#i miss ONE semi-final and chaos happens

[sanishine]

why is romania singing in spanish and english i’m confused

#eurovision #esc 2022 #i miss ONE semi-final and chaos happens

[uglypastels]

Not Wholly Evil |X| pirate!Eddie au

a/n here it is. the final chapter. I am so excited to share it with you all, just as much as it pains me that it actually is coming to an end. I've worked on this story for almost a year, and it had been a risk I had no idea how it would play out, but seeing how much everyone has enjoyed this story and supported me in my little experiment really made all the days I say in front of my computer screaming worth it <3 thank you all so so much for trusting the process

Series Masterlist

word count: 14.3k

"semi dark fic" - READ the warnings:. (gun/sword)violence. blood. mention of severe wounds. minor character death. allusions to suicide. kidnapping. imprisonment. alcohol. open and deep sea. near-death experiences. hanging. men are pigs: implied mentions of past abusive experiences [of background characters]. malnourishment and weight loss. paranoia. mention of poisoning. abuse. manhandling. lying. prison. capital punishment.

there will be several mentions of other ST characters in this chapter, and some instances might not be the most favourable of portrayals, but this is not to indicate my opinion on them. I am simply intertwining universes. there is also a name spelled differently than in the shows and that's just for the sake of the setting.

Chapter 10: Lock and Key

“Some pirates achieved immortality by great deeds of cruelty or derring-do. Some achieved immortality by amassing great wealth. But the captain had long ago decided that he would, on the whole, prefer to achieve immortality by not dying.” ― Terry Pratchett, The Color of Magic

Everything went into chaos, happening so quickly that you genuinely got the sensation of being frozen in time and space, just letting everything around you go by, unable to intervene. Your mind could not work at that speed to understand everything that was happening, too far down into a shock to catch up. But when you finally did, you screamed. 

‘No, father, no.’ You tried to push yourself away from him, but his grip was too firm. Even if you had, the chances of getting past the barricade of armed bodies to Eddie was impossible. ‘You can’t do that!’ you trashed around in his arms like a wild fish out of water. 

All your father did was pull you closer, further away from Eddie, who you could just make out from between the uniforms and bayonets. The glimpses you got of his face showed a stoic expression. He wasn’t even trying to fight it. The last thing you saw before you were turned around and practically handed over to someone was the chains on his wrists. 

‘Take her away from here,’ your father told his closest guard, ‘she’s hysteric.’ And perhaps you were, as you kept screaming at them to let go of you. The pleas quieted down the further from the harbour you got, changing into silent sobs by the time you reached the gardens of your home.

‘It’s alright, miss,’ the guard tried to calm you as best as possible. ‘You’re safe now.’ 

The pearly white building towered over you as you entered its shadows, and as soon as you did, you saw almost the entirety of the house staff standing in the main hall, awaiting you. Their faces blurred with their welcoming greetings and sweet words of comfort. A woman took you from the guard, immediately guiding you up the stairs, mumbling something to him and shouting about to the rest of the people around. You could not place any name to her face, and having always been quite good with remembering people, you could only assume she had been a new addition to the staff since you had last been home. Looking over everyone around you, most of them must have been. 

That’s right. Your father had always been keen on replacing the staff but usually had been around to witness it, take in the new batch from the beginning, and, most importantly, say goodbye to the old ones.

You wanted to protest at every corner you turned up to your room, but the group of maids that had accumulated around you was like a forcefield, unbreakable. One of them opened the large double doors that led to your room. There was barely any time for you to sink in the feeling of being back in it after so many weeks as you were pushed through another pair of doors. There, a bath had already been prepared, the water steaming hot. You let yourself be dragged to the centre of the room and mechanically put your arms up for the ladies to take your dress off. Had they always been this rough? 

They mumbled about the state of your dress to one another as if you weren’t even there, and in their defence, you weren’t. Your mind was miles away, barely aware of what was going on. The only thing that pulled you back into the room was the gasp of the women as your dress fell to the floor. You looked down at where all their eyes had locked in on. 

‘Did they do this to you, miss?’ One of them asked, pointing in fear at the scar on your ribs. It had gotten much smaller over the weeks, but compared to the rest of you, you could imagine how grotesque it might look to people like them. 

‘Uhm, no,’ you mumbled, ‘I tripped. On our ship.’ You barely recognised your voice as you spoke, too tired to put any emotion into them. The women looked at each other hesitantly before continuing on with their tasks. 

 You just about felt the hot water burn as they got you into the bath or poured it over your head to wash your hair. The scrub of the cloths over your limbs did practically nothing. All you could do was stare out ahead of you at the hawk engraved into the wood panelling on the wall across from you and how you had always seen it as a sign of comfort but now noticed how angry its eye looked. Staring directly at you at all times. You lulled your head slowly, trying to get it to look away, but it just followed you around until someone grabbed you by the side to stop you from twisting. 

‘Sorry, miss. Just trying to get out this knot.’ One of them said as she combed out your hair, tugging your entire head back against the edge of the bath. 

You had not even realised how much grime came with being on a boat full of pirates for weeks. Even though you had tried to wash yourself regularly, there was never enough fresh water. By the time the ladies were done, the water had gone cold, and your whole body was red and sore from the scrubbing.  You could barely feel your fingertips, but your nails were perfect again. 

Trembling, you got out of the bath and quickly were wrapped up in linen to soak up the water. Like any other day, they began to put your undergarments on, preparing you for a dress that you could not even think about the weight of, but no matter how many layers they put on you, you were still shivering.

Someone, you had no idea who, pulled a blanket over your shoulders and put a large cup of lemon tea into your hands. It used to be your favourite, but the sips tasted bitter no matter how much sugar you poured. You stood in the middle of the room, holding the cup and felt all their eyes on you, drinking your tea with a shaky hand. No matter how you held it or steadied your arms, the porcelain clinked together louder and louder until it smashed onto the ground, the hot liquid pooling around you. Before you could apologise, someone was on their knees cleaning it up. 

‘I am so sorry,’ you cried out, tears already threatening to return despite it being only a few minutes since they had dried up. With water pouring over your face and hair in the bath, the tears would have been washed away, but now there was nowhere to hide them.

‘No worries, miss,’ one of the maids said. She looked you up and down, a corset in her hands, clearly seeing a mess of a woman in front of her. ‘We should get you ready; there is a meal waiting downstairs and I am sure you’re famished.’

‘I am alright, I just want to—’ you wanted to disappear. Get out of everyone’s sight. You wanted to lock yourself in your room or run away, just be anywhere but here, surrounded by these strangers. You wanted Eddie. Where was he now? He must have been dragged into the dungeons. 

You pushed back the next load of tears that were breaking through.

‘Miss, we must insist.’ The maid said, somewhat concerned, and hesitated. ‘The food will do you good.’ And yet, the idea of eating now made you feel quite ill to the stomach.

‘I would really just like to be alone now.’ If you had more energy, your statement might have come out more pointed, giving you more edge over the staff. You would have fought them until you’d slam the door behind the last one, but instead, you let yourself be trapped into a dress—a beautiful green garment that the women were not shy to praise as they put it on you—and sent you off to the dining room.

Once, you would have walked these halls alone,  with your head held high and letting the steps of your heels announce your presence in any room, but now the clicking against the marble floors made you wince and the presence of the maids and guards following you certainly did not help to put your mind at rest. 

The dining table was set, filled from one end to the other with dishes, but you could barely stomach a spoonful. The same happened at dinner. You could not think of eating these extensive meals knowing that Eddie was kept locked up somewhere, most likely not given anything to eat since he had been arrested. Your mind was whirring with ideas, but each and everyone was immediately halted when you saw that there was nowhere in the house you could go without onlookers. The chances of you being allowed into the dungeons and speaking to him were close to zero. 

Having eaten exactly two bites from your plate, you excused yourself back to your room, where people were ready to get you out of your dress and into your nightgown. Once done, one of the maids was prepared to blow all the candles out, but you quickly stopped her. 

‘Wait,’ you called, ‘could you leave one on, please.’ 

The woman nodded and left one of the candles in the holder burning before leaving the room. You sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to catch your breath, but the room felt so stuffy—a ridiculous thought considering the room was bigger than Eddie’s quarters, possibly the double of it. The candle only gave light to its nearest surroundings, letting the rest of the space, and you with it, be eaten up by the night. It was overwhelming, together with the hot air swallowing you whole. As your chest tightened, you ran to the window, pushing it open. You greeted the cool night air with a sigh. 

Nights at home were never quiet, but unlike in Saint Claire, it was not drunken brawls that kept the shores alive but the rustle of waves and the chirping cicadas. The streets buzzed with the sounds of nature, illuminated in silver by the moon, now an almost complete sphere. 

You had always loved the view of your room, but now it felt more like a cruel joke as you could look out at the harbour and the gates of Star Port. It was like a million pinpricks stabbing into you. The Hellfire was nowhere to be seen. You didn’t expect anything less. With Eddie arrested, it would have been mad of the crew to stay behind, risking their own capture. 

Still, the feeling you got at the sight of the empty harbour sank deep into your stomach, not helping with how you had felt before opening the blinds, and when you closed them again, the room seemed to have grown in size. Large, cold, empty, with you standing in the middle staring at your bed. Sitting on it, let alone sleeping, was impossible. The second you touched the mattress, you were scared you’d sink straight through the cotton, and the sheer size of it…

You lay there for hours, deciding whether to curl up and make yourself as small as possible or to spread your arms out in a poor attempt at taking up some of the space meant only for you. Every time you moved, your hand would grab for the sheets, hoping that one of those times, you would feel more than air. If you opened your eyes, you would see him sleeping peacefully by your side. 

Most of your pillows had met the ground as you threw them in frustration.  You had spent years in this bed, perfectly fine, and only several days with Eddie. So, why were you feeling this profound loss over his absence besides you? It wasn’t fair. 

Eventually, you managed to fall to sleep, quite literally, as pure exhaustion tipped you over and made your head finally hit down. There were no dreams, nightmares or memories to haunt you, as you were awoken before any of them could take shape. Firm knocks on the door announced your maids, and they filled the room in their designated corners. 

‘Good morning, miss.’ They said chirpily as they got you dressed and ready for another day. All you replied with throughout the entire process was a mumbled ‘’morning,’ which you hoped could be blamed for having only been awake for a few minutes.

‘Breakfast will be served soon,’ you heard. The mention of food again twisted at your guts, but an idea began to bloom in your mind.

‘Will my father be there?’ He seldom dined with you, leaving you to eat your meals in the company of the staff, but you assumed he would want to see you after all these weeks.

‘I assume so,’ the woman brushing your hair said. You nodded curtly, as much as possible, when someone held on to your head. The prospect of speaking to your father face to face brought a new energy into your step. 

You walked out of that room determined and with your head held high, only to be disturbed by footsteps parallel to yours. Two pairs. At first, you thought it was a coincidence, and they just happened to be walking there, too, but they followed you down the hallway, around all the corners. By the time you reached the dining room doors, you had grown tired of it.

‘I am quite capable of walking on my own, thank you,’ you said, coming to an abrupt stop, making the two men behind you  ‘have done it all my life, in fact.’

‘Yes, of course, miss,’ said one of the guards who you bumped into at your sudden halt. ‘It is just—’

‘Just what?’ You crossed your arms.

‘Well, your father—’ he stopped speaking at the sight of your unimpressed, somewhat annoyed expression. He cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the confrontation. ‘We are here to protect you.’

‘From what exactly?’ This was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

‘From any danger, miss.’

‘I was not aware this house was so full of threats.’ You rolled your eyes. ‘I appreciate the efforts, gentlemen, but I doubt you will be needed.’

‘But your father, miss.’ The other man tried to argue, but you were not having any of it.

‘I will not be patrolled in my own home!’ You shouted, pushing the doors to the dining room open. Your father sat at the opposite end of the large table, fork mid-air to his mouth. ‘Father, this is absurd.’

‘I think it is perfectly reasonable to want to protect my daughter. What is absurd,’ much to your annoyance, he spoke in his usual collected and cool-toned manner. He waited to continue speaking until you sat at the table. ‘Is you being held hostage for weeks at the hands of some barbarians.’

‘They are not barbarians, Father,’ you ignored the hands that spooned food onto your plate. ‘They took rather good care of me, actually.’ You bit your cheek, trying not to think of the days you spent in a cage. But even considering that, you were aware of your fortune with the circumstances you had been put under. Many more people had encountered enemies at sea, and few had been able to return home and live to tell the tale… or the preferred version of events, at least. 

‘Is that why you look so sick and frail?’ he spoke bluntly, taking you back. ‘Because of how well they treated you?’

‘They did their best with what they had,’ you believed. It was your choice to starve yourself for the first days on board, refusing to eat anything they gave you. And you could hardly expect a feast such as you held in front of you now, every day in the middle of the deep waters. Even on board the Red Tail, the meals had been somewhat shoddy. ‘I just do not think that…’ you stopped yourself from using his name. ‘That man deserves to be in prison.’

‘Of course not.’ Your father took a bite. ‘He will be hanged for his crimes.’

‘W-what?’ Your fork clattered onto the ground. ‘Father, you cannot— I know he had tried to take money from you but—’ Murder and high treason. That is what he was arrested for. Had your father somehow found out about the Red Tail? But how could he… there were no survivors. 

No survivors. He killed them all. He had— 

‘Do you know who that man is?’ Something in your father’s voice sounded sharper, more pointed. 

‘I thought so,’ you hesitated. Yes, you had spent your days and most tender moments with him, but what did you know about Eddie Munson?

‘Then you should understand the severity of this situation.’ Only if you were to believe hearsay and talk of the people on the streets that shaped this image of a blood-thirsty monster that roamed the seven seas, killing everything in his path. It is what you believed him to be yourself until not very long ago until practically every fibre in your body had been proven wrong.

Or at least, God, you hoped you had been wrong.

Your father sighed, ‘I know it is difficult, after all you must have spent a lot of time with them on that ship, and I do not know what lies they had fed you, but these are serious matters that begun long before any of this and need to finally be taken care of.’

‘Well, explain it to me because I would like to know what is happening.’ 

At this, he scoffed. ‘All you need to know is that man is a dangerous criminal and should be treated as such.’ But then, what about everything Eddie had told you? What about all the pieces you had managed to gather of the crumbs he and everyone else left you? There was more to it all, and maybe you did not understand yet, but you would.

‘When?’ you plucked at your food on the plate, defeated, ‘when is the hanging?’

‘In four days.’ If you had been well enough to eat, you would have choked. You had barely come to terms with returning home, if at all, and now this. Prisoners were usually held for weeks before a date was set for an execution. They were clearly adamant about taking care of him quickly. 

For the sake of everyone else, you ate a bit of your breakfast, each bite sticking uncomfortably heavy in your throat.  After that, you got up without saying another word. The two guards who had walked in with you were on high alert again, ready to follow you, but stopped to look nervously at the governor when you glared at them. 

‘Let her go,’ he waved them off, ‘but keep an eye on her.’

You huffed out a breath and walked away. 

The rest of the day you spent walking around the town, mainly the alley of the market that led to one of the entrances to the dungeons. You had no idea why you were there, considering there was nothing you could do. Besides the fact you could clearly see the new set of guards appointed to follow you around the streets, they seemed utterly futile, considering all eyes in the street were on you. Every person there was highly aware of your presence. 

You used to walk around the market nearly daily, making polite chats with the salesmen as you bought fresh fruit to later eat at the shore or in the garden. Most people knew that you had decided to join the Red Tail on their voyage primarily because of your enthusiasm to finally leave the island and go on an adventure.

It must have taken quite some time, they would say in some form or another, to convince your father.

I can be quite persuasive when I have to be; you remember how proud you had felt. After months of begging everyone around you to let you go, promising them that you would be safe and careful and not get in the way of anyone, finally, they let you go. Under Admiral Carver’s watch, you spent weeks enjoying the breeze and the waves, awaiting what the rest of the world would bring.

The ship sailed for four weeks to another naval post. You did not know their exact business, nor did you care, as you now had a whole new land to explore. The city was larger and nothing like home. The people looked different and spoke an entirely different language, but you still managed to get around and on the market behind your house. It had been excellent and eye-opening, only making you more eager to see what else to discover. But unfortunately, there was only so little time, and before you knew it, you had to return home. You remember the last day. It had been raining, but it did not stop anyone from loading the new supplies. Somehow it seemed like much more needed to be brought on board for this half of the journey than the first. 

What’s in those barrels, you asked, but no one ever replied. They barely ever did. It wasn’t your place to ask questions in these matters. You were simply a passenger on the ship, verging on stowaway, spending your days in the quiet of your own room for the most part until…

It was the middle of the day, and the sun burned above you brightly, yet you shivered. You had always known to trust your father’s judgement and his decisions, but there was no possible way in which this was right. That this was how it would end.

The alleyway practically screamed at you for you to go and run in and get him out of there, but with so many people watching, it would be hopeless. The guards would get you before you had even reached the stairs. You would have to wait.

‘It’s good to see you again, miss.’ A voice pulled you out of your thoughts. It took you a few slow blinks to realise who it was.

‘Oh, you too, Mr Bowman.’ you smiled towards the merchant as he smiled at you through his bushy beard. He was sitting next to his table of… you were not sure what to call them. The man was quite the eccentric, and you had barely ever seen him actually make a sale on any of his products, but you doubted he was there for business anyway. ‘Have I missed much in the past months?’ You could always count on him for good stories about the townsfolk. The man had all his senses on sharp, constantly vigilant of everything around him. 

‘I think your return is the biggest news we’ve had in a while.’ He scratched his beard, ‘That, and well, the upcoming execution, of course.’

‘People already know?’ You blinked, not having expected that to be public knowledge yet. Then again, it is an event like no other. Preparations have to be made.

‘Edward the Banished gets arrested, and you expect people not to know?’ He laughed almost mockingly as he usually did, but you looked at him blankly.

‘The Banished?’ you had heard much about Eddie, but this name was new to your ears. 

‘Yes, ridiculous name, if you ask me,’ he waved it off, ‘Pure sensationalism as it rolls smoother on the tongue than deserter or runagate, quisling, traitor—’

‘I understand,’ you stopped him nervously. ‘But how did he get this name? What did he do?’

‘HA!’ he startled you with volume. ‘What didn’t he do, you should ask.’ This caused many of the other merchants around you to weigh in on the subject. 

‘I heard he abducted the governor’s daughter.’

‘That’s her. She’s right here.’

‘Oh. Well, he had attempted to assassinate the king of England!’

‘The Prince, you blockhead. And he did kill him!’

‘He has burned entire islands down. All over a game of cards.’

‘Stole an entire fleet and handed it over to the Spanish, just like that.’

‘He drinks the blood of his enemies!’

‘Sold his soul to the devil!’

Everyone looked at the old man that shouted this out. You were afraid to ask more questions, so let the others do this for you. ‘What do you mean, he sold his soul?’ 

‘He did! Did all those things to offer himself to Satan and do his dirty deeds here on earth. He is cursed to sail the seas in his wicked ship with the unrighteous crew for all eternity.’

‘Well, that eternity won’t last much longer.’ Someone commented, resulting in a chuckle around the street. Most of the people laughed, but you stayed quiet, your mind going back to Eddie, his body covered in unexplainable scars. The wind suddenly grew stronger.

‘I’m telling you,’ the man continued, ‘we won’t get rid of him yet! Not until Hell freezes over!’

‘Someone give the man a hat; he’s had too much sun,’ Mr Bowman called, rich coming from him, whose balding head was burning bright red. He then turned to you, shrugging as the rest had clearly proven his point. ‘And that is why I do not mess around with pirates, deary, no matter how charming they may seem.’

‘Excuse me?’ were the first words coming out of your mouth in the last few minutes, and you quickly regretted having them form into another question. 

‘I saw you two yesterday at the arrest.’ Of course, he had. Nothing around here ever escaped this man. He looked proud of himself for having witnessed the events. ‘It was quite dramatic, seeing lovers have to be broken apart like that.’

‘I think you might have had too much sun today,’ you tried to sound casual as you laughed it off. 

‘I am not here to judge,’ he said, putting his hands up in surrender, ‘simply to advise.’ 

‘Thank you, Mr Bowman.’ You smiled politely, ready to escape the conversation. You had been used to him often throwing around false and farfetched accusations, and even listening to this conversation, you knew it was nothing if not complete nonsense, just gossip gone too far along the years. So now that he had actually been correct, it stunned you, even maybe scared you. What would the people around you think if they knew what happened between you and Eddie? How would they react if they knew how you felt about his death sentence? You would be deemed mad. 

Of course, the not-so-inconspicuous guards followed you back to your room, where you stayed for the rest of the day until it was time for dinner. Your father did not join you this time. As hunger finally struck you, fighting nausea caused by the stress of the last few days, you ate everything served to you. 

On the ship, you had thought that once you came back, you wouldn't be able to stop eating all the things you had been missing for months, but nothing tasted as good as you remembered. In fact, nothing was as good as you remembered. The food was bland, the flowers not as vibrant, and the people not as joyous. Once, you had heard laughter and chatter, but it seemed like the streets grew cold and silent, leaving you alone to your thoughts. 

After your meal, you walked out of the room but turned left instead of taking the right towards your room. People immediately caught on. 

‘Miss? Where are you going?’ A guard called out.

‘Oh,’ you attempted to sound like you had not expected this exact conversation when you moved, ‘just thought of going on a stroll. The night air does me rather well.’ You grinned in a way you hoped would come off naive. 

‘I do not think that’s a good idea.’ The guard said. ‘I would suggest that you return to your room,’ he spoke in a tone telling you that it was not a suggestion at all. Not in the slightest.

‘Am I on house arrest?’

‘See it more as a curfew.’ 

You scoffed at the idea, or more that you had very little choice but to obey. There was a moment in which you stared up at the guard, switching between expressions to get him to crack and let you go, but to your disappointment, he cocked his head toward your room. 

How were you ever supposed to get to Eddie if they constantly watched you? The question kept you up another whole night and the next day. Just for the sake of it, since they so desperately needed to be with you at all times, you decided to sit in the library for about four hours with no book in sight, just staring out the window, letting them stare at you. At a certain point, you had caught one man actually yawning.

‘I am absolutely certain that there are at least fifty things that would be more  productive for you to do then this,’ you broke the deafening, maddening silence, still looking out the window. You had counted all the leaves on the tree branch that kept hitting the pane in the breeze and had recollected every corridor and door in the house. In the reflection of the glass, you could see the guards glance nervously at each other, and with a smile, you turned to face them. ‘You can just go. I won’t tell anyone.’ But they stood their ground. With a groan, you sank back down into the chair. 

It would take much longer for them to break, so much more time that you—that  Eddie—did not possess. Three days left before the execution. Three days left for you to take the chance and do something. Save him. There were a million ideas, one worse after the other, with so many risks and problems that it could eventually end in your own hanging. 

