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onmyyan · 1 year

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Manny Delmont HC's

A/N: The last of the boys is here but he certainly ain't the least ;) EDITED

TW'S: YANDERE, MURDER, NEEDLE MENTION(TATTOO),

By far the most unhinged member of the family and thats saying A LOT lmao

Platonic yandere for his kin, he has killed in their name and will do it again.

One of if not the most loyal person you'd ever meet.

Once he decides he likes you he turns into your own personal puppy.

If the puppy was a man who enjoyed showing his love through the most violent means at hand that is.

Smells like honey and lavender and when he can't be bothered to hide it, blood.

Shares a lot of features with his twin, except his eyes, he has the brightest in his family, and they are often clouded with mischief.

Marcos uses him as a test dummy for outfits since they look nearly identical, if looks good on Manny he can go from there.

He's been offered to model before.

Best begging face in the business, he rarely has to ask for something twice.

Has a few tattoos, there's a blank cartoon heart over his real one, plans on getting his beloveds name inked there once he finds em.

And he knows he will!

Hopeless romantic, he loves romcoms!

Especially You on Netflix(👁👄👁)

Thinks Christine should have chosen to be with the Phantom of the Opera.

Also thinks Victor should have been with Emily from A Corpse Bride.

Mask kink but we'll circle back later ;)

It stems from his love of all things Horror something be shared with his twin, if he's watching something where he picks up even a hint of romance between the Slasher and the final girl he starts kicking his feet.

Thinks the bad guys deserve love to!

Gave himself his first tattoo, a stick n poke he made himself after watching 1 YouTube video.

Yeah that got infected, but he thought scars were sick as hell plus it was a great party story.

People fall over their feet for him on the daily.

Has gotten in the most fights out of all the brothers.

He may takes some licks during them but he was scary in the way that he never stayed down, and you could tell from the blank look in his eye and the twisted grin, if he got the chance he'd put you in the ground.

Terrible singer but that doesn't stop him from belting out his favorites in the shower

He loves pop music because there are a surprising amount of songs that remind him of his specific brand of love.

He really likes reading, especially when it teaches him something new, always learning this one.

He could be at the top of his class if he put in a smidge more of effort but he likes his life, as long as he's not actively causing chaos which lets be honest is very easy for him, the teachers often turn a blind eye to his goofing off.

Had several fake Id's before he was legal just to get into clubs to see bands preform.

Has a snake named noodle.

Shes a Python. He talks to her like a person

"You would not believe my day girl."

He's lean but strong, way stronger than he looks which always catches people by surprise.

If he doesn't have something occupying his hands he will start tapping on whatever available surface and if left unattended that will turn into beatboxing.

Funny even when he isn't trying

He once kidnapped a guy who was giving his twin grief and sent a picture of his upside down body in the group chat

"Felt kinda silly idk :) "

Manny's got high expectations for anyone dating his family, he's the real reason they have the rule about vetting people with each other.

When Ricky and Gabe were fighting over that girl way back when, a much younger Manny, hating the way his usually loving siblings were at each others throats, took it upon himself to rid them of the problem.

Knowing he only meant well Ricky and Gabe concocted the system the use today, but don't tell that to Manny.

His fits always come with a body count.

Oral fixation, he's constantly chewing on something.

His only source for relationships are his insane ass family so as the baby, it's natural he'd absorb all that crazy.

His laugh is more of a cackle.

He picks stuff up super easily but also gets bored just as fast so he has this random ass assortment of skills and neat party tricks.

Like one summer he got super into gymnastics so for fun he liked to twist into a backbend and speed crawl towards his brothers in the pitch black of the night.(Ricky has passed out from this)

Adrenalin junkie, he'd gotten his first motorbike at 15 and had been chasing the high he got from that first ride since.

Gabe taught him how to fight, not because he wanted to but because Manny had a tendency to mouth off to the wrong people and Gabe couldn't always be there to defend him.

Loves playing soccer, his father wanted him to have a much more legal way of releasing that devil in him, after nailing the goalie with a ball so hard he passed out, he fell in love with the sport.

He has a mean kick, if someone pissed him off enough he'd always manage to 'accidentally' kick the ball at their softest parts.

Has a new group of friends every week, he can't help it if everyone wants a piece of him.

He meets you at a bookstore, and he seen you long before he walked over to ask for help.

He watched the gentle way you handled the books, the care you showed them as you sorted, he could see you bobbing your head to the song softly playing from some speaker, the beams of light pouring in from the window cast you in a light that was damn near angelic.

He gaped at you silently for a bit before coming up with some obscure book title im his mind, if his assumptions about you were correct, you'd offer to help.

"Hi? Sorry to bug you." He put on his most charming smile and he could see it's effects instantly, the warm look in your eye gave him butterflies in his stomach.

"You're fine, how can I help you hun?" God even the way you spoke had goosebumps trailing down his back, your tone was like velvet.

"O-oh well I have this report due tomorrow that I completely spaced about- any chance you have this one?" He made sure to flash his watch, peacocking in every way he knew how, the rolex a gift from his Father, but you focused intently on the screen.

"Hmm this is an old one, I've definitely seen it, wanna follow me?"

"Absolutely." The response was innocent in nature but you had no idea just how much he meant that.

"So, you like to read or just a job thing?" He said gesturing to the rest of the store. To his delight you gave him another heart stopping smile, "I love books. How they can take you away from all the bullshit- oops sorry-" he laughed loud enough to hear it echo causing her to grin, "No don't be sorry, I wholeheartedly agree."

Ironically as picky as he was with his family's partners, he was yours the second you called him Hun, he got flashes of your life together the longer you two spoke, in reality the conversation was maybe ten minutes but that was all he needed.

Charms his way into your number, starts bringing you lunch and offering to pick you up, then he's offering to take you to work, no matter how early you started.

"I don't wanna mess with your sleep hun, plus you'd have to drive all the way across town and then to my job-"

He'd squish your cheeks together to steal a kiss, "Nonsense Darling, you could just spend the night if you're so worried about me." And would you look at that you're spending the night like every other night.

He's dummy smooth, he has you practically moved in before you're one month anniversary, if anyone were to try and plant some poison in your head like "You guys are moving kinda fast" or "shouldn't you get to know him better?" They are quickly put on his shit list.

As quick to cut a bitch as our boy is, he's also smart, and knows if everyone in your family and immediate circle started dropping dead he'd have a problem, so instead he gaslight gatekeeps and girlbosses his way to victory.

It be almost like love bombing, except it never goes away, he only ever falls deeper in love with you as time goes on.

Walk him like a dog he needs it.

Wants to take you all over the world, loves the idea of boneing in every continent.

He's soo cuddly the type to text you when you're in the bathroom cuz he miss you :(

The kinda guy where if you send him a cute picture he responds with a video of him falling to his knees wherever he's at.

Loves being the little spoon, but when he's wasted he has a tendency to flop on top of you like a starfish before curling around you like a koala.

Mean mugs the shit outta any girl who looks at him bec tf I'm for MY babys eyes only >:(

Promise rings for your one month anniversary that have both your guy's blood in them. How he got it you'll never know but you're a weirdo just like him and instead of questioning it you bear hug him.

Fantastic kisser, knocks the breath outta you each time, please touch him while you make out, pull his hair he promises not to moan that loudly again. Scouts honor.

He's lying btw

He is the opposite of afraid to moan in your ear, they almost sound exaggerated but no he's really that loud.

#yandere x reader #yandere #yandere x y/n #yandere oc x reader #manny delmont #yandere oc manny #yandere ocs #manny x reader #yandere hcs

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is-the-snake-video-cute · 1 year

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found my little lady sleeping like this (give em the ol razzle dazzle style) and i was wondering if you had any stories to share about your reptiles sleeping in wacky positions! i will also accept if you share funky positions bilbo or your cat (i forgot the name 😭) sleep in

So cute!

The absolute winner for weird sleeping positions is my boa constrictor Bentley. That boy just loves to give me a heart attack with his funky sleep decisions. I've found him sleeping draped over stuff, with his head leaned up against the wall, and practically upside down. He's healthy and normal in every way, he's just a weird sleeper.

My hognose Sirius is also really funny because he likes to fall asleep halfway in his burrows. I love finding him with just his head or his tail sticking out.

Bilbo and Lilah (that's the cat!) aren't too picky as long as they can be snuggling each other. They're both big cuddlers.

#not a rating #lizards #leopard geckos #snake behavior #dogs #bilbo the puppy

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dafry · 2 years

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I wanna take a moment to give my appreciation to the detective conan fanfic author's who made these crossover exist-

First off, Detective Conan and BBC/TV Sherlock Holmes!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15340590/chapters/35594700

There's also a few others but this is one of the longer ones and still updated once a while! :D

Seeing them interact is just HILARIOUS, coupled with the fact Conan's world turned completely upside down (like how da heck did he get there and why was Sherlock there) and now have to try and deal with it without getting too confused-

Then there's the rivalry between the two, with Sherlock probably trying to figure out more about Conan and Conan trying very hard to hide his identity

Second, Detective Conan and Danny Phantom?

Ngl when I first searched for detco crossovers I really didn't expect this one to appear let alone exist-

But it does! And even though I was a bit skeptical at first, there's actually quite a few I ended up enjoying! :D

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34201519/chapters/85098820 (this one's the more recently updated one and the longest one so far)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17596160/chapters/41477369 (this one was probably discontinued but it's also the second most lengthy one and I think it was good enough :v)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10023191/chapters/22342343 (another old discontinued one and probably the the shortest compared to the other but I really liked it qwq)

Also would be interesting to see the dynamic that is Conan the corpse magnet and Danny the ghost magnet-

Lol funny how the two have a thing with "dead" things- Only difference is Conan doesn't even mind it too much anymore but everyone else around him that are new to his (curse-) unusually high corpse encounter would probably be very disturbed and maybe even traumatized- (honestly I pray for their mental health and sanity because BOI do Conan have a bunch of stuff in store for them XD)

And last but not least, Detective Conan and Ace Attorney! :D

(I also want to thank the fandom for already making art of them which make sense since both have their similarities and I love every single one of em-)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29595030?view_full_work=true (a short crack fic but, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING IT BECAUSE IT'S GOLD-)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12186486/chapters/27666696 (and here's the actual fic that was unfortunately also discontinued but it's long and interesting enough)

Lol just the thought of how much Conan actually lies (literally he opens his mouth and just let out a stream of LIES- (especially when he's involved in a case-)) and the fact that Phoenix have an item that can tell if someone is lying about something is just- 👌✨

I like to think that the way Phoenix view Conan most of the time is that he's always surrounded by a bunch of chains and psyche-locks lol

Then there's the fact that Conan could probably beat anyone in a deduction game from that universe (he's just that superior- I don't make the rules) In fact he could probably solve it faster than Phoenix can say 'Objection!'

And so enjoy these few lines of dialogue I thought when thinking about the possibilities of this crossover;

Phoenix trying to make a feeble attempt of a deduction: W-well... I...

Conan 'Sherlock bloody Holmes' edogawa: I'm able to tell from this small detail you've missed that your deduction is completely wrong!

Phoenix: HOW DA HECK IS A KID THIS GOOD AT DEDUCTING THINGS AND MAKING ME LOOK LIKE A COMPLETE FOOL?!? WHO DA FUK DOES HE THINK HE IS??? SHERLOCK HOLMES???!??!!!

Conan: *internally freaking out and trying hard not to blush at the comment and keep a straight face*

Phoenix after getting outsmarted by Conan again for millionth time: *hoarsely* He's a monster...

Edgeworth: Pffft- Wright this is a child we're talking about, maybe you're just too incompetent-

Edgeworth also getting wrecked by Conan deduction later: ...Wright there's something wrong with this child- HOW DO THEY KNOW SO MUCH MORE THAN US?!?? IT'S AS IF THE KID HAVE WAY MORE EXPERIENCE THAN US ADULTS WHO GRADUATED LAW SCHOOL!!! SERIOUSLY, WHO AND WHERE DID THIS SASSY LOST CHILD CAME FROM?!?

Phoenix: I tried to warn you man...

How the two have an affinity to attract cases wherever they go;

Phoenix: Man, kinda weird that cases just appears where ever I go sometimes-

Conan: Oh, you too? Sure hope it's not as bad as mine then...

Phoenix: Wait- what do you mean you-?

Conan: Cases pop up in almost everyday in the week for me so I've seen quite the mass of corpses-

Phoenix: I'm sorry, you've seen WHAT-?!?

Lol just the idea that Conan would soon be known as the little lying menace of a gremlin that he is, would be pretty hilarious- XD

What I love most about all of them is the chaotic mess that is Conan's life/identity/personality clashing with other protagonist who is equally just as chaotic in a few different ways-

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deimostes · 2 months

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PLEASE tell me more about your Omegadow headcanons

OH MAN. GLADLY!!!!!!

building off the little thing team dark have where rouge and shadow always sit on omega's shoulders - omega likes carrying shadow around in his arms. at first it's just like, a mid-combat thing where he'll catch him if he falls, or whenever hes especially tired after a fight (as he'll do with rouge too), but sometimes on a normal day he just picks him up while knowing damn well shadow can handle himself. shadow tells him this too, but all flustered and Not admitting that he likes it. something something the big strong killing machine designed to keep you in check treating you with care like you're the most delicate thing in the world

i think it would be really funny if rouge associated chili dogs with them more than she did with sonic:

like that's her boys. she thinks they're SO cute she loves them so bad. she'll walk by a hotdog stand or something and just think to herself "huh, chili and hot dogs ..... !!! shadow and omega!!!!"

dating changes NOTHING about their competitiveness. the obvious! it just makes it come off insanely gay to anyone else listening. sparring is a date to them. these two love to rile each other up as a form of flirting. it's the only way they'll flirt in front of other people too. i'm particularly thinking of their TSR interactions like these are so

^ this last one is making me crack up. the betrayal. "LOVE IS DEAD AND NEVER EXISTED. ALL YOU DID WAS BETRAY ME AS I LAY SICK AND FESTERING. YOU ARE THE DEFINITION OF DREAD." "...you okay hun?" "MY BOYFRIEND HIT ME WITH A FUCKIGN WISP"

shadow starts using nicknames for omega without realizing it. omega has NO idea how to react at first but then he does too. he never thought he'd be calling anyone "love" in his life, but with someone who understands him as much as shadow does, he finds it comes naturally. neither of them are super openly affectionate, especially shadow, but eventually they get to the point they casually use these nicknames in front of other people. rouge is the first one to witness it. doodle about this i forgot i had in my files

i saw u liked my girl leonid (THANK U <3) so i'll talk about her too :) with a kid one would think these two would be like that one meme, shadow as the picture of the person cuddling the baby on a beach chair vs omega holding the baby upside down just by the leg and swinging em around. but i think it's the other way around when leonid is a baby. like omega is so so scared he feels like he's gonna pop her. meanwhile shadow (while not being as crazy as the meme depicts LMAO) can tell she's strong, like this is HIS and OMEGA'S kid, she'll be fine. and he's right! omega just has no idea how to react when he now has a whole CHILD but he gets used to it and she ends up just as happy to cause destruction as him :) naturally the ultimate lifeform and ultimate robot would have the ultimate cyborg - theres a day where leonid calls herself this for the first time just like, completely unprompted, and if robots could cry omega would have (it probably comes out as funny little warbling noises from his voice box instead)

#ask #measlyfurball13 #mars.txt #shadomega #doodles #leonid the cyborg hedgehog #ty for the ask :D when i checked my phone after work and saw the notif i got SO excited to answer it

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acaciapines · 7 months

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If you’re still doing songs - song 69 and 138?

im always up to do em lets GO! i'll put both above the cut n then talk below :)

69. It’s Called: Freefall – Rainbow Kitten Surprise

king misses his mom. he misses his sister. he misses his aunt and his grandparents and mari trying to pin him down and luz letting him crawl under her covers and eda hugging him when he grabbed for her and firefly chirping good morning and good night and throwing out her wings to keep him safe.

“kiiiiiiiiing,” the collector whines, flipping upside-down through the air. “you’re so boring, what is your problem?”

“just tired,” king says. it’s hard to look at the collector straight-on. the thoughts that surround him are a messy array, and barely any of them are his, the way they are for anybody else: it’s a weird conglomerate of old thoughts like those that drift through the sky, but so packed together he can’t make anything out. it’s a beach of golden sand the collector runs through, leaving kicked-up grit in his awake.

“naw, c’mon,” they needle, landing right in front of him. “you’ve been tired forever. be fun!”

he misses his family so bad he’s sure it’s a wound spilling out of him. how can’t the collector see that?

“okay,” king says, “fine. let’s play.”

138. Habits – Genevieve Stokes

ask anybody: edalyn-owlbert clawthorne was never planning to have kids.

never really interested her. not the settling-down part, not the needing to keep another living creature alive part, not the having to be a good influence, gag. nah. kids were never going to be her thing, and so she never sought them out.

and then the little buggers found her.

well. she’s technically the one who stumbled across king, the owl beast’s faltering flight into that abandoned ruin he was living in, but king was the one who followed them both and refused to be left behind. plus, that stone-monster was going to kill him. eda wasn’t a fan of kids, but she didn’t want to leave them for dead, either.

looking back she’s pretty sure the owl beast was laughing at her.

laughed even harder when she took in luz. you’re an apprentice, kid, eda had told her, and the girl had squealed, and her daemon had sat there on her shoulder with her tiny chest puffed out, and something in eda knew this was going to be a permanent thing.

oh well. at least she skipped the changing diapers phase of things.

Discussion

for the first one: oh! hey! this one is relevant to for the future which im writing right NOW! ive been thinking a lot recently about how kings gonna be Doing in that entire like, 2-3 months he's basically on his own with the collector, because i'll be expanding out from what was shown in the show, and just...god. poor kid.

its terrifying! im a collector lover but even i'll admit he is Not great with king, especilly towards the start, and thats not going anywhere--king misses his family and the collector has been on his own for so LONG, and has this sense of entitlement to kings time + space. why does everyone else get a lifelong friend with them since birth? the collector wants that! and if they werent born with it they'll find a friend then! like KING!

its just a LOT. it makes for fun writing though kdnfkgdfg king doesnt hate the collector but oh boy is he not actually friends with them.

this one also makes it pretty obvious what im doing in regards to king being a titan lol but ive decided not to talk so explicitly about that unless im asked a question in which i cant speak around it. i gotta keep some of my secrets!

for the second one: MOM EDA MY BELOVED sorry i literally love that trope so much okay. its so so fun to write. eda really tripped and fell into parenthood like ah shit now ive got to be responsible for HOW MANY of these guys now? two? three? am i supposed to count mari and luz as one or two because based on the day that is a WILDLY different answer.

but yeah <3 its also made even more funny that firefly knew 100% what she was getting into. this was a massive shock to eda, but firefly's been a mom from the start!

also ooooh got that owlbert mention huh wonder what that is about...wonder what my owlbert secrets might be....if he shows up at all....hmmmm...

#ask #toh #daemon au #king clawthorne #eda clawthorne #the collector #i write #also keeping owlbert's name is actually so funny thinking about it #eda's parents really looked at their newborn daughter like 'yeah. fuck it. name him owlbert.'#and a grove of palistrom to you

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takemebackto-eden · 6 months

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EM ‘Hey Stranger’ • Chapter Twenty Two - Dark Signs

Chapter summary: Al Munson returns to Hawkins. Eddie tells Nina about the upside down.

Content warnings: SUPER long chapter!! a fair bit of angst, hurt/comfort, Al Munson being an asshole and a sleaze, Al making a sick joke about Chrissy, violence, blood, mention of the upside down (Eddie tells Nina), nightmares, PTSD, Eddie being vulnerable, and whole lotta fluff.

'I miss the man I was the moment we left off,

And I hate who I have become Every time I wake up

When we met, I could see dark signs.'

Dark Signs - Sleep Token

Friday 27th October / 5pm / On the phone

Eddie: [whiny] “But why can’t I come to girls' night?”

Nina: [laughing] “You’d be bored witless watching us sew for hours honey.”

Eddie: [grumbling] “I wouldn’t mind.”

Nina: “But you’ve got boys night! That’ll be fun!”

Eddie: [cheeky] “Man’s night.”

Nina: [rolling her eyes] “Right, man’s night.”

Eddie: “I don’t see why I have to go to the dumb thing anyway.”

Nina: “Steve invited you and the guys for the evening, it’d be rude not to.” [joking] “You can talk girls and drink beer and do whatever guys do.”

Eddie: [cheeky] “Is that what you think guys go? We’ll be watching films and sitting in silence for hours.”

Nina: “More entertaining than watching Nancy and I sew.”

Eddie: [whining] “But I want to see your costume.”

Nina: [smiling] “It’s currently a corset and two bits of fabric at the moment, not very exciting.”

Eddie: [cheeky] “Even better.”

Nina: [tutting, giddy] “Perv.”

Eddie: [teasing] “I thought you’d be used to it by now.”

Nina: “Me too, but it still makes me giggle like a schoolgirl.”

Eddie: “Funny, you make me giggle like a schoolgirl too.” [Nina laughs loudly] “How about you call me after you’re done and I can pick you up?”

Nina: “You’re sweet, but I’m driving over since it’s out the way.”

Eddie: [whining] “But I’ve hardly seen you this week!”

Nina: [apologetic] “I’m sorry honey, it’s been a busy week at work but I’ll see you tomorrow night, I promise.”

Eddie: “I miss you.”

Nina: [heart warmed] “I miss you too baby, I’ll see you tomorrow, I promise. I can still ring you when I’m home?”

Eddie: [excited] “I eagerly look forward to it, m’lady.”

Nina: [smiling] “Love you, you big dork.”

7pm

Jonathan: “Have you told Nina about the Upside Down?”

Eddie: [scratching his neck awkwardly] “No, I haven’t. Not yet.”

Jonathan: “Why not?”

Eddie: “Don’t want to scare her off.”

Steve: [shrugging] “I get it. I can’t imagine it’d be the easiest thing to talk about.”

Eddie: “It’s hard, like, I know she’d understand but it’s early days, I don’t want to freak her out.”

Jonathan: [rolling his eyes] “Don’t take relationship advice off Steve, Eddie.” [Steve scoffs, offended] “If you know Nina like you say you do, she’d understand.”

Eddie: [sarcastically] “Oh yeah, right, ‘Hey Nina, remember those scars I told you about? Well I was savaged by demonic bats in a parallel universe and nearly died, are you cool with that?’, I can see it going down brilliantly.”

