and nice and I just… I don’t know!” you said, turning to Steve. “And then I went over to Family Video and this group of girls came out talking about how handsome you were and that you were probably into one of them and I know that’s not true but sometimes it bothers me that girls practically throw themselves at you. Even in front of me! Pretty girls, who are also taller than me! Why is everyone taller than me?” you complained. “I know I’m overthinking and that’s why I didn’t want to say anything! Because I trust you two, I just sometimes feel like it’s only a matter of time before you-”

“Okay, no” Steve said, getting up as well. “That’s enough, don’t even finish that sentence” he said, grabbing your hands and pulling you to him. “Come here, sunshine” he said, sitting back down and pulling you between him and Eddie. “Listen to me” he said softly as Eddie wrapped his arms around you. “First of all, this is our fault, okay? We forgot our anniversary and we didn’t notice that you were feeling left out and we are so sorry” he started. “We know what you have gone through in your life and when we started dating, we promised you that we would always make you feel loved, because we love you and we miss you and we need you so much” he said, with his voice breaking a little. “We failed you, and I am so sorry that you have been feeling this way. You have no idea how scared we were today when we couldn't find you. I was trying my best to not freak out but I have never been more scared in my life. And I know that we have been saying this all week and we fucked up but we will make it up to you. There is nobody in this world that we love more than you, and there is absolutely no one that we would rather be with” he said, grabbing your hands in his. Tears kept falling down your cheeks and Eddie kept placing soft kisses on your head.

“R-really?” you smiled a little.

“Yes, princess” Eddie said, turning you a little so you can look at him now. “Everything Steve said is true. You are our favorite person in the world. If anything, we’re the ones who don’t deserve you” he told you.

“That’s not true-”

“Yes, it is. Look at everything you do for us, you always bring us our lunch in our cool lunchboxes” he continued. “You read Lord of the Rings to me every time I’m sick. You help me with my campaigns sometimes. You always listen to the music I want to listen to. And you help me when I get knots in my hair-”

“That goes for both of us” Steve added, making you smile a little.

“You plan movie nights with the kids. You come to all of my shows” Eddie kept on listing.

“You do everything for us, sweetheart” Steve told you.

“You have the most amazing heart of anybody I know” Eddie added. “Buster if proof of that” he said, making Buster bark at the sound of his name and you chuckled a little. “Which is probably why he loves you the most” he said.

“You had a whole weekend planned for us and we were just stupid enough to forget it” Steve said, apologetically.

“We love you so much” Eddie said, pulling you closer. “There is nobody in this world better for us than you” he insisted. “We are so sorry-”

“It’s okay” you told them. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner” you said. “I just… didn’t really know how and I didn’t want you to think that it was your fault or that I didn’t trust you because I do” you told them.

“We know, love” Steve said, kissing your cheek. “We still can be a little more cautious about that” he assured you.

“Yes, because we also hate it when a guy flirts with you so we know how it feels” Eddie added.

“That doesn’t happen” you laughed.

“Yes, it does” Eddie argued. “The fact that you don’t even notice just makes you more adorable, but it does, love” he said, kissing your other cheek.

“We are so sorry, sweetheart” Steve repeated. “And we promise to make more time with you, okay?”

“Really?”

“Yeah” Eddie said. “We can have a night a week that it’s just reserved for the three of us” he suggested before Buster barked loudly. “Four of us” he corrected, making you laugh.

“I’d like that” you smiled.

“We have like a board with a calendar at the shop with all the schedules, maybe we can have one in the kitchen to plan around it, and that way none of us will forget important dates” he proposed.

“Yes! I like that idea!” Eddie said, excitedly. “I’m canceling band practice tomorrow” he said.

“Yes, and I’m telling Keith I can’t make it to work-”

“No, guys, you don’t have to do that-”

“Yes, we do” Steve assured you. “We’re going to have the whole weekend just for the three of us. And we’re gonna do anything you want, okay?” he said, hugging you tighter and giving you a peck on the lips.

“We can start by getting your favorite take-out and watching your favorite movies tonight” Eddie said, giving you another kiss.

“That sounds wonderful” you smiled shyly at them.

“Let’s go home then” Steve said, kissing your forehead and then Eddie’s when he got up. “Come on, buddy” he said, snapping his fingers at Buster.

A few hours later, after a lovely dinner and a very heated session of make-up sex where the two of them kept proving to you how sorry they were, you were in your absolute favorite place in the world. Steve’s head was lying on your legs, almost asleep as you ran your fingers through his hair and you rested against Eddie’s chest while he ran his fingers through your hair. You were watching one of your favorite movies with Buster asleep on the floor after Steve basically fed him whatever he asked for. You turned to look at Eddie to see if he had fallen asleep and he smiled down at you.

“What?” he asked, kissing your forehead.

“Nothing” you smiled. “I’m sorry I scared you today” you told him and he lowered your hand to grab your free one.

“It’s okay, princess. At least Buster was taking care of you” he said, making you smile.

“I love you” you said, giving him a peck on the lips.

“Me too” he smiled back at you.

“Me three” Steve said, opening his eyes and looking up at you so you leaned down to kiss him as well.

The End

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

A/N hope you liked it :D let me know what you think! :)

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yoomiwritingstuff · 1 year

Text

gojo satoru + that tiktok line from scooby doo

you feel the vibrations of his chuckle pass through you as you're back is firmly pressed on his front, his grip on your waist never faltering.

“relax, sweetheart. you're safe.”

you scoff at him, turning your head slightly to face him — the smirk on his lips and amusement swirling in his eyes annoying you.

“gee, being safe is the last thing i think about when i'm with you.”

the man only sticks his tongue out in retaliation to your statement.

gojo satoru may be the strongest sorcerer to the eyes of the world but for you he'll always going to be your irritating attractive boyfriend who just loves to tease the shit out of you.

it's been a few days after you've learned about who he truly is. even now, you're wondering just how much trust he's put in you to let you know a part of himself that no ordinary humans had the privilege to have. but it seems as though that trust was not futile as you understood everything and accepted what he had told you as real and true.

the night you two shared went like any other time you've been together. visiting a new place to eat and then talk about what happened in your week and learn something new about each other.

as your time with one another was ending, satoru decided to do something different. he held your hands and ran off to a random tall ass building (it's so weird how you two even managed to enter it without being held back by security but you chalk it off with satoru using his abilities).

“you ever wondered what it felt like to see everything all at once?”

he curiously asks you as you both were walking on the staircase towards the roof.

you eye him strangely, a thought already forming on your mind about what he has in stored for you.

“yeah i guess...why do you ask?”

he shrugs and doesn't say anything more, only leading you upstairs and stops when you've reached closely to the edge of the roof.

“want to fly like a bird?”

the question coming out from his mouth makes you laugh and push his shoulder playfully.

“that's funny.”

“hey come on, i'm serious right now!”

“can you really do that? fly?”

“doesn't it sound ridiculous that way?”

“you're the one that called it like that.”

“okay, i'll change it. how'd you like to levitate in the sky?”

“sounds stupid.”

“it's either this or that.”

“what's the difference again?”

“beats me.”

“you're the one that's ridiculous and stupid, satoru.”

“well weren't those the qualities that made you like me?”

“touché.”

“such a dumb person to go out with someone like that if you ask me.”

“wow maybe that's why we're made for each other.”

satoru gives you one of his silly smiles and that makes you smile back at him. he makes you face the view in front of you and hugs you from behind — his large body enveloping you with warmth.

“so, what do you say? want to be the louis lane to my superman?”

you roll your eyes at his antics but you can't deny the giddy feeling that washes over you at how satoru cares for you.

“promise not to drop me?”

you exhale a shaky breath when satoru softly kisses you by the temple. he inches closer to whisper lovingly and with a hint of confidence in his tone.

“only a fool would drop a girl like you.”

and that's how you found yourself experiencing an unforgettable night of your life with him.

thought of this on a whim <33 hope you enjoyed reading it

#jjk imagines #jujutsu kaisen scenarios #jjk gojo #gojo satoru #gojo satoru imagines #gojo x reader #gojo satoru prompts #satoru x you #satoru x reader

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try-set-me-on-fire · 1 year

Text

Really, send me soft prompts! Find the rest of the fills on ao3

Buck isn’t sure why he woke up until the sound of water hitting the roof filters past the clinging fog of sleep. Raining, again. It’s May now, the weather steadily warming every week, and he’d gotten out of the habit of checking the upcoming forecast obsessively. He didn’t think he was worried about it anymore, didn’t think he had to worry about it anymore. But here he is, laying awake listening to the sky dump buckets on the earth below. Buck breathes out. Eddie’s hand is curled warm against his side, their only point of contact. Buck squints over at him in the dark, just able to make out his calmly sleeping face. He’s drooling, just a little. Buck stays there awhile, breathing with him, then sighs and gets up, padding quietly out to the kitchen.

The sound is different out here. Not quieter exactly, just the sharp ping of rain off the window rather than the dull roar of it on the roof tiles. Buck puts fresh water in the electric kettle that now lives next to the Hildy, and then leans on the table and looks out into the backyard and keeps breathing. It’s been California’s wettest year on record since the 80s, which Buck thinks is a mean little joke of the universe.

“Again?”

Buck turns towards Eddie, who’s standing in the doorway and rubbing sleep from his eyes with one hand and gesturing, annoyed, out at the weather with the other. Buck hums. “Apparently.”

The kettle is whistling faster, near boiling. Eddie rummages in the cabinet and brings down the big mug with scooby doo on it and the mint tea. He puts the bag in the mug, along with a generous heap of sugar, and pours in the water, stirring a little half heartedly. He brings the mug over and sets it on the table behind Buck, steam gently warming his back, and then wraps his arms around him. Buck drops his head and smiles into his shoulder.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” Buck sighs. He drapes his arms around Eddie. “I’m not… I keep thinking about it, and I’m not really afraid. I guess sort of... nervous? But even that’s not it.” He leans back enough to look at Eddie, furrowing his brow and trying to stick his thoughts together. “It’s like… I keep wondering if I’m scared, but there’s just a little blank space in there where I think the fear would be, and I keep moving around the edge and poking it. I’m not afraid but I keep thinking about it and it’s distracting, I guess, so maybe the effect is the same.”

Eddie gives him a contemplative sort of kiss. “Don’t tell Bobby you’re incapable of feeling fear, he’s never gonna let you on a ladder truck again.”

Buck laughs a little, and holds Eddie closer. The noise outside gets louder, and they both turn to watch it.

“It’s really coming down,” Eddie says in the soft and gently surprised tone of someone who’s lived in California through a drought.

“Yeah,” Buck agrees. He’ll have to check on the little vegetable garden in the morning. Chris had been so excited to make pasta sauce with things they grew themselves, it would be a shame if the freshly planted tomatoes and squash got flooded out.

Eddie looks at him again, sliding his hand up to rest his thumb at the pulse in Buck’s neck. “I’ll be afraid for you, if you don’t want to be.”

Buck bites the inside of his lip a little, watching Eddie’s face. He hadn’t turned any lights on, it’s just the streetlights and ambient brightness of the city at night coming through the window to paint him in shapes with soft edges. “You’re sweet.”

“For you,” Eddie smiles a little, and pulls Buck away from the table and starts swaying with him. Buck drops his hands to Eddie’s waist and dances with him like they’re at senior prom, a little too close, a little clumsy. They rest their heads together as they move in slow circles, and when Eddie hums tunelessly Buck feels it buzzing in his own skull.

The downpour becomes a little less torrential, eventually, and their tea is getting cold. Eddie takes a sip out of the mug, the biggest one they have, the one for sharing, and hands it to Buck.

“Dunno if I’ll sleep again,” Buck says, telling Eddie to go back to bed.

“Close enough to morning,” Eddie says, refusing to be told. “We can wait on the couch.

“Okay.” Buck kisses the word into Eddie’s mouth and follows Eddie to the living room, where they wait for the rain to end and the sun to rise.

#buddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buck #911 fox #my writing #sometimes you die and then have weird feelings about the weather #I’m a Californian and i keep thinking its funny how rainy its been this year #we had an actual tornado warning. i don’t even know what to DO in a tornado warning #buck gets struck down by a force of nature that then keeps laughing at him for months to come

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mammonsdabloon · 1 year

Text

Obey Me! as my quote book #1

Warnings: nothing really except swearing

—————————————————————————————————

Luke: “What’s grooming?”

Simeon: “it’s cleaning, like bathing a dog.”

Solomon: “it’s also a felony!”

———————————————————

Belphie: “cloud cum.”

Lucifer: “it’s water.”

Belphie: “….cloud cum.”

———————————————————

Belphie: “bitch right now I can’t even remember my name I think it’s like Jessica or something.”

———————————————————

Diavolo, at 1AM: “I would like to learn how to yodel.”

———————————————————

Belphie: “LET ME SLEEP IN PEACE. I SAID OYASUMI THAT MEANS GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP.”

———————————————————

Simeon: “you can’t dive head first or you’ll hurt your head and DIE.”

Luke: “well I’ve never died in my entire life!”

Simeon: *trying not to laugh*

———————————————————

Mammon: “I’ll call you back, a plane just crashed into my car.”

———————————————————

Thirteen: *takes pill out of tits* “I’m like a pez dispenser.”

———————————————————

Mammon, in a box: “Hi! Say it back!”

Lucifer: “do I look like I want to say it back?”

———————————————————

MC: *holds penny*

Satan: “don’t you dare throw Abraham Lincoln at me.”

———————————————————

Random news article: “black holes may not be black, or even holes.”

Mammon: “THEN WHAT ARE THEY??? WHITE SQUARES?? PURPLE TRIANGLES??!”