You shut your door at the end of the day, and it must have sounded through the entire house. Another day gone, and you had gotten nowhere. You could see the shadows of their feet come through the gap underneath your door, and they would be there the next morning when you awoke. Sleep deprived from tossing and turning as long as the sun was down. The bed still felt too big for comfort. At one point, they had run into the room at the sound of muffled screams, just for you to pull your head out of your pillow to yell at them to get out. 

You walked towards the dining room for breakfast, this time wearing a rose gold dress, surprised not to be followed by a parade of footsteps but halted at the sound of voices coming from inside the hall. 

‘I think it is safe to say that she does not require any supervision, sir.’ one of the guards said. You never bothered to learn their names, too frustrated to care, but you learned to recognise their voices from the amount of squabbling you had done. 

‘Is that so?’ your father munched away. 

‘She does nothing but mope around all day, quite harmless, I’d say… uhh, sir.’ The other added. 

Mope? You did not mope, if only because they sucked your life out with their constant “supervision”. As much as you wanted to burst into the room, you composed yourself and listened on. 

‘Does she seem well, in the head, I mean?’ Your father asked, but they did not reply. Not verbally, at least; you could imagine them looking at each other in the way they did, and just the idea made you clench your fists until they turned pale.

‘She’s stubborn, a bit immature, a bit aggressive.’ One of them chose his words carefully and slowly.

‘So that’s a no, I take it,’ your father concluded. You took this as your opportunity to announce yourself with a few loud steps, moving back a few paces to repeat them with exaggeration. 

‘Good evening, father,’ you said as you took your seat, not giving him or the other man any more of your attention. The guards glanced at you nervously before leaving the room.

‘Terrorised the guards, I see?’ he asked.

‘No more than they did me,’ you replied in the same emotionless tone as you ate.

‘I just wanted what’s best for you. It had been a tumultuous time, and you had gone through quite– ’

‘Is that a reason to… to lock me up and have me followed around like some kind of—’ You were at a loss for words, so instead, opted for a frustrated groan and stuffing your face with a forkful of lamb. 

‘Well, you’ve proved me wrong. Clearly, you can still care for yourself.’ he wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up. ‘I’ll make them let you be from now on,’ and with that, he walked away. You couldn’t suppress the smile that rose to your lips once the doors closed behind him, immediately knowing the first place you were heading to with your newfound “freedom”. 

The kitchen. 

Well, that is not exactly the first thing. You had to wait for all the dishes to be cleared from the dining room, so you wandered around the corridors and then headed down the stairs as quietly as possible to not raise any attention to yourself. 

As suspected, the kitchen was empty. Most of the food on the plates still untouched. Quietly, you grabbed a basket and began picking things out here and there, those that would go unnoticed by anyone walking in to grab a midnight snack. The only thing that might have caught someone’s attention by going missing was one of the larger bottles of rum stacked on a shelf. 

You placed a napkin over the basket's content and grabbed one of the staff member’s hoods to cover yourself up with before heading outside. It would help against the cold night air and hopefully make you a bit less noticeable, as the grey hood did not stand out as much as your extravagant dress. As you took the first steps out into the garden, the idea came to you that maybe that was another idea of them trying to keep you inside these walls. After all, while you had always had nice clothing, it did not compare to the dresses you’ve worn since your return. It could be seen as a welcome home gift, but it was undeniable that the dress you wore now could be spotted from miles away.

You pulled the cloak tighter over yourself.

Besides a few men who were too drunk to notice or care who you were, the streets were also empty. The men standing at the prison doors were half asleep, and either way, you were not too anxious about them as they were usually more preoccupied with keeping people in than out. You slipped through the shadows into the alley and only dared to breathe once inside. The steps leading further into the building were uneven, especially in the dark. The only light was half-burned-up torches lining the path. A crinkly small corridor that eventually led to a crooked staircase. You could barely keep yourself up straight, almost tripping over your feet. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, where the dungeon's entrance stood, took almost longer than the walk to the building across town as you held onto the cold wall, doing your best not to fall.

Now, you could only pray that the final door was not locked. The handle wiggled and creaked open. 

You hesitated. What would await you inside? This whole trek had been based on your intuition that he would be put in one of the isolated cells, away from the petty criminals. But what if they kept him somewhere else? What if they had done something to him and… well, there was only one way to find out.

As you stepped into the caved-out room and almost instantaneously, never before had you felt such a cold fall over you. Maybe it was due to the thick walls absorbing all sound or how the slit-like windows below the ceiling only let through the tiniest slivers of moonlight, obstructing any of the day’s heat from entering the room. Or maybe it was the sight of him in the pale torchlight that chilled you to the bone. 

He was seated on the ground, framed by a cell jagged from rock and steel bars. The moonlight managed to just about frame his face, exhausted and fragile. His eyes were closed in pretend sleep. You could tell that much as his brows furrowed at the sound of your footsteps. You tried to call out to him, but your throat was stuck. But you didn’t need to say anything. He called your name in a weak voice, in a hesitant manner, as if he was making sure that what he saw was real. If you were really there. 

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked in disbelief.

What were you doing here?  You had been asking yourself this the entire walk up to the cells, trying to find a reason why it meant so much to you to see him again, to help him, and yet you still could not come up with anything. There was no response besides holding up the basket with a weak smile and saying, ‘I thought you would like some dinner.’ 

Eddie sat straight, pulling himself up by one of the cell bars. As you walked up to his cell and sat down on the ground beside him, you could feel his eyes on you. Pure disbelief at your presence, the food. You held the meat out to him, but he did not move. 

‘It is not poisoned,’ you smiled sheepishly, ‘if that is what you’re wondering.’ Even when you handed him the food to eat. He did so slowly, apprehensively at first, still unable to look away from you. Perfectly understandable. You had barely gotten used to this. How the beading and frame of the dress poked at you from every angle. Your feet hurt, and your hair had been pulled into an intricate hairstyle, causing you to walk around with a headache for hours. Not that it was anything to compare to Eddie’s circumstances. He sat in his cell, too small to stretch his body out in, with no bed, just the cold hard ground. They had removed his jacket and belt, leaving him to sit out the cold of the night in just his shirt. You also noticed a new bruise forming on his jaw, which certainly had not been there when you last saw him. All this to break him down, yet the way he looked at you—you could have sworn you were still lying together in his bed, far away from all this. 

He glanced down at your dress, how it pooled around you, almost leaking through the cell barriers up to him in all its opulence. ‘How the tables have turners, haven’t they, princess,’ he chuckled, and you had never thought to be so happy from hearing such a simple sound. The nickname felt deliberately chosen at this time, too. You pulled at the edges of your dress, collecting it closer to you.

‘I know, I look ridiculous.’ 

‘I think the word you’re looking for is beautiful,’ he said between bites, but you ignored the compliment, knowing that if you let it get to you, it would come together with a shower of tears. As he kept on eating his food, you sighed, letting your side hit the wall as you leaned up to him. You handed him more of the food that you had brought him and the rum, then let him finish in silence. His mere presence beside you already was more than enough. The sound of his deep calm breaths was enough to put you to rest, and it pleased you that the sea had not left him just yet. He still smelled of it. That fresh sea salt air was simply stuck in his hair. You refrained from combing your fingers through it.

This was already so far from what you had expected things to go like. You had thought that once you came home, even with his request for a hefty payment, he would still be welcomed as a hero. That you could make things work and somehow, maybe, naively, be together. Even now, you thought that if he saw you here, you would have some kind of moment of clarity where everything became crystal clear and easy to understand. That you would know exactly what to do, and it would be glorious. You thought he would be happy to see you. Never had you imagined him asking you again, ‘What are you doing here? Really.’

‘I wanted to see you,’ you said, but he could read past all your layers. ‘And… over the past few days, I have heard things. About you. Things that I can hardly believe to be true and yet are seen as such by the majority of people, so I hoped you could clear some things up for me.’

‘You don’t believe your own people but would believe me?’ He took a swig of the rum, already handing it back to you, but you declined, giving it back.

‘I have given you my trust more times than I should have, and so far, it has not led me down any dark paths, but I can only hope that you will not break that bond now.’ After all that you had been through? Was he in any position to do so? ‘So I hope you will tell me what really happened. I—I remember you, years ago, meeting with my father and Carver. You were in the military, right?’

Eddie let his head roll back, hitting the wall behind him with a shallow thud. ‘You remember me?’ 

‘It came to me during the storm. A memory of you walking with them in the garden. For the longest time, I could not make sense if it had been real or if my mind playing tricks on me, but I realised now what it was.  You looked different, but it was you, wasn’t it? You were like them?’ 

‘Turns out, maybe I still am, and more than you’d think,’  he sighed, ‘or less, depending on how you look at it.’ He took another sip of the drink. 

‘Will you tell me, please?’ You pleaded, eagerly awaiting the answers to what you had been trying to figure out long before you had returned home. Eddie looked apprehensive. 

‘What good will it do?’ He turned his head in your direction, still leaning against the wall. You moved over to be closer to him, your legs almost touching. 

‘Perhaps nothing, but—’ you sighed, ‘All my life, I’ve been protected. I’ve had everything handed to me without any trouble. I had spend most of my years never further away than these shores and always under someone’s watch. I had never had the space to make risks or mistakes. There was no such thing as danger. Even now, I had been under constant watch. No one will answer my questions or even listen to me because they want to protect me. Because they think I’m fragile and cannot handle it.’ 

At this, Eddie scoffed. ‘If anything, they cannot handle you, darling.’ 

‘Meanwhile, you,’ you smiled, ignoring the heat burning over your cheeks, ‘Well, perhaps not all your methods were ideal, but you never treated me like I was made of glass. You pushed me, and it actually, for once, made me feel alive and like I am worth being in the room with.’

Eddie reached for your hand. ‘You’re worth so much more than that,’ he mumbled against your knuckled as he kissed them. He held on to you as he began talking slowly, choosing his words wisely. ‘I had joined the navy younger than anyone should have—my parents couldn’t afford me, so I had to make myself useful quickly, and that felt at least somewhat commendable, no matter how it would end. 

‘Started right at the bottom, but I wanted to prove myself. I followed orders, did everything what was asked of me, and more, and I moved through the ranks. As I gained more of a position, I got more of an insight into the men I was working for and with.’ 

As he spoke, you watched his eyes pale, haze over with memories. The dam he had built around them had broken up, flooding out, and he could not stop it anymore.  He wanted to continue, but he hesitated, glancing your way, but you encouraged him to go on with a nod of the head. Even then, he scratched at his face nervously and took a deep breath. 

‘We would find ourselves everywhere around the world, and a certain power comes with wearing a uniform. It is universal, one that everyone understands and is willing to abuse. It was easy to see yourself as better than the poor locals, to excuse yourself from the import taxes and all the bureaucracy around the travel. I had done it myself, flashing a grin with the mindset of superiority.’ He hid his face in his hands, groaning. You reached out for his arm. 

‘Hey, it’s okay,’ you hushed, but was it really?

‘When you get that taste of power when it hits right, it is hard to let go. It had never sat well with me; every time I got away from a port without paying for my ship, I stayed up entire nights as the guilt ate away from me, but it had been what everyone else was doing, and you don’t want to fall behind. It had become a pressure to boast your power over those who did not have any. 

‘And this power…. it turned darker as simple actions of business turned to abuse. Swindling merchants of their products, conning drunks with games, and stealing their money. Taking advantage of… everyone. It had become a sport to them.

‘I was aware of it, but it had somehow never seemed that serious—it happened so gradually—until one day I saw one of the commanders with this girl…’ his breath hitched. You squeezed his hand to remind him that you were there, that you were listening. ‘She was just a child, and when I saw what he—I lost control of myself, lashed out at him. It had been stupid trying to argue with someone that outranked me. There was no one I could tell that would do anything about it, not when they were all just as bad.

‘Then Carver came up to me one day. Said that together we could make a change.’ Eddie’s jaw clenched. ‘I should have known better. He had always been too close with the rest of them, but we planned on making a change.

‘But on the day we were about to tell your father about everything that happened on our voyages—the day we saw each other in the garden, in fact,’ he squeezed your hand back. ‘We never got the chance because I was sent away.’ Something in you caught your breath, making him smile lightly. 

‘There had been talk of a war, and so I was sent out with a fleet to take charge. Carver had promised me he would take care of everything in my absence, but—’

‘He didn’t,’ you finished the sentence for him.

‘In a way, he did. Of course, it was all a hoax. He had needed an excuse to get rid of me. It took me three months to get back, having found no signs of possible ambushes, and when I did, I returned to the news that Hargrove, the commander I had attacked, had been found dead that same evening I left. And there was the missing gold and the rumours of a coup, among other things. Somehow, he had convinced everyone I had gone above and beyond in betraying our country, but the murder charges hit the heaviest. They thought I had killed one of our own.

‘The only people on my side had been those on the ship with me, and they had given up all they had by giving me their trust. They were marked as traitors just for standing up against the accusations. I  already had lost everything I had to lose and could not stand by it, so I left. I took my ship and my crew, and we sailed off. 

Bowman’s words rang through your mind as Eddie said this. Deserter. Runagate. Quisling. Traitor. You still wanted to ask him so much, but you let him speak before interrupting. 

‘The sea was a liberation. We were free to do whatever we wanted, so we did, but I always felt like I was tied back to this place. Like…’ he laughed, ‘like a rope was hanging around my neck, dragging me back here. At first, I thought it was guilt, so I did my best to reprimand everything they had done. I wanted to do something for all those men and women we had hurt, give them some form of protection against those uniforms. 

‘But no matter what I did, who I helped, that feeling did not stop. In a way, it grew worse. I got angry and felt like the only thing that would help me was revenge; I stayed up most nights thinking of unimaginable things. I got lost in the darkness of it. If it wasn’t for Harrington, I don’t know what would have become of me.’

‘Harrington?’ You could see how that would happen, but the mention of him somehow startled you. It's another piece of the story that made it feel so real.

‘He had been in a similar position as me. His commanding officer had been asking him to do all these dirty jobs until he had had enough. It had only been a couple of days since he had given up his post when we met one night at a tavern. He wouldn't have joined us if it had not been for a game of cards. Neither would have Robin.’

You had no idea how long you had sat there, just enough for your body to grow cold and stiff on the ground, but you could not care less about any of that, too focused on his story. As he mentioned Steve and Robin, his smile reached his eyes for the first time since you had arrived, revitalising you, knowing that there was still something in his life that left fond memories behind. You leaned forward, resting your chin on your hand as you listened on. 

‘Either way, I had fallen into a deep, dark pit, and Steve pulled me out. He showed me what I was doing did no good for anyone but them. It was eating me alive, killing me from the inside.’

‘But you still killed them all.’ The words left your mouth sooner than you could think them through. Knowing his reason behind it all made you understand, but it did not lessen the impact of the deed. 

Hearing you say that, Eddie quickly turned his entire body to you, pulling himself as close to you as possible, almost pushing himself through the bars. His eyes were full of an intensity that burned through your soul.

‘I am not trying to make excuses. I did what I did—I led my crew towards the Red Tail and let them sink that ship, but not for myself. That is what Harrington made me realise. I did not need to see them die, but they needed to pay for everything they had done. For ruining all those people’s lives. You must understand that?’ 

He didn’t need to see them die. Moments flashed before you of your very first seconds on the Hellfire. Of Eddie walking up to you, the words he spoke in front of you. 

– Carver? Where is that pesky little bilge rat? 

– Bled out on the ship. 

– Shame. Would have like to have seen that. ‘You weren’t even there.’ you whispered.

‘It wasn’t about me.’ He shook his head. ‘Besides, if I had been the one to kill them, it would have only satisfied them. To see me become what they had told the world I already was. All I wanted was for them to be gone. Just gone. 

‘None of this,’ his eyes darted over your face. ‘Was meant to happen to you. My men were simply looking for the things in the office that had already been stolen. But then they saw you under that table, they couldn’t leave you. You were innocent.’ His hand reached out to brush over your cheek. Only at his touch did you realise that you had started to cry as he wiped down your tears. ‘And to you, I am truly sorry for everything I put you through.’ 

 You had nothing to reply with but a kiss, pulling him close to you. The steel bars of the cell caused an awkward distance between you, yet you never felt closer. It was as if now, you finally, truly, knew who it was you were touching. The kiss had been brief, but the silence that followed stretched on. The two of you sat there, sinking away from reality, but the questions you still had kept you grounded. Just as Eddie had said, a noose dragging you back. 

‘Eddie,’ you called him carefully. ‘What about the letter?’ 

‘What letter, princess.’ His hand kept rubbing over your tear-stained cheek. 

‘You know which one I mean,’ you pulled back slightly to be able to look properly at him. ‘Who was it for?’ 

He laughed, the saddest laugh you had ever heard come from him, and it pained you from within. ‘What does all this matter? I will be dead soon. The less there is left of me here, the better.’

 You watched him pull himself up again to sit, tap his knuckles on his knee. His answer had angered you. ‘Because…’ you took a deep breath, taking the leap you had been too afraid to take. ‘it just gives me that much less time to know the man I have fallen in love with.’ You wanted to keep as much of him as possible. That is what you could do by listening. To give him that voice in his own story. 

Eddie fell silent. His mouth opened to speak, but no voice came out for several tries. He searched for the right words until he finally blinked slowly and looked up at the ceiling. His jaw clenched once again, in the way that he sucked in a deep breath. As he released it, he said: ‘Her name was Christina.’

‘Your wife?’ Again, you thought of what he had told you earlier. I  already had lost everything I had to lose. He must have had people who cared for him before all this had happened.

‘Fiancée,’ he corrected, not that it mattered to either of you. ‘We had known each other our whole lives, having grown up on the same streets. We kept each other strong with this promise that one-day things would get better. That we would escape from all the burdens and create our own paradise. She was the reason I—’ he couldn’t speak of it out loud, and you didn’t need him to. You didn’t tell him to continue the story when he eventually did. 

‘Foolishly, I had not told her anything of what went on. I told her things would finally be good for us when I returned. We would leave and never turn back. I thought I was protecting her by keeping it all from her, but it was the final nail in my coffin.

 ‘She had been the first person I saw after my return, and I could sense that something was wrong.  Then the guards knocked on the door, and she opened it like she had been expecting them. 

‘I could only assume it was Carver. That he told her what he told everyone else. She wouldn’t look at me, touch me, speak to me. No matter how hard I tried to prove myself, he had poisoned her with his words. In the end, she only saw me as a monster.’ 

The last word stung you in your chest, knowing how often you had used that exact word to describe him yourself. How often have you called him a monster or even worse?  But his openness triggered more memories to come up. Your conversations with the crew of the Red Tail. Their stories and lives. 

‘Christina…’ you mumbled the name with familiarity. ‘That was… that was the name of the admiral’s wife.’

‘It does not come to me as a surprise,’ he chuckled that sad laugh again. He had clearly expected to hear those words eventually. You looked at him, feeling the sting in the corners of your eyes. The tears were coming right back, but he quickly wiped those too. ‘Please, don’t. I do not need your pity. I have told you everything there is to know about me, and that is all I could or ever will ask of you again.’

‘I don’t—’ you wanted to speak, but he quickly went on. As he held your face in his hands, his thumb brushed over your lips, 

‘And I will cherish these moments, every second I spent with you, until my last breath. I will think of you as the sun sets, I promise you.’

‘What—what are you talking about?’ your voice choked between sobs. 

‘I never expected you to come here,’ he kissed you, passing all the feelings he had voiced earlier over to you with the touch of his lips, ‘but don’t come here again.’

‘What? No!’ You pushed yourself away. This wasn’t the plan. You were going to help him. You were going to get him out of here. As you got up to your feet, so did he, reaching for your hand again.

‘Listen to me.’ he gritted his teeth in desperation. ‘There is no way out of here, and it will only get worse for me.’ As he said so, your eyes flashed back to the bruise on his pale skin. ‘I do not want you to see me like that. Let this be where we say our goodbyes.’ He held your hand, finger over your knuckles, soothingly. You hated that he was comforting you at this moment.

‘No,’ you whimpered, head shaking. You turned your hand around in his to grab onto his fingers. One of his skull rings slowly began to slide off, and so you stopped before it dropped.

‘Please,’ he squeezed your hand.

‘No!’ you shouted, not caring if the guards outside could hear you. They might storm inside any second now and drag you out, they could try, but you wouldn’t let them. ‘I won’t let you die.’

‘It’s okay.’ He said. With every sentence he spoke, a new piece of the puzzle had been allotted to its place, but the final picture still blurred before your mind. It only seemed like even more gaps needed to be filled in, but it was slowly coming together, and when it did… You wanted to cry out. 

Eddie held you as best as he could through his restraints, the faintest smile painted over his lips. 

‘You knew, didn’t you?’ you stood there, defeated. ‘That if you would come back here with me, that this would happen. You knew you would be arrested and hanged.’

‘At least now I truly deserve it.’ All the crimes he committed at sea trying to help others, what he had let happen to the Red Tail. ‘So, please, just go. I promise, it will be alright.’ 

You wanted to scream at him. Hit him, punch him, and much more for all of this. You wanted him to hurt as much as you did as he told you to leave, but in reality, you doubted anything you could do to him would match even half of the pain you felt as you stood there. You wanted him to hurt, but all you could do was take one last step forward and pull him in to kiss you. 

When you left, you could still feel him on your lips. That feeling let you move step by step out onto the street. Everything else felt not quite right, not quite real. You walked mindlessly across the empty market, barely aware of your surroundings, until you suddenly stood in front of your room door. You dropped the empty basket at your side and practically floated onto the bed.

It was late; you had no idea what time exactly, but too late for anyone to help you get out of that corset. You lay on the bed, now unable to get up, unwilling to move even if you could, staring up at the ceiling. Maybe you never stopped staring or fell into a slumber, but the next morning you still lay on your back, barely changing position over the early morning hours.

 You sat in your room, looking at the tide coming and going, pushing the sand and the rocks through the hours. The hours blurred; days became night, and the moon turned into the sun. The following two days passed, and you spend them in silent disbelief and confusion, just fighting to not return to the prison cell.

There must be something you could do. People you could convince or pay or bribe in any other way to not let the execution take place. Help him escape. 

This could not be the end.

But Eddie had made his final wish clear. You were not to see him again, and what could you do when no one would listen to you? When everyone on the island had his mind set on what Eddie was? You were paralysed with helplessness, and no matter what you tried to do or what to think about, it just would not go away. It grew inside you, impossible to ever leave you again, and you were slowly making peace with that. Your own price to pay for not being able to do anything for him when he truly needed it.

Even when you arrived at the square, which was filling up with an audience hours before the event, were you trying to look for escape routes, but the more people arrived, the more challenging a wall they created to penetrate. You would never be able to run through it, but you thought of it. Holding his hand, never looking back.

The sun that afternoon was flaming hot, burning through all the layers of your dress that pinned into your ribs as you sat down. The governing families got the best seats on the raised platform in the house, with plush chairs to wait on while everything was prepared. There was only the cool breeze of your fan to cool you down, but it did nothing on your nerves. They burned within just as much as the sun's rays. 

You had not been sure if coming was a good choice or if you were prepared to witness Eddie’s death, but your absence would surely be questioned and… and you could not pass on the ever last possibility of seeing him. The dubiety ran through you with a threat of tears.

