#holy shit there are gonna be fics on him

[golden-earcuffs]

the moment i saw ethan morales i knew tumblr was gonna come up with x reader fics

#just look at him he's the perfect guy for that role #the moment he walked in #i knew #holy shit there are gonna be fics on him #ethan morales #never have i ever #nhie #nhie season 4 #nhie spoilers

[greenglowinspooks]

(DCxDP) The obligations of a rogue versus those of a parent (Pt. 3)

—

Tw: Vivisection mention, torture mention (GiW agent receiving), me not actually knowing how telegram works

Will be crossposted to AO3 eventually.

(Pt. 1 here) (Pt. 2 here) - (Pt. 4 here)

(Masterlist/subscription post)

—

It’s an average, ordinary afternoon in Gotham, and Jason is in hell.

Specifically, Jason is in hell because he’s been researching the GiW for the last week or so, ever since a cryptic message from Scarecrow of all people.

He still hasn’t gotten anything substantial out of it that Scarecrow hadn’t already provided. Most location data had been previously scrubbed from the database, weaponry details were apparently all stored physically, and the experiment logs seemed to be only accessible from within one of the bases, whose locations Jason did not have.

Apparently Babs and Tim were having similar issues with gathering information. He had sent a copy of the files over to them in a moment of weakness, but they were having the exact same results as him.

To make things worse, the GiW was more active than they had been previously, combing through Crime Alley and the rest of Gotham tirelessly. At least they weren’t harassing him anymore, he thought, but now he had even less of a clue what they wanted.

And to top it all off, the Joker had escaped Arkham a few days prior to Jason receiving Scarecrow’s note, and he still hadn’t done anything. That could only mean that he was planning something big, which meant more grief for Jason, because the clown was obsessed with him.

So yes, Jason wasn’t having the best week.

He got up from his computer, stretched, and walked over to the window.

The sky was Gotham’s usual grey, clouded with a toxic miasma made up of traditional pollutants and the aftermath of gas attacks both, which could generously be called ‘smog.’

The streets seemed busier than usual, or maybe that was just because Jason was having a hard time keeping his eyes focused.

With blurry vision and a dull ache in the back of his head, Jason paced through his apartment, going through everything he knew.

The GiW, or Ghost Investigation Ward, were part of a secret government project having to do with ‘ecto-entities,’ which were mostly made up of ghosts.

The GiW was able to kidnap and steal away anyone who was ‘ecto-contaminated’ to be dissected, and it was completely legal.

According to the non-censored patrol reports he was given, Jason himself was considered ecto-contaminated. So were Bruce, Damian, Steph, and Cass.

There were also several rogues that were in the same boat, but their names had been redacted, presumably by Scarecrow. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but he guessed it was either for leverage or privacy. Knowing Crane, it could be both.

Anything useful about the GiW seemed to be stored physically within their compounds, or on an operating system that couldn’t be accessed outside of certain areas.

Anything useful about ghosts was conveniently removed by Scarecrow.

And, lastly, he knew from capture logs that they had numerous captive ghosts which were definitely being experimented on. One of these ghosts was named Daniel, last name redacted, and had been turned over by his parents in return for allowing them to run their own experiments on the boy.

From what he could tell, it had been around fifty two days since he had been turned in.

Fifty two days of experimentation and dissection.

Jason had to find him.

But first, he had to find the locations of the GiW bases, and plan his entrance carefully. He couldn’t let them get away because of a simple mistake.

The only location data he had been able to find was on a picture of the boy, Daniel, a picture of a vigilante in a red suit, and a quick note left about Daniel which hadn’t been transferred into the main database.

The note was…

Jason had been around crime for a very, very long time. He understood it intimately, in a way most people would never hope to achieve.

He understood hatred, too.

And yet, the words in that note were almost incomprehensible to him.

They were mockery of a child in pain. A child that was not seen as human. A child that was seen as a threat, a monster.

The man had detailed the security surrounding the child being cut back. Apparently, the kid had some sort of sonic scream. They were removing the muzzle that inhibited it because he had screamed himself hoarse, and he couldn’t make a sound anymore.

He also mentioned that the kid was cut open at least once a day, sometimes multiple times. He was opened up, played with, and sewn back shut.

The man joked that they should just put a zipper on him, so they wouldn’t keep wasting their stitches.

Jason really, really wanted to kill that guy.

The metadata on the note traced back to a newly-bought building in Gotham’s financial district, while the photos both came from Amity Park, Illinois.

Amity Park, Illinois did not exist in any official capacity.

Tim, who had taken the Batplane to check the precise location listed in the metadata, had reported that there was a town there after all, and it was on complete media lockdown from the rest of the world. He hadn’t even been able to use Bat, Justice League, or Young Justice channels to message anyone outside of the city until he left.

Jason had checked the building in the financial district firsthand, and found that the man who had submitted the note had done so while resting on a patrol of the city. He seemed to go there often to avoid his superiors, and Jason found it easy enough to get the drop on him the third time around.

His advanced interrogation techniques hadn’t been enough to get the man to name any locations. Worse, the man definitely recognized Red Hood, and would definitely tell the rest of the GiW about what had happened as soon as he left.

So, Jason did something about that. He couldn’t kill him, unfortunately, so he did the next best thing.

The GiW sent him to a public hospital within a few hours of finding him with shattered hand bones, broken arms, and a throat with near-permanent damage. The man wouldn’t be able to speak for a month at least.

He might never write again.

Jason, having read the note over and over until the words stained the backs of his eyes, thought it was the least he deserved.

Jason sighed, stopping his pacing. He wasn’t getting anywhere with this. If anything, working himself up was only going to lower the chances of him magically coming to a realization about where the kid was or what in the hell was going on.

He walked into the kitchen, popped some leftovers into the microwave, and started them up.

Once they were done, he brought them out to his desk, intending to eat as he continued to work on the GiW case.

When he saw his screen, he froze.

Telegram had been opened to a new chat with someone he had never messaged before.

TooFine: who are you?

TooFine: why are you looking into the giw?

The messages were a couple of minutes old, probably sent while Jason was spiraling pacing. He just stared at the screen, dumbstruck.

Shakily, he responded.

RedDead: How the hell did you get my contact info

Whoever was on the other side of the screen paused for a second. Jason considered sending a quick text to Babs to tell her what was going on, but he decided that he could handle this by himself.

TooFine: got it from the backdoor I put into the giw system.

RedDead: Shit

TooFine: ok your turn

TooFine: why r u looking into the giw? seriously man

RedDead: I don’t have a single reason to tell you. Give me one and I might answer your questions

TooFine paused again. Clearly they both had issues trusting someone over the internet, and rightfully so. What they had both admitted to doing was incredibly illegal, and if someone turned them in, they would be in deep shit.

TooFine: ive been trying to take down the giw since it was created. I can help u if ur honest with me

RedDead: Oh yeah, because no one has ever lied to another person on the internet before

RedDead: But fine

RedDead: I’m looking into them because they’ve been shadowing me for over a month at this point, among other reasons

TooFine: other reasons?

Jason sighed. He shouldn’t have added that. He knew that the other guy would ask, but he said something anyways.

RedDead: They’ve got a kid. I don’t like it when people hurt kids

TooFine: Danny? he’s alive?

RedDead: From what I can tell

So he knew the kid. Or, at least, he was pretending to. It would make sense for him to be cagey about his intentions, and for him to be desperate enough to reach out.

TooFine: oh my god

TooFine: do you know what city? fuck

TooFine: fuck fuck fuck

TooFine: I need to find him man please

RedDead: He’s somewhere in Gotham

RedDead: I’ve been trying to find him for a week now but no dice. They keep everything important on separate servers

TooFine: listen man you’re a good hacker but you’re not as good as me. you need my help if we’re gonna find Danny

RedDead: Okay, what are you trying to get me to agree to?

TooFine: i’m coming to gotham and we’re going to meet up

RedDead: Hell no

RedDead: Stranger danger

TooFine: if I tell u who I am will you say yes

RedDead: ?? How am I supposed to verify if you’re telling the truth

TooFine then sent him what seemed to be a selfie. Jason’s jaw dropped at the kid’s sheer audacity.

RedDead: There’s something seriously wrong with you

TooFine: my name is Tucker Foley. i live in amity park. i’m in 10th grade

RedDead: ???????? WHAT THE HELL

TooFine: i can send u my address too

RedDead: PLEASE DON’T??

RedDead: WHAT’S YOUR FUCKING DAMAGE? DON’T DOXX YOURSELF TO ME

RedDead: WHAT IF I WANTED TO KILL YOU OR SOMETHING? WHAT IF I WAS A FED

TooFine: i have to take that chance.

TooFine: Danny is my best friend. they’ve had him for over a month and no one’s doing anything to help. mr. Lancer was the only one who cared and he gave up after they blackmailed him

TooFine: they’ve had him for OVER A MONTH. I THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD.

TooFine: Sam and Jazz and I are coming to gotham and we’re going to find him no matter what it takes

TooFine: you have to help us

Jason considered, for a second, the choices he’d made in his life that had led up to this moment. He also considered, if he was in this kid’s position at his age, if he would be doing the same.

He decided to throw the kid a bone.

RedDead: [4735.jpg]

TooFine: HUH

RedDead: I’m guessing you know me

TooFine: RED HOOD??????

RedDead: No I’m just a very dedicated LARPer

TooFine: am i gonna die for Danny right now

RedDead: If I were literally anyone else, probably

RedDead: But no, you’re not. I’m gonna help you find your friend

TooFine: your username is red dead and you’re. yeah ok

RedDead: Oh come on, it’s funny

TooFine: Danny would love you

RedDead: So Danny clearly has great taste in jokes

TooFine: nope. literally loves puns and wordplay

RedDead: Nevermind

They both paused for a second. Then, Jason had a thought.

RedDead: Wait you’re in the 10th grade and you’re hacking into government databases?

TooFine: please don’t tell my parents.

RedDead: And how are you supposed to explain a sudden vacation to Gotham to your parents?

TooFine: wait so you’ll help me?

RedDead: I really hate to say it but I’m not the best at hacking, and my usual help is busy trying to track down the Joker. So, yep, we’re teaming up

TooFine: LET’S GOOOOOO

RedDead: God. I’m asking a 16 year old to help me take down a government agency and save another 16 year old

RedDead: I feel like the bat

TooFine: oh my god this is awesome. Danny is gonna flip when the actual real-life Red Hood comes to save him.

RedDead: I already regret this

TooFine: too late.

TooFine: btw do u have any place for 2 teenagers and 1 adult teenager to stay in gotham? preferably without dying but yknow.

Jason groaned. He was really, really gonna regret this, and he knew it.

Still, the alternative was some overeager kid dragging two other idiots to Gotham to find their friend and getting themselves killed. At least this way he’d have help, and damn good help at that.

He really was turning into the Bat, wasn’t he?

—

#dcxdp #dc x dp #dp x dc #dpxdc #dp x dc crossover #dc x dp fic #liminal scarecrow #Tucker doxxes himself as a power move and immediately regrets it #Jason knows for a fact if he doesn’t agree Tucker is gonna get himself killed trying to do this without him #Jason: holy shit I need to find this kid #meanwhile in Crane’s apartment #Danny: hey dr. crane would you still love me if I was a worm #sorry this took a long ass while btw I had no idea what I was doing LMAO

[devotioncrater]

im literally gonna...be sick to...my stomach. house and wilson wanted each other so viscerally in 3x19. all wilson had to do was barge into house's office and wordlessly kiss him. like. that's all it would have took. house wanted wilson to do that SO SO SO badly. i need to lay down

#hilson #house md #im ill. i have work in the morning yet im gonna lie awake all night thinking abt this #are there any fix-it fics where wilson storms back into house's office after saying goodnight and . passionately kisses him? #are there???? anyone got any recs????? #if not im gonna write it bc. yeah holy shit

[alagaesia-headcanons]

*rubs my grubby little hands together* alright here we go~ stick with me for a minute, this Does come around to murtagh and eragon's relationship i promise

-

I find it ironic that the circumstances of Murtagh’s life that went so awry- his capture by the Empire, his and Thorn’s enslavement using their true names, and them being forced to fight against the Varden- can paint him in a particularly selfish light. Eragon’s perspective reveals some of this, like the way he calls Murtagh’s oaths to Galbatorix a betrayal, one that favors his own wellbeing over Eragon and the Varden, or how he feels like Murtagh takes satisfaction in his new power and in lashing out at the world. And the fact that these things can be seen as self-serving specifically is ironic because it directly contradicts the actual quality of his character. Every time we see Murtagh acting of his own volition, over and over it proves that, more than anything, he is deeply devoted to the people he cares about- to a self sacrificing extent- and that he has an innate desire to help others.