———————————————————

Satan: “you built like a sixteenth note.”

Lucifer: “….”

———————————————————

Mammon: “think of it as your initiation.”

MC: “being told you’re a piece of shit?”

Mammon: “yeah!”

———————————————————

Literally everyone to Solomon: “no I am convinced you are not human you have to be some kinda fucking NPC!”

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Solomon: “how to claim your soda: put a glow stick in it! No one else is doing that.”

———————————————————

MC, over the phone: “what’re you doing?”

Satan: “watching the scooby doo movie half asleep…”

———————————————————

Levi: “cremate me and put me in a salt shaker.”

———————————————————

Asmo: “ushy gushy my puss-“

Levi: “stop.”

Asmo: “no.”

———————————————————

MC: “set your heart ablaze.”

Levi: “STOP.”

MC: “yeah, that’s a great story title.”

Levi: “STOP IT.”

———————————————————

Thirteen: “bro give me Solomon’s address so I can go to his crusty ass residence.”

———————————————————

Barbatos: “does anyone have scissors?”

Diavolo: “scissors?”

Barbatos: “never mind I have a knife.”

———————————————————

Lucifer: “Mario is a 40yr old man who lives in his mothers basement.”

Levi: “….”

———————————————————

Barbatos: “my new students are equipped with flamethrowers.”

———————————————————

Beel: “when life gives you lemons you make lemonade. Or make orange juice and make everyone wonder how you did it.”

———————————————————

Asmo: “why would I bring indoor kids outside.”

Levi: “Asmo, out of all the things to do in the summer why would you play OUTSIDE??”

———————————————————

Mephisto: “I am not trying to cosplay as roadkill on a sunday evening.”

———————————————————

Raphael: “it doesn’t take much convincing you’d be surprised at how much you can have me do.”

Luke: “can you do a cartwheel?”

Solomon: “can you be my hit man?”

Raphael: “YES.”

———————————————————

there will be more 👁️👁️

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honourablejester · 1 year

Text

I’m just watching this video on youtube about North American monsters/cryptids, and I think one of the things I love most about folklore/mythology is the incredibly weird specific details. They’re amazing.

Like, I had never heard of Maryland’s snallygaster before, but everything about the reported version of the story is amazing. It’s a bird-lizard-tentacle creature like a cockatrice that has a cry like a train whistle, and during Prohibition apparently moonshiners used it as a full-on Scooby-Doo hoax to keep Revenue agents out of the woods, which leads up to the most excellent death for a cryptid ever. In that, apparently, it flew into the fumes from a monster moonshine still, was overcome, and plummeted to its death in a 2500 gallon vat of alcohol, and its body was then destroyed when Revenue raided the still and destroyed everything in it.

That’s just … that’s beautiful. I love folklore.

And the New Orleans version of the werewolf, the Rougarou, has some extremely Catholic details that I adore. One of the ways you can become one is to fail to observe Lent for 7 years in a row, for example. Or you can be cursed by a witch. If you’re cursed, and this is something I for real think more stories with werewolves should use, the curse has a time limit. You’re cursed for 101 days, and then the curse passes to the last person whose blood you’ve shed while cursed. So the curse perpetuates itself, but you are cured and just have to go back to your life living with whatever you’ve done and whoever you cursed in your stead. There’s some hella story potential in that version, especially if you imagine someone trying desperately to shed no-one’s blood until the curse passes from them. But, also, the tiny detail that I love the most, is that one of the ways to keep a Rougarou out of your house is to put 13 coins/stones on your doorstep, which is some extremely Catholic mythology seeping in, but the reason given in the story is that, for some reason, Rougarou can’t count past 12, so trying to count to 13 confuses and delays it. Which is just … some amazing back-justification, really. Why 12? You have 10 fingers! 20 digits, counting toes! It’s wonderful nonsense, because the number has a completely different source.

It’s the details that really make the magic when it comes to stories. If you’re making mythology for something, remember, put one small detail in that’s really weird and really specific. Human brains will hang whole stories on one tiny thing, if it sticks out enough.

#folklore #mythology #cryptids #werewolves #snallygaster

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thelyingjoke · 27 days

Note

hi bow i know we haven't talked in a while but i have been thinking So Fucking Much about DICE lately so i had to ask. u got any DICE hcs?

heyyyyy first off i am SO so sorry it’s taken me so long to get to this. i’ve been going through a lot of complicated personal stuff the past several months and it’s kept me off of social media…but i am back now! hopefully. i may not be the most active but i will try my best!!

NOW FOR THE QUESTION !!! DICE is a little funny for me…i love them so much and yet my mind’s perception of them constantly shifts…i can never seem to think of anything concrete for them. i love most theories about them to where i can’t decide which ones to believe in myself. like the 11th member…i really like all of the explanations people make for them. from cameraperson to pet to kokichi’s twin. I can’t decide which i like best so they’re all true at the same time for me.

for things that i CAN decide on…hm. Well they are Definitely orphans to me. and i think that like…that horse head in kokichi’s room? they all have one of those. they like to wear them regularly i think. it’s an extra mask. it gets pulled off their faces scooby-doo style to reveal the clown mask underneath.

and i Really like the card nicknames headcanon. but i think they have more than just standard deck names. like there’s Heart, Spade, Club, Clover, Ace, Joker. then you’ve got shit like Wild +4. Basic Darkness Energy. A Deal With Dark Ruler. Sour Cream From Steven Universe. they’re an unpredictable bunch…you can never guess what nickname they’re gonna use next.

the last one actually has an explanation. in an rp from like. jan 2019 i think? it was with DICE members and one of them pointed out how this guy’s hair looks like sour cream from steven universe

and in hindsight their hair is actually not that similar at all they are both just pointy. but that has stuck with me. and it’s funny. so i’ve been calling that member Sour Cream ever since

and speaking of comparing media…i imagine the group to have a dynamic similar to Giovanni’s Boys (gender neutral) from one of my favorite shows, the hit webseries epithet erased. they’re a gang of teenage petty criminals who are initially low-ranking members of an Actual criminal organization pyramid scheme but they eventually leave after giovanni proposes making their own evil organization. they’ve got goofy nicknames like Dark Star and Crusher and Flamethrower and Car Crash (but you can only get one if you earn it). giovanni wants to be a supervillain so bad and he is the sweetest guy ever who loves his minions so very much. these snippets from the book really fit DICE i think!

i look at them replacing hot dogs with cattails, and i nod and think…yes…DICE would do that…stupid but fun…that’s all they want…

they have their differences. giovanni and his boys (gender neutral) are very stupid. but i think the fundamentals of them both being groups of teens who just want to have fun and commit harmless petty crimes and who care so much for each other is Wonderful. i often think of this song to be DICE’s theme song even if i don’t think they are actually like how the banzai blasters are in the song. they’re smarter. But it’s a banger. i find them both very very fun (i think about kokichi saying lines from ee often…i have a list)

And this is not really a headcanon but i like how in the group photo everyone else has pants that at least Reach their ankles but kokichi is a rebel and wears pants that are just slightly too small for him. why does he do that. Weirdo (affectionate)

#kokichi ouma #danganronpa #ndrv3 #bow rambles #asks #headcanons #vespertin-y #i wish i had more hcs about them…#gonna bet i think of more things right after posting…#i hope this suffices!

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delugedecade · 5 months

Text

Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur

forcefully review as watched by Deluge

spoilers, obviously, but then again, I’m the one watching it for the first time.

I've been told this is the origin of Ultra Instinct Shaggy

It feels weird not to have the normal Scooby Doo intro theme, with this one having a Beatles pop rock like song.

Scooby and Shaggy really do get the short end of the stick a lot of the time.

I think this one is the first one on this list with Matthew Lillard that I've watched. and then the next being Lillard's first time as Shaggy.

Is coffee even good for dogs?

Shakey Joe is like high on coffee back there

Scooby channeling his inner Tassie Devil

THESES GUYS ARE STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL? OR AT LEAST COLLEGE?

The US Bureau of Supernatural Forces definitely exists purely for the gang to fuck with.

I was wondering why the GPS sounded familiar, It's John DiMaggio. though I'll be honest, I thought it sounded like Danny DeVito

God that barbeque looks sooooooo nice

I forget you guys call scones "biscuits"

Damn, they're giving Velma a love interest. I mean, they did with Mystery Inc with both Shaggy and HotDogWater. but still

They just happen to find a bone by being DOG

Winsor is like, almost identical wtf

The Phantosaur is here!

The action of this is definitely a lot more dramatic than all the others.

Yeah fuck up the Europeans!

The Psychedelia of this movie has much evident. I guess that's why the intro was so Beatles like.

I guess this movie really is early in their career, if Daphne's Tsundere about Fred.

Some wild theories by Daphne, but I'd expect nothing less.

ULTRA

INSTINCT

SHAAAAAAAAAGYYYYYYYYYYY!

Hahahaha. Dude punched himself to avoid Shaggy

Hmmmm Thaumtrope Mining Co really introducing the sus ones.

Daphne really knowing Fred won't be satisfied without a net catching someone.

Damn that's a really good RP idea. Daphne wearing fishnets to catch their significant other.

Velma in her own world but still being the brains for Daphne's Brawn. Pretty sure she's brawn, doesn't she have like martial arts training or something?

Daphne has motorbike experience, good to know

Scooby... please...

They really said that.

メニュー

Okay, Winsor, that's a little rude

Even thinking of the word bad breaks him out.

Biker gang actually being helpful with the gang.

There's two Phantosaurs.

Meddling kids ✅

Hmmm... Yeah it usually would take longer, and there's a whole half hour longer.

Oooh, Another mystery!

That thing didn't even bake, how did that decoy end up solid?

HOLY FUCK IS THE TOWN ON FIRE?

THE REAL PHANTOSAUR!

But probably using a souped up version of the Hypnomachine thing

YEAH BIKERS!

Oh my, it's the paleontologists

The paint stripper thing doesn't make sense, how the fuck does it get directed through the mouth?

Ahh, so it was a whole plot to get people out. just its for a keepsake giant dino and not the silver mine

Oh, they planted the paint strippers everywhere.

DAPHNE....

Superhuman strength to break off quartz. unless the strength of quartz is pretty bad.

Awfully long belt between three dudes. and probably the belts off of the professor.

Damn, Fred do be the heart of the team at this moment.

And there goes the whole town.

Or looks like just the main road.

Velma really asking him out after he leaves.

Probably shouldn't have all of them in the room

Wait so the meme of all of them dressed up as shaggy is from this movie?

Memes aside. Fun, exciting, really interesting mystery.

10/10

@submissiveking99 @tokufan400 @freeusemuses @asexxxualauthor

#ShinxNapped

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byeghostsily · 12 days

Text

MUN INTRO: hi folks! happy soft opening, jia (s/h, 21+) here. i'll be writing for daeun, and if she reminds you of d*phne from scooby doo... yeah. ims/discord available for plotting- please ask! ♡

MUSE INTRO: baek daeun, 22, also @danidanidaeuni on the interwebs. making a living out of yapping about gruesome murders (read: disappointing her parents). back in town for her mom's birthday dinner... or so she claims, with a camera and idea for a shiny new series in hand.

when did your muse first arrive in yuseong bay?

got here literally a couple days ago!!! is staying at her parents', but dear god is she regretting it. is already looking at alternative accommodation. has been doing her best to work off the jetlag, but its really mostly been andante for coffee and back to her place to sleep/work.

what does an average day look like for your muse?

wake up somewhere between 9-10, get caffeine in her. hunt down her latest victim for an interview, or whoever was unlucky enough to be scammed into bringing her around. with luck, she gets some footage. sometimes she's got an episode to record, so the yuseongers are rid of her for a couple hours. stay up til she falls asleep on her laptop. what a life, baby!

where can your muse usually be found?

andante, nursing a drink and going cross-eyed staring at her screen. her blue light glasses make her look like a dweeb, and yes, you can laugh. she has no qualms about asking to share a table <3 / lemon martes, wandering around like a lost ghost. she just likes looking at the displays, ok? / staring dubiously @ pierrot's clown mascot, the lighthouse, antique shop, the old mines, and hovering around the mouth of the woods. its like shes trying to stare them down.... see if something goes bump

how does your muse feel about hanhwa resort?

i don't think she even knows about the resort.. jk! its hard to miss a gigantic building smack dab where she used to go crabbing. there's probably a sense of nostalgia for what things used to be, but she understands that capitalism is a necessary and unstoppable evil. if her parents nag her about marriage one more time, she's booking a room there.

is there an aspiration for your muse to stay in or leave yuseong bay?

the expectation's always been that she'll leave--- while she doesn't have a return ticket booked, she's based in the us, and once she's got enough footage, she's gonezo.

extra, extra!

list your muse’s three favorite songs.

sza's saturn (yes, she's always the problem in every relationship) niki's split (asian diaspora reppppp) the japanese house's sunshine baby not a big fan of hearing men talk

describe your muse’s wardrobe.

she likes looking good, and her personal style leans more feminine. doesn't shy away from bright colours, but likes neutrals because she thinks she's taken more seriously like that </3 for brands, she's partial to hermes, chanel (tho she thinks they're losing their touch a little...) and miu miu!

what is a color, word, and emoji that you feel describes your muse?

purple, why?, 🧋

three strong likes and dislikes for your muse.

likes: windy weather, fruit (thinks korea is insane... wtf do u mean grapes are $10), reading comments dislikes: being rushed, not being organised, a meeting that could've been an email slash call that could've been a text

three positive and negative traits for your muse.