Steve: “Think of it this way, Nina and Robin are two peas in a pod, and Robin took the whole monster hunting thing surprisingly well,” [Eddie raises his eyebrows and nods in approval] “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Eddie: [laughing sadistically] “She could break up with me.”

Steve: [sipping his beer] “She wouldn’t do that man, you guys are in love or whatever.”

Jonathan: [casually] “Yeah, you’re both sickeningly cute together, nothing a little end of the world romance can’t strengthen.” [Eddie blushes]

Steve: [jeering, joking at Eddie’s expense, elbowing Jonathan’s side playfully] “Heh, if the world ended Nina and Eddie would probably spend their last moments fucking.”

Jonathan: [joining in, amused] “Probably end up fucking in the Upside Down, knowing them!”

Steve: “Might be the only place in Hawkins they haven’t fucked yet!”

Jonathan: [winking at Eddie who is bright red, flustered] “Going at it like damn rabbits.”

Steve: “It’s a sad day when Munson’s getting laid more than I am.” [Eddie scoffs and flips him off]

Dustin: [entering the room with Mike, Will and Luke] “What have we missed?”

Jonathan: “Nothing your PG ears should be hearing.”

Mike: [scoffing] “We’re 16, not dumb Jonathan.”

Steve: “I refuse to give you guys the sex talk, that is not in my job description.”

Eddie: [teasingly] “I think you’ll find it is, babysitter.”

Steve: “Fuck.”

Jonathan: [laughing] “This is going to be a looong night.”

10:45pm

Eddie shuts the door of his van and jogs to the trailer door to avoid the cold of the October air. He looks confused as he finds the trailer door unlocked and the living room light on, knowing Wayne had already left for his night shift.

Eddie: [nervously] “Hello…?” [he hears a clatter from the kitchen] “Wayne, is that you?”

Al: [grabbing a beer from the fridge] “Eddie! How’s my favourite son?” [walking straight passed Eddie who is stunned, pale] “You going to just stand there or are you going to pass me the TV remote?”

Eddie: [uncomfortable] “What are you doing here?”

Al: “Just needed a place to crash for the night before I go to Chicago tomorrow. Pass me those chips, would you?”

Eddie: [tossing him the chips, still standing] “You got let out early?”

Al: “Good behaviour, if you can believe it.” [looking at Eddie, smirking] “Heard about your summer adventures all the way from prison.”

Eddie: [face dropping] “None of that was true, I was exonerated.”

Al: [smirking, cocky] “Don’t need to convince me son, innocent until proven guilty.”

Eddie: “Does Wayne know you’re here?”

Al: [making himself comfy on the couch] “Nah, didn’t want the lecture.” [smug] “You should really hide that spare key in a better place.”

Eddie: [muttering] “Maybe you shouldn’t let yourself into places you’re not welcome.”

Al: [sharp] “What was that?”

Eddie: “I said,” [louder] “You’re not welcome here.”

Al: [angry] “I come back to see my son after years away and this is the treatment I get?”

Eddie: [annoyed] “Years away in prison.”

Al: [dismissive] “It was a scheme that went wrong, how did I know that Carlos would turn me in -”

Eddie: [deflated] “I want you to go, Al.”

Al: [angry again] “What the hell is the matter with you?”

Eddie: [frustrated] “I don’t need this shit in my life anymore, I-” [Eddie is cut off by Al’s fist hitting him in the face] “What the fuck?!”

Al: “You’d think my son would have learned a bit more respect growing up, clearly Wayne isn’t doing a good enough job.” [He knees Eddie in the stomach, Eddie hunches over in pain] “Maybe I’ll just have to teach you a lesson.”

11:30pm / on the phone

Eddie: [pained] “Nina…”

Nina: [smiling] “Eddie, I’ve just got home!” [teasing] “Did you not enjoy boys night, wait sorry, man’s night?”

Eddie: [sniffling] “Nina… I need help.”

Nina: [immediately, worried] “Eddie, what’s wrong?”

Eddie: “Can you come over please?”

Nina: “I’ll be right there okay, hang tight baby.”

00:30AM

Nina: [bursting through the door, Eddie flinches in fright] “Eddie! Are you okay?”

Eddie: [damply] “I’m fine.” [gesturing to his bloody nose] “Got into a scrap.”

Nina: [worried, crouching beside him] “What the hell happened? Was it Steve? I’ll beat his hairy ass-“

Eddie: [rushed] “No, no, he would never.” [with a self deprecating smile] “It was my dad. Al, his name is Al.”

Nina: “Oh.” [softly, looking at Eddie’s teary eyes] “Oh.”

Eddie: [sadly] “Yeah.” [looking around the trashed trailer] “He pops in every once in a while, usually looking for somewhere to lay low once he’s out of prison.” [avoiding eye contact] “Don’t be mad but-“

Nina: “I could never be mad at you.”

Eddie: [with a sad smile] “You haven’t heard what I’m going to say yet.”

Nina: [smiling] “Don’t have to.” [Eddie snorts, then winces with the pain on his nose]

Eddie: “I gave him my savings so he would go.” [looking at Nina sadly] “So New York might have to wait a while.”

Nina: “Oh Eddie, you big idiot, you really think I care about New York right now?” [she finishes wiping the blood off his face with wet tissues, the blood still running] “I’m more worried about you, you big softie.”

Eddie: “I didn’t want to let you down.”

Nina: [smiling reassuringly] “Again, you could never. Come with me.”

Eddie sits on the bathroom bench as Nina finishes cleaning up his running nose. She pulls out two tampons out of her bag.

Eddie: [laughing] “They better not be going where I think they’re going.”

Nina: “What! They’ll soak up the blood until it stops bleeding!” [Eddie shakes his head laughing]

Eddie: “You are so not putting tampons up my nose, sweetheart.”

Nina: “Oh come on! It’ll help!” [Eddie rolls his eyes but begrudgingly lets her, trying to hide his laughter as he sits with the tampons up his nose] “Do you want to talk about it?”

Eddie: “Nothing to talk about. He was never around much so Wayne took me in. Wayne has always been more of a dad than that piece of shit.” [frustrated, sighing] “He comes back occasionally when he needs money or is hiding out.” [goes to run his hands over his face like he does when he’s stressed, stops and flinches as he realises he can’t, pulls at his hair instead] “He said… he said that he heard about what happened to Chrissy. Made some sick joke that he hoped I got laid before she died. And congratulated me on continuing on the Munson name.” [eyes watering, self-deprecating] “Like father like son, isn’t that the saying?”

Nina: “No, I won’t have that at all.” [taking his face in her hands] “You are nothing like your dad.” [Eddie scoffs, upset] “You aren’t! You’re kind and caring and loving and are so much more of a man than he is.” [the corner of Eddie’s lips turn up in a sad smile] “What happened with Chrissy was not your fault. Having a piece of shit as a parent is not your fault. What’s happened in the past and your family is not your burden to bear.” [resting her forehead on his, he sighs] “You’re nothing like him. You should know more than anyone, you write your own destiny or some shit. Your dad is just a chapter you’ve got to push through till you get to the really good shit at the end.”

Eddie: “Wow, deep, is that Shakespeare?” [Nina rolls her eyes and swats at him, he smiles] “Thank you Nina.” [she smiles at him, wiping the blood off his chin] “I mean it, thank you.”

Nina: “And I mean it when I say I’ll be here to remind you until you get it into that curly head of yours.”

Eddie: “Kiss me.”

Nina: [looking at him then tries to stifle her giggles] “I can’t kiss you with tampons up your nose.”

Eddie: [blushing] “Oh, right, I forgot.”

Nina: [trying to distract him] “Tell me about your night.” [still dabbing the blood off his face]

Eddie: [smiling slightly] “It was nice actually.” [laughing] “Steve gave the boys the sex talk. It was hilarious.”

Nina: [giggling] “No way! God, I wish I could have seen that.”

Eddie: [laughing, then wincing, clutching his bruised nose] “You really don’t, I think we scarred those poor boys for life.”

Nina: [cheeky] “Two virgins-until-semi-recently and Steve as their sex-ed teachers? I think us girls will need to intervene.”

Eddie: [smiling] “Rude, I would like to think I was very informed.” [winking at Nina] “I had a good teacher myself.” [Nina laughs and Eddie warms] “How was your night?”

Nina: [taking his hand, he jumps off the counter to stand] “Really good! Joyce was a godsend. Costume is done, just need to finish off the accessories now!” [smirking] “I think you’ll love it.”

Eddie: [cheekily] “I think I will.”

Nina: “Sit.” [she puts Eddie on the couch as she walks to the fridge and grabs some frozen peas from the freezer. She walks to him and gently presses it on his nose, he winces, eyes watering.] “I know baby, I know.”

Eddie: “Will you stay with me tonight, please?”

Nina: [stroking his hair, kissing his forehead] “Of course my love, I’m not going anywhere.”

Eddie: [small] “I love you.”

Nina: [smiling] “I love you too sweetheart.” [She sits on the couch and Eddie rests his head on her lap, she plays with his hair comfortingly, he closes his eyes peacefully] “Even with tampons up your nose.”

3:00am, witching hour

Nina tosses and turns in bed, whimpering her sleep. She jolts awake, heart racing, body coated in sweat. Just a nightmare, she thought, it's not real.

She blinks a few times as she becomes more awake, feeling around the bed for Eddie. Her face turns into a frown as she notices space in the bed next to her cold and empty.

She gets out of the bed and walks to the living room where she finds Eddie asleep on the couch with a blanket over him, the light from the static on the TV illuminating the room.

Nina: [whispering] “Eddie…?” [she nudges him softly] “Eddie?”

Eddie: [startled] “Huh? What?” [softening] “Oh, hey baby. Are you okay?”

Nina: “What are you doing on the couch?”

Eddie: [yawning] “I couldn’t sleep so thought I’d watch TV.”

Nina: “Are you okay?” [she runs her hand over his cheek lovingly, worried]

Eddie: [sighing] “Yeah, just restless.”

Nina: “Got a lot on your mind?”

Eddie: [rubbing his face tiredly] “Yeah.” [he looks at Nina confused] “What are you doing awake?”

Nina: [quietly] “I had a nightmare and turned over and you weren’t there.” [pouting, small, sleepy, tugging on his hand] “Come back to bed and tell me what’s on your mind.”

Eddie: “You had a nightmare? What about?”

Nina: [tugging on his arm, Eddie smiles] “Just my Mom, come back to bed, please.”

Eddie: [torn] “I.. I can’t.”

Nina: [confused, pouting] “Why not?”

Eddie: [small] “I get nightmares too. I don’t want to wake you up.”

Nina: [smiling sweetly] “I’m awake now, and would much rather turn over and you be there.” [Eddie smiles fondly, Nina looks at him confused] “You have nightmares too?” [Eddie nods, Nina sits down next to him] “You’ve never had a nightmare while I’ve been here, have you?” [Eddie nods again, embarrassed] “Why don’t you wake me up? I could have helped.”

Eddie: [sheepishly] “I usually know when I’m going to have them, when I’ve got a lot on my mind.” [scratching his neck in embarrassment] “I wait till you’ve fallen asleep and then sleep on the couch so I don’t wake you up.”

Nina: [sighing] “Oh, Eddie…” [running her thumb over his cheek, he can’t look her in the eye] “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Eddie: [mumbled] “Didn’t want you to think I was a pussy.”

Nina: [unamused] “So it’s fine for me to have nightmares about shit but you’re a pussy for having the same?”

Eddie: “Exactly! Glad we’re on the same page!” [Nina rolls her eyes and swats at him] “I just…” [Eddie rubs his hand over his face, clearly struggling] “I didn’t want you to think I was scary and damaged.”

Nina: [amused] “Dark and twisty?” [Eddie cracks a small smile] “Do you hear how ridiculous you sound?” [Eddie’s smile turns into a frown] “Eddie, we’re a partnership. We’re supposed to trust and support each other with this sort of thing, aren’t we?” [he nods feebly] “You can’t take on all of my problems and face your problems by yourself. I’m here for you.” [he softens as she pulls him close by the back of his head] “I am yours and you are mine. Your problems are my problems. Okay?” [Eddie sighs and lets out a small ‘yeah’, smiling slightly] “You dumb idiot. Come here.” [He smiles wider now as she pulls him to the bedroom to lie back down, Eddie’s head resting on her chest]

Eddie: [panicked] “What if I get all sweaty and gross?”

Nina: [nonchalantly] “I’ll live.”

Eddie: [worried] “What if I thrash around?”

Nina: [chuckling] “You already do, bed stealer.”

Eddie: [smiling small] “What if I kick you?”

Nina: [amused] “Same answer.”

Eddie: [smiling] “What if I scream?”

Nina: [cheekily] “Makes a change from me screaming in this bed.” [Eddie blushes red, Nina can feel the heat from his cheeks on her chest, she laughs] “Let me be here for you like you’re here for me.”

Eddie: [after a pause] “I don’t know how… I’ve never had someone there for me like this before.”

Nina is reminded of her night out with Robin, and how Eddie comforted her when she said the same thing to him.

Nina: [thoughtful] “I know baby.” [stroking his hair lovingly] “I know. We’ll figure it out together.” [quietly] “Do you want to talk about it?”

Eddie: [nuzzling into her chest, breathing in her scent] “No. Just want to lie here.” [He closes his eyes, tired] “I sleep better with you here.”

Nina: [stroking Eddie’s hair, Eddie sighs happily] “I do too baby.” [thoughtful] “You know…”

Eddie: [tired] “Yeah?”

Nina: “There is a way we could sleep together every night.”

Eddie: [heart racing, not wanting to get his hopes up] “Yeah?”

Nina: [shy, Eddie can feel Nina’s heartbeat in his ears] “Yeah.”

Eddie: [moving to look at Nina, eyes wide] “You’d want to?”

Nina: “I want to.” [shy] “Do you want to?”

Eddie: [immediately] “Fuck yeah! I mean.. it would be kinda cool.”

Nina: [teasingly] “Smooth.”

Eddie: “So we’re moving in together?”

Nina: [grinning] “We’re moving in together.” [Eddie excitedly plants a kiss on her lips, both of them smiling into the kiss] "Now get some sleep darling, I'm right here."

Sunday 29th October / 2pm / Eddie’s trailer

Nina is sitting reading in bed when Eddie comes into the room, crawling onto the bed beside her, resting his head on her chest.

Nina: [patting his head] “You okay there, tiger?”

Eddie: [lying] “I’m fine.”

Nina: “Are you sure? You’ve been quiet all day.”

Eddie: [glum] “Yeah.”

Nina: [closing the book] “What’s going on? Tell me.”

Eddie: [lying] “Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine.”

Nina: “I know you well enough now to know when you’re lying, Eddie.” [he smiles a sad smile] “Do you want to talk about it?”

Eddie: “Not yet.” [nuzzling into her chest] “Just want to lie here.” [He sighs, comforted by Nina’s arm wrapping over his shoulder, nails drawing soothing circles on his skin]

Nina: [earnestly] “Okay, darling. I’m right here.” [she presses a kiss on his head]

Eddie: [small] “Would you read to me?”

Nina: [smiling] “Sure.” [moving to get up, Eddie is unmoving from her side] “If you want me to read to you, you’ll have to let me find a book you’d like.”

Eddie: “Read that one.”

Nina: “I don’t think Wuthering Heights is your kind of book, babe. Here, I’ve got the perfect one for you.” [Nina gets up much to Eddie’s dismay, grabs her copy of Stephen King’s IT from her draw in Eddie’s dresser and lies back down next to Eddie, who quickly cuddles back into her] “Do you want to go under the covers?”

Eddie: [small] “Sure.” [Nina pulls the covers over them, keeping them warm] “What’s it about?”

Nina: “This alien clown terrorises the city of Derry and children keep going missing, and a group of kids, called the Losers Club, have to find it and kill it. It’s good, you’d like it.” [flicking to the first page, laughing] “The kids all ride their bikes and save the town, it reminds me of Dustin and the boys.” [Eddie smiles a proper smile at the thought. He remembers last summer, riding bikes through the Upside Down, but pushes the thoughts away, becoming sad again ] “Is that okay? Are you comfy?”

Eddie: “I am.”

Nina: “Okay then. Chapter one…”

Nina reads the chapter to Eddie, Eddie sighing contently into her chest, comforted by the smell of her freshly washed pyjamas and vanilla body wash. He puts his hands up Nina’s shirt to hold the warmth of her stomach, which always makes him feel safe. She strokes his hair softly with one hand, the other hand holding the book.

After a few chapters, Eddie finds himself tearing up. He feels pathetic, but doesn’t want Nina to see him cry. The more he tries to hide his tears the heavier his emotions come, and he shakes with sobs in her arms.

Nina: “Eddie, are you crying? Eddie?” [she goes to move to be face to face with him, Eddie doesn’t let her move] “Eddie, look at me.” [he shakes his head no, crying] “Eddie, please baby.” [He shakes his head again] “Talk to me Eddie, I’m right here.”

Eddie: [brokenly, sniffing] “I’m just sad.”

Nina: “Having a dark and twisty day?” [Eddie nods] “That’s okay, we all have down days.”

Eddie: [now looking up at her, eyes wet] “Yeah?”

Nina: “Yeah. It’s okay. You were there for mine, remember?” [pressing a kiss on his forehead] “I’m not going anywhere.” [this makes Eddie cry harder] “Eddie talk to me, please, let me help you.”

Eddie: “There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about. It’s kinda hard to talk about.” [Nina nods encouragingly] “There was this girl… Chrissy, her name was Chrissy.”

Nina: [nodding, understanding, slowly] “The one who died in your trailer?”

Eddie: [voice shaking] “Yeah. Well, it’s her birthday today. The thing is…” [taking a deep breath, breathing wobbly] “I really liked her.”

Nina: [thoughtful] “I see, go on.”

Eddie: “We went to primary school together. I kinda always admired her from afar, y’know? And I started to deal to her and it was like, she didn’t see me as ‘Eddie the Freak’ like everyone else did, y’know?” [small] “She was the first girl I ever really liked. She was the first girl I ever really spoke to, besides you. And, well…”

Nina: [encouragingly] “Go on.”

Eddie: [sighing, thumbing with the corner of the blanket] “And now I have you, and I’m so grateful for you, but I’m just terrified that something bad will happen to you or I’ll fuck it up or you’ll see how I really am and leave.”

Nina: “And who do you think you really are?”

Eddie: [small] “A coward.”

Nina: “Why do you think you’re a coward?”

Eddie: “I always run away from things. My dad, Chrissy…”

Nina: “Eddie, no, look at me.” [Eddie still doesn’t move] “Don’t make me tickle your ass, look at me Munson.” [Eddie laughs sadly and moves from her chest, sitting cross legged on the bed, sniffling, eyes not meeting Nina's. Nina takes his face in her hands and wipes his tears] “You are anything but a coward. Your Dad is a dick, you said so yourself, and you sent him packing! You had something terrible happen to you, you witnessed the death of someone you cared about, you nearly died yourself! You’re bound to have anxieties, Christ knows I would if I were you!” [Eddie laughs a bitter laugh] “You’re anything but a coward Eddie, I think you’re incredibly brave. As for me, I’m not going anywhere.”

Eddie: “Really?”

Nina: [smiling] “Really. Come here.” [She wraps him in her arms as his shaky breathing calms] “I don’t know the full story, but Dustin told me you saved everyone. That’s not what cowards do, that’s what heroes do. Whatever comes our way, we’ll deal with it.”

The Devil tarot card comes to Nina’s mind, but she pushes it away.

The conversation Eddie had with Steve and Jonathan about telling Nina about the events of the Upside Down comes to Eddie’s mind, and he is torn as to whether to tell Nina.

Eddie: [shakily] “Thank you, Nina.”

Nina: “Do you want me to keep reading?”

Eddie: [smiling a sad smile] “I’d like that.”

Nina: “Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?”

Eddie: “One more chapter, then we can?”

Nina: [smiling] “Sure.” [Nina reads Eddie the chapter] “Okay, spill Munson.”

Eddie: “You’ll think I’m crazy.”

Nina: [joking] “I already do.” [Eddie laughs] “I’m good with crazy, remember?”

Eddie thinks back to their first date at Lovers Lake. ‘Your crazy matches my crazy.’ He smiles at the memory, takes a deep breath and decides to go for it.

Eddie: “This is a bit hard to explain.” [he shuffles up the bed so he can look at Nina, cross legged in front of her. She puts the book on the bedside table, waiting patiently] “You know how in IT, there’s this child killing clown, and only the kids know about it? It’s kinda like that. But here, in Hawkins.”

Nina: (confused) “There’s a murderous clown going around eating children in Hawkins?”

Eddie: “Okay, it’s not a great metaphor, but it’ll do.”

Nina: [teasingly] “Look at you and your metaphors.”

Eddie: [blushing] “Shut up, I’m trying here.” [Nina gives him a smile with an apologetic ‘sorry, carry on.’] “There’s this place called the Upside down. And there’s this thing, it’s called Vecna. It’s like this weird tall humanoid dude, and it sucks the life out of you and- [gesturing wildly with his hands] “It has these weird demobats and demodogs and this thing called the demogorgon! And-“

Nina: [confused, trying to breezy, laughing lightly] “Is this a plot for a D&D campaign? Cause it would be really cool if it was.”

Eddie: [trying to keep a straight face from laughing, getting frustrated] “Sort of, don’t make me laugh, I’m being serious here! Anyway, last year, that’s how Chrissy died. There was this, like, gateway that opened up on the trailer roof! Oh wait, I should explain El first, fuck, this is complicated.”

Nina: “It’s okay. Take your time.”

Eddie: “Before El lived with Hopper, Chief Hopper, she was in Hawkins Lab. She had all these experiments done on her and she was being used as a weapon against the Russians. She has these powers, like telekinesis and all kinds of mad shit, and they were trying to-“

Nina: [amused] “Like Carrie?”

Eddie: [exclaiming, excited] “Yes, like Carrie! And well apparently, according to Dustin, this Vecna dude used to work at the lab with El before he became Vecna, he was called One, oh and El stands for Eleven, and- damn, I should call Dustin, he could probably explain this better than me-“

Nina: [amused, unserious] “Did you get stoned today?”

Eddie: [laughing, trying to be serious] “Nina! I’m trying to tell a story here! So El was in this lab with Vecna, or One, and-“

Nina: “Okay Eddie slow down, I’m not getting any of this.” [Eddie sighs, defeated] “Show me how you would if it was a campaign.”