Repeatedly, Murtagh puts protecting his loved ones above his own safety, and that’s true even in the act Eragon calls a betrayal. When they talk in Uru’baen, Murtagh admits to Nasuada that he willingly chose to swear loyalty to Galbatorix, but also reveals that he only did so after Thorn hatched. Murtagh himself had already suffered savage torture without relenting, yet solely for the sake of Thorn, to keep his hatchling partner from suffering as well, only then does Murtagh swear loyalty. And this is a self sacrifice. This undermines what he tried to make of his life before being recaptured- striking back against the Empire, aiding Eragon and Saphira, and proving his good will to the Varden. He had to give up all these things about himself and submit to slavery under a man he loathes, but Murtagh was willing to do that to protect Thorn.

And yet, while still trapped so hopelessly under Galbatorix’s thumb, Murtagh also goes out of his way to help Nasuada too. He convinces the king to capture her in the first place, instead of simply killing her, and whether or not this was his place, it demonstrates how he genuinely doesn’t want her to be harmed. He goes out of his way to help Nasuada by healing her pain, warning her about illusions, and promising to help her escape. And he makes good on that. From what he tells Eragon in their last duel, he had a plan to free her the next day. Murtagh goes to great lengths that put him at great risk. Galbatorix could have just as well discovered his interference and then nothing would have saved him from violent punishment. Freeing her would have guaranteed that. There’s nothing for him to gain, yet he still does these things for Nasuada time and time again.

The care Murtagh gives to Thorn and Nasuada proves that his selfless protectiveness toward his loved ones is a persistent part of his nature, but it’s never more clear than it is in his relationship with Eragon in the first book.

In Inheritance, Murtagh tells Nasuada that his initial motivation for going out to track the Ra’zac was to hurt the Empire and to prove himself as more than his father’s son. Nevertheless, from the time that he saved Eragon from the Ra’zac onwards, he demonstrates a desire to help that goes beyond a personal gain. On the contrary, I feel like his constant willingness to help while he personally strives to be recognized as his own person indicates that his helpfulness is a genuine part of his nature that shapes his desires and actions. And that nature shows itself repeatedly. Murtagh rescues Eragon a second time when he’s captured in Gil’ead, planning with Saphira and sneaking his way in to free him. When Eragon later thanks him for it, his response is, “‘I’m just glad I could help. It...’ Murtagh faltered and rubbed his face.”

After going to great lengths and knowingly risking his life to free Eragon from Gil’ead, Murtagh's instinctual response to his gratitude is that he simply wanted to help his friend. And this comes up again. When they fight in the Hadarac Desert, Eragon tells Murtagh he never had to travel with him or rescue him. “‘I haven’t forced you to do anything.’” Murtagh’s response is always funny to me because he’s irritable, afraid, and angry and so he’s deliberately trying to be mean and act like he doesn’t care about Eragon, and yet his reply is, “‘Oh, not openly, no. What else could I do but help you with the Ra’zac? And then later, at Gil’ead, how could I have left with a clear conscience? The problem with you...is that you’re so totally helpless that you force everyone to take care of you!’”

It does nothing except prove how much he cares about Eragon and wants to help him! “‘What else could I do but help you with the Ra’zac?’” is especially funny because the glaringly obvious answer is to just. not help. But then that makes it clear that Murtagh so genuinely and inherently believes he should help that he doesn’t see not helping as a real option. And even though he phrases it insultingly in his frustration, what he ultimately says about Gil’ead is that he couldn’t have made himself abandon Eragon when he couldn’t defend himself. He would have felt too guilty because he considers saving him the right thing to do.

I feel like a large part of this springs from Murtagh’s core morality and desire to do good, but there is also an element rooted in his relationship with Eragon specifically. They get along; Murtagh likes him and he trusts him and that matters when the help he gives him puts him at such risk. Murtagh is self sacrificing in the way he protects and looks after Eragon. Sneaking in to Gil’ead to rescue him could have cost him his life- Eragon himself acknowledges that when he thanks him for it.  And the risks he takes for him aren’t just overblown or inconsequential. When Murtagh enters Gil’ead beforehand, in Eragon’s stead, to find out the Varden’s location, he’s recognized and has to flee. When he stays with Eragon as they run from the Urgal army, it forces him to the Varden where he’s imprisoned.

And yet those repercussions don’t undermine Murtagh’s devotion to Eragon. Even when they reach the Varden, the one place Murtagh did not want to go and will rob him of his freedom, his heartfelt care for Eragon doesn’t falter. After Eragon’s mind is searched by one of the Twins who then tries to do the same to Murtagh, they have this exchange:

“‘Eragon has been declared trustworthy, so you cannot threaten to kill him to influence me. Since you can’t do that, nothing you say or do will convince me to open my mind.’ Sneering, the bald man cocked what would have been an eyebrow, if he had any. ‘What of your own life? I can still threaten that.’ ‘It won’t do any good,’ said Murtagh stonily and with such conviction that it was impossible to doubt his word.”

Murtagh’s statement is striking to me because the blatant, undeniable meaning behind it is that, if they’d tried to test Murtagh first and threatened to kill Eragon if he didn’t comply, he would have done it. Murtagh would have let the Twin examine his mind to save Eragon’s life. And the privacy and sanctity of his mind is of paramount importance to him. He says as much to Ajihad when he also tries to convince him to be examined. He declares as much right here! Murtagh explicitly states that protecting Eragon’s life is the singular thing that could make him yield. He would give up his own life before exposing his mind. This has even more gravity for Murtagh specifically. He’s self sacrificing, but not reckless in the same way several of the other main characters are. He’s not one to toss his life aside; he fights hard to survive. So his willingness to die to guard his mind hammers home how important that is to him.

Because of that, even though such a situation never came to pass, Murtagh’s admission that he would give that up to protect Eragon’s life is the most salient proof of his devotion to me. And that’s considering he also fights the Ra’zac and infiltrates Gil’ead for him! I honestly don’t have another word for it- Murtagh holds a truly profound devotion to Eragon that is built upon his desire to help others and to fervently protect the people he cares for. These aspects are so integral to him that they determine his most significant choices.

#eragon #inheritance cycle #murtagh #eragon shadeslayer #nasuada #ic thorn #ic analysis #i was gonna tie this into the 'eragon wouldnt have buried murtagh' idea bc its kinda connected but i ran out of steam. maybe later #he messes up but murtagh is still such an earnestly good person #and theres a sad irony that his luckless life made him seem like the exact opposite #and eragon just means So Much to him... #that dialogue from murtagh about if they could have threatened eragon always KILLS me holy shit #ive always been tempted to write a fic where they Do test murtagh first and threaten eragon and murtagh relents to save him...

[vanlegion]

Eh, I was in a weird experimental mood. Have this. Dubbed 'Who Are You?' Pretty sure I've said this but I love characters that either are not human or beyond human... because existentialism is fun to think about.

My monitor makes this look 3-D which is awesome.

#rvb #red vs blue #rvb simmons #I just think that he probably had a bit of a crisis after the meds and hype wore off #realizing that perhaps becoming a cyborg wasn't as cool and dope as he thought it was gonna be #cause i mean come ON if anything he should have been able to throw a fucking punch or catch one from Tex #like my poor boy just got all these 'enchancements' but none of the benefits? i call bullshit - Sarge builds weapons of mass destruction #shit maybe this bitch has a bomb in him if he dies... I dunno #but srsly this boyo should have been punching and kicking metal with his new metal #Also I will never not shut up about him being able to make a hologram of himself - even if it just mirrors his movements #that shit would have been epic to see in a fight and useful too #I love every fic that has capitalized on his Cyberness SO fucking much holy hell #. . . > . > Okay and also like hear me out - I think because of how his system works and how he's not like pure human anymore... #I think if (Any version of) Church were to have linked with him it would have been different than how the Freelancers or Tucker had him #I have an idea or a fic... >.> I have Many Ideas for Many Fics but specifically one about this concept. Toying with it. #Random AF but YALL - I always felt his “fax ass” was more like a Tramp Stamp - it's just a port that looks like a disk drive #so anymore morse code is fun ;3

[theloonatic]

(Fic!Posting)

I think Nina, heartrender, fighting Djel, the man who was shot in the heart, starting the generational trauma of Fjerda, is my writing of all time

#Finding out the Jarl backstory it makes sense he has no heart #but like holy shit this man is awful #if Dr Regis and the Drüskelle elders look up to him? you know hes gonna be awful #Nina is a girboss as always though #nina zenik #djel #grishaverse #soc #six of crows #grishaverse fic

[ariose-ghoul]

REMEMBER YOUR ABC'S

Always

Be

sCamming

#HOLY SHIT THIS IS FANTASTIC #ohhhh my god i am still never going to forgive scam for ruining heros childhood because of a fake prophecy #but i GET him on a level i never did before #april fools day is gonna make this fic so much better #y'all don't understand i am CACKLING

[izzy-b-hands]

Stede’s kids, aka two little shits lol, come looking for him. On their own. In a dinghy.

They truly are his children.

I guessed on their ages, so put them about idk, like 8 or 9, maybe 10 at the oldest for Alma and maybe five or six for Louis, somewhere about there. I may be wrong or off but I’m winging it for now until I find anything definitive re: how old they are in show canon lol.

A note, I did combine some historical stuff for Stede here. Mainly his first son, named Allamby, who had died by 1715 per Wikipedia.

TW for descriptions of child death re: Allamby (made up, because I couldn’t find much to give an exact cause of death, so I just rolled with it.)

I stared at this all day and I think I caught any accidentally a words or major fuck ups, but if I missed something pls let me know and I’ll fix it ASAP dsklfjaskl. Also, if any additional trigger tags are wanted that I missed, let me know and I’ll add them them right away!

---

“Another letter from the kids,” Ed said as he handed the envelope to Stede. “I’ll bet they still want to come out with us.”

“And I’ve told them their mother will not allow that at this time, understandably,” Stede chuckled. “But we’ll remind them.”

He opened the letter and started to read. “Oh.”

“Oh?”

Stede nodded and handed the letter back, moving to sit on a nearby barrel. He’d expected some whining that he hadn’t come back for a bit, or to allow them to sail with him for at least a week or two (Mary wasn’t entirely against it; she simply wanted them to be older before they did so, and that no raid would take place while they were aboard. Sensible requirements that Stede agreed with wholeheartedly.)

He hadn’t expected this.

“They’re looking for us?” Ed said, shocked. “They aren’t old enough for that. Are they?”

“How old were you when you left to be a pirate?”

“Sixteen, or about there,” Ed replied. “How old are yours again?”

“Not that,” Stede laughed nervously. “Oh god.”

“No, don’t panic,” Ed said. “After all, they’re your kids. Smart, good head on their shoulders.”

“And a proclivity to make rash, potentially dangerous and/or poor decisions?”

Ed paused. “Well. Yeah, that too.”

“Should we head their way and see if we can’t find them?” Stede asked. In his head, all he could see were two panicked children aboard a dinghy, in rough seas, potentially about to drown or starve if they somehow survived it-

“You’re picking at the thread on your jacket,” Ed interrupted the stream of potential catastrophes. “Take a breath.”

“I will, when we find them.”

--

“What else did the letter say?” Olu asked.

“They’ve bought their own provisions, weapons-” Ed read, then paused to laugh. “That’s wonderful! Not even my kids and I’m proud of them. Wonder what they picked up for that, because-”

“Ed,” Stede interrupted. “They likely stole money from their mother, oh god I hadn’t considered that yet. Forget being hung for piracy, Mary’s going to kill me first.”

“No one is getting hung for being a pirate, and I’m sure Mary will...” Ed hesitated. “You know, if we all go ashore, you’ll have a head start.”

“I think I need to lie down.”

“Children are much more resilient than you think,” Izzy offered. “They’re probably perfectly fine.”

“Or dead,” Stede chuckled. “I’ll make myself walk the plank if that’s the case!”

“I don’t think anyone actually does that,” Pete frowned.

“What, make someone walk the plank?” Lucius asked. “Or let their kids die at sea?”

Stede whimpered, and Ed wrapped an arm around his waist.

“Let’s not say dead unless we should find them that way,” Ed said. “And no, walking the plank really isn’t a thing. Sorry, love.”

“Right,” Stede nodded. “Then you can tie the anchor to me and drop me overboard! Maybe let Mary do it, that would only be right. And any loot could go towards funerals-”

He let himself drop out of Ed’s grip to sit on the deck, staring into space. He didn’t exactly want to take back all the years of playing pirate, but at the same time, maybe they wouldn’t have come looking for him if he hadn’t done so.

Ed peered down. “So, we’re going to take the lead on this, and I’m going to help Stede to bed. Sound good, Stede?”

He managed a nod, and didn’t fight when Ed and Izzy helped him up and more or less dragged him to their quarters.

“Try to rest, and think of something else,” Ed said as they dropped him into bed. “Read a book, distract yourself.”

He went to the shelves, and pulled out a book on the designing of children’s funerals, and dealing with grief.

