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puck-bunnies · 3 months

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behind closed doors

umich!luke hughes x fem!reader

warnings: nsfw 18+, fingering, praising, choking, not proof read

word count: 2.3k

me and luke were never much of friends, never even talked much. at least, that’s what everyone thought. no one ever knows what happens behind closed doors.

i have not used this app in forever, meaning i haven’t written a fic in quite a long time so this is me trying to get back into writing. sorry if this is not great and a little rushed, i just haven’t written anything in like five months. anyways, try to enjoy this fic and ill try to write more as soon as i can.

i sit in the living room of my best friends boyfriends house, she sits beside me as all of ethan’s roommates take up every other seat. the lightning vs islanders game plays on the tv, having all of our eyes glued to it.

the boys are in a constant state of yelling, wether is celebrating, yelling at how stupid the refs are, or booing the other team. i’m not as invested as usual, my teams aren’t playing, but ill never miss an opportunity to a hockey game.

my mind also focuses on the close proximity as luke sits beside me, our thighs lightly rubbing against each other ever so softly. the warm summer weather left me wearing shorts and a tank top, causing luke’s hand to glide across my bare skin as he secretly places his hand on my thigh.

i never intended on sneaking around with luke, it all just happened one day, the house was empty and quiet. we got to talking, venturing from subjects like our classes, plans for our future, and somehow turning into our sex life.

he learned that i’ve never really gotten quite what i need, never feeling that spark with any guy that i’ve been with. them never wanting to try anything i’ve wanted to, i’ve never been fully satisfied.

he continued to tell me how he has slept around quite a bit. nearly almost always leaving the rink with some new blonde puck bunny stuck to his arm. he didn’t wear it as a trophy, or say that he regretted any of it, all just saying it’s apart of his past. his history he can’t and won’t change.

one thing led to another, his hands roaming my body as my lips bit down on his. my hands squeezing the mattress tightly with every moan escaping my lips.

we didn’t even stop there, whenever we could find a time to be alone, we were tangled in each others arms.

here we are now, not even able to keep our hands to ourselves in sight of one another. i try to shake his hand off, not wanting any of the surrounding eyes to see his intimate gesture. he doesn’t move, squeezing my skin harder. i softly pierce my bottom lip with my teeth, try to calm my nerves. i can feel heat bubbling up to my face, painting my cheeks with a faint blush.

my eyes peer over to him, giving him a pleading look to start behaving. he doesn’t budge, giving me a side smirk before returning his eyes on the game.

rutger groans loudly as the 2nd period finishes, “fuck the lightning.” he swears as they’re pulling a 4-1 lead. he chugs back the rest of his beer, throwing the can on the ground in some grown man temper tantrum.

the ads run during the commercial break, leaving the rest of us to disregard the television for the time being. my heart starts to quicken, without their distraction of the game they’re eyes could fall upon luke’s hand on me.

my mind tries to work fast, but the only thing i can think of doing is grabbing the blanket next to me and covering myself with it, concealing us from the wandering eyes. luke’s lips curl into a smirk, proud of me not forcing him off, knowing that i want it. that i want him.

his hand becomes bolder, rubbing up and down my inner thigh. i bite my bottom lip again, trying to stabilize myself from this new feeling. his fingers become more adventurous, going to the hem of my shorts.

“fuck.” i softly mumble to myself, luke’s soft chuckle tells me that he hears my light groans. his fingers don’t stop there, rubbing up to the bottom of my shirt, toying with the cotton material.

the pads of his fingers brush against my sensitive skin, right across the bottom of my stomach. fire engulfs my stomach, my breath hitches as he rubs softly back and forth, tickling my skin.

the game comes back for the final period, my eyes keep trained on the hockey game, but my mind can only focus on his touch as it drives me insane.

he feels my stomach hitch with my breath, he knows i want him so badly, he knows what he does to me. i squeeze my thighs together, trying to cause some type of sensation in my growing wetness.

i can’t take his teasing fingers anymore, “meet me in my room.” i whisper to him. rising from the couch and walking away from the crowded living room. i head for the direction of the bathroom, making them hear my footsteps as i lead their ears to the door closing. i stay outside the bathroom, tiptoeing to my room in an unsteady waiting of luke.

the door finally opens, luke quickly closing the door silently behind him. a deep breath is all i can hear from him, turning around to look at me patiently sitting on the foot of my bed. he takes a seat beside me, quickly gripping my hips and pulling me onto his lap.

“it’s been awhile since we’ve been alone,” my fingers rake up the back of his head, through his soft brown hair, my finger swirling around a curly lock. “too long.” a soft sigh parts from his lips as my fingers lightly scratch at his scalp.

he keeps his hands on my hips, roughly gripping at my denim shorts. “i missed your hands all over me. you can’t tease me out there and not expect me to want more.”

our bodies come closer, our lips so close together, our hearts syncing their beats. i can barely hold myself back from making up that final inch. “tell me how badly you want me.”

“i want you..” he shyly gives into my need. it’s not enough for me, i feed off of hearing how badly he wants me, his hands rubbing up and down my body, the feeling of his cock being buried deep inside me.

“oh yeah…” my lips attach to his neck, softly kissing down from his jaw.

finally he gives in, “i want to feel you against me, your lips on mine, every inch of your beautiful body baby.”

a devilish smirk spreads on my face, “mmm, is that right?” i mumble against his neck, softly sinking my teeth into his sensitive skin, sucking the spot to soothe it after.

“oh god yes.” luke practically moans out. his hands become adventurous, slowly going down to hold my ass in his hands, gripping at my clothed skin. they make their way down farther, gripping at my exposed thighs while my kisses go back up his jaw.

i crave for his taste, forcefully pressing my lips against his in a hungry state. my tongue quickly sliding into his mouth, hands combing through his messy curls, pushing him closer into me. he guides my hips back and forth on him, i can feel him hardening underneath me.

breaking the kiss to catch my breath, i drop my head onto his shoulders as i feel his hands press against my pussy. my hips still grind on him, but instead of just on his hard cock, it’s on his fingers. “mmm, you want me that bad?” he chuckles, i nod against his shoulder.

he undoes my shorts, exposing the top of my pink lacy panties, his fingers drag down them, going farther into my pants. they settle on my wetness, my hips stop rocking, focusing on the closer touch. “god you’re soaked.”

my lip sticks to my teeth in a harsh lip bite, my walls clench around nothing, begging to be filled by him. his fingers work slow and teasingly, rubbing circles around my clothed clit, watching me squirm on top of him. my back slightly arches, legs slowly opening wider for him to have better access to my aching pussy. “needy, are we?”

i softly whimper, my hips start to grind again, craving more attention from his teasingly slow hands. his fingers move the crotch of my panties aside, touching my wetness with his bare fingers, feeling my folds and them dripping for him. my head lifts off his shoulder, taking a glance down at his hand stuffed down my pants, looking back deep into his eyes.

i take a deep breath out, without a single warning he thrusts a finger in my pussy. making me loudly squeal with surprise. he quickly covers my mouth, stopping his finger in me. “you have to be quiet princess, you don’t want us getting caught, now do you?” he asks. i shake my head no, he hums at my obedience. “good girl.” his voice is in a whisper, softly praising me.

he begins to move his finger once again, letting me adjust to the new sensation before adding another, stretching me out for him. curling his fingers up to my g-spot. finally trusting me enough not to scream, he moves his hand off of my face, settling it down on my hip to keep me steady.

my hands grasp at his curly locks, trying to compose myself. as he adds another finger i bite down on my bottom lip, trying to keep the wanting moans from escaping my lips. a smirk spreads across luke’s face, watching what he can do to me with just his hands. i curse under my breath, dropping my head down to keep my brain straight, the pleasure slowly becoming less bearable.

his fingers quicken, hand comes off my hip and to my chin, lifting my head to force me to stare back into his eyes. “look at me while i’m finger fucking you baby.” my teeth puncture my bottom lip harder, my chest heaving with all the moans i keep to myself. i slip up and let on me out, hard hands hit my throat, softly squeezing. “i thought i told you to keep quiet?”

his grip loosens to allow me to take a breath, closing back up as soon as my chest rises. another finger slips in my cunt, my legs start to squirm, toes curling and hands squeezing his hair. his fingers losen from my throat, falling down to the straps of my tank top. he pulls one strap off each shoulder, one at a time. hooking two fingers at the neckline and pulling down, my tits falling out from my lack of wearing a bra.

he wastes no time before gripping my breast, rubbing his thumb over the sensitive bud. i clench around his fingers, my senses overloading with pleasure. he lowers his head, kitty licking my other nipple. i softly moan, not loud enough for luke to get me in trouble again, but enough for him to know the things he’s doing to me.

my stomach clenches, the feeling i know very well as my head starts to feel light. “i’m so close.” i whimper out. luke doesn’t let up, switching to my other breast, sucking on the nipple before softly biting the skin.

my whole body clenches as i feel my climax, luke’s quick fingers curling inside me quickly. it all comes raining down, my pussy clenching around him as i coat his fingers with myself. he backs up, letting me heave and fall down on his chest to catch my breath.

i quietly curse under my breath, squeezing my eyes shut to recover from my high. i life my head back up to look luke in the eyes. he removes his fingers from my folds, fingers coated with my cum. he slides his fingers into his mouth, licking them clean. my breath catches in my throat again, god damn he makes me want more.

“you’re such a good girl Y/N.” he pops his fingers out of his mouth, “i wish i could fuck you silly right now. but i want to keep all those precious moans to myself, when we can be completely alone.”

before i can even react to his words he puts his lips back onto mine, slipping his tongue in my mouth to let me taste myself. his fingers plant back onto my hips, helping me up to my feet so he can get out from underneath me.

“you go get yourself cleaned up and meet me back in the living room. i pray we weren’t gone too long for anyone to notice.” he whispers, fixing my hair from the sweat that beads on my forehead.

i nod to his words, giving him one last little kiss before he silently slips out of my bedroom. my try to regain my normal breathing patterns, my brain still fuzzy from my previous orgasm.

i obey luke’s wishes, tiptoeing to the bathroom to clean myself off. splashing water into my face to try to remove my blushing red cheeks. i walk back out to the bathroom, seeing everyone engrossed in the final minutes of the third period. i thankfully sigh, slipping back between the guys to sit back down beside luke. he offers me a light smirk, we both then back to the television, watching the game unfold.

#luke hughes x reader #luke hughes x y/n #luke hughes x you #luke hughes imagine #nhl imagine #luke hughes fic #nhl fanfiction #luke hughes one shot #puck-bunnies