Eddie: [hopeful] “Yeah?”

Nina: “Yeah, come here.” [Nina throws Eddie his bag and tells him to unpack his D&D figurines and Nina pulls out various nicknacks] “Lay it out for me like this, give me the timeline. Like a story, you’re a great storyteller.”

Eddie: [smiling] “Okay.” [holding a bit of BluTack] “This here is Vecna. He worked in Hawkin’s Lab where El was raised. This is El.” [he puts a button down to symbolise El] “Vecna, or One, tried to recruit El to the dark side - like Star Wars-“

Nina: [trying to understand] “I’ve never seen Star Wars.”

Eddie: “Doesn’t matter- wait, yes it does matter! How have you never seen Star Wars?! We are so watching it next movie-“

Nina: [laughing] “Focus Eddie.”

Eddie: “Right, right. So he tried to recruit El to take over the world, and El being the cute little button she is, said no, and destroyed One- or Henry I think he was called,” [Eddie used the button to knock over the blue tack] “Which turned him into Vecna. Are you with me?”

Nina: [concentrating] “I’m with you.”

Eddie: “But doing so, it opened a rift, or like, a gate, creating this place called the Upside Down. Which is basically like this parallel universe where Vecna lives and all decaying and gross and death.”

Nina: [nodding] “Right.” [understanding now] “And Chrissy got taken to the Upside Down.”

Eddie: [sighing, sitting in the chair] “Yeah. There was a gateway that randomly opened in my ceiling. Just there actually.” [He points to the ceiling, Nina looks up, noticing the burned marks on the ceiling] “He, like, sucked out her soul or some shit. Right here in front of me. He got a bunch of other kids too. And of course, I got blamed for all of them.”

Nina: [holding Eddie’s hand] “I’m sorry Eddie.”

Eddie: “You don’t think I’m crazy?”

Nina: [laughing nervously] “I think this is either the best weed brain story you’ve ever thought of or you’re deadly serious.”

Eddie: [serious] “I’m not stoned!”

Nina: [trying to understand] “There’s a parallel universe with a demon dude whose trying to murder El and the rest of Hawkins?”

Eddie: “More like the rest of the world.”

Nina: [stunned] “Oh. Wow.”

Eddie: “Yeah.”

Nina: (cautiously) “Is that what really happened to you? How you got your scars?”

Eddie: “Yeah. You see-“ [he stands up again, pacing, frustrated] “The whole weird possession thing Vecna does got Max-“

Nina: [shocked] “No!”

Eddie: [rushing forward, glad to finally have someone to talk to about it] “Yes! That’s how she got into her coma!”

Nina: [shocked] “Oh wow, shit.” [quietly] “I think I need a smoke.”

Eddie: “So we all went to the Upside Down-“

Nina: “You what! Are you crazy!” [standing up] “Edward Munson, tell me you didn’t go and try and fight some soul sucking monster!”

Eddie: “We all did! Me and Steve and Nancy and Robin-“

Nina: [furious] “Robin! Robin went to fight some dickhead monster while I’m sat like an idiot at home thinking my summer has been super exciting ‘cause the local ice cream shop finally got a new flavour! How could you all be so stupid?”

Eddie: [ADHD brain] “Ooh, what flavour ice cream?”

Nina: “Eddie!”

Eddie: [grabbing Nina’s shoulders] “Breathe Nina, breathe.”

Nina: [frustrated] “Why didn’t she tell me? I could have helped! I could have done something!”

Eddie: [casually] “She couldn’t, the Russians are listening to all our conversations.”

Nina: [standing up again, dramatic] “What?!”

Eddie: “Here, chill.” [he passes Nina his cigarettes and lighter]

Nina lights the cigarette, taking a deep breath, Eddie watching her.

Nina: “Continue.”

Eddie: “So we all went to the Upside Down-“

Nina: “I’m gonna beat Robin’s ass-“

Eddie: “Nina, shush.”

Nina: (sheepish) “Sorry, carry on.”

Eddie: “We went to the Upside Down. Dustin and I were the distraction-“

Nina: [interrupting] “Dumbasses.”

Eddie: “And I played a sick guitar solo and we managed to distract the Demobats while Steve, Nancy and Robin went to counterattack Vecna or One or whatever the dick’s name is. Oh and El helped by going into this salty bathtub and used her telepathic powers to fight Vecna inside Max’s mind, it was so badass.”

Nina: “One question.”

Eddie: “Shoot.”

Nina: “What song did you play?”

Eddie: [smiling] “Master of Puppets.”

Nina: [smiling for the first time since the story began] “Sick.”

Eddie: [blushing] “Thanks.”

Nina: “So how did you get hurt then?”

Eddie: [rubbing his neck awkwardly] “Well…”

Nina: [deadpanned] “Edward Munson, what did you do?”

Eddie: “I went back through the gate to distract the demo-“

Nina: [chain smoking, loudly] “You what?!”

Eddie: [shouting] “They were going to break through! I had to!”

Nina: “And what, you thought you’d get yourself mauled to death by demodogs instead?!”

Eddie: [sheepish] “Demobats, actually.”

Nina: “Don’t push your luck Munson, I have every right to not let you out this house ever again!”

Eddie: “But I’m fine now!”

Nina: [gobsmacked] “Oh, yeah, sure! I’m Eddie Munson and I like to run head first into traffic! What the hell were you thinking?!”

Eddie: “They couldn’t break through Nina, I couldn’t let Dustin and everyone get hurt. I couldn’t be a coward anymore.” [sitting down in the chair, saddened] “But I hurt him anyway. He came back through with everyone after everything had died down and dragged me out, I was barely alive.” [tearing up] “You should have seen his face Nina, it nearly broke him.”

Nina: “Oh, Eddie.” [kneeling on the floor, Eddie’s head in her hands, tearing up too] “Promise me you won’t ever do anything like that again. It was so brave of you, but the world is better with you here in it. Please don’t be a hero again. Promise me.”

Eddie: [looking down] “Promise.”

Nina sighs and sits on the couch, playing with the cushion on her lap. Eddie looks at her, unsure.

Eddie: “Is there anything you want to ask?”

Nina: “Wait…”

Eddie: [worried] “Yeah….”

Nina: “Is that how El kept changing the TV channel the other day when we were arguing over what to watch? That little shit!”

Eddie laughs, shaking his head at Nina, making his way over to the couch and curling up beside her.

Eddie: [cautiously] “You’re taking this surprisingly well.”

Nina: [lightly] “I’m as shocked as you are.” [laughing] “I guess if I believe in crystals and tarot cards and shit I’m a hypocrite if I don’t believe in a 15 year old having telekinetic powers.” [laughing, clearly in shock] “I guess having ‘a few anxieties’ was a bit of an understatement, huh?”

Eddie: [laughing] “Oh, you have no idea.” [Nina strokes his hair] “It feels good to finally tell you.”

Nina: [sarcastic] “About the Russians and the world's impending doom ‘cause of some gangly alien dude? Yeah, thanks for that Eddie.” [Eddie laughs. Nina pauses for a moment, thinking] “This must have been really hard on you. Seeing your friend die and then having survivors guilt.” [Eddie’s eyes drop down, tearful, I knew Nina would understand how I feel, he thinks] “No more secrets, okay?” [she holds out her pinkie finger]

Eddie: [smiling] “No more secrets.” [he pulls her hand to his lips, kissing her pinkie finger]

Nina: [holding him tightly] “Eddie…”

Eddie: [wary] “Yeah?”

Nina: “The ice cream was Reece’s Pieces.”

Later that evening:

Eddie: [coming into the kitchen, confused] “Nina? What are you doing?”

Nina turns around with a cupcake in her hand, with a candle lit on the top.

Nina: “It’s Chrissy’s birthday, right? I thought it would be nice if we did something to remember it.”

Eddie: “Wow, Nina, that’s…” [choking up, pulling her into a hug, she swerves the lit cupcake out of the way so as to not set Eddie on fire] “Thank you.”

Nina: “Don’t have to thank me. She meant a lot to you, we should honour that. I got you this too.” [She hands him the red teddy bear Eddie won her at the fourth of July carnival]

Eddie: “Why are you giving me Mr Teddie?”

Nina: [smiling] “Smell it.”

Eddie looks confused but smells the bear.

Eddie: [grinning] “It smells like you.”

Nina: “I slept with him for a couple of nights-“ [Eddie interrupts her by gasping dramatically and calling her a ‘cheater’, to which she rolls her eyes and shakes her head in amusement] “So now he smells like me. You can sleep with him on nights where I can’t stay over. And if you have nightmares, you’ve got Mr Teddie there to comfort you.”

Eddie wraps Nina in another bear hug to which she struggles to breathe, smiling widely as Eddie clutches her tightly. How did I get so lucky? Eddie thinks.

Eddie: “I love you, so so much.”

Nina: “I love you too, Eddie. Gangly, soul sucking alien dudes and all.”

Chapter Twenty Three - Love You To Death

A/N: So Eddie finally tells Nina about the Upside Down!!! Next chapter is the Halloween chapter, I so badly wanted it to be written in time for Halloween but didn't get it done in time :( I'm super proud of this chapter though so I hope you enjoy!!

Please reblog, comment, like and leave feedback! Super grateful for your support <3

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jack-is-lost · 1 year

Note

BOY OH BOY AM GLAD YOU ASKED FOR HEADCANONS AND IMAGINES I GOT A WHOLE BUNCH OF EM *digs around in bag* HERE LOOK:

david's a horse girl and used to sneak out and ride grandpa emerson's horses

i have a headcanon that he was also a cowboy before he got turned so he actually knows how to get away with it

marko really likes video games and has stolen a bunch of arcade machines over the years

paul had the idea of stealing a chandelier from some stupid country club up north and bringing it to the cave

dwayne likes to swing from it and has also flung himself face-first into the opposite wall many times because of this

star is the one with the braincell like 50% of the time (david gets it the rest of the time) but as soon as she sees some harmless dumbfuckery she's all aboard

like for instance: star will see marko trying to paint a bunch of dicks on the ceiling of the hotel lobby and she'll be like "bitch why" and he'll be like "man idk" and then she'll grab the fuckin ladder and be like "move over shorty im painting tasteful nudes"

laddie just likes to collect bugs and other critters

and then put them in extremely weird places

grasshoppers in your jacket pockets? laddie

praying mantis in your leftovers? laddie

frog in your saddlebags? laddie

snake in your boot? laddie

iguana in the fountain? laddie

massive fuckoff spider in the bathtub? laddie

a whole-ass sea lion in your bed? laddie

michael just does normal teenager shit like accidentally hoard garbage and not move for seven hours a day

him and david also make out an obnoxious amount but that's a combined offense so it technically doesn't count

it is hella funny when they get interrupted while they're in really precarious spot tho

like they'll be making out upside-down and then paul or dwayne will just show up outta nowhere and be like "hey"

one of them ALWAYS falls

paul and marko are definitely both the "hey we're out of—stop screaming it's only me—we're out of milk" friends

david likes to serenade michael with never tear us apart by inxs

it's cute, but it can be REALLY inconvenient at times

michael: ow

david, his head doing a complete 180: WE COULD LIVE

michael: oh no

david: FOR A THOUSAND YEARS

michael: oh my god

david: BUT IF I HURT YOU

michael: YOU DIDN'T EVEN—

david: I'D MAKE WINE

michael: DAVID—

david: FROM YOUR TEARS

michael: DAVID IT'S JUST A BRUISE—

marko and paul cut off david's mullet while he was napping and he was so mad he got dwayne to ground them

david may be the leader, but dwayne is the mom

he's also the physically oldest, because even though david was the first turned by max, dwayne was 21 when he was turned, while david was 19.

paul and marko were both 18 when they were turned, making them tied for youngest.

david likes pop music but hell will freeze over before he admits it to the other boys

david: babe i need to tell you something

michael: sure, what's up?

david: promise you won't freak out, okay?

michael: …okay…?

david: i

david: i like pop music

michael:

michael: i mean i kinda figured since you hum "the edge of forever" all the time

david: i do what now

marko once found one of david's "secret" tapes and david almost had a heart attack

marko: yo david why is there a go-go's cassette by the boombox

david, sweating bullets: haha no idea hahahaaaaaaaa

this ask is kinda long so feel free to answer this privately, but i came up with these last year and put em in a google doc that i add to every now and then. i hope you enjoy these as much as i do!

Honestly, I've got nothing to add to this. It is all amazing and brought a smile to my face, sincerely. Especially them being little thieves in the night. A whole-ass arcade machine, really, Makro? I love that!

Plus, David and Michael having silly little interactions. That will always have a soft spot in my heart. I'm a sucker for it, dude, truly. Even if that means David is singing pop music — I might have choked on my soda while reading that.

Thank you for sharing these with me, dude! 💙🤣

#answering asks #a tad long sure but that is okay - these were all fun and amazing - the mental images playing in my head are precious to me now #albertas-worst-nightmare #tlb headcanon #tlb imagines #ask and you shall receive

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realhankmccoy · 2 years

Text

youtube

Systemically, Americans want you to lick any hand that might feed or bootstrap yourself -- either works to get results to them, because they only care about money and power instead of things like love, kindness, inclusion, fighting against marginalisation. Ok, to be fair, they care if it's on the tv. Not then and not until then. Then they think they have learned something and start spreading the news just at the point when it's already quite old news. But I was born under a far different sign, haha. That's its own reward even without the promised land of a better world, however unready so many Americans are to get to work on that.

Funny that I'm a bad boy to em, too wild and roving to handle which shows their low bar for trusting those outside of their safe spaces due to their affluenza-induced bourgeois brainwashing. I'd expect nothing less in an 180 degrees upside down powermoney moneypower Wayne-cucked half-baked society that never met a deadly sin it didn't think in its notions that sin is actually just a trick to restrain you from all off-limits cake and you deserve it all like Quart Knee Lub, the Most Cake. But there's a reason, kids, beyond the narrow, cynical reasons you can imagine and project onto others -- all as you try to cynically narrow the reasons further rather than engage in worldbuilding -- well, there's a good reason they tell you not to eat all that cake or not be such a prideful sloth.

Construction is wild to the minions of chaos, and kindness is a prison to the minions of domination. It takes order to write a rock song, or even to book a van across country... and a lot of it.

#steppenwolf #born to be wild #Youtube

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weelittleweasley · 3 years

Text

technicolor (f.w.)

prompt request by anon: it is said that when you meet your soulmate, you will know because the world that you knew in black and white would turn technicolor. during a harmless game of spin the bottle, you didn’t expect your soulmate to be revealed to you.

warnings: drinking, mentions of eating, mild language

pairing: fred weasley x fem! gryffindor reader

word count: 5.3k

The power of true love was life altering in your world. Literally. The world was painted in shades of blacks, whites, and grays. It always was for those who hadn’t met their true love, their soulmate, their one and only. It was said on the occasion that you had kissed your soulmate, the world before you would erupt into vibrant color. People spent their whole lives, searching for the person who brought color to them.

Living in a dull, colorless world was mundane to say the least, but it was all you knew. The idea of living in a world of color was an exciting thought to say the least, but in a way it scared you. Suddenly the world as you knew it changing abruptly before your eyes because you had met someone that destiny created for you? It was a scary thought. But in your head, you had nothing to worry about. You didn’t plan on meeting your soulmate any time soon.

Or so you thought.

Laying upside down on the common room couch, you flipped through the pages of a Quibbler, not really paying attention to the words on the page. You looked on either side of you, Katie painting her nails on your left and Alicia on the right making light chatter with Angelina. Needless to say, the four of you were bored out of your skull. It was a quiet Friday night, nothing happening in the common room. No parties, no quidditch match, no nothing.

With a groan, you pull yourself up from your inverted position and speak, “So are we all just going to sit around here like a bunch of bums and wait for something exciting to happen?”

Katie sighs, “That’s even if something exciting happens.” She blows on her nails, shaking her hands back and forth to expedite the drying process. “Does anyone have any ideas?”

The two of you look to Alicia and Angelina who just shrug as you throw your head back in annoyance. “Well, someone think of something because I refuse to let a perfectly good Friday night go to waste,” you flop the Quibbler on the table in front of you and hold your arms across your chest. “What can we do to entertain ourselves?”

Alicia stands up and starts pacing, trying to think of something. “We could...sneak some food out from the kitchens? Convince a house elf to sneak us some sweets from dinner two nights ago. Those biscuits were so good,” she thinks out loud.

Katie groans, “The thought of food makes me sick. I ate so much at dinner tonight after Ron challenged me to see how many dinner rolls I could fit into my mouth.”

The thought of Katie with bread rolls in her mouth makes the group chuckle. “Okay, so food is out of the picture,” Alicia speaks with a soft smile. “What about a movie? I can see if Hermione would let me borrow her projector and we could watch one of those movies I have tucked away in my trunk,” she suggests, surveying the group’s reaction.

Angelina makes a sour face. “We had a movie marathon last week, I’d like to do something different,” she tells Alicia who rolls her eyes.

Alicia huffs, plopping herself back onto the couch. “Well, then I’m out of ideas, so you come up with something, Johnson.”

The group sits in a bored silence for a few moments before Angie breaks the silence. “Should I go bother Fred and George? Surely they’ll find something to do. They always make things interesting,” she speaks, raising her brows, gaging her audience’s reaction.

Katie rolls her eyes, “Merlin, Angie, if you want an excuse to see your darling Georgie, you can just say so.” You laugh at her comment and give Katie a teasing high five as Alicia giggles along. Angelina rolls her eyes and leans back on the couch. Angelina and George had been dating ever since sixth year when they kissed after their first date and they had seen the world in color, confirming their soulmate status. Katie mockingly starts teasing Angie now, “Meh, meh, I’m Angie, I love George, I see the world in color. Meh, meh, my sweater is green and not black like you guys see it, blah, blah,” making you cackle, throwing your head back in laughter, clutching your stomach.

You lean into Katie as you laugh, making her laugh harder as Angelina stands up, “Oh, piss off you two! I can’t help it that he’s my soulmate and I found him so early!”

“We’re just teasing you, Angie,” you wipe the tears of laughter from your eyes. “Go on, go fetch the twins. I’m sure they’ll think of something to do. Tell ‘em to bring Jordan with them if he’s around. Lee is always a good time.” Alicia nods in agreement.

With a small smile, Angelina darts off up the stairs to the boys’ dormitory. Alicia shakes her head, “That girl is whipped for the Weasley. I can’t believe she found her soulmate already. We’re not even eighteen yet.”

It was true. It wasn’t unheard of people finding their soulmates at a young age, but it surely wasn’t common. Most people were friends or knew their soulmates for a while before they were aware that they were in fact soulmates. For example, your parents both went to Hogwarts and we friends for years. It wasn’t until after four years after graduation that they realized they were soulmates. You smiled to yourself at the thought of your parents. You wished that you could have a soulmate story like theirs.

Katie folds her arms across her chest, “Quite frankly I hope I don’t meet my soulmate anytime soon. I feel like after you meet your soulmate, you’re expected to drop everything and be with them. But you have your whole lives ahead of you to spend time with each other. I’d rather be single and have fun and live my life in black and white for a while before seeing color with a soulmate.”

In a way you did agree with Katie. Most people who met their soulmate at a young age tended to drop everything in order to be there for their soulmate. Coordinating their lives and schedules to their soulmates, moving cities for them, planning their days around the other. It just seemed so intense. You were seventeen, you couldn’t drop everything right now for another person.

Moments later, Angelina happily came down the stairs with a large smile on her face as George, Fred, and Lee all trailed behind her. “The entertainment has arrived, ladies,” George speaks with a big beaming smile on his face as you teasingly rolled your eyes.

You sit up and speak, “What entertainment did you bring, Georgie?”

He places a hand over his heart, pretending to be offended at your comment. “Are we not enough for you, (Y/N)? Is our presence not enough?” George mockingly stumbles back. “Freddie, I feel faint! Catch me!”

Dramatically, Fred scoops up his twin brother as George pretends to faint. “Merlin’s beard, (Y/N), look at what you’ve done!” he mockingly screeches as you roll your eyes and giggle. Katie huffs a here we go as she leans back into the couch. The twins always put on a show when they were around you guys. You never minded it; they were quite funny when they wanted to be. “Quick, Lee, we need to revive him!”

Lee, now in on the joke, runs over to the coffee table and clear it quickly. “Bring him here!” he exclaims as Fred lays a fake limp George on the table as you laugh and Alicia scoffs.

“Good Godric, you three are a bunch of idiots,” she huffs with a smile on her face. No matter how much she hated to admit it, this was much better than sitting around and doing nothing.

Fred speaks, “Alright, Lee, give me the reviving potion,” sticking out his hand.

Even more dramatic than before, Lee pulls out a large bottle of fire whiskey from his satchel as he improvises an operatic song as he places it in Fred’s hands. Lee opens George mouth as Fred uncorks the bottle and pours a glug into George’s mouth. George swallows it and dramatically inhales. “I’ve been revived!” he exclaims as the boys cheer.

Katie perks up at the sight of fire whiskey. “Where in the hell did you get a bottle of that?” she sits up and grabs the bottle from Fred’s hands. Lee pulls out a few cups from his satchel and places them on the table, Katie immediately pouring everyone a glass of fire whiskey.

Fred smiles, “It’s our emergency bottle. In case situations like this happen.”

Folding her arms across her chest, Alicia speaks up, “And exactly how many emergency bottles do you boys have?”

The trio looks at each other before sighing and speaking as a chorus, “Four.”

“Uh huh, that’s what I thought,” she laughs before taking a cup of fire whiskey from Katie, Katie then handing you one. “Well, it’s better than nothing I guess.”

You look at the whiskey in your cup before sighing and taking a sip, the liquid burning your throat, but warming your chest up in all the right ways. A familiar sensation. You hum in contentment. “Better than nothing is damn right,” you smile as the twins chuckle. “What were you lot doing upstairs?”

Lee takes a seat in the chair across from the couch, “Same thing as you gals. Bored out of our skulls. However, these two numbskulls were trying to conjure up a plan to go pull a prank on Filch.” George snickers as Lee flicks the back of his head, earning a small ow. “Good thing you all were bored too otherwise I would have been dragged into that mess.”

Fred scoffs, “Oh please, you wish you could pull off a prank at the caliber that Georgie and I do. Isn’t that right, brother?” He turns to George who is already cuddled up next to Angelina on the love seat, arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her close next to him. Fred rolls his eyes and makes a gagging sound. “You two make me sick.”