+ compassionate, sincere, enthusiastic - oblivious, naive, condescending

three talents and shortcomings for your muse.

has the ability to make you feel like you're the only two people in the room; a wonderful conversationalist, she's always focused on your conversation. good with names AND faces. you're the center of her universe! insane interpersonal intelligence. / no qualms dropping her (parents) money on things. need a loan? sure! some say its buying affection, but hey, she'd do anything for a friend :) / extremely open-minded. realises when she makes a mistake, and is quick to apologise and do her best to learn from it. someone who can put her pride down easily! condescends unintentionally, even though she has nothing but the best of intentions. it’s just what being so out-of-touch with the working class folk does to you, unfortunately. / she eats. so. goddamn. slowly. like its actually terrible. she takes an hour to finish one sandwich, because she chews so carefully, and then wants to say something but refuses to talk because her mouth is full. your muse is offered a meal in exchange for an interview? expect to spend at least 2h, MINIMUM with her. in that vein, also no respect for others' time / you've probably caught on by now, but she is always her first thought. she'll take her own sweet time doing things, and hates being put on others' timeline. everything is framed through her experience, which is an extremely privileged one.

what is a book/tv series/movie/video game character that you feel your character relates to? (you can include who you would say they’re alike, and who they would say they’re alike.)

she was heavily inspired by daphne blake from scooby doo, and even her name's a homage to that! daeun would like how she stays true to herself (and has great style!) while still kicking ass! she thinks daphne was ahead of her time, retaining her femininity while still pulling her weight and being useful to the scoobies in her own way.

a relevant goal or arc for your character to overcome.

accept she'll probably never make her parents proud, fully accept and move on from that. also pay her own bills, damn. something something true independence....

anyway. pls like to plot and i'll slide into ims :^)

#yshqs:intro

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grutadodaibo · 3 months

Text

So, I decided to rewatch Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated, it's been 3 years since the last time I watched it, by now I am midway season 1, it has been a nice experience, I really appreciate the writers effort for trying to make a plot focused Scooby Doo show while keeping all the tropes the franchise is known for, and I keep wondering why someone at Warner Bros. haven't tried to give it a try on it again (Unless you count HBO'S Velma, but let's not talk about this, we all know how bad this show is).

But one thing that keeps coming back everytime I watch an episode of the series, is how in order for the series to work, the gang needs to be either out of character or very one note. Their dynamic is really weird because you have these two opposing forces on the series where in one hand they want us to root for their friendship and for them to stay together but at the same time when they are together they are this close 🤏 to split up and never see each other's faces again.

I kept remembering the 2002 live action movie where the gang has a similar dynamic, but there they at least have a reason for why they acted like that, they've been together for too long and can't stand each other anymore because every monster they find the same thing keeps happening, that's why they break up and keep acting completly rude and apathetic towards to each other. Here though, there really isn't a reason why, they know each other for a while, have solved some misteries by the time the show begins, but overall, they are just really toxic to each other, the prime example being the way they write Velma and Shaggy's relationship, I know that Tony Cervone has stated that this was because Velma is lesbian in the series, going through a compulsive heterosexual relationship but this is not enough to explain way her relationship with Shaggy is so messed up, with her trying to change how he talks, how he dresses, what he eats and the whole rivalry they pull out of nowhere between her and Scooby, I'm all for Velma being lesbian (Even tho I'm more of the Bi Velma team) but this really isn't the way to do it.

I stil like the show, but we all need to adress criticism when criticism is needed, specially when the show is often regarded as the best piece of midia in the franchise, and that could be a problem for new interpretations of the characters that have the same issues as the ones from SDMI.

#scooby doo #SDMI #scooby doo mystery incorporated #shaggy rogers #velma dinkley #fred jones #daphne blake #scooby gang

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ziipzeepzop-eez · 4 months

Note

OKAY SO-

I had an idea for a silly goofy au where Damian, Jon, and reader are like the scooby gang and go around solving mysteries.

Reader is like a magic user, and they're job is to keep the evil entities away from everyday people, (Like Supernatural! But kid friendly🩷)

Damian has been stalking them as Robin and that's how the supersons get involved in the mystery gang.

It's just wholesome crime solving amongst the baby heros, and they have fun adventures (that sometimes end in sleepovers).

It think it would be funny too if paranormal assistance was needed and Dickie walks in on the three of them performing a seance in the theater room-

"What the hell is happening right now?"

"Magic."

"..."

"Why."

"Because, Richard. It is important for our investigation."

"Okay." *Turns to leave*

"No, no, no. You have to stay until I close the ritual so the spirit doesn't attatch to you. :D"

"WHAT-"

But he can't complain, because at least little wing is making friends...?

Bonus if Bruce has no idea where Damian is going almost every night. Like he just dissapears for a few hours then just returns wuth Jon and no explaination.

Clark and Lois know obvi because Jon is just so excited to tell his parents all about the latest mystery.

I know this isn't alot but I have more but I think imma go take another nap rq-

Imma sleepy-

NORMIEEEEEE AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Nono because--

I'm-

How'd you know that my absolute weakness is the Supersons with a same age reader completing the baby hero trinity??

I'M NOT JOKING IT'S SERIOUSLY ONE OF MY FORGOTTEN SOFT SPOTS FOR THESE GOOBERS!!!! I remember a long time ago when I read this headcanon post about the Supersons with a reader who was the child of Wonder Woman and they were basically the Big Three next gen!! ��🥹 I have no clue where it's at now :sobs: BUT IT WAS REALLY GOOD AND FUELED MY LOVE FOR DC CIRCA 2015-2017!!!!

Now. As for YOU, my dear boba bubble.........

*deeeep breath in-*

FRICK YEEEEAAAAAAHHHH

THEM!!! THE KIDS EVER!!!!!!!! BEING A LIL SCOOBY DOO GANG!!!

I ain't gonna tell no tall man's tale, as SOON as I got this gist for this - the Scooby Doo theme song was playing in my head and now I can't stop imagining it with them getting into funny dramatic thematic situations:

It's just-

🎶 WHAT'S NEW SCOOBY DOO? COMIN' AFTER YOU ✨🏃🏽‍♀️💨 WE'RE GONNA SOLVEEE THAT MYSTERY!!🎶 and it's all a rush of cutscenes of the Big Little Three getting into all kinds of fun supernatural filled shenanigans — crazy and wild and sometimes very scary, but they've all got each other's backs.

Point being: yes yes, 100% yes.

Magic user?!??!!?!?!!! THAT MEANS.... MAGIQUE~~~ (◠‿・)—☆

let's say bro (you) can fly - maybe not as often nor as naturally as Jonny boy, but hell you can levitate for more than a few minutes at a time, it's something!

you both take turns carrying Damian - the only non-flyer of the group lmaoooo

you're all the "middle man" between you all at one point or another. sometimes dami leads with his head and instincts; you and jon reel him in. sometimes jon leads with his heart and just finally fudging snaps because even the sweethearts go apeshit sometimes - you and dami do damage control and console the poor boy in the emotional aftermath. sometimes, you either lose yourself to the supernatural aspect of it all: it's either a overflowing, overwhelming rush of magic that zaps you dry and you're withered to a delicate, fragile thing in your own destructive aftermath or you go full on Avatar (tla) State and become something just shy of not human and need to be tethered back to the ground by your boys.

whatever the case may be, you all work around and through it all. you adapt to each other's needs. you're all there for each other, no matter what.

The bit with Dick and the seance. In the Manor, no less. I applaud you - it's too canon not to be.

You, hands glowing and a little too cheerful - like this is normal (it is. to you, at least) but still wary: "WAIT DON'T LEAVE YOU'RE NOW A LIABILITY TO THE DEMONS!!"

Dick:

Yoooooo, imagine pulling up to the function while Dami's at school LMFAOOOOOOO

HE'S IN A LAB OR ART CLASS JUST VIBING AND HAPPENS TO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW TO SEE YOU: LEVITATING AND WAVING FRANTICALLY TO HIM AND JON RIGHT BESIDE YOU, LOOKING EXTREMELY SHEEPISH AND WAVES INNOCENTLY:

Damian: Oh, Grandfather's head on a stick.

Classmate: Woah! What happened? *sees Damian looking right past them to the window, also looking like he's about to have an aneurysm*

Classmate: Bro, what-? *goes to turn*

Damian: *grabs them by the shoulders and turns them around* AH YA- YOU- YOUUuuuknow, what? It's nothing at all. Nothing of the sort. It was . . . a bird. Yes. A bird. It flew away. But I must leave now.

Classmate: *stunned* I-uh- okay-?

Damian: *gathering his things while retaining intense eye contact* Yes.

Classmate: ......... Bro you good? Seriously-

Damian, interrupts: It would seem I have a . . . Previous engagement. I'll tend to the bird on my way.

Classmate: Oh-

Damian, already out the door because you just deactivated your levitation spell and just, went right parallel downwards without a word and Jon panicked and flew down after you to try and catch you and the both of y'all disappear from his view and most likely ate absolute shit in the school's compost bin outside the window: Your understanding is appreciated.

Classmate: .......................

Classmate: It's first period??

LMFAOOOOO AND AS FOR CLASSMATE, bro's weirded out but probably unaffected nonetheless because Dami has a rep for being a little weird and disappearing out of the blue from time to time but is a relatively pleasant classmate nonetheless!

✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ⋆｡°✩

Damian, Jon, and you being the next Big Little Three.......

But there's magic and ghosts involved!!! 👻✨

Idea: maybe you end up being Zatanna's apprentice/family member and inherited your magic through that! Orrrrr, you're just a freelance magic user, a bit of a vagabond of sorts, a total enigma and have it under your belt, no mentor, just doin' your own thing. (Miles Morales ref. 🙌)

Either way, you're a well-meaning kid with a good heart and have an absolute time hassling all these spirits like cattle back to the netherworld that nobody else can see.

Kinda like Danny Phantom!! (I loveeee dc x dp) or somethin' to that effect haha.

Wouldn't it be even funnier if reader has like, no known records? At all? They just showed up one day and came to clean out the supernatural aspects of the city ('ole goth here's messed up enough without all the vengeful ghosts in it! just doin' a little favor, no? *blows a kiss*') and gets roped into the adventure- and friendship/found family circle- of a lifetime.

Stakeouts that turn into sleepovers at the Manor. Very rarely down at the farm in Metropolis, but sometimes!! Big open cornfields, it's a hotpot for Prime Supernatural Activity. You make insufferable jokes (even tho they're like, true) and Damian scolds you for scaring Jon. Tt.

But you save his favorite cow Betsy from getting attacked by some random ghost demon and Jon nearly crushes your ribs in a hug.

As for Damiiiii, bro- I came up w/ something--

You pop up at some Wayne gala inexplicably at first.

Damian spots you for the first time (y'know, before y'all all become friends hueheuhueuhue *chokes, coughs*), completely out in the open, and spews his drink.

He'd immediately stomp over to you, aghast, because what in all the names of the Lazarus Pit are you doing here?! He'd been stalking you for weeks from afar! He was a master of stealth!! How did you even manage--

I- what? No, he does not like your outfit! It's rather spiffy, you say? HE DOESN'T CARE! THAT'S THE LAST THING HE'S THINKING ABOUT RIGHT NOW?? How did you even GET IN??

He's steaming and flustered while also trying to not make a scene because the place is crawling with socialites and high society aristocrats whereas you're cool, calm, charming, blending in too well as you down your own drink. [It's icy apple juice.] and just, bamboozles him further.

'Excellent year,' you suddenly say rather seriously, peering down into your glass of icy apple juice with an impressed expression, effectively cutting off Damian, who was in the middle of a hushed, barely watered down tirade.

Y'all stare at each other for all of two nanoseconds and the events happen as follows:

you turn a bottle of iced apple cider to Damian (where did you even manage to nab one?), pointedly at the label to further explain your comment,

he slaps it out of your hand in a rush of overwhelming emotion and thereby catches the attention of everyone within y'all's general vicinity,

BOOM - you're both circled out and being stared down from all sides.

Damian wants to crawl in a hole and die, maybe.

You raise your hand and twiddle your fingers in a sweet wave and- you- that's when he sees it-

Sparkles. Real, genuine, sparkles. Come right out from your fingertips.

Damian is at a loss while you suddenly garner an audience!! An applauding audience!!! What the hell is going on-?

You disappear in a puff of smoke! Oh my!!

And in a grandiose puff of sparkles and thematic smoke (it's like regular smoke but cooler), you reappear with a flourish on the stage on the other side of the room! Thereby catching everyone's attention.

"Good eveninggggg, my fellow Gothamites! Wowza, I see some sexy faces here tonight! *twirls magician's hat and releases an entire army of butterflies* Enchanted to see you all! I'm (Name) and I'm your prime rib for the night! (cue pulling a whole ass pig, cute and with a bowtie, out from the inside of your coat) Or so to speak!"

Gasps and claps arise from the audience!

Damian is terse, a little terrified, and a little impressed. And he watches the entire time as you pull off a literal magic show! An interactive one, too!

Afterwards, you stand in front of an enchanted crowd and bow with a proper flourish; when you peek out over the rim of your hat, you make direct eye contact with Damian, a mischievous smile playing at your lips.

A proper introduction for you, your Highness? - echoes in his mind. Magic.

That's when he knows. He knows, he's in for a wild ride.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I'VE STARTED AND NOW I CANT GET ENOUGHHHHHH OMGGGGGGGG

(Also! Dick would totally be gushing over y'all all the time. His baby wing made friends! And such Good Ones too!! Awwwww! <33)

(And Damian just snaps at him to be quiet, orrrr frowns from where he's trapped in between you and Jon in a group hug. He secretly, not-so-secretly loves it.)