But more and more people came around to see, and you traced each face to find someone who could help you. Someone on your side. A familiar ally, but no luck. They were all prepared to see a man die tonight. The mumbling amongst them turned into chatter, and the conversations of local gossip turned to absolute mudslinging.

‘I heard he has killed over a thousand men with his bare hands.’

‘Well, I heard he had planned on taking over the army in order to become the next king!’

‘And I heard—’

‘I heard—’

I heard… One thing after the other, each one worse than the last. Could they not see this? All of it nothing but hearsay. They were putting a man on death row for things overheard at the market. Of course, no one would listen if you were to say this. 

The sky slowly turned a warm orange, glowing on the buildings like a soft fire. The bell in the church tower struck seven times, half through instinct and half through custom, people’s heads turned in one direction. All but yours because as they all looked at the procession—the court man carrying a large scroll of parchment, followed by the executioner, who pulled the chains that were locked around Eddie’s wrists and the two guardsmen behind him, weapons at the ready—you stared ahead at the gallows. The rope hanging on it looked short and could only mean one thing. 

A slow and painful death.

The clanking of the shackles echoed through the entire square with each step Eddie took. He was barely visible through the crowd, but the length of the executioner in front of him ensured everyone could follow the death march.

Eddie looked ill—pale and fragile. His steps were shaking, not improved at all by the heavy chains that pulled him forward. He stumbled around up the stairs to the gallow. You could see his eyes look up in fearful amazement at the construction of the gibbet. His Adam’s apple choked up and down, and then his eyes caught sight of you. 

Everything began to move at a slowed-down pace. 

He must not have expected you to come or hoped you wouldn’t because the brave and confident facade cracked for the tiniest moment. The sadness dominated his features for a glimpse of time, but it was all you could see. Too occupied by his view, he had missed his call to step up. The hangman shouted something from underneath his black hood, kicking Eddie forward. You flinched as Eddie kept his balance not to fall to the floor. You couldn’t do this. You could not watch this go down, but you did not want to leave him behind. Not ever. This could not be the end.

The court man stepped forward, unscrolling his parchment as he cleared his throat. It was enough for the people below, standing on the pavement, in the shadows of the buildings, on the balconies, to quiet down and listen as he read: 

‘On this day,’ his voice carried through the entire square, ‘we bear witness to the punishment of Edward Munson, pirate, for his admitted crimes of theft, perjury, extortion, abduction, desertion, high treason and murder, sentencing him to death as decided by the governing council. 

‘He shall hang here for God to give his final judgement and remain a reminder for any wrong-doers and sinners to come!’

You glanced at your father, who sat by untouched. Was Eddie’s body here to stay forever? You could not imagine having to walk around this town every day just to see his body be taken by the elements. 

The sun was nearly at the horizon, shining bright at all of you, its heat still heating your skin. 

The people cheered as the rope was put around Eddie’s neck, who waved to them as if they were not cheering on his demise. One hand pulling the other up, making the chain between them clink. A smile pulled at the corner of his lips, and it astonished you to see that he managed to stay his entertaining self even now. Always playing a role for the other man. Here to entertain. To provoke. To distract.

But the smile faded, body stiffened as the noose was pulled taut.

‘That’s a bit tight,’ Eddie commented, and in response to that, the hooded man pulled it even tighter. It dug into his skin. He looked down at where the floor would soon disappear from underneath him, then up at the sky and with a slight choke, he spoke out his final words, embellished by the last spark of his life: 

‘To reign is worth ambition though in hell: Better to reign in hell, then serve in heaven.’

People gasped, mumbling amongst each other once more until hushed to silence by the hangman walking up to the lever that would set everything into motion. As Eddie took his final breath, everyone held theirs in anticipation. Your hands were shaking; every breath you took felt like a betrayal to him and like a stab in your lungs. Your fan moved faster, the small gushes of wind barely doing anything to cool down your face. This could not be the end. Not this. Not now. It couldn’t be—

The arm was pulled, and it was as if it had removed the ground from underneath your feet; that’s how deep the drop in your stomach was as you saw Eddie fall. It was as much as you could bear seeing before you turned around, hiding your face in your hands, hiding your tears from everyone else. 

When hanging a person, two types of noose could be used. With the longer drop, the fall's impact would cause the neck to break and bring instant death. The shorter rope prolongs the act of dying as the rope digs into their throat, cutting off their air. During this, the square is filled with the sound of choked gasps, encouraged by the hundreds of onlookers. 

If you had been one of them, down there on the ground, with easy access to the podium, you would have stormed it. Cut the rope loose. But you sat on the balcony, surrounded by your father and the other gentlemen and guards, unable to move anywhere. So you could only hope that there would be someone to do what you wanted to do. That someone would show up and save him like you wish you could. But when no one came, and his strangled groans became more sporadic, you had had enough. You couldn’t do this. You could not sit by and watch or even listen to what was happening before you. 

Your father’s call of your name was muffled by the public, and your own internal screams as you ran out. Arms reached for you, but you pushed past them all. As soon as you were out of everyone’s sight, the tears started to flow, and they would not stop no matter how far you ran. And you wanted to run as far away as possible, as far away as your legs could take you. Off this island, away from these people. Yet, you eventually carried yourself back to the square. Each step made you dizzy through the corridors and down the stairs, but you could not stand still. 

You had thought you were faster, but as soon as you pushed the heavy doors open and saw the stream of people walking away, the truth sank into your bones. You pushed your way past the crowd back to the open marketplace. As soon as it was done, people lost interest and continued with their evenings as if nothing had happened, ready for whatever next was to come eventually. By the time you reached the foot of the gallow, there was practically no one else around you. 

The sun was saying its goodbyes, and his body was a dark shadow across the obscuring sky, hanging limp, still swinging from side to side but with every second coming closer to its final halt. Something about the movements looked so serene that you could not come to terms with that this was really it. Just like that… he was gone, but it happened so quickly, so easily. Too quickly. 

You stood in front of him as the last people left, and the sun disappeared at the end of the world until the real darkness fell upon you, and your tears finally dried out until your throat screamed for water and air, and you could barely stand up straight.

This could not be the end.

And you were one of the first people to hear of it. 

First, there was the prickling of the fire in the reading room, the flipping of the pages as you stared ahead at the words of the book, making yourself seem present in the room as your father sat by. Then there were the rushed footsteps in the hallway. The hushed whispers of hesitance behind the closed door as the men contemplated what to do. A creak of the door as they walked inside towards your father and leaned in to whisper so you would not hear what they had to say.

But the room was so quiet, you heard it quite clearly.

‘Sir, there is an…a problem.’

‘What is the matter?’ Your father, as always, did not find much need to express himself largely, but at the guard's response, his eyes grew wide, and for a moment, the glow of the fire seemed that much cooler.

‘The body…. It’s gone, sir.’

‘What do you mean,’ he composed himself quickly, ‘he is gone? How can that be?’ 

The guards never looked so small. ‘We do not know sir, but he is. It is like he has disappeared into thin air.’

‘Absurd,’ your father got up, and so did you. Before you got to say a word or take a step forward, he quickly stopped you. ‘You stay here.’

‘Absolutely not.’ Was all you replied as you rushed out of the room ahead of anyone else. 

You had already made your peace with never stepping a foot inside the town square ever again, not if you would have to be reminded of that afternoon, of everything that happened in the last months, but as you walked back up to it, you could not have been happier that you had returned. 

Only the rope left was where his body had hung and where it had meant to hang for days to come. Its perfectly knotted noose swayed like he had the last time you saw him. 

Everyone else was right behind you, but just before they reached the platform with you, you noticed something in the corner of your eye. A shine against the moonlight on the wooden beams. You could just barely reach it, but with a stretch of the arm, your fingertips just about managed to get a grip on it. Before you could look at it, you heard your father shout orders at the guards, making them search everywhere in the nearby surroundings. Maybe whoever had taken the body was still somewhere nearby. 

Whoever took it… was that what happened? Before you could look around for more signs that could clarify the situation, you were called to return back home. It would do little good to argue now, so you followed the guard tasked with escorting you to your room. Only when he closed your door and you sat down at your drawing desk that you opened your fist to reveal what it was you had found beneath the rope.

The pair of hollowed-out eyes of the skull ring stared back at you. There was no possible way for you to know what this meant if it even meant something, but you couldn’t help but smile. The ring was loose on your finger, but you kept it on. 

This could not be the end of Captain Eddie Munson. 

It wasn’t. 

For most people, he lived on as a ghost story, and as you had learned from a very young age, dead men tell no tales. The living pass their stories around, mouth to mouth, page to page. Blurring the truth with their urgency for clarity, they try to make sense of things they cannot understand. Secrets become myths and legends that barely resemble the truth. 

In most cases, it takes years, decades, if not centuries, but here, on this small island, the conversations on the street already trickled with gossip and rumours the following morning.

I did not want to believe it, but it must be true, what they say. He did sell his soul to the devil! And it came to retrieve his body. 

I told you! It is useless to try and kill the unkillable! No, did you not hear what he had said? “Better to reign in hell!” But he is the devil incarnate!

Well, I’m surprised they caught him in the first place! Why he must be a ghost. The lot of them on that wicked ship. All cursed, and now he will return to haunt us for the rest of our lives! 

Who was to say out of all of them what happened on that square once darkness fell? No one was there to see it or tell the truth, as all who could had long left the island. 

They left at night, days after everything went down after the search for Eddie’s missing body had been called off, “officially” said to have been stolen but never confirmed. Those who knew what happened to it stayed in hiding until it was safe to come out until all suspicions were blurred with the gossip and basically forgotten. Quietly, they ran to the harbour, unseen by anyone, swift as the wind. 

Unnoticed by anyone…but you.

Like most of the nights, unable to fall asleep, you had been looking out your window out at the harbour and the sea. The ships that calmly stood anchored there and the waves that pushed against them. Slowly, they put you to sleep, and so at first, you thought it was just a blur of your tired gaze, the dark spot in the far distance. It wasn’t a ship. And there, on the shore, there were no people preparing a boat. Not this late… 

You rubbed your eyes, trying to better understand what they were doing. Packing in a hurry, throwing things into the bottom of the rowboat. As you watched, you told yourself that it was just the exhaustion speaking, that you were fooling yourself with this hope, but you could not let the chance pass you by.

You left your room without bothering to put anything on over your nightgown. Quietly to not gain any attention, but still as quickly as you could manage. Who knew how much time you had left before they would leave? Then once out of the house, you ran as fast as you could. The past few days, it felt like it had been all you had been doing, running to and from things, running after something without even knowing what you were looking for, but now you knew. You ran until your lungs began to burn from the warm and dry air. Until your feet were ready to give in and until you reached the sandy beach. 

As much as you wanted to scream and shout, you kept quiet. You walked carefully up to the two figures at the shore until they noticed you next to them. It happened when you were only a few feet away; they heard the scuffle of your feet or your shaky breath and pulled their guns out. They were ready to shoot, but the second they needed to notice you in the dark saved your life. That is when you locked eyes with the man in front of you.

‘Eddie?’ you cried. Before he could say anything, you took the final few steps and closed the gap between you, pressing your lips against his. Just to know it was real. Just to make sure you had not gone completely mad. You pressed yourself against every inch of him that you could. 

With the need for air, you pulled back, and instinctually, your palm met the side of his face. ‘How? I saw you—’ You both breathed heavily, chests raising drastically as he turned back to face you with a smile and press his lips against yours again. Like the last pieces of the puzzle, his hands fit on your body perfectly. 

Then he pulled you apart, with his hands on your face, wiping away the tears that had formed along the way. ‘I know,’ he whispered, but the words were so close you could feel them. You could feel him. Just the feeling of his fingertips on your cheeks assured you that this was real and that it was really him. ‘And I’m so sorry.’

‘But why?’ You were trembling in his arms. 

‘I had realised very early on that the only way to truly escape this place was to die,’ he smiled the smile you thought you would never see again, ‘but, well, I was not ready for that just yet.’

‘But I saw you— I watched it all happen there—how did you—’ his being broke you. You could not stop staring at the man in front of you. At all the little knicks and cracks in his skin. The fading bruises, the scars, and the long red gash along his neck that proved everything that much more. 

‘I told you everything would be alright, didn’t I?’ And he never broke his promise. But still, as the truth settled in around you, it opened up a space for a new kind of hurt. 

‘Why didn’t you tell me? Why let me believe that you were gone?’

‘It was the one thing that actually killed me, believe me,’ he pushed the loose hair out of your face, ‘but I needed you to believe it like anyone else. If you believed it—it would make everything so much easier.’

You wanted to ask him what on earth that was supposed to mean, but that is when you remembered the boat at his side. And when you noticed Steve waiting impatiently behind him, the oar already in his hand.

 ‘You’re leaving.’ It wasn’t a question. Of course, he was. He couldn’t hide here forever. Out there, in the waters, he would be genuinely free. 

‘It’s all for the best, and with me gone for good, you could live on; move on,’ he said somberly. 

‘Do you think I could forget about you that easily?’ Your fist had clamped onto the material of his shirt. ‘Do you really think I think so little of you? That I had not spend every minute of the past days mourning you? Missing you?’ and now you had him… just to lose him again.

‘But it would all pass. You can find someone else, someone better, and be happy.’ He looked down at your hand to see the ring you had kept on your finger for the past few days. He kissed his ring and then looked back up at you. ‘Let me go, darling.’

‘No,’ you shook your head, much like you had in the dungeon, but this time, you were more adamant this time than ever. ‘I won’t let you. Not this time.’ 

He mumbled your name, trying to argue, but you were ready with a rebuttal before he even said anything.

‘I do not want to spend another day without you. Not if I know you are somewhere out there—’ you had been looking at the ring too, but then looked at him again as an idea formed in your brain. ‘Take me with you.’

‘I can’t do that,’ his smile was airy and light but filled with regret. ‘You belong here.’

‘No, I don’t. Remember what I told you when I came to see you?’ You pleaded with him. ‘Do you remember?’ You pushed the words out when he didn’t say anything. 

‘Yes.’ 

‘So, please, don’t leave me. Not again.’ At this point, you punched every word into his chest weakly as you began to cry again, and he let you. Then, when you were finally done, he held you, telling Steve off when he tried to put this to an end, even though he was right. There wasn’t much time left. The sun would come up soon again, and people would awake and see you, and it would all have been for nothing.

‘I wish I could give you the world, darling,’ he said, ‘I call you a princess, but we both know you should be treated as a queen and get anything you ask for, but I can’t do that for you. I am not the man you should be with.’ He kissed the top of your head. ‘Please, forgive me.’ And with that, he let you go. 

You had let him do many things in the past, but not this time.

‘Well, I don’t forgive you.’ He had already turned around to get to the boat, but you just stepped past him, stunning him and poor Steve, as you got in. ‘If you wanted the easy way out, Munson, you should have thought twice about who to kidnap.’ 

The two men looked bewildered momentarily, too stunned to respond, but Steve was the first to respond. ‘She’s right,’ and he followed you in. The boat rocked from side to side. You sighed as you looked at Eddie as he stood in the sand. 

‘I’m not scared, Eddie.’ you reached out your hand to him. ‘I want this.’ You wanted him. You wanted this life with him. You wanted to travel the world and have a life of adventures. You wanted to be free.

Eddie looked at you, still in apparent shock at your sudden assertion. You might have thought you had changed so much, but he still saw the same stubborn woman as that cursed day when you were hauled aboard his ship. On the contrary, he had been the one that changed, and he realised that as he cursed himself there on that beach. He knew he might come to regret this, but he thought he had regretted most of his choices, most of what he had done in the past months, and yet, he could not have been happier with where his life had led him, as it all led him to you. So, he took your hand and pulled himself into the boat.

You dropped the weights that had kept you anchored and made your way out into the sea where the Hellfire lay by patiently, waiting for her Captain and his Princess—despite what their titles actually may be—to return home.

The End.

thank you so much for reading!! if you want more of where this came from, check out my masterlist.

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[dyhayc]

A Polaroid Is Worth A Thousand Words

Pairing: Eddie Munson x fem!Reader (Fluff, Humour, Smut)

Summary: It’s summer break! You, your boyfriend, and your friends go on a road trip to meet with the Byers in California. Chaos ensues

Word Count: 7.9k

Warnings: Self-esteem issues/previous negative body image, MDNI 18+, explicit consent, protected sex, innocence kink, corruption kink, praise kink, a little dumbification, a little hand kink, a little oral fixation, a hint of temperature play, a hint of a choking kink, fingering, piv penetration, semi-public sex, virgin!reader, blatant misuse of a popsicle

A/N: I was inspired to write this because I had to pack for my vacation to a beach area. I know this is pretty divergent from my regular stuff. I try to write fluff only (and honestly this is my first time writing anything nsfw) but I’ve been thinking about this specific scenario a lot and I had a long plane ride so… yea. The intrusive horny thoughts won today

Also most of this was written pre-part 2 so I’m just gonna ignore cannon lmao. I actually haven’t watched it yet (I made the mistake of opening Tumblr because I forgot it was July 1st and instantly saw a spoiler, so I’m aware of… things). This can be considered an AU because I know that it doesn’t match up with s4 pt2 at all

The last sentence is a gift for all the people who miss Eddie

Light wash or dark wash? A dilemma that has taken twenty precious minutes from your life. Space in your luggage is limited, and you’re too indecisive to make a choice. Which pair of jeans to bring isn’t the first tough fashion decision you’ve had to make tonight. Over half of your closet is scattered around you. Clothes on hangers struggle to grip onto every ledge available in your room.

Typically, you’d pick the most comfortable clothes from your closet and call it a day, but you and Eddie made a deal. He’d told you that if ‘86 was his year, it would be yours too. At first, you pretended not to know what he was talking about, but he’d just raised his eyebrow, and you knew he knew.

High school had caused a lot of insecurities about your body, mainly because of your “friends” who were catty at best and downright rude at worst. Every day, they’d rate each other’s outfits. However, when it came to you, they always commented about your body rather than your clothes. There had never been a day where you’d felt comfortable in your skin. Getting together with Eddie was one of the best things to happen to you. He helped you to gain your confidence back after years of suppression. He’d always gone out of his way to help you; it was how you’d met.

It was dark that night. The grey storm clouds looming over Hawkins threatened to release a torrent of rain at a moment's notice. They’d been around for days, intimidating but never actually storming. Unfortunately, luck was not on your side. The rain was predicted to pour the night of your graduation.

Even though graduating is a momentous occasion, the ceremony was boring beyond belief. The school had been too cheap to rent a venue, so the entire class of ‘85 and the accompanying families were squeezed into the gym. The speeches were shallow, it smelled like homecoming, Tammy Thompson performed a horrendous rendition of your class song, and to top it all off: you didn’t even get your diploma, just the holder. Everyone had to return with an ID the next day to get the real thing.

Afterward, you were dying to get home, but your friends wanted to attend some grad party. And by “grad party,” they meant going to an abandoned barn and getting shitfaced with half the class. Parties had never been your thing, much less one where everyone would be so fucked up. Maybe you were naive and wanted to believe your friends cared about you, but you didn’t expect them to be so upset that you didn’t want to go.

Thinking you would be hanging out with your friends, your family had left. To make matters worse, it was sprinkling meaning the storm had finally started. If you walked home, the rain would only fall harder, meaning you would get soaked. You asked your friends to drop you off at home, but they said, “The only place we’re going is the party. You’re either coming with, or you’re walking.”

You walked.

Down the jagged streets, you trekked for a few blocks. It was miserable. Your heels hurt your feet, but there was no way you’d walk through the muck and debris barefooted. Your robes were massive, inconvenient, and so thin the wind blew right through you. You were right about the rain. Effectively soaked, you were sure you’d be sick the next day. The disappointment got to you. What was supposed to be a happy day felt impossibly terrible. Sniffling, you weren’t sure if the water on your face was tears or raindrops.

A pair of headlights blinded you, so you raised your arm over your eyes to block the brightness. Brakes screech as the vehicle comes to a stop. Lowering your arm, you see the driver’s side window roll down. Inside is someone you never expected: Eddie Munson.

He seems as confused as you but leans out the window to shout over the wind, “Need a ride?” Considering your options, walk home and potentially get frostbite or ride in a van safe from the rain, you chose the van. Thinking back, it was stupid to trust a man in a van offering to drive you home in the middle of the night, but in the moment, the thought that he may be dangerous hadn’t even crossed your mind.

Running across the street, you open the door and put your soaked cap and holder into the van. Thank goodness they hadn’t given you your actual diploma; it would’ve been ruined in the storm. You unzip the gown, shimmy out of the thin, itchy fabric, and then sit in his passenger seat and shut the door. Embarrassed about the massive wet spot you’re going to leave, you mutter shyly, “Sorry about your seats, Eddie.”

You realize too late you’ve used his name, despite never talking to him before, but he didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he was distracted by the beautiful and, quite frankly, fancy dress you wore underneath your gown. So distracted, he took a second too long to respond, “It’s fine. This van has seen worse.” Unsure of what he means, you don’t reply and buckle your seat belt. He continues, “So, where are you headed? The party is the other way, y’know.”

You wrinkle your nose as tears gather in your eyes again. Vigorously shaking your head, you declare, “I wanna go home.” His eyes soften when you tack on a weak “please,” to your request.

He nods, “Of course. Where do you live?” You notice how his tone becomes gentler, his energy lowering to match your mood. He accommodates you effortlessly, but the thought only hurts your heart, knowing your friends would never do that for you. Hearing your address, he pulls a u-turn and drives toward your house.

You’re both silent, but he keeps glancing at you. Finally, he voices the words he’d been holding back, “Are you okay?” There’s hesitance in his voice as if he doesn’t know whether or not the question will break the relatively calm air of the ride. You genuinely consider ignoring him for a moment before deciding that would be incredibly rude.

Fidgeting with your fingers, you attempt to summarize your night, “I just- Well, after graduating, my friends wanted to go to the party, but I didn’t. I don’t know why they got mad. I guess they didn’t want to drive over to my house cause it’s out of the way. I live far from school, so I kinda get it, I guess.” You couldn’t help but make excuses for them. You didn’t know any better.

Though you couldn’t, Eddie recognized how toxic your friends were and pointed it out, “Sounds like you have shitty friends. A real friend would’ve driven you anywhere you wanted.” You stare at your feet. Deep down, you’ve always known your friends weren’t good for you, but they were comfortable, familiar. He just voices the thoughts you’ve been too scared to acknowledge yourself.

Internally, you rewatch every moment they’d treated you poorly, every time they’d disregarded your feelings, every time they’d been… shitty. “You’re right,” you say softly before laughing in disbelief and repeating louder, “you’re right. They are shitty friends. I can’t believe I didn’t know.” Turning to look at him, you smile, “Thank you.”

He seems baffled at your sudden realization, unsure if you’re being serious, but he still smiles back. “Y’know,” he offers, “Since you’re now friendless, you’re gonna need new friends.” Your eyes widen in alarm. How could you forget? Seeing your panic, he quickly adds, “Maybe I could be your friend?”