George just pulls Angie closer to his side as Angie blushes a deep crimson. “You’re just jealous, Freddie. I’ve got a hot girlfriend and I can see the world in color, making it quite obvious that you, dear brother, are green with envy.” Angie rolls her eyes, but still places a soft kiss to George’s cheek.

Fred shakes his head, “He’s gone soft, Lee. We’ve lost one of our bravest soldiers.”

“Piss off,” Angie speaks up, defending her boyfriend as Freddie chuckles, lips turning into a gorgeous smile. “Now that we’ve all got our drinks, let’s really get the party started...” she wiggles her eyebrows. “Katie Bell, truth or dare.”

Katie groans and sips her fire whiskey before deciding what she wants to do. As she ponders, you see Fred scoot over to you as you giggle, him dragging his bum on the floor, making his way to you. Fred smiles up at you, “This seat taken?” he refers to the spot on the floor right in front of your legs.

You shake your head with a smile, “It’s got your name written all over it, Weasley.”

Fred gives you a cheeky grin, “Brilliant.”

He turns around and leans his back up against your legs and rests one of his arms on your knees. You and Fred were close friends. In fifth year when Angelina confessed to you that she had a crush on George, you started spending more time with the twins and developed a close relationship with them and Lee. You, in particular, got along with Fred like a house on fire. The two of you loved to crack jokes on the sidelines, teasing George and Angie, giggling and stealing little glances here and there.

Angelina always told you that you and Fred would make a cute couple. She insisted she saw the way that Fred looked at you, but you always brushed it off as if it were nothing. You and Fred were friends, nothing more, nothing less. A partnership would just totally ruin the vibe between the two of you. There was no point to it. Even though you may have always admired Fred’s looks from a far and his charming personality, you had finally convinced yourself that you and Fred Weasley were platonic.

As Fred leaned up against your legs, sipping on his whiskey, your eyes found Angie’s as she lifted her brows, looking at you knowingly, sending you a look that said Oh? You rolled your eyes and shook your head, responding with your eyes, No way. She just shrugged and sipped her fire whiskey nonchalantly as if to say Whatever you say...You just brushed it off and leaned back as Katie challenged Lee to a dare.

----------

The night progressed and the drinking continued and the bottle got less and less full. Soon enough, the common room was full of your tipsy giggles as the lot of you cracked jokes with each other. You hugged your sides as you cackled as Fred did a spot on impression of Draco Malfoy as he mimicked him walking through the halls, yelling “Potter!” every now and then. Of course, the humor was amplified by the liquor in your hands, but it still was hilarious. The whole group was in a fit of giggles as Lee quite literally fell to the floor from laughter too hard.

Alicia laid her head in your lap as she laughed, wiping tears from her eyes as you all recovered from laughter. “Fred, that was brilliant. You’ll have to show Harry tomorrow morning,” she tells him as Fred plops down next to you on the couch, stealing Katie’s spot as she was now sat on the floor next to Lee.

Fred chuckles and rests his arm around the back of the couch, gently hovering behind you as you suddenly become very aware of his presence. You spot Angelina out of your periphery vision as she smirks to herself before leaning over and whispering something in George’s ear, making George look at you with a devilish smirk on his lips. Your gaze towards them hardens as you mouth, Knock it off. George just smiles and sips his drink quietly, pretending to mind his own business.

You turn to Fred and give him a soft smile as he drops his left eye in a wink, making your heart skip a beat. “Easy, Weasley,” you say in a cautious tone as he lifts his arms in defense. You shake your head and lean back into the couch, bumping into his arm that is draped across the back of the couch. Neither of you bother moving.

Alicia rises from your lap and reaches for the fire whiskey bottle, but groans in defeat when she realizes it’s empty. “Bloody hell,” she groans. She looks to Lee and begs, “Is it appropriate to call this an emergency and you can grab another one of your emergency fire whiskeys?”

Lee laughs, “I regret to inform you we have a one emergency bottle a night policy.” Alicia groans and flops back onto the couch. Suddenly, a light bulb goes off in Lee’s mind, making his eyes grow wide and a little smile dance on his lips. “However,” he wiggles his brows and surveys the group. “Now that we’ve got an empty bottle, I think we all know where we can take this party...”

Looking up from her cup, Katie says, “Where are we taking the party? Are we going to bed?” she asks with sadness in her voice. “But the night is so young!”

Shaking his head, Lee looks at Katie. “Are you daft, Bell?” he asks as she rolls her eyes, sipping her whiskey. “I meant we could play a cheeky game of spin the bottle,” Lee suggests.

Alicia huffs, “Really, Jordan? What are we? Fourth years?”

“Oh, come on, Spinnet, it’s just to add a little spice to the mix,” Lee shimmies his shoulders making you laugh. “Besides, it gives you an excuse to have the privilege of planting a sloppy one on me.”

Alicia fake gags. “I’d rather spend a whole day with Professor Snape,” she spits as Lee laughs.

George speaks up now, “Angie and I will sit this one out, but we will watch the show.” He pulls Angie impossibly closer to him as she cuddles into his chest. “For obvious reasons,” he smirks. Fred boos his brother and throws his now empty cup of fire whiskey at him. “What? I am not kissing someone other than my literal soulmate,” he rationalizes. “Besides, you’ve got five players. That’s enough. That is, if everyone is comfortable playing.”

The group all looks at each other, gaging everyone’s feelings of playing a cheeky game. You had to admit you’d rather not play a game as childish as spin the bottle, but for a weird reason, you were keen on playing at least one round. As you looked around, it seemed like everyone was on board to play.

Your eyes meet Fred’s for a moment as he looks at you, his eyes darting from your eyes to your lips for a split second, hoping you wouldn’t catch him. You quickly turn away, trying to hide the heat on your cheeks. “I don’t see the harm in one game,” you shrug as you see Fred smile from the corner of your eye. Lee claps his hands cheering as Alicia and Katie agree.

Fred speaks up, “Well, I can’t let Lee be the only bloke having all the fun, now can I?”

Everyone is on board with the game as Lee cheers, “Alright! Five for five!” He places the empty bottle of fire whiskey on its side in order to spin it. “Everyone knows the rules. You spin and kiss whomever it lands on, no matter who it is. I’m looking at you, Weasley. If you land on me, I expect the best snog of my life,” he teases as you all laugh wildly. “Whomever the bottle lands on gets the next spin. All good?” Everyone nods. Lee smiles, “Groovy. Welp, youngest goes first. Bell, you’re up.”

Katie giggles, “Put on your chapstick, you lucky sons of bitches.” Alicia laughs as Katie reaches and spins the bottle. The bottle does a series of spins, turning clockwise as she anticipates who she’ll be planting a kiss on. She nervously dances back and forth as you watch her with a small smile on your face.

Slowly the bottle stops spinning to land gently on Fred. Your heart stops for a second and your mouth runs dry. You blink a few times and swallow hard. The group all claps their hands and laughs as Katie rolls her eyes. You on the other couldn’t help but have a tight feeling in your chest. You force a smile on your face before you look at Angelina quickly. She raises her brows, monitoring your reaction as you just shake your head, letting her know you were fine.

Katie scoots over to Fred as Fred leans down. “Get ready for your mind to be blown,” Fred jokes as Katie slaps his arm.

You watch very intently as Fred ducks his head down to connect his lips with Katie. You stop breathing for a moment as you watch Fred kiss one of your closest friends. Your palms start sweating and you pull yourself away from looking at them kiss. Lee and Alicia oooh and giggle as you look at Angie, eyes screaming at her, Okay maybe I’m not fine.

She gives you a nervous smile and mouths, “It’s just a silly game.”

You nod your head and shake it off. It was a silly game. That’s all. A stupid, silly, childish game. It meant nothing. You knew Katie didn’t like Fred like that. She had fancied Adrian Pucey for a few months now. This kiss meant literally nothing.

It felt like the kiss had lasted for hours when it was a brief five seconds. Katie pulls away from the kiss and returns to her position on the floor. Fred just smirks and leans back in his seat, dragging his thumb across his bottom lip. You watch as he does so, the small gesture being surprisingly attractive to you as you gulp. But you quickly turn around so Fred doesn’t catch you watching.

Katie laughs, “Eh, you’re nothing to ride home about, Freddie. Hate to break it to you.”

Fred shrugs, “It’s alright, Bell. The first stage of grieving is denial. You’ll eventually accept that that kiss was the best one of your life.”

Lee cackles as Fred joins him in his laugher before leaning over and spinning the bottle for himself. The bottle spins round and round and round as you watch it, the bottle hypnotizing you. You secretly wished that the bottle would land on you, wanting to be able to kiss Fred Weasley and getting the confirmation that you didn’t like Fred in that way. But honestly, you just hoped it was anyone but Katie or Alicia.

The bottle slowly stopped spinning as it gently landed on Lee, making the group erupt in laughter. Lee’s lips drew up in a devilish smile as he rubbed his hands together, “Here I come, big boy!” he exclaims, making you laugh even harder.

Fred laughs and sits up in his seat. “Give it to me, Jordan,” he challenges.

Lee springs to his feet and grabs Fred’s face with both hands, squeezing his cheeks together before smashing his lips on Fred’s. Fred is laughing as Lee kisses him roughly, rocking him back and forth. George is absolutely dying of laughter, falling into his chair as the rest of the group squeals.

Alicia grabs onto your arms, squeezing you as she laughs, you doing the same. The kiss happens for a while as you cackle, “Good Godric, come up for some air why don’t you?”

With a smack, Lee pulls off of Fred as Fred falls back in his seat. Fred’s eyes are wide as Lee wipes his lips. “And that,” Lee points to Fred, “is how you kiss someone. Not that pathetic thing you gave Katie.”

The group comes down from laughing at Lee spins the bottle for himself. The cycle repeats for a while. Lee kisses Alicia, Alicia kisses you, you kiss Katie, Katie kisses Lee, and then the bottle spins again. Lee spins and the bottle gently lands on you as you giggle. “I’m expecting excellence, Lee Jordan,” you eye him as he laughs. “Not going to lie, Alicia might give you a run for your money.”

Lee rolls his eyes, “In her dreams.”

You giggle before the two of you close the gap between you two, kissing each other. The kiss is honestly not bad. Lee’s lips tasted of the fire whiskey along with vanilla and sugar. The kiss was gentle, but not bad at all. Your friends around you all cheer and oooh at you two in typical fashion as you both smile into the kiss. You pull away and Lee sends you a wink. “The reviews are in,” you speak. “Not bad, Jordan. Not bad at all. Actually, pretty damned good!”

Lee pumps his arm. “Hah! Take that, Spinnet!”

“Alright, my turn to spin,” you giggle and excitedly spin the bottle.

The bottle spins and spins and spins as everyone waits in anxious anticipation. Who could it be? Slowly, the bottle stops spinning and lands on the person right next to you, Mr. Fred Weasley.

Your heart stops as your mouth goes dry. Everyone immediately erupts into cheers, specifically George who springs onto his feet. “Oh, I’ve been waiting for this one!” he cheers as you gulp.

Kissing Fred Weasley? Maybe this game was a mistake.

You stare at the bottle, and then to Angie who wears the biggest grin on her face, and then back at the bottle and finally to Fred. His eyes stare back at you as you gulp. A smirk dances on Fred’s lips as you suck in a breath. The whole group stares at the pair of you, silent, waiting for something to happen.

The tension between you and Fred was so thick you could cut it with a knife. “Cat got your tongue, (Y/L/N)?” Fred teases you as he scoots a little closer to you. You suck in a shaky breath as he chuckles lowly.

You snap yourself out of this anxious gaze and speak, confidence now coursing through your veins. You were going to kiss your best friend and it was happening now. “Make your move, Weasley,” you challenge with flirtation laced in your voice.

Fred smiles, “No need to tell me twice,” he lowly whispers.

Immediately, Fred cups your cheek and brings your lips to his. Your lips connect and the whole group loudly cheers and screams. You hear Lee scream, “Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!”

But you couldn’t care what was happening. You were kissing Fred. Your heart was beating a mile a minute. Fred’s lips were soft, but demanding as they pressed firmly onto yours. His lips tasted of sweet cinnamon and spice; his lips were like a personal drug that you couldn’t get enough of. You pressed your lips harder against his as you both sucked in a breath, your hand resting on his forearm. His lips moved gently against yours as you both enjoyed this kiss too much for a friendly game of spin the bottle.

You opened up your mouth enough for Fred to slide his tongue in, massaging his with yours as you moan just loudly enough for Fred to hear, making him smile into your kiss. As the group watched you two softly snog, they only cheer louder. You were too involved in relishing in the way Fred’s lips felt pressed against yours to care about how your friends were reacting.

The kiss was everything you wanted a first kiss with someone to be. It was gentle, but didn’t lack in passionate or desire. His lips moved in sync with yours as you followed his lead, his tongue dancing with yours. It was exactly how you imagined kissing Fred Weasley.

You are pulled from your thoughts when George cries out, “For Merlin’s sake Freddie, don’t eat the poor girl!”

Gently, you break the kiss as Fred’s lips follow yours for a moment, not wanting the kiss to end just yet. The two of you keep your eyes closed, relishing in the moment that you two shared.

Lee laughs, “Is it just me or is it hot in here?”

You giggle and gently pry your eyes open. But that’s when you gasp.

You look at Fred who sits in front of you in full color. His bright red hair contrasting against the light blue thermal shirt he wears. His brown eyes stare at you just as much in shock.

It happened.

“Merlin’s beard...” you whisper.

The room fall silent as your friends stare at the two of you in confusion, wondering what could have possibly happened that made the two of you stare at each other in shock.

“Is it...” you start.

“Yeah,” Fred answers. He lets out a light laugh. “Yeah, it is.”

You let out a light laugh with him and slowly, look around the room taking in your surroundings, the whole common room in beautiful colors of maroon and gold. Color dances everywhere as you let out an amazed chuckle.

Looking at Angie with amazement, she suddenly realizes exactly what’s going on. A smile erupts on her face as she lets out a sigh. “Good Godric,” she breathes. She looks at George. “It happened.”

The entire group registers what is happening as they stare at the two of you in awe as you two take in your surroundings gentle. “Oh shit,” Lee breathes out with a smile. “That’s bloody brilliant...”

You look back at Fred who just wears a gentle smile on his face as you look deeply into his chocolate brown eyes that swim with amazement and adoration. You could look into those eyes forever. And lucky for you, that’s what you were going to do.

Breaking the silence, Angelina says, “We’ll leave you two to it then. Guys...”

Your friends all start to leave the common room, running up the stairs to the dormitories, definitely to chat about what just happened.

You are now left with Fred in the common room, sitting on the couch together, staring at each other in technicolor. “Hi, Freddie,” you breathe out with a smile.

Fred smiles, “Hi, (Y/N),” he reciprocates. The two of you just take the other one in for a few moments as you gulp. What were you supposed to say? What were you supposed to do? Merlin’s sake, this was supposed to be a cheeky game of spin the bottle and all of a sudden. “We’re soulmates,” Fred speaks plainly.

“I guess so,” you laugh. You gently bite your lip. “I never thought it would be you, Fred.”

He inhales a long breath. “I had a feeling,” Fred admits as you teasingly smack his arm. “I’m glad I was right,” he confesses as you blush. “You have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. With and without color,” he tells you. “I didn’t think that you could get more gorgeous, but color has proved me wrong.”

You shake your head, “Freddie...” you trail off, blushing wildly, crimson appearing on your cheeks for the first time. Fred takes your hand in his and gently rubs his thumb over your knuckles. You give into his touch, nothing feeling more right. “I’m so glad it’s you.”

Fred lifts your hand up to his lips and presses a kiss to your knuckles. “We’re soulmates,” he repeats himself as you nod. “Wow...so, we get to spend forever with each other, huh? You’re going to get really tired of me, aren’t you?” he jokes as you laugh.

“I could never grow tired of you,” you confess, squeezing his hand. You run your hand through his red hair. The signature of the Weasleys that you could finally see now. “I do have to say though,” you start. “I was not expecting your hair to be this red.”

Fred laughs, “Get used to it, darling. You’ll be staring at it for the rest of your life. Not to mention, the Weasley genetics are strong. Sorry to say that if we decide to have kids, they’ll end up like this.”

You roll your eyes, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Freddie.” He smiles and sends you a wink. “So,” you breathe out. “What do we do now?”

He inhales deeply and sighs. “Well,” he starts. “I think we ought to tell people, specifically our parents,” he says as you nod. “But other than that, we do what we want.” You gaze into Fred’s eyes and smile. “(Y/N), we have the rest of our lives together. There’s no rush. We can go at our own pace. We don’t have to pay attention to what people say we should be doing. I’m just happy that we’ve found each other that way we can start forever now.”

Your heart fills with joy and adoration at his words. You had always worried that you wouldn’t love soulmate, nevertheless like them, but loving Fred Weasley was going to be the easiest task of your life. Living your forever in color together.

“Sounds good to me, Weasley,” you smile.

Fred leans in and closes the gap between you two, kissing you again sweetly like he had done minutes ago for the first time. His lips are even gentler than before on yours as you smile into the kiss. Fred pull away and smiles, “Reckon we go upstairs and get the teasing out of the way from the lot?”

You take a moment. “Let’s wait a little while. We have forever for them to tease us. We’ll only have this moment for a short time.”

He shakes his head. “Merlin, you’re perfect.”

And there the two of you laid in each other’s arms, taking in the new colorful world before you, souls now connected forever. And you wouldn’t have it any other way.

#Fred and George #fred weasley #Fred and Goerge Weasley #fred weasley imagine #fred imagine #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley x reader imagine #fred weasley x muggle!reader #fred weasley x female reader #fred weasley x fem!reader #fred wealsley x gryffindor! reader #Harry Potter #harry potter fandom #harry potter fanfic #Harry Potter Smut

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midnightstar-90 · 3 years

Text

Live Laugh Love~ Georgie Cooper x Reader

A/N: This is actually the 4th part, but I forgot to post it on tumblr. Hope you enjoy.

Summary: Sheldon refuses to eat solid food after a choking scare.

My Masterlist | My Taglist

A Therapist, A Comic Book, and A Breakfast Sausage

Y/N's POV

After my parents died and George's near-death experience you would think that this family would be tired of scaring me, but now, let me tell you why.

Missy, Sheldon, and I were sitting at the table eating our breakfast that Mary made. Georgie was at the counter putting jelly on his toast. Mary starts to rush us, so that we're not late for school.

Sheldon started choking on his breakfast, but Missy took it as Sheldon making faces. I look up, and my eyes widen like a deer in headlights. "Missy, he's not making faces on purpose. He's choking," I say scared. Mary hears me and rushes over to Sheldon.

Georgie continues to jelly his toast, and I run to get George. I quickly hear Georgie say, "I wish she would run that quick when I need her." I roll my eyes and keep going.

George makes it to the table and tries to smack the sausage out of Sheldon's mouth. Missy yells out, "Sheldon's gonna die! Sheldon's gonna die!" I knew she was scared, so I didn't say anything. What I did see was Georgie continuing to eat, while his brother was choking. I looked at my best friend and glared. He just shrugged his shoulders in response.

I turn back around to see George has flipped Sheldon upside down and was trying to shake it out of him. Mary calls 9-1-1 and I remember something I learned in Health class. "George, Heimlich!" I yell out just before Mary.

George goes for the Heimlich, and Sheldon spits out the sausage. I saw Sheldon look at something before he spits out his food. I looked and there goes Georgie licking his jelly knife.

Mary is quick to see if her son is okay. He says, "you have to... throw away... that jelly!" Georgie just looks at him, and I look at Georgie.

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At School

I close my locker, which is right next to Georgie's. "I should have shoved that knife down your throat," I say as we start to walk to class. "Why, what did I do?" I scoff and side-eye the boy. "Your brother was on the verge of death, and you just sit there eating toast" "It's not like I could have done anything," he says casually. I walk off angry.

We make it to class on time. We sat down and our teacher started telling us about the canned food drive. When Sheldon walked in, she stopped her talk with us to see why Sheldon was late. She read the note Mary gave to Sheldon and was immediately heartbroken. "You poor thing, you had a medical emergency?" The teacher asked the 9-year-old.

"How come the teacher has more sympathy for your brother than you do?" I sarcastically ask. Georgie just shrugs again. I turn back in my seat to face the front with a 'humph'.

Sheldon explains to the teacher that he choked on a sausage. The students start laughing at Sheldon. I stand up angry, "You better shut it, before I shove a sausage down your throat!"

Georgie looks at me scared. He should be scared. Just because I'm a girl does not mean I don't know how to defend myself.

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Me and Georgie were at lunch. I look over to see if Sheldon was okay. He was just staring at his sandwich. "Why are you staring at Sheldon?" Georgie asks as I get up. I start heading for Sheldon as I say back, "because I care about him." Georgie just goes back to eating.

I walk over to Sheldon and Tam. "Hey Sheldon, aren't you gonna eat your food?" I say worried. "No, I'm not hungry," Sheldon says looking down. "I offered him my soup," Tam says.

I wonder what's going on. All I know is this Tam kid is freaking me out. Ever since I met the kid, every time I come near him he gives me googly eyes.

"Well, if you want, one of the seniors bought me a smoothie," I offer the worried child. "Is it organic," Sheldon asks. "I think so. He got it from that new smoothie place," I say nodding my head. "Sure." Hearing those words made me happy. I went to grab the smoothie and then gave it to him. I went back over to Georgie with a smile.

Sheldon's POV

"Dang, she shares food and she's hot. You got one hot friend," Tam says watching the girl who's like my sister walk away. I sip the smoothie before saying, "one, she's my brother's best friend, and two, she's like my sister." Tam looks disappointed, but I just finish the smoothie.

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Y/N's POV

Dinner

We were all sat down for dinner when Meemaw starts talking about Mr. Rosenbloom. "You know that Mr. Rosenbloom with the furniture store over by the steakhouse?" Connie asks Mary. Mary tells her mother that she doesn't know. Connie tries to remind Mary by calling the man a 'Hebrew fella with the comb-over'.

Mary corrects her mother, but Meemaw didn't really care. George just drinks his beer, while we ate our food.

Meemaw tells us that Mr. Rosenbloom asked her to dinner. My ears perk up and I say, "awe Meemaw, that's great." Mary asked her if she was gonna say yes, but Meemaw makes an inappropriate comment. "Okay Meemaw, I see you!" I say cheering her on.