Ed frowned. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Come on,” Izzy whispered. “Sooner we find them, sooner he’ll either be alright, or we’ll lock him in here so he doesn’t jump overboard.”

--

“Do we know what they look like?” Roach asked.

“No,” Ed replied.

“Names?”

“Alma and Louis,” Ed said.

“Anything else?”

Ed looked back to the letter. “Alma has very nice handwriting?”

The crew groaned collectively.

“None of that,” Izzy scolded. “That isn’t helping.”

“More information would be helpful too,” Frenchie said. “What do we look for otherwise?”

“It’s two kids in a boat, probably just out there floating!” Jim shouted. “The fuck else do you think we need to look for?”

“Whoa, okay,” Olu took Jim’s hand. “Good point though, there can’t be that many younger kids out for a jaunt on the sea without any parents or someone to keep an eye on them.”

Frenchie raised his hand.

“Yup,” Ed nodded. “Go on.”

“Does their mum know they’re gone?”

Silence.

Izzy opened his mouth, then shut it and looked to Ed for direction.

“Possibly,” Ed finally said. “They didn’t say in the letter.”

“So in other words, their mum and her boyfriend might also be out there?”

Ed pondered it in a silent panic. “Yeah. Yeah, they might be.”

“Actually then, we’re looking for four people,” Frenchie said. “Good to know. Really hope we don’t accidentally find them by running over their dinghies.”

“I know we’re all probably a little scared for all of them,” Olu said. “But we need to keep our shit together. Stede’s lost his enough for all of us, frankly.”

“They are his kids,” Ed said sharply. “Though I wonder about the oldest one. Why didn’t he go with?”

“Isn’t the daughter the oldest?” Olu asked.

“Thought so, but before he came back I went snooping through his things,” Ed said. “And there’s a mention of a son, Allamby. He’s the first kid listed on anything that mentioned his family.”

“Could be he’s old enough that he didn’t want to go,” Roach offered.

“Then why not stop the other two?” Frenchie asked. “They’d tell an older sibling at least before they left. I would, were it me. Brother won’t necessarily yell at you about it, even if he doesn’t like it, and he could have been the one to give them money too.”

“We’re wasting time,” Wee John said. “Let’s get to actually looking for them, and then we can ask them about all of this.”

“Capital idea,” Ed declared. “All hands then, let’s get the show on the road.”

“At least we know they’ll be dressed fancy, if they’re that much like Stede,” Frenchie murmured to Wee John. “Could spot a bright silk from a mile away.”

--

The first three days were fruitless. Stede ate when food was brought to him, drank when water was presented. At night, he walked the deck while the others slept, no matter how much Ed protested. He argued that he slept enough during the days to distract himself from the worst possibilities, the least he could was take the night watch to see if they might be spotted then.

On day four, Ed joined him.

“Can I ask you something?”

Stede nodded, still looking out into the dark at the far end of the deck. The sea was calm, and the moon bright. Perfect conditions to find one’s missing children.

“Why didn’t their older brother go with?”

Stede turned. “Alma is our oldest.”

“Who is Allamby then? I may have peeked at some of your stuff before you came back, and-”

Stede shook his head. “I sort of wish you hadn’t.”

“I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have,” Ed said, and took Stede’s hand, reassured when he grasped back tightly. “I won’t again, not without your permission.”

“No, it isn’t the biggest deal in the world,” Stede sighed. “Allamby was our actual first. But he passed a few years ago.”

“When?”

Stede sighed again. “1715.”

“That’s only two years ago,” Ed scoffed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“He’s gone and buried,” Stede replied. “What would there be to tell?”

“I’d imagine a lot,” Ed said softly. “How old was he?”

“Five,” Stede said, with another squeeze of Ed’s hand. “Very sweet. Liked picking flowers with me, to bring home to Mary. Wanted to study flowers, actually. Told me how he’d like to discover new ones, and he could name them after all of us.”

“Ambitious,” Ed laughed. “All that at five?”

“He had a plan for almost all of it,” Stede chuckled. “Didn’t really have any idea of how he’d make money to live of course, but truthfully I would have happily paid his way until he was on his feet. And even then, if ever he needed anything, all he would have had to do was ask.”

“What about playing pirate?”

Stede grinned, and finally turned to face Ed. “He loved it. Insisted we go down to the beach to play, the house wasn’t where a pirate would live! We’d walk down and he’d talk about everything involved with it: what weapons he’d use, what he’d most like to have as loot, even how he’d decorate his ship.”

“Flowers?”

“Lots of them. Painted on the walls, on the hull. Didn’t mind that it would mean repainting often. It was a worthy effort to him.”

He leaned into Ed, and Ed slipped his hand from Stede’s to wrap it around his waist instead.

“What happened? If you don’t mind my asking.”

Stede again looked to the sea. It was empty as it had been before.

“We don’t really know. He went to bed as usual, after two extra bedtime stories no less, and the next morning,” Stede’s voice caught in his throat. “He didn’t wake up. We thought he was having a lie in, since he did on occasion. Gave him an extra half hour to sleep or play in his room, whatever he was up to. Then Mary asked that I go up and bring him down for a late breakfast.”

Ed reached with his free hand to wipe a tear off Stede’s cheek as it fell. “Stede, if you want to stop-”

“No, he deserves to be known about,” Stede choked. “After we chose to not tell Alma or Louis about him, at least for now. That leaves only me and Mary and our parents, but they never did like him much. Too much like me, I suppose.”

He took a deep shaking breath. “I went up to get him. And it seemed awfully quiet, but he could sleep deeply. He’d played hard the day before too, all day at the beach, being the best pirate he could be!”

Stede smiled. “He would have loved it out here. I’m sure of it. Not that Mary would have wanted him out here either, but maybe when he was older, she would have...well. I suppose that doesn’t matter now.”

Ed nodded and tried to hold him tighter.

“I just thought he was sleeping deeply again,” Stede said. “He looked fine. Out cold, but fine. No blue in his lips, no gray on his skin. Not at that point, at least. But I couldn’t rouse him.”

Ed didn’t say a word, and waited for Stede.

“It was ridiculous, sitting on his bed, trying to shake him awake. Even went and got a glass of water and poured it over him, the poor thing!” Stede was openly crying now. His eyes hadn’t left the glassy water that surrounded them. “How he would have shouted any other morning if I’d done that! And it would have been deserved!”

Stede wiped away his tears, but they fell as fast as he could remove them. “Felt his forehead, expected a fever. He was cold.”

There was no wind, and the night was cool but not enough to chill. Stede shivered nonetheless.

“I picked him up and ran downstairs and called for Mary and to send for the doctor, or whoever could come by quickest that had any knowledge that might help,” Stede continued. “She knew before I did. Accepted it before I did, more like. She’d warned me before we tried for children, that there was always risk. They could die in childbirth and take her with them. Could have a horrid accident. Could be sick enough to die. Could simply die while in their cot, as a baby.”

He took a gasping breath. “But not at that age. Far too old to be a cot death. But it didn’t matter. Mary waited for the doctor at the door, and I stayed with him. Held him until the doctor made me let go.”

“And Mary?”

“Devastated as I was, but she didn’t fall apart like me until the burial. I think it really hit then. We spent days in the house, not eating, not sleeping. We talked once about what if we went to his grave and checked. Maybe he was really alright, and what if we’d buried him alive?! He’d be scared and want us and he’d think we had abandoned him.”

Ed gently prompted him to walk, to try and get him to their quarters or anywhere that he couldn’t watch the waves. At least for a few moments.

But Stede didn’t move an inch. “We nearly did it, too. Mary borrowed some of my old things, so she could move more easily. We were at the door, shovels in hand, and then we realized what we were doing.”

He sobbed. “And it would be pointless. He’d be as pale and lifeless as he’d been at his wake, in his coffin.”

It was by some grace that Izzy came out of his room, headed for the galley. At seeing them, he changed direction and strode over.

“Did we find them?” he asked Ed in a whisper.

“No,” Ed whispered back. “Could you help me get him to our quarters? I can take over the rest of the night watch.”

“You stay with him,” Izzy said. “I can do it. It’ll be nearly light before we know it anyway.”

With a bit more prompting and gentle pulling, they got Stede to walk away from the rail of the deck.

--

“Got something!” Frenchie called from the crow’s nest. “Small vessel, not close enough to see all who’s in it though!”

“Dinghy is ready,” Izzy said as he jogged past Ed towards it. “Roach?”

“On my way,” Roach hustled up behind him, kit of medicines and bandages and everything else in one hand. In the other was a small bag. “Got sandwiches and some jars of water in here. No offense to them, but I can’t imagine kids can estimate how much they’d need...”

“We fuck that up often enough ourselves,” Ed said. “And we’re old enough to know better.”

“And yet,” Izzy sighed, but it had no teeth behind it.

Ed tried to get a better look at the dinghy as they slowly made their approach. “I still can’t tell...looks empty.”

As they made their way beside it, he saw he was right. Still a jug of water and a basket of oranges, set by two daggers. But otherwise, empty.

“Fuck,” Izzy said softly. “Maybe they abandoned it and went ashore somewhere?”

“Why would they leave their supplies?” Roach asked.

Before any one of them could speculate, there was a ripple in the water.

Ed felt a hand grasp his at the edge of the dinghy.

Then, a face. “Oh shit! Louis, come back up!”

They watched as Alma dove back underwater and brought Louis up, a fish in his hands. “I caught one! Can we really stop somewhere to cook it and eat it? Can we go now?”

“No!” Alma looked over fearfully to them as she pushed Louis into their dinghy. “We don’t have anything you’d want! We’re looking for our dad, and he’s a pirate! Most fearsome to sail the sea, so if you’re planning to rob or kill us...”

She paused, clearly out of breath from swimming and panic. “Well, I would reconsider it!”

Izzy smiled, then broke into laughter. “Yeah, these are his. Fucking fuck, Bonnet.”

“You know him!” Alma pulled herself into their vessel, and moved her wet hair out of her eyes. “Where is he?”

“We sail with him,” Ed replied. “And he’s been a mess looking for you two, after he got your letter.”

“Told you he’d meet us halfway,” Louis said. “I told you!”

“Oh shut up,” Alma sighed. “Sorry about him, but he’s always like this, I should warn you-”

“I’m not like anything! I’m being polite and I was even going to offer to share my fish with them!”

“How about we tow you back with us, and then we’ll see about the fish,” Roach smiled. “I’m our chef and surgeon, so maybe you could help me cook it.”

Louis grinned, and set the dead fish on the bottom of the boat to hand over the rope tied to the dinghy.

“Curious,” Ed said as they started the trip back. “Did you two steal this?”

“Of course we did,” Alma scoffed. “We’re pirates.”

Izzy was still having giggle fits, even as he rowed. “Yes, yes you are.”

--

“Dad, ow. Dad! Help!” Louis cried out as Stede picked him up in a bear hug.

“Okay, let’s not suffocate him, metaphorically or literally,” Lucius said as he rushed over. “Hi! Your dad really missed you.”

“I can tell,” Louis said, voice muffled with his face jammed into Stede’s silk waistcoat.

“I was so worried about you,” Stede said as he finally set poor Louis down. “Did you tell your mother that you left?”

“I left her a note,” Alma said, then backed up as Stede moved for her. “Dad, I’m too big to pick up, Dad!”

He did all the same. “And look at you! Sailing in that dress! How on earth did you manage that?”

“You get used to it,” Alma said. “You’re squishing my lungs, I think.”

“Sorry,” Stede set her back on her feet. “I just. I thought you two were dead, and I had no idea how I’d tell your mother or what I’d do; it isn’t as if I’m likely to have any more children and...”

“Dad, you don’t have to cry,” Alma said, but she wrapped her arms around him and nestled her head into his neck.

“I’m hungry,” Louis said. “Mr. Roach, can we go cook my fish?”

“Yeah buddy, we can,” Roach replied. “Ed, if Stede’s looking for him-”

“I’ll let him know,” Ed interrupted gently, brushing away a tear of his own. “Let us know when dinner’s ready, hm?”

“Of course.”

The rest of the crew kept on with their various chores, but all of them stayed on the main deck, watching Stede lead Alma around to show her the ship. In return, she told him how they’d left, stolen their boat, how she’d been saving her allowance to buy everything from their food to their daggers.

No one interrupted directly, but there were smiles and soft giggles all around.

Ed was the only one following after them, listening in and silently cheering at Alma’s resourcefulness. Of all the Bonnets, she seemed the one who might not need any teaching about piracy. Maybe too young, but well prepared for it all the same.

“I am...” Stede sighed happily. “Your mother wouldn’t like to hear this, but I am so proud of you both. What you did was very dangerous-”

“You’ve said that like a hundred times already,” Alma interrupted.

“I know, I know, but I’m your dad. I have to say things like that, so you’re more careful in the future.”

Alma rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Fine, then we’ll board and steal a bigger ship next time.”