Insecurities bubble in your chest, and you question, “But what if you don’t like me? Like, when you get to know me?” Right as you voice your concerns, he pulls up to your house. Parking in front of your home, he unbuckles his seatbelt and turns in his seat.

“Why don’t we get to know each other right now? I have nowhere else to be.” Almost six months later, you’d found out that he had somewhere else to be: the party. He was planning on making bank from the drunk graduates who wanted to party hard. The funds he could’ve gotten probably would’ve paid for two or three months’ rent.

You agreed to chat, excited he wanted to talk to you. Both of you had stayed up for hours talking about anything and everything. You’d only left because you got so tired your eyelids wouldn’t stay open. For the next few months, you saw Eddie around a lot. You also met your new best friends, Steve and Robin, during that time. Working at Scoops-Ahoy was a fun, positive experience. It was even more exciting when Eddie would visit you, though Steve and Robin teased you endlessly for it. At least, it was fun until the “mall fire,” when you experienced the horrors of the Upside Down for the first time.

When news spread about the disaster, Eddie spent hours searching for you. When you’d finally been reunited, he’d confessed that the experience made him realize he couldn’t deal with the idea of losing you. At first, you were confused and thought he was trying to break off your friendship, but he realized you didn’t understand and told you point-blank he wanted to be your boyfriend. You were ecstatic and rushed to let your friends know about your new relationship. They had been excited for you, though Robin and Steve told Eddie privately that if he hurt you, he’d be in deep shit.

Your first date had been perfect. He took you to a park for a picnic. His cooking skills were… subpar, but it’s the thought that counts, and he had obviously tried very hard to please you. And, if that wasn’t enough, he gave you a polaroid camera. He said it was because he wanted to capture every beautiful moment with you. Your teasing about his cheesiness was to cover the way your heart swooned at how sweet he was.

Smiling at the memory, you search through your things to get the camera. Finding it in your dresser drawer, you grab a bunch of extra film and some colourful markers to shove in your backpack. Even though you’ve successfully packed a few items, there’s still the wardrobe dilemma left. With a groan, you return to your jeans and begin the internal debate again.

It takes a few hours of sorting and a break to eat dinner, but you’ve finally chosen all the clothes you want to bring. Now, all that’s left is your swimsuits. You grab a one-piece to be conservative, though it’s not your style. Going back in, you pull out a few mismatched high-waisted bottoms and bikini tops. Putting those away, you move to shut your drawer but hesitate.

Last summer, you were heading to work when you saw the cutest bikini set in the window of a store. It had a strawberry print and frilly detailing with ties on the top and bottom to adjust the size. That swimsuit haunted your thoughts your entire shift, so when you headed home for the day, you bought it. You were at the peak of your negative self-image then, so you never wore the bikini out. It was pretty, but it drew attention to insecurities you hadn’t felt comfortable showing in public.

You’re still not sure if you have the confidence to wear it, but your promise to Eddie makes you bring it anyway. If this is supposed to be your year, you want to wear your favourite bikini. And, if you have doubts, you can probably ask Robin what she thinks? She wouldn’t lie to you.

Content with everything in your luggage, you head to bed and mentally prepare to be stuck in a car with Dustin for hours. You love him like a little brother, but he does not do well when he can’t move around.

You slept in a little that morning, getting up at ten. Sitting in a car is oddly tiring, so you’ll definitely need that extra rest. Gathering up your luggage, you move it to your door. Everyone agreed to meet at your house, so you can chill in the kitchen until noon. You know they’re not going to arrive when they said they would.

Though you love him, Eddie is a hot mess who arrives at least fifteen minutes late to every event. He calls it “fashionably late,” and you agree, but for different reasons: he can’t decide what accessories to wear, so he’s never on time. Steve always wakes up late but still insists on doing his perfect hairstyle. Robin is just a disaster who can’t stick to a schedule to save her life. You adore your friends, but you also tell them to come an hour before you expect them to arrive. That way, they’re on time even if they’re running behind (and all of them always are). It doesn’t help that they’re picking up people today, which adds even more time to their arrivals.

It’s 12:26 when you hear Eddie’s favourite band faintly through your walls. Walking to the door to greet him, you lean against the pillar on your porch to watch his van pull up. You can hear Eddie bickering with Lucas and Max from your spot fifteen feet away. The second the van stops, Mike jumps out and walks towards you. “Hey,” you greet, “Fighting already?”

He rolls his eyes and replies ‘yea’ in an annoyed tone but doesn’t elaborate on the issue further. He makes a beeline for your kitchen, leaving you outside alone. Eddie is the next to go, and you watch him slam the car door aggressively before lighting up when he notices you on the porch. He throws his arms up into the air and exclaims, “My angel!” as he comes closer. He moves his outstretched hands to cup your face and whispers, “How did I get so lucky?”

You giggle, flustered, and mumble, “I think I’m the lucky one.”

He shakes his head and responds, “Wrong!” Before you can refute him, he leans in to kiss you. You reciprocate the kiss and wrap your arms around his waist to draw him closer. Both of you are too preoccupied to notice the other two kids, Lucas and Max, getting out of the van too.

Max passes you both without a word, but Lucas wrinkles his nose and makes it a point to comment, “Gross. Get a room,” as he goes into your home.

Eddie pulls away and yells after Lucas, “Be careful what you wish for. She lives here y’know!” Lucas groans, and you can hear him complaining to Mike and Max in your kitchen. You’ve never had sex before, mainly because you wanted to feel more confident in your body before doing something so intimate, but regardless, the threat is meaningless. Though, Lucas doesn’t know that. You laugh at your boyfriend, and he looks at you with his pretty doe eyes, currently filled with mischief, “What?”

Amused, you just shake your head and slip out of his grasp. Walking inside, you remember your luggage and turn around. Moving it all to the doorway, you clasp your hands and give him a little pout, “Will you help me?”

He laughs at your antics and starts grabbing your bags, “You didn’t have to pout to get my help, baby.”

Kissing his cheek, you thank him with a grin. While he’s stuffing your things in the back of his van, Steve pulls up. Robin rolls down the side window when you walk up. You greet them and get a chorus of hellos in return. Leaning your forearms on the car door, you tell Dustin the others are inside, so he runs off to talk to his friends. “Hi, Nance! I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Moving her head so she can see you, she smiles and replies, “Yea, it has been a while.” In high school, you ran in parallel social circles. Occasionally, you’d talk, but it wasn’t typical. After everything that happened with the Upside Down, you got closer. Last night, she’d slept over at Robin’s place, where you would’ve been too if you hadn’t procrastinated on packing.

Robin points out, “You’ll be stuck in a car together for a few hours. There’s plenty of time to catch up.”

Dramatically, you sigh and pout, “I wish you could be with us too, Rob.” Reaching into the car, you rest your hand on her shoulder and give Steve puppy eyes.

He cuts in, unamused, “No. I am not gonna be stuck babysitting again.” He points his finger at you, “If you wanna talk to Robin, you’ll have to sit in my car.”

Though you knew he was gonna say that, you still sigh and pat Robin’s shoulder, “Sorry, best friend.” Moving out of their way, they all get out of Steve’s car and disperse. You watch them go inside as Eddie comes up next to you. Grabbing his hand, you tug him towards your house, “C’mon, we gotta call Ms. Byers.”

When planning your trip, you agreed to call Joyce before you left. She wanted to make sure she’d have space ready for all of you to sleep. You’d tried to tell her you’d get rooms at a motel or hotel, but she’d insisted on letting you stay. She’d said it would be too expensive, and, honestly? She was right.

Everyone is in the kitchen area hanging out and chatting, so you go straight to the phone and call your friends in California. Jonathan picks up the line and slurs, “Uh, hello?” It’s obvious he had been asleep moments before. You tell him it’s you, and he responds, “Are you guys heading out now?”

You’re about to reply when Dustin comes up and asks to say something. You tell him it’s not Will on the phone, but all the teens have crowded around, expecting to speak to him. Relinquishing control, you let them do whatever it is they do. You learned early on that it’s best to just get out of the way.

Checking in with the rest of the group, you offer snacks and water if they forgot to pack anything. Everyone seems to be content with their things, though, so you just get water for yourself and Eddie. You know he’ll forget them if you put them on the counter, so you hand him both bottles. He radiates warmth that draws you in, you can’t resist leaning against his side. Glancing up, you see him softly smiling down at you, so you return it in kind.

Mike hangs up the receiver loudly, getting everyone’s attention. “They know we’re coming,” he announces, “We should leave now.” Desperation bleeds through his voice, obviously eager to get to El. You agree and usher everyone out of your kitchen. Heading out to the cars, the group splits into two. Going with Eddie is you, Dustin, and Nancy. Following Steve is Robin, Mike, Lucas, and Max. Ironically, Steve is taking more people even though he has the smaller car, but it had taken a long fight to get to these positions in the first place.

There had been quite a few rules put in place that limited the placements of people:

1. You’re riding with Eddie (that was non-negotiable)

2. Nancy didn’t want to be in the same car as Mike

3. Dustin insisted he be put with you and Eddie

4. Steve threatened not to come if he was put in a car with only younger teens

5. Lucas and Max requested to sit next to each other

The battle had been brutal, taking over two hours. Luckily, you’d been able to make seating arrangements that pleased everyone. People disperse to their respective rides as you slide into Eddie’s passenger seat, putting your backpack between your feet on the floor. The second he turns on the van, you lower the volume. Dustin leans forward with his walkie in hand, “We’re Eagle One. Steve’s car is Eagle Two.”

“When did we decide that?” you ask, confused.

He responds, “In the kitchen,” before turning on the walkie to talk to the other car, “Eagle Two, this is Eagle One, come in.”

Mike’s filtered voice comes through, sounding agitated, “No way. We’re Eagle One, you’re Eagle Two.”

Recognizing the beginning of a fight, you snatch the walkie out of his hand to break it up, “Dustin used Eagle One first, we call dibs.” You turn down the volume and toss it back to Dustin, who leans back in his seat and listens to what Lucas and Mike are saying.

Eddie glances over and chuckles, “Didn’t expect you to side with Henderson, babe.”

You stick your tongue out at him and jokingly say, “I have to throw him a bone sometimes, Eds.” Dustin exclaims indignantly in the background, but you ignore him. Nancy finally makes her way to the van, so you ask, “Everybody here? Are we ready to go?”

Eddie does a head count, though you only have four people, while Dustin calls over to the other car to check they have all their passengers. Confident you won’t leave anyone behind, Eddie pulls out, and Steve follows. Earlier in the week, your friends gathered any relevant maps they had for the trip. You volunteered to be the navigator, so they were all given to you. The route is pretty simple, though. The hardest part of your trip will be finding places to sleep.

The Hawkins scenery passes by for the first fifteen minutes until you merge onto I-80 West. From there, just follow the highway until you arrive in California. The drive should take about 35 hours, split into three to four days, depending on how much driving is done each day.

Watching grass and trees out your window gets old quickly, so you catch up with Nancy. She rests her elbows on the center console while you’re turned in your seat so you can talk closer together. After a while, you’re both gossiping instead, giggling at stupid rumours about Steve. Eddie seems to enjoy them and says he’ll remember to tease Steve about them later.

Both cars need gas, so you take a pit stop. Hopping out, you walk in circles to stretch your legs. Robin joins you and complains about Steve’s music choices. Teasing her, you laugh, “You’re in the loser car. What did you expect?” She glares and jokingly pushes you out of the way to walk inside the store.

Trailing behind Robin, you beg her to buy you an Icee. To your surprise, she does. You thank her endlessly, excited to drink it. Taking it back to the van, you show the slushie off and tell Eddie that Robin bought it for you. He jokes, “Is Robin your sugar mommy now?”

You stick your Icee-stained tongue out at him, and he takes a picture. You’re thrown off for a moment. You didn’t know he took the polaroid camera out of your bag. Huffing, you set down your Icee and try to steal the photo from his hands. He has much longer arms than you, so it doesn’t work out. Sitting back, you whine, “Why do you even want it, Eddie? I brought my camera to take exciting pictures.”

He laughs at your desperation to get the polaroid back and hits your forehead with it, “Every moment with you is exciting, sweetheart.”

The moment is ruined abruptly. “Why are you two being so lovey-dovey?” Mike questions as he settles in where Nancy had been sitting.

You counter, “Why are you being so dumb?” as you snatch the polaroid from Eddie’s hands. The developed picture turned out surprisingly well, so you decide to keep it.

“You’re not the Wheeler I expected,” Eddie comments dryly, also annoyed at the ruined atmosphere. Mike explains that Nancy asked to switch until the next pit stop; you all leave it at that. The last one to arrive, Dustin hops in with a bag of chips, and you’re on the road again.

Instead of listening to Eddie’s mixtapes, you turn on the radio this time. Flipping through channels, you settle on a random choice. There isn’t much of a selection out in rural Indiana. It gets warm in the car, but the breeze feels fantastic when you lower the windows. You all sit in silence as the smell of dry grass and humidity fills your lungs. The wind is so loud it drowns out the radio, but you don’t mind.

A new song starts, and from what you can hear, it sounds familiar. Turning it up, you realize it’s Mamma Mia, and you crank the volume higher. Laughing in delight, you sing along loudly to the lyrics. To your surprise, Eddie sings too. Dustin says something, but you can’t hear it, and you're definitely not gonna stop singing just to hear his most-likely cynical remark.

He gives up trying to convey what he was saying, instead turning up the volume on the walkie. To your surprise, you can hear Robin and Nancy singing along with you from the other car. The song is over, but everyone’s energy is still high. Rolling up your window, you listen to the group singing along with the radio, occasionally joining in when you recognize a song.

The time passes quickly with the new distraction, and soon enough, you’re at the second pit stop. Steve needed to go to the bathroom, so you found the nearest rest stop. Even though it’s going to be quick, you ask Eddie to photograph you underneath a huge tree. He gets one polaroid before Nancy notices and asks if you want her to take a photo of you both. Posing together, she snaps a picture of you and hands back the camera.

When Steve comes out of the restroom, you get an idea and have Eddie ask a stranger to take a photo of your entire group together. Corralling everyone together is a difficult task, only matched by trying to get them to pose for the camera. The end result is worth it, though, the picture is cute, and everyone looks great.

When you return to the cars, Dustin and Mike switch out for Robin and Nancy. Dustin makes it a point for you to be cautious with his walkie as he passes it, claiming, “with great power comes great responsibility.” You promise him you’ll keep it safe as you take it.

Steve is pissed that he’s “stuck babysitting” even though he threatened to ditch if that happened, but Eddie reminds him he’s too far to go back. Aggravated, Steve hisses at the teens to get in the car as he grumbles under his breath. Part of you feels bad, but another part is happy to finally hang out with Robin.

The ensuing conversation is chaotic. Most of your time is spent arguing about stupid things that don’t matter, but you’re grateful because they fill the time. Robin tried to walkie Steve once, wanting to include him in the conversation, but he was still mad, so he ghosted her.

It’s around 9:30 when you stop at a motel for the night. Anyone who has an income helps to pay for the two rooms. Sorting out luggage, Eddie takes both of yours to the room. You two get a bed, Nancy and Robin get the second, and Steve gets the couch. There’s a line for the shower, so you check up on the younger teens. They’re just watching some stupid horror movie, sprawled out randomly on the two beds. Deciding they’re fine, you tease them, “Don’t get nightmares,” before returning to your room.

The water is freezing, so you shower and brush your teeth quickly. You dress in your typical pajamas, one of Eddie’s t-shirts and a pair of shorts. Your movements are sluggish, the tiredness hitting you suddenly. Reaching your bed, you flop down onto the mattress. Eddie’s the last to shower, so you warn him the water’s cold as he walks away. The alarm clock next to the bed glares 10:13 in bright red lettering.

Huffing, you sit up and crawl under the sheets to try and get comfortable. Steve and Robin are already knocked out, but Nancy is still awake. She has the lamp on as she reads a book, but you’re glad for the light. After everything in Hawkins, you have to admit you’re afraid of the dark.

Eddie finishes his shower fast, dumping his towel in a random spot on the floor. You struggle to keep your eyes open as he lies down on his back next to you. Wiggling around, you find a comfortable position resting your face in the crook of his neck. He smells like the cheap bar soap the motel provides, but you still detect a hint of his usual scent underneath. He kisses the side of your head and mumbles, “Good night, sleepyhead,” into your hair. You fumble some words out that vaguely sound like ‘g’night.’

The following two days go relatively the same. The seating arrangements shuffle around slightly, you drive for about three hours, stop at a rest stop, sight-seeing spot, or gas station, take a few pictures, then repeat. When you get bored, you label and decorate your polaroids. You bought a photo album a few weeks ago to hold all the polaroids from the trip.

On the fourth day, you finally make it to the Byers house. It’s almost three am, so everyone just sleeps and agrees to talk tomorrow. You’re the first to wake up, apart from Joyce. The smell of pancakes leads you to the kitchen, where she’s making breakfast. “Good morning,” you say, rubbing your eyes.

She jumps, not realizing you were there, “Oh! Good morning.” Embarrassed, you apologize before asking if there’s anything you can help with. Food is scattered around the counters, and she appears to be having trouble making a meal for so many people. She motions to a cupboard full of pots and pans, “Can you cook some bacon, please? Thank you so much.”

Together, you make bacon, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, pancakes, Eggo waffles (for El), toast, and apple slices. While cooking, the topic of conversation is grim. You’re both recounting your experiences with the Upside Down and all the other terrible shit that happens in Hawkins. You’re grateful for her insight. She has a lot more experience with murderous monsters than you.

The more people that come in, the more chaotic the kitchen becomes. People snatch items from plates and fight to get food first. You’re surprised, but Joyce looks resigned, like she expected it. When El comes down, you give her the dish of Eggos made specifically for her, and she smiles at you. Observing the scramble for food, you decide to wait until everyone’s done before getting some yourself.

“So, what are you guys planning to do today?” Joyce asks, eating some toast. She has to work since it’s Friday, but tomorrow she’ll be able to hang out with you guys too.

“We’re gonna go to the beach for a few hours,” Jonathan informs her.

Lucas admits he’s never been to the beach before, and Max says, “It’s nothing special. Just sand, water, and trash.” That statement sparks an argument about beaches that you’re desperate to get away from. Pulling Robin out of her chair, you bring her to the spare bedroom where everyone’s luggage is. You pull out the bikini, change into it, and ask her if it’s too much.

She laughs in shock and says, “Too much? It’s perfect. Eddie will love it.” Then, she mischievously nudges your side and adds, “It’s sexy. He’ll love it. If you know what I mean.” She raises her eyebrows to emphasize her point and you push her out the door. Her words still give you confidence, so you put a sundress over your bikini and leave the room.

Once everyone gets dressed, you all head to the beach. For convenience, you park next to each other and open the trunks. Grabbing canopies, towels, bags, and coolers, each person brings something down to the sand. You help Steve set up an umbrella so Robin and Eddie can sit with you.

The sun is burning hot on your back so you peel off the sundress and leave it in your bag. Though you don’t notice, Eddie’s eyes are glued to you. His breath hitches at the view of your ass when you bend down. He’s never seen you wear such a revealing bikini before. The simple sight of your exposed skin makes his heart pound.

Jonathan has a cooler of drinks and popsicles that he’s offering to the kids. You ask for a coconut popsicle, and Lucas tosses one to you. Right after you start to eat it, you realize you left your sunscreen in the van. Letting Robin and Steve know where you’re going, you head towards the parking lot.

Eddie showed you a trick to open his van’s door without the key. There’s a dent in the door that will release the lock if hit hard enough. You’re about to attempt it when two hands rest on your hips. Scared, you jump and whip around, only to find Eddie behind you. He laughs as you angrily glare at him. “Sorry baby,” he says softly, kissing your cheek. His hair tickles your nose and you giggle, accepting his apology.

He holds up his keys and opens the door for you. Or at least, that’s what you assumed he was doing. Instead, he reaches inside, himself, and grabs the camera. You know he’s going to ask for a photo, so you whine, “I need my sunscreen, Eddie!” Still, he smoothly talks his way into just one picture.

Resigned, you pose for the camera, holding your popsicle out in front of you. There’s drops of melted ice cream gathering at the bottom, near your hands, but you wait until the camera clicks to do anything about it. Cupping your tongue, you gather the liquid then lick a long stripe up the entire length of the popsicle.

Eddie groans, “Jesus fucking christ,” before placing his free hand on your chest and pushing until your back hits the van. He crowds your space, hand remaining firm on you. His eyes are hooded as he looks into your wide, confused gaze. You hold your popsicle in front of his face and remind him, “it’s gonna melt.”

He pushes the popsicle away using the hand holding your camera. With the other hand, he can feel your heart racing underneath his palm. Your breath comes out in shaky pants as he slowly inches his hand upwards to rest on your neck. Leaning forward, he whispers in your ear, “God, you have no fuckin’ idea, do you?” An involuntary whine slips out, but it’s quickly silenced by a light squeeze to your neck.

“So innocent you can’t even see that I want you, huh? My sweet angel, so good you can’t recognize you’re being bad.” The way he speaks about you is reverant, like he worships the ground under feet. His big brown eyes shine with love and lust. You stare into them until your lips meet, then your eyelids flutter shut.

The kiss is intense, like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. He takes the lead and you let him, unsure of what to do. The tip of his tongue runs against the seam of your lips and you gasp, unintentionally letting him in. He explores until you have to part to breathe. A string of saliva connects your lips as you both gasp for air. He grabs your free hand and tugs you into the back of the van.

Shutting the door and setting the camera to the side, he grips your hips and pulls you onto his lap, your back fit snugly to his front. You feel his lips kissing the crook of your neck. “Do you want to continue?” The words are spoken into your skin. You nod, but he doesn’t move, “No, use your words. I need to hear it.”

“Yes, I wanna continue,” you speak quickly, adding, “please.” You can feel his smile on your skin, apparently pleased with your words. He presses wet open-mouthed kisses down your neck, starting behind your ear. Sliding his hands up from your hips, he slips them underneath the sides of your bikini cups. He massages your flesh before pinching your nipples. The sudden action makes you jolt. He chuckles at your surprise and moves his hands lower.

Fiddling around with the strings on your bottoms, a harsh tug pulls the ties undone. The light taps on your thigh signal you to lift your hips, and he throws the piece to the side. His right hand splays across your stomach and slowly heads downward. Leading with his middle finger, he continues until his entire hand cups you. His finger swirls around your hole, gathering the wetness there. The movement makes his palm lightly brush against your clit, but any stimulation is enough to send you reeling.

You’ve completely forgotten about your popsicle until he reminds you, “Don’t want it to melt, do you?” Stopping all movement, he waits for you to act. Shakily, you bring it to your lips and take a lick. Pleased, he slides his middle finger inside you with one fluid stroke. Forgetting all about your popsicle again, you let out a loud whine and focus on the feeling of his finger against your walls. He thrusts a few times, before deciding you can handle a second.

He runs the pads of his fingers up and down trying to find the spongy spot that’s guaranteed to make your toes curl. You gasp when his fingers brush against it, so he massages that area, purposefully rubbing the heel of his palm into your clit. You try to breathe, but you can’t. It feels like all the air has left your body, like your lungs have decided to stop working.