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gffa · 11 months

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You would think, after a month of voracious reading of BATFAMILY fic, that I would at least begin to slow down, because I still primarily read I’m Having Dick Grayson Feelings And I’m Making That Everyone Else’s Problem, but I have also discovered that I have Jason feelings, I have Tim feelings, and I have Damian feelings. Which of course I knew before, but what I really learned is that other people have made this my problem now, too. And by that I mean that there’s amazing fic on all of the Bat babies and I am not immune. So, you may still have to scroll a bit, but if there’s an idiot badass with black hair and blue eyes, you’ll hopefully find something here to cry about with me, because what are any of us even in this fandom for, if not for the Feelings Hell About Vigilantes With Emotional Problems? BATFAM FIC RECS - BABY DICK IS THE CUTEST FERAL ROBIN I’M NOT HEARING ANY ARGUMENTS: ✦ it is with my whole life by dustorange, dick & bruce, 2.2k Nine-year-old Dick’s been kidnapped. Bruce tries not to fall apart. ✦ World’s Finest: Lake Weekend by WingFeathers, dick & bruce & clark (& clark/bruce), 10.3k Bruce and Dick invite Clark to the lakehouse for a long weekend around Rosh Hashanah, but Dick has trouble sleeping outside the Manor, and Bruce isn’t as available as he should be. And all of this brings up a question: what exactly are the three of them, a bat-vigilante and his ward and his superhero boyfriend? Could they be something like a family? (And how will they eat with Alfred not taking care of them?) ✦ Revision by takadainmate, dick & bruce, 3.8k New to Bruce Wayne, new to being Robin, new to being alone, Dick didn’t believe there would ever be anyone there for him again. ✦ count the stars by emavee, dick & bruce, 3.7k He doesn’t know what to do. It’s not like he can stop the storm. If he could wave a magic wand and make the sky clear—or even if he could call up someone from his large contact list full of metas who could control the weather—he would. He would honestly disrupt Gotham’s weather patterns if it meant Dick would stop crying. Or: Dick doesn’t like thunderstorms, so Bruce takes him somewhere where they can’t touch him. ✦ cautionary tale by drakefeathers, dick & bruce & young justice, 11.4k Q: “Why did Queen Bee want Robin taken in alive in Bereft?” A: “Think of Speedy as a cautionary tale.” ✦ batman & robin by chickenmuffinsoup55555, dick & bruce, 4.8k The Batman has a shadow. A shadow clad in reds and greens with a smile like sunshine. Bruce is adjusting. ✦ five times someone told Bruce he was a good dad… by emavee, dick & bruce & clark & selina & cast, 10.3k …and one time it mattered ✦ Phobias by RascalJoy (DarkQuill), dick & bruce & alfred, 18.4k wip It was stupid. It was irrational. Dick knew that. There was no good reason for him to be afraid; he had been doing this for most of his young life. And yet… Five times Dick fell, and the one time Robin didn’t. ✦ I Hate Dick by JeanjacketCarf, dick & bruce & talia, 3.7k “Robin wrapped his legs around the Bats’ neck and rested his head on top of the cowl. Then he stuck his tongue out at Talia. Talia felt her face growing hot with anger. She tried to restrain it. The Bat loved this child for some unholy reason.” ✦ shades of blue by thatsveryambitiousofyou, dick & bruce, 2.4k Dick Grayson has blue eyes. Or the one where Bruce tries harder BATFAM FIC RECS - ADULT BATSON AND BATDAD ARE MY KRYPTONITE, I FOLD LIKE WET CARDBOARD FOR THEM: ✦ Withdrawal by Sohotthateveryonedied, dick & bruce & cast, 1.8k It’s been six hours since he got dosed. The green ring around his eyes has been faded since dawn. It won’t be long before the withdrawal hits him in full force. ✦ The Post-Mission Ponderings of Brucerman and NightBunny by Ptelea, dick & bruce, 4.8k This is just sheer (metaphorical) fluff to follow up on the (somewhat more literal) fluff of Wayne Family Adventures, season 2, episode 54, S'tel ees a cigam wohs! Heavy on the puns, even heavier on Bruce being struck by amazement at how much he loves his oldest son. ✦ gotta make a stand (but I am just a man) by CaptainOzone, dick & bruce & alfred, 2.3k Bruce makes it back to the Cave, injured and exhausted, but remarkably alive. He expects Alfred to meet him. He meets someone else. Or: a third credit scene in which Nightwing makes an appearance. ✦ The Hand in My Hand by audreycritter, dick & bruce, 4.4k Dick offers himself in exchange for some hostages and it does not go as planned. ✦ Yesterday by I_Have_To_Get_Off_This_Planet, dick & bruce, 1.5k Dick was pretty sure this was what dying felt like. He was curled up, almost in fetal position, on his bed in the Manor. He was there for the holidays, and he had been looking forward to their entire family being together for once. Even Jason had agreed to come. And now he was gonna die before Christmas even arrived. ✦ I Bet On Losing Dogs by Anonymous, dick & bruce, 2.5k (Or; Bruce’s relationship with his oldest and how it slowly starts to mend, with only a little push from his friends.) ✦ You can pick your battles but you can’t pick your poison by woodenwashbucket, dick & bruce, 1.8k “Hey, am I bleeding a lot somewhere?” Nightwing asked. Batman gave him an unimpressed look, but Nightwing shook his head. “Seriously. I feel off.” Nightwing wobbled. Batman grabbed him by the shoulders before they could find out if he would have fallen, and Nightwing met his eyes with undisguised alarm. “Ok, maybe worse than off,” he said. BATFAM FIC RECS - EVERYBODY LOVES DICK: ✦ what’s past is prologue by Icestorm238, dick & bruce & jason & damian, time travel, 18.1k Dick Grayson, bestowed with the memories of an alternate life, decides that things are going to go better this time. Priority number one: preventing Jason’s death. ✦ exactly how this grace thing works by irnan, dick & bruce & barbara & jason & cast, de-aged!dick, 22.7k Dick gets de-aged. You’d think this would be a routine thing. ✦ sick day by daringyounggrayson, dick & roy & titans, 1.2k Dick tries to power through a cold and lead a training session with the Teen Titans. It doesn’t exactly work out. ✦ The Gravity of Tempered Grace by CamsthiSky, dick & bruce & jason & tim & damian & selina, 10k He’s sick, he finally catches on, and at that moment, a cough builds up in his chest, and he barely has enough energy to sit up enough to let his lungs work properly. A coughing fit later, and Dick’s breaths are making a horrible wheezing sound that makes him sound like one of Titus’ chew toys. That’s bad. He’s pretty sure that’s bad. ✦ you swallowing matches by torielle, roy/dick & bruce, NSFW, 8.2k A month after being fired as Robin, Dick is forced to attend a Wayne gala, and is grateful for a particular friendly face. ✦ The Shape Of You (Was Jagged And Weak) by WinterSky101, dick & bruce & slade & jason & tim & damian & batfam, 40.6k Six months ago, Nightwing died. They never found the body. Last week, Deathstroke arrived in Gotham. He brought a partner with him. ✦ You say you wanna stay by my side (Darling, your head’s not right) by wlwintersoldier, roy/dick & lian & donna, 2.5k Dick is stupid and reckless on a mission, whats new, and Roy deals with the fallout ✦ Laundry Mishaps by JeanjacketCarf, dick/babs & jason & tim & damian & cass & steph & duke, 3.5k Dick’s siblings often show up unannounced and take his stuff without asking. It’s how they show their love. Or Dick’s washing machine is commandeered for Steph’s laundry, his clothes disappear, he goes to girl’s night, has brunch, gets a little shot, and picks his baby brother up from school in about a week and a half while the secret group chat has a grand old time. BATFAM FIC RECS - JASON TODD IS AN ASSHOLE CAT, I’M GONNA THROW HIM AT DICK BECAUSE IT’S FUNNY (AND MAYBE SOME OF HIS OTHER SIBLINGS TOO): ✦ Two Dead Birds by InsaneTrollLogic, jason & dick & tim, time travel, 29k There’s some lunatic in a red helmet running through Jason’s territory. He wants to think it’s a copycat. He’s wrong. BATFAM FIC RECS - DICK AND DAMIAN WERE THE BEST BATMAN & ROBIN, I’M NOT HEARING ARGUMENTS ABOUT THAT EITHER: ✦ Won’t You Stay A While? by fishfingersandjellybabies, dick & damian & cast, 2.8k Ric did not expect to find a child sitting on the hood of his cab. Damian did expect to get his brother back. ✦ birdgrief by windupclock, dick & bruce & damian, 1.5k How could you? Dick doesn’t say. Get out of my sight, Dick doesn’t say. What the hell is wrong with you? Dick doesn’t say. Tim storms out. Dick is left to deal with Damian. ✦ we’re like long lost brothers who found each other (and love each other like family) by drakefeathers, dick & damian, 9.3k ongoing collection of scenes set when Dick is Batman and Damian is his Robin, ranging from cute to sad (hopefully not too sad). not chronological. ✦ I’ll Carry You by BrickSheep, dick & damian & bruce & tim, 2.1k Dick Grayson will take every opportunity he can just to carry Damian in his arms. ✦ in my own imperfect way by notquiteaghost, dick & damian & bruce, 1.8k Dick jokes, a lot, about being the only reason Bruce still remembers how to talk to people. About breaking him in for everyone else. He was Robin first, and he was Robin longest, and he’s why Bruce took in the others, he’s why Bruce isn’t dead in a ditch somewhere. And the jokes are funny! He’s never trying to be passive aggressive, or guilt trip, or whatever else. He and Bruce have spent enough time, now, pointedly not actually looking at each other, pulling words out in painful fits and starts. Dick knows where they stand. They’re good. But. ✦ (Un)Fortunate Son by Syl, dick & damian & bruce & cast, 26.1k wip Bruce reaches a decision about Damian. Dick disagrees and decides to do something about it. BATFAM FIC RECS - BATKIDS ALL HAVE MANY SIBLINGS AND THEY’RE ALL PETTY ASSHOLES AND/OR WONDERFUL BABIES AND I LOVE THEM WITH MY WHOLE BEING: ✦ Overcoming Our Antecedents by Batbirdies, jason & bruce & dick, 31.4k Bruce swallows, closing his eyes for a brief moment before he takes another, steadying breath and presses both hands to his face. He just needs a moment. Needs to remember where he is, what year it is, that Jason is not actually fifteen, he only looks like he is. This is temporary. This is just a temporary problem that needs to be contained until they can change Jason back. This is not a repeat of events already passed. This is not a second chance. ✦ what’s past is prologue by Icestorm238, dick & bruce & jason & tim & damian & barbara & steph & cast, time travel, 84.9k Dick Grayson, bestowed with the memories of an alternate life, decides that things are going to go better this time. Things take a few unintended turns, and the consequences of his actions ripple through his family. ✦ And the Scene Slips Away (To the Evenness I Fake) by Kirazalea, bruce & dick & jason & tim & damian & cass & duke & alfred & cast, rape aftermath/read the tags, 37k One mistake is all it took to force Jason back into the wonderful world of the Wayne family. Now publicly and legally alive once more, he’s forced to spend the next two weeks of his life stuck in the Manor with the whole family. This leads to several strengthened relationships and the realization that maybe he’s missed a few things over the years. Things that he’s now determined to get to the bottom of. ✦ now the clock is melting (so’s my mouth and so’s my mind) by SilverSkiesAtMidnight, tim & bruce & dick & cast, 4.1k The League’s base is not built to welcome strangers. Bruce is not a stranger. ✦ what catches and who holds by victoria_p (musesfool), dick & cass, 3k Dick never wanted to be Batman. Cass always did. ✦ Bet on it by Lysical, jason & damian & jon, 2.4k Even Damian could admit that his older siblings occasionally had their uses. “I need your assistance,” Damian said, voice low and tense. “No,” Jason replied, and hung up. ✦ a soft place to land by unchosenone, dick & tim, 3k Tim rubs the back of his head, trying to affect a joking tone. “I knew I should’ve just gone for the new escrima sticks.” Dick is ready to be a good big brother to his grieving little bro. Tim flips the script. ✦ Consanguineous Ministrations by Briarwitched, bruce & kon-el & clark & dick, 23.9k “Who gave you a baby?” Dick demanded, the instant Bruce opened the front door, eyes drawn immediately to the sobbing infant on Bruce’s hip that he gently bounced to no avail. At the same time, Bruce muttered, “I told you, it’s fine, you didn’t have to come.” Alternatively titled, “Let’s give Batfleck alien baby problems”. ✦ The League of Extraordinary Bowling Bats by chibi_nightowl, dick & jason & tim & damian & bruce & alfred & cassandra & stephanie, 5k “What did Dickiebird do? Steal all your other shirts?” The shirt is bright green with wide yellow stripes pretending to be a pin stripe running vertically across it. On the back, in bright red letters, “Timmy” is spelled out. “You’re next,” he spits out, shooting Jason the worst glare he could muster. “He’s got one for you too.” ✦ a cheese raspberry flavored void (except not really) by dottie_dc (dottie_wan_kenobi), Marzue, SilverSkiesAtMidnight, Squintyfist (ErzasCake), dick & jason & tim & damian & bruce & alfred & cast, 3k “Jason.” Dick walks up to the desk, suspiciously peering around. Jason jerks and attempts to get in his way, but Dick is quick and fully willing to vault over his brother. Only, Jason immediately latches onto him, and the momentum sends them stumbling back, knocking into the desk. It’s a good thing Jason stopped him, for right behind the desk, where Dick would’ve landed, is a swirling void. ✦ The Talk by InsaneTrollLogic, dick & bruce & jason & tim & damian, 2k Bruce never gave Dick the Talk. Dick was grateful for that right up until the time Damian sat through his first health class and started asking questions. ✦ Brothers in War by IaMcHrIsSi, jason & dick & cast, 3.2k Jason, Cass and Damian ran from the League. In Bludhaven, they run into Dick. Literally. Dick just wanted to get breakfast. ✦ Baby I’m Bi Bi Bi by Sohotthateveryonedied, dick & steph, 1.5k Dick catches her staring. “Oh, yeah. Forgot I had that. I bought it for when Wally, Donna and I were planning to go to Gotham Pride last year but a Joker thing came up and I didn’t get to go. You can just toss it. I have a ton of other bi merch and I only bought that one because Donna pressured me into it, anyway.” Steph looks down at the t-shirt and bites her lip. “Actually…I think I’ll keep it, if you don’t mind.” ✦ two attempted robberies too many by tsuchann, dick & bruce & jason, 2.2k Dick could have knocked out the man before he had the chance to blink let alone pull the trigger, but he wasn’t dumb, and he worried his reaction would have caused the other robbers to shoot, because in the bank, at the middle of it all, with a gun pressed to his head, was Dick’s little brother. ✦ That the Ripest Might Fall by Ellegrine, TheFightingBull, dick & jason & tim & damian & bruce, reverse robins, 2.4k Jason stared at the fallen chandelier. The priceless, fallen chandelier. They were dead. They were so, so dead! ✦ the butler’s neighbor by deargalileo, tim & alfred & bruce, 16.6k it starts with a baseball, thrown onto the wayne’s property. it’s alfred’s job to deal with such happenings, of course. but over tea and galas, it turns into so much more. after all, why should bruce be the only one allowed to adopt any child that he finds? ✦ the straw drawer by deargalileo, dick & bruce & jason & tim & alfred, 7.4k sometimes, love is stored in the straws. a story about family, traditions, and gifts, through the medium of crazy straws. (a companion piece to the butler’s neighbor, so i would suggest reading that first) ✦ you gotta push all the doubt to the side of your mouth by danishsweethearts, dick & stephanie & cast, 1.7k Steph practices mindfulness. BATFAM FIC RECS - DICK/BABS FOREVER AND YOU CAN SHUT IT IF YOU DISAGREE, THEY’RE ADORABLE TOGETHER: ✦ Crime and… by Ladymercury_10, dick/babs, 1.7k “Are you punishing me with glitter? That’s not a very good punishment, Babs.” ✦ the dickbabs baby au. by thychesters, dick/babs & batfam, 49.1k wip Telling Dick she’s pregnant is much more stressful than she was hoping it would be. Them telling the rest of their families and friends? Yeah, easier said than done. BATFAM FIC RECS - I WILL DIE ON THE HILL THAT TIM DRAKE’S TRUE LOVE INTEREST IS CONNER KENT AND NOBODY CAN STOP ME, NOT EVEN GOD: ✦ buy back the secrets by sundiscus, tim/kon & bruce & clark & jason & cast, 48.1k wip He takes a long, slow breath. Ignores the glares from the other students. “Superboy,” he murmurs. “It’s me. If you’re listening, I could use some help.” Or: 5 times Superboy saves Tim Drake, and one time Tim Drake saves Superboy. ✦ Grevious Misuse of TTK (or, Alternate Uses for TTK) by Cfae8, tim/kon, NSFW, 1.4k Tim wakes up to someone touching him. But Kon’s hands haven’t moved. ✦ The Lost Art of Minding Your Goddamn Business by JpegDotJpeg, tim/kon & jason, 2k Tim just sputtered, looking thoroughly scandalized for someone standing in the middle of the irrefutable evidence of his own fornication. If the furniture looked this bad, Jason couldn’t imagine that little Timmy had escaped Superboy’s super cock completely unscathed. “It’s not that bad,” Tim said, gesturing to the carnage, but he didn’t even sound convinced of his own words. “It looks like the fucking honeymoon scene from Twilight in here.” ✦ Practice Makes Perfect by rotasha, tim/kon & jason, NSFW, 18.3k Kon is trying to seduce someone – he won’t tell Tim who – and he enlists Tim’s help to try to hone his flirtation skills. This surely won’t end in disaster for Tim, who’s had a thing for Kon practically since they met. BATFAM FIC RECS - TAKE THE ANGST DIAL, TURN IT UP TO ELEVEN, AND BREAK THE KNOB OFF, THAT’S WHAT I’M HERE FOR: ✦ Wait, What? by PandasandDucks13, dick & bruce & titans, 2.4k Dick Grayson finds something interesting while applying for college. On a side note: He should really evaluate how many felonies he commits on a regular basis ✦ Dawn Breaks Through the Window by sElkieNight60, dick & bruce & jason & tim & damian, depression/read the tags, 14.7k Without realizing it, Dick has fallen into a listless apathy, but when an incident cuts a little too close, Bruce and his brothers are there to remind him just how loved he is. ✦ Wisdom Always Chooses These Black Eyes and These Bruises by audreycritter, dick & bruce, 3.2k After a severe, life-changing injury, Dick and Bruce have an epic fight and then fall back together. Sometimes, family hurts you the most, but that doesn’t stop how much you need them. ✦ your continental divides by isawet, reisling, dick & bruce & damian & barbara & cassandra & stephanie & donna & roy & wally & artemis & cast, rape aftermath/read the tags, 26.7k When running doesn’t work and working doesn’t work, home is the place you go where they have to take you in. Dick’s home has never been Gotham; it’s always been the people.

#lumi.txt #dc #batfam #bruce wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #damian wayne #timkon #fic recs #batman fic recs #long post #really long post

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mayonnaise2004 · 12 days

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Clarisse La Rue meeting & dating!Child of Apollo! Reader

- Clarisse hated the children of Apollo. Most of them were; in her words ‘Wussies that are afraid of the dark.’ But when she laid eyes on you during your first day of camp, Those thoughts shifted a bit. Especially when you destroyed Luke in sword fighting.

- Congrats, you’ve gained a bit of respect from her. That doesn’t mean she won’t mess with you though.

^ Speaking of messing with, if you stand up for yourself/anyone she will hold a grudge against you. You embarrassed her!

- Clarisse is very distant about her feelings, so when that crush begins to form she will go out of her way to stay away from you.

- Poor girl is confused, why does she think you look pretty getting out of the lake!? She’s an Ares kid, she can’t be having thoughts like these!

- But of course, she couldn’t stay away from you forever. Clarisse absolutely despised how the Ares kids enjoyed sitting across from Apollos, and she especially hated how you and Percy got along so well.

- As Clarisse sat across from you, her mind began to race with the thoughts of possibilities.

- What if she did talk to you? What if she did tell you how she felt? Her mind plays the scenario again and again. She’s so tempted to go over there, So badly she wants to and when she closes her eyes and opens them again. She’s still staring, She’s still watching, She’s still so tempted.

- Her siblings (being the assholes they are) noticed this and taunted Clarisse until word got out, and eventually reached you.

- And later that night after an embarrassing confession, the two of you shared a kiss on the empty docs.

DATING HCS:

- She's not a fan of romance or intimacy, but she does enjoy having a partner who can match her energy and keep up with her adventurous personality.

^ She does show affection though, mostly through tiny trinkets she finds around camp (pebbles, leaves, and Jewellery she may or may not steal from the Aphrodite kids.)

- Going on walks through the forest

- Clarisse is a very protective person, She gets pissy if anyone she doesn’t like goes near you (including her half-siblings.)

- having to stop her from bullying new kids (*cough cough* Percy Jackson *cough cough*)

- sneaking into her cabin after nightmares (or vice versa.)

- she loves to brag about you, any major or minor accomplishments are flexed in her siblings faces.

“My s/o can do more sit ups then you.” “They beat me in a sword fight!” “They learned how to sew!”

- Constantly trying to impress you, probably says “babe! Did you see that!” Ever 5 seconds when she’s training

- peels your oranges without question

#Percy Jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #clarisse la rue #clarisse la rue x reader #percy jackson series #<333 #first time writing for a female character 😅😅 hope this is good!#child of Apollo x child of Ares #percy Jackson imagine #percy jackson and the greek gods #percy jackson and the greek heroes #Clarisse La Rue x !NB! reader #Clarisse la rue x female reader #Clarisse la rue x male reader

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britcision · 25 days

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Hey by the way Kabru spoilers time

Cuz I just noticed something about his explanation of the dungeon’s growth

He’s fucking wrong

He’s completely fucking wrong about all of it

It’s so logical, it sounds so sensible, it’s such a clear chain of cause and effect… but because he doesn’t know about the demon, he’s completely wrong about how any of it works

Kabru’s Theory of Dungeon Maturation:

1) dungeon is found

2) adventurers go into dungeon and find treasures

3) treasures run out (shitty people ensue?)