Mary corrects both of us. Meemaw defends with, "What? I said 'dessert'." She turns to us and says, "I figured from the cheering that Y/N knew what I meant, but did you kids know that I was talking about sex?"

I knew Georgie knew. But Sheldon gives a confused face then says "no".

Mary notices that Sheldon wasn't eating. "Why aren't you eating?" Mary says. Sheldon tells his mother that he's scared to eat. George thought it was because of the food touching, but Sheldon says he's afraid he'll choke again.

Meemaw didn't know that Sheldon choked on a sausage. Me and Georgie explain our morning to her. "Sheldon almost died this morning," I started. "Dad was shaking him upside down like a ketchup bottle," Georgie followed.

Mary continues to try to get him to eat, but Sheldon doesn't budge. "Dibs on the tater tots," Georgie says earning a smack on the arm from me. "What? you want some." I roll my eyes continuing to eat.

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The next day was the same way. Sheldon didn't want to eat, so Georgie stole his food. I look to Meemaw and say, "I offered him a smoothie yesterday and he drank it just fine." Connie gets an idea and offers up to blend up his food. She leaves to go blend his food, and I give Sheldon a smile and a thumbs up.

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Georgie and I were finishing up getting ready for school. I was brushing my teeth, and Georgie was checking out his hair. "Are you still not talking to me? It's been almost a week. Speaking of which, where have you been. Except for practice, home, and school, I don't see you anywhere," Georgie says turning to me.

I spit the toothpaste out, rinse my mouth, and then turn to the boy. I fix one of his hairs and walk off. Even mad, I still care for the boy.

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What Georgie didn't know about me was that ever since before my parents died I loved superheroes. Their powers and backstories always amazed me. When I learned to read, I asked Mary and George for a comic. Now, every month, Mary and George give me $5 to pick out comics.

I was sat in the back corner of the comic store. I was a usual customer, so the owners would always tell me when there are new installments. I like the Avengers, a lot of them have a backstory similar to mine, like Spider-man or Ironman.

The bell to the door rings, and I see a certain little boy walk in. 'Isn't he supposed to be at therapy? Since when does Sheldon like comics?' I don't interact with him, I just watch.

He wants an X-men comic. Then I notice Tam, which I don't remember him coming in. They have a conversation until Sheldon keeps walking and runs into me.

I give him a very suspicious-looking look. "Aren't you supposed to be in therapy?" I ask with an eyebrow raised. "Yes, but I have to find out what happens in X-men #137." I laugh and show him where it is.

"Listen, I've had my problems. I've been to therapy. I know things can be scary, but we have to learn to face our fears. Your parents must be worried. You can't run from things you don't like," I try my best to help him. "Here let me show you something."

I take Sheldon to my corner in the back, and I show him my comics. "I read these comics because they remind me of me and my fears. They help me, and they could possibly help you too." I say before seeing Tam, "Tam! here I'll show you." I invite Tam to read with us.

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Georgie's POV

Missy, Meemaw, and I all decided to get a blizzard from Dairy Queen. We started talking. "Meemaw, are you ever gonna have any more babies?" Missy asked. Meemaw exclaims, "Good Lord, no!" "She's too old to have any more babies," I say.

Meemaw tells us, "Don't have to have 'em. You live long enough, your hair and your teeth start falling out, you start wetting the bed, you get to be one." I laugh and say, "haha, that's funny. We're gonna have to put a diaper on you." "You won't be laughing when you're doing it," she says, "I might be." We all laugh.

I continue to eat my blizzard when Missy asks Meemaw who's smarter besides Sheldon and Y/N. We argue a bit about it, but Meemaw says it's not about them.

"Yeah right, everything is always about Sheldon. Y/N won't talk to me, because Sheldon forgot to chew," I say, sad because I miss my best friend. "Yeah, sometimes it's like we don't exist."

Meemaw looks at us and says, "I guess Sheldon does get most of the attention. Maybe that's a good thing. If it weren't for him your parents would be on your ass all the time. And Georgie, don't you think that maybe, Y/N was scared because she already lost two of the most important people in her life, and almost another. That girl has been part of our family for years, and no matter who it is, she will still be scared to lose another family member."

"Yeah. I guess I never thought about it that way before," I say thinking about how our lives could be different without Sheldon. I also never gave Y/N's emotions about the incident much thought.

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Y/N's POV

I guess what I said helped Sheldon because he ate that piece of licorice-like a boss.

Tam, Sheldon, and I were walking home. We see police officers at our house. Tam dips, but not before yelling at me, "Call me, beautiful!" I cringe and walk home.

We make it into the house, and Sheldon is immediately yelled at. Mary thanks me for bringing him home, but I tell her that that is what family does. She smiles and I go to talk to Georgie.

"Hey," I call out knocking on his open door. "You're talking to me now?" Georgie asks putting away his magazine. "Well, I'm in a good mood. Sheldon faced his fear of chewing, partly because of me," I say giving myself a pat on the back.

"Well, I'm happy for you. And I know before I didn't really pay attention to your feelings, but I want you to know I'm sorry." Georgie hugs me and I hug him back. "Sheldon and I stopped by DQ for a blizzard, but I couldn't finish mine. You want it?" "Sweet! I get my Best Friend back and another blizzard."

I laugh and start to head out. "Good night," is all I hear before entering my room.

#sheldon cooper #georgie cooper #georgie cooper x reader #george cooper #missy cooper #mary cooper #meemaw #wattpad #young sheldon #big bang theory #x reader #fanfic #connie tucker

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planettnibiruu · 2 years

Text

Solomon's kinda a bastard. P3

(Brothers x mc)

P1, P2

TW//teeth rotting fluff, panic attacks?, I'm a very emotional person so that means mc is 2, you get blown off briefly, lmk if I missed any//

It didn't take you long to get a hold of Asmo. The phone rang only twice before it was answered.

"Heyyy~ How are you? Missing me? Of course you would!! I'm only the most beautiful demon in the whole world!" You could hear the smile through his voice, a pang of guilt struck as you realised it would be short lived.

"Asmo I- the other day I got in a bad accident-" you could hear him hum, "I'm fine now though, but that's the problem."

"Sweetie if you want attention you can just ask." A chuckle Interrupts the sentence. "I'd be more than happy to provide, you don't need to act injured." You now picture his big pretty eyes battering up at you as smirks. Sweet words dripping from his lips like syrup. Even though the thought is pretty, a bitter taste fills your mouth

How could he not get it, seriously. The 7 of them preach all this bullshit about being there for you but here you are. Lord, sometimes you could smack those boys upside the head.

"Asmo I was seriously hurt, broken bones, bruises, the whole sha-bang. But within three days I was fine, it's humanly impossible." You feel like you're pleading for him to understand. Whatever's happening makes your skin crawl, you don't feel human any more.

"Well you are a pretty extraordinary human My love," he ends his sentence with a high pitched hum, as if he was proud about the fact his head was as thicc as your ass.

"Asmo. Something is wrong. I need your and your brothers' help to figure out what. I should be dead, but I'm not," Your voice began to get shakey as you started talking faster and faster, "and I don't understand and I just need someone to help and I-" You were interpreted by a hiccup, shame bubbled in you chest at how pitiful you sounded.

Asmo softly calls you name, "I'm sorry dear, I didn't realise you were this concerned. I'll talk to Lucifer about it, I'm sure it's nothing too bad. So don't worry your pretty little head, okay?" His words console you just little, even still, hot trails run down your face.

You don't exactly know why you're so upset, it's probably more that you're overwhelmed than anything. You got to speak again, but the only thing that escapes is a horse squeak. It's as though cotton is clogging your mouth as your lips are cemented shut. The emotions you've bottled up are finally making themselves known.

"Okay, talk to you soon As."

You end the call as soon as his name falls from your lips. Making your way to the kitchen you fill a glass with ice and water, hoping to calm yourself. You remember reading something about humans not being able to cry while drinking.

A bitter chuckle bubbles past your lips. 'Lu will know what to do, by the end of the week ill get to the bottom of this, and it'll be like it never happened. I'll be fine.'

You look down at your should-be-broken arm.

'I'll be fine'

---

Even after calling Asmo, you feel funny. Everything is so real and so fake at the same time. Your hands don't feel like your own and your face seems unfamiliar. It's as if you're someone's stuffed bear, head full of cotton, eyes looking but not seeing and no real control over yourself. You find yourself staring at the books on Satan's shelves rather than listening to the first, second, fourth and fifth born talking.

"But even then, this is unnatural. There's no logical way they could heal this fast."

"What?? Ya want em to die!? Blonde fucking bastard."

"Nobody wants them to die, but Satan's right, this shouldn't have happened."

"Then why did it happen? Don't tell me that my poor human is cursed or something!??"

"I can't think of many curses that would do this. The ones I read about are more.... harmful than helpful."

"Well, that's unless the negative side hasn't taken effect yet." "That is a possibility but-"

"Hey!! Stop talkin bout possibilities and start talkin bout realities. Obviously sumthins up, so figure it out already." There's a brief pause, "Tch, whatever, let's get outta here."

A warm, large hand wraps around your hand and pulls. You stumble as you're being dragged along, protests in the background fading as you leave the room. While you're walking you get lost in the motion, solely focusing on moving forward.

Your body hits something firm, but not hard. Looking up you realise you've run straight into a certain white haired demon.

"Oi!! You can't just- gah- watch ya self human." Mammons backed up several steps, a dark blush dusting his cheeks and the tops of his ears.

"Oh, sorry mam. Didn't mean to, I just don't feel too good right now." You waddle over to the couch, arms feeling foreign and heavy as you collapse into it. Grabbing a pillow you hug it to yourself as you settle in, pulling your legs up close.

Eyes focused on the pillows pattern you don't feel the dip beside you. There's a moment of silence while both you and Mammon are lost in thought. You still feel funny, it's as if all sense of time is gone, 5 minutes and 5 hours starting to feel the same. It's almost as if you're playing a 1st person game rather than being a living person. The thought takes you down a winding path. That is, until a hand covers yours and squeezes.

"Look, I know ya worried. But I'm kinda glad that whatevers happenin is happenin. If you did die I…" He stops talking, going unnaturally quiet. You look over and see his teary eyes trained on your hands. He interlocks them and pulls you into his chest.

"I'm gonna do ya a favour, you can nap with me- but only beacuse ya actin like such a baby. Now shut up n sleep cuz you look like shit." Even though his words are harsh, the way he holds you isn't. Warm and strong arms rest on your waist and he lays down. Your head rests comfortable on his chest as your hands wrap around him in return. Mam shuffles you around and tangles your legs, further trapping you.

You shuffle slightly, getting comfortable in his tight grip. Everything sucks. Everything but the 7 dorks you have a pact with. It's ironic that demons are the best part of your life, but you suppose it can't be helped.

Mam starts running his palm up and down your back, your head now tucked into his neck so you can't see the beat red blush covering his face. He's laying oddly still, worried that moving too much will make you leave, even though you never would.

The door slamming open makes you jump, so much so that the only thing stopping you from falling is Mams reflexes. Sitting up you glare at Lucifer, who is standing in the doorway.

"Mc, come here." He says, his voice unreadable and steady, but there's a little glint in his eyes that gives him away. A small bit of fear shining through his almost unbreakable mask.

You drag yourself up from the comfortable spot, still feeling as if you're floating. "Did you figure it out?"

"No, but there's a spell that should reveal whatever been put on you, it won't take a second." Your attention is redirected to Satan, who stands with a book in his hand.

He holds his arm out in your general direction and starts muttering words that sound Latin, or some other long dead language. Your body feels slightly funny as he does so, a tingling sensation spreading from your fingertips up your arm, then to the rest of your body. It's not exactly pleasant but not exactly horrible.

As soon as it starts, it's over. You shake your hands to get rid of the lingering sensation and glance up at Satan. You expect to see a satisfied grin, the look of someone who just cracked a mystery that no one else could. He always did like feeling as if he's the smartest on in the room. You were wrong though. Satan looks as if he's been slapped. Cheeks slightly pale, eyes wider and they stare off into space and his lips slightly parted.

"I- no that can't be right. The spell is probably incorrect. You aren't- you can't be," His attention had been drawn to the book again, furiously scanning the pages and rereading the information, he mutters the spell quietly to himself, double checking the words.

"What do ya mean, what did the spell say? C'mon ya can't leave us hanging like that." Mams now standing next to you, redness still clinging to the apples of his cheeks.

Satan looks up at you, he looks sorry, scared, guilty. Eyebrows furrowed slightly and eyes soft. "I think you're immortal….. That's why you aren't dead. Though it should be impossible, it's such a complex spell no low lev-"

All you can hear is a high pitched ringing. Your eyes start to tear up and a sob rips it's way violently from your chest. You reach out, gripping onto a soft velvet fabric which you think could be Lucifer. All control slips from your grasp as you collapse into the warm body. Your chest shaking, seemingly never ending waterfalls cascading down your face.

'Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck"

Tag list; @theeonlyroman @kadythethief

#mammon x reader #obey me #obey me x reader #obey me luficer #lucifer x reader #obey me satan #satan x reader #asmo x reader #obey me asmo #obey me mammon

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redgillan · 4 years

Text

Under Pastel Skies - 6

Sugar daddy!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Modern!AU Bucky doesn’t need anyone, especially not a sugar baby. He isn’t that desperate… but she smiles so sweetly and she’s endearingly awkward, and he’s so lonely. She’s an artist, a painter, the type of person who always puts others before herself. Throwing caution to the wind Bucky offers her a place to live, a place where she can finally paint whatever her heart desires. He doesn’t need much in return; a friend, a muse.

Word Count: 4,327

Warnings: panic attacks, Bucky recalls his accident

A/N: I don’t have much to say, Bucky’s real emotional in this one. I hope you enjoy this chapter :’)

Wannabe sugar daddies don’t interact, idc if you have money, eat it and leave me be.

Everywhere Bucky looked his eyes and ears were assaulted by a cacophony of sounds and colours. Red and green baubles hung from the ceiling, shimmering like disco balls and sending sparkles around the mall.

The air smelled like pine and cinnamon, something he usually liked, but it was so pungent and unpleasant that it made his stomach churn and bile rise up his throat. He tried to breathe through his mouth, forcing oxygen into his lungs.

Flashes of silver and gold momentarily blinded him, and as someone walked past him, their shopping bag knocked against his leg. It didn’t hurt but it made him seethe with misplaced anger. Beads of sweat broke out on the back of his neck.

Christmas carols played over the mall speakers, more specifically Jingle Bells which they played three times in less than an hour. Enough, enough, enough. He was suffocating, unable to breathe. He felt too big for his own skin, he needed to escape.

Then he felt your hand at the small of his back, guiding him toward what looked like a furniture store. He followed blindly, his vision blurry and unfocused, and sat down when you gently pushed him down onto a sofa.

Bucky shut his eyes and let his head fall back against the cushion. A woman came up and asked if you needed help but you told her that everything was fine. The buzzing in his ears made the voices around him strangely soothing, as if he was underwater. Now that he was sitting down, he felt a lot better.

You didn’t try to touch him, something he was very grateful for. He could feel your weight shift next to him and knowing you were there was enough. He focused on you –your heat, your voice, the smell of your shampoo- and his breathing slowly returned to normal.

“Sorry,” he breathed out with a small smile, his head lolling to one side to look at you. “I ruined our shopping spree.”

The fear and panic had dissipated, leaving him cold, exhausted and craving skin to skin contact. He took your hand and linked your fingers together. Your hands were freezing cold.

“You didn’t ruin anything.”

He snorted. “Yeah, I did.” A sad smile curved his lips, he needed to change the subject. “Do you celebrate Christmas?”

You sank further into the sofa cushion sitting shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand.

“We celebrated so many different holidays,” you said. “Perks of growing up in a multicultural family. Christmas was wild though. One tree, five kids. That poor thing never stood a chance. Now I don’t really celebrate anything. December used to be so much fun, now it’s just not the same.”

“We should create our own holiday,” Bucky suggested, squeezing your hand.

“Aren’t you going to see your family?”

“Nah,” he replied with a yawn. “My sister is taking her kids somewhere warm, and my parents are traveling the country in their RV. You can invite your siblings if you want.”

“They’re not available.”

Bucky tried to decipher the expression on your face. Every time you talked about your siblings, you had a faraway look in your eyes, as though you were reliving a memory. He couldn’t tell what you were thinking but your face twisted into a painful grimace. Then suddenly it was gone.

“I want a tree.”

He watched you with a lazy smile. “I’ll get you a tree.”

You pulled him up to his feet and decided it was time to go home. Home. It still made Bucky weirdly warm inside when you called his apartment ‘home’. You crossed the mall, your arm looped through his as you walked, and took a cab to Brooklyn.

He almost fell asleep from the gentle rocking of the car moving through the streets of Manhattan. When he glanced at you, you were looking out your window watching the snow fall.

You’d been living together for almost two months now and Bucky couldn’t have picked a better roommate. He liked the way you sang in the shower, loud, cheerful and most definitely off-key. He liked that you had more pyjamas than every day clothes. He liked watching you paint from the living room, and it always made him laugh when you added weird things to his grocery list.

He could go to bed and sleep the whole night without waking up, feeling safer knowing someone else was there. Of course, not everything was perfect but it was close enough.

He woke up on the sofa a few hours later, still dressed and with a fluffy blanket thrown over him. The sun was setting, painting the sky with reds and oranges. He basked in the setting sun, a content smile on his face, before he sat up.

The TV was on, the volume low, and you were sitting cross-legged on the floor between the sofa and the coffee table going through a bunch of old photographs. Bucky looked around the room, taking in the new furniture and decor.

There was a comfortable armchair in front of the gas burning fireplace. Your book was resting on the seat of the armchair. You had also bought a lot of decorative pillows, some were pretty funny like the one that looked like a giant cookie.

“Whatcha doing?” he asked, his voice gruff with sleep.

You looked over your shoulder at him. “Hey, you’re awake! I bought some picture frames. I thought it’d make this place look less like a high end furniture store.”

“I liked it better when you thought this apartment was amazing.”

You laughed. “I still do, but it’s a bit... soulless.” You tilted your head back, looking at him upside down. “Sorry.”

“Gotta call a spade a spade,” he said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “All right, well, while you do that I’m going to start dinner.”

He pushed off the sofa but you caught his wrist before he could leave. “I’m already done. I’ve left some frames for you.”

“I already have lots of pictures upstairs.”

“I know, but no one ever goes upstairs,” you replied, letting go of his wrist. “And you’re not in any of the photos.”

Bucky’s eyes were drawn to the picture you were holding. It must have been taken on the day of your high school graduation, you were dressed in a cap and gown, smiling with your whole face. He’d never seen you smile like that. He recognized Peggy Carter right away, her hair was more silver-white than brown and there were deep wrinkles around her eyes.

Your mom wasn’t looking at the camera, she was scolding the young man who was giving you bunny ears. The man was grinning mischievously at the camera. Bucky couldn’t tell how old he was, he appeared to be either twenty or fifty.

There were two other women wearing sundresses, one had long brown hair, the other had twisted her hair into Bantu knots. A young man with dyed silver hair and dark roots was squatting in front of you, his arms crossed over his chest à la Backstreet Boys.

“You should frame this one,” he said, sitting on the floor next to you.

You shrugged. “I don’t know. It makes me kinda sad.”

Bucky learned not to dwell on the past. It hadn’t been easy but it would have been impossible to heal without the support of his friends and family. Grief manifests itself in a number of ways, it’s raw and complex, and comes from your soul.

Bucky had a deep love for his childhood, especially his college years, but while he would cherish this time forever, he had accepted that he was a different person. He wasn’t the same naïve, youthful man he used to be, and it wasn’t a bad thing.

But he also knew that some people live in the past. It makes them feel alive.

“Y’know,” he started, meeting your eyes with a smile. “My hair used to be pretty long. I think I still have some photos in a folder somewhere.”

You clasped your hands together in a silent prayer. “Bucky, I’m going to be honest with you,” you deadpanned. “I need to see those pictures. I need them now. It’s a matter of life and death.”

He rolled his eyes while he got to his feet. “You’re so dramatic. I’ll go get ‘em.”

Bucky took the stairs up to his office and came back a few minutes later with a laptop under his arm. He sat on the floor next to you and set the laptop on his lap.

“You promise you won’t make fun of me?”

“Absolutely,” you replied, mimicking a Cheshire cat grin.

He sighed and tried to look stern but it was nearly impossible. You were too lovely, and he couldn’t help but smile. He opened up the laptop and glanced at you from the corner of his eye; you were practically vibrating.

He started going through the photos when he found one of himself at a party. He was in his early twenties, slumped in a chair, his eyes glassy and unfocused. In the next one he had been joined by two equally drunk women, and he was now roaring at the camera.

“Early twenties, two arms, and not a care in the world,” he said with a little sigh.

You leaned forward, your elbow resting on the coffee table. “Looks like you were having fun.”

“College was a lot of fun,” Bucky said, grinning to himself.

“What was your major?”

“English,” he replied. “I was a really good student, I could have chosen anything but there were more girls studying literature so I enrolled as an English major.”

“Wait!” You recoiled as if you had misheard him. “Did you really choose English because there were more girls?”

He made a funny grimace, and his nose scrunched up a bit as he mulled it over. “Yeah... my priorities were a bit mixed up. Hormones and all.”

You lowered your face into your hand and laughed. When you looked up at him, he was sporting his boyish grin and you shook your head at him.

In the next picture, he was clad in a black university graduation gown standing next to a blond man also dressed in a black gown. They were smiling, sunglasses perched on their nose.

“When I graduated, I had no idea what to do with a BA in English,” Bucky said after taking a long look at the photo. “The thing is, I never found my life’s calling. In high school I didn’t know what job I wanted to do, or what really motivated me, and to be honest I never really thought about it. I figured I’d find my passion in college but...” he trailed off with a shrug. “You’re lucky to have found your passion.”

“Is that why you want to help me?” you asked. “Because I found my calling and I wasn’t pursuing it.”

He tilted his head to one side, considering. “Yes, I guess that’s part of the reason why I want to help you.” He took a shuddering breath.

“Turns out I wasn’t the only one struggling to keep my head above water.” He pressed his index finger to the computer screen. “This is Steve, my oldest friend. He had just started working as a professional freelance photographer. I had nothing to do so I decided to help him build his portfolio. You’re an artist, I’m sure you know that a portfolio will make or break you.”