The popsicle stick is sliding out of your hand and you don’t even notice it, but Eddie does. Snatching it up with his left hand, he coos, “Do you need help, baby?” Unsure of what he’s gonna do, you nod cautiously. Bringing the popsicle to your lips, he tells you to open up. You obey, and he slowly presses it in until you can feel the freezing tip against the back of your throat. Pulling the popsicle stick back, you whimper at the loss. Confident you can handle it, he pushes it in and out matching the tempo of his hand.

The cold constantly grabs your attention as he thrusts it in all the way, every time. Now in the wet heat of your mouth, the popsicle is melting at an alarming rate. You’re trying to swallow it all, but there’s so much it drips down your chin and spills onto your chest. “So messy,” he teases, but you barely hear him, the pleasure from both ends is entirely too distracting. Attempting to ground yourself, you grip onto his right arm with both hands.

You’re getting close when he pauses to pull the popsicle out of your mouth. There’s only a little left on each side of the stick, so he eats it and throws the wood away. He praises you for being so obedient, “Good girl, you did so well for me.” You clench hard at his words and he mentally notes your response before moving his fingers again. You don’t know how he knows, but he asks, “Does my angel need to cum?”

Nodding, you squeeze your eyes shut, hard. Shaking his head, he continues, “You can, if you ask nicely.”

“Eddie!” you whine when he pushes particularly hard with his palm, “Can I please cum?” He hums in thought, pretending to consider your request. Meanwhile, his fingers are moving even faster than before, pushing you closer and closer to the edge. Your grip is like iron, now, fingernails digging into his skin.

He concedes, “Well, how can I say no when you ask so nicely? Go ahead.” You see stars behind your closed eyes, leaning your head back onto his shoulder. He presses soothing kisses to your neck and continues his hand motions until you try and squirm away, overstimulated.

You accidentally push back hard against his bulge and you both groan. Helping you off his lap, he gently lays you on your back. Brushing sweat-slicked hair off your forehead, he takes in all the mess on your chest. He licks all the white residue from the popsicle off of you, and you hope silently that he can’t hear your heart pounding hard under his tongue.

“Do you still wanna continue?” he inquires, chin resting on your sternum. You say yes, so he rucks up the top of your bikini. Mischievously, he sucks small marks on the sides of your breasts where the bikini will cover. He notices you watching with impatient eyes and shimmies out of his boxers, sitting on his knees. Lifting up your hips, he rests them over his thighs and gently runs his hands up and down your bare skin.

For a second he appears to be thinking, before he leans over and reaches under one of the seats. You watch, perplexed as he blindly searches, before pulling out a condom. In disbelief, you ask, “Really?”

He shrugs, “You never know when you’re gonna get laid in the back of a van.” You gawk at him, but say nothing more. Watching him put it on is mesmerizing, his hands are so nimble and big. You’re still fascinated as he grips the base of his dick and runs the tip through your folds. “I’m not gonna lie, it might hurt,” he admits, “I’ll go slow, okay?”

You just nod, the anticipation makes you feel afraid to say anything, in fear he’ll turn around and realize this isn’t what he wants. He pushes in entirely in one long movement, kissing your neck because he knows it will help distract you. The stretch burns, you scrunch your eyes at the feeling. Focusing on the crook of your neck, he bites down and sucks to make a mark.

You moan out and clench hard around him. Knowing he’s marking you is so indescribably hot that you can’t control yourself. The rational part of your brain takes over for a few seconds, and you complain, “you’re gonna leave a mark, everyone’s gonna see.”

Eddie laughs, “Well, it feels like you enjoyed it, sweetheart.” Effortlessly, he calls you out on your lie. Flustered, you stutter some lame excuse, but he continues to laugh at you.

Deciding to test the waters, he pulls out partially and pushes back in slowly. When you respond positively, he begins to speed up. The pleasure builds up and you cry out, digging into his shoulders with your nails. “Be a good girl and be quiet for me. Someone might hear you, angel,” he commands, reminding you that you’re in a beach parking lot.

“‘M sorry, I’ll try, promise,” you whimper, wanting to please him. All your energy is dedicated to keeping quiet, but it doesn’t work. With each thrust, you get louder and louder. It’s almost embarrassing how fast your second orgasm builds up, but he just feels so good.

His knuckles brush against your cheek as he coos, “Do you need more help?” You make a noise of agreement, so he slides two fingers into your mouth. They taste slightly like you. Moaning around them, you suck, which makes him groan. He rolls his hips harder, knowing you won’t be able to make noise. Every single time he hits the right spot to make you see stars. Dropping his other hand down, he rubs your clit in tight circles, increasing your bliss. It’s too hard to keep your eyes open now, so you allow them to flutter shut. The loss of sight only adds to the pleasure and you can feel your second orgasm rapidly approaching.

Eddie can feel the way your walls flutter around him. He demands your attention by pushing roughly on your tongue. Your eyes shoot open, and you look at him, vision blurred by tears. “Are you close?” he asks, his tone indicating that he’s expecting something from you. Knowing what he wants, you beg for your release around his fingers. Grinning widely, he commands, “Cum around my cock, I know you can do it. Be a good girl, cum for me.” He says more, but you can’t hear it, all senses consumed by your release. Your orgasm triggers his, and he finishes inside the condom.

Pulling out, he takes off the condom and ties the end, throwing it in the direction of the popsicle stick. You’d chastise him for being so gross if your mind wasn’t so hazy. In a daze, you watch him pick up the camera and take a photo. He takes the nearest marker, a neon pink one, and writes in shaky letters “my angel,” adding a heart to the right.

Finished, he pours some water from a bottle onto his beach towel and wipes the mess off your legs. You flinch when he presses too hard on a sensitive spot. He apologizes, cleaning you with a gentler touch. Eddie pulls your top to its proper place before finding your bikini bottoms and tying them for you. He slips on his swim trunks and nudges your leg, “C’mon, you need to rinse off.” You try to stay on the floor, but he forces you up and takes you to the beach showers outside.

With shaky legs, you struggle to stand so you opt to lean on Eddie, who wraps his arm around your waist. He turns on the water and helps wash the sticky coconut residue off your face and torso. His touch is soothing, and you lean into his hand, closing your eyes. You realize that you’re going to have to go back to the beach, so you mutter, “I don’t think I can walk.”

Turning off the water, he offers a piggyback ride. You perk up, “Really?”

He chuckles at your enthusiasm, “Yes, really.” Kneeling down, he lets you climb onto his back. Before going back to the beach, he stops by the car and hands you his leather jacket, “For the mark,” he says, tapping his neck to show you where your hickey is. You slip it on and wrap your hands around his neck, squeezing tighter and begging him not to drop you when he begins to run. “Special delivery!” he exclaims, setting you down between Steve and Robin.

You instantly drop back, “I’ve never been so glad to be on solid ground.” Dustin calls Eddie away, leaving just the three of you.

Steve has a stupid smirk on his face, which makes you squint at him. After a tense second, he asks, “Yea? You’re not glad about other things?” Realizing he’s pointing to the hickey, you pull the jacket higher on your neck, embarrassed.

Steve laughs, but Robin defends you, “Leave her alone, you knew they were gonna go make out.” She turns to you, “Next time you two are gonna run off somewhere, think of better excuses. Sunscreen and the bathroom are too generic.” You completely forgot about your sunscreen! You groan and drop your head back, covering your face with your hands. At least they think you were only making out.

Continuing the conversation, Steve starts bragging about the craziest places he’s made out. You tune out the conversation in favour of watching Eddie. He looks so genuinely happy here, with his friends, having fun. He catches your eyes and smiles wide. You grin back, content to watch him living happy and healthy.

#stranger things #eddie munson #eddie stranger things #eddie smut #eddie munson smut #eddie x reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x fem!reader #fluff #humour #humor #smut #my writing

[losersiren]

Yandere! Vault Dweller

N: I just finished the Fallout show, went on YouTube and fell down a rabbit hole of lore about the game. I decided Vault 11 shall be sacrificed (hehe). Everything I put in this fic is from the videos I've watched and the fan wiki, so it's like semi-accurate… Cw: talks about suicide, suicide (not the reader), violence, yandere tendencies, gore(?), death, manipulation, coercion, talks of death, should be gn! reader safe.... if not, put me in the chamber WC: 2.2k

Quiet. It was quiet. The silence is deafening, yet the ringing in your ear grows louder and louder, each second feeling as if eons had passed. The automated computer voice repeats in your head like a catchy song you’ll hear on those dusty records, the ones Mama used to play and dance to.

“Congratulations, citizens of Vault 11! You have made the decision not to sacrifice one of your own. You can walk with your head held high, knowing that your commitment to human life is a shining example to us all. And to make that feeling of pride even sweeter, I have some exciting news. Despite what you were led to believe, the population of Vault 11 is not going to be exterminated for its disobedience. Instead, the mechanism to open the main vault door has now been enabled, and you can come and go at your leisure. But not so fast! Be sure to check with your overseer to find out if it's safe to leave. Here at Vault-Tec, your safety is our number one priority.”

You were young when your parents escaped the bombs to the vault you're situated in right now; you grew up believing that damned computer about sacrifices and watched your fellow vault mates get killed one by one. You waited for the time it would be you in that same chamber. Now, with this information surfaced…they died for what? An experiment? What would have happened if you had been voted overseer…

The lump in your throat grows heavier, and the arguments and yelling in the background become more and more apparent that you can't ignore them anymore. Your eyes drift to the man standing tall and proud beside you, Charli, his hair still somehow slick back; he still looks perfect even after the maddening chaos of events that transpired these past few days. His blue jumpsuit was as crisp as an ironed suit that the actors would wear from the moving pictures on television before the vault. His expression is as vacant as his blue eyes, his soft lips decorated with a barely visible smile. As he watches the other three vault survivors argue, Your brows furrow. 

Why isn’t he affected by the news like everyone else? This information is soul-crushing and life-changing!

Then again, you reason with yourself that maybe this is his way of coping; who are you to judge and microanalysis him like some psycho? Perhaps it’s the lack of sleep or the sense of safety ripped out of your hand like candy stolen from a baby. Heavens, you might nearly flip your lid entirely if something else happens. You sigh. To believe you almost were insinuating that Charli would even be a drop suspicious, and of what, exactly? He saved and shielded you from the massacre that only left the five of you remaining; he was your childhood best friend..how could you? You reprimand yourself.

His eyes finally meet yours, and the sympathy and worry you sought appeared when the blonde saw how distressed you were. “Are you alright?” his soft voice fills your head–drowning out the talks of whether the group should commit suicide in honour of your dead vault men or venture into the outside world to educate others on how your vault was misled. You were somewhat dissociated from the whole conversation. Reasonably so.

His hands, soft yet calloused, turn your head side to side to check for any visible injuries he might’ve missed, which he shouldn’t have—knitted eyebrows and razor-sharp eyes search frantically for anything. 

Charles or… As you’ll call him later in your relationship, Charlie, has always been like this. When you met him, he was a reserved kid, a trait that would carry on from his pubescent to adolescent years. 

When other kids grew out of their shyness and worrisome attitude and eventually adapted to the vault, he was pushed aside. Well, that wouldn’t be the only reason. His father was the first overseer of Vault 11, the same overseer who thought the best course of action was not to tell the vault residents about the sacrificial system they were now to live with. That same choice he made was the reason for his death, and he was the first to test the new system. He wasn’t a good man. He was greedy, a neglectful father and husband, and so on. A family now ruined by one man’s ill-considered decision; Charles's mom wasn’t much better, the textbook definition of a hypocrite. Bad-mouthing her dead husband, the same one she defended when said husband would push his son away.

Most would fear having no one at the end of the world, but it became Charles's life; while everyone adapted to vault life, Charles adapted to the misfortune of the consequences of his old man’s actions. You decided one day to talk to him while others stood clear. It was a simple conversation; others would just brush it off…which he did initially. But after that day, you would constantly seek him out, and with that, you wore a genuine smile and interest every time you talked to him. His walls crumbled into dust for you and only you. You were like a shooting star he wished for. His reputation grew because of you and, with that, his feelings for you sored. You became his way of life. In his teen years, he decided to become the best match for you– He would participate in every extracurricular activity the vault would provide to make him an unstoppable force of a man. The perfect golden boy was made..for you.

He had the “perfect body,” perfect sperm count, unmatched intelligence, and charisma—he perfected them (even if you were the only one he talked to for long periods)—strength, agility, endurance—all of it. He will be everything you need and more. With that, he made sure no one would vote you as overseer…

He was so soft on you that it would rival feathers. Do you need help lifting that? He's already there. Do you need help with your pre-war history? He’ll just sit you down and study with you for hours. Are you bleeding from an accidental cut? Don’t worry he just finished his first aid training. He already had a plan for you both for everything that would happen.

Everything

“I’m fine…” You grab both of his hands gently. “...Well, not fine, fine, but I'm not hurt.” You smile weakly up at him. “It’s okay. You and I will get through this,” He coos, pushing strands of your hair away from your face and behind your ear. His touch is warm and tender, yet the words you hear next aren’t.

“Fuck..I..I can’t do this I’m sorry.” A man, short in stature, starts backing away, gun in hand, clearly distressed. Your eyes move away from Charli’s to your fellow survivor; unknowingly to you, Charli rolls his eyes at the man's “dramatics.”  “We don’t deserve to leave...That thing called us a shiny example..f..f.fucked! Thats fucked! I..I can’t live with that!” Another man says, “Anyone would’ve done what we did.” A woman comments, “You ask me? That's exactly the problem. Now, let’s get on with this.”

“Wait,” you say, stunned, as if he had predicted this would happen. Charles moves his hands to cover your eyes. The short man is first, putting his gun on the roof of his mouth and pulling the trigger, not sparing any more time; the woman is next, the second gunshot. Then, with a sigh and short prayer, the last man repeats the action done by the others. Each lifeless body hits the floor one by one, and then there is silence.

What the hell.

You try to understand the situation, but your brain has yet to catch up…it’s all too much. Charli whispers calming phrases while he shields your eyes with one hand and rubs patterns along your back with the other. Tears start rolling down your face…and you sob. Hard. His hand moves to pet your hair, soothing you while you let it all out of your system.

He moves his body to shield you from the gruesome events that have just taken place; he moves both of his hands and cradles your face. You try looking behind him out of curiosity, but he stops you before you can.”Hey! Look at me with those gorgeous eyes,” He mummers, and of course, you comply. “There we go. You listen to me so well,” he whispers lovingly. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll both go back to my vault room. I have enough supplies for the both of us to survive outside for a while, okay?” He asks you, and you nod, agreeing to whatever he says. 

“I need to hear you say it..” 

“…yes, of course, whatever you think is best.” He smiles at you, thumb caressing your cheek. “Keep your eyes on me, okay?” He takes your hand and leads you through the halls. It's quiet… you don't like it. Your eyes are trained on his back, Charli…he’s your lifebuoy in the angry sea, the only thing keeping you afloat; if it wasn’t for him…you might’ve met your end with the others. As if sensing your inner turmoil, he squeezes your hand, comforting you…and you squeeze back. Your world just fell apart, yet…it doesn’t seem entirely gone with Charli by your side. 

It's only a short time till you reach his vault. You’ve been here so many times it's basically your room by now. The tall blonde turns to look at you. “I’m going to let you go, just for a second, okay..? I just need to get the supplies.” He holds your one hand with both of his– you reply with a soft okay, and with your permission, he starts to move. He moves towards his small desk to grab a small, flat-headed screwdriver, walks to a particular spot, and pops the floor title beneath him, revealing a hidden compartment. It's filled with two modular military backpacks, filled to the bream with necessities for outside the vault.

He was prepared for all of this…

Then he starts talking about what he has in mind for the two of you, settling on the surface of living together and everything. Charles gets lost when talking to you; he can speak his mind about almost anything, and rambling is second nature with you. The hermit turned a social butterfly in your presence.

“You know that computer may have been our downfall, but god did bless me with more information than I could handle…good thing, huh, glad I went through all that code…Vault-tec tried to make it secure, but I found a way...We could go somewhere called New Vegas…” He keeps talking. 

But you stand there, still, as a statue, looking down at him as he gathers everything…What did he just say? 

You think back to the start when killing between the blocs started..he was right there, ready to protect you, when you and the other surviving tested out if the chamber would kill all of you…he almost seemed to be too assured nothing bad would happen to any of you, almost like…no…no. You’re overthinking, right? But the more you listen…

“You knew…” you shakingly exclaim out loud, cutting him off. “Hmm?” He looks up at you as he puts the tile back…” You knew we didn’t need sacrifices…you knew it would play out like this…” you say louder and more confidently. Those once-homey blue eyes become cold and distant… analyzing you.  

You both stare at each other.

You turn and run.

 But your efforts are in vain; you don’t even leave the room before two muscular arms wrap around behind you, overtaking you, holding your arms down around your waist, dragging you back. You scream and kick with no success. You end up with his arms around you while he sits down, his back against the wall, and you in front of him with his head in your neck while you let it all out. “When?” you croak out, “When we were fifteen, I didn’t want you to become overseer…I didn’t want you to die..so I wondered if it was the computer that sent signals to kill whoever was sent in that chamber and wondered if I could stop it from killing you specifically; that's when I found out .” He answers swiftly and truthfully, “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” You question, “I didn’t care, honestly, the only thing that matters is you…If everyone died in the process, it would be less work for me…I wanted it to be us from the beginning, anyway. I want you to need me as much as I need you…and now you finally do.”  

You feel weak and sick to your stomach… All your peers would’ve ended up dead either way. “I want to leave.” he hums, not mocking you but in acknowledgment. “And do what? You don’t know how to defend yourself; you have no supplies prepared, barely any survival instincts, and you don’t even know any information on the surface above. You can leave, but you’ll die…I can’t let that happen, sorry.” Charles buries himself more into you. 

“I hate you,” You whisper.

“That’s okay…all that matters is that you're here…with me and only me… I’ll keep you safe and sound.”

N: This was a long one, whew! I had to think about how I could make a Yandere fic with Fallout, and I had tons of concepts, but this one stood out the most. I hope my execution was good enough....Anyway, my next fic will most likely be a jealous fic about my Yandere lord, so stay tuned! Till then! see you soon my little guppies (´꒳`)♡ extra note: Throughout writing this, I thought "My Way of Life by Frank Sinatra" would fit Charli perfectly.

#fallout #let me cook #yandere oc #yandere drabble #yandere blog #yandere male x reader #male yandere #yandere x you #yandere x reader #yandere oc x reader #yandere x darling #yandere imagines #yandere thoughts #x reader #yandere concept #oc x reader #yandere x y/n

[jake-g-lockley]

Can I ask for prompts 7 &/or 4 with Poe Dameron? Love your writing! 🥰

Glimmer of Hope (Poe Dameron x reader)

Masterlist | Spotify Playlist | Want to be Tagged?

Prompts: “The hand behind their nape when they are embarrassed.” and “Almost kissing but someone walks in 0_0.”

Warnings: Allusion to injury

A/N: Oh my god thank you for the ask and the sweet comment, my heart <333 I haven’t written for Poe in so long, my beautiful rebellious husband, I hope you like this, it's just pure fluffy goodness xxx

Word Count: 3.1k

 .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

At times of chaos, a little bit of happiness seems to drive everyone away from their troubles. When there was an announcement of an engagement at the cantina on one particularly glum day, things started to take a turn for the better. There were a lot of tears, all tears of joy as the glimmer of happiness sparked a whole lot of peace in people’s minds. 

You grinned at the happy couple, one a member of the red squadron and the other a tech at the operating base, who also happens to be your best friend, Kamira. They looked so elated and their happiness was clearly contagious. You congratulated the couple, kissing your best friend’s forehead and bringing her in for a hug

“Be my maid of honour,” she whispered through her tears and you nod without a second of hesitation. 

It took you a while to gather yourself but you were determined to make this the best wedding ever, to make it the best glimmer of hope the resistance has ever seen. 

 .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You were now trudging around a busy market place, searching for the final accessories you were adding to Kamira’s bridal headdress, a small  astromech droid rolling at your heels telling you to hurry up.

“Yes, BB, I won’t be long. Go on, go bother your dad.” you said, turning to chastise the irritated droid. 

It was then when you realised that the man in question was not behind you. You stopped and looked around, frowning when you couldn’t catch the unruly mop of curls or sharp stunning brown eyes

“Wher- Bebs, where’s your dad?” you knelt down to pat his round head. BB-8 made a sound that sounded something like “ Don’t care, am mad.” and you rolled your eyes at the droid.

“He can be mad all he likes, I’m not buying him new fittings until he learns how to behave himself.” a soothing masculine voice with a hint of authoritativeness cuts through the buzzing sounds of the market making you smile.

You gathered your face into a frown before turning to face him.

“You went into a whole lecture about me running off too far when you can waltz off wherever you want and whenever you want?” you poked the man’s chest as he stared you down with a smirk on his handsome face.

“You hadn’t even noticed how long I’ve been missing.” He raised his eyebrows indignantly at you and you couldn’t help the smile at creeped up onto your face.

“Oh shut up, Poe, here, hold these bags.” you shoved your things into his arms and walked away before he could catch anything else from the expression on your face.

Your friendship with the Black Leader had been a unrequired one. You had been working late one night, deep in focus when an X-Wing swooped into the base and landed slightly clumsily. You squinted into the darkness and quickly ran towards the ship when no one came out of it. You pried the foggy glass covering the cockpit open and you were shocked to find Poe Dameron semi-conscious and on the verge of death. 

You had pulled him out with all of your strength, hulling the 80 kg pilot onto one of your trolley’s and pushing him to the med bay, screaming for help. You hadn’t heard from him for about two weeks when suddenly one of your favourite droids, an orange and white astromech, delivered a little message for you from Poe. You both got along amazingly and now here the pilot was, helping you search for wedding preparation things. 

You watched as Poe adjusted the large bag of items on his shoulder as he bargained with a seller. You couldn’t deny that he was a beautiful man to look at. His sweet mannerisms and innocent eyes meant that he could easily get his way at times but you allowed it. The setting suns created a beautiful glow that complimented Poe’s tan skin and brown eyes, turning them into caramel orbs that sparkled like gems at a distance. Poe turned to you with a triumphant smile, indicating that he had won the bargain as the shopkeeper mumbled something and stuffed the things into another bag. 

“Come on, it's getting late, we should get some rest.” Poe’s voice cuts through your thoughts and the both of you walk towards a nearby inn.

 .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

“What do you mean one room?” Poe runs a hand down his face and takes a deep breath.

“We’re all booked up unfortunately,” said the bored receptionist.

“It's alright Poe, we’ll adjust, we’ll take the room sir.” you said, hooking your arm around Poe and grabbing the key that was set out in front of him giving the receptionist a forced smile. 