4) adventurers leave

5) monsters breeding in the dungeon overwhelm the surface

However, from the Canaries, who are demonstrably shown to have far greater knowledge of the dungeons and the demons (fucksake Milsiril you shoulda told the boy), we have this:

Here we see the explicit gaps in Kabru’s knowledge

1) people find the dungeon (yup)

2) people find something valuable in the dungeon, adventurers ensue (pretty much)

3) less treasure on the upper levels leads to less adventurers (yup and here’s the major change)

4) new layout, MORE treasure on upper levels and subsequent increase in adventurers, supplied by demon, also bigger and better monsters (has no reasonable explanation outside of demon funding, no wonder he didn’t get it)

5) monsters overpopulate and break out to the surface; presumably as part of the demon’s overall world domination plan

More people in the dungeon does feed the demon and the dungeon itself, but not in the way Kabru expects; it’s the desires of those people that make the difference, not the people’s presence or energy

Emptying the dungeon won’t fully starve it, especially not with groups already on the lower layers ready to take over, but it is actually very effective for what the Canaries want - the big crowd attracts the dungeon lord’s attention, Kabru trying to empty it brings those selfish desires to the forefront, and less civilians in the way is always helpful (once they’ve served their purpose)

He’s so fucking close, and his explanation makes so much sense, but that one key missing piece about the demon (and the renewed treasure) means that his own efforts to prevent level 5… are meaningless

Killing the people who take advantage of others isn’t going to change that the dungeon will lure people deeper, feed on them, and then overwhelm any defences

The monsters don’t spill out because there’s a number of adventurers that needs to be maintained to keep them under control; they’re not breeding naturally, they’re coming from an infinite Monster Tap the demon pulls whenever it wants to

All Kabru is doing by trying to keep the number of adventurers up is actually feeding the dungeon more and more of their desires; now, it’s not like he has a consistent plan to do this, but since it’s his motive for murder it’s pretty funny that he’s so wrong

And that his firm and devoted desire to rid the world of monsters would make him extra delicious to the demon

His whole overarching purpose is to understand the dungeons so that they can prevent more of them from being created, to get the answers that the elves and dwarves and gnomes aren’t sharing…

And that being underpinned by having one single key piece of information knock his whole strategy off course is just. Chef’s kiss

He’s really lucky Laios had a big ol’ Protagonist sticker slapped across his titties and a far more complex and nuanced set of desires which monopolized the demon’s attention

#delicious in dungeon #delicious in dungeon spoilers #dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi spoilers #kabru of utaya #kabru dungeon meshi #like i love him he’s doing his best #but that one key piece of info man #dunmeshi spoilers #dunmeshi meta

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tornado1992 · 2 months

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Sonic and The Black Knight AU in which Sonic’s from that world, he’s an explorer of some sorts and he does technically live in Camelot with his brother Miles, but he spends most of his time traveling around and getting new stuff for his brother to weld and forge with.

One day while returning to Camelot and looking for minerals or cool rocks he finds a sword in a stone, great! New materials for his brother! he can surely make something better than this old blade or upgrade it.

He takes the sword out effortlessly. The sword can talk. Great(?

He brings the weapon to the town, people start to notice the obvious magical artifact and voice goes around about “the legend being fulfilled”.

Oh, that legend. Yeah, no.

He just wants to show his little brother a cool sword, not become ruler of a whole kingdom thank you very much, it doesn’t matter if he “fulfilled the sacred prophecy”, it’s just a rumor until he decides it isn’t. And he doesn’t want it to not be a rumor.

Rumors travel fast, but he is faster.

The talking sword started doubting if he was worthy of the throne after spending no more than an hour around him, not shutting up about how “you’re already running from your kingdom and you haven’t been crowned yet”. Good. Maybe he could convince the sword to tell the people he would make a terrible king if the disdain in its voice gave anything off.

They arrived at the blacksmith’s shop, his brother’s shop, he shush’s the sword down as his brother runs to hug him, instantly pulling away at the sight of the weapon, his twin tails happily wagging gentle circles behind him as he asks Caliburn (what a name) anything and everything that there is to know as a talking sword. Caliburn just asks him why does Sonic call him “Tails” (nice try of a joke mate).

The very rude sword being perplexed about how someone as “reckless and careless” as him has “such a brilliant child in his care”.

Well, not a pretty mineral or shiny rock, but a talking sword seems interesting enough to make his brother happily ramble almost all night long, taking karma in his name as he wears Caliburn’s ear(?) off as he did with him.

Well, he could tell the kid all about his latest adventure in the morning, right now he could focus on cooking his brother a new dinner dish with spices from his latest travel destiny. A small bedtime story (about the knight’s of the round table by Carliburn’s request) and a few ear scratches later and you got a snuggled sleeping fox kit ready for the night.

The sword stays near them, looking at every move Sonic made, as if analyzing him in confusion. What a rude weapon, he might not be good king material but he’s peak big brother material.

He might not have enough on him to give his brother a bigger workshop or expensive materials, but he will give him everything he has if it means keeping him happy, they may not live in a big castle or have fancy dinners every night, but he swore from the moment he met the fox that he would do everything in his power to keep him safe.

As long as his big bro was around, he would never go hungry again, he would never sleep outside again and no one would hurt him again. He won’t ever feel unloved again.

Sonic might not be able to give him the world, but he’ll give him everything else.

His little brother’s sleeping form slightly trembles in his tiny bed, curling himself in his small blanket, covering his body with his fluffy tails, (sometimes Sonic thinks he’s more “Tails than “Miles”, pun intended). it’s been kinda cold lately, their humble home not making much favors to keep them warm even with the forge still on, but he doesn’t think he’s trembling because of the cold.

It’s okay, he didn’t wanted to sleep in his makeshift bed today anyway, he’s been away from his brother for enough time and he doesn’t mind staying right beside him to fight the little fox’s nightmares away and sharing their warmth for comfort. He nuzzles beside him, the kit instinctively moving to hug him and hide his face on the crook of the hedgehog’s neck, gentle purring and soft humming filling the silence of the night.

The next morning Caliburn greets him loudly “Good morrow, king Sonic”

Hell.

He doesn’t know what could’ve changed Caliburn’s opinion on him from one moment to another, but now thanks to that he has knights kneeling before him, the royal wizard offering him their nation’s secrets, a talking sword lecturing him all day long about “a king’s duty and heart”, and the whole kingdom practically demanding him to rule.

It’s not a very tempting idea to say the least. Organizing diplomacy gatherings, hosting balls and knighting warriors is not really his thing, and hell, the kingdom wants it to be his thing.

He offers the throne to whoever wins a crusade? “the winner must defeat his majesty first”. He tries to put back the sword in the stone? “The sword chose you, my liege, it is your destiny”. He tries to show the high commands how bad of a kind he would be? “His majesty is such a humble king, even in all his might”.

So, so eager to make him king. They tried to drag him to the castle so he could “know his new home”. They offered him to make changes to royalty’s way to make it “enough of his way”. They showed him the perks of having power, “a king does as he pleases”.

But what could he really offer them as a king? He can fight bad guys and make allies for sure, but even if he wanted to, would that be enough?

He kinda regrets not spending enough time around the kingdom before, maybe if he did and the people actually knew him they wouldn’t be so insistent on him of all people being king, talking magical sword be damned.

His brother knows what’s going on, he keeps mostly quiet about it, not wanting to disturb the hedgehog with the subject when he actively is trying to avoid it, his only opinion about it being shown a few nights after his return to their home. He’s tucking the fox in for the night, Caliburn silently watching them from the other side of the room, a sleepy squeaky voice fading with a yawn in a last effort to reassure his big brother while he runs his finger’s trough the fox’s bangs.

“You could give this kingdom anything… you already gave the world to me”

That’s all it takes.

Alright, he’ll be their king, but he will not sit on a fancy chair all day, won’t have a personal army following him around and definitely won’t be educated in “proper royalty manners”, you want him to be the king? The king does as he pleases.

The high council or whatever can take care of the bureaucracy, alliances and all the boring stuff, they’ll have the control over most of the kingdom (just how they like it, right?)

His first decree? Right after his coronation, the only time he actually stays in the throne room longer than five minutes, he actually wears his crown, he’s bearing the sacred sword when he calls his brother to the center of the room “I dub thee Miles “Tails” Prower, the crown prince of Camelot”.

He’s the king now, it’s only logical for his little brother to be the prince, the crown prince, direct heir to the kingdom’s throne.

He’s the prince, and the prince can get whatever the hell he desires, so bring him all the minerals and heavy armory, and show him the secret library! Little bro needs stimulation and there’s only so much he can do with a blacksmith’s mediums. His room? Bigger than the king’s! His food? Get him all the neighbor kingdom’s candy if he asks for it! His education? Give him all the books known in the world, get him all the minerals and bring his workshop inside the castle!

What he had was enough for his little brother before, but it might not be enough for him just yet. Time to give him the world that he already promised him.

Prince Miles does have a nice ring to it.

#sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #sonic and tails #unbreakable bond #they are cosmic truth #they’re brothers your honor #wholesome sonic and tails wednesday #Prince Miles AU #theyre brothers your honor #sonic fanfiction #caliburn saw this punk ass mf and said nope #and then saw how he cared about that little baby fox and said yeah that’s the king #and lil tails being so happy because Sonic returned and now he can sleep beside him #and don’t worry the king’s schedule will always have time to read his brother a bedtime story #Sonic just wants to give his brother the world because that’s what he deserves no less #and now he will give him everything #not that Tails needed it #his brother was enough #but the castle and the toms of books are a nice plus #and don’t worry they won’t be cold at night anymore #the nightmares might still make miles tremble but his brother will scare them off

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artist-issues · 1 year

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And another thing.

The original The Little Mermaid is about understanding. One of the main plot devices is that the witch takes what from Ariel, ladies and gentlemen?

Her voice.

Ariel did not leave the sea “for a boy.”

Ariel left the sea to be understood. Because for the whole first part of the movie, we’re shown hints of what her life is already like, and how she’s tried to be understood but nobody’s listening or communicating.

She’s introduced by describing a ship as amazing and wonderful, while her fish friend clearly does not understand and wants to get out of there.

Even her best friend doesn’t share her love for another world.

Her first interaction with her father, count how many times he’s speaking over her.

He has this prejudice against humans, and because she’s disobeyed him, he won’t listen to any of her evidence that they may not all be bad.

Even when she has a voice and a cavern full of proof that humans aren’t all barbarians, her father won’t listen to her, so he can’t understand.

And the truth is, she doesn’t have that much proof. She knows that humans are clever and make “wonderful things,” and that’s what she bases her belief in them on. But those beautiful objects, and her pretty ideals, are not enough to make her abandon her family and culture and world.

When she sings and talks about why she wants to be Part of That World, it’s because she wants to understand it. And, subconsciously, Ariel also hopes to be understood up there. Where they make cool devices, and maybe daughters can stand instead of being reprimanded. There’s this hope for freedom and being known associated with the surface.

But it’s not until she meets Eric that those ideals are really, actually, proven true.

Ariel sees Eric out on the sea exploring instead of staying in a palace on his birthday. He gets a gift from the closest person to him, and it’s clear that even the closest person to him doesn’t understand his tastes—he doesn’t want an over-dramatic statue of himself. He sticks to his ideals in an argument that somewhere out there, is the right girl for him. But he doesn’t have to leave the argument in frustrated tears. In the end, he risks his life to not only watch out for his friend, but nearly dies going back to a burning ship to save his dog.

Eric personifies everything Ariel has always idealized about the Human World—AND he might understand her.

In her one observation of him, she finds out that he, a human, is:

A Prince, but nobody can tell him what to do.

More interested in activity and exploration than palace ceremony.

Unable to relate to his closest companions.

Handsome—beautiful, not a savage.

Criticized for “silly, romantic notions” but sticks to the idea of something wonderful out there in the great beyond.

Brave, self-sacrificial, and compassionate to animals.

Eric is, all at once, everything Ariel always hoped a human could be, and yet still so like herself. They have twin souls.

She’d rather be exploring human ships, he’d rather be out exploring the sea. She believes the surface world is good and beautiful, he believes in the girl of his dreams, no matter what anyone says. She has nobody who gets excited about new adventures, and he has nobody who gets excited about new adventures.

When she sees him, she falls in love not just with his upstanding character, or even the human world he represents—she falls in love with the hope that he might understand her in away nobody under the sea does.

Then the ironic thing is, she’s got to make him understand who she is and what she should mean to him without a voice. And unfortunately, that’s really hard because he is suddenly associating his dream girl with a voice and a magical rescue.

As close as they may get when she finally does meet him face to face and gets herself human legs, Ariel and Eric can’t be together until he knows who she is, for real. After all, how can love be true without understanding?

And we’re not DONE with understanding. Because even after he learns what and who she is and still commits to her and saves her and loves her, Ariel’s back to having a tail. She’s back to being in a world where he can’t be.

Except now, Triton is the one who understands. He finally sees what they’ll do for each other—and that Eric, ”savage, spineless, harpooning fish eater with no regard” saved his daughter. He sees that they love each other and are each worthy of the other’s love.

It’s not until Triton understands what Ariel has known and felt all along that he gives her human legs the right way.

That’s the point of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. “True love is found in understanding and sacrificing for one another.”

Triton had the sacrificing idea down, but he didn’t have understanding. Eric had understanding, but he didn’t have the chance to sacrifice for it.

Ariel has both. She understands that Eric’s world is not only barbaric, but beautiful, and she’s willing to sacrifice her tail to be understood in that world.

That is what this movie is all about. And because they’re probably willing to sacrifice critical scenes, like the Prince saving the day (which is important because it provides Triton with a new understanding of humans) or the girl leaving the ocean to be with the boy (which is important because what she really wants is to be understood) the creators of the Live Action Little Mermaid are going to miss the point and ruin the movie.

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worth-the-chaos · 4 months

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Adventures in Babysitting - Steve Harrington x female!reader - Chapter 3

Chapter Summary: Billy is still hitting on you, Steve’s still mad, and Dustin’s still a pain in the ass to babysit. When he tells you and Steve that there’s a massive problem of upside down proportions, the two of you have no choice but to drop everything to help the boy, reprising your roles as badasses who eradicate the supernatural in Hawkins.

Content Warning: swearing, upside down shit, billy being an ass, stancy, anxiety and tense moments, fluff, protective!steve

Word Count: 7.0k

Author’s Note: Still a slow burn but Steve and the reader’s relationship is slowly starting to develop in this part! More of this chapter also represents Steve’s perspective on things, which was really fun to write. I also got to write more interaction with Dustin, which more is obviously yet to come, but I hope you guys enjoy!

Series Masterlist | Part 2 | Next Part

***

While your conversation last night had helped him calm down a bit about Nancy’s comments about their relationship, Steve was still trying really damn hard to keep his cool about it. After all the years of being an asshole and putting himself first, he knew he didn’t deserve for things to go his way. But it was his senior year. He had hoped at least something could go according to plan, but shit seemed like it just kept finding new ways to hit the fan.

This turned out to be especially true when he was in his P.E. class, playing basketball against the same ass who wouldn’t leave you alone at Tina’s last night. Gym was the one class he didn’t usually have to worry about, his athleticism allowing it to be a distraction from his other responsibilities. In other words, it was a piece of cake. Besides, outside of study hall, it was the only class he was taking that you were also in. He would be lying if he said that it didn’t give him a bit of an ego boost to know that you were always there to watch him show off with whatever sport they played. He happened to excel at all of them.

That was until this asshole Billy showed up. Steve was pretty sure Billy was still mad about the way he interfered in his futile attempt to seduce you last night, and it was showing on the court with the way Billy was shoving at Steve every chance he got.

“Alright, alright, King Steve everyone,” Billy taunted, laughing as he dribbled the ball, “I like it, playing tough today.”