#"૮₍ •⤙•˶|✉️ beep! inbox! ˎˊ˗#my normie nomzie ࣪🪻 ִֶָ☾.#zeepie beep : fandom! ⭒๋࣭ ⭑🖋˚𔓘｡#ping pong with the shawties ᝰ.ᐟ #i'm a sucker for the big little three #little big three??#the next gen trinity bro they're all so wholesome and fun #childhood whimsy and REAL whimsy because reader can do magic!!! =D #your idea is so boss level dude i can't begin to fathom #YET ANOTHER AU FOR THE BOOKS!!!!!!#what should we call this one?#the magic league?#scooby gang 2.0?#the skittles squad? (LMAFAFAOOOOO)#the superkids??#the big little league but make it ✧･ﾟ:* yk?#THE TRIFLING TRINITY cuz even tho y'all stand on bidness y'all be giving everyone gray hairs sometimes ☠✋#it can be smthn super silly and lighthearted or something edgy and cool #either way it retains to be y'all's thing *well* into adulthood bc y'all still kick it together and /that's/ what makes it meaningful #gimme more #this why i'm obsessed w you lowkey (/plat + /hj)#i was wholly inspired by fizzarolli's for that lil magic show bit can you tell?? lolllll #btw i had What's New Scooby Doo by Simple Plan on LOOP while writing this out #absolute BANGER #zeepie beep and her music rolodex 📇🎤🎼🎹🎶#highly recommend #but anyways back to subject #FRICK YEAH SUPERKIDS MYSTERY INC WOOOOOOOOOO

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rose-of-pollux · 5 months

Text

Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @knickynoo, thanks!

(Tagging @belphegor1982, @threephantomrey, and @radarsteddybear and anyone else who wants to do this!)

How many works do you have on AO3? Including the selection of ancient fics I just brought over from a dying FFN, 527.

What's your total AO3 word count? 1,836,538 words

What fandoms do you write for? Currently, my main fandoms are 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Back to the Future, with some Haunted Mansion, Hogan's Heroes, Hades, Pokémon, Super Mario, and Legend of Zelda thrown in. And I've dabbled in other fandoms, as well.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

“Heroic Resolve” (Man from U.N.C.L.E., light slash)

“A Devil Put Aside for Me” (Super Smash Bros, gen)

“If Wishes Were Cats” (MFU, light slash)

“Desperate Times” (MFU, light slash)

"Some Things are That Simple" (Super Smash Bros, gen)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I try to, but between real life and my ADHD, I don't often get to them as quickly as I'd like to. Also FFN has completely stopped sending notifications in the last several months, so I genuinely have no clue if anyone has left a comment there. :/

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? ...I haven't written it yet, but one of my future 13 Ghosts fics is going to be an angsty semi-resolved resolution that carries over to the next fic. Currently, however, the angstiest ending is probably “All Dead, All Dead” (Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Super Smash Bros)–it’s about BOTW Link realizing that the events of World of Light in Smash Ultimate makes this the second time that he failed to prevent a disaster, that he’s lost more this time than last time during the Calamity, and is now carrying even more survivor’s guilt as a result. I normally don’t write such angsty fics with no resolution, but as this is World of Light, and everyone’s restoration is a foregone conclusion if you’ve played the game, I felt it was fine as is.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Most of my fics have happy endings, but the happiest is probably "O, Brave New World" (13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo)--just that ending scene of everyone hugging in the rain after Daphne casts her first successful spell during her magic training... Yeah.

Do you get hate on fics? Not really, but I do get people who either complain that the fic makes no sense after admitting they jumped in the middle of a multichapter fic without any context, or I get someone who does not understand dramatic irony and wonders why Marty is acting the way he is when he's extremely stressed and not thinking things through as a result.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? Love them! Craziest one is probably the MFU/Haunted Mansion crossover I did earlier this year ("The Grim Grinning Ghosts Affair"), but the BTTF/Hogan's Heroes one I'm planning is going to be right up there.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Yes, one of my Super Mario fics was stolen along with other writers' on FFN back in 2020; thankfully a friend of mine in the fandom AND a kind stranger both alerted me to it, and I and the other victims reported the thief and got the stolen fics removed.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No, but I have had one transcribed as a Podfic by someone else–“You Can’t Judge a Book” (Hogan’s Heroes, Gen).

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes, once, on LiveJournal a long time ago; it was a Hogan’s Heroes fic with an otherworldly spin; I’m not entirely sure if it still exists.

What's your all-time favorite ship? Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin!

What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Most of all, the Monkeesfic I left hanging, because it was the literal final installment of the arc I was writing.

What are your writing strengths? Characterizations, or so I’ve been told–I can jump from fandom to fandom, and have everyone remain perfectly in-character. Also, dialogues. My writing has always been dialogue-driven.

What are your writing weaknesses? Descriptions. As improved as I am when compared to 2008 when I started posting stories online (and you can tell by looking at some of those that I brought over from FFN to AO3), I yearn for the ability to pull off the whole “Show, don’t Tell” as good as certain people I could mention (Vincent Price and Paul Frees, mainly).

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? It can be tricky depending on the language, but rewarding if it all works out. In Hogan’s Heroes, LeBeau switching between French and English happens nearly once per episode, so I endeavor to do that (with plenty of help from Bel, I will admit). For Illya speaking Russian or Ukrainian in MFU, I throw it into Google Translate and pray it comes out coherent. His dialogues are the most challenging by far since I’m on my own. For Flim-Flam speaking Nepali in 13 Ghosts, I have a much easier time since Nepali is similar enough to Hindi (which I am decently fluent in).

First fandom you wrote for? Pokémon, way back in 1999 (though those fics will never see the light of the internet, ever).

Favorite fic you've ever written? Going to do this for my main three fandoms–

Man from U.N.C.L.E. -- the aforementioned Haunted Mansion crossover, "The Grim Grinning Ghosts Affair" (mostly gen, but established Napollya bickering and canonical Hatbox Ghost/Beating Heart Bride going on in the background); The Ghost Host and Madame Leota draw Napoleon and Illya to the Mansion under admittedly false pretenses in the hopes that the mortal duo can help the Hatbox Ghost wrangle the mad spirit of Constance Hatchaway.

13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo -- "Class Reunion" (gen); Vincent brings the gang to his school reunion, and as Daphne, who's been learning magic from Vincent, is determined to prove herself to the assembled witches and warlocks, there is trouble brewing as a nefarious plot involving the Forbidden Arts underway.

Back to the Future– “‘Cause I Might Not Make It Back” (Gen). Marty is pursued by a renegade scientist to be used as leverage against Doc, resulting in him getting stranded in 1932, stricken with amnesia. As 1986 Doc searches for Marty, the ripple effect fails to kick in as his 1932 counterpart finds him, and is tasked with trying to figure out how to get Marty’s memory back, as well as keep him out of the clutches of his renegade pursuer.

#quiz #random #don't mind me #my writing

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alphashley14 · 10 months

Text

One of Us

A Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated/Mystery Skulls Crossover

Chapter 19

No One Ever Really Dies

After fleeing the lounge, Ricky and the kids hurried into Fred and Daphne’s room and shut and locked the door behind them.

Once inside, they stood around the door and listened.

“I don’t hear anything. What about you Scoob?” Fred asked.

“Not a thing,” Scooby confirmed.

“Even the best of friends argue,” Daphne said.

“She’s right,” Ricky said. “They love each other too much to resort to violence. No matter what they’re fighting about.”

The six of them backed away and sat around the room to talk.

“So like um…” Shaggy plopped down into a chair, “can we talk about… that?”

“Shaggy’s right. We need to be on the same page about this,” Velma agreed.

“I just can’t believe that sweet little dog turned out to be…” Daphne left the end of her sentence open-ended, but everyone knew what she meant.

“I trust him,” Ricky said, to all of their surprises.

“Like really?” Shaggy exclaimed.

“But why?” Scooby asked.

“Whatever he was in the past, he isn’t the same guy who’s comforted me today more times than I care to mention,” Ricky said. “I don’t need to remind you all that I have regrets too. But I’ve realized that I was wrong and I’m doing something about it. He didn’t get to finish telling us his story, but it should be obvious to us all that he did the same thing. And unlike me he’s had centuries to do so.”

“He’s right,” Velma said, thinking back to how Mystery had told her about magic. “If he was the same fox who did all of those things back then, I don’t think any of us would even be standing here right now. If he wanted to hurt us, he’s had infinite opportunities to do so by now. Not to mention that he wanted our trust enough to tell me what his achilles heel is.”

“Yeah but like, that’s assuming he’s telling the truth,” Shaggy said.

“I think he has good intentions,” said Scooby, remembering how Mystery had exacted justice on his behalf when the scary priest in the painting had come at him earlier.

“I think so too, just from what we’ve seen and what we’ve been told so far,” Daphne said. “But, I think it’s important that we all remember that we don’t have all of the facts yet. Mystery didn't finish his story.”

“Is it wrong of me to say that I’m kind of glad he didn’t?” Fred asked, anxiously messing with his ascot. “It’s- a lot.”

“I feel exactly the same way,” Ricky agreed. “Also, adding onto this discussion, I would like to point out that even if we didn’t trust the Mystery Skulls, I believe that continuing to cooperate with them is presently the more strategically sound thing to do. If it weren’t for the Mystery Skulls, my old group would have us vastly outgunned and outnumbered right now. Not that I’m calling you kids incapable. Because it’s honestly impressive how difficult it’s been to get one up on you. But if they cornered us somehow…”

“He’s right,” Velma said thoughtfully. “The Mystery Skulls actually have a pretty good chance of overpowering them, even without our help.”

“But if they’re so strong,” Scooby said with a tilt of his head, “then why don’t they just barge in and rescue Arthur?”

“Actually, yeah. I was sort of wondering the same thing,” Daphne said thoughtfully.

“The situation’s too delicate for that,” Ricky replied. “Right now to Professor Pericles, Arthur- or rather I, am a tool. But if we barged in and tried to rescue Arthur- or me, then we’d need to get the remote from Pericles. And he’s so smart that chances are he’d realize what we were there for before we could do that. He might even realize that the swap’s taken place. And if that happens, I can’t begin to describe how monumentally bad that would be. Because then Arthur’s not just a tool anymore - he becomes a hostage. And I think we all know what the first of his demands would be.”

“The planispheric disc!” Mystery Inc. exclaimed at once.

“Like he’s right. He’s totally right!” Shaggy cried.

“And even if we gave him the disc, there’s no garuntee he’d give Arthur or Mr. E or whoever’s in that body back,” Fred added. “Because as long as he has a hostage, he’s got a way of making sure we don’t interfere with his plans.”

“Which means that as much as we don’t like it,” Ricky walked over to the window and leaned against the glass, looking out over the twisted forest. “The covert operation that Arthur has going on right now is the best chance we have of getting him back safely. I just hope he stays safe in the process.”

Ricky talked with the kids for another twenty minutes before they bid each other goodnight and at last retired to their rooms for the evening.

As soon as he was back in the seclusion of his room, the entire day finally hit him all at once. Ricky felt like he hadn’t slept in fifteen chapters. He was suddenly so tired. Had it really been only a day? It felt more like seven months.

But as much as he wanted to collapse face-first onto that huge bed and pass out for the rest of this chapter (assuming nothing weird happened in his dreams this time and his insomnia hadn’t followed him to this body), Ricky knew he’d feel monumentally better after a shower.

Ricky looked over to the bathroom with a sigh and repeated what Fred and Mystery had told him earlier. “We’re both guys… it’s only as weird as I make it. Don’t make it weird…”

The problem was that it was already weird. Ricky had grown more accustomed to what existing in Shaggy’s body felt like, but the shower really forced him to feel the difference. Then there was Shaggy’s hair. Washing Ricky’s hair was a process. Shaggy’s hair on the other hand was as easy as wash, rinse, fluff it with a towel at the end, and- oh wow. Hair’s basically dry already. All done.

So. If he was looking for plus sides to this whole situation, he supposed he could add that to the list: showers were easy.

After he was dried off, Ricky got dressed to go to sleep, brushed his teeth, turned out the lights, then finally climbed into bed.

As absolutely magical as the bed was, Ricky laid awake for a long time, letting his thoughts drift wherever they wanted to go. He thought a lot about today. But time and time again, his thoughts wandered back to Cassidy. Until finally, he gave up and stopped trying not to think of her.

She would have loved all of this, he thought to himself. Vivi’s a fighter, just like her. They would have gotten along well. She might’ve been cautious of Mystery, but he would have adored her. She wouldn’t’ve been afraid of Lewis either. And the Dead Beats would have made her laugh. A mental image came to mind. Of her. Laughing as the little pink spirits nuzzled and crowded around her for pets like they had to him and the kids earlier. The thought brought a smile to his lips.

As nice a thought as it was, it was never going to happen. And it was all his fault.

Are you here now? Could you have come back as a ghost? Like Lewis?

No. Ricky didn’t want that for her. If she came back as a ghost, then what if she came back as a weak spirit, like the painting ghosts? Stuck in one place? Trapped where she’d died? Clinging to her humanity and always struggling to not be consumed by stronger beings? Like the wild world of yokai Mystery had described. God, no. Not Cassidy. After all she’d been through, she deserved peace.

But… where exactly?

The Mystery Skulls talked about life after death as if there was more than one. If that were true, then perhaps he and Cassidy would truly never meet again. But maybe it was better that way. Wherever she was… all he wanted was what was best for her. But what did he know? Basically nothing. He would have to ask one of the Mystery Skulls about it when he got the chance.

“Wherever you are,” he prayed to her quietly, “I hope you’re at peace, somewhere worthy of you. And I’m- Oh Angel… Cassidy I’m so sorry…”

Maybe Ricky was just that exhausted. And perhaps not being in the body of an insomniac had something to do with it too. The last words that slipped past his lips before Ricky cried himself to sleep came out barely a whisper.