“It shows what you’ve accomplished, the skills you mastered,” you said, nodding. “Your potential employers will want to see your portfolio.”

“Exactly, and you have to show them your best work. In Steve’s case, it meant taking risks. No matter how talented you are, no one’s gonna pay you for a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s gorgeous but it’s not rare.”

“So what did he do?”

“We decided to climb Mount Everest.” He mechanically rubbed his stump and your eyes followed his movement. “It might’ve been the dumbest idea we’ve ever had but it sort of made sense at the time. Steve needed a challenging project and I was trying to find my purpose. We trained for a year, put money aside and took a loan. We were young, we thought we were invincible.

“The thing is,” he continued, “Mount Everest is the most famous mountain in the world. It’s crowded and only half the climbers reach the summit. A lot of people die.” He took a small pause. “Sometimes they can’t remove their bodies and they become landmarks. Our Sherpa told us about this man, they call him Green Boots. He’s sort of curled up in a fetal position near what they call Green Boots’ cave. When you walk past him, it looks like he’s just sleeping and because it’s so cold out there he’s actually well-preserved.”

“Oh, God.”

“Yeah, it’s awful,” Bucky let out a small, humourless laugh. “When I fell, I dislocated my arm and it pinched my axillary artery completely closed. It cut off circulation. That’s why they had to amputate. I was just lying there, too weak to call for help, watching people walk past me. They thought I was dead. And I remember thinking, ‘I’m going to die here. I’m going to die here and people will refer to me as Blue Jacket.’ Then Steve and the Sherpa found me, and Steve carried me on his back until they found a shelter. When the rescue team arrived, it was too late to save my arm.”

He went through the photos in silence and glared at the screen without really seeing it, his mind far away. On the screen, there was an endless stream of blurry smiles and blue eyes but he couldn’t look away. His thoughts cleared up when he felt the back of your knuckles along his cheek and jaw.

He unclenched his teeth, feeling the pain in his jaw. You brushed your fingers through his hair, pushing it off his forehead. You mindlessly played with the curl on top of his head and raked your fingernails gently over his scalp. When you spoke, your voice was just a soft whisper.

“Come back to me.”

Bucky forced his eyes shut and swallowed past the lump in his throat, tears pooling on his lower lashes. He took a deep breath and released it slowly. After a moment, he felt his body beginning to relax.

“How do you do that?” he asked in a pleading voice, turning his head to look at you. “How do you quiet the noise in my head?”

The question caught you off guard but you recovered quickly. You took his arm and draped it over your shoulders. “I don’t know,” you said, snuggling into his side. “It’s your second panic attack today. Did I push you too hard?”

“No.” His response was immediate. “I don’t like winter. It’s freezing cold and it gets dark at three thirty. Not my favorite time of the year.”

“But this helps, right?” you asked, waving your hand back and forth in the space between you.

He chuckled. “Yeah, it helps a lot.”

“Good.” You snuggled a little closer.

“But since you’re hoarding my arm, you’re gonna have to go through the pictures yourself,” he added, grinning down at you.

“Sorry,” you laughed. You reached out and slid two fingers over the touchpad guiding the cursor over the arrow icon. “So where are those pictures of you with long hair, uh?”

He knew you were trying to distract him but still made him blush. Those photos were in a folder titled: recovery spring 2010. He gave you directions to find it and waited for your reaction, wondering if you would burst into laughter at the sight of him with long hair and a lot more weight on.

“Wow.”

Bucky turned his attention to the screen to see which one had caught your interest. It was a selfie Steve had taken one sunny afternoon after he had forced Bucky to go out with him and Sam. They were sitting outside drinking iced tea.

Steve’s smile was blinding. He was wearing that stupid baseball cap he loved so much. Bucky sat hunched over in his seat behind Steve, his smile small but genuine. It was the kind of smile that said ‘my friends forced me to join them but I’m secretly glad they did’. Sam was leaning sideways against Bucky, his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

“You look like a completely different person,” you said. “So... strong.”

“Hey!” he gasped in mock offense. “How dare you? I’m still strong.” He removed his arm from behind your shoulders and raised it to flex his biceps. “Look at that!”

With a roll of your eyes, you let your hand roam over his muscular arm slightly squeezing his biceps. “Okay, I’m impressed.”

“Ah! Thank you,” he said with a pleased smile. “Now, c’mon, s’ time to eat.”

Bucky got to his feet and extended his hand to help you up. You trailed behind him as you walked toward the kitchen. “I bet Steve could rip a log in half with his bare hands.”

“I’ll ask him.”

“Where is he?”

“Hard to say. He works for National Geographic now. I think he’s supposed to be in Siberia.”

You spent the next few days like tourists. You showed Bucky your favourite museums, stayed way too long in front of several artworks but he never complained. Bucky took you to the movies. You sat together in the dark for several hours watching foreign films, and you only fell asleep once. Then the two of you would walk around Manhattan speaking in a made-up language and pretending to be characters in a movie.

Bucky couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so carefree. A little voice in the back of his head kept repeating ‘enjoy it while it lasts’ but he chose to ignore it.

“Thanks for helping me with this,” Bucky said, gesturing at the tree in the living room. “She went to the store to buy some ornaments.”

He handed Sam a bottle of beer which he took with a smile before tipping it to his lips for a long drink. Bucky hit his beer bottle on the counter to uncap it and followed Sam into the living room.

“She’s excited, uh,” Sam said with a grin. “You guys are spending Christmas together?”

“Liss,” Bucky replied after taking a swig of beer. “We’re celebrating Liss this year.”

“’The hell is that?”

Bucky shrugged. “It’s an old word. It means comfort, happiness.” A respite from pain. “We decided to make our own holiday. We’re going to spend two days in our fanciest loungewear, eating junk food and playing board games.”

“Cute,” Sam drawled out. “When’s the wedding?”

“Don’t say that.” Bucky glared at him. “Why do you always do that? I finally feel at peace with myself. I’m happy, I’m ready to take on new challenges. Why do you always have to make fun of me?”

Sam’s eyes widened at this. “Woah, I’m joking. It’s what we do. You tease me, I tease you. C’mon, I know things have been hard for you. I’m proud of you,” he rushed to say, afraid he might have hurt his friend’s feelings, but then he caught Bucky’s barely concealed smirk behind his beer bottle. “You’re messing with me.”

“Of course, man. Can you say ‘I’m proud of you’ again? Wanna make it my ringtone.”

“Screw you.” They sipped their beer in silence, each deep in thought. “But you like her, right?”

Bucky twirled the neck of the bottle between two fingers. “I do, she’s nice.”

Sam shook his head like he was frustrated with the answer “That’s not what I mean, and you know it. Don’t bullshit me.”

“I’m not in love with her, Sam.”

“I never said anything about being in love.” He was silent for a moment before he added, “Beside there’s an entire world between like and love.”

Bucky caught a glimpse of hurt and fear in the depths of Sam’s eyes. He reminded him of Steve: strong yet vulnerable, generous and righteous. Bucky had a feeling Sam wasn’t talking about you.

“Is this about Natasha?”

Sam hung his head and stared at the beer bottle he rolled between his hands. “Sometimes I feel like it was inevitable. These sugar daddy relationships are complicated; at first it’s fun and easy, we both get what we want.” He took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. “And then it changes, so fast you barely see it coming, and it becomes the only thing you look forward to.” He took another swig of beer.

“These few hours with her mean more to me than anything else in this goddamn world. But it’s not real, none of this is real.”

“How do you know it’s not real?” Bucky asked, swallowing past the lump in his throat.

“I pay her.” Sam gave him a sad smile. “She spends time with me because I pay her. Sex wasn’t part of our deal but it came naturally. It’s going to end, one way or another. And If my time with her is limited, why make things complicated, y’see?”

An uneasy feeling gnawed at Bucky’s stomach, taunting him, trying to make him see something he wasn’t ready to see yet. “What if she feels the same way ‘bout you?”

“I don’t know,” Sam sighed. “To know that I’d have to talk to her, and I’d rather not take my chances. I’m happy with the way things are right now. It hurts, but I’m okay.” He leaned back and made himself comfortable. “You gotta be careful, Bucky. I see the way you look at your angel. You’re skating on thin fucking ice.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Like, love,” Sam said, weighing the two words. “And everything in between.”

They mulled over Sam’s words while they finished their beer. A million thoughts raged through Bucky’s head, circling around like wasps, buzzing and annoying. He was relieved when he heard the front door open.

“Italian leather loafers, mmh is Sam here?” you called out from the kitchen where you set your shopping bag down on the table before you joined them in the living room. “Hey guys! What’s the matter? You both look like someone kicked your puppy-OH MY GOD! LOOK AT THAT TREE!”

While you ran across the living room, Sam cast Bucky a look. The message was clear; be careful. They got to their feet and acted like nothing happened. Sam put on his coat and gave you a quick hug before he left.

Bucky was silent while you were decorating the tree. He let you decide where you wanted to put the tinsel and baubles. He just sat there with a vacant look in his eyes, handing baubles. A smile curled his lips when you cupped his cheek and ran the pad of your thumb along his cheekbone. He looked up at you.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Bucky said with a small smile. “Just old and moody.”

You laughed. “Come here, help me with this. It’s actually super boring when no one’s fighting for the baubles.”

“Oh, you wanna fight, angel,” he said with a smirk while he played with a tinsel garland. “Ok, let’s fight.”

You took a step back. “I’ve changed my mind.”

“Too late!”

You shrieked when he launched himself at you. He wrapped the tinsel garland around you, loosely pinning your arms to your sides. You laughed so hard your eyes watered and your shoulders shook. He used it to his advantage and looped two baubles over your ears like giant earrings.

Still laughing, you tugged one of your hands free and threw a handful of tinsel all over Bucky before you ran away. He chased you around the living room, using one of the fairy lights as a lasso.

Soon, the living room was a giant mess. There was more tinsel in Bucky’s hair than on the tree, and you had managed to wrap the fairy lights around his body. You look pretty ridiculous with your giant earrings and dishevelled hair.

You and Bucky collapsed on the floor, out of breath and euphoric. The sun was starting to set behind the skyscrapers casting a warm golden glow over the room. You turned on the fairy lights and burst out laughing when Bucky sparkled like a tree.

He found his phone on the sofa and handed it to you. You opened up the camera app and nestled closer to him. The first photo was blurry because you couldn’t stop laughing. Bucky thought the second photo was nice but you didn’t like it.

“My smile is too wild,” you said.

“You look beautiful,” he argued. “I look like a Christmas tree.”

Bucky felt a pleasant stir in his belly when you placed your head on his shoulder. Be careful. He could practically hear Sam’s voice in his head. His chest was hurting. It wasn’t unpleasant, just peculiar and unexpected. He closed his eyes and rested his cheek on top of your head.

“Bucky! You have to open your eyes,” you scolded him after looking at the picture, unaware of his inner turmoil.

He wasn’t sure he could; tears were welling up in his eyes. He was terrified of his feelings for you, but his body was screaming at him to stop burying his head in the sand. He didn’t want you to see the tears in his eyes, he didn’t want to alarm you, because the truth was, he hadn’t been careful.

“Can’t. I’m comfy,” he replied, masking his true feelings behind a joke.

“Open them or I’ll tickle you.”

He chuckled. “Okay, okay, no need to use force.”

He soldiered on and opened his eyes, smiling at the camera. He liked you, and he promised himself he would never tell you. His feelings didn’t matter, it wasn’t part of your deal.

Part 7

#bucky barnes #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #marvel #marvel fanfiction #marvel imagines #bucky barnes imagines #bucky barnes fanfiction #marvel imagine #bucky barnes imagine #redgillan #redgillanwrites

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wits-writing · 3 years

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What’s so Funny About Vengeance, the Night, and Batman? – Two Superhero Parodies in Conversation

Back in 2016, the first trailers for Director Chris McKay’s The Lego Batman Movie hit. A spinoff of the take on the iconic hero, voiced by Will Arnett, from 2014’s The Lego Movie. Those trailers spelled out a plot covering how Batman’s life of crimefighting is turned upside down when Robin unexpectedly enters the picture. It was a funny trailer, promising another insightful comedy from the crew behind The Lego Movie. A promise it handily delivered on when it came out in February 2017 with an animated feature steeped wall-to-wall jokes for the sake of mocking Bruce Wayne’s angst filled crusade that can only come from understanding what’s made the character withstand the test of time.

But there was a thought I and others had from seeing that trailer up to watching the actual movie:

“This seems… familiar.”

Holy Musical B@man! is a 2012 fan-made stage production parody of DC Comics’ biggest cash cow. It was produced as the fifth musical from YouTube-based cult phenomenon Starkid Productions, from a book by Matt and Nick Lang, music by Nick Gage and Scott Lamp with lyrics by Gage. The story of the musical details how Robin’s unexpected entrance ends up turning Batman’s (Joe Walker) life of crimefighting upside down. Among Starkids’ fandom derived projects in their early existence, as they’ve mainly moved on to well-received original material in recent years, Holy Musical B@man! is my personal favorite. I go back to it frequently, appreciating it as a fan of both superheroes and musicals. (Especially since good material that touches on both of those isn’t exactly easy to come by. Right, Spider-Man?)

While I glibly summarized the similarities between them by oversimplifying their plots, there’s a lot in the details, both major and minor, that separates how they explore themes like solitude, friendship, love, and what superhero stories mean. It’s something I’ve wanted to dig into for a while and I found a lot in both of them I hadn’t considered before by putting them in conversation. I definitely recommend watching both of them, because of how in-depth this piece goes including discussing their endings. However, nothing I can say will replace the experience of watching them and if I had included everything I could’ve commented on in both of them, this already massive piece would easily be twice as long minimum.

Up front, I want to say this isn’t about comparing The Lego Batman Movie and Holy Musical B@man in terms of quality. Not only are they shaped for vastly different mediums with different needs/expectations, animation versus stagecraft, but they also had different resources at their disposal. Even if both are in some ways riffing on the aesthetic of the 1990s Batman movies and the Adam West TV show, Lego Batman does it with the ability to make gorgeously animated frames packed to the brim with detail while Holy Musical often leans into its low-fi aesthetic of characters miming props and sets to add extra humor. They’re also for different audiences, Lego Batman clearly for all-ages while Holy Musical has the characters cursing for emphasis on a regular basis. On top of those factors, after picking through each of these for everything worth commenting on that I could find, I can’t say which I wholly prefer thanks in part to these fundamental differences.

This piece is more about digging through the details to explore the commonalities, differences, and what makes them effective mocking love letters to one of the biggest superheroes in existence.

(Also, since I’m going to be using the word “Batman” a lot, I’ll be calling Lego Batman just “Batman” and referring to the version from Holy Musical as “B@man”, with the exception of quoted dialogue.)

[Full Piece Under the Cut]

Setting the Tone

The beginning is, in fact, a very good place to start when discussing how these parodies frame their versions of the caped crusader. Each one uses a song about lavishing their respective Batmen with praise about how they are the best superheroes ever and play over sequences of the title hero kicking wholesale ass. A key distinction comes in who’s singing each song. Holy Musical B@man’s self-titled opening number is sung from the perspective of an omniscient narrator recounting B@man’s origin and later a chorus made up of the Gotham citizenry. Meanwhile, “Who’s the (Bat) Man” from Lego Batman is a brag-tacular song written by Batman about himself, even playing diegetically for all his villains to hear as he beats them up.

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Holy Musical opens on a quick recap of Batman’s origin:

“One shot, Two shots in the night and they’re gone And he’s all left alone He’s just one boy Two dead at his feet and their blood stains the street And there’s nothing, no there’s nothing he can do!”

We then get a Bat-dance break as the music goes from slow and moody to energetic to reflect Batman turning that tragedy into the driving force behind his one-man war on crime. Assured by the narrator that he’s “the baddest man that there’s ever been!” and “Now there’s nothing, no there’s nothing he can’t do!” flipping the last lyric of the first verse. For the rest of the opening scene the lyrics matter less than what’s happening to establish both this fan-parody’s version of Batman and how the people of Gotham (“he’ll never refuse ‘em”) view him.

Lego Batman skips the origin recap, and in general talks around the death of the Waynes to keep the light tone going since it’s still a kids movie about a popular toy even if there are deeper themes at play. Instead, it continues a trend The Lego Movie began for this version of the character writing music about how he’s an edgy, dark, awesome, cool guy. While that movie kept it to Batman angry-whiteboy-rapping about “Darkness! NO PARENTS!”, this one expands to more elaborate boasts in the song “Who’s the (Bat) Man” by Patrick Stump:

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“In the darkest night I make the bad guys fall There’s a million heroes But I’m the best of them all!”

Batman singing this song about himself, as opposed to having it sung by others aims the crosshairs of parody squarely on the hero’s ego. His abilities make fighting his villains effortless, like this opening battle is more an opportunity to perform the song than a life-or-death struggle. Even Joker’s aware of that as he shouts, “Stop him before he starts singing!” This Batman doesn’t see himself as missing out on anything in life, even if he still feels that deep down. Being Batman is the coolest thing in the world that anyone would envy. He’s Batman, therefore everyone should envy him.

The songs aren’t only part of the equation for how these two works’ opening scenes establish their leading hero. While both songs are about Batman being cool, they’re separated by the accompanying scenes. Lego Batman keep the opening within the Joker’s perspective until Batman shows up and the action kicks in. Once it does, we’re shown a Batman at the top of his solo-hero game. Meanwhile, Holy Musical’s opening is about B@man building his reputation and by the end of the song he has all the citizens of Gotham singing his praises with the titular lyrics. Both are about being in awe of the title hero, one framed by Joker’s frustration at Batman’s ease in foiling his schemes yet again and the other about the people of Gotham growing to love their city’s hero (probably against their better judgement.)

That’s woven into the fabric of what kind of schemes Batman is foiling in each of these. Joker’s plan to bomb Gotham with the help of every supervillain in Batman’s Rogues Gallery is hilariously high stakes and the type of plan most Batman stories, even parodies, would save for the climax. Neatly exemplified by how that’s almost the exact structure of Holy Musical’s final showdown. Starting with these stakes works as an extension of this Batman’s nature as a living children’s toy and therefore the embodiment of a child’s idea of what makes Batman cool, his ability to wipe the floor with anyone that gets in his way “because he’s Batman.” It also emphasizes Joker as the only member of the Rogues Gallery that matters to Lego Batman’s story, every other Bat-villain is either a purely visual cameo or only gets a couple lines maximum.

The crime’s being stopped by B@man are more in the “Year One” gangster/organized crime category rather than anything spectacle heavy. Though said crimes are comically exaggerated:

Gangster 1: Take these here drugs, put ‘em into them there guns, and then hand ‘em out to those gamblin’ prostitutes! Gangster 2: Should we really be doing these illegal activities? In a children’s hospital for orphans?

These fit into that model of crime the Dark Knight fights in his early days and add tiny humanizing moments between the crooks (“Oh, Matches! You make me laugh like nobody else!”) in turn making the arrival of B@man and the violence he deals out a stronger punchline. Further emphasized by the hero calling out the exact physical damage he does with each hit before warning them to never do crime again saying, “Support your families like the rest of us! Be born billionaires!” Later in the song his techniques get more extreme and violence more indiscriminate, as he uses his Bat-plane to patrol and gun down whoever he sees as a criminal, including a storeowner accidentally taking a single dollar from his own register. (“God’s not up here! Only Batman!”)

A commonality between these two openings is how Commissioner Jim Gordon gets portrayed. Both are hapless goofs at their core, playing more on the portrayal of the character in the 60s TV show and 90s Burton/Schumacher movies than the serious-minded character present in comics, Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, and other adaptations. Lauren Lopez’s portrayal in Holy Musical gets overwhelmed by everything thrown at him, eventually giving up and getting out of B@man’s way (“I’m not gonna tell Batman what to do! He’s Batman!”) Hector Elizondo’s Gordon in Lego Batman clearly reached the “stay out of Batman’s way” point a long time ago, happy to have “the guy who flips on the Bat-signal” be his sole defining trait. While the characterizations are close, their roles do end up differing. Lopez’s Gordon sticks around to have a few more comedic scenes as the play goes on, where Elizondo’s exist to set up a contrast with his daughter Barbara and her way of approaching Batman when she becomes Police Commissioner.

These opening sequences both end in similar manners as well; the citizens of Gotham lavishing praise on their respective Batmen and a confrontation between Batman and the Joker. Praise from the citizenry in Holy Musical comes on the heels of a letter from B@man read out on the news about how much they and the city of Gotham suck. They praise B@man for his angsty nature as a “dark hero” and how they “wouldn’t want him any other way!”, establishing the motif of Gotham’s citizens in Holy Musical as stand-ins for the Batman fandom. Lego Batman uses the praise of the Gotham citizens after Batman’s victory in the opening scene as a lead in to contrast their certainty that Batman must have an exciting private life with the reality we’re shown. Which makes sense since Lego-Batman’s relationship to the people of Gotham is never presented as something at stake.

Greater contrast comes in how the confrontations with the Joker are handled, Lego Batman has an argument between the hero and villain that’s intentionally coded as relationship drama, Batman saying “There is no ‘us’” when Joker declares himself Batman’s greatest enemy. The confrontation in Holy Musical gets purposefully underplayed as an offstage encounter narrated to the audience as a Vicki Vale news report. This takes Joker off the board for the rest of the play in contrast to the Batman/Joker relationship drama that forms one of Lego Batman’s key pillars. While they take different forms, the respective citizenry praise and villain confrontation parts of these openings lead directly into the number one common thematic element between these Bat-parodies: Batman’s loneliness.

One is the Darkest, Saddest, Loneliest Number

Batman as an isolated hero forms one of the core tenants of the most popular understanding of the character. Each of these parodies picks at that beyond the broody posturing. There’s no dedicated segment in this piece about how these works’ versions of the title character function bleeds into every other aspect of them, but each starts from the idea of Batman as a man-child with trouble communicating his emotions. Time’s taken to give the audience a view of where their attitudes have left them early in the story.