“Do you ever stop talking, man? Come on,” Steve rolled his eyes. He was just about done with this dude’s shit.

“What? You afraid that coach is gonna bench you now that I’m here? Huh?” Billy asked, getting closer and closer to Steve. He shoved into Steve, causing the boy to take a hard fall, hitting the ground pretty hard, before Billy tossed the ball effortlessly into the hoop.

You rolled your eyes from the bleachers. Boys are so fucking stupid. You were glad coach didn’t care what the girls were doing during class, more focused on the extra practice that his team was getting in; the one time sexism paid off. Most of the time you just brought homework to work on, using the class as an additional study period.

You saw Billy grab Steve’s hand to help him up, saying something to him you couldn’t quite hear, before shoving him back down to the floor.

“Alright, let’s take five everyone! Go get water, stretch, whatever, just be back in here otherwise I’m marking you absent,” your coach yelled out the empty threat, and you hopped off the bleachers and made your way over to Steve.

“So, today doesn’t really seem like your day,” you teased, offering your hand to help Steve up. He gladly took it, happy that at least through all the (as Nancy would word it) bullshit, you were still there, something he couldn’t say for his girlfriend at the moment. He shoved the thought down.

“Evidently not. You know, that Billy Hargrove kid is a real pain in my ass,” Steve fumed, “I mean first he shows up driving like a mad man in the goddamn parking lot, and now he won’t stop fucking shoving me. Like hello? Is that not a fucking foul?! And don’t get me fucking started on him coming on to you at Tina’s last night and refusing to leave you the hell alone until I had to get involved. What if I wasn’t there? What would he have done to you? I swear if he talks to you one more—“

You cut him off, “woah, woah, woah, Steve. You need to calm down. He’s just an ass, it’s not worth your time. Plus, you know I can handle my own and he’s left me alone since then, so I’m sure it’s all going to be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“That’s what you don’t get, y/n. I’m always worried about you,” he sounded exasperated and his tone was angry, but you knew it was misdirected. You tried not to flush at the sentiment. You knew that he cared but sometimes it still surprised you considering a year ago you were largely blissfully unaware of each other’s existence.

You decided it was best to give him a few moments to calm down. “I swear it’s all going to be fine,” you promised as you headed back to the bleachers. As you turned around, you suddenly realized that Nancy was there, gripping her purse strap as she made eye contact with you. She smiled a half smile and waved, and you wondered how much of last night she really remembered. You waved back as you took your seat.

She motioned for Steve to follow her outside and he hesitantly obliged, clearly not super excited about the conversation they were about to have. As soon as he cleared the doorway, you noticed a presence to your left turning to be met with the face of Billy Hargrove. You felt your heart stop in your chest. Even though you told Steve you could handle things on your own, it was a lot easier said than done.

“What do you want?” You demanded, facing forward to avoid giving him the satisfaction of your full attention.

“I just feel like we got off on the wrong foot is all,” he said, and you could hear the fake charm dripping from his lips like poison. You knew there were girls here that would fall for this shit, but you certainly weren’t one of them.

“I don’t know, I’m pretty partial to abiding by the first impression you set and I’m not feeling so generous as to give you a do over.”

He chuckled, “you’re feisty. I like that, you know.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what you do or do not like. Now if you could kindly leave me the fuck alone, I think your dumbass game is starting back up,” you nodded towards the court and the boys who had started to pass the ball again.

“You’ll see. You’re gonna give me a second chance, just wait,” he predicted as he hopped down the bleachers to join his classmates. Once he hit the court, Steve made his way back into the gym and you were thankful for the timing. The last thing you needed was these boys trying to kill each other. Steve looked a little bit defeated and you couldn’t help but wonder what Nancy had said.

Gym went on per usual for the last fifteen minutes of class: girls largely sitting in the bleachers, boys trying to show off for them, until the two groups finally parted ways to change and clean up in their respective locker rooms before the bell rang in ten minutes. You waved at Steve as you made your way out of the gym, and he offered a half-hearted one in return.

Steve’s conversation with Nancy had gone just about as bad as he thought it would. Of course she didn’t remember the shit she said last night; that would be too convenient. Steve was still hung up on the fact that she couldn’t even tell him that she loved him. Was it all just a lie?

Steve headed over to the showers and undressed, hoping that the hot water could wash away some of the anger he was feeling. He had a tendency to be hot headed at times, but he was trying to turn over a new leaf. He was trying to be better, and he wasn’t going to let his temper get the best of him.

He watched as Billy made his way over to him, picking the shower to his right as turned the water on, “don’t sweat it Harrington. Today’s just not your day, man.”

Perfect, this was just perfect. Steve ignored him, continuing to run shampoo through his hair.

“More like not your week,” Tommy H added as he stepped up beside the two boys, “you and the princess break up and she immediately runs off with the freak’s brother.”

“Bullshit. I just talked to her.”

“Oh shit, you don’t know,” Tommy smiled, happy to have found more shit to throw at Steve today. “Jonathan and the princess ran off after your little conversation. She got in his beat up old car in the parking lot and it looks like they’re ditching the rest of the day. But that must just be a coincidence, right?”

Tommy laughed as he turned the water off and walked away.

“Don’t take it too hard, man,” Billy spoke up, “a pretty boy like you has got nothing to worry about. Plenty of bitches in the sea.”  Steve continued to ignore him, not having the time or energy for his shit, when Billy reached over to turn off the shower, leaving Steve soap covered and angry. He patted Steve on the back before walking away, adding “I’ll make sure to leave you some. Not y/n though. I’ve got my eye on her.”

Steve glared at him before aggressively turning the water back on. He hadn’t known about Nancy and Jonathan running off together, and frankly right now he didn’t’ care. He had always gotten weird vibes from their relationship. Hell, if he was being honest, they were probably the same vibes that Nancy got from his relationship with you. He didn’t really have time to think about all of that though, instead fuming over Billy’s persistent obsession with you.

Billy had only been here for a few fucking days and he was already causing problems Steve didn’t need. He could put up with the snide comments and taunts, but the second he came for you again, Steve’s patience would be out the window.

What a hell of a senior year.

***

It was a Saturday afternoon. Normally you didn’t babysit on Saturdays because Mrs. Henderson was off work, but she had called you the night before, saying she needed you. It was kind of hard to tell what she was saying because she seemed very upset, her emotion leaking into her voice and making her extremely difficult to understand. Something about her…cat being missing? Either way, you were headed toward the Henderson household, frustrated that you’d lost one of your only free days of the week, but you needed the extra cash, so here you were.

Before you could even make it up the porch steps to knock so that Dustin could let you in, he was flying out the door, bumping into you and knocking you off balance in the process.

“Code red! I repeat this is a code red!” He yelled into his headset as he darted past you, heading to grab his bike from the front lawn. You rolled your eyes and pivoted.

“Dude, what the hell?” You were ready to yell at him, to lecture him to be more careful, but he was mounting his bike and pedaling down the street before you could even conjure up the words. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going? You can’t just leave!”

“Y/n, I’m sorry! It’s an emergency! My mom’s bike is in the garage and I’m headed to the Wheelers’, but I have to go, now! Please don’t kill me!” He yelled over his shoulder as he got farther and farther away from you.

“I don’t know how to…ride a bike,” you started off yelling before going back to a normal speaking volume as you sighed, realizing your shouting was futile. With no other options, you thanked the universe that you had worn your tennis shoes today, and took off sprinting towards the Wheelers’.

Simultaneously, Steve was headed to the same location. He’d stopped to pick up a bouquet of roses for Nancy on the way, feeling the need to sort things out with her before it was too late. He wasn’t ready to give up on them just yet and he hoped that the gift would work like a bit of a peace offering to reset the balance and make everything okay again.

He parked his BMW in front of her house, rehearsing what he would say when she answered the door as he got out of his car.

“Listen, I’ve been thinking, I love you, I’m sorry….I’m sorry? What the hell am I sorry for?” He muttered as he made his way towards the front door.

“Steve! Are those for Mr. or Mrs. Wheeler?” It was the Henderson kid. Steve didn’t have the time for this, looking at the boy in annoyance.

“No?” He replied, confused at the boy’s line of questioning.

“Good,” Dustin replied as he grabbed the flowers and made his way towards Steve’s parked car. A rose fell from the bouquet in the process and Steve leaned down to pick it up before following the child.

“Hey! What the hell?”

“Nancy isn’t home.”

“Where is she?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Dustin started, “we have bigger problems than your love life.” He opened the passenger door. “Do you still have that bat?”

“Bat? What bat?” Steve asked. Why the hell is this kid getting in my damn car?

“The one with the nails?” Dustin clarified, throwing his hands up in a way that irritated Steve. Of course that was the bat the kid was talking about. How could he possibly have not known that considering the fact that it had been sitting in the trunk of another vehicle for a full calendar year, untouched?

“Why?”

“I’ll explain it on the way,” Dustin replied as he sat down. Steve was a bit thrown off by how immediate this had to be, not really in the mood to chauffeur the Henderson boy around. He felt anxiety creep up in his chest as he thought back to the last time he had to use the bat in question.

“Now?” Steve clarified as he jogged towards his car.

“Now!” Dustin confirmed as he slammed the car door shut. Steve quickly slid into the driver’s seat, starting the car and putting it in gear. He was about ready to pull away when hands slammed against his window, causing him and Dustin to scream out, alarmed by the sudden noise.

There you were, huffing and puffing from your impromptu run through the neighborhood. The anger on your face was glaringly apparent, neither boy recalling a time that you’d looked that mad before. And Dustin especially had done enough to make you pretty damn mad. You yanked the car door open and collapsed in the backseat of the BMW.

“What the hell y/n? You scared the absolute shit out of me! I could’ve run you over or something! Where the hell’d you even come from? Why are you even here?” Steve turned around to yell at you. You glared up at him with fire in your eyes, continuing to pant as you aggressively pushed a strand of hair aside that had fallen out of your ponytail and into your face.

“Do you want to tell him or should I?” You growled as your gaze shifted to the Henderson boy, who was attempting to shrink into nothing in the front seat.

“I-I told you that you could take the bike?” He squeaked out, clearly afraid of your wrath. You were usually so calm all of the time, so the rage permeating through the car was borderline terrifying.

“I don’t know how to ride a goddamn bike!” You screamed as you squeezed your eyes shut. It was embarrassing, but you were too frustrated right now to focus on that.

“That….well, that was an oversight on my part,” Dustin replied.

“Wait, she’s fucking babysitting you and you took off on a bike and left her behind? What the fuck dude?” Steve interjected, angry on your behalf.

“Yeah, I could have walked you to the damn Wheelers’ house! Leaving me like that was way out of line, asshole.”

“It is an emergency!” Dustin attempted to defend himself, “I’m sorry I left you by yourself to walk—“

“Run.” You corrected.

“—to run after me. But I’m not going to apologize for leaving because some crazy ass shit is going on and I need help. Big time.”

Looking at the boy it was clear that something was very wrong. Normally he was pretty happy go lucky, but now he was pretty damn stoic. Your anger slowly faded as you thought to what the boy could possibly have meant by the code red earlier.

“It…it-it’s not…it’s not what I think it is, is it?” You whispered, unable to really get the words out.

“It’s probably exactly what you think it is,” Dustin pinched the bridge of his nose. Despite the fact that the boy had left you behind, you could understand his reasoning. This Upside Down shit was not something to be taken lightly, and you were glad you and Steve were here now to help him so he didn’t have to figure it out on his own.

Before either of you responded, Steve put the car in gear for a second time, pulling away from the Wheeler residence. You guys were already losing light and Steve’s house wasn’t super close, meaning that time was of the essence.

“So…it’s the demogorgon,” Steve finally spoke up, saying what you had been unable to earlier.

“Well, not exactly,” Dustin started, “on Halloween, I found this…thing in my trashcan, really small you know—non threatening and the like—and I did some research and thought it was a pollywog—“

“A polly-what?” Steve interjected.

“A pollywog. Kind of like a tadpole, but that’s not important. Anyway, I kept it and I named it D’Artagnan, Dart for short, because I thought I had discovered a new species. Turns out I wasn’t entirely wrong because it molted last night and it’s definitely a precursor to a full blown demogorgon.”

“Shit,” you whispered and your right hand instinctively went to grasp your upper left arm, shielding your wounds from your previous encounter with the beast.

“How big did you say this thing was again?” Steve asked, not entirely convinced that this was as large a threat as Dustin was making it out to be.

“It started out like this,” he held his hands close together, “and now it’s like this,” he added as he spaced them significantly farther apart. You shuddered; if Dustin wasn’t exaggerating, this thing was now closer to the size of a small dog. It had only been a few days since he found the thing, how long did you guys have until it was the hulking nine-foot monster that had attacked you last year?

“Dude, it’s probably just some little lizard, man,” Steve began trying to brush the boy off.

“It’s not a lizard!”

“How do you know it’s not just some lizard?” Steve shot back, annoyed at the fact that this could potentially be a false alarm. Throughout Dustin’s explanation Steve kept looking at you in the rearview mirror and he could tell you were starting to get worked up over the potential of another supernatural threat.

“How do I know it’s not some lizard? Because his face opened up and he ate my cat,” Dustin deadpanned, bothered by the fact that Steve wasn’t believing him. This answer seemed to be acceptable as Steve dropped the subject, nodding, not really sure what he could say.

“Wait, Mews is dead?” You asked, your heart dropping a bit. You loved that cat; she was such a good study buddy when you were killing time at the Henderson household. Dustin just nodded quietly from the front seat.

None of you really knew what to say, so you sat in silence as Steve drove the rest of the way to his house. You all needed time to process this; time that you didn’t have. As he pulled up, you paused to take in the sight of the Harrington household. It was huge, an elaborate display of wealth that almost made you sick to your stomach. He unlocked the trunk of another vehicle, most likely an extra one that was used on occasion, pulling out the bat that he had used to save your life last year.

“Alright. Let’s do this,” Steve sounded confident, not allowing his voice to waver in the slightest. You all went to pile back into the BMW, Dustin heading for the passenger seat again when Steve grabbed him by his collar, stopping the boy in his tracks. “Nice try, pipsqueak. You’re in back.”

You chuckled as Steve opened the door for you. You spent the ride back to Dustin’s focusing on what potential horror may lie ahead of you. At least it’s smaller this time, you kept telling yourself. If you could take on a monster several feet taller than you last year, you could kick the puppy sized equivalent easy, right?

Dustin took you around the back of his house to the cellar. Despite the fact that it was locked shut, you still approached it with caution, not entirely sure of what the monster inside of it was capable of. The three of you stared at the closed doors, not really sure what you were waiting for.

“I don’t hear shit,” Steve finally spoke up, referring to the silence coming from the cellar below. If there was one thing that you knew from your supernatural encounter last year, it was that this thing was far from quiet. Sometimes you would wake up in a cold sweat, the memory of the low growl, the chattering, the screeching, coming back to you in your most vulnerable state.

“He’s in there,” Dustin promised. Steve began to hit the metal doors with the bat, still not entirely convinced. When there was no response, Steve turned to the boy.

“Alright, listen kid, I swear if this is just some Halloween prank, you’re dead,” Steve looked him dead in the eye. He knew from Halloween night how much this still affected you and if he was being honest, the experience still took a toll on him as well, so if this punk kid thought he was going to prank the two of you by forcing you to relive the most terrifying experience of your lives, he had another thing coming.

“Woah, woah, woah, how about we calm the fuck down? I get paid to babysit this damn kid, and I’ll be damned if I let you touch a hair on his head,” you got between the two boys, glaring up at Steve. Even though he had changed, you didn’t trust that his hot headedness wouldn’t return in a momentary lapse of judgment. Steve thought you looked entirely too maternal, and it made his heart skip, but he put his hands up and rolled his eyes. You turned toward Dustin.

“That being said. If this is a prank, I’m going to be pissed the fuck off,” you shot the boy a warning glance before adding, “now, do you have a key for this thing?”

Dustin tossed you the keys, but Steve intercepted them before you could catch them. He unlocked the doors, pulling them open to reveal a very dark and uninviting looking cellar. It was the kind of darkness you would have been afraid of as a child, worrying that the shadows housed imaginary monsters. However, this time you weren’t a kid and those monsters were far from imaginary. You and Steve pointed your flashlights down there, illuminating the cellar floor to display the nothingness. It was almost more unnerving than if the monster had just been there…almost.