“Next time!”

“That or you come back and let us come with now and then,” she said with a little happy hop.

“While that would be a lovely achievement, I think it better I arrange with your mum something that would let you two come out and sail a bit,” Stede said. “If my co-captain is agreeable to it.”

He peered back to Ed with a hopeful smile.

“Absolutely! Say, how good are you two with those daggers?”

Alma blushed. “We aren’t. We didn’t get to practice before we left, and we’ve only used fake swords before.”

“Then I say we get you some lessons on knives with Jim before we take you two home,” Ed said.

“Which is Jim?”

He pointed out Jim, currently winning a knife-throwing contest against Frenchie and Wee John, with the Swede keeping score.

“Whoa,” Alma breathed out as Jim made their best throw yet. “Can I learn how to do that?”

“Jim can teach you that, and I’ll teach you how to take out an eyeball with a dagger, how about that?”

Her eyes shone. “Really?”

He looked to Stede, who chuckled. “I suppose. Better earlier than later, if you’re really going to be a pirate.”

She cheered and rushed away to Jim. They watched her tug on Jim’s coat, mouth moving a mile a minute as she pointed to Jim’s knife.

Jim looked back to them, seemingly waiting for permission.

Stede gave them a nod, and immediately Jim knelt down and handed Alma their knife, showing her how to hold it before tossing it.

“Think Mary’s still going to kill you?” Ed asked.

“Maybe not. Once we bring them back and work something out properly, and I’m sure they’ll need to promise not to run off on their own again. She might show mercy on me then.”

Stede leaned into him, arm at his waist, and they watched the rest of the knife throwing lesson in a contented silence.

--

“Roach said I did the best job he’s ever seen,” Louis told Stede proudly as they sat down to dinner. His fish was too small to share with everyone, but a portion were on his and Alma’s plates. “I bet I could learn how to be a ship’s chef from him.”

“He’s our surgeon too,” Stede said. “That means learning about bodies and blood and guts!”

Louis grinned. “Cool.”

“They get that from Mary,” Stede told Ed, sitting a spot away from him beside Alma. “She’s got an iron stomach.”

“You’re getting better with that,” Ed said. “Sometimes you just need to be around it more to get used to it.”

“Jim taught me how to throw a knife,” Alma leaned past Stede to Louis. “And Ed’s gonna teach me how to take out an eyeball!”

“Ew,” Louis giggled. “Can I learn too?”

Ed smiled warmly. “Stede, I love them. They’re awesome. I had never really thought about kids-”

“Is Ed like our stepdad like Doug?” Louis interrupted.

Stede looked to Ed with a chuckle. “Well, Doug said you two sort of decided if he was or not. What do you think about Ed?”

“Makes sense he would be,” Alma replied. “Cause Doug teaches us how to paint, and now Ed’s gonna be teaching us stuff too. Plus he’s dating you.”

They both blinked. They’d not so much as kissed in front of them yet.

“How do you know that?” Stede asked.

“I have eyes,” Alma said. “And you two act the way Mum and Doug do. You make eyes at each other.”

“I suppose we do,” Stede blushed.

“You’re literally doing it right now,” Alma said, and looked across the table to Jim. “Do they do this all the time?”

“Yes,” came a chorus of voices.

“We aren’t that bad,” Ed said.

“I bet they kiss like all the time,” Louis said.

“They do,” Izzy stage-whispered from his spot by Jim. “And hold hands, and-”

Alma and Louis broke into giggles, cutting him off.

“Alright, we have a decent feast tonight!” Roach announced as he finished setting down the last dish, covered by a high metal dome. “Hard tack, a stew that I think finally everyone will like, and-”

He lifted the dome off the dish. “Thanks to Alma and Louis, we had more than enough oranges for a cake!”

Louis turned to Stede, mouth open to speak.

“One piece for tonight,” Stede said before he could get out a word.

“Okay, but-”

“Stew first, then cake. It’ll taste better that way.”

Louis nodded. “And my fish before the stew!”

“Of course,” Stede said.

Dishes were passed from hand to hand, until plates were full. Everyone dug in, but Stede took the opportunity to take it all in.

Maybe, now and again, he could have both. His family at sea, and some of his family on land, together.

If he saved some cake for Mary, she’d be potentially more likely to say yes, and he made a mental note to set enough aside for her and Doug.

And maybe one extra piece, for Alma and Louis to share before bed.

#text post #ofmd fic #aka the fic of stede holy shit control ur mini pirates lmao #tho if I ever write a follow up to this mary is probably gonna be pissed but also like I should have expected this djslkafjsal #fkn kids man #on the plus side tho when they do sail with him they've got a sort of second stepdad in Ed (and stepdad Doug on land of course) #and a bunch of adopted aunts and uncles who are gonna spoil them rotten and also teach them shit like how to skin a man #ya know the stuff you need to know around that age lmaoo #tw child death

[candied-cae]

And Who Are We At The End Of The World? - Turn The Radio Up

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Chapter 12/? - - - Read it on AO3

Word Count : 9,063

Summary: Joyce is headed back with Murray and a certain someone in tow. Which means they all just need to survive a few more hours on their own. They just need to do a few things to take care of business, and wait.

More ST Fics

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Nancy took the boys to the police station, where an officer let them into the Winnebago. And honestly, as she was doing so, she’s never been so grateful she left something behind in the Upside Down. If she didn’t vividly remember dropping that sawed-off felony when they found the trailer empty, she would be in a whole different kind of mess. Instead, they were there for the clothes the Upside Down crew had before gearing up in Warzone attire, and a few things they hadn't wanted to bring through the gate with them. Steve told her that he’d grab Robin’s stuff and run it over to her, so Nancy just picked up her own things and the backpack they’d left behind when they ran everyone into the hospital. There were a few other small items she packed away while Lucas and Dustin got together his clothes and the other walkie.

When they left, the cop marked off the items they were taking from the inventory sheet, just in case they tried to use the opportunity to rob the Jamesons. Which… okay, maybe she could be more offended about the assumption if they hadn’t actually stolen the whole RV itself just a few days ago. So she let it slide, and they piled back into the station wagon.

Overall, it wasn’t a long visit. Nothing to write home about. They threw their stuff into the back and were planning to pick up the other kids to go by the hospital when they heard Steve’s voice come through their walkie.

“Hey guys, we have a bit of a… a thing.”

“A thing? Over.” Dustin questioned him, eyebrows high on his forehead while Nancy focused on pulling onto the street.

“Yeah… it’s not a whole situation, but, um, definitely a thing. Well, it’s two things, actually.”

“Two things? Steve, I need you to start explaining right now. And say 'over' when you’re done. Over.” Dustin said, rolling his eye at Lucas, who silently nodded in agreement.

“Over, whatever,” the voice came through muttered and annoyed.

“So, what’re the things, Steve? Over.” Lucas leaned over to ask this time.

“There's, like, a whole news station outside the hospital, so it might not be a good idea for everyone to come by. Since we planned to keep the Cali Crew’s Epic Return off the radar.”

Which made sense.

It stung that they wouldn’t be able to visit, but they really shouldn’t be seen on television if what the boys said was true. About there being some government faction that pretty much wanted to kill El. That is, if the government lady who told them that while she tried to put them on house arrest was to be trusted. And that debate was a whole other can of worms, as far as Nancy was concerned.

Ugh, just trying to sort through what they knew, what they suspected, what they feared, and what they could even do about any of it... that mental maze was going to give her a headache.

And that was only one thing. It was a big, head-aching thing, but just one. And Steve said there were two. And so, after a pause, he continued.

“And also… Max’s mom… kind of… knows… Over.”

“Excuse me,” Dustin said calmly, before exploding,” WHAT?! Over!”

“I saw her while I visited Max, and Susan said that in the letter she left, Max said she wanted to explain some stuff to her. Over.”

“Some stuff? Over.”

“About what’s been going on.”

“Specifically, Steve. Over.” Dusting urged again, clearly not loving how vague the older boy was being.

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask, and I didn’t know what to do- so I told her I’d call her tonight and… explain? Over.”

“Shit, Steve.” the boy said, forgetting to say ‘over’ in his shock.

“Well, what would you do?!” Steve got defensive,” She was, like, crying at me, looking at her kid, and begging to know if she was a bad mom for not knowing what was going on with her daughter! I couldn’t just throw her a ‘What? You’re crazy, lady!’ and skip down the hall! Over!”

“Shit, Steve!” was still all Dustin could think to say back to him.

“Well? Game plan? You guys got one of those for me?” Steve asked.

The boys looked to Nancy, who’s been silently driving this whole time, turning over the options in her head. She’s in charge, on that they all agreed. But that was a big decision. They haven’t… told anyone, who didn’t find out themselves, except for Murray, and that was way different. She’d wanted to, for Barb, for the Hollands. But she didn’t, couldn’t. The best she could do was give them a different lie so they could move on… but what do they do here?

“Nancy?” Dustin asked her.

“I don’t know,” she answered.

He passed it along into the walkie,“ No, game plan here, dude. Over.”

“What if we ask Joyce? Over.”

With that, Nancy snapped her head back a bit and held out her hand. Silent, though her demand was clear. One that Dusting understood in just a moment before he placed the boxy device right into her grip.

“Joyce? You heard from Joyce?” she spoke into it, completely forgoing the walkie-talkie manners Dustin quietly griped about to Lucas.

“Yeah. She called me at the hospital to get in touch with the Byers kids. Said she was going to be on a plane with Murray and be back here tonight. Already sent her to my place so she could let them know.”

“Joyce is getting back to Hawkins? Tonight?” She reiterated.

“Yes. That’s what she said.”

“Okay, okay,” Nancy breathed,” Then we’ll call Susan to come by your house after we get together for the strategy session. Have her come by when Joyce lands, and she can decide what it is, exactly, that we’ll tell her. Got it?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Steve agreed.

Nancy felt better at least having that decision off of her plate before she asked,“ You headed back there now or…?”

“I’ll stay here a bit longer.” he answered,” Talk to ‘em both like the nurse said to. I’ll drop by the station after a while, pick up my stuff and meet you guys back there later.”

“Alright. You know when Robin’ll be free from Church?”

“Should be soon. If you wanted to pick her up and wait at my place with the others, you’re welcome to.”

“Yeah, I’ll snag her with Mike and Erica, and we’ll be there when you get back.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

She passed the walkie back to Dustin’s waiting hands, to which he informed her and Steve,“ Neither of you guys said ‘over’ that whole time, by the way. Over.”

“Oh my god-” the older boy bemoaned.

“Do you want to walk back to Steve’s, Dustin?” Nancy threw back at him.

“No! I’m just saying we have had a system of walkie-talkie usage for years! And, now that we need to get everyone on the frequency, you supposedly ‘mature adults’ are the ones who can't follow the rules!” he argued.

“Hey, Dustin?”

“Yeah, Steve?”

“You just forgot to say ‘over’. Twice.” He pointed out, voice full of teasing glee that he could knock him down a peg at just the right moment,” Over.”

“ASSHOLE!” Dustin all but screamed into the receiver.

“I’m turning your volume down, little man. Yell and scream all you want, I’m going to relax. Maybe even take a nap-”

Dustin cut his transmission off,“ Steve, you’re supposed to be talking to them-”

Steve cut his short in turn,“ Night night, Henderson. Over.”

Dustin sat scowling in the back seat,” He’s supposed to be talking to them.”

“You really think he won’t?” Nancy asked him, a knowing gaze that made the boy uncross his arms and admit that, yes, Steve was just messing with him because he was being a bit of a turd about the walkies.

The next stop was the Sinclair’s, where Erica climbed into the very back, pinching off her nose as she did so and kicking at Dustin’s dirty laundry while they went to grab Mike. They added him to the backseat and pulled out of the driveway before Ted Wheeler had a chance to realize Nancy wasn’t immediately giving the keys back after the allotted trip to the police station. Then the last stop to make was Robin’s place. And Mike complained the whole way over.

Complained that he and Nancy were blood, so he deserved the shotgun seat. Complained that they should just go straight to Steve’s so they can see the Byers sooner. Complained that they weren’t going to the hospital to sit with Max and Eddie anymore. Complained that Steve was going to rub off and make Eddie stupider by spending time with him. Complained that Dustin and Lucas were traitors when they told him to be nicer to Steve.

God. He was really becoming a little angsty sourpuss in his teenage years.

Eventually, they got Robin in with them, and Nancy practically sighed in relief to have an ally against all the children in the back. While the boys and Erica made some ruckus about something she didn’t even want to understand, Nancy and Robin fell into some kind of small talk.

“So, how was church?” she asked, somewhere between not knowing what else to ask, and real curiosity because it was something she’s never gone to.

“Well, it was church,” Robin said plainly,” It’s still a place that’s mostly boring, if not a little guilt-trippy. Same stiff clothes I never wear otherwise. All the same old ladies my grandma has known since I was a little tike, each wanting to lament about how long it’s been since they last saw me on a Sunday morning.”