Both heroes show their loneliness through interactions with their respective Alfreds. Holy Musical has the stalwart butler, played by Chris Allen, try to comfort B@man by asking if he has any friends he enjoys being around. When B@man cites Lucius Fox as a friend he calls him right away, only to discover Lucius Fox is Alfred’s true identity and Alfred Pennyworth was an elaborate ruse he came up with to protect Bruce on his father’s wishes. Ironically, finding out his closest friend was living a double life causes Bruce to push Alfred away (the play keeps referring to him as Alfred after this, so that’s what I’m going to do as well.) After he’s fired he immediately comes back in a new disguise as “O’Malley the Irish Butler” (same outfit he wore before but with a Party City Leprechaun hat.) That’s unfortunately the start of a running gag in Holy Musical that ends up at the worst joke in the play, when Alfred disguises himself as “Quon Li the Chinese Butler” doing an incredibly cringeworthy “substituting L’s for R’s” bit with his voice. It’s been my least favorite bit in the play since I first saw it in 2012 and legitimately makes me hesitate at times to recommend it. Even if it’s relatively small bit and the rest holds ups.

That disclaimer out of the way, that conversation between B@man and Alfred leads into the title hero reflecting on his sadness through the musical’s I Want Song, “Dark, Sad, Lonely Knight.” The song’s split into two halves, the first Alfred reflecting on whether he played a part in Bruce’s current condition and the second B@man longing for a connection. The song does a good job balancing between the sincerity over the hero’s sadness and getting good laughs out of it:

“Think of the children Next time you gun down the mama and papa Their only mama and papa Because they probably don’t have another mama and papa!”

The “I Want” portion of the song coming in the end with the repetition of the lryics “I want to be somebody’s buddy.”

Rather than another song number, Lego Batman covers Batman’s sadness through a pair of montages and visual humor. The first comes after the opening battle, where we see Batman taking off all his costume except for the mask hanging out alone in Wayne Manor, showing how little separation he puts between identities. Compared to Holy Musical where the equivalent scene is the first we see of Bruce without the mask on, which may come down to practicality since anyone who’s worn a mask like that knows they get hot and sweaty fast. Batman is constantly made to appear small among the giant empty rooms of his estate as he eats dinner, jams on his guitar, and watches romantic movies alone.

Ralph Fienne’s Alfred coming in at the end of this sequence witnessing Batman looking at a photo of himself as a boy with his parents for the last time. Alfred outlines Batman’s fear of being part of a family again only to be met with Batman denying he has any feelings ever. Pennyworth’s role as a surrogate father gets put into greater focus here than in Holy Musical, as we get glimpses of Alfred reading a book titled “How to Deal with Your Out-of-Control Child.” Also shown in smaller scenes of Alfred dealing with Batman’s insistent terminology for his crime fighting equipment, like calling his cowl an “armored face disguise.”

Batman’s denial of his pain contrasts how B@man wallows in it. Though he’s forced to confront it a little as the Joker’s plan ends up leaving him with no crimefighting to fall back on to ignore his issues. This montage gets set to the song “One” by Harry Nilsson and details Batman, unable to express his true feelings, eventually letting them out in the form of tempter tantrums. There’s also some humor through juxtaposition as Batman walks solemnly through the streets of Gotham City, rendered black and white, as the citizens chant “No more crime!” in celebration, while flipping over cars and firing guns into the air.

A disruption to their loneliness eventually comes in the form of a sensational character find.

Robin – The Son/BFF Wonder

Between both Bat-parodies, the two Robins’ characterizations are as close as anyone’s between them. Each is nominally Dick Grayson but are ultimately more representative of the idea of Robin as the original superhero sidekick and his influence on Batman’s life. The play and movie also both make the obvious jokes about Dick’s name and the classic Robin costume’s lack of pants at different points. Dick’s origin also gets sidestepped in each version to skip ahead to the part where he starts being an influence in Batman’s life.

Robin’s introduction to the comics in Detective Comics #38 in 1940, marking the start of Batman’s literal “Year Two” as a character, predating the introduction of Joker, Catwoman, and Alfred, among others. Making him Batman’s longest lasting ally in the character’s history. His presence and acrobatics shift the tone by adding a dash of swashbuckling to Batman’s adventures, inspired by the character’s namesake Robin Hood, though both parodies take a page out of Batman Forever and associate the name with the bird for the sake of a joke. Robin is as core to Batman as his origin, but more self-serious adaptations (i.e., the mainstream cinematic ones that were happening around the times both Holy Musical and Lego Batman came out) tend to avoid the character’s inclusion. These two works being parody, therefore anything but self-serious, give themselves permission to examine why Robin matters and how different characters react to his presence. Rejection of Robin as a character and concept comes out in some form in each of these works, from Batman himself in Lego Batman and the Gotham citizens in Holy Musical.

The chain of events that lead to Dick becoming Robin in Lego Batman are a string of consequences for Batman’s self-absorption. A scene of Bruce barely listening as Dick asks for advice on getting adopted escalating to absentmindedly signing the adoption paperwork. Batman doesn’t realize he has a son until after his sadness montage. Alfred forces Batman to start interacting with Dick against his will. The broody loner wanting nothing to do with the cheery kid, played to “golly gee gosh” perfection by Michael Cera, until he sees the utility of him. Batman doesn’t even have the idea to give Robin a costume or codename because he clearly views the sidekick’s presence as a temporary measure for breaking into Superman’s fortress, made clear by how he lists “expendable” as a quality Dick needs if he wants to go on a mission.

This makes Robin the catalyst for Batman’s shifting perspective throughout Lego Batman. When Robin succeeds in his first mission, the Dark Knight is hesitant to truly compliment him and chalks up his ward’s feats to “unbelievable obeying.” Other moments have Robin’s presence poke holes in Batman’s tough guy demeanor, like the first time Batman and Robin ride in the Bat-mobile together, Robin asks where the seatbelts are and Batman growls “Life doesn’t give you seatbelts!”, only for Batman to make a sudden stop causing Robin to hit his head on the windshield and Batman genuinely apologizes. They share more genuine moments together as the film goes, like Batman suggesting they beatbox together to keeps their spirits up after they’ve been imprisoned for breaking into Arkham Asylum. Robin’s representative of Batman gradually letting people in throughout these moments.

On the exact opposite end of the spectrum, B@man needs zero extra prompting to let Robin into his life. Nick Lang’s Robin (henceforth called “Rob!n” to keep with this arbitrary naming scheme I’ve concocted) does get brought into his life by Alfred thanks to a personal ad (“‘Dog for sale’? No… ‘Orphan for sale’! Even better!”) but it’s a short path to B@man deciding to let Dick fight alongside him. The briefest hesitance on the hero’s part, “To be Batman… is to be alone”, is quelled by Rob!n saying “We could be alone… together.” Their first scene together quickly establishing the absurd sincerity exemplified by this incarnation of the Dynamic Duo. An energy carried directly into the Act 1 closing number, “The Dynamic Duet”, a joyful ode between the heroes about how they’re “Long lost brothers who found each other” sung as they beat up supervillains (and the occasional random civilian.)

That song also ties into the contrast between the Batman/Robin dynamic and the B@man/Rob!n one. While Holy Musical is portraying a brotherly/BFF bond between the two heroes, Lego Batman leans into the surrogate son angle. While both are mainly about their stories’ Batman being able to connect with others, the son angle of Lego Batman adds an additional layer of “Batman needs to take responsibility for himself and others” and a parallel to Alfred as Batman’s own surrogate father. It also adds to the queer-coding of Batman in Lego Batman as Batman’s excuse to Robin for why he can go on missions is that Bruce and he are sharing custody, Robin even calling Batman’s dual identities “dads” before he knows the truth.

In the absence of the accepting personal responsibility through fatherhood element, the conflict Rob!n brings out in Holy Musical forms between B@man and the citizens of Gotham. “Citizens as stand-ins for fandom” is at it’s clearest here as the Act 2 opener is called “Robin Sucks!” featuring the citizens singing about how… well, you read the title. Their objections to Rob!n’s existence has nothing to do with what the young hero has done or failed to do, but come from arguments purely about the aesthetic of Rob!n fighting alongside B@man. Most blatantly shown by one of the citizens wearing a Heath Ledger Joker t-shirt saying Rob!n’s presence “ruins the gritty realism of a man who fights crime dressed as a bat.” It works as the Act 2 opener by establishing that B@man and the citizens conflicting opinions on his sidekick end up driving that half of the story, exemplified in B@man’s complete confusion about why people hate Rob!n (“Robin ruined Batman? But that’s not true… Robin make Batman happy.”)

Both Robins play into the internal conflict their respective mentors are going through, but what would a superhero story, even a parody, be without some colorful characters to provide that sweet external conflict.

Going Rogue

Both works have the threat comes from an army of villains assembled under a ringleader, Zach Galifianakis’s Joker in Lego Batman and Jeff Blim as Sweet Tooth in Holy Musical. Both lead the full ensemble of Batman’s classic (and not so classic) Rogues at different points. As mentioned before Joker starts Lego Batman with “assemble the Rogues, blow up Gotham” as his plan, while Sweet Tooth with his candy prop comedy becoming the ringleader of Gotham’s villains is a key turning point in Act 1 of the play. Part of this comes down to how their connections to their respective heroes and environments are framed, Sweet Tooth as a new player on the scene and Joker as Batman’s romantic foil.

Lego Batman demonstrates Batman and Joker are on “finishing each other’s sentences” levels of intimate that Batman refuses to acknowledge. Shown best in how Joker’s plan only works because he can predict exactly how Batman will act once he starts playing hard to get. When he surrenders the entire Rogues Gallery (without telling them) and himself to police custody, he describes it as him being “off the market.” He knows Batman won’t settle for things ending on these terms and tricks the hero into stealing Superman’s Phantom Zone projector so he can recruit a new, better team of villains for a take two of his masterplan from the start. Going through all this trouble to get Batman to say those three magic words; “I love hate you.” Joker as the significant other wanting his partner to finally reciprocate his feelings and commit works both as a play on how the Batman/Joker relationship often gets approached and an extension of the central theme. Batman is so closed off to interpersonal connections he can’t even properly hate his villains.

Sweet Tooth, while clearly being a riff Heath Ledger and Caesar Romero’s Jokers fused with a dash of Willy Wonka, doesn’t have that kind of connection with B@man. Though there are hints that B@man and his recently deceased Joker may have had one on that level. He laments “[Joker]’s in heaven with mom and dad. Making them laugh, I know it!” when recalling how the Clown Prince of Crime was the one person he enjoyed being around. This makes Joker’s death one of the key triggers to B@man reflecting on his solitude at the start of the play.

What Sweet Tooth provides the story is a threat to B@man’s new bond with Rob!n. Disrupting that connection forms the delicious center of the Candy King of Crime’s plan in Act 2. He holds Rob!n and Gotham’s people hostage and asks the citizens to decide via Facebook poll if the sidekick lives or dies (in reference to the infamous phone hotline vote from the comic book story A Death in the Family where readers could decide the Jason Todd Robin’s fate.)

With the rest of the villains under the leadership of the respective works’ main antagonists, there’s commentary on their perceived quality as threats. When Holy Musical has Superman talking to Green Lantern about how much B@man’s popularity frustrates him, he comes down especially hard on the Caped Crusader’s villains. Talking about how they all coast by on simple gimmicks with especially harsh attention given to Two Face’s being “the number two.” Saying they’re only famous because B@man screws up and they get to do more damage. Which he compares to his own relationship with his villains:

Superman: You ever heard of Mr. Mxyzptlk? Green Lantern: No. Superman: No, that’s right! That’s because I do my job!

Lego Batman has commentary on the other villains come from Joker, recognizing that even all together they can never beat Batman, because that’s how a Batman story goes. The other villains get portrayed as generally buffoonish, struggling to even build a couch together and described by Joker as “losers dressed in cosplay.” Tricking Batman into sending him to the Phantom Zone provides him the opportunity to gather villains from outside Batman’s mythos and outside DC Comics in general. Recruiting the likes of Sauron, King Kong, Daleks, Agent Smith from The Matrix, and the Wicked Witch of the West, among others. When I first saw and reviewed The Lego Batman Movie, this bugged me because it felt like a missed opportunity to feature lesser-known villains from other DC heroes’ Rogues Galleries. Now, considering the whole movie as meta-commentary on the status of this Batman as a children’s toy, it makes perfect sense that Joker would need to go outside of comics to break the rules of a typical Batman story and have a shot at winning.

The Rogues of Holy Musical get slightly more of a chance to shine, if only because their song “Rogues are We” is one of the catchier tracks from the play. They’re all still more cameo than character when all’s said and done, but Sweet Tooth entering the picture is about him recognizing their potential to operate as a unit, takeover Gotham, and kill B@man. The candy-pun flinging villain wants all of them together, no matter their perceived quality.

Sweet Tooth: “We need every villain in Gotham. Cool themes, lame themes, themes that don’t match their powers, even the villains that take their names from public domain stories.” (Two Face’s “broke ass” still being the exception.)

Both Joker and Sweet Tooth provide extensions of the shared theme of Batman dealing with the new connections in his life, especially with regards to Robin. However, Robin isn’t the only other ally (or potential ally) these Dark Knights have on their side.

Super Friends(?)

The internal crisis of these Caped Crusaders come as much from how they react to other heroic figures as it does from supervillainous machinations. In both cases how Batman views and is viewed by fellow heroes gets centered on a specific figure, Superman in Holy Musical and Commissioner Barbara Gordon (later Batgirl) in Lego Batman. Each serves a vastly different purpose in the larger picture of their stories and relationship to their respective Batmen. Superman reflecting B@man’s loneliness and Barbara symbolizing a new path forward for Batman’s hero work.

Superman’s role in Holy Musical runs more parallel to Lego Batman’s Joker than Barbara. Brian Holden’s performance as the Man of Tomorrow plays into a projected confidence covering anxiety that nobody likes him. Besting the Bat-plane in a race during B@man’s Key to the City ceremony establishes a one upmanship between the two heroes, like Joker’s description of his relationship with Batman at the end of Lego Batman’s opening battle. Though instead of that romantically coded relationship from Lego Batman, this relationship is more connected to childish jealousy. (But if you do want to read the former into Holy Musical B@man, neither hero has an onstage relationship with any woman and part of their eventual fight consist of spanking each other.)

B@man and Superman’s first real interaction is arguing over who’s the cooler hero until it degrades into yelling “Fuck you!” at each other. B@man storming off in the aftermath of that gets topped off by Superman suggesting he should get the Key to the City instead, citing his strength and longer tenure as a hero (“The first hero, by the way”) as justifications. This only results in the Gotham citizens turning on him for suggesting their city’s hero is anything less than the best, which serves both as a Sam Raimi Spider-Man reference (“You mess with one of us! You mess with all of us!”) and another example of the citizens as stand-ins for fandom. Superman’s veil of cocksureness comes off quickly after that and stays off for the rest of the play. Starting with his conversation with Green Lantern where a civilian comes across them, but barely acts like Superman’s there.

One of the play’s running gags is Superman calling B@man’s number and leaving messages, showing a desperation to reach out and connect with his fellow hero despite initial smugness. Even before the first phone call scene, we see Superman joining B@man to sing “I want to be somebody’s buddy” during “Dark, Sad, Lonely Knight” hinting at what’s to come. The note it consistently comes back to is that Superman’s jealousy stems from Batman’s popularity over him. This is a complete flip of what Lego Batman does with the glimpse at a Batman/Superman dynamic we see when Batman goes to the Superman’s fortress to steal the Phantom Zone projector. The rivalry dynamic there exists solely in Batman’s head, Lego-Superman quickly saying “I would crush you” when Batman suggests the idea of them fighting. Superman’s status among the other DC heroes is also night and day between these works. Where Lego-Superman’s only scene in the movie shows him hosting the Justice League Anniversary Party and explaining he “forgot” to invite Batman, Superman in Holy Musical consistently lies about having friends over (“All night long I’m busy partying with my friends at the Fortress… of Solitude.”)

Superman’s relationship to B@man in Holy Musical develops into larger antagonism thanks to lack of communication with B@man brushing off Supes’ invitations to hang out and fight bad guys (“Where were you for the Solomon Grundy thing? Ended up smaller than I thought, just a couple of cool guys. Me and… Solomon Grundy.”) His own loneliness gets put into stronger focus when he sees the news of Rob!n’s debut as a crimefighter, which makes him reflect on how he misses having Krypto the Super-Dog around. (The explanation for why he doesn’t have his dog anymore is one of my favorite jokes in the play and I won’t ruin it here.)

Where Superman’s a reflection of B@man’s loneliness, Rosario Dawson as Barbara in Lego Batman is a confrontation of Batman’s go it alone attitude. Her job in the story is to be the one poking holes in the foundation of Batman as an idea, starting with her speech at Jim Gordon’s retirement banquet and her instatement as commissioner. She has a by-the-book outlook on crimefighting with the omnicompetence to back it up, thanks to her training at “Harvard for Police.” Babs sees Batman’s current way of operating as ineffectual and wants him to be an official agent of the law. An idea that dumps a bucket of cold water on Batman’s crush he developed immediately upon seeing her, though that never fully goes away.

Her main point is that Batman “karate chopping poor people” hasn’t made Gotham better in his 80 years of operating. A contrast to Holy Musical’s Jim Gordon announcing that B@man has brought Gotham’s crime rates to an all-time low (“Still the highest in the world, but we’re working on it.”) She wants to see a Batman willing to work with other people. A hope dashed constantly dealing with his childish stubbornness as he tries to foil Joker’s schemes on his own, culminating in her arresting Batman and Robin for breaking into Arkham to send Joker to the Phantom Zone.

Barbara’s role as the one bringing grown-up attitudes and reality into Batman’s world does leave her in the role of comedic straight woman. Humor in her scenes comes from how she reacts to everyone else’s absurdity rather than anything she does to be funny. This works for the role she plays in Lego Batman, since she’s not there to have an arc the way Superman does in Holy Musical. She’s another catalyst for Batman’s to start letting people in as another character he grows to care about. Which starts after she lets the Dynamic Duo out of prison to fight Joker’s new army of Phantom Zone villains on the condition that he plays it by her rules. Leading to a stronger bond between Batman, Robin, Alfred, and her as they start working together.

The two Batmen’s relationships to other heroes, their villains, Robin, and their own solitude each culminate in their own way as their stories reach their conclusions.

Dark Knights & Dawning Realizations

As everything comes down to the final showdowns in these Bat-parodies, the two Caped Crusaders each confront their failures to be there for others and allow themselves to be vulnerable to someone they’ve been antagonizing throughout the story. Each climax has all of Gotham threatened by a bomb and the main villains’ plans coming to fruition only to come undone.

Holy Musical has Sweet Tooth’s kidnapping of Rob!n and forcing Gotham to choose themselves or the sidekick they hate sends B@man into his most exaggerated state in the entire play. It’s the classic superhero movie climax conundrum, duty as a hero versus personal attachment. Alfred, having revealed himself as the “other butlers”, even lampshades how these stories usually go only for that possibility to get shot down by Bruce:

Alfred: A true hero, Master Wayne, finds a way to choose both. B@man: You’re right, Alfred. I know what I have to do… Fuck Gotham, I’m saving Robin!

B@man’s selfishness effectively makes him the real villain of Holy Musical’s second act. Lego Batman has shades of that aspect as well, where Batman gets sent to the Phantom Zone by Joker for his repeated refusal to acknowledge their relationship. Where the AI running the interdimensional prison, Phyllis voiced by Ellie Kemper, confronts him with the way he’s treated Robin, Alfred, Barbara, and even Joker:

Phyllis: You’re not a traditional bad guy, but you’re not exactly a good guy either. You even abandoned your friends. Batman: No! I was trying to protect them! Phyllis: By pushing them away? Batman: Well… yeah. Phyllis: Are they really the ones you’re protecting?

Batman watches what’s happening back in Gotham and sees Robin emulate his grim and gritty tendencies to save the day in his absence makes him desperately scream, “Don’t do what I would do!” It’s the universe rubbing what a jerk he’s been in his face. He’s forced to take a look at himself and make a change. B@man’s not made to do that kind of self-reflection until after he’s defeated Sweet Tooth but failed to stop the villain’s bomb. He’s ready to give up on Gotham forever and leave with Rob!n, until his sidekick pulls up Sweet Tooth’s poll and it shows the unanimous result in favor of saving the Boy Wonder. Despite everything they said at the start of Act 2, the people want to help their hero in return for all the times he helped them. All of them calling back to the Raimi Spider-Man reference from Act 1, “You mess with one of us. You mess with all of us.”

Both heroes’ chance at redemption and self-improvement comes from opening themselves up to the people they pushed out and dismissed earlier in their stories. Batman takes on the role he reduced the Commissioner down to at the beginning of the movie and flips on signals for Barbara, Alfred, and Robin to show how he’s truly prepared to work as a team, not just with his friends and family but with the villains of Gotham the Joker pushed aside as well. Teamwork makes the dream work and they’re all able to work together to get Joker’s army back into the Phantom Zone but like in Holy Musical they fail to stop the bomb threatening Gotham. Which he can only prevent from destroying the city by confessing his true feeling to Joker

Batman: If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have learned how connected I am with all of these people and you. So, if you help me save Gotham, you’ll help me save us. Joker: You just said “us?” Batman: Yeah, Batman and the Joker. So, what do you say? Joker: You had me at “shut up!”

The equivalent moment from Holy Musical comes from B@man needing to put aside his pride and encourage a disheartened Superman to save Gotham for him. This happens in the aftermath of a fight the two heroes had where Superman tried to stop B@man before he faced Sweet Tooth, B@man winning out through use of kryptonite. That fight doesn’t fit into any direct parallel with Lego Batman, but it is important context for how Superman’s feeling about B@man before Superman finally gets his long-awaited phone call from the Dark Knight. Also, the song accompanying the fight, “To Be a Man”, is one of the funniest scenes in the play. What this speech from B@man does is bring the idea of Holy Musical B@man as a commentary on fandom full circle:

B@man: I forgot what it means to be a superhero. But we’re really not that different, you and me, at our heart. I mean really all superheroes are pretty much the same… Something bad happened to us once when we were young, so we dedicated our whole lives to doing a little bit of good. That’s why we got into this crazy superhero business. Not to be the most popular, or even the most powerful. Because if that were the case, hell, you’d have the rest of us put out of a job!

This speech extends into an exchange between the heroes about how superheroes are cool, not despite anything superficially silly but because of it. Bringing it back to the “Robin Sucks!” theme that started Act 2, saying “Some people think Robin is stupid. But those people are pretentious douchebags. Because, literally, the only difference between Robin and me is our costumes.” The speech culminates in what I genuinely think is one of the best Batman lines ever written, as B@man’s final plea to Superman is “Where’s that man who’s faster than a gun?” calling back to the trauma that created Batman across all versions and what he can see in someone like Superman. So, B@man sacrificing his pride and fully trusting in another hero saves Gotham, the way Batman letting Joker know what their relationship means to him did in Lego Batman.