“I love you…”

༻˚⁺･⚉｡○✼༓☾⦾♫෴♡💛♡෴♫⦾☽༓✼○｡⚉･⁺˚༺

“It’s done,” Lewis said, popping back into the room through the table in front of them. Marcie shrieked and nearly sent Arthur’s coffee flying across the room, but Arthur reached out and caught it before it could spill.

“Dude. You did that on purpose,” Arthur said dryly.

“Maybe,” Lewis shrugged. “It was funny tho.”

“It wasn’t funny to me!” Marcie protested.

“Sorry,” Lewis said, not sounding remorseful. He flew up to Arthur’s head level and flipped upside down. “But to be fair, I don’t get people I can mess with very often. What’s the point of being a ghost if you can’t at least have a little fun with it right?”

“Yeah,” Marcie half-laughed, “I guess so.”

“Is there anything else I can do to help while I’m here? Anything at all?” Lewis asked.

“You’ve done plenty,” Arthur said. “Seriously Lewis. We may not have been able to pull this off without your help. Just out of curiosity, how many different tracking devices and bugs did you find on the Enigma Machine?” Arthur asked.

“Four,” Lewis replied.

“And what did you do with them?”

“Hid them in the ceiling above the vehicle. Just like you said. When you make your escape, the tracking systems will show that the van is still in the garage. They won’t be able to track it.”

“And you weren’t seen?”

“Come on man, you know me. I’ve had plenty of practice avoiding breathers and fucking with security cameras by now,” Lewis said, flipping over so he was upright once more.

“How foolish of me to doubt you,” Arthur said jokingly.

“Yeah Arthur. Why’d you do that?”

They laughed, but soon broke off into silence as an unpleasant truth hung in their air between them.

“I don’t want to leave you,” Lewis said sadly at last.

“And I don’t want you to go,” Arthur admitted, pulling his friend into a hug. “But we both know why you have to.”

“Your plan will work. It has to,” Lewis said.

“And when it does, I’ll see you on the road the night after next.”

“But until then, know that you’ll never be off my mind. Just- remember, Arthur. If you need me for any reason, you can send a message through the Dead Beats.”

“I know. Thanks, Lewis.” Arthur said.

They pressed their foreheads together for a long moment, a final goodbye, before Lewis turned to Marcie. “Take care of him,” he beseeched her. “Arthur’s the smartest idiot I know. He could build a whole new world with that brain of his, but he’ll get so focused on it that he’ll forget to do important being-alive things. Like eating. Or sleeping. Or occasionally taking a shower.”

“Hey! I- do not!”

“Oh yeah? How many meals have you eaten today?”

Arthur opened and closed his mouth, then pursed his lips in thought. “...Does one singular donut count as ‘brunch’?”

“No it does not. Eat something, Kingsmen!” Lewis barked.

“All right. All right. You have my word. I’ll scrounge something together.”

“And you’ll sleep?”

“... Yyyyes…” Arthur groaned.

“But you’re going to eat something first.” Lewis said.

“Fine! Look, Lew! This is me, going to eat something!” Arthur said loudly as he marched into the kitchen.

Lewis’ scowl softened into a smile as he watched Arthur disappear into the other room. Then he turned back to Marcie once more. “Hey. Uhm. I know you’re doing a lot as it is, but I meant what I said. Take care of him… please.”

“Don’t worry. I will,” Marcie nodded.

“Seriously. Thank you. The only reason I’m not an anxiety-ridden mess is because I know he’s not totally alone in here.”

“You are an anxiety-ridden mess,” Marcie corrected.

Lewis barked a laugh. “I guess that’s true. So… it seems like you’re taking this really well. You’re definitely less hesitant to believe all this than Velma was. Any reason why?”

“I mean Arthur had the Dead Beats as proof of the paranormal from the get-go, so I guess I’ve had a while to come to terms with the whole ‘ghosts are real’ thing before I met you. Other than that, I did have my doubts as to whether he’s really not Mr. E for most of today. Until…”

“What?”

“I made one reference. Just one. And the next thing I knew, Arthur had to physically restrain himself from going on a rave about Smash Bros trivia. We got refocused back to the task at hand pretty quick, but that’s definitely when I knew for sure. Mr. E would never.”

Lewis snorted. “Yeah! That sounds like Arthur!” When Arthur came back into the room, eating the final bites of a ham and cheese sandwich, he didn’t say a word about Lewis being gone. Marcie supposed that for them, just leaving was easier. Or else they’d never be able to let each other go.

Marcie was tempted to ask Arthur if he was okay, but he spoke up as she was opening her mouth to do so. “You should eat something too. I would’ve made you a sandwich too, but I didn’t know what you liked or if you were vegetarian or anything like that.”

“I’m not vegetarian but yeah. I’ll eat something. Speaking of… it’s getting pretty late you know. Are you… going to sleep soon?”

“Eventually.”

“How about a shower?”

Arthur snorted. “Not a chance in Hell.”

༻˚⁺･⚉｡○✼༓☾⦾♫෴♡💛♡෴♫⦾☽༓✼○｡⚉･⁺˚༺

Ricky dreamed that night. Of her, of course.

The last time Ricky ever saw her was in the forest when all five members of the original Mystery Incorporated met together for the first time in 20 years. After Pericles made his offer and flew away, Brad and Judy had left in a huff, at that time still pretending that they were acting in the best interest of their son. Leaving Ricky and Cassidy alone beneath the moonlit trees.

“The nerve of that bird,” she’d scoffed, angrily kicking a tree root. “Who the hell does he think he is?”

Ricky just scowled, trying to hide how tempted he was to take him up on his offer. He didn’t trust Pericles. Their relationship would never be what it was. But… he missed him. As hard as he denied it, he missed his old friend. Having lost his every friend and ally, Ricky was alone. He hated being alone.

Unless…

“He’s right you know,” Ricky had said.

And Cassidy had whirled around to scold him, “You can’t possibly be considering-!”

“Of course not!” (He’d lied both to her and himself that night, of course.) “I just mean that us, working together… we’d have a better chance at getting the pieces than we would by ourselves. My offer still stands, Cassidy. You’re smart. Resourceful. Strong. I want you back on my team.”

Looking back, she’d looked almost hopeful at first. But as soon as ‘getting the pieces’ left his mouth she had turned sad, her disappointment in him evident. “And my answer is the same,” she sighed. “I told you already, Ricky. I won’t hurt those kids.”

“Right,” Ricky had said bitterly, “Because they’re good kids. What was it you said? Better than we were?”

“We were good once too,” she muttered.

“You were a child.” Wait- what was that? A newer memory, the voice of a newer friend, echoing in his ears.

“You were a good kid.” What was he doing? He could be good again. This didn’t have to end the same way it had been the first time. He could save her. She didn’t have to die!

“And he took advantage of that.” But even as these thoughts occurred to Ricky, everything he wanted to say was trapped at the back of his throat.

“Goodbye Ricky,” and then she was leaving.

NO! IF YOU LET HER GO YOU’LL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN!

Ricky tried to move but his feet were rooted to the spot. He tried to talk, to shout her name, but no sound would come out. He reached out, trying to catch her, but she was just out of reach.

NO. NO NO NO NO!

But he watched her walk away, just as he had back then. And as she vanished into the darkness of the trees the memory of another familiar voice, a more cruel voice, echoed in his ears.

“Would you like to know how she died?”

“NO!”

Ricky shot up, wide awake in a cold sweat. He had to look around for several moments as he recalled where he was and why. He was safe. In Lewis’ mansion. The forest was but one in a long series of regrets. And Cassidy-

She’s gone.

Ricky took several deep breaths and fell back onto the pillows.

Fuuuuuck.

Figures he couldn’t go one night without something weird or otherwise unpleasant happening in his dreams. Granted - he hadn’t ended up in another dimension this time, so this was arguably an improvement. Arguably. As in Ricky could also argue that he preferred the Sitting Room. Seriously, the realities of the waking world were unpleasant as it is. Why did his brain have to torture him when he was asleep, too?

Just then, his stomach made a noise akin to the sound of a dying whale.

“Fuck you Shaggy,” Ricky grumbled in the dark. But he felt bad as soon as the words left his mouth. It wasn’t Shaggy’s fault that his body for some reason required breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, and supper. It was genetics- some kind of disorder- something. In any case, something wasn’t right.

Come to think of it, how is he not constantly shitting with how much he eats? And how is he not as fat as me while shitting all the time? Where does the food go? Is this kid’s stomach a portal to another dimension???

Ah, the thoughts one has while tired as fuck at- Ricky glanced over at the alarm clock to see what godforsaken hour of the night it had the audacity to be - 2:51 in the morning.

Also, speaking of shitting, he kinda needed to go to the bathroom anyway.

Grumbling in I-don’t-want-to-get-up, Ricky reluctantly left the bed’s warm comfort. Fuck, he’d been all cozy from his body heat warming the covers and the inside of the mansion was cold - especially at night. But what else should he expect from a haunted house? Ricky turned the bedside lamp on, retrieved his jacket from where it was lying at the foot of his bed, and quickly put it on.

He used the facilities, then went to the door. He glanced over at the clock again. It was now 3:00 am - the witching hour. Was it a good idea to wander the halls of a haunted house during the witching hour? Probably not. But based on the off-key didgeridoo noises his stomach was making, this stupid body wasn’t going to leave him alone until he fed it. So he really didn’t have much choice if he wanted so much as a chance of getting a wink of more sleep.

Ricky stepped out into the hall. Fuck - it was dark. Fortunately there were nightlights at pretty regular intervals in the halls for the living, so he wasn’t wandering completely blind. He was fine leaving the East Wing and the few turns after that. Living and working at Destroido meant that he was used to remembering his way through large buildings. He heard footsteps once or twice with no one attached to them, weird glowing orbs darted in and out of sight, and at one point he thought he heard voices muttering. But he didn’t meet any ghosts. That is until-

Uh-oh. Which way was it again?

Left or right? Should he just walk to the end of each hall and see if anything looked familiar? Dammit, where were the Dead Beats when you needed-

Scrrrrraaape

Such a quiet sound was deafening in the silent hallway. Ricky froze.

Scraaape- Scrrrrrraaape

Ricky gulped and turned his head in the direction of the noise.

Ding-dong Daddy-o…

One of the suits of armor had moved. From its usual frozen position to leaning forward with its head turned in Ricky’s direction, glowing pink eyes beneath its mask fixed right on him.

Ricky gulped. Lewis said they protect the mansion. “U-uh… I-I’m a guest…” he stuttered, fiddling with his fingers, feeling very silly and very scared. “I uh, I got hungry. Could you uh- tell me which way the kitchen is?

Scccrrrape Scrrrraaape

The suit of armor moved again, pointing towards the left.

“Oh-” Ricky had kind of not expected it to answer him, much less help. “T-thanks.”

Scrrrraaape Scrape Scraaape

The suit of armor briefly bowed to him, then motioned for him to be on his way.

Heart pounding, Ricky’s whole body felt stiff with fear as he took the route to the left. He could hear the armor’s head turning as it watched him go. As he came to the next hallway (he remembered where he was now), he heard a bunch more scraping behind him as the possessed armor returned to its usual frozen position.

Well that was terrifying yet helpful.

Just as terrifying yet equally helpful, every suit of armor Ricky passed from then on pointed in the direction Ricky needed to go. Until finally, very creeped out and not wanting to make any more noise from the metal moving, Ricky told one of the suits of armor as politely as he could that he remembered which way to go from here, but that he appreciated all of their help. The armor bowed to him, resumed its original position, and none of them moved after that.

Soon after that, came into the foyer, where he was happy to see a familiar troop of pink friends playing tag near the ceiling, zooming around the chandelier. As he stepped out of the doorway, one of the Dead Beats spotted him and pointed him out to his friends, who all made happy trilling noises as they zoomed down to give him nuzzles and demand pets. Trying to stay quiet, Ricky laughed, scritching their heads. “Hey you guys. Boy, am I happy to see you. I’m on my way to the kitchen for a midnight snack. Would you like to keep me company?”

The Dead Beats were delighted to do just that.

Then at last, Ricky made it into the kitchen.

Ricky opened the fridge and squinted from the glare of the bright artificial light, his eyes having adjusted to the dark house. He was looking for a drink when-

“Ricky?”

Ricky jumped and banged his head on the top of the fridge with a curse.

“Oof, you okay dude?”

“Lewis?” Ricky turned around, rubbing the soon-to-be bump on his head. The ghost was standing by the doorway with a couple more Dead Beats. “You’re back. And- What’re you doing up?”

“I’m a ghost,” Lewis shrugged. “I don’t exactly need sleep. What’re you doing up?”

“Uh- couldn’t sleep. And I got hungry.”

Lewis snorted. “You just missed Scooby. He was in here for a midnight snack not half an hour ago.”

“Ah. That explains why the fridge doesn’t look as packed as it did earlier,” Ricky said. Right then, one of the Dead Beats floated over to him helpfully with a bag of pretzels. Ricky thanked him and then turned back to Lewis. “So. How was Arthur?” He asked, popping one into his mouth.

Lewis sighed with relief. “He’s okay. Thank God. Marcie’s on board, I helped with some things, and thus far everything’s going according to his plan.”

“That’s good,” Ricky sighed, eating another handful. “So what exactly is his plan?” He asked after he swallowed.

“Actually, I needed to talk to you about that…” Lewis rubbed the back of his neck and procured a flashdrive from a pocket in his waistcoat.

Ricky abruptly stopped chewing. Why did he have a feeling that he knew what the contents of that were? He swallowed. “What’s that?” He asked.

“Proof of what happened to you,” Lewis winced.