“Wow, so you guys really do, like, actually go to church.”

“Yeah. I’ve been in those pews ever since I can remember. Really only got out of it so much recently with how busy I’ve been with school and work. But now that those are both on pause and I went missing - and with a pair of boys, no less -” she used a haughty voice to imitate her mother,” Now it seems like the parents are less understanding of my disinterest in the institution.”

“That’s so… interesting?”

“It’s interesting?” Robin doubted.

“Well, Mike and I never really did the church thing. Our parents aren’t really… ‘devote’, I guess. I mean, our dad’s about as traditional and conservative as they make ‘em, but, eh, I guess God’s never really been our thing.” Nancy explained.

“God’s never really been my thing, either, to tell the truth.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, for the first three or four years, I would pretty much just follow my family in, take our seat, try and roll with it for a few minutes, and then end up using my jacket as a pillow and falling asleep in the pew the whole time. Then I got old enough that they said I couldn’t just keep doing that anymore. So I figured out how to follow along in the hymns, tried to pay attention. I had this aunt that would slip me mints and let me check her watch through mass to keep me contained. That's pretty much how I learned to read an analog clock face." she gave a little laugh at the fact," And I just had all these questions, and I wanted to ask these questions and understand why it is we think this is the way the world is. But then I got the impression that they didn’t really like my questions all that much, so I got quieter. And when I get quiet, I get bored. Which led to me inventing this fear that the priest had, like, ‘holy eyes’ or something. And he would see a lightbulb above my head. All lit up if I cared 'enough' and turned off if I didn’t. I literally terrified myself into thinking he knew I wasn’t really getting with the program, and that I'd be, like, outed or something as a bad Catholic. And then I got out of it well enough. I was busy, it was a good excuse. But now, poof, Robin’s back in those pews, revisiting the idea that the old man in the front of the room can see her burnt-out lightbulb.“ Robin huffed at the end, turned to Nancy, and realized she did it again,“ Sorry, that was a lot. Again. I just mean, I don’t think I ever really did a really good job at it. The whole God thing.”

Nancy looked over at her for a moment, a warm smile playing on her lips, and she shrugged,” I would never call you burnt out. Maybe you were just too smart, too young. I mean, if I had believed in God before all of this? The Upside Down would’ve turned me off of the whole theory pretty fast. You just didn’t have to lose it. Since you weren’t clinging to it in the first place.”

“Maybe. A full-on religious crisis mighta really drove me bonkers after the meat monster.” Robin let out a little chuckle before bothering to ask,“ And how was your morning? At the RV?”

“Not very interesting. It looks pretty much exactly how we left it. A mess. But I got my stuff, and the boys got theirs. And Steve said he was going to stop by after a while to get his and yours?”

“Yeah, there’s a duffle bag in his closet with my name on it. Thought it might be a good idea to add the stuff from the RV as a change of clothes and turn it into a go-bag since we’re waiting for Vecna to come back.” Robin answered simply enough.

“A duffle bag of your stuff?” Nancy asked, voice hinting at suspicion.

“Yeah. For sleepovers.”

“Remind me again,” she glanced over at her,” You’ve been trying to convince me there’s nothing going on there, right?”

“Oh my god, are you back on that again?” she asked, at the same moment that Dustin decided to ditch the others for this conversation instead,“ That’s what I’ve been saying, Nance!”

“Ugh. Can’t a girl have a best friend without everyone making their own assumptions about it!” Robin groaned, rubbing her hands down her face.

“What’s wrong with him, Rob? He’s great!” Dustin argued.

Mike cringed and turned his nose up at the idea,“ No, he’s not. Steve’s sort of the worst.”

“He is not without flaws, Michael.” Dustin drew out his name in protest,” But he’s pretty good. Definitely way above average for guys in Hawkins, right? I mean, I can run a sales pitch on him better than I could for you. Lucas, back me up.”

“You can’t deny that he’s kind of a mess,” Erica threw in.

“Strike that from the record, your honor. That was not the witness I was addressing. I asked Lucas Sinclair to back me up.”

Lucas nodded along to the idea and leaned forward to speak into his hand like it was a microphone,“ This is Lucas Sinclair, and I am willing to go on the record that I like Steve Harrington. He’s a good guy and would make a fine boyfriend to any interested party. Especially, to one who was already in with his friends. As inappropriate as they may be for a boy his age. Thank you for the time.”

“See! So, what’s wrong with him, Robin? I promise I’ll make him fix it if you guys will give it a shot!” Dustin practically begged her.

“Don’t do that to her.” Mike tried to talk him down,” Robin’s making the right decision to ice him out.”

Robin turned around in her seat to look at the boys,“ There’s nothing wrong with him, and I’m not icing him out! I am just a disinterested party. He is my friend. F-R-I-E-N-D. We have a purely Platonic, capital ‘P’ Platonic, mind you, relationship. And it’s great, I love the guy.”

Dustin’s eyes widened hopefully, and he opened his mouth to start something when Robin threw up a silencing finger,“ In a friendly way! I love the guy in a friendly way. And he knows that and feels the exact same way about me! So, if you need to have a good cry because this relationship you’re rooting for doesn’t stand a chance, go for it. But you’ll need to accept it, sooner or later, so you can move on.”

Dustin silenced for a moment, and Robin almost believed he was going to drop it until he added,“ But what if I got him to shave his gross chest wilderness? I think I’m winning him over!”

“No!” she squealed,” That’s not going to change anything about us! Let. It. Go.

“But what if-”

“Zip. It. Henderson.”

Thankfully for everyone involved, that was the end of that conversation as Nancy pulled them up to Steve’s house.

“Behave,” She told them, voice firm.

Various versions of ‘We do!’ came from the back seat as they all unbuckled and opened their doors. It wasn’t long before they were inside with the other four. Jonathan told them about their call with Joyce. She was putting together bags for each of her kids and going by Argyle’s so his mom could pass along something to bring for him.

Apparently, Joyce was about as shocked as the rest of them that Argyle was sticking around for their mess. Yeah, he kind of got roped into it, but he didn’t really have to keep fighting their fight. He could go back to Lenora. Back to his life. Try to pretend like this week never happened to him. But he didn’t. And his mom was just as surprisingly okay with it. Perfectly fine with her kid hanging out in the Midwest with nearly no explanation. Sure, California gave the kids a two-week spring break versus Indiana’s one, so he wasn’t even cutting class yet, but still… It was strange. The only answer he gave was that he’s ‘got to see it through’, and his mom just seemed to trust him.

But at the end of the day, they’d have Joyce Byers back - and Murray Bauman - so they wouldn’t just be a band of kids running around on their own anymore.

And that was good news.

Lucas had picked up Max’s letters for El, Will, and Mike before he’d left home, so he handed them over. They all accepted the envelopes, but seemed to each have a different sense of what they were going to do with them. Mike looked at it like he almost didn’t believe she’d written him one. They always pushed each other’s buttons and said they couldn't stand being in the same room, but they cared about one another at the end of the day. Will was sad to be given it. The letter just showed him how truly scared she must’ve been. She thought she had to write them goodbyes because she thought she was dying. El, on the other hand, wanted to refuse the letter. Wanted to say she didn’t need it because she was going to get Max back, and whatever she wanted to tell her, it could happen then. She didn’t need a piece of paper with goodbyes. She needed to find Vecna and end him for good this time.

Which brought up the bad news. Or news that was bad-adjacent.

El couldn’t find Vecna.

She tried. Put on a blindfold and turned the tv to static, but she couldn’t. They worried for a minute that she was still too drained, but that wasn’t it. They had her check for Steve. And, sure enough, he was found just fine in a stiff hospital chair, humming along to a movie next to Eddie. And then Will said that he could tell that Venca was still out there, somewhere. He could feel just enough to know that. To know that he was hurt and small. He didn’t feel gone, but it didn’t feel like the times when he was already coming back. It was that much less, but still there.

And that fact made a certain kind of dread fall over the room. It’s hard to just sit there while there’s some unknowable doomsday on the horizon. Looming.

But they didn’t have anything they could do about it right then. So Robin took to wrestling through some of Steve’s tapes and to find the most heartwarming one to watch while they waited for Joyce to land.

And it was after a very long voting session that they were settling onto The Sound of Music. Mostly because it was really long and El liked musicals but had never seen that one. And then Robin shared that Steve called it an “Honorary Christmas Movie” because he always watches it every December, despite there being no real Christmas themes. They actually watched it together that past year. Just a few months ago, during one of their infamous sleepovers while snow settled over Hawkins. Then she added that he also calls  Mary Poppins  one… so maybe Steve just thinks Julie Andrews' singing is the only way to enjoy the holiday.

And it was at the mention of Mary Poppins that they switched their votes.  Mary Poppins  first and then The Sound of Music later. Mike crossed his arms and asked if they’d be tired of Julie by then, to which Robin said such talk was blasphemous and he needed more respect for such staples of American film.

So, now that they had plans for their evening made, Argyle and Nancy were set on getting everything ready for the taco night the Harrington House had agreed to. While Nancy didn’t really know what she was doing in the kitchen, she knew how to get people to work, and Argyle knew what they needed to do. So they teamed up and got them all assigned to different jobs in the kitchen to start getting everything prepped.

Time passed, and Steve was sent on his way out of the hospital. He made good on his promise and got to the RV before they handed it back over, and got a hold of the clothes he and Robin left behind. And Eddie’s vest. The denim one with the big backpiece, the patches and pins of bands Steve didn’t know anything about. It had been tossed in the passenger seat after Steve changed into his Upside Down attire. It was kind of gross now, all things considered. Sweat, grime, and blood all over; from when it was thrown at Steve in the wasteland.

It would be good of him to clean it before giving it back when Eddie woke up, but he’s not sure how he should do it. Would throwing it in the wash mess with all the stuff Eddie put on it? Or would it be rude to take the add-ons off first and risk messing up trying to put them all back on? Maybe just scrubbing it by hand in the sink or something would be the best way to deal with it, because just returning dirty, worn clothes couldn't possibly be the right choice. Maybe he’d ask Robin about it later. See if she had any good ideas.

That was just about the last thought Steve really had before he got back and was met with the strangest thing. His house. Full of the sound of voices and the smell of cooking.

Mike was dicing tomatoes and cutting lettuce, Jonathan was stirring ground beef while Argyle seasoned it, Lucas was shredding chicken, Dustin and Erica were plating different toppings, Will and El were setting the dining room table, which by the look of it, they also dusted off or wiped down, and Robin was washing all the dishes that came her way.

It was a sight to see his kitchen so busy.

The first time it’s ever really looked like that. So… homey.

“Now, this can’t be my house. None of the kids I know are this helpful,” he commented, dropping keys by the phone and heading for the stairs.

“We’re goddamn saints, you know!” Dustin called after him.

“Nah, can’t be. Wrong kids,” he answered back as he went to throw his and Robin’s dirty clothes from the RV in the washer, drop off Eddie’s vest on the chair in his room, and make sure his face at least looked like he’d cried less than two and a half times that day. When he returned to the kitchen, he slipped Robin’s beret over her head while her hands were busy in the soapy water.

“Thank you very much for returning this incredibly fashion-forward piece to me, good sir.” she tutted in a hoity-toity tone.

He nodded and jumped up to sit on the counter next to her,“ ’Course I would. But, for the record, couldn’t find your shirt, Rob.”

“What?” she asked as her hands stilled, setting down the plate she’d been scrubbing.

“Your shirt. Well, not the black undershirt. Got that one. But your, like,” Steve motioned around himself as he described it,” … tan button-up - that you never actually button up - with the black leaves, that you wore over the other shirt? Couldn’t find it.”

“How could you not find it?” she questioned.

“I don’t know, dude.” he shrugged to her and leaned back on his hands,” I checked the whole thing, wasn't there.”

“Ugh, fine. I’ll double-check my stuff at home, but I’m telling you I didn’t grab it before we went back into the emergency room.”

“I’m not accusing you of that. Just saying, I swear I looked under and over every inch of that thing, Rob, but it wasn’t there-”

“Hey, hey, Harrington,” Argyle quipped in from where he was preheating the oven,” No distracting my staff. Suds up with her and get those dishes clean.”

“I got to work too?”

“Unless you want to have to wash up from prep along with all the serving dishes later tonight.”

Steve hung his head with a disappointed groan.

“Ándale, ándale, ándale, man!” Argyle snapped his fingers at him until he got back on the floor.

“Alright, geez,” he mumbled, rolling up his sleeves and taking his place next to Robin,” When did he go mad with power?”

Robin dropped her voice and whispered back,“ I think it was somewhere around the time when Nancy decided she needed someone who actually knew what they were doing in here. She gave him authority, and now he’s got a wicked taste for it.”

“You two talkin’ some shmack over there?” Argyle called back over to them, squinting his eyes with mistrust.