Each of these parodies ends by delivering a Batman willing to open himself up to a new team of heroes fighting at his side, the newly minted Bat-Family in Lego Batman and the league for justice known as the Super Friends in Holy Musical. Putting them side by side like this shows how creators don’t need the resources of a Hollywood studio to make something exactly as meaningful and how the best parodies come from love of the material no matter who’s behind them.

If you like what you’ve read here, please like/reblog or share elsewhere online, follow me on Twitter (@WC_WIT), and consider throwing some support my way at either Ko-Fi.com or Patreon.com at the extension “/witswriting”

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a-bang-for-your-bucky · 3 years

Text

Playin' With Fire

Summary: Dani has moved in with Will and Benny Miller. One night they throw a party and she finally gets to meet the final Special Ops teammate, Frankie. There is an obvious connection between the two, but what happens when life throws a roadblock in the way of them being together?

A/N: So here it is. My first ever Frankie fic, my first ever Pedro Character fic, my first ever fic that has all the parts completed. I would like to say a BIG thank you to @221bshrlocked for the mood board because hers is TEN times better than any of mine were. Each part will have their own warnings. Translations will be at the end of every chapter, let me know if any of them are wrong. Also let me know if I've missed any warnings. Y'all forgive me if my writing is crap.

Warning: Explicit language, mentions of someone getting handsy, um dirty dancing?, mentions of sex.

Word Count: 4,205

It was a warm summer day, Benny’s birthday to be exact. Will had decided to throw a party at their house for him. Will had mentioned that their childhood friend, who they called ‘Tequila’ just moved in with them. Frankie had shown up early to help Will assemble the new grill he had gotten. He never expected for his entire life to be flipped upside down.

He knocked on Will’s front door three times before it swung open and there she stood. Dirty blonde hair that hung just below her breasts, eyes so blue it put the sky to shame. He was sure he looked like a damned fool, mouth agape, probably catching flies. Then she smiled, and Frankie’s heart beat faster than ever thought possible.

“Hey, you must be Catfish. Will told me he was expecting you.” She greets him and her voice sounds like a fucking angel. There was no way that she wasn’t messing around with Benny. She looked just like his type.

“I’m Dani, Will and Ben’s roommate, but everyone calls me Tequila.” Frankie groans internally, he was so screwed. She opens the door a little more and moves out of the way. “Will’s in the backyard.” She points through the house.

Frankie hurried past her and mumbled a “Thank you”. Frankie’s eyes were trained to the floor as he briskly walked toward the kitchen and out into the backyard.

“Fish!” Will bellowed with a huge smile on his face. “I guess Tequila let you in.” The two men embraced in a bro-hug. Frankie nodded, moving over to where Will had the grill pieces laid out.

“She did. You never mentioned your new roommate was a woman and hot.” Frankie responded, looking over the directions. “You know man, you pay like fifty extra bucks and they put this shit together for you.”

It took Frankie and Will three fucking hours to put the grill together. By the end of the last hour, Frankie was cursing Will, telling him he’d never help him do something like this again; Although, they both knew that was a lie. The two men walked into the kitchen, where Dani was prepping the steaks for dinner. “Finally done, boys? I threw a couple of buds in the fridge for y’all.” She chuckled as the back door opened.

Frankie knew he shouldn’t, but walking up to the fridge, he couldn’t help but steal a gaze at her back side. The shorts she was wearing left almost nothing to the imagination. Her tanned legs seemed like they went on for days. Her feet clad in converses, which made Frankie laugh, because who wears those any more.

Dani heard the laughter and turned around, seeing Frankie looking at her feet. "My shoes funny to you, Catfish?" She asked, with a playful smile on her face.

Frankie's head shot up. " No, no. I love Chuck Taylors as much as the next person. It just surprises me that people still wear them." He explained himself, hoping she didn't catch him staring at her ass, too. Frankie opened the fridge and grabbed two beers, before asking her if she wanted one. She shook her head, stating she doesn't drink beer. Frankie wondered what that meant, and handed the other beer to Will who watched the scene unfold in front of him with a smirk on his face.

There was about an hour to kill before everyone showed up to celebrate Benny's birthday. "The steaks should marinate for at least another half hour." Dani explained to Will, "And make sure you don't burn 'em this time, Ironhead." She teased him, and he threw a hand over his heart, feigning that it was broken. The two went about the kitchen prepping side dishes for the night.

Frankie was outside, trying to figure out why the grill wouldn't light and he was sure Will fucked something up. He couldn't help but wonder what Tequila and his friend were talking about.

Dani turned to her best friend, "So, what's Catfish's story?" She asked, twiddling her fingers. Will looked at her with a raised brow.

"Frankie? Why?" Will questioned her teasingly. Blush covered her cheeks and she averted her eyes to the floor.

"I dunno. He seems sweet." She replied and Will smirked, giving her a knowing look. "Will, stop it. All I said was he seems sweet." She playfully smacked the other blonde.

"Well, Ironhead. I figured out what you fucked up." Frankie's voice boomed as he opened the back door. He noticed that the two were talking and apologized for interrupting.

"It's fine, Frankie." Dani smiled, "What did this dumbass do now?" Frankie realized that was the first time she said his real name, and it was the greatest thing he has ever heard.

Frankie turned to Ironhead. "Maldito idiota. You forgot to connect the gas line. The whole place could have gone up." Will's eyes almost popped out of his head.

Tequila turned to Ironhead. "What the fuck, Will?!" She screeched. Will threw his hands up in defense.

"I'm sorry. I got distracted." He tried to save his ass. "I swear I connected it."

Frankie and Tequila rolled their eyes. "Well, I hope your girl of the week knows she almost killed us." Tequila groaned and walked outside, knowing exactly what was keeping Will distracted. Frankie just shook his head and followed her.

"Hey," he started as he walked up to her at the cooler. She gave him an acknowledging nod as she pulled a bottle of tequila out. "Oh. Is it time for the hard stuff,already? Una chica después de mi propio corazón." The spanish rolled off of Frankie's tongue and Dani could have fallen over.

She would never admit it to anyone, but she had a thing for languages. Or maybe she just had a thing for Frankie and his Spanish. She wasn't sure which. "Yeah, well after finding out your best friend almost killed you for a few nudes from his fling of the week, tequila seems appropriate." She forced a laugh. Frankie definitely caught on that she described Will as her best friend and that he was having flings.

Frankie nodded in agreement. "So, is this why they call you Tequila?" He tried to change the subject, pointing to the bottle of Patrón. She shook her head 'no'. Before she could tell him, Will stuck his head out the door, yelling that Santiago was here.

"Santi!" Tequila squealed, rushing to the door, and she missed the look on Frankie's face. It was a mix between hurt and confusion. How did she know Santiago when Frankie had no idea she existed? Frankie groaned and walked toward the house to greet his friend.

Dani had already made it inside and was wrapped in an embrace with Pope. “Fuck,” Pope groaned with a smile as Dani jumped into him. “Hey, Tequila.” He hugged her tightly.

“Look here, jerkface,” She said as they separated, “Next time you hook up with one of my friends and leave me to deal with her crying, I’m kicking your ass.” She poked him in the chest to get her point across.

Santiago just hung his head and mumbled a “yes ma’am” before Frankie caught his eye. “Lo que hasta hermano” He greeted one of his oldest friends. He looked at Dani and mouthed “help me” to Frankie, earning another poke from the blonde girl.

“Estás solo, hermano. Ella da miedo.” Frankie smiled, pointing to Tequila. She huffed and crossed her arms.

“Oh, fuck you guys. I’m fluent in Spanish. Deja de hablar mierda de mi.” The words rolled off her tongue with ease and Frankie almost lost his shit right there. Lucky for him, Will broke up the tension.

“Benny just texted me, he will be here in twenty. Tom is bringing Molly and will be here in about fifteen.” Dani excused herself to go get ready, claiming she wasn’t presentable for a party. If it had been up to Frankie, she wouldn’t have changed at all. He found himself excited when she came back about fifteen minutes later in the same shorts, shoes, and a cropped Guns-n-Roses t-shirt.

The party was in full swing. The seven of them were gathered around the fire pit. The group was too many drinks in and knew they would be crashing here. Thankfully Benny and Will had the room.

“So, Dani. Why do they call you Tequila?” Molly had asked and Will and Benny started laughing. Dani just shook her head. Benny answered before she could.

“Because Dani can knock you on your ass with one good shot, just like Tequila. Trust me, I know.” He explained, speaking from experience. Molly looked at her with wide eyes and she just shrugged.

“I bartended my way through college. Sometimes an asshole would get too handsy. It paid off to have two protective guys who taught me how to throw a good punch. Plus, I really like tequila.” She winked at Frankie, referencing their conversation earlier in the day, taking a sip of her tequila sunrise. She made a face, realizing it had watered down. “I’m going for another, anyone else need one?” She offered and everyone raised an empty bottle.

She got up from her chair and turned toward the house. Frankie got up too, “I’ll help you,” he offered, ignoring the whistle Santi let out. He was clearly feeling good. Frankie flipped him a quick bird and continued into the house.

Inside, Dani was already grabbing bottles out of the fridge, mumbling about how they have already almost finished off their stock. “Oh, here” Frankie started, leaning on the counter. Dani closed the door, turning her attention to the man beside her. “Let me help.” He said, taking the bottles out of her hands, seeing her struggle to hold them all. “Can I ask you something?” Frankie gets the words out before he changes his mind. She hmms in response.

“How have we never met? I mean you obviously know Santi.” He takes his hat off to run a hand through his hair. Dani smiled at the sight of his hair all disheveled.

“I’ve been asking myself that all night. You do seem to be the better of the bunch.” She flirted, hoping he would return the gesture and he did.

“You are definitely not what I was expecting when Will said they had a roommate.” He smiled, leaning a little closer to her. Dani noticed and moved closer herself. Before they could cross that line, they were startled apart by a very inebriated Benny.

“Tequila!” Their drunk friend slurred, “Wha’re you ‘n fish doin’? Cat, you hittin’ on my girl?” He tried to be serious, but Benny stumbled over his own feet into Frankie.

“Woah, Benny. Careful.” Frankie caught him and set him up right. Dani laughed, he always was a lightweight.

“We were just about to bring the drinks out.” She says, grabbing the bottles off the counter, leaving a couple for Frankie to carry.

Back outside, Dani and Molly danced to whatever music Will had playing. “Yeah!” by Usher came on and Molly squealed that she loves this song. “Dance with me, Tequila!” She pulls her closer and Dani lets her, the alcohol clearly gone to her head. The two girls are all but grinding on each other. Tom quickly gets up, knocking his chair backwards. He takes Dani’s place dancing with Molly, grumbling something she would never repeat in public.

Frankie wanted nothing more than to join her now that she was dancing alone, but Santi beat him to the punch. “Baila conmigo, cariño.” He whispered in her ear and she giggled. Frankie wished it had been him to get that noise out of her. Dani shook her head and pushed Santi away.

“Solo en tus sueños, playboy.” She responded and it was Frankie’s turn to laugh. Dani walked away from Santi over to where Frankie sat. “Dance with me, Frankie?” She asked sweetly. How could Frankie say no?

He followed her just as a Def Leppard flowed through the speakers. She began moving her body to the beat of “Pour some sugar on me”. Frankie did his best to keep up with her, but he kept losing concentration, especially when her ass connected with his crotch one to many times. His hands instinctively went to her hips and pulled her closer. “Joder, princesa. Tienes que parar antes de que pierda el control.” He groaned into her neck where only she could hear him.

She turned to face him, throwing her arms around his neck to pull herself closer. “Tal vez eso es exactamente lo que quiero.” She purred in his ear.

The sun beamed through Dani’s window way too early the next morning. She groaned and rolled away from the penetrating light. As she turned, her hand hit a warm body and it elicited a groan. “Too early.”

Dani’s eyes shot open, trying to see who was beside her. Looking around, she realized that she was not in her room, but instead in Will’s. “Will?” She questioned, berating herself for going this far with her best friend. The other person threw the blanket off their head and Dani let out a sigh of relief. Seeing Frankie took the weight off of her shoulders.

“Hermosa, did you just call me Will?” Frankie asked, sleep thick in his voice. Dani was so embarrassed.

“Sorry, fish. I opened my eyes and saw that we were in Will’s room. What the fuck happened last night?” Dani questioned the man beside her as she sat up to assess the room. She looked around for any indication that something transpired between them last night.

“Trust me, Tequila. You’d know if we slept together.” Frankie sighed, as he swiped a hand over his face. Cocky much, Dani thought; However, he was right, she didn’t feel like she had sex. “I need coffee.” He griped, throwing his legs off the bed and standing up. Dani caught him out of the corner of her eye. He had on sweats and no shirt. She turned her head, shamelessly checking him out, before he pulled his shirt on. “Take a picture, Teq.” He laughed and she threw a pillow at him.

Dani forced herself out of the bed too, happy to see her drunk self had put on decent pajamas. The two padded into the kitchen as quietly as possible. They had passed Santi and Ben passed out on the couches.

“Where are Molly and Tom?” Dani whispered to Frankie and he just shrugged. Frankie rummaged through the kitchen searching for the coffee. “Teq, where are the filters?” He yawned, holding up the coffee can.

“Shit, we might be out.” Frankie whined at her answer. “Come on. There’s a coffee shop within walking distance.” She continued, heading towards her room. She opened the door and found out where Molly and Tom were. “Holy shit!” she gasped and immediately turned around. Frankie heard her outburst and rushed over to her, seeing the same sight as her, Molly perched on Tom’s lap, moving in an obvious way.

“Jesus,” Frankie said, covering his eyes.

“I’m just gonna borrow some clothes from Benny.” Dani said walking away and closing her door. Once in Benny’s room, they found Will sound asleep. Dani quickly picked up some sweats and a tee from Benny’s drawer. “I’ll be right out.” She told Frankie as she entered Benny’s bathroom.

When she emerged, she had dressed and her blonde locks were haphazardly thrown into a bun. Frankie loved this look on her. She was just as beautiful as she was last night, and this looked more natural on her. “You’re staring, Catfish.” She teased him, “Let’s go get coffee before anyone else wakes up.”

The walk to the coffee shop was a pleasant one. It was about 7am and the North Carolina humidity hadn’t set in yet. Frankie and Dani chit-chatted the whole way. She had learned that he had met the guys while in the service. He joined right after high school, just like them. He was their pilot. His favorite color is black, and that is exactly how he likes his coffee. He drives the same chevy he got on his 18th birthday, and has no intentions of getting rid of it because “she still purrs like a kitten”.

He learned a lot about Dani, too. Her favorite color is purple. She likes her coffee with just cream. She met Benny first, since they were the same age. She is an only child, so Ben and Will are basically her older brothers. She just finished her residency at the county hospital and is getting ready to take her boards. She absolutely loves 80’s hair bands and country music, but has a soft spot for R&B and rap.

They were nice enough to get coffee for everyone, even though Tom and Molly seemed to have enough energy this morning. “I have to buy a new mattress now.” Dani cringed at the thought of what Molly and Tom were doing.

They got back to the house to see that everyone was now awake, and fully clothed. Dani gave Tom and Molly a dirty look and they both apologized, confusing everyone else in the room. Frankie started handing out the coffees, getting mumbled “thank yous” from the group.

“Are those my clothes?” Benny asked, gesturing to Dani. She nodded and proceeded to tell everyone why she had to wear Benny’s clothes.

“Holy shit. You need a new mattress now.” Will snorted, his face drawing up in disgust.

Dani laughed, “That’s exactly what I told Frankie!” Molly’s face was beet red and Tom just hung his head. “Awh, come on, guys. We’re just kidding. Although, I do need a new mattress.” She tried to lighten the mood.

Frankie quietly sipped his coffee, trying to figure out if he should ask Dani out on a date. They’ve only known each other for a day and Frankie can’t imagine his life without her, even just as a friend.

What seemed like hours passed and the group slowly trickled down until it was just Benny, Dani, and Frankie. Benny was the next to leave, loudly saying he was going to take a nap and for Frankie to behave himself. Frankie just shook his head at his friend.

“I guess I should be heading out soon.” Frankie sighed, not wanting to leave. Dani nodded, trying not to look disappointed.

Frankie scooted closer to where she was sitting on the couch, lifting her outstretched legs over his. The two sat in silence, purely enjoying each other’s company. “Fish,” Dani started, “You wanna get dinner sometime?” She asked, biting her lip nervously. Frankie looked at her, shocked, that she asked first.

“I would be damn stupid to say no.”

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. Dani and Frankie had become best friends. Even through all of the flirting, they never crossed that line. Dani was working at the hospital, and Frankie was back on rotation at the airport. He was gone most days, but he was due to come back for a short time.

Frankie was ready to be back home. He loved flying, but now he had something worth being on the ground for. He had called Dani before his last flight left, telling her he would be back by 9am the next day.

Like clockwork, Frankie was knocking on the door at the Miller Party House™ by 9:30am. Dani begrudgingly dragged herself out of bed and threw on her robe. She scurried toward the door, pulling it open to reveal Frankie with a bouquet of sunflowers. Frankie laughed, “No need to get dressed up querida, it's just me.” He teased her.

Dani pulled him into the house and hugged him tight. “Fish! I can’t believe you’re here.” She said sleepily. Frankie smiled at her tiredness. She just looked so damn cute in her fuzzy robe and bed head. “Give me thirty and I’ll be ready.” She yawned as he released her from his hold.

He watched her pad her way down the hall to her room, his smile never leaving his face. He made his way to the kitchen, knowing where everything was, he started a pot of coffee. Even though they were going for breakfast, he knew she would want a cup to-go.

True to her word, thirty minutes later, Dani emerged from her room, dressed in distressed jean and a black T-shirt. Her hair was thrown into a messy bun, her signature go to. She walked into the kitchen where Frankie just finished making her cup of coffee.

“Just the way you like it.” He promised with a wink, as he handed her the cup. She happily accepted the hot beverage. Taking her first sip, she moaned at the heavenly taste.

“You are the best, Cat.” She murmured, walking past him, only stopping to place a sweet kiss to his cheek. She all but inhaled the drink, before she slid her feet into her trusty converses. The two made their way outside and climbed into Frankie’s Chevy.

The drive to their usual diner, Luanne’s, was a short one, but it was filled with laughter. Frankie was at his happiest when Dani was with him. They pulled into the parking lot, Frankie backing his truck into ‘his’ spot. He hopped out of the cab, rushing to the passenger side, so that he could open Dani’s door.

“Who says chivalry is dead?” She joked as the door opened and Frankie held out a hand for her to take. She gladly accepted it and slipped out of the truck. The two walked hand in hand to the door. Frankie pulled it open to see Luanne standing behind the counter.

“Well look what the cat dragged in! I ain’t seen you two in a hot minute.” She greeted them, not bothering to get menus because they always ordered the same thing. “Your usual booth is open, go on and take a seat. I’ll get the coffee.”

Frankie and Dani mumbled a “thank you” in unison as they moved toward the back of the restaurant. Just as they were getting comfortable, Luanne walked up with a thermal carafe and two coffee cups. “What have y’all been up to?” she asked, sitting down the coffee and some cutlery.

“I just got back into town.” Frankie explained, “Had to drag this one out of bed.” He laughed as Dani stuck her tongue out at him.

“Well I’ve been taking extra shifts at the hospital. I think I’ve earned the right to sleep in.” She shot back at him with a smile.

“Y’all are the cutest. What are we getting today? The usuals?” She didn’t need to ask, she already knew. They nodded. “ Alrighty then. Coming up darlin’s.” Luanne walked away, leaving them to each other.

“So, extra shifts at the hospital?” Frankie asked her as he poured coffee, sliding her a cup.

“Yeah. Residency is kicking my ass. I’m trying not to fall behind.” she told him. “I take my boards in a week and I’ve logged almost no time in neuro.” She sighed. She didn’t want to go into neurosurgery, but she still needed the hours.

“You are going to be the best damn trauma surgeon Memorial has ever seen.” Frankie promised her, “And if they can’t see that, then fuck 'em.” He smiled at her. Luanne brought them their breakfast and they halted their conversation.

When they were done eating, Frankie insisted on paying, telling her she could get it next time. They left the diner and went back to Dani’s place. “You have me for the day, hermosa. What do you wanna do?” Frankie asked her. Dani tapped her pointer finger to her chin, pretending to think.

“I believe we have a show to catch up on, Morales. Seeing as I can’t watch it without you.” She teased him. “You grab the snacks, I’ll get the drinks, and get Hulu up.” He nodded in agreement and they separated.

When Frankie entered her room, she had blankets and pillows set up in a mock fort on the bed. How she did it so fast, he will never know, but he isn’t complaining. The two settled down and turned on ‘Sons of Anarchy’.

The show was gruesome and Dani hated watching it without Frankie. “Hey, fish?” She started, “Doesn’t Jax look a lot like Will? I mean, if he had long hair?” She asked, and Frankie studied the screen.

“Nah, I don’t see it.” They laughed and continued watching. She wasn’t sure how many episodes they watched, but she looked over and Frankie had fallen asleep. She closed the laptop, moving off the extra pillows, and covered Frankie with a blanket. His signature hat was falling off his head and she set it on her nightstand.

Dani sat there on her bed, looking at her best friend sound asleep. He looked peaceful. His face smooth of the worry lines he normally sported. His curly hair in disarray. She couldn’t help but smile. In that moment, she knew there was nowhere else she’d rather be. She curled herself up in the bed next to him, where she drifted into a relaxing slumber.

Translations:

Maldito idiota - Fucking Idiot

Lo que hasta hermano - What’s up brother

Estás solo, hermano. Ella da miedo - You’re alone, brother. She’s scary.

Deja de hablar mierda de mi. - Stop talking shit about me

Baila conmigo, cariño. - Dance with me, honey

Solo en tus sueños, playboy - In your dreams, playboy

Joder, princesa. Tienes que parar antes de que pierda el control. - Damn it, Princess. Stop before I lose control.

Tal vez eso es exactamente lo que quiero - Maybe that’s exactly what I want.

Hermosa- beautiful

Querida - Dear

#kat writes #triple frontier #frankie morales #frankie catfish morales #santiago garcia #santiago pope garcia #pedro pascal #oscar issac #frankie x ofc #santiago x ofc

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