“He must be farther down there…I’ll stay up here in case he tries to escape,” Dustin was quick to add, being so kind as to volunteer to stay far from the potential danger. You and Steve stared at him in disbelief. The nerve of this kid.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding, dude. It’s your problem, and you’re gonna be an absolute wimp about it after we’ve spent our afternoons chauffeuring you around town?” Steve fumed, about done with Dustin’s shit.

“I’m still in middle school! You guys are at least a modicum closer to being adults than I am, so it only makes sense that—“

You cut him off, swiftly grabbing the nail bat from Steve’s grasp. “You both are a bunch of cowards,” you sighed as you started making your way down the stairs. Behind you, you could hear the sounds of arguing between the two of them, each one shaming the other that they had let you, a woman, go down there alone.

“What the hell man? You’re really gonna let her go down there by herself? Not cool”

“She wouldn’t have gone in the first place if you hadn’t immediately wimped out.”

“I’m in eighth grade! You’re a fucking senior! You go down there! Man up!”

Chivalry is dead, you thought as you pulled the string to turn on the overhead light.

Your heart stopped when you saw the slick pile of shedded skin sitting in the middle of the cellar. This thing was bigger now. You felt the anxiety creep up in your chest and you swallowed the lump in your throat as you readjusted your grip on the bat, struggling to grasp it as your hands trembled. That’s when you noticed the gaping hole in the side of the cellar. You cautiously approached it, realizing it was tunneled out farther than the light from your flashlight could reach. The thought of what was lurking in that hole made you shudder.

Meanwhile, the boys finished their futile argument, not realizing you had completely disappeared into the cellar, now out of view. Steve and Dustin, stared at each other, wide eyed and panicking, realizing how gravely they had messed up.

“Y/n?” Dustin yelled hesitantly down the steps.

Upon hearing no response, Steve’s heart rate picked up and he spoke up as well, “y/n, what’s going on down there?”

Suddenly, you popped around the corner without warning, causing the boys to jump. “Get down here,” your tone was serious and the boys swiftly made their way down the cellar stairs, finally joining you as they should have done in the first place. You picked up the molted skin of Dustin’s discovery, showing it to the boys.

“Oh shit,” Dustin whispered, but when you pointed out the gaping hole in the cellar, he repeated it more emphatically, “Oh shit!”

“Yeah, ‘oh shit’ is right. We need to find it,” you turned to look at the boys. You wouldn’t let it roam Hawkins again. You wouldn’t let another Will get taken or another Barb get killed.

“It’s too dark out to do anything about it tonight,” Steve reminded you. There was no safe way for you to catch this thing. You had no game plan, no supplies, nothing.

“Steve,” you begged, looking up at him through your lashes. Even though you knew he was right, it made you nauseous to think about leaving this for tomorrow. You didn’t know how you would sleep tonight knowing that that monster was unaccounted for.

“Y/n, I’m sorry, but we just can’t. You know that. Think about how awful it was last time and we knew where the damn thing was and had a whole ass warning system for when it showed up. We can’t just walk out into the woods in total darkness expecting to find it and come out unscathed. We just can’t,” Steve replied, looking at you with sympathy. He didn’t want to leave this for tomorrow either, but you were just going to have to settle for that. There wasn’t another option.

You took a deep breath and nodded. Dustin turned to head back up out of the cellar, exiting the main room, out of sight as he bounded up the stairs happy to be out of there. When you turned to follow, you felt a gentle hand on the small of your back. You turned to face Steve and he moved his hand to your upper arm, placing his other hand at the nape of your neck. You looked him in the eye and swallowed the lump in your throat. This was the most sincere you had ever seen him.

“Hey, everything is gonna be okay. I’m gonna make sure of it, I promise,” Steve said quietly. You breathed in deeply and nodded, trying to trust him even though all of this was wildly out of your control. He let go of you reaching his hand between you, pinky extended, just like it had been in the library.

You felt a pang in your chest. That was how your lives should be; just two dumb high school students studying, thinking about what colleges you were going to go to, making stupid promises about parties that were more fun in theory than they were in actuality. Not whatever this was. But nonetheless you took his pinky in yours and you hoped with all your might that he’d be able to keep his promise; that everything would be okay.

“Hello? Are you guys coming? Did the demogorgon come back and eat the two of you alive?” Dustin’s voice rang out, sounding annoyed as it echoed in the open cellar.

“Not funny!” You shouted back, the moment between you and Steve fizzling out, as you dropped each other’s pinkies, making your way out of the cellar. You shut the heavy metal doors, triple checking that they were locked before standing to draw up a game plan with the boys.

“Alright, how about I pick you both up around 10:00 tomorrow morning?” Steve asked, looking between you and Dustin.

“That works. Dustin, your mom’s home, right? Her car was in the driveway, yeah?” You asked, making sure that Dustin wasn’t alone.

“Yep, everything should be fine here. Well, other than the whole Dart-ate-my-cat thing but yeah, I’m good. Your babysitting services are no longer needed for the evening.”

You walked him to the front door and thanked Mrs. Henderson as she paid you for watching him on a weekend. You could tell the poor woman was still distraught about her cat, and you couldn’t help but feel a pang in your chest. You and Steve made your way back over to his car and he opened the passenger door for you once again. He started driving towards your subdivision when you spoke up.”

“Steve, stop.”

He was getting flashbacks to Halloween, when the discussion of Barb had been too much for you to handle. “Woah, y/n is everything okay?” He asked, placing a gentle hand on your shoulder.

“I just…I-I don’t want to be alone,” you stammered, “my parents work nights and I just have a bad feeling about all of this, and I’m not quite ready to be by myself. Can you just give me a minute to calm down a little?”

You looked up at Steve innocently, your facial features twisted with worry. It was a look that could break him. He remembered his promise to you; that everything would be okay. He decided that this is where that promise started. He didn’t say anything as he turned down a side street with a cul-de-sac, making his way back to the top of the street before turning in the opposite direction of your house.

“Steve, what are you doing?”

“You can stay at mine tonight. My parents aren’t home this weekend anyway so it’ll be fine,” he assured you.

“Are you sure? I really don’t want to intrude,” you asked quietly, hoping that he didn’t change his mind.

“‘Don’t want to intrude’ my ass. The first time you came to my house you practically almost knocked down my door!” Steve laughed.

“Hey! It was an emergency! What was I supposed to do? Clearly I had exhausted all other resources by that point. The Henderson kid is a problem, you can blame him,” you defended yourself, giggling as you recalled the first time you sought Steve out.

“Nah, I’ll just thank him instead. It turned out to be a really good thing for me, you know?” He smiled at you. He was right; Dustin being a hellish child to babysit ended up turning out pretty damn good…aside from all of the paranormal, supernatural bullshit you were both knee deep in.

But that didn’t matter right now, as Steve turned on the radio, the two of you singing out of key to the latest hits as he drove off towards his house.

***

Sure, it was dark out, but it wasn’t too late yet, so Steve took you out back by the pool. You couldn’t imagine living in a place like this. In theory it would be awesome, but then you thought about how often his parents were gone, not to mention how hard they were on him, and you decided that you were better off in your small but loving home.

“So, yeah, this is the pool. I would say we could go for a swim, but it’s a little too cold for that,” Steve chuckled.

“Not too cold to sit out here, though,” you smiled as you took a seat on one of the lounge chairs.

“Be careful, you might get a sunburn,” Steve joked as he took a seat in the chair next to you. He thought about how the two of you had gotten to this point. Before you had knocked on his door that fateful day last fall, he had noticed you around school, but mostly just enough to know that you were a bit of a loner and you made good grades. Hell, he had almost reached out to you once or twice when his parents were on his ass about his poor performance in his classes, but he had always scoffed and rolled his eyes. Because how could he, King Steve, ever reach out to you?

He wished he had. He wondered how different things would have been. If he would have fallen in love with Nancy or if he would’ve been spared the heartache. He’d never know but he couldn’t help but contemplate how different your relationship would have been if you hadn’t been brought together by trauma. Maybe she wouldn’t have even wanted to speak to me, he reasoned.

“You know, if you told me a year ago that I would be hanging out one on one with Steve Harrington at his house, I would’ve called you crazy,” you had gotten up, moving to sit by the side of the pool, kicking your legs back and forth in the cold water.

“I was just thinking about that actually,” Steve admitted, “do you ever wonder how different it would be if we met before all this shit happened?”

“I mean, to be honest, not really. I think we both had some growing to do before we were ever going to get along. Last year kind of forced us to grow up a little faster than we really needed to. Maybe that’s a bad thing, but right now it seems pretty good to me,” you looked at him with sincerity. You meant every word of it.

“What do you mean both of us? I was the one that was an ass, you were perfect all on your own beforehand.”

You flushed with the praise, “no, seriously, I had some growing up to do too. Back then I thought I had you all figured out. I was confident that you were just some asshole jock, and I wouldn’t have guessed you had the capacity to change. I kind of stuck to myself, and I didn’t have a lot of friends, so I guess in a way, I was a bit jealous of you. People just gravitate towards you; I blend in so much I might as well not even be there.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, Billy sure is noticing you,” Steve muttered, and you couldn’t contain your laughter. You wish he’d stop being so focused on that, but you knew how protective he tended to be, so it made sense that it would still be on his mind after how Billy had treated you on Halloween.

“Yeah, that definitely doesn’t make me feel better; actually quite the contrary,” you chuckled, “you know, on paper you both should get along.”

“That’s so not true.”

“Think about it! You’re both athletic, flirt too much for your own good, have pretty good hair, popular beyond my wildest imagination, and you guys are both chick magnets. Forgive me for seeing some similarities,” you smirked. You knew it would set him off, which is exactly why you said it. If you were being completely honest, his frustration was a bit amusing at times.

“Yeah, but he’s like a complete asshole! I would never have just grabbed you like he did at that party. That was not fucking cool. Like yeah, of course he’d want to talk to you, look at you, but couldn’t he have just introduced himself and struck up a damn conversation instead of immediately getting handsy and shit? Like fuck!”

“What do you mean of course he’d want to talk to me?” You asked, baffled. You hadn’t really dated at all because no one was really interested in the weird alt girl who, despite all stereotypes, was killing herself to make good grades.

“I hate to break it to you, but you’re pretty. And you’re not like every other bitch. You’re different and you stand out because of it. In a good way. Now stop being self deprecating and get inside, we’re going to have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn so we can pick up your damn kid,” he offered you a hand to help you up from the ground, which you gladly took, trying and failing not to flush at the compliment.

He led you upstairs after giving you a tour of the main level. “Here is the guest room, you can sleep in here tonight. Wait here a second,” he added as he darted across the hall, disappearing into what you assumed to be his room. You took in the sight of the guest bedroom. It was perfectly set up, and though it was pristine and tastefully decorated, something about it felt cold and lonely; impersonal.

Before you could think about it too much, Steve returned with a stack of clothes in his hands. “You can wear these. I-I assumed you didn’t want to sleep in jeans. It’s just, um, it’s just a pair of my sweatpants and a t-shirt, but I can take them back if you’d rather just you know, keep those on,” he said as he gestured to you and your outfit. You chuckled as you took the stack of clothes from him.

“Thanks, Steve. I really appreciate it,” you smiled up at him through your lashes.

She’s gonna be the death of me, Steve thought, as he felt his cheeks heat up from your gratitude. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, no problem. Um, well…I’m right across the hall if you need anything. Sleep well, y/n,” he smiled at you.

“Sleep well, Harrington,” you replied, entering the guest bedroom. Once Steve was no longer with you, you felt all of your fear and anxiety invade your consciousness again. You swiftly changed and looked at yourself in the full length mirror hung on the wall. I could get used to this, you thought, feeling butterflies in your stomach from the fact that you were in Steve’s clothes. It all felt too domestic. You were beginning to blur the line between friends and something more, and the thought made you a little nauseous. You weren’t sure you were ready for that.

But as you laid in the big bed in the very empty and lonely guest room, fear crept up in your chest, and you decided that none of that mattered as you quietly crossed the hall, knocking softly on Steve’s door. He answered almost immediately, a concerned look across his face.

“Is something wrong?” He quickly asked, his hands hovering around your frame as he scanned you up and down to make sure nothing was amiss.

“I-I just…I still think I’m not quite ready to be by myself,” your voice was small and you looked down at the floor, embarrassed. You felt weak and wished that you were strong enough to face this without needing someone to lean on. But that’s what friends were for.

“Of course! Yeah, um I can sleep on the floor and you can take my bed, I have an extra pillow in the—“

You cut him off, “Steve! You are not going to sleep on the floor.”

“Uh, yeah I am?”

“Over my dead body,” you shot back, “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“You’re a guest!”

“Yeah, a guest that’s being difficult!”

“Y/n,” he warned.

“The way I see it we’re either both sleeping on the floor or we’re both sleeping in the bed, so take your pick Harrington,” you replied, pinching the bridge of your nose. Nothing could be easy with this boy.

“I sleep on the left side,” he sighed as he flopped onto the bed. You flopped down next to him, and you both turned to face away from each other. You felt your heart rate slow as the fear dissipated from your body, your shoulders finally being able to relax. Steve made you feel safe, and you wouldn’t trade that for anything else.

If only you knew that Steve felt the same way about you, and that you were the only one keeping his panic at bay. There was so much uncertainty in his life right now; Nancy, college, demogorgon-upside-down bullshit. Everything felt like it was going to shit, but you were the one thing that was going right.

You were the only constant he had right now.

As the two of you drifted off to sleep, it was the first time in a long time that either of you felt truly at peace. As the night went on, the distance between you began to disappear, as you slowly shifted towards each other, your legs tangled together under Steve’s soft sheets. Tomorrow would likely bring more pain, uncertainty, and problems, but right now that didn’t matter. All that mattered was the two of you, in Steve’s bedroom, sleeping so soundly that for a moment things seemed right with the world.

***

a/n: Thanks so much for reading! Please let me know what you think! Also, if you feel so inclined as to reblog, I would not be mad ;)

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its-your-mind · 9 months

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what the fuck. what the fuck what the fu k.

rick riordan I am a whole ass adult now how tf are you taking a wrecking ball to my emotions AT THIS POINT. SHOULDN’T WE BE PAST THIS.

what the fuck Meg took in all of her foster siblings to help them live a life after Nero. she’s showing them a world that can be kind, where people will say what they mean, and where mistakes don’t deserve punishment.

BUT THEN ALSO. Apollo. Went back.

And for Meg and her siblings, everything about their lives has changed and improved. But Apollo just… goes back to Olympus. Where Zeus continues to rule with an iron fist, where no one was even able to stick up for him, where every other Olympian lives in fear of Zeus’s anger. And he’s still there, he’s still in charge, but Apollo knows BETTER now. He knows that things can be different. He knows that he can be different, and he’s making the decision to be better now than he was before.

But now he doesn’t fit. He doesn’t fit with the Olympians, who weren’t a healthy family even before this, and he doesn’t fit with his new friends, either, because he’s a god again. He can go see them and talk with them and help them, but he’ll always have to leave again. He can never stay.

The last few chapters of The Tower of Nero were so beautiful and amazing - getting to see everyone else living their happy endings (as much as any demigod can), but they were always tinged with… loneliness. Apollo is separate from them all again. He can teleport at will, he can change his appearance to anything, he can separate his consciousness… and that’s all great, he wanted all of that back…

But by the end? He kind of wanted to stay human. And there’s no resolution for him. He’s gone through this incredible, difficult, terrifying, life-changing adventure… and he came back, and everything’s the same. Kinda makes me think of Luke, going off on his quest, coming back different, harder, sharper… and finding Camp exactly like how he left it, with everyone expecting him to just slot himself back into the place he had before, when that space doesn’t fit him anymore.

And Apollo has what Luke didn’t - friends who knew him as he was changing, who love this new person he’s become, and even a sister whose affection won’t change no matter what happens. He’s going to be okay, I know that.

But there’s just… something so quietly tragic in the end of Apollo’s story. He doesn’t get his own personal happy ending. His “triumph” is a return to a divine status that he’s not necessarily sure he even wants anymore. He has to forge his own path forward towards his own happiness, and we don’t get to join him on it. We got to be with him through his Trials - his future is up to him, now.