“Absolutely not. Not us. We’d never do that.” Steve promised while Robin tried to bite back giggles.

“You’re such a liar,” she smacked his arm.

Steve smiled to himself and bumped her hip with his,“ Maybe.”

Eventually, they had a whole spread ready. Beef and chicken were in the oven at a low temp to stay hot. There were about a dozen different ingredients in the fridge. The table was set with plates, glasses, a bag of chips waiting to be opened, and even some decorative table candles they dug out of a back closet. All that was left to do, was to wait for their company to join them.

So Nancy decided it was time to get to a bit of business.

She pulled a notebook and pen out of her bag and said,“ Alright, first thing first, we need everyone’s favorite songs. Don’t want to get caught like we have before, so we’ll make sure everyone’s got their own tape with them at all times, just in case shit hits the fan suddenly.”

“What kind of favorite are we talking about here?” Argyle asked,” Like all-time favorite? Favorite right now? Favorite for a reason or favorite just because?”

Robin started to explain,“ Doesn’t really matter what kind of favorite. And it doesn’t even really need to be a favorite-favorite if you can’t pick one. The important part is that it means something to you. The music is going to reach a part of your brain that Vecna can’t block you out of. So you’ll want one that’ll put you in a good mood, make you feel better, remind you of a better time, or - if worse comes to worst - show you why you want to live even if he tries to back you into a corner.”

“I’d recommend we all have a mix with a few of our favorites, to be safe. But we also need a list of everyone’s best guesses at their ‘savior song’. Just in case something happens and someone needs to play it for you,” Nancy added.

Argyle shrugged and then answered,“ Then it's ‘Break My Stride’ for me. Can’t sing along to that song and not smile, you know?”

“Alright,” Nancy confirmed and jotted it down on the paper.

Jonathan gave his next,“ ’Should I Stay or Should I Go’. The Clash.”

But then Argyle turned to him and began to ask,” You sure, buddy? Cuz you’ve been listening to a lot of Joy Division. You know? ‘Love Will Tea-’”

“You’ve been listening to a lot of ‘Pass the Dutchie’. Don’t see me refusing your answer."

“Alright. Just checking.”

Nancy looked to the next one,“ Steve?”

There was a barely noticeable pause before he told her,“ ’Everybody Wants to Rule The World’. Tears for Fears."

But just as Nancy was starting to write it down, Robin jumped in,” No, it’s not.”

Steve looked back at her - eyes just like the ones she pointed at him when he met Vickie for the firm time - and he muttered back,” Yes. It is.”

”What is it with you boys and lying about music? This is serious.” she pushed.

”I love that song,” he argued.

”Yeah. I mean, I’d bet it’s probably in your top five,” Robin gave him,” But it is not your favorite, that one I know for sure.”

“What’s the real answer, Steve?” Nancy asked.

Steve kept his eyes locked on Robin as he claimed,“ ‘Somebody to Love’ by Queen.”

Robin narrowed hers in response,“ Also not it. But you’re getting warmer."

"Steve, what about 'friends don't lie'?" Dustin questioned him from the side.

"That's your thing with the other runts. I'm not a part of it."

Robin raised a brow and threatened," Well? You going to say what it really is, or am I?”

”Shut up, Robin.” he warned.

“I’ll say it if I have to, bud. We’re talking about saving your life here.”

“I’ll say yours.” Steve countered, using the only real leverage he could think of at the moment.

“It’s ‘Dancing Queen’ by Abba. Want me to share why, too? Sure. It's because it’s a super fun song, and I’ve been listening to it since I was like ten waiting impatiently to turn seventeen. And, now that I finally am, I’ve been playing it almost non-stop. Easy.” Robin answered without hesitation,“ So, you going to be honest or…?”

“Robin…”

”It’s ‘Holding Out for a Hero’,” she disclosed,” Bonnie Tyler.”

And all eyes were on Steve, wide in surprise as he tried to deny it,” She’s lying-”

”Am I? Because you have both the Footloose soundtrack and her single on vinyl. And, remind me again, how many times have you put it on a mixtape? Because, I know you have it on one you keep in your room and on another one in your car, but I feel like there were more, right?”

”That’s not true.”

”Steve,” Dustin cooed to him,” You have that much Bonnie in your room, right now?”

“There’s way more Bonnie than that, bud.” Robin shifted.

And Steve knew that look in Dustin’s eye, the sparkle gleaming with mischief, knew that meant the kid was going to collect the evidence of Robin’s testimony,” Henderson, I swear to God-”

”Hold him down, Lucas!” Dustin yelled as he got to his feet and started going up the stairs to Steve’s bedroom.

And Lucas did as he was asked. He lunged to tackle Steve into the couch while Mike piled on top to help him. Then there were Will and El and Erica and - seriously? How is it fair for five of these little assholes to pin him down like this when all he wants to do is protect his honor?

“Henderson, I’m going to kill you!” he called from the living room as he writhed around, trying to get out from under his captors.

And then Dustin was posed at the bottom of the stairs, the seven-inch disc displayed proudly in his hands,” Bonnie Tyler. ‘Holding Out for a Hero’. And it was the very first song on the mix I found. And I spotted her whole Faster Than the Speed of Night album. Wow, Steve.”

The man went slack under the weight of the other kids now that he’d been caught red-handed,” It’s a good song, man… Bonnie’s talented, alright…”

“Wasn’t gonna argue with you on that, Steve. You’re the one who made a big fuss about it.” Robin said, poking his burning cheek as the children started clambering off him.

“Shut up. Is it someone else’s turn yet?” he grumbled and swatted away her hand,” Why don’t you go, Dustin?”

“It's ’NeverEnding Story’. Pretty sure we all could’ve guessed that - except for the new guy - since it’s Suzie and me’s song.”

Steve rolled his eyes,“ Whatever,” while Nancy moved on.

“Mike? No, don’t tell me, it’s one of the new rock ones you’re borrowing from your nerd superstar. Right?”

Mike shot her a sharp expression, “ ‘Highway to Hell’ off of the AC/DC tape.”

“And is that actually your favorite or just the loudest, coolest sounding one you could think of right now?” she asked him, eyebrows raised like she didn’t trust him.

"It’s the truth," he asserted before looking over at Steve and practically sneering,” Because I'm actually secure in my music taste.”

“I told you to behave.” Nancy quickly scolded,” Alright, El?”

She nodded and told her,“ ‘Angel’ by Madonna.”

She didn’t say why. But it was because she could still hear Max’s voice sing alongside Madonna from their sleepover last year. And she’d needed to cling to that when she was all the way in California, feeling so alone. But she especially needed to cling to it now. It was what she was fighting for. Not just herself, or the world, she was fighting to get Max back.

“And Will?”

Will fidgeted for a second before telling her,“ ‘Boy’s Don’t Cry’ by The Cure,” really hoping nobody’s listened to it nearly as much as he had. He got why Steve had been so hesitant to admit his favorite. It felt so… exposing when the song hit emotionally close to home.

But Nancy didn’t spare another thought,“ Lucas?”

“Uh, yeah, ’Only You’ by Yazoo,” he answered quickly. He had a lot of songs he really liked. Even had more than a few that made him think about Max. But ‘Only You’ was the one he’d been caught on the most recently.

“Erica?”

“Katrina & The Waves’ ‘Walkin’ on Sunshine’.”

Her answer might’ve been a bit more surface level like Argyle’s. It was a fun, bopping song she liked to sing along to. Not everything needed to be some big piece on a person’s emotional state. Sometimes songs are just songs.

Nancy nodded and finished writing it down,“ And, I guess mine’s ‘Take My Breath Away’ by Berlin. So with that, we should all be set, just in case. Tomorrow we can start shopping for anything that we need, and we can make sure we’re ready for whatever happens from this point further.”

They all agreed on the plan and turned on the tv, popping in the Mary Poppins VHS while Steve moaned about Robin just giving away all of his carefully guarded secrets. But at the end of the day, Mary Poppins might just be his favorite movie, so he doesn’t complain much when it starts up.

Robin had asked him about it once. About why he loved this one specifically so much. In all honesty, he always kind of wished for a nanny like her. Miss Mary Poppins. 'Practically perfect in every way'. A woman who just showed up one day and never let Mr. Banks tell her off from trying to raise the kids right. Insisted on making sure they had fun and got to decide that they didn’t care about their father’s job. Fuck investments, it was better to feed the birds. And, in the end, it was because of Mary Poppins being in their lives that he looked at his kids, actually looked at them, and decided to take them kite-flying in the park.

Yeah, he used to dream about someone being able to make his dad do something like that.

And he wasn’t really mad that Robin spilled the beans on his secret Christmas tradition. He’s come to notice that Robin doesn’t just talk a lot in general, she talks a lot about stuff she likes. Steve being something she likes makes him feel like a pretty good friend. Which matters a lot to him, whether or not he’ll say so that often.

He also knows that Robin isn’t casually throwing around the real sensitive stuff. She doesn’t talk to the others about the stuff he tells her late at night when it’s like they’ve got the only light left on in the world. Doesn’t tell people why he likes Mary Poppins and hates answering the home phone. She keeps those conversations to herself. Tucked safely behind her ribs and right next to her heart.

But she’s sharing the little ones. Passing out small pieces of him. Because he needs to let people back in again, and she knows it.

He closed himself off a bit too much after Nancy. At least from people his own age. It was easier with the kids because they needed him. But Steve got beaten, burned, and left behind his senior year in a lot of different ways. He hasn’t been letting himself be vulnerable with people he used to consider his peers.

So Robin helps out. Blabs just enough that he has to be flexible. To bring everyone else just a little closer to knowing Steve Harrington.

And Steve knows she’s doing it. And he’s grateful because she makes it so much easier.

Just about an hour into the movie, though, the home phone started ringing. It was probably Joyce, but just in case it was his parents again, Steve ran to get it while the others kept watching.

Hoping it was Joyce made it easier to pick up.

“Steve Harrington,” he greeted.

“Hi, Steve! It’s Joyce,” her voice answered,” We just landed in Madison and are about to head on over to baggage claim. We’ve got quite a few suitcases, so if you kids send over our ride now, they might still get here before we’re free.”

“Sounds good. Your kids are finishing a movie, but I imagine they’ll be racing to meet you there within the minute anyway. You and Murray looking forward to being squished in the back seat around one of ‘em?” he wondered with a light chuckle.

“Yeah- about that… We will need three seats.”

“You and Murray been eating that much since last summer?” he asked.

“No, no. Just um- can’t really say why over the phone, but we’ll need plenty of room.”

Which certainly added to that suspicion Steve’s been harboring since her first call,“ Okay? I’ll let ‘em know and they’ll be on the way.”

“Alright, see you all in a bit. You kids better be excited, because we do kinda have a surprise.”

“A surprise? Don’t you think we’ve had enough of those?”

“Just trust me. It’s a good one.”

“Alright, Joyce. We’ll see about that.”

Nancy had already said she’d give Jonathan the keys to the station wagon since it’d have the most space for everything. So, by the time Steve was hanging up the phone, all three Byers kids were getting ready to put on shoes and head out the door.

“They’re all good?” Jonathan asked him.

“Yeah, yeah, they got to Madison just fine. Uh- but your mom said they’d need three seats.”

“She did?”

“Yeah. Didn’t really explain, but said there was some surprise and they’d need the room.”

“Okay? Um…” Jonathan looked between Will and El. If he could just send the two of them to see their mom first, he would. But he had to drive.

“You two go,” El said quickly.

“El-” Will tried to argue with her.

“No. It’s okay. I want to finish the movie. Go on and I’ll hug Ms. Joyce when you get back.”

“Okay. We’ll be back soon. Like, an hour, tops.” Will promised her.

“Sounds good.” she squeezed his hand and returned to the living room, jumping back into the couch right next to Robin.

Steve handed Jonathan one of the walkies and a spare house key,” Call us if you need anything.”

“Yeah. Let’s get going,” Jonathan clapped Will on the shoulders and led them through the door.

And then the brothers found themselves alone together for the first time in a while. For the first time since they talked in that pizza shop about being there for each other. And Will… ever since then, he’s started wondering if he should keep an eye out for a chance to… talk about something else. Something important.

“So, your favorite song’s still 'Should I Stay or Should I Go'?” he started, feeling like he needed to warm up the conversation somehow.

“Well,” Jonathan tossed the comment around a beat before deciding,” Not exactly ‘still’. It was my favorite a few years ago, back when I played it for you that one time. And then I liked other stuff, had other favorites. But, uh, I guess ever since - you know - everything happened, it just makes me think about you. About getting you back. So I’m pretty grateful for it.”

“Oh.” Will nodded understandingly, but his voice was a little gone. Like his head was off somewhere else as he glanced out the window to the dark city of Hawkins flying by.

“You not all that into it anymore?” the older brother guessed, sparing a glance at him.