“... Oh,” Ricky looked away. “Did uh… did you watch it?”

“No,” Lewis said. “That would be a messed up thing to do. And I’m not going to let anyone else see it without your permission either. So… are you okay with me seeing this? Or anyone else for that matter?”

“Um… let me get back to you on that. It’s- late. I know somebody should see it but- could I think about it?”

“No problem man. Take as much time as you need,” Lewis said, tucking it back in his pocket.

“Oh! Ricky. What are you doing up?” Mystery, in the form of a dog, trotted into the room and hopped up into one of the chairs.

“Ah- uh, bad dreams,” Ricky said, forgetting to lie about it. “-And a midnight snack,” he caught himself, shaking the bag of pretzels. He quickly changed the subject. “So uh, how are you and Vivi? All good?”

“What happened with Vivi?” Lewis growled.

“Tensions ran high, and we had a moment. About three years ago. But we got through it, and we’re fine now,” Mystery said, hinting very strongly to Lewis that they would talk about it when not in mixed company.

Lewis fortunately caught the hint, because he reverted the subject back to Ricky. “Gotcha. So, Ricky. Bad dreams? Do you… want to talk about it?”

“I’ve just been- thinking a lot about Cassidy,” he admitted, setting down the now-empty bag of pretzels and opening a jug of yogurt. “I know you never knew her but, I really wish you had. She was… she really was perfect.”

Ricky was too deep in self-pity to notice the panicked look Mystery and Lewis shot each other.

“I said a lot of really shitty things to her,” Ricky sighed. “Things I didn’t mean. And I just wish I could take it all back, or at least tell her how sorry I am. For all of it.”

He was completely oblivious to Mystery and Lewis silently shouting at each other on either side of him.

‘Should we tell him???’ Lewis mouthed.

��No!’ Mystery mouthed back.

“And she would have loved this.” Ricky laughed, “Knowing her she’d be like ‘hell no’ at first. But once she got over that initial hurdle I really think she would’ve liked to learn all of this, and to meet you. And you would’ve liked her.”

‘He deserves to know!’ Lewis mouthed, gesticulating wildly.

‘Don’t say SHIT!’ Mystery swiped a paw across his throat.

‘He’s heartbroken!’

‘It’s too much!’

“She would have been a big help too,” Ricky said. “She was so smart. One of the smartest people I ever knew… and the kindest.”

‘I’m gonna tell him!’

‘Don’t you dare!’

‘We should tell him!’

“In the morning!” Mystery loud-whispered.

Ricky looked up, and Mystery and Lewis quickly snapped into “totally-not-up to-something” poses before he could notice. “Did you say something?” He asked.

“Oh- yes. Cassidy-” The dog cleared his throat. “Cassidy is a truly wonderful person. And uh- in the morning, I have a lot more to tell you and teach you that I bet she would really want to see.” Were it not past 3:00 in the morning, Ricky might have caught Mystery’s use of the word ‘is’ as opposed to ‘was’.

‘Smooth,’ Lewis mouthed at Mystery over Ricky’s head.

Mystery shot him a glare. None of that was a lie.

Just then, on its own, the radio on the counter turned on smack in the middle of a Mystery Skulls song.

“If I could do this all a-gain, If I could start o-ver, and give you everything-”

The three of them turned around to the source of the noise to see the Dead Beats floating totally guilty around the radio.

“-Yeah, I wouldn’t change a thing. As long as I have you baby- As long as I have you baby!”

Ricky just looked at them confused and listened while panicked, Mystery and Lewis comically shook their heads, ‘NO!’

And the Dead Beats stubbornly nodded, ‘YES!’

“See?” Ricky sighed, completely misinterpreting what the Dead Beats were trying to tell him. “They get it.”

As the strum of the keyboard and the thrum of the beat gave way to lyrics once more, Lewis flew across the room-

“-’Cause no one ever really diiies-”

Ricky didn’t hear the rest because Lewis cut the radio off.

“Why’d you turn it off?” Ricky asked, confused.

“I- uh- it was way too loud. You- sillies,” Lewis turned to the Dead Beats with a too-wide grin. “I know how much you love music, but do you want to wake the whole house? We’re going to have to have a talk later,” The ghost growled at them.

The Dead Beats just crossed their arms and turned away sharply. Foiled!

While Lewis glared at the Dead Beats, Mystery turned back to Ricky. “Speaking of,” the kitsune-disguised-as-a-dog said, “I really think you ought to get back to sleep.”

Ricky scoffed. “I’m not so sure that’s going to happen. Sleep doesn’t exactly come to me easily. Not to mention I’m not exactly looking forward to another nightmare.”

Mystery tilted his head, thoughtful.

The dog made a flourish with one of his paws, and a small vial appeared on the table in a flash of his foxfire.

Ricky jumped, not expecting it. The vial was half-moon-shaped, with a star-shaped cork, filled with a beautiful luminous midnight blue fluid.

“Really? You’re gonna give him that?” Lewis exclaimed. The Dead Beats were still pouting behind him.

“What is it?” Ricky asked.

“Magic,” Mystery replied. “We're acquainted with a number of potion makers and regularly enlist their services. This,” Mystery said, motioning for Ricky to pick up the bottle, “is a half-dose of dreamless sleep potion. It instantly puts its drinker into deep sleep, then awakens the drinker fast enough that the mind never enters the stage of sleep in which dreams occur. This is a half dose, meant to be taken when one wakes in the middle of the night. So it should guarantee you another five hours or so of restful slumber.”

“Just don’t get reliant on that stuff,” Lewis warned. “Trust us, we know from experience: It becomes an unhealthy coping mechanism if you use it too often.”

“So I will not allow you to use this tomorrow night under any circumstances,” Mystery added with a nod.

Ricky blinked at him for a few moments, so grateful and stunned that words failed him. “I- Thank you Mystery,” He stammered.

“Oh pish posh. It’s such a simple matter it hardly requires any thanks. But I accept it all the same.” (Bullshit. Ricky could totally tell he was enjoying the gratitude.)

“Also, don’t drink that until you’re already in bed,” Lewis cautioned. “It’ll put you out so fast that the flavor will still be on your tongue when you konk out. Arthur took it too soon one time and passed the fuck out right in the middle of the apothecary.”

“Sheesh. Strong stuff,” Ricky said, admiring the way the potion glittered.

“Hardly. Just a little magic,” Mystery chuckled. “Now off to bed with you. The faster you fall asleep the sooner you’ll wake up. There’s much to discuss in the morning.”

After Ricky finished his yogurt and two packs of popcorn, he bid Mystery and Lewis goodbye and the Dead Beats led him back to his room (Lewis discreetly made it very clear on their way out that they were still in hot water). As Ricky followed the pouting ghosts back to the East Wing, he turned the potion in his hands and wondered if Mystery had ever used it, or if he ever had trouble sleeping. He was centuries old, and had been through so much. Did he get nightmares too?

The Dead Beats led him on a different route back to the East Wing than he’d taken earlier that took them past the library. Which was why Ricky stopped, confused, in front of the doors.

The lights were on.

Curious, he walked into the library and the Dead Beats followed, chirping something that he imagined meant: “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be following us?” But Ricky ignored them.

The library was seemingly abandoned and dark, save a few lamps and the dull glow of moonlight shining through the windows. It wasn’t immediately apparent who was working this late until Ricky spotted an orange sleeve sticking out of a pile of papers at one of the desks.

“Velma?”

“TWELVE!” Velma shouted as her head shot up from the desk. Ricky and the Dead Beats jumped with surprise. She snorted and adjusted her glasses, reorienting herself back to reality from whatever she’d been dreaming about, then her bleary eyes fixed on him.

“Shaggy-? Wait. No. Sorry. Mr. E- Ricky! Sorry. What are you doing here?”

“Couldn’t sleep. What’re you doing here?” He asked, crossing his arms.

“Who could sleep in a house full of books?” She shrugged. Then she yawned, rubbing her eyes beneath her glasses.

“I’d get back to bed if I were you,” Ricky advised. “Mystery’s also awake and if he finds you in here he’ll probably scold you for neglecting your health and send you back to bed anyway.”

“Are you going to scold me?” Velma asked.

“Nah. I’m up at 3am too, so I really can’t talk,” He shrugged. “Come on. Let’s go together.”

Velma straightened her work station so it wouldn’t look like a tornado had blown through it come morning, and the two of them followed the Dead Beats back to the East Wing.

Their walk was mostly silent until they passed a familiar portrait of a scowling priest, who gave them an extremely distasteful look but didn’t dare say anything out of fear of facing Mystery’s wrath again.

That was when it occurred to Ricky that they were walking along the same stretch of hallway where he’d had that talk with Fred earlier. Also he and Velma were alone. Which made it the perfect opportunity to ask her a rather delicate question.

Ricky cleared his throat nervously. “Um, Velma?”

“Yes?”

“I uh, have a question to ask you… It’s not exactly a fun one, but uh...”

Velma straightened her spine and squared her shoulders. “Okay,” she said thoughtfully.

“I need to know how Cassidy died.”

Velma’s face softened at the question, but he saw confirmation in her eyes of what he’d already suspected.

“You were there, weren’t you?”

Velma looked away, and she didn’t answer for several long moments. She took off her glasses to wipe the wetness from her eyes with her sleeve before she got a grip, put her glasses back on, and confirmed what he already knew: “Yeah. We were there.”

Ricky’s throat closed. For her, and for the other poor kids who’d had to witness something so awful. He didn’t meet her eyes when he asked her quietly, “Did she suffer?”

Velma hesitated in her answer. None of them had seen it happen, but they were all haunted by imaginings of Cassidy’s final moments. Had she been shot by the Kriegstaffebots before the self-destruct sequence completed? Was she blown up? Had the explosion killed her instantly? Or had she been covered in burns and injuries, forced to suffer before she faded away? Or had she lasted a bit longer and drowned? Supposedly drowning was a peaceful way to go, but she must have been so scared-

“No,” Velma said firmly, no matter how much she doubted it. “It happened so fast. I’m sure she didn’t suffer.”

Ricky’s entire body sagged with relief. “Thank you, Velma."

༻˚⁺･⚉｡○✼༓☾⦾♫෴♡💛♡෴♫⦾☽༓✼○｡⚉･⁺˚༺

Professor Pericles was a homicidal maniac.

Both fortunately and unfortunately for the entirety of the human race, he was smart about being a homicidal maniac.

He didn’t just kill people whenever he felt like it. He did so with purpose, waiting until the opportune moment to remove certain pawns or obstacles from his path. Which was good for Marcie and Arthur, because it meant that they likely had a bit of time to stop Professor Pericles from killing someone in the future.

They had been working for a little under an hour after Lewis left when a stubborn little red light turned green.

Marcie nearly spat out her coffee. “I’m in!”

“Seriously?” Arthur’s head shot up excitedly from where he was hunched over his own computer, sending a couple of pages of scribbled notes falling from the side of the table. One of the Dead Beats picked them up and put them back helpfully.

“Yep. Alright, Arthur. Now what?” And with that they swapped computers, and Arthur’s face lit up in the artificial light as his eyes greedily took in the seemingly alien letters and numbers filling the screen.

Seemingly alien of course, unless you were an expert of Arthur and Marcie’s calibur. For while to untrained eyes it may look like word salad, to the two of them it was like looking into the Matrix, and at a mere glance Arthur knew that Marcie really had pulled through.

He was looking at the Kriegstaffebot program codes.

It was time to deliver the first strike. The question was: when was Pericles going to feel it?

༻˚⁺･⚉｡○✼༓☾⦾♫෴♡💛♡෴♫⦾☽༓✼○｡⚉･⁺˚༺

They went into Velma’s room to talk.

It went about as well as it could have, as painful as it was for both of them.

After Velma finished recounting Cassidy’s final hours, Ricky thanked her and returned to his own room, where he laid back in his bed, the sleeping potion still corked in his hand, and stared at the ceiling processing what he’d been told.

He blew up K-Ghoul. He. Fucking. Blew up. K-Ghoul. He destroyed her home and her livelihood, and he tried to kill her until he succeeded.

Ricky was grateful for the potion Mystery had given him, because he was so angry right now that he was certain he’d never get back to sleep otherwise.

K-Ghoul had been his gift to her when Angel Dynamite had returned to Crystal Cove. He used the excuse that she’d need a good cover to come back with her alias intact. But that wasn’t completely true. He could have just as well gotten her a job as a custodian somewhere if he wanted her to keep an eye on the town and the new Mystery Incorporated unnoticed. But she would have been miserable doing that kind of work. Angel Dynamite was a DJ, and Cassidy had always loved music. It was true that she came back to Crystal Cove for a reason. But he wanted her to be… happy. He also supposed, looking back, that he’d wanted to thank her for all the joy she'd brought him once. And to make amends in his own way, even if the words to apologize hadn’t come (yet another of his many regrets).

Their breakup was his fault. As the years went by after Pericles’ betrayal, Ricky had grown bitter and angry. And the one who got the brunt of it was the very same person who stuck by his side longer than anyone else. He never struck her. As awful a human being as the curse had twisted him into, he didn’t think he’d be able to live with himself if he ever hit Cassidy. But all the same, he’d been so… mean. And of course, no matter how much she loved him, Cassidy’s self-esteem and strength of spirit was too high to deal with his bullshit, so… They broke up.

And after all that time, Ricky had still regretted the way he’d treated her. But even though they weren’t together anymore, he… he wanted her to be happy. K-Ghoul had been his way of looking after her, as he should have done all those years ago.

And Pericles fucking blew it up. Without even consulting me. How dare he?