Whatever negatives Poe and you thought about the room had been magnified to tenfold when you unlocked the door. The floor was absolutely filthy and the room was cramped, with a bed that was too big for its space. You turned to Poe who was staring into the room with the same expression you had brewing in your head. You couldn’t help but giggle and pinch his cheek at how blatant his emotions were showing through and he snapped out of it, following you into the room.

BB-8 was camping the night in his little astromech pod on the ship Poe flew you in. That just left you and Poe to find somewhere to crash for the night before heading back to base when the suns arose. You sigh and pull out a few scarfs that you brought with you for comfort, laying it on the bed so that you could have some peace of mind when you sleep. It took you a while to realise that Poe was staring like a lost child. 

“You okay?” you turned to Poe, a worried look on your face. 

“Uhm, yea sure. I’ll take the floor, you can have the bed.” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully.

“Don’t be stupid, Poe, you can sleep on the bed with me, I’m not going to throw you off the bed in my sleep.” you chuckled.

Truthfully, you were worried about his back. Ever since that accident, he had been complaining about how bad his back would hurt and nothing seemed to solve it. You didn’t want to be the cause of more of his pain, that might essentially take him away from his true love, flying. You gave him a small smile and head to the refresher to freshen up. 

A few minutes later, there you were, staring face to face with Poe Dameron, casanova of the resistance. You can’t help but think of the many women and men that this man had bedded and you internally smack yourself for thinking up such vulgarity. You close your eyes and pretend to sleep, eventually lulled to unconsciousness by the soft warmth of Poe’s body heat and his soft breathing. 

Poe, on the other hand, was wide awake. His plans of falling asleep in a lone bed were quenched by the bored receptionist and he was now given an opportunity like no other. He knew you were pretending to sleep, so he did too but when your breathing steadied and your eyelids relaxed, Poe laid there and stared at you. He almost never got enough time with you, just to observe you and swim in the feelings that he felt for you. Why would he want to travel to the land of dreams when all he dreamt of was before him?

Now, he pulled himself out of the urge to graze your face with his fingers, to memorise your lips with his. He tucked his hands under the pillow so that they didn’t betray him. Everynight, when he succumbed to the few hours of sleep that he had, he would dream of you. He would see your worried face, the face that you wore when you discovered him at the brink of his death. Your hair was a mess and you had an oil smear on your forehead but Poe thought you were an angel who was going to take him to a better place. 

His hands itched to tuck a stray piece of hair that fell on your face as you soundly slept but he reeled himself back again. Suddenly, with a big sniff, you shifted in your sleep and one of your hands landed directly in front of Poe’s nose. He slowly took in a breath and smelled your soft soap and it was then when all of his urges took over him. Slowly, he extracted one of his hands from under the pillow and traced your hand softly, every line etched painstakingly into his brain as his fingers skimmed them, willing himself to remember every single detail. 

You didn’t rouse from your deep sleep although a small smile graced your face as your pinky twitches gently. Poe sighed, slowly letting his heart leave its cavity and fill the lines on your hands. He hooked his pinky around yours gently and waited with bated breath to see whether you would be jolted awake. Your pinky stopped twitching but your breathing stayed the same and Poe continued to stare at you until his eyes betrayed him, sleep consuming him like a hungry curse.

 .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You awoke to something warm under your face. It was so soft and smelled like clean skin with a hint of motor oil and leather, giving you a sense of comfort like no other. You nuzzled your nose into the warmth and slowly opened your eyes. All you saw was an arm extending from whatever was under your face and memories of last night flooded back to you. You didn’t move but your eyes met with the sleeping Poe, who was snoring softly, a respectful distance between the two of you, minus the hand that was softly tucked under your cheek. 

The rebellious commander looked ethereal in the morning sun, his curls everywhere, his eyebrows and lips set in a neutral position, giving him an angelic resting face. You resisted the urge to close the gap and feel his soft pouty lips on yours. Your heart pounded as you took the chance you had and softly brushed his curls that were at his forehead. The second your hand came in contact with his forehead, a jolt of electricity ran up your spine, and you had to literally pull yourself together and not throw yourself over the sleeping Poe. 

His eyebrows twitched and you resumed your original position, closing your eyes. He slowly woke up and his hand that was under your face gently cupped it as a soft sigh emitted from him, twisting at your insides. Your heart was pounding under your chest and you felt the bed dip slightly as Poe slid out of it and pulled his hand with him.

You only opened your eyes as you heard the door to the refresher close. You silently flung yourself out of bed and did your happy dance as all the receptors of your brain fired at once, your heart pumping adrenaline throughout your body making you feel like a mad woman. The sound of water hitting the floor stopped and you bit your lip, sliding back into bed and pretending you just had woken up when Poe opened the door again.

“We’ll leave for the base after we get some breakfast.” Poe said smiling at you and you nod with a knowing smile, a smile that could only be fueled by the sweet feeling that your commander has fallen for you. 

 .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You were running now, fabric billowing around you as you ran through the halls, in search of that one door. You found it, keying in the password and letting the door swoosh open before storming inside. Poe turned to look at you, adjusting the buttons to his uniform with a small frown on his face, but the second he properly took a look at you his mouth dropped into a soft smile. 

“How’s it going, Commander?” you giggle, realising that he had put all his buttons wrongly, setting a small jar aside and reaching for him.

“I look ridiculous.” he mumbled and you laughed, patting his lapel down and pulling him towards his table. 

“You look powerful, trust me.” you say, perching on his table and pushing his shoulders down so that he is seated at the chair. 

You reached out for the jar of mousse and lifted his head up by his chin, so that he was at eye level with you. Without a single word, you started to adjust his curls, twisting each piece so that they fall beautifully. Poe was looking at you with his huge tempting eyes, and you looked past them, not wanting to be distracted. Once you were satisfied with his hair, you grabbed some powder and dabbed it lightly on his face. 

“Ready for your big speech?” you murmured, smoothing down his eyebrows with your fingers and letting your hands trail over the sides of his face, examining him.

He shrugged, making you nod with a grin, knowing that Poe was more of the pep talk kinda person, preferring to steer clear from large structured speeches. You placed a hand on his chest and slowly pushed him against the chair as your eyes finally met his. They were slightly hooded and he gave you all of his attention, tuning his entire body towards you. You held eye contact, determined not to falter as you started unbuttoning his uniform. You tugged it and righted his buttons, your fingers working slowly and carefully on the intricately ordained uniform. Once you were done, you turned and picked up the mirror behind you, holding it in front of Poe. 

“See you look cute” you smile from behind the mirror.

Poe’s hand came to rest atop of the mirror, slowly pushing it down to reveal your face. His eyes were glittering under the dim lights of his room and he was gazing at you with a new look on his face, one of wonder and amazement. You’d recognize the look on his face, the same face he used when he would blow up a TIE in the sky, his face ablaze in the monitor and a maddening expression that made him look like a scientist who had discovered all he wanted to know. 

“Yea, beautiful.” he whispered softly as his eyes grazed your face. 

He reached his hand out and cupped your cheek, calloused thumb tracing your jawline, making your eyes flutter close and heart quicken instantly. 

“Poe…” you breathed, trying to keep your eyes on him.

“So beautiful…” he was getting closer now and you could see the light dusting of pink across his nose. 

You held onto the mirror between the two of you like it was your lifeline fingers digging into its hard ridges as Poe’s nose brushed against yours softly. Suddenly a loud beep launched the both of you apart and Poe stood up from his place, turning just in time for the door to whoosh open again. 

“Found your data pa- Why are you both looking at me like that?” Finn says, holding up Poe’s data pad. 

You adjusted your expression casually at Finn’s raised eyebrow as Poe coughed and straightened his uniform. 

“Knock next time, damn.” you heard Poe murmur and you purse your lips, keeping in a laugh. 

“Time for the-”

“Right, rehearsal.” Poe said shortly, exiting the room and Finn shot you a look of surprise and followed him a second later, leaving you stunned with your own thoughts. 

 .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Poe watched you throughout the ceremony, unable to think of anything else as he watched the way you smiled lovingly at your best friend. Poe found himself replacing the bride and groom with himself and you, his hand coming up to fiddle with his mother’s ring on the necklace around his neck. You would make the most radiant bride, your smile itself would be the highlight of Poe’s day and to be the reason for that smile would be his greatest blessing. 

He got through his speech just fine, his eyes searching for everyone except you, worrying that he would stumble along the way if he looked at you. After the ceremony, he looked around for you, his mind racing at the events of the morning and wondering how it would feel to speak to you again. You weren’t anywhere near the party, and Poe had a good idea where you would be. He ran, the resistance of the wind messing up his curls again and his boots thudding against the floor. 

He stopped when he caught the sight of you, your cape billowing in the wind as you looked over the balcony at the scenery before you. You looked no short of a queen, your posture regal and your head held high. Poe was mesmerised, even more than he ever was when he had the chance to feel your lips against his moments before. He should have said something to you before he left for rehearsal, his heart now punishing him as he stared at you. 

“I know you’re behind me, Poe, I could hear your boots from a mile away.” you said humorlessly without turning around, your voice soft as it carried away in the winds. 

Poe approached you slowly, twisting his fingers slightly and taking his place beside you.

“Why?” Poe knew what you were asking and he quite frankly didn’t need you to say more.

“You saved my life, so it's undoubtedly yours.” He said softly but firmly and you turned to look at him with a shocked expression, your eyes wide, not expecting him to say what he just had said. 

“Oh Poe,” you breathed, grabbing his hand and tugging him close, claiming his lips with yours as you cupped his face with your free hand. 

His arms snaked around your waist as he pulled you closer, deepening the kiss, sighing as his heart gave way completely. He pulled away, but one look at the way your face was flushed made him pull you back for another kiss, one that blazed something so violently inside of him that he found it hard to pull back. Eventually, he rested his forehead against yours as you held onto him, the both of you breathing in each other’s air as your hand rested against his chest, over his heart. 

“I-” you tried to say but Poe softly clamped his hand over your mouth and brought your head down to his shoulder, hugging you tightly. 

In that embrace you felt it, that glimmer of hope, the best one you had ever seen in your time with the resistance.

Reblogs are appreciated~~~

Tagging: @fandxmslxt69 @in-between-the-cafes @steven-grants-world @whatsliferightnow @minigirl87 @wonderfulboiledcoldpotato @autismsupermusicalassassin @alexxavicry @flordelalunas @euphoricosmo @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @lia275 @sugarpunch-princess @violet-19999 @ghostheartbeat @kierramofficial @ryebreadsworld @your-voice-is-mellifluous @lil-stark @absolutelybloodyhopeless

#poe dameron #poe dameron x reader #jakeglockley asks #poe dameron fic #poe dameron fluff #poe dameron fanfiction #poe dameron imagine #poe dameron angst #poe dameron smut #poe dameron imagines #poe dameron x female reader #poe #poe smut #poe dameron x oc #poe dameron x y/n #poe dameron x you #poe dameron x gn!reader #oscar isaac x reader #oscar isaac #oscar isaac characters #star wars x reader #star wars #star wars imagine #star wars imagines #star wars fanfiction #poe dameron fanfic #star wars fic #star wars x y/n #star wars x you #star wars x oc

[miss-atena]

HEY HEY HEY! Its me yet again, I know u missed me alot. But I wanted to request a Tim Wright (obviously) x Reader where Tim has the hanahaki disease, like, he loves reader but reader doesnt love him back bc he (Tim) never opened up about his feelings, it ends in a fluffy thing with reader reciprocating his feelings , but with a bunch of angst on the middle. If its too much for u you dont need to do it! Stay hydrated, eat something and take a break every once in a while.

-XOXO, ur best bud

Inhales deeply

Y'know how much I love angst don't ya?

Thanks for requesting this, because now i wanna write more angst stuff ehehe

TW: emetophobia, Hanahaki disease, hurt comfort.

Tim Wright with hanahaki disease x Reader

Tim knew it was gonna be rough. He couldn't open up to you, even after the years of friendship. And now, with the whole operator stuff, it would be even less likely for him to spend time with you.

What made it hurt, beside the petals and blooming flowers on his lungs, was that he felt like he would die to anything at this point.

Back when everything was normal, the petals still bloomed inside of him, but he could hide it. You were with Brian, he couldn't do this to his best friend from all his life.

But by god, were his feelings real.

Then you and Brian broke up, near the start of the Marble Hornets production.

But still, Tim couldn't open up. He felt guilty, and gross for doing so. So he sank his feelings deep down, and only comforted you, like the good friend you saw him as.

Then Jay appeared. And everything went to chaos. Tim's life went upside down.

He would wake up with limbs hurting, his fingers semi broken, and a lot of petals right in his mouth, coming for the next round of vomiting.

He was already feeling dead inside, and was just waiting to actually die.

...

That's when you got yourself in the middle.

Fucking Jay contacted you to get yourself involved and help them, since you were one of the smartest students from college.

Tim didn't want you to die. He couldn't beat it. If that happened he would kill Jay himself, instead of waiting for Alex to fucking do it.

He pushed you to the side, on the hospital ruins. It was now or possibly never ever.

He finally opened up. He told you how he had loved you for so long, but was afraid. Afraid of not only losing you, but Brian and his other friends.

He opened up about his feelings of being dead. He opened up about his fear of dying, or even losing you. He wanted you away from Jay, so at least you would be safe.

But you, as stubborn as you always were, stood your ground and said no. You wouldn't be leaving him to suffer alone.

He didn't have time to talk about the disease, since his coughing fits soon showed the petals getting out of him, and the vomited flowers with blood showed you what you needed to see.

While all of Tim's life went through that route, you were dreaming.

You broke up with Brian earlier that year because you were into Tim. He was alright with that, as long as you didn't leave him as a third wheel.

You were thinking of how to ask Tim out. You didn't know much of him, besides what Brian got to tell you about him, but you were so sure you loved him.

When you told Tim all of that, the Wright hugged you, crying. He cried like a child, and asked you to forgive him.

You, instead, cleaned his face and kissed his cheek.

"Tim... If you go down, then I'm going with you. I'm not leaving you behind, got it?"

He nodded, while still shaking... Then he heard it.

"Aww, you two are so cute"

And in unison, you said

"JAY IF YOU ARE FUCKING RECORDING THIS WE WILL KILL YOU, I SWEAR TO GOD"

I hope you like it. I needed to add a comic ending, because i thought it would be a good break lsjsksnsksns

Anyway thanks for asking lil bro, i hope u enjoy it!

#creepypasta #marble hornets #tim wright x reader #tim wright marble hornets #tim wright #hanahaki disease #tw blood #tw emetophobia #cw hurt comfort #marble hornets x reader #anon ask #goblin writting #thanks for the request!

[fandom-go-round]

Ohh I love me some soulmate au's. Would you mind writing one with Shatter (transformers) x reader? I love and am such a sucker for this particular soulmate au trope: getting the same injuries your soulmate does.

Warnings: Canon Typical Violence, Villainous Reader

            Your injuries have always been intense, even as a child. You remember your parents being concerned, mostly because you would complain about limbs going numb and chest pain. It isn’t something that worries you now, personally; it’s just the way things have always been.

            It makes a bit more sense when your soulmate is made of metal. At least you assume she’s your soulmate, watching as Shatter has her arm torn off and yours goes numb. You’re thankful that the injuries don’t transfer 100% just because that would be a nightmare. Your brain is racing, trying to figure out if you’re really tied to a giant metal alien.

            The solider holding you let’s go in a moment of shock and you break for the exit, ignoring the chaos around you. You’re not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and besides, you need to get the parts you acquired back to your base. It’s not hard to break out of the base, everyone running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

            You accidently get slammed into a wall and hiss, cradling your shoulder but not stopping. Getting stampeded to death isn’t on your bucket list. You only half register the burning gaze in your back, hot wiring a car and driving away. The road shakes and shrapnel flies through the air, your body tense as you do your best to dodge everything.

            Finally, the base disappears from your rear view and you begin to relax. Your arm is still numb but it’s getting better, almost like it’s slowly waking up from being asleep. After a couple of hours, you notice the muscle car cruising behind you. Something pulls you towards it, begging that you pay more attention.

            The glint of the setting sun shows off the red, almost pink tone of the car and you understand. You don’t panic, even if your heart is beating faster. The road is basically deserted this late in the middle of nowhere but you’re not going to take the chance. At the first semi hidden pull off you turn, the car following behind you smoothly.

            By the time you park and exit your vehicle, the sounds of metal twisting fill the air. You miss whatever has happened because the creature from before is there, crouched between the trees and staring at you. Moments of silence pass, wind moving through the trees; you’re content to let whoever it is make the first move.

            You smile as they reach out, palm uncurling over the grass. You approach slowly, setting your hand against the fingers in front of you. The creature let’s out a deep feminine laugh and you hum. This isn’t what you expected from your soulmate but you’re not going to back down from a challenge.

#transformers #transformers imagine #shatter imagine #shatter x reader #tf shatter #macaddam #soulmate au

[justsasuke]

Taka movie night head cannons? After the argument of who's watching what. I imagine there has to be a system for taking turns with choosing the movie. How does everyone know and up on the couch? Snacks? Movie preferences? Whose falling asleep first? ( now it just sounds like a sleepover lol)

This inspired a huge thought dump so here it is in a semi-organized manner hahaha. Feel free to add any thoughts

Annual movie nights was originally Suigetsu's idea, he loves films (especially very weird, very obscure cult classics) and couldn't believe Sasuke hadn't seen most of the ones he loved so he decided to make it everyone's problem

Karin and Juugo haven't seen most of them either bc they're usually very obscure indie films from countries not in the five great nations but Suigetsu never gave them hell about it.

Sasuke has only ever seen a handful of movies in his life (never really had time, wasn't interested etc) and that includes whatever Yugie movie he watches in theaters with team 7.

Karin had a TV in the southern hideout but really only watched dramas.  (All romance ones with leads who look embarrassingly like Sasuke so she never brings it up and always pretends she never had time for TV). The movies she has seen and liked are all fast paced action films or thrillers.

Juugo never watched movies bc reasons (he lived in a cave away from humanity) but after hanging out with the team he started getting into them and finding ones he likes.  So far it's a lot of nature documentaries and slow slice of life movies with happy endings.

Movie nights started as a once a week plan but often ends up being way more frequent than that, especially in the winter.

Deciding what to watch each night was chaos at best.  They tried a rotation but everyone kept forgetting who was next so Suigetsu ended up picking three weeks in a row.  After several debates and a near pillow fight Juugo finally put it on the calendar and now everyone knows who's turn is when.

Sasuke never picks movies.  He's more of a social watcher and is generally down for whatever as long as it's not horror or super brutal.  (He generally finds Juugo's picks to be best bc neither of them like high stress movies while Karin and Suigetsu both do).

Each of them (luckily) has a different spot they like to sit to watch movies.

Karin likes to sit cross legged on the thick carpet in front of the couch, surrounded by various snacks and hugging an enormous pillow.

Sasuke likes the the left arm of the couch to lean against, he also keeps his feet up so Karin usually ends up sitting in front of him.

Suigetsu likes the other side of the couch to start but always ends up lounging on the floor halfway through.

Juugo will sit on the sofa next to Sasuke.  His legs are long so he usually takes up a lot of floor space and Karin has definitely used his leg as a backrest once.   It's not uncommon for Sasuke's legs to end up draped across Juugo's lap when he finally needs to stretch them.

Movie nights tend to end up as sleepovers just because once the movie is done no one feels like going home.  This means that in each person's house there's a stack of extra pillows and blankets in the corner.

Suigetsu always has to pee 20 minutes into the movie and then again at the most intense part.  This drives everyone crazy but they're too nice to keep going without him so they just wait.

Sasuke falls asleep 89% of the time not because he's uninterested but because he's bad at getting enough sleep generally.  He always wants to know what happened in the movie though and used to look it up secretly so he would know what everyone was talking about without having to ask (he was embarrassed about missing it).  

Juugo noticed and started giving really detailed comments about the ending ("it was cool when [extremely detailed description of events in the film] happened") so Sasuke could be in the convo right away.  

Both Suigetsu and Karin know this is happening.

Their snack habits while watching is as follows:

Suigetsu always brings a ton of snacks (mostly yogurt drinks) that he consumes mostly before they've even picked a movie.  He does not like the sound of crunching while he's watching and will give you side eye.

Karin likes candy when she watches and sometimes a cold beer to go along with it.  She tends to pick candy that kind of matches thematically (sour candies for intense movies, soft gummies for romance/slice of life etc.).  She will ask everyone if they want some but only once.

Juugo always has a lot of snacks prepared but never really eats them himself.  He prefers to snack after the film while talking about it.  The types of snacks he gets/makes are all otsumami (snacks to eat with a drink) like edamame, sashimi etc.  and he usually makes them himself.  If he does snack while watching the movie it's on chestnuts.

Sasuke likes to bring senbei (rice crackers) and always brings some from a local shop.  He doesn't snack during the movie unless someone directly offers him something but will snack before and after. Out of everyone he's the only one that gets to eat from Karin's snacks twice and it's not even because she offers them, he'll just take it so casually no one notices.

#Team Taka Movie #Sasuke #Juugo #Karin #Suigetsu #Team Taka Headcanons

[srhunt]

Thoughts on Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)

Shadow has been my favorite Sonic character for years. My earliest exposure to Shadow was at my local Boys & Girls Club. We had a GameCube where kids would take turns playing games. I distinctly remember watching several kids try to beat the final boss of Sonic Adventure 2, though I didn’t fully click with it at the time. My first real exposure to him was through cutscenes posted to YouTube in the early 2000s because I didn’t have a gaming console growing up. I would watch Sonic X when I was able, specifically seeking out the episodes with Shadow. When I finally got a PS2, I got Shadow the Hedgehog because, well, Shadow.

I was not great at it. I struggled a lot because of the slippery controls, flying off stages, and bombardment of bullets. I maybe got through one ending if that.

And for the longest time, that’s all I really had. I got a PS2 towards the end of its lifecycle, the PS3 was already out and I struggled to find other titles.

I had other Sonic games like Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, Sonic and the Black Knight, but outside of party games like Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing, Shadow the Hedgehog is still the only story driven game I own where Shadow is playable*.

So, when the recent news about Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic x Shadow Generations dropped, I decided to finally beat Shadow the Hedgehog after all these years.

Over the course of 4 days, I worked my way through the 8 remaining endings I had left (having completed the true hero path and the semi hero path a few years prior). And after a decade of owning the game, I beat it.

So what are my thoughts?

While I can acknowledge the game’s flaws…I still don’t hate it.

I’ve watched several videos that explain why this game is terrible, from the mechanics to the butchering of Shadow’s character. And I agree.

Chaos Controls

The game is hard to control, I recognized this even growing up, but I mainly chalked that up to “I’m bad at Sonic games”, which is also true.

Until I beat Shadow, I’d never beaten a Sonic game because I lacked the reaction time. We’ve come close, we’re at Eggmanland on Sonic Unleashed, but I had never beaten a Sonic game.

I even tried to play Radical Highway on my friend’s copy of Sonic Adventure 2, and I struggled hard with the controls.

Shadow’s controls are indeed wonky. Multiple times my homing attack would send me flying off the stage, Shadow wouldn’t aim at the enemy right in front of him, and I’d miss jumps because Shadow would stagger on the edge of a platform.