#toa #trials of apollo #toa spoilers #trials of apollo spoilers #apollo pjo #lester papadopoulos #rick riordan #FUCK.#LIKE LISTEN UNCLE RICK #IM IN MY TWENTIES TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE FUCK TO DO WITH MY LIFE #THE FUCKING AUDACITY YOU HAVE TO BUST INTO MY QUARTER LIFE CRISIS LIKE THIS #smfh #this book is for middle schoolers and it’s caused me #a middle school TEACHER #an entire emotional nuclear disaster #ugh.

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tinycurlyfry · 1 year

Text

Thinking about how Buggy and Shanks parallel Zoro and Luffy but if Luffy dropped his ambitions. The agreement between Zoro and Luffy was that Zoro would follow Luffy, be his first mate, be his swordsman, the first member to join his crew and set sail to achieve Luffy’s dream of being Pirate King IF Luffy never got in the way of Zoro’s dream of being the Strongest Swordsman in the world.

Buggy and Shanks were “apprentices” to Roger (and really more or less they were his sons). They were learning from Roger and learning what being a pirate SHOULD BE. So as apprentices, it would go without saying (at least as far as Buggy is concerned) that that means they need to be the ones to carry Roger’s Legacy. That they should be the ones to get their captain’s treasure and carry out what he wanted for the world. We see it in what Buggy is CURRENTLY doing. That he wants to inspire people to achieve their dreams. Crocodile sees piracy as a business, and Mihawk sees his position as a power pirate as a means to live a peaceful, lazy life where no one would dare bother him. But they don’t have the ROMANTICISM of a dream anymore. And all those years ago Buggy heard Shanks say he was no longer throwing himself into the romanticism of pirating and adventuring anymore. He’d be a pirate sure, but there was no drive, no DREAM behind it anymore.

And then he asks Buggy to still be a part of his crew. I can only imagine what that request must have felt like to Buggy. For Shanks to tell him “I won’t be the pirate king you saw me as. I’m not seeking any dream. But come be a part of my mediocracy. Just settle for less, Buggy.”

Now of course, Shanks still went and became a HUGE big name pirate. One that achieved Emperor level. But in that moment? In that moment it felt like Shanks was asking Buggy to give up on his dream, settle for being a pirate simply to be a pirate, and betray what they had learned from Roger.

Luffy was never going to get in the way of Zoro’s dream. Zoro’s desire was Luffy’s desire and vice versa, because as they said themselves in the show- the pirate king shouldn’t have anything less than the best swordsman on his crew. But Buggy’s desire was not Shank’s desire. I’d argue it probably still isn’t! I know Shanks is now making his move for the One Piece, but I honestly don’t know that that is his true objective. I think he thinks his place is to BE THERE when the battle for the One Piece happens. He placed a bet on the new generation and he is going to be there to see that bet come to fruition.

And I think part of that conversation between Shanks and Buggy was how they were each grieving. They had both lost a captain, but also a father.

But Buggy has not given up. His own dream was rekindled this most recent chapter (yes partially because he believes Shanks finally wants to be pirate king too), but partially because he finds himself SURROUNDED by people who know longer believe in the child-like wonder of adventure and treasure and the DREAM of becoming PIRATE KING. I think Buggy HAD also given up down the line. I think we saw a Buggy who’d lost his way at the beginning of the series. I do think Buggy doesn’t have the... best morals... But whether it’s intentional or not Buggy is not who we saw at the beginning of the series and he’s rallying so many people under him, and giving them sanctuary, and honestly? Reaching a king’s status to so many people.

But honestly? If Luffy suddenly went “You know what? I’m happy with what I’ve got here. I don’t need to be pirate king anymore. We don’t need to get the One Piece.” The Straw Hats would be SO LOST. Sure maybe they wouldn’t all get immediately angry or upset as Buggy had and asked “Well, what DO you want then?” But they are a crew made from the collection of DREAMS. And everyone’s dream is their own dreams. Zoro’s ambition became Luffy’s ambition, but that would never had happened if there was even a small chance that Luffy would be satisfied with anything that fell lower than reaching their dreams.

All this to say I’m proud of Buggy and support him as Leader of Cross Guild LMAO I hope he continues to fail upwards.

#One Piece #Buggy the Clown #Shanks #Zoro #Luffy #FryTalks #Cross Guild #Mihawk #Sir Crocodile #Gol D Roger #The funniest thing about all of this is that I did not like Buggy before this chapter #I was one of the people who would chuckle at the fun people were having liking Buggy so much after Impel Down/Marineford #but I did not care about the clown #I care about the clown now #I hope he shows up and pulls a fast one on Shanks and Shanks just beams at him with a big ol smile #OP Spoilers #One Piece Spoilers #Egghead Arc #One Piece 1082

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glazesunflower · 8 months

Note

may i ask for some dating headcannons with focalors the hydro archon? :3

Dating Furina/Focalors Headcanons

Characters: Furina/Focalors x GN!Reader.

Warnings: None that apply!

Notes: I was waiting to play the first Fontaine Archon Quest to get a grasp of her character before writing this. I have to say, I absolutely love this gremlin and bratty Archon. I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing it. (The last ones are my favorite <3)

Furina is flamboyant, imprudent and she lives for the thrill of the drama and the validation of those around her, so you’ll have to be very understanding and patient with her and the fair amount of mishaps that she will surely cause. So be prepared!

She doesn’t really voice it, she’s too proud for that, but she absolutely loves the way you’ve become her anchor, helping to balance out her impulsive nature with your calm and understanding demeanor. When she's on the brink of making a hasty decision, you're there to gently guide her, reminding her to consider all perspectives and consequences before acting. And she takes your advice to heart, be proud of that!

She struggles internally a lot with the pressure of her public image. Of course, she doesn’t say this directly to you, but you can see how it affects her, and so you write for her heartfelt letters whenever she's facing a tough situation. She doesn’t really make much of a fuss about them, but internally your words of encouragement and reminders of her strengths become her source of comfort, and she rereads them many more times than she’s willing to admit. She even has a special box where she keeps them all. But don’t ask her about it!

But it’s not all sappy stuff, your relationship with her is very adventurous and fun! Furina absolutely loves a good thrill and an outstanding performance in everything she does, so you’re of course expected to tag along in all of her endeavors. Whether it's exploring a new case that’s just taken place, trying out quirky local restaurants, or taking impromptu road trips through Fontaine, you both find joy in the thrill of the new things you try together!

Furina absolutely thrives on positive attention and affirmation. She is always very touched by your heartfelt compliments and words of encouragement (she probably won’t say it, mind you, but she would engrave your words in her mind to always come back to them). Express your admiration for her skills, charisma, and unique qualities and Furina will glow, feeling appreciated and loved. Keep them coming, she can’t get enough!

After some time of her being with you, Furina will slowly (and I mean, very slowly) feel comfortable enough with letting her guard down around you. And that is no easy feat! She’s constantly thinking that she will be judged by whatever she says wrong, so you should feel immensely lucky that she’s willing to trust you with her innermost turmoils! (Her words.) In time, you create a safe space where she can express her insecurities without fear of judgment, because you’re kind like that and you love her. You encourage Furina to have a ton of heartfelt conversations, and slowly you help her understand that she doesn't have to be perfect to be loved. It’s still a work in progress, but she’ll get there.

Furina is a sucker for gifts. After all, what better way for others to express their admiration for her, right? But the ones she loves the most are yours, of course. The gifts and tokens of your affection hold special meanings, since you picked them out knowing she’d like them. Like a charm to remind her of her resilience or a piece of art that reflects her flamboyant personality and you thought, “Oh, this reminds me of her!”. Keep doing that. She can’t get enough of it.

Knowing how much she loves and treasures positive attention, you organize surprise events or gatherings to celebrate Furina’s accomplishments, no matter how small they are. She doesn’t make a big deal out of it (She deserves all the praise and attention, after all!), but you see the brightest smile dancing on her lips the whole day, and that’s how you see how much she values these moments. These thoughtful gestures show Furina that you genuinely appreciate her efforts and want to support her in all aspects of her life. She will try even harder this time, if only for you to praise her more.

Your relationship with her is also full of laughter. You tease each other constantly, at all times, sharing inside jokes, and find humor in the quirks of everyday life together. Furina knows you have an ability to make her smile even in challenging times and she silently appreciates you so much for her. Still, you tease her too much. And she is the embodiment of the divine, she can’t have you teasing her in public!

With the passing of the time by your side (and I mean, at a very slow pace!), Furina starts to overcome her need for constant validation from others. She slowly becomes more confident in her abilities in the court and outside of it, and she learns to embrace her imperfections (her impulsivity, childlike temper, the constant bravado and drama, the list goes on!), understanding that you love her for who she truly is. Really, how could you not? She’s impressive and heavenly! It’s only natural you’re head over heels and completely in love with her! (She’s working on her arrogance, too).

Furina loves the spotlight more than anything else in the world (well, she only likes you more, and that’s saying something!), so sometimes you plan extravagant date nights that cater to her love for the spotlight. Whether it's a private outdoor performance under the stars or a playful evening of reenacting dramatic scenes from her favorite plays, you keep the excitement alive for her. And she thrives in every minute of it.

When it comes to physical touch, Furina is by far not used to it at the very beginning, so she’s fairly unsure when it comes to it. But she’s quick to realize that your gentle pats on her back, walking around with linked arms, or even a reassuring touch on her shoulder during moments of stress in the courtroom make her feel so much better instantly! Is this some kind of heavenly magic?

Furina quickly starts to associate your touch with positive emotions. Holding hands with you during a thrilling adventure or wrapping an arm around your waist while watching a dramatic play becomes something she really, really likes doing.

And when you introduce cuddling to her, Furina finds a whole new world to explore and enjoy. Whether it's lounging on your couch or stargazing, Furina wants to be in your arms at all times, if she has any say in the matter! Let her nuzzle into your neck and stay there for a while, she feels the safest she’s ever felt.

Furina enjoys your touch very much. She does not enjoy, however, how you playfully tease her with light touches, tickles, and gentle bumps! She’s the embodiment of justice, you can’t just have her wiggling and choking on laughter beneath you, how unsightly! (She absolutely loves it).

Furina has associated your touch with comfort and safety, so don’t be surprised when she comes to you after an especially hard day. Yes, she messed up in the courtroom today, but you’ll let her rest against you, won’t you? Your hugs and embraces become her safe haven. Sometimes she will open up and admit what happened that day. Others, she simply wants to enjoy your arms holding her tight in silence. In either case, she deeply appreciates you being there for her. She won’t voice it, of course, but you’ll know in the way she presses her forehead closer to you and the angle of your neck.

She also finds that physical touch is very useful! She starts using her own touch on you as a way to express her emotions. A soft kiss on your cheek in the morning, a warm hug after a long day, or even a surprise tackle or an affectionate nudge as you tease each other becomes her way of saying "I care about you" without needing dramatic and flamboyant words. How practical! She will keep showering you with her divine affection for many more years to come!

Having Furina as a significant other is no easy feat, it takes a lot of courage, determination, and most of all, a big amount of patience and understanding. Still, she is the most vibrant and colorful part of your life, so you wouldn’t have it any other way. With her, you become her partner in both the thrilling moments and the challenges of her life. Your love and support help her navigate her insecurities and embrace her true self, helping to nurture a romance that's passionate and tender and all the beautiful things in between.

If you enjoyed this, please consider liking or reblogging it <3!

You can check more of my writing on (this link!). Thank you!

#genshin #genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin imagines #genshin x you #focalors #furina #furina x reader #focalors x reader #hydro archon #fontaine

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justmeinadaze · 5 months

Text

Children of the Night Part 6 (Steddie X You)

Warnings: Vampire Steddie/ Daddy Eddie/Sub Steve X Human sub fem reader, SMUT, while drinking blood (nothing new here), holding wrists, lose of virginity (in a flashback between steddie), dirty talk, FLUFF, they love each other, flashbacks of how this Steddie met and their first time together, ANGST, reader and Steve get hurt due to a break in, reader blames herself, Eddie get worried about losing Steve, in flashbacks Steve's relationship with his family is touched on including them kicking him out for his sexuality (the actual fight isn't elaborated on; just the aftermath), mentions of the night Steve thought he lost Eddie.

A good amount of feels in this one so please...enjoy :)

Word Count: 4662

Loud knocking on their door startles you as both men roll their eyes.

“Do you have to be so aggressive?”, Steve scolds after opening it and allowing the curly haired boy entry. To his surprise, another boy followed behind him.

“I brought Mike to do some extra digging and help reroute the servers. We need to find out how they found you so we can make sure it doesn’t happen again.”, the young man explains before turning to face you. “Hi. I’m Dustin and this is my friend Mike.”

“I’m Y/N.”, you smile as you shake his hand.

“Cool.”, he beams as they throw their bags down and take a seat at the computer. “Why didn’t you guys mention you made a friend?”

“She’s not our friend. We kidnapped her and she’s here against her will. You know you’re our only friend Henderson.”, Eddie sass as he hovers over them.

“Ooo someone’s grouchy. When was the last time you ate?”

“It won’t help. This is always his demeanor.”, you tease making the vampire smirk in your direction.

As they began to work, you explained to them what happened and listened to their feedback with fascination. You had never met kids so young who knew about all these things that you did but it tickled your brain to finally have someone to bounce off your computer knowledge with. Eddie and Steve sat on the bed watching you with small smiles on their faces. They loved seeing you be happy especially the metalhead who could feel the warmth through to his soul.

“Where did you learn all this stuff, Y/N?”, Steve asked.

“Oh, um, that incident I told you about on the beach? That wasn’t the first time I ran off. When I was a kid and I knew my mom would have some creepy guy over I would stay with a friend whose dad was a computer whiz. That was when computers were much boxier though.”, you grin.

“Yeah and back then it was easier to get away with the things you’re trying to get away with right now because it was in its infancy. You said, Y/N, they intercepted the traffic but not during the stream?” Dustin nods when you affirm his answer.

“That means they still haven’t found the exact location so the bounce is still working. Maybe we can just reroute that?”, Mike suggests.

“Is there a way we can hide it all together?”

“Um, not exactly. I mean we CAN hide it but not completely.”, the curly haired teenager responds to your question. “This may take us awhile if you three want to go out or something.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Henderson. Are we distracting you?”, Eddie jests making the younger boys chuckle.

“Come on, grouchy. Let’s go for a walk.”, you beam.

***

While you and the vampire went for stroll around the neighborhood, Steve offered to go to your house to get a couple more of your things so you’d have a change of clothes and essentials.

“So, they know all about your adventures in that scary place?”

“Oh yeah. They were handling it alone believe it or not for a while. Mike’s best friend was kidnapped by one of the monsters down there and they fought to get him back along with Mike’s girlfriend who has superpowers.”

“Jesus. There’s so much unknown in this world, huh. Kind of makes what I’ve been through seem so small.”

Eddie’s hand yanked you back as he came to a stop.

“It’s not though. Don’t invalidate yourself like that, princess.”

“Y/N Y/L/N! Where the hell have you been?!”, your best friend shouts from across the street.

“Hey Lilly.”

“Don’t you ‘hey Lilly’ me! I have been so worried. I almost filed a missing persons report! Where the fuck have—”

“I’m fine, Lil! Calm down. I’ve just been working a lot and hanging out with my friends. This is Eddie.”, you gesture towards him.

A sarcastic smile spread across her face before she marches toward him and hits his arm with her bag.

“I…have…been…worried…sick!”

“Ow! Hey, we told her to double check her phone.”, Eddie defends.

“Oh shit my phone. I’m so sorry. I haven’t checked in a while.”

“Y/N,” she sighs. “You can’t just disappear like that. I thought John maybe…”

“I don’t know where John is. I haven’t seen him since he came by my house.”

“Did you know Arthur’s missing to? Their dad is looking everywhere for them including your house. When he came to talk to me he said every time he goes to your place you aren’t home so… I panicked.”

“Lilly, honey, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m alright, I swear.”

Your best friend exhales heavily as she wraps her arms around you.

“If I call you next time, you answer do you hear me?” She smiles as you give fake salute. “If you hurt her I will kill you.”