“He had no right…” Ricky seethed quietly, feeling more like his bitter old self than he had in a while. But this time his anger was directed at just one bird. Professor Pericles. Not the kids. Not the world. Not Cassidy-

Cassidy…

Maybe it made him a horrible person, but he couldn’t help but be a little mad at her. “Why didn’t you come to me?” He whispered into the dark, a tear falling down his cheek.

I would have protected you. I never would have let him hurt you if I knew.

But Ricky couldn’t be mad at her. Because he knew exactly why she hadn’t come to him.

She had no way of knowing that I would have chosen her. I was working with Pericles. For all she knew, I was the one trying to have her killed.

Imagining that broke Ricky’s heart all over again. That Cassidy died thinking-

Ricky sniffed and closed his eyes.

Cassidy… died.

As angry as he was, Ricky was also overwhelmingly sad.

They were in the Midnight Zone. She was surrounded by Kriegstaffebots. The lab exploded.

No. No, she would never give up! There was no corpse so maybe-

But their seal friend found her helmet. Even if she survived the blast, the weight of all that water would have killed her for sure. And even if not, there’s absolutely no way she would have been able to swim to the surface before she drowned.

There was no way out. Not even for her.

She’s gone.

In the back of Ricky’s mind, ever since he’d first learned of her death, there had been doubt. A small flicker of hope. Cassidy? Dead? It couldn’t be real. But Velma was no liar, and above that she was a realist. Hearing the facts of how it had happened from her made it… real.

She’s gone.

That was that. That was it. Ricky Owens was never going to see Cassidy Williams again and he didn’t even have a body to bury. The empty shell that had once been her was buried under rubble at the bottom of the ocean, the high walls of the trench the closest thing to a tombstone she would ever have.

She’s gone.

Pericles did it. He got rid of her. He pulled the trigger-

But I put the gun in his talons.

The weight of his own grief threatening to crush him, Ricky redirected his energy into his rage. I never should have saved him all those years ago.

He uncorked the potion and was immediately hit with an extremely strong smell. There was a lot of lavender but also other herbs and- whatever the hell that was. Ricky had no idea what he was about to ingest, but he trusted Mystery and needed to be well-rested.

She will be avenged. Her death will not be in vain! I’m going to need every bit of strength I can muster if I’m going to help-

But Ricky didn’t have a single other thought. For he’d tipped the bottle back and downed it in one gulp. And the instant after a light, minty, earthy flavor hit his tongue, Ricky’s entire body was going slack, the bottle was slipping from his fingers, and he was being enveloped in the welcome peace that slumber brought - completely dead to the world.

༻˚⁺･⚉｡○✼༓☾⦾♫෴♡💛♡෴♫⦾☽༓✼○｡⚉･⁺˚༺

Dawn came with deceptive tranquility.

The sun was peeking over the horizon and a morning mist had settled over the forest, making the mansion and the twisted, jagged trees around it seem as if they were on an island at the center of an endless gray sea.

The arrival of a long-awaited guest was marked by the rumble of a familiar engine, and the mist curling around a familiar silhouette like an angel’s wings.

Well. If any of you missed Ricky, you ought to be overjoyed with how Ricky-centered this chapter was. And you should expect the same from the next few chapters as well. If I were to map out the evolution of my plans for this chapter, they'd look like a roundabout with the number of directions this could have gone. At one point it was going to be heavily referencing the exorcist (have fun speculating what the fuck that means) (also that''s the stage I was at when I wrote the last chapter's author's notes, so sorry - I lied. It's gonna be a while before things get "nuts"), but then I realized that part would fit better later in the story. So a large chunk of this chapter was cut out, pasted somewhere else to be saved for later, and rewritten. So you guys have that to look forward to. But I'm happy with where this chapter ended up. I loved the humor and fourth wall breaks, angst is always fun to write, I liked further exploring some off-screen Rickidy interactions that may have happened in the show, and I think it ties up Ricky's grief arc in a neat little bow - right before it's smashed to pieces in the next chapter when You-Know-Who returns! (How did that accidentally become a Harry Potter reference? Oops. Lol. Though the dreamless sleep potion was inspired by the potion of the same name and function in the Harry Potter series. I just got back from Universal Studios, ok?! Harry Potter is on the brain.) Also. We got to meet the suits of armor, Lewis is back with the main group, and Arthur and Marcie have hacked into the Kriegstaffebots. What will they do with that? :D Finally, I just wanted to say that the next chapter of this fic has been living in my head rent-free for almost a year. It's one of the scenes I imagined that made me want to write this fic to begin with. So from the bottom of my heart, I can't even begin to say how excited I am to share it with you. That's all for now Warlocks, Witches, and Badass Bitches.

Chapters 1-18 of One of Us are presently posted on Archive of Our Own.

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streets-in-paradise · 2 years

Text

Best Friends Till the End - Andy Barclay x (fem) Childhood Friend!Reader Part 1

Masterlist

Word Count 5 K

Relationships: (platonical) child!Andy Barclay x child!Reader.

Characters: child!Andy Barclay, child!Reader, Chucky/Charles Lee Ray.

Warnings: Rewriting of the first film taking a few detours, a mix of characterizations between Child’s Play 1 Chucky and Curse!Charles Lee Ray. Explaining why the Pierce family was never mentioned before Curse, I imagined Child's Play 1 Chucky thought he killed Sarah and Nica.

Summary: The birthday sleepover of your best friend and neighbor ends up abruptly after his babysitter suffers an accident. Attributing it to a local boogeyman, you try to convince Andy of investigating the matter like a Scooby Doo mystery untill you realize you may have stepped into something worse when his talking doll admits the guilt.

Notes: This is going to be a two parts childhood friends to lovers story. Kinda like in IT, part one is about Andy and the reader facing Chucky as kids and part 2 will follow their reunion as adults.

Tags: @losersclubisms

Karen almost forgot to tell Maggie that you were coming over for a sleepover, only children invited to Andy’s birthday because you were his only friend. Finding out at the last hour that there were actually two children to babysit was not a nice surprise, but you two were frankly adorable. It was pretty easy to notice you were lonely kids watching too much television, craving for playing buddies and being very happy at any chance you had around each other.

The one year and months of difference in your ages didn’t become an obstacle for your bonding, but played out a separation on school time because you were still in kindergarten. Andy didn’t mind that and you would tag along with him on any game.

It was heartwarming and heartbreaking to see you share excitement over the possibility of finding new companions. Andy introduced you to his new toy friend with the purest joy, as if he was truly introducing a third party to your little group for play dates. You confidently activated his catchphrase, remarking that your cousins taught you how because they had two dolls like that one, then proceeded to ramble about your unborn sibling and how you all would be playing together once the baby would be old enough to follow you. The circumstantial babysitter got the impression that Chucky was making you feel a bit jealous, as if you feared Andy could be forgetting you for paying too much attention to him, but she also had some unusual fun observing your exaggerated mannerisms.

At some given moment you were playing in separate areas of the place: Andy and Chucky were constructor workers, a blue helmet of the Good Guy brand on the doll’s head as the kid was teaching him how to use the hammer and blocks of wood. Meanwhile, remaining close to her as she handled the cake leftovers in the kitchen, you were the waiting wife ironing the back of a jacket with a pink toy iron

“ I wonder when my husband will come back home?” You commented to her as if Maggie was another housewife from the fictional neighborhood. “ Andy is never late for dinner, I bet this is on Chucky. Since he is here he barely looks at me.”

She seriously wondered where did you hear that from. Soap operas? Married with Children? The mindless repetition of things you saw being included in your games made you sound like a little child actor, which was definitely a bit lovely.

The boy only pretended that he didn’t hear you, talking to Chucky as if they were at work. Since neither of you really understood what you were saying, he would just look at you and laugh at the mention of his name. Then, he would whisper secretively to the doll and that would make your acting escalate.

“ Maggie… Am I not attractive anymore? He is always going out with his new friend, he doesn't care if I am here.”

Peggy Bundy venting to her neighbor Marcy. Seeing a four to be five girl enacting that shouldn’t be funny, but it was. The part of her that was a bit horrified made Maggie remember it was bedtime, to which she told you both to get ready.

That simple action made Andy come up with an odd complaint.

“ Aunt Maggie, Chucky wants to watch the 9’ o clock news.”

The occurrence amused her.

“ Sure, he does.”

You abandoned the spiteful character, not needing it outside of the game, and sweetly tried to comfort the doll into understanding why he shouldn’t ask that.

“ It is too scary, Chucky. Mommy and daddy were watching the news and they were speaking of this very bad man that sends people to heaven. They don’t know his face, just like the boogeyman, and daddy said that if I am bad he is gonna come to get me.”

The only adult there found your tale disturbing.

“ That is a very bad joke, but I am sure your dad was just kidding.”

“ Don’t worry, (y/n). Chucky is brave and I am a big boy.” Your friend comforted you. “ Tell me when it is scary and I’m going to cover you like this”

He covered your eyes with his hands and you two laughed.

Maggie picked Andy up and turned off the tv. While obediently following them you were supposed to pick up Chucky, but you didn’t rush to do it immediately as the boy would have expected. You didn’t want to do it because the doll said something really rude to you for picking the side of Andy’s aunt. You weren’t sure of what being a little bitch meant, but you didn’t like it.

While waiting your turn to brush your teeth, you were unpacking your sleeping bag in your friend's bedroom when you saw Chucky rush to the living room to turn on the tv. If there was one thing you learned quickly about him, it was that he didn't like when things wouldn't go his way and he didn't mind getting you all in trouble for his mischief.

Maggie found you trying to stop him and that made her think you did it, no matter how many times you told her it was Chucky. Even though Andy backed up your story, she wouldn't believe any of you. She got angry, thinking that you were being bad.

You weren't, Chucky was, but maybe that wouldn't stop the man of the news from coming after you. The room was dark and your sleeping bag wouldn't let you cover all the way to your head, it wouldn't let you hide.

" Andy, Andy!!" You cried out for your friend's help. " Your aunt thinks we were bad... What if he comes to get us??"

He didn't answer, but another voice did.

" I'm going to handle that, just shut the fuck up you annoying little bitch."

That didn't make you calm down, Chucky was making everything worse. He wasn't in the mood to pretend niceness and the fact that he was struggling to get out from Andy's covers didn't help.

The pathetic sobbing was exasperating him, you were terrified.

" You can't, the Lake Man will come because you turned on the tv. "

When you spoke about that before he was too into his own concerns to pay real attention, but then he had nothing else distracting him from the realization.

He threw a happy, but bone chilling cackle that nearly woke Andy up.

" .... Are you scared of the Lakeshore Strangler?" He asked you, trying so hard to fight the satisfaction in his voice. Never before it occurred to him that he could be some child's boogeyman.

" Why don't you tell me what you heard about him?

The news report you saw was from before the cops identified him. The name Charles Lee Ray meant shit to you, but you were scared of him as some faceless evil.

Excellent news: scared children were easier to manipulate. From then he identified you as the weak element of the duo.

" Take the freaking covers away from me if you want to live."

Maybe he got too excited about causing fear in you. For an instant, he forgot that you didn't know he was the Strangler.

" Listen, (y/n). I can't protect you if I am stuck here and that is what my friend Andy wants me to do. Get me out and i am going to keep watch in case the Lake Man shows up."

" What if we are asleep and he gets to you first?"

" Bitch I am immortal!" Chucky bragged, too full of himself. " This body is made of plastic, I don't have lungs. That means i can't be strangled to death, but you can, so GET ME OUT"

The slight elevation on his voice volume, product of the annoyance, finally woke up Andy for real. Hearing you speaking with Chucky got him excited, you were his best friends and he wanted you to get along.

Feeling you pulling the doll out made him stare at you with some happy pride.

" I told you he would look after us. "

The empty spot Chucky left ended up occupied by you. Andy allowed you to jump into his bed and you rushed to hide underneath the covers.

" Don't. " The boy stopped you. " I will not let anything bad come to you, I promise."

He kissed your forehead and you hugged him.

" I love you, Andy. You are my best friend in the whole world."

" I love you too... and I bet Chucky loves you. Don't you, Chucky?"

" Sure, kiddo.Whatever you say, just go back to sleep. "

A nice detective took you back to your apartment that night because something horrible happened to Maggie while you were asleep. You told him that it had to be the Lake Man, but he didn't believe you. Your mom explained to him what you were talking about and he said that was impossible because he took him down. You didn't believe that, boogeymans can't be killed.

Hugging your mom and talking to your sister in her belly, you repeated the same promise Andy did to you. The detective playfully asked you, as many adults before did, how you were so sure she was going to be a girl. You just did, it didn't matter how many times your dad claimed the baby was going to be a boy because he wanted so. No one would convince you otherwise.

Picking up your Scooby Doo plushie as your protector for the rest of the night helped you start imagining the situation as an episode of your favorite show and that made you feel a bit better. That man didn't believe you because cops never do at first. Every time the gang stumbles with a mystery they do things on their own, being told that they are just kids.

At that moment you were just like Shaggy: very scared and hugging Scooby because you weren't feeling brave enough to face the monster. Andy, your brave friend, was like Fred. He would be coming up with a plan to catch the bad guy. There had to be a masked man, maybe someone wanted to scare you all into leaving the building because they wanted to buy it and they invented the Lake Man. Maybe all the persons that were thought gone would reappear somewhere, even Aunt Maggie.

' And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling kids and your toys. ' The villain would say after you would unmask him while revisiting his spooky plan. The toys were the dogs: you had Scooby and Chucky was like Scrappy Doo because he was tiny, feisty and disobedient.

Maybe a bit scary too, he said a lot of bad words. No other Good Guy you saw before spoke like him. You wanted to like Chucky, but he scared you. There was something in his voice that made you feel wrong, hearing him in the dark made you want to cry. Andy was older than you, maybe that was why he didn't got scared as easily as you. That was why you felt you couldn't tell him, you feared he would think you were too little to play with him. Chucky frightened you, but thinking that Andy could want to stop being friends with you because you didn't like him scared you more.