After I learned how to better manage these flaws, the game became much easier. I began to slow down my homing attacks so I wouldn’t fly away, and started jumping before the edge of the platform. This didn’t erase these problems, I still fell off the stage from time to time, but they didn’t happen as frequently. I got so good that I got A Ranks on the neutral paths for Westopolis and Prison Island.

Shadow’s air shoes make him slippery to control, but I feel like all Sonic games are slippery? Maybe that’s just me, but even with Adventure 2 and Unleashed, I felt like I was slipping and sliding all over the place. So, with Shadow, I’d slow down a bit if I felt like I was going out of control. Granted, this is still a Sonic title where speed is key, so the advice to “slow down” is not really the best if you’re going for all A Ranks.

I Think You’re the Fake Hedgehog Around Here

This is the game where Shadow gains his “Edgy Hedgie” status.

He has guns!

He says “damn”!

He hates humans for killing Maria! (Even though…that’s not what Maria wanted)

He wants to learn the truth about his past cause amnesia’s a bitch! (Even though…he already learned hakuna matata in Sonic Heroes, apparently)

Yea, I admit this game is a huge step backwards for Shadow’s development. Post-SA2 Shadow cares deeply for his closest friends, mainly Rouge and Omega, but is reserved around others. He’s a hedgehog of few words. He has respect for Sonic, a little bit of a rivalry, but it’s not to the extreme where Shadow hates him. He doesn’t hate humans, but if push comes to shove, he will defend himself if they attack him first. This side of him is well illustrated in the cutscenes for Sonic Heroes and, yes, even Sonic ‘06.

However, this is not the Shadow we see in his titular game. Shadow’s cold towards Sonic, he sounds annoyed anytime he shows up. Depending on the path you take, he becomes downright cruel. He never really talks to many of the other characters outside of the ones in cutscenes. And when he does speak to them, it just feels out of character most of the time. Shadow has a distain for humanity, commenting how they’re pathetic and he doesn’t have time to for them when the Black Arms begin destroying Westopolis.

However, there are a handful of parts where the Shadow of Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes can be seen.

Any level where Maria is your companion is a good example. Especially the cutscene before Lost Impact.

Cryptic Castle Hero, you help save Cream and Cheese, afterwards he heeds them to stay away from Doctor Eggman, showing he does care about them.

The Pure Hero path is probably the closest you get to Shadow’s true character, even though there’s still a few moments that feel off. “This is like taking candy from a baby, which is fine by me” is probably the most out of character line, and you’ll only hear it by doing Hero missions.

Apparently this line still relevant to Shadow, as he steals popcorn from a Chao in an official Sonic Team Racing animation.

This might be a hot take, but the Dark Path on Final Haunt didn’t feel like a sudden betrayal to me? The way Sonic talks during and after the fight makes me feel like he saw it more like a friendly competition. Especially when you compare his dialogue to the other endings where you fight Sonic.

Final Haunt Dark Path

(Before the Boss)

Sonic: “Shadow! Why are you siding with those black creatures?”

Shadow: “Siding with them? You’re joking, right? I’m just siding with whoever goes against you! This time you’re going down, Sonic!”

Sonic: “hehehe, if that’s how it’s gonna be, Shadow, then bring it on!”

(Start Boss Fight)

Sonic: “Alright. Ready to do this? Come on!”

(After the Boss)

Sonic: “…Man…I didn’t think ya had it in ya…”

Sonic’s delivery makes it feel like he’s not angry with Shadow, but that he’s impressed. At least that’s how I read it anyway. He doesn’t sound distraught or scared like he does in the Pure Dark Path, he just sounds exhausted cause Shadow put up a good fight.

Sonic even offers Shadow a “friendly competition” if you do the Hero Path in Westopolis, but Shadow declines because he’s got other priorities at the time. He still doesn’t agree with Black Doom’s mission, he just wants to take Sonic up on his earlier offer.

Regardless, this game has had a lasting effect on Shadow’s character that he’s still trying to shake off. He went from a solemn hero who cared deeply for his closest friends, to an angsty anti-hero who only cares about himself.

Thankfully, it seems like he’s starting to get back to his old self in Sonic Prime (I’ve only seen season 1 and a handful of clips from the recent seasons, haven’t been able to get caught up, so correct me if I’m wrong).

Let’s hope Sonic 3 and Sonic x Shadow Generations continue to repair the damage.

In His World, Your Choices Don’t Matter

Shadow’s gameplay has three paths you can take; Hero, Dark or Neutral, with 10 possible endings. You can mix and match these paths however you please. You can start Dark then redeem yourself, turn on your friends in an act of betrayal, or just say “nah, imma do my own thing”. This freedom of choice was a massive selling point for the game. Do you want Shadow to be a “black-hearted evil” or “brave-hearted hero”?

This freedom of choice is present in a handful of my favorite games, like Epic Mickey and Undertale.

But, Shadow fails at this “choose your own adventure” format. Yes, your choices impact which of the 10 endings you get, but none of these 10 endings are the true ending.

This is apparently left over from the Sonic Adventure-style games where you had to play everyone’s storyline to unlock the last story, where all the characters join together and fight the Final Boss.

However, this format does not work when we follow one character for the entire game.

In order to unlock the true ending, you have to complete all 10 endings. And if you’re someone like me who always goes for the good endings because being mean makes you feel bad, then this will be a hard pill to swallow.

The Last Way begins with Shadow already in possession of all 7 Chaos Emeralds, we have no idea how he got them, so basically every path you spent hours playing mean nothing. They’re not canon. Only a few parts here and there are still relevant past this point.

No matter what you did, Shadow will always turn on Black Doom, destroy the Black Comet with the Eclipse Cannon, and save the world. Which kinda negates the whole “choose your own adventure” gameplay.

Epic Mickey’s ending is also the same no matter what you do, Mickey still defeats the Blot and frees Wasteland. However, you’re still shown how your actions impacted the residents of Wasteland. For example, if you choose to paint the Clocktower boss, you see it happily playing with some Gremlins. But if you destroy it by thinning its arms, you see it lying in ruin.

Shadow’s endings are more like the ending from Clue.

The only parts that remain canon are the Chaotix story, and conversations Eggman had with Shadow on the Neutral path.

Throughout the game, the Chaotix are digging into old files. Charmy is looking for secret disks on Prison Island, Vector is looking for the notorious computer room on the ARK, and all three were hacking into Eggman’s computer before Digital Circut. The data they found contained a video message from Professor Gerald addressed to Shadow. Gerald explains the purpose of the Eclipse Cannon, and we’re shown it was recorded before Maria’s death, as she pops in at the end.

That is one revelation that enhances Sonic Adventure 2’s story, in my opinion. Professor Gerald created the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Comet when it returns in 50 years, only using it against humanity after Maria was killed.

If you battle Devil Doom past the 9 minute mark (which I did a handful of times because I’m a terrible shot), Eggman will tell Shadow he lied about him being an android and that he rescued Shadow at the end of Sonic Adventure 2, and he is, in fact, the real Shadow. Which…I feel like was obvious because our Shadow had more polygons than the androids.

Also the Sonic Heroes manual straight up says that he is the real Shadow and he survived the events of Sonic Adventure 2, so…

Where There is Shadow, There Must Also Be Light

I’m the type of person who always tries to find the good, even in the worst things. So here’s some things about Shadow that I did love.

The pre-rendered cutscenes look amazing. Almost 20 years later, and they still hold up.

By the way, guess who worked on these amazing cutscenes? After watching the credits 11 times, I noticed a couple names in the credits, Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller. Not ringing any bells? Well, Fowler went on to direct the live-action Sonic movies, and Miller was a producer on them. This is their only Sonic credit outside of those movies, so I think it’s safe to say we wouldn’t have these awesome movies if it weren’t for Shadow.

The soundtrack is also great. “I Am…All of Me” is still one of my favorite Sonic and Crush 40 songs, “Never Turn Back” struck a cord with me, and the rest of the lyrical songs had me vibing while I took a breather during the credits.

It might just be because I had to replay the levels multiple times, but I’ve had a handful of those tracks stuck in my head for years. Circus Park, Sky Troops, Lava Shelter and Cosmic Fall are a few that stick out. “Vengeance is Mine” from Sonic Adventure 2 returns as the soundtrack for the 2P Battle Mode. Yes, it took me a long time to realize it was the same song. Even when Sonic games are “bad”, they never slack on the soundtrack.

Goodbye Forever, Shadow the Hedgehog

I consider Shadow the Hedgehog to be one of my guilty pleasures. I recognize there’s a lot of things that don’t work. Shadow’s character took a drastic turn that he’s still trying to recover from, the controls feel like roller skating on ice, the “choose your own adventure” gameplay forgot about the “choose your own” part, and it’s so edgy you can slice your hand open just by touching it.

But despite all of this…I still enjoy it? Even though I was annoyed and exhausted by the game, I still had fun. The good parts are still good enough that I unironically enjoy them. And the bad parts at least can get a laugh out of me with how dumb they are. “Where’s that damn FOURTH Chaos Emerald?” and “Find the Computer Room!” are classic Sonic memes.

Do I recommend beating Shadow? Oh hell no. Not unless you’re a serious Shadow stan or a masochist. I’d say play as much as you can tolerate.

*in the time since I wrote this, I got a copy of Sonic Heroes. Currently stuck on the Power Plant level with Team Dark. HOW DO I GET PAST THE LAVA??? 😭

#shadow the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog 2005 #shadow the hedgehog game #sonic the hedgehog

[subwonwooagenda]

Do you write for non-sexual age regression? If so could you do shirabu kenjirou from haikyuu with caregivers from the shiratorizawa teem?

Little!Shirabu X Caregiver!Goshiki X Caregiver!Semi

A/N: I do indeed write for non-sexual age regression, feel free to ask! This kinda turned into a shirabu x goshiki x semi instead of the whole team 😅 so so sorry. This little oneshot is being written on my phone, I lost the charger to my laptop so bear with me on any mistakes or weird formatting, thank you for requesting and I hope you like it!

Warnings: Slight angst

Characters: Little!Shirabu, Daddy!Semi, Papa!Goshiki

Shirabu had never been more mad at himself.

He internally said every bad word in his mind as he knelt on the gyms bathroom floor, tearing apart his backpack trying to locate his emergency paci and blanket. He bit back his whimpers as he tried to see past the tears welding up in his eyes as he finally gave up, guessing they were still at home, and sat back against the stall, letting the tears fall.

He would never say it outloud but he has had a shitty day. On top of being late to school, missing morning practice then not being able to toss up a single good set, all the stress and anger from the day finally crashed on him during their afternoon practice. That’s how he found himself sitting on the bathroom floor after he made a quick excuse about his stomach bothering him. Now he just wanted forehead kisses and cuddles with his favorite people.

He shakily reached for his phone, pulling up his group chat with his Daddy and Papa, wanting nothing more than to be wrapped up in his their arms, free of the stress of the day. He was still old enough to be able to type out semi-sentences seeing as his regression never really goes lower than 6

Bu-Bear🐻: Daddy?

He wiped his runny nose on his jumper sleeve, smiling to himself slightly as he tried to envision the chaos that would come once his trusty caregivers realized their precious boy was in little space alone away from them.

Daddy Semi🤴🏼: Kenji? Baby what’s wrong??

Papa Shiki💇🏻: BU-BEAR?! ARE UOU OKDY?!

He giggled softly at his papas texts, misspelled due to his silly worrying.

Bu-Bear🐻: mm ‘kay. In gym bafroom, ddnt mean to but slipped..

He rubbed his nose again, wincing at the slight sting as his ears picked up the quick footfalls, he instantly knew who they were, not even bothering to contain himself as he crawled out of the stall he was hiding in.

Semi and Goshiki realized they probably frightened their teammates as they stood and ran off toward the bathroom, ignoring Tendo’s calls of ‘where’s the fire?’

Goshiki reached Shirabu first, instantly picking him up and setting him in his lap, his arms holding him close in a protective manor. Shriabu latched his hand onto his shirt, clutching tightly as he let more tears fall, nuzzling his nose into Goshikis neck as Semi rubbed a large warm hand over his back.

After a bit of silence, simply holding the boy as he cried, Semi finally spoke up, “Are you gonna tell us what happened, little dove?” He spike softly, his deep voice breaking Shirabu out of his mini cry session. He adjusted himself as he turned in Goshikis lap, looking at his Daddy with his red puffy eyes.

“I swipped and don’t know where fwoppy or dinki is..” he mumbled to them, Goshiki pressing soft kisses to his head to keep him calm. Semi mumbled a small curse, knowing how bad this drop was seeing as he had none of his helpful items. No Floppy the stuffed rabbit or Dinki the pacifier proved to be a rough slip for Shirabu.

“Aww our poor little boy. Daddy’s so sorry, pumpkin. I bet you miss them, huh?” He said, gently cupping one of Shirabu’s tear stained cheeks as he nodded.

“Well we can’t go get them but how about we get you cleaned up, go tell your uncles what happened and we will take you out for a treat for being such a brave boy?” Goshiki said, rubbing Shirabu’s tummy under his shirt, the odd little movement always did wonders to calm him down.

The little nodded his head, knowing his daddy and papa would look after him, putting all his trust into them to make his decisions for him. “Please..” he mumbled, whining softly as Goshiki stood with him, Semi grabbing his things behind them.

He gave a small smile as they stepped back into the gym, coming face to face with the rest of their worried team. Hell even Ushijima stood with a worried look on his usually stoic face. He was lost in playing with the bottom strands of his papas hair as he and his daddy explained to the rest of the team about what happened.

He zoned back in as he was set on the ground, his Papa helping him gather his stuff before he laced their fingers together, leading him out to the rest of their team that was waiting outside. Semi grabbed his free hand, pressing a kiss to his cheek, the whole team smiling at the sound of his now happy giggles as their hands swung.

Shirabu knew then that even without his safety items, he was going to be a-okay. Here In the middle of his daddy and papa, with his precious uncles beside them lightening the mood for them, he was in the safest place his little self could be.

#fluff #sfw little post #sfw #haikyuu #shirabu kenjirou #hq goshiki #semi eita #age regression #requested

[mothfinite]

okay okay okay here we go: what my s/is are doing during the different idw arcs!!!!!!!!!!

part 1 (just moth for now) cuz this post turned out way longer than i thought it would

some stuff definitely varies when factoring in different ship timelines but im just gonna do a general run down of things that happen no matter what

moth !

fallout / battle for angel island - the first half of the arc, theyre definitely doing some r&r after the war. they probably show up after sonic saves spiral hill but before mr. tinker is introduced. since they live just outside of their hometown, they go out to help when a badnik attack happens. sonic, catching wind of the attack, arrives to help moth defeat it. theyre later called in to help in the fight against neo metal.

metal virus saga - this one heavily varies depending on the ship timeline, but regardless of ship, moth narrowly escapes when their hometown is overrun with the virus and meets up with sonic, worried for his well being due to his affliction. they immediately join the efforts to evacuate different cities and towns, using their powers to avoid zombots as best as they can. they manage to last until the incident happens with restoration hq, where they get lost in the chaos and backed into a corner, fighting like hell and swinging their flail to no effect, creating a bubble shield with their powers that will only last for so long. amy is distracted by saving cream, and doesnt notice them. espio sees their bubble and tries to reach them in time -- but before he can make it, the bubble shatters and the horde swarms them. in the shuttle, when amy performs a headcount, espio delivers the news that moth also didnt make it out just before vector turns as well. their next appearance is in the horde of turned friends that swarms angel island, where theyre also cured like the rest.

tangent: bad guys - they ONLY show up here in the mimoth timeline where theyre basically persuaded by starline to see mimic again. they spend most of their time glued to mimic's side cuz hes basically the only one they have even a fraction of trust in. they disappear halfway through, when starline kidnaps them.

chao races & badnik bases - regardless of timeline, by the time this arc starts theyve been kidnapped and project luna v2 is well underway. they dont show up in this arc aside from a luna cameo/mention at the VERY end

test run - no mentions or cameos here

zeti hunt! - theyre semi-mentioned, but not by name. theyre at starlines lab for the time being

trial by fire - with surge and kit being sent out to Cause Trouble, luna is sent out as well, to different areas. the chaotix is handling their missing persons case, and are recieving multiple calls from different towns in response to someone who looks eerily similar to the person on the posters. they try to investigate, but get caught up in the other cases related to the power surges.

impostor syndrome - this is the first full appearance of luna v2. they're fully under starlines control at this point - not really having the same ""free will"" (heavy quotations) as surge and kit.

battle for the empire - luna is initially with starline until eggman attacks, where theyre then sent off to make sure surge and kits missions are going successfully. they end up stumbling across belle and metal and start to follow them. this leads them to witnessing starlines death. they have to be pulled away by belle, eyes remaining locked on the rubble as they run. they finally get brought back home in the end and start their recovery arc

overpowered - moth's brainwashing is effectively reversed, but its made clear that theyre not fully themself. their memories are scrambled and fuzzy, and their personality is just off. theyre recovering during all of the main stuff so they dont have much of a big role in this arc.

urban warfare - if they were Real there would probably be a mini-arc juuust before this arc to show their recovery. they convince the team to let them come along when sonic calls for backup. they help out as much as they can in their condition!

and thats everything up to the current misadventures arc!

#꒰ kitty is typing... ꒱ 💌 #oc x canon #self ship community #self insert #self ship #💤moththeragdoll.zip #I LOVE S/I LORE!!!!!!!!!! RAAAAAHHHH

[eurovision-del]

I solved the Super Saturday conundrum of what to watch this year by going out to a rugby match instead, and stayed out late celebrating the result! However, I’m back at home now, and I’ve had a chance to get caught up on all the winners of the night so far!

First up was Estonia, where won Alika with Bridges. I’m not too into this song honestly, but I must admit that Alika is a fantastic vocalist, and I can see this ballad connecting with people, even if it doesn’t with me. I think it’s a decent pick for Estonia. I am wondering what might have been seeing that two of my faves, Monsters and Venom, were in the superfinal with her, and am wondering if they cancelled each other out with both being rock songs, albeit in very different styles. I’m excited to check out their live performances, and both songs are already added to my personal playlist, but I wish Alika the best in May.

DGMP was a selection that I didn’t really care for this year. I’m happy enough to see Reiley win it, the song may not be the most exciting, but it’s sweet and easy to enjoy. Checking out his winners performance, I thought it was decent, he had good stage presence, but his vocal was swamped by the pre-recorded vocoder vocals on the chorus, and I don’t know how that will go down at Eurovision. I could be wrong though, he sounded alright in the verses and Eurovision is fine with pre-recorded backing vocals these days so maybe it won’t be an issue.

Croatia shocked me by picking Let 3 with Mama ŠČ. I ranked the song pretty high based on studio cuts because I enjoyed the chaos of the music, but watching their performance I have no idea what to make of it. It feels like satire, but I don’t have enough understanding to know of what. I’m going to have to do a deep dive into the lyrics, context, and intention of this one when I get to my full ranking in May. Apparently Harmonija Disonance came second – I preferred their song and they were well liked within the Eurovision fandom so I wonder if this was a missed opportunity for Croatia. Mama ŠČ feels like a very risky entry, but hey, the semis this year are televote only so who knows what will happen.

The next couple of results, from Latvia and Romania, I was very happy with! Sudden Lights were one of my favourites so I was so happy seeing that they won Supernova! They’re such a great band and  Aijā is a very interesting song, so I’m so excited to see them at Eurovision! Then, in Romania, D.G.T (Off and On) was my favourite song from a selection I wasn’t too fussed about, so I’m pleasantly surprised to see that it won! I thought he sung well live, his rough vocal works so well with the song, but I hope the staging and performance gets completely reworked for Eurovision, I wasn’t that keen on it, even though I guess it does fit the song…

Finally, Malta also picked my favourite song tonight with The Busker and Dance (Our Own Party)! This is such a great surprise, I was sure Malta would go for Brooke, but I’m so glad they went with this instead! It’s such a catchy song, and the staging and performance at MESC was engaging, I’d be happy if they brought this exact show to the stage in Liverpool! I’m actually so sad I won’t get to vote in the first semi final, with both Latvia and Malta there. We’ve still got plenty more songs to be released, but I want so badly to see both make the Eurovision final, even more since both countries have struggled the past few years.

With so many results going my way tonight I almost wish I’d seen some of the shows live! Maybe there’s been a couple of disappointing results here and there, but I think overall this year is shaping up nicely, we’ve got a good range of songs, with several I really like. Now just to wait for Sanremo to finish to get an idea of what Italy might send!  

#eurovision #esc2023 #nf winner #estonia #denmark #croatia #latvia #romania #malta #whoo that's a lot of countries! #I have had such a good day today #Scotland beat Wales 35-7 in the rugby and won back to back opening games for the first time ever in the six nations! #haven't done that since 1996 when it was still the five nations #then I had a great meal out with my mum to celebrate #the whole thing was my birthday present to her #I only really see her at Christmas and when I get any holiday over the summer so it was so nice having her come up for the weekend #and seeing the rugby together #but man I wish my passions were more nicely spread out! #so much happened tonight! #I am so hyped up for this year's Eurovision I am firmly in the mood what a set of results tonight

[alexbkrieger13]

Jonna Andersson, Hanna Glas and Emma Kullberg missed Sweden's quarter-final victory against Belgium after being affected by covid.

Magdalena Eriksson was happy after the victory that they managed to win despite the week of chaos.

- It is clear that it was not optimal when it comes to one of our most important games in our careers but we have managed the two in a professional way and we have been involved in this in the club team. We handle it incredibly well, but it hasn't been easy, she says.

“They were so happy and relieved”

Eriksson is close friends with Hanna Glas and told us that they spoke after the match.

- I'm really suffering with Hanna, I talked a little with everyone on Facetime after the match and they were so happy and relieved. It feels good to win for them so that they will get one more game in the tournament.

- Getting corona in this situation was probably the worst thing that could happen and very sad, above all for them individually, but now we have one match left, hopefully, two, she says.

Sweden meets England in the semi-finals on Tuesday evening.

#magdalena eriksson #swewnt

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Sirius landed on the top bunk, blood splattering over them all as well as the blue blankets and dripping to the floor as he screamed and writhed in pain.

Peter landed on the bottom one, curling around the stump of his hand and clenching his teeth against sobbing.

It was controlled chaos as the others reacted on instinct to help, Remus almost achieved flight as he snatched the nearest person's wand away to be where Padfoot was, a quick charm to mend the stream of bleeding at last, he only paused long enough to see the skin seamlessly fold back together without a trace and then a desperate look around at the others.

Regulus was doubled over coughing, it had been his wand. There was a sickening crack as Frank made something in Lily's chest go back to where it should be and she sobbed and wrapped her arms tighter around her torso. James had a disturbing patch of hair that was matted with blood to the side of his head where Alice had just tried to fix.

Remus was still holding Sirius down, his boyfriend cussing them out like music to his ears as he fought back a fresh wave of terror. He was alive, thank Merlin he was actually still alive...