“No.” Will answered honestly, before realizing that was kind of harsh to say about his brother’s favorite song, and backtracked to explain,“ I mean, I liked it too. For a while. Made me think about you, too. But, uh, can’t really listen to it much now without thinking about… almost not coming back. Being trapped under him and barely able to move my fingers, hearing the phone ring, and knowing I put you in danger by being… so… yeah, it's not really my favorite anymore. Sorry.”

“Hey, that’s okay,” Jonathan corrected,” You’re growing up. Your tastes would change even without something like that happening. And I’m not gonna hold a grudge over a song just cause I assumed you liked it still. It’s all good.”

“Yeah. Of course.” he gave a weak laugh to himself and looked down at his hands in his lap.

A silence came up between them while Cyndi Lauper sang through the radio. 'Time After Time'. The song that was playing at the Snow Dance while Will danced with a girl for the first time. When he started becoming sure about something. He picked at the skin around his nails. Worrying himself tense about how exactly he was supposed to go about… what he wanted to go about.

“Jonathan?” he finally asked.

“Yeah?”

“What if…” he bit his lip for a second,” you assumed other things wrong about me?”

And Jonathan could hear the tone in it. Knew that he needed to be serious and careful with exactly what he said. Because he didn’t want to scare Will off. Never wanted Will to be scared to tell him anything, especially the kind of thing he was expecting.

He needed to make sure his little brother knew that Jonathan would be on his side no matter what.

“Then, I guess, I’d just need to figure out I was wrong. And after I knew better, I’d just be happy you shared the news with me.”

“Even if it was something really big. Even if it was bad or- or wrong?” his voice cracked while he kept his vision trained on his fingers. Squeezing them together and doing everything in his power to not look at Jonathan. Because he was terrified… just in case. And then Jonathan’s hand snuck into his gaze anyway. Letting go of the wheel to reach over and wrap his hand around Will’s.

“There could never be anything wrong with you.”

And Jonathan said it like it was the only thing he’d ever been so sure about in his life.

"You’re my brother. No matter what, I’m going to be right here for you. Even if it’s something big. Even if… if it’s something that some people might think is wrong. I wouldn’t think that,” and then Jonathan turned to look at Will for a moment, his brother already glimpsing at him with misty eyes,” And the two of us? We’d be okay.”

Will dared to put Jonathan’s hand between his. He was so scared to believe it. Scared to break Jonathan’s love for him. Scared to tell him something that would make him recoil in disgust and never look at him the same way.

“We would?” he asked, begging for a sign to stop if he was going to ruin them.

Jonathan had to return his eyes to the road, but he said, just as surely,“ Yeah, we would. I promise.”

And, as scared as he was to trust him, Will found it in himself to ask it anyway,” Even if- even if I…” the tear fell before he finished,”… liked boys?”

But Jonathan didn’t pull his hand away. Didn’t recoil from him. Didn’t even hesitate as he looked back over - with the same loving eyes he always held for his brother - and he simply swore to him,“ Absolutely.”

And a shaking smile opened up across Will’s face, his eyebrows creasing together with hope as more tears began to trail down his cheek, and he squeaked out,“ Yeah?”

“Yes.” Jonathan turned back to look at him and squeezed his hand,” I love you, Will. And if you’re gay, then I love that about you.”

“Okay,” Will nodded, seemly to finally really believe that it was happening. He told someone, and it didn’t break everything. He wiped at his eyes as Jonathan continued.

“And if anything ever happens. If someone ever gives you shit about it, or even if you want to talk about guys or something, you can always come to me about it. You don’t have to keep me out of this part of your life because some idiots are assholes about this kind of stuff.”

“Okay,” he said again, laughing a little at the thought of running to his brother about crushes on boys. But he could really see it. His amazing brother, who just kept lifting all this weight off his shoulders, wanted to hear about his little love life. Assuring him over and over again with every word that it was real.

“You know I’m going to hug you ridiculously tight when I park this car, right?”

Will shook his head out, hoping all his crying was over with,“ Was kinda hoping you would.”

“Good.” he smiled, regretfully having to take his hand back for the big turn on the highway.

Then Will added,“ Can we not… tell anyone else, though? Not yet?”

“Of course. You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. And I won’t, for that matter. But, for the record, I’m pretty sure everyone would be cool with it if you did. I think you picked a pretty good batch of friends.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Thank you. For telling me. I really am glad I get to know you a little better now. You know you’re my favorite person.”

“Stooop,” Will groaned and turned over in the seat to look back out the window with a weak laugh, wiping furiously at his eyes again,” I don’t want mom to ask why I’m crying. She’s gonna have a heart attack.”

“Fine. I’m still going to give you that hug, though. If you end up a snotty mess, that’s on you.”

Will huffed and rolled his eyes,“ Deal.”

Will changed the radio station and turned up the music, now with that heavy secret no longer his alone to carry, and ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ was playing at just that moment. So they let the Simple Minds take them away as they continued toward Madison. Where Jonathan indeed pulled his younger brother into his arms and held him there with everything he had until Will reminded them that they should probably head in to help the grown-ups load up the car.

And when they found their mom at the baggage claim... When they saw her with not only Murray at her side but Jim Hopper on the other… it was beyond anything they could’ve possibly expected to see.

Joyce ran over to them and wrapped her boys in an embrace while Will commented over her shoulder,” Some trip to Alaska.”

“Yeah. It really was. That’s the surprise, which we can explain more about later, but are you both alright? Is El?” she worried over her boys, just as anyone could’ve guessed she’d do. Wiping hair out of their faces so she could look them over herself.

“We’re okay.” Jonathan excused,” But how- how is he-?”

“It’s a long story. One we couldn’t say over the phone given how many times they’ve been bugged, and since- well, Doctor Owens is... who even knows anymore. We wanted to tell you, but-”

“It’s okay. And we have a walkie in the car, so we can let them know on the way back. I mean- El’s going to be- This is just… a really good surprise for her right now.” Will smiled just imagining giving El her dad back.

“Is that everything?” Jonathan asked, eyes wide at the six bags piled up beside Jim, impatiently tapping his foot.

“There’s one more.” Murray answered,” And since we’re all waiting, would anyone care to explain why there was an emergency while we ran to pick up a lost American hero?”

“That’s also a long story.”

“Great. Just love those. Don’t you just love long, complicated stories about life-or-death emergencies, Jim?” Murray asked him as he propped an elbow on Hop’s shoulder and leaned over on him. The man looked tired, annoyed, just overall pretty bothered by all the time he’s spent cramped between Murray and Yuri in the helicopter flight over. And all the hours since when they've been so busy he hasn’t gotten any real peace.

He was irritated and ready to be somewhere with a bed that he can call home for the night, and Murray’s attitude wasn’t helping,” What I would love, would be a nap, a pair of earplugs, or to get going. So can we please get going?”

“Patience. We’re waiting on your daughter’s bag, after all. Honestly, if I knew you’d be this crabby when we brought you back home, I wouldn’t have gone with Joyce to get you.” Murray shook his head next to him.

“I’m loading the car,” he grumbled as he picked up his and Joyce’s bags from the mound.

“So, he hasn’t changed much,” Jonathan commented, stepping forward to grab the handle of his suitcase while Will did the same.

“No, he hasn’t,” his mother agreed with him.

“But he does look weird now,” Will mentioned,” What’s up with that?”

“It’s ‘cause he’s all skinny.” the other brother quipped.

“Okay, be nice. Things were a little crazy in ‘Alaska’, but-” Joyce’s eyes widened and she pointed at the conveyor belt,” Oh! Murray! There’s her suitcase!”

He quickly grabbed it and handed it over to her.

“Okay, now we can go,” she said as she took the bag and they all started heading out the doors,” Anyway, you think it’s not a good look for him?”

“No. It’s weird. Hop isn’t supposed to be skinny.” Will insisted.

“Well, I imagine we can fatten him back up now that we have him home again. Speaking of, none of us have eaten much all day. What’re the plans for dinner?”

“There’s a make-your-own-taco buffet thing waiting at Steve’s house,” Jonathan answered as they all passed their bags to Jim to pack in the back.

“Oh, thank god,” Hopper commented as he slammed the rear door of the station wagon. It might not be Enzo’s, but it was going to be the best meal he’s had in nearly a year. He started rounding for the driver’s seat and clapped his hands to get everyone to hurry up,“ Come on people, let’s go!”

“Hop. Breathe a second, we’ll be there in like thirty minutes.” Joyce tried to assure him, taking to the passenger seat herself while Murray and the boys tucked themselves in the back.

“Not even. I’m driving, and I’m speeding, and if anyone has a problem with it, or wants to pull me over, they’ll have to t-bone me,” he said as he turned the key.

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly what Nancy would like to hear you say while we borrow her car. Everyone’s buckled in, right?” she turned around to check.

“They better be.” He shot back as he peeled out of the airport parking lot,” And Nancy doesn’t have to know what I say about the only set of wheels I have to get me to my kid.”

They bickered a little bit more as the car sped down the road back home. But there was a certain… air about the way they were doing it. There was an unspoken fondness in it.

Will leaned over to Jonathan and whispered,“ Am I crazy, or is there something going on there?”

“I think there might be,” he answered.

“Oh, there absolutely is,” Murray added with a sure nod.

“Some business conference.” Will muttered to himself, impressed,” Go, Mom.”

#This update took longer than usual bc of all these songs #It's a fun side project I'm taking up. But holy shit is it taking a long time to put together. #And when I thought I was finally ready to publish I remembered that Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet album didn't come out until August '86 #I had to re-figure out Mike's songs bc my top 2 choices were off that album #Anyway #I got to do a bunch of character stuff I've been looking forward to! #The Argyle+Nancy team up! More ex-Catholic stuff for Robin! The ST Fic required fav song convo! Will's really sweet coming out! #And I got to push my 'Hoper was hotter when he was fat'? And I'm gonna make him fat again? #Oh it's a good day. #I'll get back to it. Because next chap - we're getting to that sweet sweet El and Hop reunion. And possibly another big return... 👀 #Have a good day and don't forget to check out the playlists if you're interested! ❤️ #Steve Harrington #Eddie Munson #Steddie #Steveddie #Steve x Eddie #Nancy Wheeler #Robin Buckney #Ronance #Robin x Nancy #The Fruity Four #Stranger Things #Stranger Things 4 #Stranger Things 4 spoilers #Stranger Things 4 volume 2 spoilers #stranger things fanfiction #ST4 fanfic #Steddie Fanfic #Ronance Fanfic

[bamboozled-distress]

The urge to draw my blorbo everytime i read a fic that makes them suffer is SO strong

#yes this is about Jason Todd #because like there’s this specific quote I saw in a fic and GOD i want to draw him so bad #i need to draw him sobbing his goddamn eyes out #i need to draw him screaming bloody murder and i need to draw him in pain #god i need to draw it so bad holy fucking shit im going to scream #if i don’t draw jason crying screaming throwing up in the next few hours someone’s gonna have to fucking sedate me #the batfam!!! #laz.exe

[mirobami]

KAKEGURUI TWIN TRAILER OMG OMG

#$...verona talks #i saw a glimpse of aoi mibumi #he is the biggest red flag and the biggest loser #however my favorite color is red /j #ALSO SACHIKO HOLY SHIT HELLO ??? HI ???? #THE LITTLE GLIMPSE OF KIRARIAFJAKFMAMFMAG #i think you all know how feral I'm gonna be when sachiko appears #same with aoi mibumi #expect for me to write an enemies to lovers fic with him /hj #BUT DO EXPECT ME TO WRITE FOR THESE GUYS ??? HELLO ??? THEY'RE SO FINE ???? #i screamed at the trailer ngl loved it #MIDARI WITH BOTH EYES ??? she's still crazy tho love that for her

[maldito-arbol]

Admittedly have only read the Three Gems part one but :O

while the themes/heavy topics aren't for me I cannot deny how good the writing is. Great at captivating and setting the scene. Genuinely amazing. I drew something to show appreciation and I hope it's alright

(also used your art as a reference hope it's ok/gen)

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP I LOVE HIM SO MUCH HOLY SHIT THANK YOU

ALSO THAT IS THE WORST CHAPTER TO START ON ARE YOU OKAY

#ask mal #yes my fanfic is absolutely Not for everyone but also I PROMISE the entire thing is not like that. WHEEZE holy shit. #a Heart POV chapter without ANY of the previous context is bound to be truly horrifying I applaud you for getting through it #most of the rest of my fic is sashannarcy fluff and angst and there actually IS comfort to the hurt but but but NOT THE HEART CHAP #and of course I LOVE this chap—it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever written—but also. it makes me want to throw up #i am legally obligated to apologize to everyone who has ever read it #i am so sorry here are some cookies 🍪 and milk 🥛 #but yeah clearly my fic’s ancestor trio is a lot;; Different from canon #WJH Barrel my beloved… he’s evil but he’s also my skrunkly #in about a thousand years he’s gonna possess a child and take over the world #Andrias is Currently rotting in a cell good for him #and the fun fact is that Leif went to the human world with the box and never came back. she is also dead however #i enjoy canon’s portrayal of The Core as all the Leviathan ancestors sure but think about the DRAMA if it was your best friend/first love #and you’re both evil but you both want to destroy each other #Leif didn’t need this toxicity in her life that’s why she left #but ANYWAY thank you for trying my fic it makes me happy :) #i can’t believe you didn’t run away screaming when you saw all the TWs #i need to not ramble in the tags every post #CMTO #art for me #(also using my art as reference is totally fine I know my designs are diff from canon) #(plus the blue lighting is great for portraying how much influence Andrias still has over Barrel)