He flashes her a smile of his own as she turns around and heads back to her car.

“Should we be concerned about the dad?”, Eddie inquires. “She said he was looking for you and I felt your fear.”

“That entire family scares me but we should be ok.”, you try to comfort him but he still feels your hesitation. “Let’s, um, let’s go home.”

***

As dawn slowly approaches, you and the vampire begin to panic when Steve still hadn’t gotten back from your place.

“Do you feel him?”

“I don’t. Wherever he is he’s not feeling anything but that could also mean—”

“He’s knocked out. I’m going to my house.”

“Wait! I can run you there faster.”

“No you can’t. The sun is coming up! Just stay here, baby, ok?” Taking the human boy’s keys, you run to his car and speed over to your house. As you park in your driveway, you realize your front door is wide open and you can see your house has been ransacked. “Steve?”

Cautiously you step inside, grabbing a knife from the kitchen and holding it out as you look around. As you turn into your bedroom you find Steve passed out on the floor, bleeding from his chest.

“Steve?! No. No, no, no. Baby, wake up! Look at me!”

“Y/N?”, he mumbled at the sound of your voice.

“Fuck! Come on. We need to get you to Eddie.” Throwing his arm over your neck, you try to move him but it’s no use. He’s too heavy. “Please, Steve.”, you cry, finally giving up as you grab the phone to call 911. As soon as your hand makes contact with your device, something hard hits your head as the world goes dark.

***

“There she is. Come on now, Y/N.”, a deep voice urges as your eyes slowly blink open. “There we go. I thought you were never going to come home.”

Taking in your surroundings, Steve is still knocked out in front of you and still alive but his breathing is shallow. You were restrained to your bedframe on the ground with your hands tied behind your back and when your eyes finally landed on your capture, you came face to face with John and Arthur’s father.

“Good to see you again, Y/N. I see you’ve been busy.”, he gestures towards the bloody boy on the floor. “I guess my son wasn’t good enough for you. Where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

A hand flies across your face and you suddenly feel an anger in your belly you know isn’t yours. You must still have Eddie’s blood in you. Glancing out the window you realized it was almost sundown; you just needed to buy time.

“Arthur said John was coming her to confront you about you cheating. Then he disappears. Two days later my son goes looking for his brother over here and then he disappears. That’s not a coincidence, Y/N. Where are they?”

“I don’t know.”

He hits you again and once more that anger rises. You can practically feel the vampire fuming as he paces.

“If I were you, Thomas, I would leave now.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Because if you’re still here when the sun goes down, then you’ll be reunited with your asshole sons.”

Kneeling by your side, he holds the knife to your throat making you wince as he draws blood.

“What did you do to my kids?”

“It’s not what I did. It’s what they did to me! John hurt me constantly and the last night I saw him he gave me a black eye before he was ripped to shreds. Arthur fucking shot me before he was killed. I’m glad their gone but I feel bad for them having had you as a father!”

The man kicks your side hard causing you to double over in pain.

“Stop lying, bitch. If Arthur shot you, you wouldn’t be up and moving around like you are.”

Steve’s watch beeps on his wrist and you chuckle as you spit in his direction.

“Last chance to leave.” The front door crashes open as Eddie skids to a stop behind the man. “Too late.”

Closing your eyes, you listen as the vampire murders your ex’s father before there’s a sudden silence and you feel your binds being cut.

“Are you ok?”

“Steve... He needs you.”

You both crawl to his side as Eddie lifts him in arms.

“Steven, you have to drink now, baby, ok?” The boy’s eyes remain closed as his boyfriend shakes him. “No! No, sweetheart, don’t you dare leave me. FUCK! I’m so sorry.”

Lifting him into his arms, Eddie bites into his neck and slurps at his blood as you watch helplessly. After a few moments, he comes off him with a pop and swiftly slices open his wrist, allowing the blood to fall into the man’s mouth.

“Come on, Stevie. Please, baby.”, he whispered. Abruptly, Steve’s eyes snap open as he clings to his boyfriend’s arm and drinks causing the vampire’s eyes to roll back. “Fuck, that’s it. Good boy. Y/N…can…can you move?”

“Yeah, what do you need?”

“Take his keys and head back to our house. We’ll be right—mmm--there but I need you to get those boys out. I don’t…don’t care if they aren’t done.”

Nodding, you sprinted out the front door to do what you were told and sped back to their house.

“We rerouted everything and you guys are up and running again. I wouldn’t worry too much—Jesus. Y/N what happened?!”

“You two need to leave NOW.”

“Are you kidding?! What’s going on? Are Eddie and Steve alright?!”, Dustin shouted.

“YES!”, you lied. “But we need you guys to go to hotel or home. I promise you I’ll make him call you and tell you everything! PLEASE!”

Hesitating for only a moment, they quickly gathered their bags and you watched as they got into their rental car to drive off into the night. As soon as they disappeared, Eddie flew past you and placed Steve on the bed.

“I don’t know if it worked. He just passed out while drinking from me. Fuck. Fuck! I should have gone with you or gotten your things for you. Your house is never safe.” Sensing your guilt, he hastily turns around and cups your face. “No, hey. I didn’t mean it like that. This isn’t your fault, sweetheart. Ok? Shit.”, he flinches as he sways and you carefully guide him to the floor. “He took a lot from me. Can you—”

He didn’t even finish his sentence before you ran into the kitchen to find a bag of blood, tearing it open, and bringing it back to him. As he chugs it back, his black eyes scan you over.

“When I feel better, I can heal you to.”

“No, Eddie. I’m ok. I just want you to focus on you two.”

“Y/N, I woke up after 2 months…I don’t know how long it’s going to take him.”

###########

That evening, you looked after them both with Eddie refusing to leave his boyfriend’s side. Removing Steve’s shirt, you used a rag to clean the blood from where his stab wound had been and wiped away the mess around his mouth. All of the previous wounds were gone but his breathing was still extremely shallow.

Curling up behind Eddie, you held him as he cuddled up into Steve’s nook and caressed his face.

“Is this what it felt like, baby? When you thought I was gone… I’m so fucking sorry, Steve. You never should have experienced this. It hurts way more than those little fucker’s teeth ever did. Please, come back to me.”, he cried.

The memory of him waking up and feeling alone clouded his mind; the feeling of being lost before hearing his lover’s voice and their song on the little radio.

“'Cause all I can taste is this moment and all I can breathe is your life. So and sooner or later, it's over…I just don't wanna miss you tonight.”, Eddie sang softly before kissing his cheek. “I love you, Steve Harrington.”

***

The sound of thunder startled you awake and as soon as your eyes snapped open they were met with fangs and black eyes staring down at you. His hair was hanging in front of his face and he was still in just his jeans with no shirt. The man’s cold hands were pinning your wrists to the mattress as he hovered over you bent at the knee straddling your waist.

“Steve?”

He growled loudly at the sound of your voice causing the vampire beside you to jerk awake.

“Jesus Christ… it worked.”, Eddie murmured, his eyes quickly taking in the situation before him. “Sweetheart, are you alright?

Steve didn’t move or make an indication that he heard him at all.

“Baby, I can feel how hungry you are. I can take care of you, ok. You don’t need to feed on her.”

You squeaked when his body abruptly shifted as he leaned down to sniff your neck.

“Steven…”, he warned.

“Pretty girl…smells good. Hungry.”

You tried to control your emotions but you couldn’t help the way your pussy clenched as his long, wet tongue licked a line up your throat to your cheek. Steve and Eddie groaned at the same time driving you crazy.

“Mine.”

“Ours.”, the metalhead corrected.

“Hungry.”

“I have food in the refrigerator. You can NOT eat her. She needs to be healed first. She lost a lot of blood yesterday.”

Steve snarled but Eddie wasn’t amused anymore.

“You don’t talk to me or give me attitude, little boy. Vampire or not I’m still your fucking Daddy. Now, let her go or I swear to God I will punish you.”

The boy’s massive, strong palms ran along your head feeling the slight bump and dried blood that remained there causing him to growl again at a much lower register before biting into his skin and shoving his wrist towards your mouth.

Steve moaned when your lips attached to him while you drank, his hips grinding subtly against your core.

“Pretty girl. Hurt.”

“Yeah, Y/N got hurt trying to save you.” Eddie’s eyes fluttered as he tried to control all the intense emotions running through his body right now. He was so relieved that Steve was alive so to speak but he could feel his anger and hunger as well as his desire for you.

Grunting, he forcefully pushed you back against the pillows and glared at his partner with his fury filled black eyes.

“Who?!”

“Don’t worry, baby. Daddy took care of him.” The boy nodded before baring his fangs and leaning towards your neck, hovering just so before snarling in frustration and squeezing your wrists tighter. “What’s wrong, Steve?”

“Need…permission…”

The metalhead let out a breathy laugh that bordered between pleasure and relief. His boyfriend was still in there, he just needed to coax him out the way Steve did with him many times before.

“Y/N, princess, are you ok?”

“Yes, Daddy.”, you whimper causing the boy above you to smirk.

“Ok, my good boy. You can have her but when I say stop you have to listen to Daddy, understand?”

Steve nodded, wasting no time as his head fell back beside your neck and his teeth pierced your skin. As soon as his hands released you, you desperately reached between your bodies to push down his pants and move your panties to the side, groaning loudly as you guided his cock into your body.

“Fuck, Y/N.”, Eddie moaned. “I wish you…you could feel what he’s feeling. Jesus…”

Gripping the other side of your neck, Steve’s hips slammed into yours toeing that fragile border between pleasure and pain as you clung to shoulder.

“St-Steve…”

The long-haired boy heard the whine in your tone as tears fell from your eyes.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart? D-Do you need to stop?”

“Too much, Daddy.”

“Steve, you have to stop now, ok?”

The man growled when Eddie touched him causing him to growl back.

“Steven!”, you shouted in a firm tone making them both freeze. “L-Look at me NOW.”

Doing as you commanded, he lifted his head and his eyes immediately softened when he noticed the streaks of tears along your cheeks. Wrapping your legs around his waist, you urged him to continue while cupping his face.

“That’s it, baby. I can’t give…give you more blood but you can take me. I’m…I’m so sorry, Steve. This is my fault.”

His head shook as he blinked rapidly, his black eyes receding and his beautiful honey ones pushing forth.

“No…No, honey. This isn’t your fault.”

Hearing his normal, sweet tone broke you as you wrapped your arms tightly around him and he did the same.

“Keep going. Please. I need to feel you.”

Leaning his forehead against your own, he steadily began thrusting into you again at a much gentler rhythm.

“I love you, Y/N. Fuck, I can feel you everywhere. It’s ok. Everything’s alright.”

You both desperately panted into each other’s mouths as he felt your pussy tighten around him as you came, following close behind as you felt him fill you up.

With heavy eyes, you tried to focus your vision but it was too much as the adrenaline left your body and blood loss caught up with you.

“Sweetheart, no. Keep your… Baby?! Open…eyes…”

################

Flashes of memories hit you at once.

“Bill, are you kidding? You can’t stay another week just so you can fuck your whore! We have a son to take care of!”

“Mommy.”, five-year-old Steve coos as she slams the phone done after his father hung up on her. “Everything’s ok. I love you.”

“Hey, dad.”

“What is it, Steven? I’m busy.”

Twelve-year-old Steve twirls the basketball in his hand as he carefully enters his dad’s office a bit more.

“I, uh, wanted to tell you I made captain of the JV team.”

“Seriously? That’s why you bothered me? Get out of here and come back when you actually have something good to tell me.”

“Like we’re in love? You don’t love me?”

A teenage Steve’s hand falls from the girl’s face as she tells him their relationship is bullshit. It feels like his heart was shattered as he angrily leaves her behind in the bathroom.

“Ahoy. Welcome to Scoops. I’m your captain Steve. What can I get you?”

“Jesus, that was both pathetic and sexy, Harrington.” The man’s eyes shift up to lock on the metalhead in front of him as his big, tooth filled grin almost blinds him. “Only you could pull that off, pretty boy.”

“Eddie, right? Mumford?”

“Munson.”, the long-haired boy cackles. “I’m surprised you remember that much, sire. It’s not like we floated in similar circles. Plus, you were also an asshole.”

“Yeah.”, he chuckles. “I was. Sorry about that.”

The guitar riff for “Iris” begins to play making Eddie roll his eyes.

“What? You don’t like the Goo Goo Dolls?”, Steve teases.

“No and this song is fucking cheesy as hell.”

Turning on the couch to face him more, the man brings the beer bottle to his lips like a microphone as he begins to sing.

“And I don't want the world to see me 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand When everything's made to be broken I just want you to know who I am!”

The metalhead smiles as he playfully cringes causing Steve to laugh harder before crawling forward and placing a soft kiss on his lips.

“Woah…”

“Fuck. I’m sorry. Did I cross a line? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. We can just forget it happened and—”

Ring laced fingers grab his cheeks and kiss him again but much more deeply.

“What if I don’t want to forget?”

“Wait, Eddie. Wait. Um…”, Steve pants as he lightly pushes at his boyfriend’s chest, his cock getting harder as he watches him struggle to pull his lips away from his own.

“What’s wrong, baby?”, Eddie asks as he tenderly runs his fingers through the man’s fluffy hair. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“No, no. I do. I just…I’m nervous. I’ve never…not been with a girl…ya know?”

The metalhead grins at his shyness as Steve’s face blushes bright red.

“I’ll go slow, sweetheart, ok? If at any point you want to stop just say the word.”

After getting the go ahead, Eddie strokes the lube along his shaft a few more times before lining himself up with the man’s entrance and gradually sliding in.

“Fuck, Steve. You’re so fucking tight.” Opening his eyes, he scans the man underneath him whose eyes had also been closed but his eyebrows and nose were scrunched together. “Look at me, pretty boy. How are you feeling?”, he asks when he does what he says.

“S-So fucking good. Hurts a little bit but—Jesus—please don’t stop.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”, he teased, placing his palm behind Steve’s neck as he leaned his forehead on his own.

“Fuck, Eddie. I love you, baby. Just like that.”

The metalhead’s movements faltered for just a second before grinning down at him and kissing his lips.

“I love you to, sweetheart.”

“Oh my god, Steve! What—”

The boy pushes past Eddie into the trailer living room, his dripping wet frame from the rain drenching the carpet underneath his shoes.

“FUCK HIM! He thinks he can tell me who to be or who I can be with?! Fuck. HIM!”

Eddie grabs his arms and forces him to stand still as he looks him over.

“Who the fuck hit you?”, he asked with a tone filled with anger. “Was it Tommy or fucking Jason?!”

“My dad finally caught up with the town gossip.”, he answered sarcastically as he bounced on the balls of his feet. “Said no son of his was going to ruin the Harrington name by fucking a guy let alone the town freak. I told him to fuck off and that you were perfect. He said it was either you or them. If I chose to stay with them I couldn’t see you anymore. I told them I loved you and he hit me. And of course, what does my mom do?! Fucking NOTHING!”

Steve fell to his knees and Eddie sunk down with him collecting him in his arms.

“It’s ok, baby. Everything’s alright. You can stay here as long as you need to. Fuck your parents. You know Wayne doesn’t care.”

Eddie pushed his boyfriend’s head into his chest, trying to soothe him as he continued to cry.

“Eddie! Eddie! No, no, no, no.”, Steve panicked as he slid to the man’s side in the upside down.

“I tried, Steve. I tried to convince him to come through the gate with me. He said he needed to buy more time.”, Dustin sobbed as the earth shook around them.

“Steve, we need to go.”

“Ok, come on, Robin. Grab one of his arms and…”

The girl looked at Nancy sympathetically unsure of what to do. Even she knew they couldn’t carry him through a gate in the ceiling. None of them had the strength especially after being grabbed by the vines.

“Steve, come on. We have to go.”, Nancy urged, pushing down the guilt that weld up in her throat. “We can’t stay here.”

“Neither can he. We can pick him up and I can—”

“STEVE! I’m so sorry.”

“Hey Mina.”

“Hey Renfield. Draculaaaaa.”, you jest, smiling widely when you see him smirk. “Thank you boys again for letting me help with your site. I love doing this way more than any other customer service bullshit.”

“I can imagine. I used to work at an ice cream parlor and a video store. I know how crazy customers can be.”