The next time you saw them was at your apartment and then you were ready. Scooby and your Mystery Machine car toy were placed in front of the tv and you were going to watch the old episodes your mom recorded for you.

She didn't notice anything strange, just the two of you whispering things to each other while watching. Chucky laughed weird again once, but she couldn't hear because she was bussy doing something else.

From all the funny things happening in all the episodes you watched, the Chant of Manba Wanga was the only thing Chucky seemed to have found funny. It wasn't, not for you at least, because it was clearly meant to be a scary moment. His creepy laugh made you jump towards Andy, grabbing his arm tightly as if you were begging for protection. You were as scared as Shaggy and Scooby were when Mamba Wanga was casting his voodoo curse on Layla and your fear only encouraged Chucky's bad behavior. He was having fun scaring you, probably thought Andy would find it funny.

By the end of the episode, when all the persons touched by the curse and assumed disappeared were found, you spoke to your friend about your own mystery. You told him that maybe the Lake Man was like Mamba Wanga, the Green Ghost or the Black Knight, that all you had to do was solve the mystery.

" We have to find the masked man, that will make Maggie come back. "

Chucky looked at the boy, waiting for him to crush your hope.

" (y/n), there is no mystery. it wasn't the Lake Man, Chucky did it. "

You didn't know what to think anymore.

" My bad, the bitch is gone. " The doll admitted to you without hesitation. " You know, I noticed your dad is a real asshole, since he came back from work all he does is bitching because you are watching cartoons. He was the one who scared you with that thing on the news, right? But he doesn't listen to you and I don't think he really cares. I bet your dumb mom thinks that baby is going to save the marriage, but that dude doesn't feel shit for her. "

He shouldn't have said that to you, but he couldn't help himself. Chucky got to know your family and found out you were like a dysfunctional photocopy of the Pierces. Cute talky little girl, pregnant mom: the main flaw on the picture was your daddy. It was very easy to see that he was an emotionally distant husband who wouldn't win the father of the year award anyways. Everything Sarah's husband did right, your papa seemed to do wrong. He was more a manchild than a family man, someone who you weren't seeking for support or protection.

" ... Wouldn't it be nice if he would be gone too?"

Dead father jokes were upsetting for Andy too, so he had to stop. Yet, deep down, he wanted you to say yes just to deviate from his path a little and kill that man off. Two deaths in the same building would have dragged too much attention, the only thing that saved your father was Chucky's own convenience. He couldn't indulge in killing him, not if that would be an obstacle for his personal revenge on the people who screwed him over in life.

You both were seeking explanations on his part, starting to get suspicious about him.

"Chucky, why did you kill Aunt Maggie?" Andy straightfoldy confronted him once you were all in the safety of your room.

" I told you: she was a real bitch and got what she deserved."

That didn't seem to be enough for you.

"Or maybe you are just bad." You exclaimed, still hurt because you heard him say he wanted to kill your dad.

It wasn't the time and place to get into mentoring, but Chucky saw himself forced to explain his attitude somehow. Otherwise, he would have been done manipulating you.

" Sometimes violence can be really fun."

Two clueless little children stared at him like he just said the weirdest thing they ever heard. "

" I don't understand."

" It's like in cartoons, like Tom and Jerry. Isn't it fun to see the cat getting hurt chazing the mouse?

You nodded in agreement and he seemed pleased with that.

" It's funny cause Jerry is tiny and he always wins."

" ... But Tom wants to eat Jerry. " Andy replicated. " What did Aunt Maggie do to you?

"Being a pain in my ass."

" If she was annoying you, you could have called Andy's mom. Or get the big dog, the muscled Bulldog. Do you have one of those, Chucky?"

Mindless talking with little kids was the most exasperating thing ever, neither of you were able to deliver one goddamn sensical reply.

" No, but I have voodoo doll friends."

Your eyes opened wide in amazement.The intrigue made him feel flattered once more.

Dumb innocent children completely unaware of how he would have to make them witness a real voodoo ritual very soon.

When Chucky got the bad news about his doll body and assumed immortality you were the first thought element of his plan. The second kid he revealed himself to, also not his preferred choice for a new body, but he knew your fear could be useful to him. Either as a collaborator or a good bait, getting you on board was the easiest way to Andy. The little boy was protective over you, the even more little girl he befriended: he would cooperate thinking he would be saving you that way.

He knew you were not going to put any resistance against him and Karen made that part even easier. While asking you about everything you knew of him in her desperate search for information, she accidentally revealed to you ahead that he was the Lakeshore Strangler. It made him feel a bit disappointed because he was stripped from the pleasure of coming out to you as your great fear by himself.

Andy was the big boy: he was the brave, the strong, the smart. In the course of those moments you were thinking of him as your hero. He WAS your hero, without him you were just like Shaggy hiding behind furniture to avoid the monster without noticing that his long trembling legs would tell his position. It was funny in the cartoons, not in real life. You loved Shaggy, he was your favorite in the gang, but you wished you could be brave for once.The doctors took Andy away and you were alone, you had to be brave for him.

Mommy had to go out for some grocery shopping and you begged her not to leave, but she said you would be causing more mess outside than inside. Surely it was because of that time you got lost in a Wallmart after you left her side searching for the toys section, or the fact that you were used to asking for things that would catch your attention. It wouldn't be the first time you would stay at home watching tv, that's why she didn't see the problem.

You promised you would be good, you wouldn't leave her side or ask for anything, but you needed to go with her. In a hopeless attempt to make her understand, you screamed that Chucky was going to kill you. It didn't work and you stayed alone, a bad feeling telling you that he was going to come for you soon.

Pacing around the place to check on every exit, you were singing to yourself the ' Scooby Doo! Where Are You?' song to feel less lonely.

" If we can count on you, Scooby Doo. I know we'll catch that villain. "

Pathetic child, he thought while hearing you as he was sneaking in. Your shaky voice was music for his ears, he could feel you were about to cry.

" Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you? We got some work to do now." Your song began again. " Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you? We need some help from you now. "

A very noisy cackle took away any hope.

" That dog ain't gonna help you, kid."

You froze and tears began to fall.

" No one is going to help you, all you have is helping me find Andy. "

The magic of friendship, like in My Little Pony, gave you a bit of strength to talk back.

" NEVER! You want to hurt him, you never wanted to be his friend. HE IS MY FRIEND!!!"

Even to pretend you weren't scared you were overdramatic, Chucky was very fed up with you.

" LISTEN TO ME, LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!" He yelled at you, threatening you with his knife. " Offering to kill your dad was me being nice... DO YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT I CAN DO WHEN ANGRY?"

There was no reply, so he held you at knifepoint while keeping his threatening ramble.

" If you don't do exactly as I say, there will be no more Mr Good Guy. You are going to go last, first I'm going to make you watch as I kill your mom. "

Sliding the weapon slowly, he enacted the threat pointing it against your tummy.

Your sister.

" Ríght here, (y/n). I'm gonna stab again and again and again until there will be nothing left. It wouldn't be the first time i do it."

Vengeful memories were coming back to him. Since he didn't have to hide anymore, there was no point in not enjoying the moment.

"I'm gonna tell you a story: once upon a time, a cunt thought she could fuck with me and that's how she and the little parasite growing inside her ended. That's how fucked up shit can get if i am angry. Is that what you want, Barbie? "

You nodded negatively in visible panic as your hopeless sobbing became more intense.

The name slipped out of his mouth before he could control his phrasing, you were just like her. Perhaps that was why he loved your fear: it flattered him even more through the memories attached to the comparison. Losing time was worthy in order to have you as his traumatized unwilling hostage. Not only was it convenient for his plan to get Andy's body, part of him enjoyed projecting about the Pierce that got away through you.

Despite being severely terrified, your childish mind was still able to come up with coping mechanisms. You almost ruin his mood because at some point of the way you had a cute dumb grin and he heard you giggling, as if a warm thought would be making you ignore the stress.

The monster was kidnapping you to get to your friend, just like it regularly happened to Daphne on Scooby Doo.

You were like Daphne, even if you were as scared as Shaggy.

Smart as Velma and brave as Fred, Andy didn't fall for Chucky's tricks so easily. You escaped from the doll together, getting away from the place where your friend was locked. The chaze wasn't funny like in the cartoons, but you felt so much better because he was alright and he was with you.

You would follow him anywhere, but you didn't want to go back to your apartment building knowing Chucky would go there after you. Andy was insisting on going back to his home, reminding you to hurry up, but you weren't convinced of the plan.

The fear of what could happen to your mom and your unborn sister paralized you. Hiding in an alley and forcing him to do so, you refused to give one single step more.

" Chucky will get them. " You tried to explain to him between sobs. "... My sister, he said..."

Andy cut you off while trapping you in a comforting hug.

" It doesn't matter, I will not let him do it... but you have to help me. "

He sounded like a hero to you, so brave and you were so scared.

" I can't, Andy. I will make it worse. I am not brave like you, he knows it."

You made him smile: did you really think he was brave? He was scared too, he cried in fear just like you did but you didn't see him. If he wasn't crying then, that was because he wasn't alone in that dark room anymore and you were with him.

" What if we make you brave?"

Andy showed you some smashed cookies he had in his pocket, a secret gift from one of the nurses at the hospital.

" Scooby Snacks make Shaggy and Scooby brave. "

You smiled at his offering, then opened your mouth to let him feed you the scrumbles of cookies as if he was feeding you with courage.

" Scooby Dooby Doo!!" You cheered to later kiss his cheek while your lips were still stained by scrumbles.

The innocent trick worked and you were feeling so much better, but it wasn't just because of some special power on the cookies.

It was the support of your friend that made you feel strong enough to keep up.

" I love you, (y/n). You are my true best friend."

Preparing on his home got you following Andy's lead as if it would be one of Fred's plans. Once you secured the entrances you both hid in his closet to wait. He searched through his toys looking for weapons and when you saw him picking up a baseball bat you figured out he wasn't going to stay still for long.

" Don't go, stay!!!! Don't let him find you!!"

His following action was one of the purest acts of love you experienced over the course of your life. It settled a mark of an impact then impossible to imaginate.

" Wait here. I'll keep you safe, I promised you."

Andy closed the door behind him, leaving the hiding spot to do his stand against Chucky. You hesitated, doubtful of disobeying his command, but you got out after him as soon as you heard noises making you guess he was in danger.

Too late, he was laying on the floor.

" ANDY WAKE UP!!!" You yelled and rushed to shake him. " WAKE UP, PLEASE. WAKE UP!!!!"

Chucky was there and he could have killed you easily, but you didn't care.

" STEP ASIDE, DUMB BITCH!! HE IS MINE!!!!"

Right before pulling you away he got to witness your last desperate attempt to save Andy.

A kiss, a children's interpretation of how one should be. You barely posed your lips against your friend's hoping he would wake up like Snow White or the Sleeping Beauty.

" DO YOU REALLY THOUGHT THAT WOULD WORK???" The doll mocked you. " I do the magic here ... AND THIS AIN'T A FUCKING FAIRYTALE!!!!"

Chucky laid one hand on top of Andy's forehead, then he began to recite some really odd words. It sounded to you like the Chant of Mamba Wanga, only more complicated. Was he going to curse Andy? Did he want to make him disappear like in the Scooby Doo episode?

The gestures made you fear something even worse, but you didn't get enough time to react. Mrs Barclay and the nice detective came to your rescue. It was the beginning of a hard fight worthy of nightmares, but your friend woke up being still him. Andy burned Chucky alive, but not even that seemed to stop him. Only after the cop shot in the heart did he stay still, but that didn't mean you both got any peace. Neither Andy or you got convinced that Chucky could be completely gone.

That was the reasoning behind the hardest choice of your life, that you were forced to take as little kids. Even with the support of three adults who saw him, no one believed Chucky was alive and he killed all those people. If you would have followed Andy's story, they would have taken you away and there would have been no one to look after your unborn sibling. If he would ever come back, nothing would have stopped Chucky from getting to fulfill the promise he made to you.

You lied, but the boy wasn't mad at you because he knew why you did it. You two understood each other better than anyone, he saw it in your eyes with just one look.

Andy told the truth because someone had to, but that couldn't be you. He sacrificed himself for you one last time, letting his life be ruined so you could keep yours because you had to protect your sister.

She was born on that January, the nerves of your mom caused an early birth. A girl, just like you predicted.

At least he got to meet her before the doctors took his mom and he was taken away.

" I will tell her about you. Even if dad doesn't want me to, I will." You promised him, tears falling from your eyes because you knew what was coming.

You sneaked a little goodbye gift. It was a friendship bracelet that you were making for his birthday but didn't get to finish on time back then.

Andy began to cry, hugging you as if he refused to accept reality as much as you did.

" I don't want to leave! "

" I'm so sorry. I didn't want to... I don't want to lose you."

" You are my best friend." It was his way of saying that he forgave you. " You will always be. "

" You will always be with me." Was your equal reply. " I will never forget you, Andy. "

You never did, that painful separation left a hole in your heart that never healed. Even if he left forgiving you, it was you who was never able to forgive yourself. You cried in his absence, you called him in dreams. From your fifth birthday and for years to come during your childhood, you reserved one of your three wishes to ask for him to be happy.

Even after losing hope of seeing him again, all you wanted was for him to be happy somewhere else.

#andy barclay #andy barclay x reader #alex vincent #alex vincent x reader #child's play 1988 #child's play fanfiction #chucky franchise #curse of chucky #chucky series #chucky #charles lee ray

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