[guav]

I'M ALLERGIC TO RINDOU HAITANI

#i dont even know his character someone send help #this is an official sos #SEND HELP!!!! #THESE ASKS ARE LOVELY BUT I AM SO INCREDIBLY STUPID HOLY SHIT! #I AM SO DUMB I DONT KNOW WHAT A RINDOU IS #one day someone is gonna find out i've never read the manga #BEHE4DED #i am gonna power through this mini fic and then go on rindou vacation #someone take him

[rxttenfish]

May be a little late, but, I've seen your au stuff floating around via following you for a bit now and don't know where to look to start, so I guess, if you're up for it as a distraction, would you give like, basically a beginners\introductory course into some of your fav parts of it?

no worries no worries!! if it helps, there's not truly... a beginning, to it?

i first started making the redesign universe largely out of just messing around with miranda and the merkingdom. this is why it still largely focuses on them so much, and why merfolk have so much more figured out in comparison to everyone else. i liked miranda, and i didnt like how the fandom or even how canon was handling her, so i wanted to write her myself.

from there, i added in speculative evolution concepts, and changed her body plan over time, and slowly i ended up with what i have now.

the rest of the AU is basically just extrapolation from this. looking at the other characters, and rethinking over their designs. what would they actually look like. what would they actually behave like. what would their society have to look like, their culture, their personal lives. how could you tie all of it together, make them more monstrous, give them a bigger world to live within.

unfortunately, this means there's no good place to jump in - all of my information is scattered across various platforms and most artwork is already outdated, and even what i do have needs to be polished up so much before i start actually sharing it with people.

so there are several options for how to introduce it that i'm left with

the first is: this is an AU where i take the characters and setting of Monster Prom/Camp and tweak the designs to make more sense with biology and appear less humanoid, and retroactively add a lot of world building i feel was missing.

there's also: this is an AU that presents an alternate earth, where there were greater pressures for multiple different sapient species to evolve, alongside the existence of magic. travel by sea has been impossible for a long time, and while there are ships made for rivers and lakes, the various societies had to create planes and teleportation magic to be able to cross the ocean. the merkingdom is a very old, very powerful society, that is only now beginning to interact with the rest of the world and make beginning introductions, and miranda was sent up to land as both an ambassador for the merkingdom and as a subtle power move and threat.

there's also: this is an AU that discusses empire and abuse and recovery, how to reconcile all the opposing parts of a single personality, how to form an identity when that has been denied of you for all of your life and when it is something that has been forbidden of you, the vast mental gap in even the most closely related species, the chronic inability to understand the world from someone else's eyes, the failure of authority and the cycle of abuse, how to learn to heal, how to become a better person, how to forgive yourself, how do you live within your own body, how do you balance a world that was not made for you and hurts you by design but lets you feel love and safety with a world that was made with you in mind but wants to eat you whole, how can you understand other people's bodies, how do you actually and truly navigate a relationship, a friendship, a family, between different people, different species, different worlds.

there's also: this is an AU where the exact events of monster prom occur, except that they look a little different.

there's also: this is an AU where nothing happens as it does or as it did, and people are more monstrous and more human and you never know if you are talking to a person or a predator.

and there's also: this is my fun sandbox setting AU where i get to fuck around with spec evo and slap it on the MonProm setting.

#asks #all the care guide says is 'biomass' #samsonstone #monster prom reanimated #Monster Prom: Reanimated #im so sorry this is SO vague #and that kinda shows where im at rn #i still have yet to figure out a good way to introduce whats going on because theres SO MUCH actually within it that im tinkering with rn #which may like. fundamentally alter the outcome of this project as i go further into it. #like figuring out wtf i wanna do with liam here because right now he is VERY underdeveloped #i have a general idea for vampires. but i am putting him specifically off #and it might get REALLY funky from there #there's also the question of how i want to balance the violence and horror elements and that is gonna be a REALLY important tone thing #that i have been putting off because. holy shit thats a lot that hinges on that. #if you go through those mpr tags tho then you should get. a decent enough chunk of the ongoing lore at least. #if not the plot because HOOOO i am not sure how much i want to place down here #which is funny because the fic im writing has everything to do with that

[fxllfaiiry]

❥ It's so sweet, knowing that you love me

★ pairing: miguel o'hara x fem!reader

★ summary: miguel knows you're pregnant, the only problem is he doesn't know how to to tell you. ─ or the time miguel found out before you.

★ warnings: fluff!! usage of many pet names, angst if you squint, miguel being a simp for his wife, pregnancy stuff, swearing, some shitty humor.

★ notes: there aren't enough dad and husband miguel fics out there so i had to write this!! icon credits: @/natashowlet

Miguel knew something was off, he’s known for days.

You’ve recently been throwing up, having odd cravings and random mood swings. At first, he thought you might be sick, you thought the same thing but now he knows it's not that. You were definitely pregnant. Everything adds up, and all of it made sense, then again he could be totally wrong. 

He made up his mind to try and talk to you once you returned home, he would surprise you with a romantic dinner and bring up the subject. He had about an hour to prepare everything. 

Well, that's what he thought, the second he got up to start preparing, you waltzed in through the door. 

“Mi Amor, I’m home.” Why are you home this early? He wanted to surprise you. 

“Mami, why are you home so early?” He says pulling you into a bear hug, usually, he would squish you completely but right now he wasn't sure that’d be the best idea. 

“What, aren't you happy to see me?” You chuckle. 

“No, no I'm really happy, I was just gonna cook you a surprise dinner that's all,”  he replies bashfully

“Aw, that's so sweet.” You threw your arms around him, placing kisses wherever you could reach. “I have the best husband ever.” 

“And I have the most amazing wife, now come on let’s go make something to eat.” He scoops you up in his arms and carries you bridal style towards the kitchen. He desperately wants to bring up the topic of you possibly being pregnant but now was not the best time, he didn't want to ruin the moment. 

This conversation could wait till tomorrow, right now he just wanted to enjoy some time with his wife.  

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

“Good night, Miggy.” His head was buried into your neck, his arms were secured somewhat tightly around your belly, and your smaller hands were coving his bigger ones. 

He thought about bringing up the topic right now but quickly scratched off that idea.

He was so tired from the day's activities, he could fall asleep instantly.

He could hear you slowly drifting off, your breathing calming him down and lulling him into slumber... well almost. 

Just as he was on the verge of falling asleep he heard something ─ or rather someone. 

He could hear another heartbeat. Coming right from you. He thought he was going crazy at first, but the closer he listened, the clearer it got. He was right, you were pregnant.

Holy shit. You were pregnant. He was going to be a dad. 

In all this, it occurs to him that you didn't even know yet, he would have to tell you tomorrow no matter what.

He’s so happy. He finally has another chance, he won't mess up this time. He would do anything to protect you both.

But what if you didn't want kids just yet? The topic of kids has come up before and you both want them, but what if you changed your mind? There were so many things that could go wrong but Miguel tried to push all the negative thoughts away and focused on falling asleep. 

He slept like a baby that night. 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── 

“So, honey, I was hoping to talk to you about something.” He avoided having the conversation all morning, now he needed to tell you. 

“What is it, Miggy?” You sit down looking at him expectantly. You could see that he was nervous, it was obvious by the way he was acting. “Is everything okay?” 

“Yes, everything is fine, mi corazón, don't worry.” How should he start? Should he just jump straight into it or start off slow? He should have thought about this before, well no time to do that now. 

He took a deep breath and it all came rushing out “I think, actually no, I know that you’re pregnant.”  

Silence. You were too stunned to speak. 

“Excuse me?” There was pure shock written all over your face, he would’ve laughed if the situation was different. 

“I heard 2 heartbeats last night, one was yours and the other one was -”

“Are you sure? I mean are you 100% sure? Maybe you heard something else?” You didn't want to get your hopes up just yet, you always wanted a baby with Miguel but if this turned out to be a false alarm you would be a little crushed. 

“I’m 9.99% sure. Bebé, if you want we can get a pregnancy test done?”

“Yeah okay, let’s do it.” 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

An hour later both of you stood in the bathroom. Three minutes felt like hours right now. 

You might be pregnant. This isn't some crazy dream.

“Bebé, if you don’t want to keep the baby I absolutely respect tha-” He’s still not sure if you’re happy with this or not. He was worried he messed up in some way. 

“No, I want to keep the baby but I just don't want to get my hopes up just yet. I definitely want to have a baby with you.” You wrap your arms around him, his scent calmed you down. You were going to be okay. 

“I want to have a baby with you too,” he whispers. 

You lean up to give him a kiss, your hands gently coming up to stoke his cheeks. Miguel pulled back and mutters, “I love you.”  

“Love you too.” A moment later you both heard the timer going off. This was it. 

You slowly step forward picking up the stick and turning it around. 

Positive. You were pregnant. 

“Well, what does it say?” This whole thing is making him feel so anxious. 

“We’re having a baby.” His wife is carrying his baby, this is real, he isn't dreaming. 

“I knew it! I was right.” He pulls you off the ground and into a hug, placing kisses all over your face while muttering small “thank you’s” and “I love you’s” 

“I can't believe we’re gonna have a mini O’Hara running around soon,” you giggle kissing his jawline. 

“She’s going to be just like her mother. ” Knowing a mix of you and him was going to be here soon made him feel content. 

“How do you know they're gonna be a girl, hm?” 

“Just… a small feeling.” His small feeling would be proven right 9 months later.

#📂 ‧₊˚ my works .ᐟ #miguel o'hara #miguel o'hara x reader #spiderman across the spiderverse #across the spiderverse #spiderman atsv #spiderman x reader #spiderman #spiderman 2099 #spiderman 2099 x reader #oscar isaac x reader #oscar isaac #miguel o'hara x you #miguel o'hara angst

[kurusick]

♡sugar.

NSFW!mike schmidt imagines

tags- NSFW, edging, whimpering, breeding/domestication, Mike being a munch..

an: you guys ate up that fic holy shit… mike imagines to soothe the brain until my next big post 😈

★☆☆☆☆ ★☆☆☆☆ ★☆☆☆☆ ★☆☆☆☆

★☆☆☆☆ ★☆☆☆☆ ★☆☆☆☆ ★☆☆☆☆

mike is definitely loud during sex. Wether hes fucking into you in doggy, hands grabbing at your ass and spreading so he can watch his cock disappear inside your warm cunt.. or he’s sprawled out on the bed, you bouncing up and down on his cock, hands on his shoulders to steady yourself as you hear the pleas and whimpers spewing from his mouth.

“God fuck please.. I’ll be a good boy.. mmfh.. god you’re so warm and wet and god.. your tight f-fuckkkk..”

one of mikes big turn ons in bed is domestication.. he loves the thought of you pregnant.. especially seeing how you interact with abby. You’re so sweet and loving to her and god it makes him feral. whenever you’re both home and abbys asleep, mike takes you into the bedroom and fucks you full of his cum, making sure every last drop is stuffed into your tight cunt. even if you’re on the pill, the thought you could get pregnant makes him even more turned on.

“gonna stuff this pussy full of my cum yea? stuff it so far into your womb not even a drop comes out. make you a mom since you love abby so f-uucking much.”

THIS MAN EATS PUSSY!!! ALL OF IT!! this man is a pussy muncher!! he will gobble you up after a long day of work, tongue fucking you and watching you squirm. he loves to hear the lust filled sighs you let out, holding the back of his head, hands threaded through his hair while you push your cunt further into his face. Mikes eyes are on you the entire time, soaking up your facial expressions. if you close your eyes, he will make you look at him. If you don’t, he will edge you until you do.

“Baby look at me.” he licks a long stripe up from your sopping hole to ur clit, sucking on it. your eyes stay glued shut until he pulls back, breathing hot breath onto your cunt. you whimper, fluttering you pretty eyes open. He smiles, letting you grab his hair to push him back onto your throbbing clit. “There’s my girl.”

★☆☆☆☆ ★☆☆☆☆ ★☆☆☆☆ ★☆☆☆☆

#mike schmidt imagine #mike schmidt #mike schmidt x reader #fnaf movie #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #josh hutcherson #x reader #mike schmidt fnaf #smut