“I hope it’s alright. Since you trusted me with your whole empire I thought I’d be more vulnerable with you both to.”

The little box with your name suddenly illuminated with your face causing them both to sigh at the same time.

“So…this is me.”, you giggle nervously.

“Pretty girl.”

“Very.”, Steve followed, beaming when you blushed at their compliments.

***

“There she is. Come on, baby girl. Open your eyes, please.”, Eddie urged as he gently rocked you in his arms, trying desperately to hide how worried he actually was.

When your eyes met his, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief as he tenderly moved some of the hair away from your face.

“Steve?”

“I’m right here, honey. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to take so much. This is so new to me and—”

Your lips cut him off as you crawled into his lap and collapsed shakily in his embrace.

“Let me grab her something to eat.”

“I saw it. I saw everything… your memories flashed before my eyes. You’ve been through too much, baby.” He couldn’t help but smile as he kissed your forehead. “I-I-I felt the love you have for him. How many times you felt like he’s saved you.”

Eddie came back and handed you a granola bar but you just held it in your palm as you sobbed while shifting your focus to him.

“It’s my fault you almost lost him. You both should just go. Grab your things and leave me and LA behind. I’m going to get you both killed.”

Steve growled loudly as he grabbed your face and forcibly turned you to look at him.

“Y/N, what happened wasn’t your fault. What happened with your ex and his asshole brother wasn’t your fault.” Realizing how he was holding you; he swallowed nervously and dropped his hands to your sides. His body twitched and Eddie felt the emotion as he lightly chuckled.

“Yeah, do you see what I mean now when I said it aggravates me that you both feel guilty about things you couldn’t control. You two feel it so strongly to.”

“It’s so weird. It’s like I can almost hear her thoughts but it’s a feeling. You…don’t believe me when I say it’s not your fault. You think your mom’s right about you. That you just ruin everything basically by existing.”

As you looked away in shame, Eddie reached out to lift your chin.

“I get what it feels like to think that. My dad was the same way before he went in but, Y/N, it kills me when I feel you feeling that because—”

“You can’t see how perfect you are… to us anyway.”, Steve finishes.

Silently, you opened the treat he brought you as you waited for them to take care of you. Watching with studious eyes, Eddie licked his thumb and showed his boyfriend how he heals the bites, marveling when the wound disappears.

“I always did it while you were both asleep.” The metalhead scooted forward and cupped Steve face in his hands as the shared a passionate kiss. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again, sweetheart. I love you so much, Steve Harrington.”

“I love you to, Eddie Munson.”

Series here

###################

@chelebelletx @mandyjo8719 @nailbatanddungeon

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wild-dagon · 8 months

Text

Building on my prior post what does a role-reversed totk mean for Linked universe.

I have seen plenty of fics about Wild leaving the chain for his new adventure but imagine wild leaving the group and immediately getting tested back in time.

Imagine Wild once again I a new world where he doesn’t know anyone trying to navigate it. He’s trying to figure out where he is in the time line. If any of his brothers are here. You can have a lot of fun with where Rauru’s kingdom falls in the time line.

But it ends with wild swallowing the stone and becoming an immortal dragon clutching the broken Master sword to his chest.

Maybe he passes his 10,000 years watching over hyrule and seeing his brother eras come to pass.

Back with the chain.

The brothers are missing Wild. Maybe it’s right after he left, it’s still a raw wound. Right as they are trying to wrap their heads around the fact that they are now one link short they hear a roar. They jerk their heads around looking for the mister that’s attacking them only to see that in the sky is a giant dragon. Legend probably makes a snarky comment about not wanting to fight that thing. But the dragon just calmly flies over head of them.

As they continue their quest they will always spot the dragon in every new era they travel to. They can’t figure out why. All the people that they run into can’t see the dragon so why can they. Is it a part of the quest?

Meanwhile in Totk;

Zelda(flora) finally realizes what happened to Wild. She’s heartbroken for her knight as she watches him fly around the sky.

She’s also at a loss of what to do. How do you beat Ganondorf without the Master Sword. She knows that it rest with the Dragon!Wild but she can’t pull it. The blade won’t respond to her. She needs a hero, but hers is up in the sky.

Luckily Hylia drops off 8 hero’s fro her to pick from.

The chain arrives in Wild world. Originally they are confused on where they are. The world looks so different with the sky islands but Twilight would recognize Wilds world anywhere. Even with all the new monsters and that strange dragon flying around.

The group is hopeful. Maybe Wild has finished his second quest and can now join them again.

But it doesn’t take long for Sky to realize that the Master Sword is missing. They come to the conclusion that Fi merged with the current master sword which must be in Wild possession.

It takes them a little while before they see the castle. The currently floating castles with gloom spilling out from below it. It’s then that they realize that Wild hasn’t finished his quest.

Wind suggests that they are there to help Wild. That he’s probable waiting for them. Time, Legend and Warriors are less hopeful. Why would the goddess separate them from Wild in the first place if she was going to let them help in his quest later on.

They chain make their way towards the castle and make it to Lookout Landing, where they run into Flora.

One long explanation later the chain is destroyed.

Legend is furious with the goddess for letting this happen

Wind, Four, and Hyrule can’t wrap their heads around the fact that Wild is gone.

Sky hasn’t been totally with the story since finding out that Fi was destroyed.

Warrior is heart broken but trying to come up with a plan. The war prepared him to keep moving.

Time is devastated. A cross between Legend rage and Warriors need to keep the group moving.

And Twilight. Twilight can’t handle it. How can his cub be gone? How had this happened? How had he lost someone else? No this can’t be he has to get to Wild. He’s all alone up there. Why is he all alone up there.

This leads to Twilight wanting to get to Wild as quickly as possible. Maybe he goes up with Sky as he wants to check on Wild and Fi, but also because he has the most experience in the sky. Or maybe they all go up, borrowing paraglides from Flora and Purah. But either way they get up there and they find the Master Sword.

Now question of the day. Who gets to pull the sword from Wild’s skull?

#linked universe #lu wild #lu twilight #lu sky #lu time #lu wind #lu legend #lu warriors #lu hyrule #lu four #zelda totk role reversal au #Lu totk role-reversal au

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janeway-or-the-highway · 5 months

Text

My entry for the @25daysofvoyager ! A little part 1 of a J/C fanfic. Fluff. Action/Adventure. Angst. Aliens mistaking JC as married again. Enjoy!

“Chakotay, please!”

Kathryn dodged another blow and stumbled backward.

“Chakotay! This isn’t you!” She shouted at him, still struggling to put any distance between them on her sprained ankle, before it finally gave out.

He strode toward her, but paused when he saw a large branch on the ground. He reached down and grabbed it, then seemed to test it in his hands.

“And how do you know this ‘isn’t me’?” Chakotay said, his voice deep, and dangerous.

“I know you!”

“No. You don’t,” he said, closing the distance between them and swinging the branch down on her.

THREE DAYS EARLIER

Captain’s Log:

“It is our second day in orbit around the planet Caldar. The Caldari are a very pleasant people and trade negotiations have gone well so far. The Caldari have graciously opened their planet to the crew for shore leave. Tuvok didn’t find anything to suggest bad intent and didn’t have any objections, which I guess is as close to a compliment as you can get from a Vulcan. It is nice to be reminded that the Delta Quadrant has just as many friendly species as dangerous ones. Everyone is in desperate need of some R&R. Myself included, as Chakotay is always reminding me. Being stuck in negotiations, Chakotay and I have only seen the government centers of Caldar, but I look forward to getting to explore this rich planet more. Chakotay mentioned hearing that the twin sunset over the cliffs of Rohem was worth exploring, and I am hoping to take him up on that. Tom and Harry keep coming back with stories to keep us entertained in the meantime. A personal highlight was Tom’s retelling of Harry’s failed attempt to ride, what Tom described as a horse-sized mix between a pig and a hippo. The Doctor says that Harry needs to be off-duty for 24 hours. I had to elbow Chakotay to keep him from bursting out laughing at the Doctor’s report; Harry’s already embarrassed enough as it is. However, that doesn’t mean that we won’t be enjoying those holo-photos later.

On the business side of things, Caldar continues to impress. The planet might as well be one giant ball of dilithium. You should have seen how fast B’Elanna made it to the bridge when the planet showed up on sensors. Their entire economy is built on the sale and trade of this material that we so often find ourselves scrounging for. At first, I worried about what they were going to ask for in exchange, but what the Caldari are most interested in are the various cultures of the Alpha Quadrant. Their people collect different cultures and integrate them into their own society. I recognize some bits and pieces of cultures from throughout the Delta Quadrant, while some things are completely new. However, the custom that is of the utmost importance is their one unique tradition. The Caldari take partnership very seriously. Their society includes partnerships of all kinds; males with males, females with females, and male with female, etc. Regardless of the type of partnership, once a pair has chosen each other, they become part of one another. This “sacred partnership” is at the heart of their civilization and they champion it above all else. However, from what I understand, they do not believe in the concept of soulmates, rather that they are all on a path that will one day lead them to their missing piece. It is a society built on the idea of the peaceful pursuit of love. It is quite beautiful.

Anyway, I am hoping to exchange our cultural database we will get enough dilithium to keep B’Elanna happy for quite some time.

Despite everything that this planet has given us, I find myself still apprehensive. The Delta Quadrant is rarely this kind and I…”

The chime to the ready room interrupted Kathryn’s log.

“Computer, end log” she said while pushing the console to the side,

“Come in.”

Chakotay walked in.

“Good morning, Commander,” a soft smile spread across her face.

“Good morning, Captain. I have the crew rotations for the next month.”

“Thank you. Have I missed any more of Tom’s stories since I’ve been off the bridge?”

“No, but you did miss Neelix’s rousing report promising ‘new and improved’ recipes for leola root” Chakotay chuckled as Kathryn’s face turned into a grimace.

“Hopefully they are better than his last ‘masterpieces.’ I’m still low on replicator rations from last time.”

“Me too. Mostly from you convincing me to get you more coffee,” Chakotay said with a knowing look.

Kathryn smirked, “Captain’s prerogative. Plus, you have to admit that his latest attempt at ‘better than coffee’ coffee was unbearable.”

Chakotay chuckled. “Well, if Caldari food is anything like their hospitality, I think that we will be alright.”

“Yes,” Kathryn stood and made her way over to the viewport. She clasped her hands behind her back, “The Caldari have been extremely welcoming to us.”

“But you’re worried,” Chakotay joined her at the viewport, “worried that they are too good to be true”

Kathryn gave him a sideways smile,

“Have you been reading my log?”

“No, I just know how you think”

“I feel like we are waiting for the other shoe to drop. We’ve been in trade negotiations for over a day and all they’ve asked for is Picasso and Kadis-Kot! My gut is telling me there is something more,” she sighed.

Chakotay put his hand on her shoulder, “We have one of our last trade meetings today. Whatever comes our way we have always been able to make it through. Today will be no different.”

Their eyes met and Chakotay couldn’t help but get caught in those pools of blue. Their relationship, after so much hardship, was finally starting to settle down again. Their weekly dinners were the highlight of his week and recently Kathryn was starting to let him in a little more. Not beyond anything that couldn’t be brushed off as close friendship, but still.

Chakotay knew that he had fallen for Kathryn a long time ago, from the moment they locked eyes on the bridge, but it was the shared moments like these where he recognized the depth of his feelings for her. He would wait for her. The angry warrior would stay by her side, for as long as it took.

Spirits, I’m lost.

“Thank you, Chakotay,” she said softly.

“Of course, Kathryn.”

“Tuvok to Captain Janeway.”

He dropped his hand from her shoulder.

Tuvok and his timing.

“Go ahead.”

“Captain, the Caldari ambassadors have arrived to begin negotiations. They are waiting for you and the Commander in the briefing room.”

“Thank you, Tuvok. We are on our way”

Chakotay moved towards the door, but Kathryn continued to stand looking out the viewport. Chakotay’s voice interrupted her worried thoughts,

“Are you coming, Captain?”

“Yes, I am right behind you”

Chakotay flashed her a smile and exited. Kathryn shook her head and followed after him.

Oh, I am so lost.

“Captain, I am glad that Voyager found its way to our corner of the galaxy. I think both of our people will benefit from these negotiations.” The Caldari ambassador, Turin, sat at the end of the briefing room table. The color of his skin reminded Kathryn of lilacs. The soft texture of his light purple skin was accompanied by small streaks of green that accentuated his humanoid cheekbones and jaw. His cheekbones stuck out on his face but seemed like they wrapped around his head towards the back of his skull, giving his face a sleek appearance.

“Thank you, Ambassador. I agree. I hope you find Alpha Quadrant culture as interesting as we do”

“Yes, there is much to explore. You have an extensive database on so many species! It will keep our scholars busy until the next Dual Eclipse!” The green streaks of his skin gave a soft glow with his excitement.

“I hope so, and if I may, I would recommend Dante. He is a philosopher from Earth’s history, and a personal favorite of mine.”

“Thank you for the recommendation. Now, Captain, I have a few formalities before we begin. Requirements from the High Council. You understand?” Turin said.

“Of course”

Turin reached into the satchel that sat on the floor next to him and brought out a beautifully bound book filled with greenish pages. When Turin opened the book, Kathryn realized that the pages’ green hue was similar in color to the streaks on the Caldari’s faces. She wondered if this was due to choice, or something in the planet’s biology that affected both of them. She suppressed the urge to ask as he began to speak.

“Captain, as you are aware, our society values partnership over everything else. You assured us that your culture assumes a similar view to the importance of partnership, which is what allowed us to begin this fruitful relationship between our two peoples in the first place. However, we are concerned, and frankly somewhat… off put, that you have yet to introduce us to your partner.”

Kathryn paused and tried to absorb what Turin was saying, “I’m sorry, Ambassador. I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

Turin’s mouth twitched, “We do not interact, or much less conduct trade, with peoples whose leader is unpartnered. It is an unspeakable offense. Furthermore, if we were to be led into an arrangement under false circumstances regarding one’s partnership status, we would consider that an act of aggression against our planet.”

Kathryn’s typically quick-witted diplomatic mind felt like it stalled out. A partner? She was the Captain! A relationship out here could never be a partnership. Not when every available person was someone under her command. “Ambassador, you have to understand, as Captain, I don’t -“

“You don’t what?” The threat was clear. Turin’s jovial attitude was long gone and his streaks shifted to a deeper green as his mood shifted.

“I-“ Kathryn started, but Chakotay’s hand coming to rest on hers stopped her. She resisted the urge to yank her hand out from under his as she locked eyes with him. As it often was with him, she needed no words to understand what he was saying:

Trust me.

And she did.

“Ambassador Turin,” Chakotay started, “I am the Captain’s life partner.” He moved his hand on hers to interlock their fingers. Kathryn let him, since all of her energy was being spent actively trying not to have the panic she was feeling on the inside show on her face. “You have to understand,” Chakotay continued, “the Captain is not used to sharing the status of our relationship since our job’s put us in a tricky position, considering that it could be taken advantage of by our enemies. If our feelings and commitment to one another were to become common knowledge, any number of species could use that to their advantage. And, sir, as you said, our culture values our partnerships, and you’re right. If anything were to happen to Kathryn, I would stop at nothing to get her back, including putting others at risk.”

Turin visibly calmed down, but seemed wary. “But why keep this information from us. We have shown nothing but hospitality to you!”

“We apologize and don’t mean to offend, but it is just something that we’ve gotten used to protecting.”

Turin seemed to accept this and clapped his hands together. “Oh, great happiness! We are glad to keep you as friends. Now, we must discuss the Three Trials.”

“The Three Trials?” Kathryn found her voice again, but still struggled to stay focused with her hand intertwined with Chakotay’s.

“The Three Trials are three tasks meant to prove your love and commitment to one another.”

Kathryn shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“This serves a dual purpose: one, to confirm your partnership, and, two, to determine if you are tjaasaktic. Will you comply?”

The universal translator faked to pick up the last word, but all Kathryn could think of was their desperate need for the Caldari’s friendship and trade. “When do we start?”

Should I do a part 2?

#25 days of voyager and prodigy #janeway x chakotay #kathryn janeway #star trek voyager #captain janeway #chakotay

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