Regulus had stumbled over to Peter and was trying to roll him over to see if there was anything else he could do. The place where his skin ended was solid black, no bone or sinew even showing what once had been there, it just folded and twisted in a sickening display where the flesh now lacked.

"What happened?" Alice demanded in pure horror. James recast the healing charm on himself, finishing up the damage and feeling the disturbing slide as his skull fully reconnected and the bones clicked back into place.

"Tree," he muttered before he realized she wasn't talking to him and saw it too.

"Some crazy fire," Peter croaked miserably, his voice so shoddy nobody would have recognized it if they weren't staring at him. "Tried to, grab the, di-" he stopped and coughed so hard the bed shook with him. "Burnt up, I think-" he stopped and pressed his face against the pillow and seemed to be biting it to stop a scream.

Remus nearly fell off the bed he leaned over the edge so dangerously to get an eye on him and see, then gagged and did tumble to the floor when he saw the missing appendage. James was already in motion, duplicating the blanket Wormtail was sprawled out on a dozen times and then hastily tried to tuck them all around him in a frantic burrito style that was probably painful, but Peter never uncurled himself to stop him.

"Molly might have some Skele Gro around here," Frank tried to soothe as he looked anxiously towards the door.

Lily was just amazed he'd taken in they were at the Burrow, she still couldn't think past much of anything except hearing all of the screaming when they'd landed as she rubbed at her sternum.

"Won't work," Regulus finally straightened up, brushing impatiently at his hair, his voice sounded as rough as if he'd swallowed the whole room he'd been trapped in as he watched James's progress. "That was Fiendfyre, cursed fire. I, I used sectumsempra to cut it off, it was spreading, it was going to... I, I don't think it'll grow back."

James made a strangled noise, a scream lost on the way out as he couldn't take his eyes off of Wormtail and then darting back up to where Padfoot's blood was still seeping into the other bed. Remus crawled back up there with him and tried to rouse a better response and explain what was going on, but he didn't seem to be taking in a word as Moony pulled him semi-upright against his chest.

"What happened?" Frank repeated, looking from Peter to Sirius, the bubble of blood still on the corner of Lily's mouth, the patch of it on the floor where James hand landed, before looking all around for the book. It was in no obvious place, so he summoned it. The golden binding came shooting out of a secret gap in the wall along with a few very old and dusty Ton-Tongue Toffees. Frank hastily flipped to where he'd been, the spot should be obvious, right in the middle of a paragraph-

Instead, the rest of the page was blank. He flipped to the next and saw the new chapter title.

"You guys, you heard that right?" Frank kept flipping the page back and forth as if determined to find the trick. "It just cut off-"

"I think Sirius died," Remus sounded surprisingly calm considering he was still covered in his blood and so sickly white his nose looked likely to leap off his face.

"Don't be ridiculous Remus," James scoffed, squeezing Sirius's knee, making him keen and moan another cuss to prove his point.

"Whatever it was," Sirius slurred as he shifted unhappily around, but Remus wasn't letting him go, "I don't f'ing recommend it happening again!" He couldn't yell though, there was zero energy in him, for once, and then he simply fell asleep like that. Sprawled out on his back and still shivering slightly.

Frank and Alice tried the door and found it opened, so they quickly departed, still whispering uneasily about this as well as getting food ready for when the two woke up and anything they could still scavenge to help Peter's hand somehow.

James was just quivering on the spot, the urge to help with nothing to do leaving him like a spring ready to snap at the slightest tension. His hand was still a mess of splinters as he touched the spot on the back of his head where the throbbing had vanished in moments, he'd never felt a thing before it all went black... She came forward and uneasily touched the back of his hand, asking, "would you come out to the Weasley's garden with me? See what they might have out there?"

He didn't respond, didn't drag his eyes off them, but slowly began backing towards the stairwell under her guiding touch until she gently closed the door behind them.

Regulus touched Peter's back for a moment, but he seemed to have passed out as well, so he hauled himself up to the top bunk and watched Sirius, now curling up miserably in Remus's lap.

His brother's boyfriend was brushing at Sirius's hair, his eyes distant as he kept one arm tightly around his moving chest, his brother's whole body was squirming as he tried to roll onto his side instead but Remus wasn't giving him much mobility.

"Did he really die?" The way Peter had been screaming, the way everything had gone dark and dim...Lily's ribs looked like they'd been smashed through her chest...who's to say it even had been Sirius. Regulus watched as a few strands of his Sirius's tickled along his nose, arms wrapped so tight around Remus's waist as he moved restlessly. He'd never heard his brother mutter in his sleep before, but he was now as he struggled to get comfortable, perhaps not even unconscious but too ill at ease to be awake either as his mind still slagged.

"I, I think so," Remus sounded so terrified, like he'd never blink again as he just kept watching him. "The, explanation makes sense anyways, why else would we be bunted before the chapter was over like that..." His face was so human as his voice caught, fear of the knowledge he could have lost him, all of them, a concept no animal could ever grasp. "I could have, there was this moment where I could have grabbed my wand or him, and I thought it was obvious at the time, but I, I'm such a fool, I should have gone for my wand! If I had I could have caught him before he fell, and, oh Merlin, he really died because I-"

"That's not fair," Sirius's little brother boldly put in. He was as blunt as Sirius sometimes, but in a more refined way, he had a way of speaking that made what he said seem more smooth. Less like Sirius shoving a fact in your face, and more like making you see the reasonable solution had been there all along. Remus bit at his lip as he finally tore his eyes away, he hadn't even realized who he'd been talking to. He silently handed Regulus his wand back and watched him for an explanation he couldn't give himself. "Who knows if you would have managed that, he might have still fallen and been on the grounds alone when he died of this injury or, or anything. I'm sorry you two don't have your wands anymore, but you did the best you could in that moment."

Remus watched him for several moments, his dark green eyes which had golden flecks in them were the only thing that could have given away what he really was. Remus smiled then, almost relaxed as he glanced down at Sirius and then back to him. "Thanks," he said sincerely.

"Mm, Moony," Sirius muttered, voice groggy with frustration, still trying to roll over and grumbling when he couldn't for the arms still around him.

Remus still tried to shush him and keep him in place, but even half dead or half awake or whatever he was, that stubborn streak would be his last as he kept trying to pull free of the confining grasp, so Regulus watched as the guy had no choice but to let him go.

Finally getting his reward, Sirius relaxed and nestled right back against Remus's legs, wrapping his arms around him and nuzzling in close. Breathing out a laugh, Remus gently pulled himself free, only to lay down and press his back against Sirius, who finally exhaled and his face went lax in relief as he hitched his leg up over him, twisting himself on top of the poor guy as much as he could as the tremors stopped.

Regulus watched for a few moments as Remus's eyes closed, not in sleep, just contentment. He let himself fall back to the floor with a soft thump before sitting on the edge of Peter's bed.

It was there again, as James stepped out of the room and the door closed in front of him. That tender, worried expression as his hand lingered on the knob for his friends.

Lily did not ask herself why she did it, she just moved on impulse and kissed him.

James stood before her for exactly seven seconds before he realized what had happened and kissed her back.

He held her gently, the trembling wood-marked hand resting on the small of her back, the other going to her hair as he returned each brush of her lips with an eager one of his own. It was sort of awkward at first and neither were entirely sure of what they were doing, but there was a soft tingling sensation in place on her lips when she pulled back. Only after she did and his hazel eyes blinked open did she bite her lip and really ask herself what she was doing, while not pulling out of his arms.

Maybe she just wanted to know what it felt like to be loved by someone, no strings attached. Her parents had wanted her to go on to do such great things and never asked what she wanted. Petunia and Severus had hated her for not being like them. James had never once in his life asked her to change for him, he'd just always loved her exactly the way she was, but she'd never asked, "why do you love me?"

He smiled, that one she'd grown so fond of without even realizing it. The one she'd seen out of the corner of her eye back when all this started, just for his friends. He just looked so simply happy as he told her, "that passion of yours Lily. You, you do everything with your whole heart. Whatever you're learning, or defending your friend, I always knew from that first day if I could just have a little of that in my life I'd be happy."

Her hands lingered on his chest just where she'd put them. His hands tightened where they were for just a moment as he understood what she was about to do, he'd always been able to do that too as she stepped out of his arms and dropped her palms away.

They fell back to his side, she watched the sadness in his eyes he didn't bother to hide, he'd never hide anything from her really. She reached out tentatively and touched the back of his hand. The sadness didn't entirely vanish, but he smiled again. "Thank you," she whispered simply.

"Don't take these books as prophecy now," he told her cheerfully, still forever making a joke it seemed, she heard that clear as day in his tone. Even now his hand twitched to hold her as close as he could, but he didn't. Letting her do as she pleased apparently. "You don't have to wait tell seventh year."

"Oh I'm well aware," she promised. She turned and left, as always feeling his eyes watching her go, and smiled as he fell in step beside her.

The first thing Sirius did when his eyes fluttered open wide awake was to smile down at Remus curled against his chest. One of his arms was numb from where his boyfriend was using it as a pillow, and he did not care. Moony wasn't asleep, there was no way with the lack of snoring, but he seemed so comfortable where he was Sirius automatically wanted to lean in and kiss him, and maybe a little more if he could get him in the mood as warm as he woke up feeling. He opened his mouth, a salacious comment on the tip of his tongue as he let his hand travel past his stomach, but then froze and tipped his head to the side as he heard somebody else's breathing.

Damn that filter. He'd still love to make Remus blush at least, but no, Moony definitely wouldn't like that. Sighing with regret, he instead moved his hand up to gently trace his lips, a reward in itself when his boyfriend's smile tugged and fluttered to catch the tips as Remus chuckled softly and whispered, "glad you're feeling better."

"Could wake up every day like this," he promised softly as he pressed a tender kiss to his temple.

Remus hummed and pressed himself in closer as he whispered, "how's your leg? Not feeling lightheaded are you?"

Somebody had cleaned up their landing, the gash felt good as new, the skin not even tender, but Sirius was still feeling a little out of sorts he had to acknowledge. "A little dizzy," he admitted, wrapping his arms tighter around him and feeling an actual flutter in his chest when Remus sighed and still leaned more into him, "nothing some breakfast and a little blood restorative won't fix. How long was I out?"

"Not sure," Remus sounded very much like the Burrow could have gone up in flames and he wouldn't have opened his eyes to check.

"Not long," Regulus answered casually below them. Neither were surprised, but both pouted and made a similar face at their moment being interrupted.

Remus finally shifted to get out from underneath him, and Sirius let him by flopping onto his back again with grumbled protest even as he shook his arm and felt more naked than if his pants were off for not being able to grab his wand to get the sleeping limb awake.

"How's Peter?" Moony startled him by asking gently as he began lowering himself down.

"What?" Sirius squawked in surprise, tumbling off and landing in an eerily similar ungraceful landing in the exact place Moony had as he bounced back to his feet even as Peter slurred, "not fine!"

Only the top of his tousled brown hair was visible as he remained in his little cocoon.

"James taught me how to keep a numbing charm on it, but," Regulus spread his hands miserably as Sirius fought back the urge to rip the blankets off and see what exactly.

Remus leaned in and whispered in his ear for a moment, and Sirius hissed and balled his hands up, for a moment very much looking like he was going to thump Peter on the little of his visible head.

Regulus watched his brother open, then close his mouth, miraculously seemed to think before he spoke, and then snapped, "I'll bring food up," and stomped out.

Remus gave him a small smile before going out and gently closing the door behind him.

"He still thinks I'm an idiot," Peter whispered. He'd kept his hand clasped so firmly around the stump for so long now he was sure his remaining five fingers were broken and couldn't unclench them.

"I think he thinks everyone but him is an idiot, that lovely arrogance," Regulus sighed heavily. An awkward pause, before he asked softly, "I thought we all agreed not to risk our lives on a chance Pete? We don't even know if that horcrux could come with us, why did you try to grab it?" The smell of bacon made his stomach curl in disgust as it wafted up the stairs, the lingering stench of burnt flesh he'd cut off...

A quarter of Peter's face slowly creeped out, just his forehead and the very ridge of his eyes as he softly asked back, "think I skipped a few steps and now everyone I care about won't die?"

Regulus groaned and sat back more comfortably on the bed, now feeling the edge of his shoes pressed against his best friend's hip. "Please don't talk like that."

"At the moment I just, I just wanted to try. I, I thought I could-" he stopped, but wiggled enough the rest of his face was now visible, just resting comfortably on the pillow where the wet spots had long since dried. "Now, I don't know, maybe it's for the best. Maybe I, paid my dues already and, it'll go better this time."

"You never owed anyone anything," Regulus corrected primly. "You never did anything wrong."

"Yeah," Peter smiled at him like he finally believed that. His hand unclenched.

The door gently opened and James and Lily came in with a bunch of finger food. Peter sat up just enough he could get one arm free, keeping the other out of sight still so that James couldn't keep fussing as he leaned over and was very clearly fixing to do. "You lot can get started on reading," Wormtail suggested casually as he plucked at a sausage. "Don't wait on me to come down, I'm not getting up until I'm flung from this bed."

James laughed appreciatively while Peter sat the rest of the way up, gingerly removing the stump of his other arm but keeping it pressed to his side.

Sirius hadn't said a word as he violently went through the Weasley's home in search of a spare wand someone may have left around, and when that turned up fruitless and Remus was still following him with that pursed up look on his face, he slammed down into a seat just as Prongs and Lils went up with food for Peter and snapped, "what? I didn't say it."

"If you're mentally yelling about his attempt not working, get it out now," Remus sighed as he pulled the bowl of sugar towards him. "Nobody else wants to hear it love." Alice and Frank were still at the stove debating if somebody dying had been the problem at all. They weren't coming up with many other solutions, and the extremely grim topic of someone dying to skip all this along faster was wetting nobody's appetite and not going to be indulged past Frank's morbid, ever analytical mind.

"I'm not pissed at him for not grabbing it," he corrected at once. "I'm pissed at him for trying to grab it! For being an idiot and almost getting himself killed!" He still didn't want Peter dead! He was now no longer confident it even had been him who died, maybe Wormtail's injury had been bad enough his own heart had stopped beating. They'd never know.

Remus relaxed in relief beside him, and squeezed his hand. "Then, maybe you should tell him that." Sirius froze with a bite almost to his mouth. "We can't read your mind Sirius, and if I thought that, well, he probably is too."

Sirius swallowed nothing in his mouth and let the food fall back to the plate as he nodded his agreement he'd do just this. Moony leaned in and kissed his jaw and Sirius smiled softly at him.

Lily and James sat in the stairwell to read, as far as she could drag him from Peter. They couldn't hear what the two were talking about, if they were at all, but he still felt twitchy and the visceral need to do something had him snatching the book away from Frank to get them on with this already!

A shadow would forever hang over more than them for this night, but now the Burrow too. Fred Weasley had died, and Harry's grief echoed out of every word on the page.

The chaos they'd been a part of, apart from, and nearly died in was given in detail. Harry was never alone though, as Ron's grief was wrestled into submission by Hermione and his son's friends traversed the madness with him every step of the way once more.

Lily hadn't always been so lucky, she'd started this so alone and only slowly made friends along the way as she allowed herself to admit the distance in place between her and Severus, now on full display as she sat casually beside James fighting back tears for whom Lucius Malfoy had been told to fetch, where Snape's place was in this fight, at Voldemort's request in the Shrieking Shack.

He wanted to comfort her, reach out and hold her hand, do anything to catch her attention, but that wasn't what she needed from him. It was only as he restrained himself and turned back to the book did it finally occur to him the horcrux had no longer been in his grasp when he'd awoken. He didn't bother to try summoning it, he knew it had been lost in that disaster...and yet the feeling of failure did not resurface as she stayed beside him, brushing at her hair. His friends were alive, despite all odds, they'd made it this far once in the worst of circumstances going into this mess. They'd do it again, better the second time.

He kept reading as Hagrid vanished into the Forest, their son nearly gave up on everything in the face of dementors, and she finally leaned into his side, put her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder, as Dumbledore's Army stepped in for their boy, he always had true backup.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione went through the tunnel once more, and James's mind lingered on his friends as always, for how much had changed. Would he have been able to cut Peter's hand off to save him? He wanted to say yes, of course, but he wasn't as practical as Regulus, or impulsive as Sirius. Wormtail had showed time and again, by saving Lily, by being in that room with Regulus when he knew without having to be told a single detail his friend could have made a break for it. He could change from a selfish, bitter Death Eater who would sell him out to be someone better.

Snape begged, was a coward to his last breath as his own murder bit him in the ass. He'd been the one to kill Dumbledore, and even Voldemort didn't regret disposing of his own henchmen to gain another level of power in the Elder Wand. Would Severus Snape change, if given the chance? Or was history still doomed to repeat on some level just like it had to Wormtail? Were they fooling themselves into thinking any of this had a point to it? Were they still trapped on a horrible path of repeat when they went back?

Lily turned her face into his chest, her dark red hair spilling down them both as she tucked herself closer to him for the last sentence glimmering up at them.

#Jily #Wolfstar #Reading the books #fanfiction #HP #Harry Potter #James Potter #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #Regulus Black #Peter Pettigrew #Frank Longbottom #Fralice #Alice Longbottom #Lily Evans #Marauders

[ssparksflyy]

could you do a percy jackson/leo valdez angst with happy ending fic based on you belong with me by taylor?? Like uhmm an unrequited love in the beginning and by then end its a best friends to lovers or bestfriends to enemies to lovers kind of trope?? (preferably leo but you can do whichever character you want to)

Tyy<3

ask and thou shall receive ༉‧₊˚.

you belong with me ! 𐙚๋࣭⭑⋅˚♡.

pairing: leo valdez x gn!reader warning(s): swearin, turn off ur feminism and crank up some girlfriend by avril lavigne, semi-angst, stupid w love, corny 2010 teenage love ♡ word count: 3k ( LIKE ON THE DOT BABY I WAS LIKE OOOO ) a/n: hiii! tysm for requesting, this was soooo cute nd fun to write :)) also if you end up asking yourself, "is this that one girl in the ybwm music video that taylor just wore a wig for??" no, its becky.

there was nobody in the world you'd known better than leo.

you'd been through everything together. through foster homes, the wilderness school, jason's quest, the war with gaea, and even now, after all that chaos, you still had each other.

you were sure you could make it through anything together, there was nothing you two couldn't beat.

except for this stupid aphrodite girl.

growing up, not a lot of girls really noticed leo, but he noticed them. he always had some new 'crush' that he was gushing about, telling you about how pretty or smart she was and blah blah blah. every time he would come to you, talking about his new crush who was for sure going to reject him, you'd just sit there. nodding your head, smiling, and trying to push down the heartbreak that came with each new girl.

you'd had a crush on leo since you were kids, but were always too scared to say something, scared that he didn't feel the same, and you would lose the person closest to you.

so you stayed quiet. you'd listen to him ramble about his new crush and then make him laugh when you knew he was about to cry over falling for yet another girl who didn't feel the same for him.

you could tell he was tired of being alone, romantically. all your friends had partners, and they always looked so happy. neither you nor leo could help but long for that same feeling and happiness.

so when little miss perfect becky brown came waltzing into his life, with her little crush, it was no surprise leo gave in.

they weren't dating, no, just awfully close. a little too close for your liking. you didn't want to be an asshole, it wasn't like leo belonged to you or anything, but you were friends, and he was beginning to spend less and less time with you and more and more time with becky.

they would walk into the dining pavilion together for breakfast and dinner, sitting at the edge of the hephaestus and aphrodite tables so they were able to talk to each other, but still follow camp rules. they would sit next to each other at the campfire, leo helping her make a s'more. you would see them hanging around camp together, talking and laughing.

you hardly spent time with leo now. wherever becky went, he wouldn't be far behind, trailing after her. she had your best friend ( and crush but whatever ) wrapped around her perfectly manicured finger.

you were undeniably jealous. there was no point in fighting it because it was true. you were jealous that this perfect girl stole your best friend right from you. and that was true!!!! it wasn't like she was some innocent angel who did no wrong, no. you knew she didn't like you. you knew because when you would finally have the chance to talk to leo, she would always come swoop in, stealing him away for gods know why. once she had him up and following her, she'd turn back around and flash you an evil grin. you'd be left there, glaring at them as they walked away, feeling more and more hopeless every time it happened.

you could see why leo liked her, she was gorgeous, like any child of aphrodite. she was also nothing like you. you found yourself comparing yourself to her quite often, actually.

you'd find yourself looking back and forth between you two, comparing yourselves. becky didn't follow camp's dress code, she'd wear all the short skirts, tank tops, and high heels ( she didn't care that they were impractical ) she wanted. while you were stuck in your bright orange camp half-blood t-shirt that you always had to tie because you somehow always got the wrong size and beat-up sneakers that you needed to replace soon. it was no wonder leo would ditch you for her, next to her, you thought you looked like a wreck.

but that still wasn't enough to shake the heartbreak. you still had hope. hope that just maybe he'd ditch becky for you. hope that you would find the courage to finally confess to him. hope that becky would one day get lost in the woods and never ever come back.

you watched as leo and becky talked from the hephaestus and aphrodite tables once again tonight, keeping your eyes glued to them and just barely picking at your food. your siblings eventually managed to catch your attention and began to include you into their conversation. just as you were laughing at one of your sister's jokes you swore you could hear a 'hey! what're you looking at? im over here, not at the (g/p) table!' come from the direction you were once staring at. you decided to brush it off though, more interested in catching up with your siblings than whatever you thought you heard.

after dinner, you sat next to your siblings during the campfire, an empty space next to you. you were having a good time, continuing to laugh and sing along to the songs being played until you felt someone sit next to you.

you drew your attention away from the fire and looked over at the person sitting next to you. it was leo, his classic million-dollar smile on his face.

you didn't know how to feel. you didn't know if you should tell him to go back to becky, to be mad at him for not talking to you, to be glad he was finally acknowledging you or to just ignore him.

before you could decide what to do leo looked down awkwardly and said, "hey um... im sorry i haven't talked to you in a while, i guess i got caught up in other.. things.." he began fiddling with his hands, something he only did while nervous.

you gave him a small smile and put your hand on top of his. you weren't completely happy with him, he was the one who stopped talking to you. but in the moment you were just glad to have your best friend back.

"it's ok, just glad you still know i exist" you joked, he wasn't getting off the hook that easily.

"of course i still know you exist (n/n)! why and how could i ever forget? you know you come first." he said, bumping your shoulder softly.

you couldn't help but laugh. at any other time, you would completely believe what he was saying but now, you couldn't help but doubt him a little. you continued to talk and joke around ( even flirted a little but hey ), just like old times. sitting there with leo made you feel happier than you had felt in the past few weeks. spending time with leo made you realize how easy things were with him. he was your other half, everything you did just fit. talking with him was so easy, he laughed at all your jokes, and you laughed at his. you hadn't realized how much you missed his smile. you loved his toothy grin that could light up a whole town if he smiled big enough.

the fire in front of you only continued to rise as you laughed and talked together, mirroring your moods. your peace, however, was interrupted by your good ol' friend, becky.

"leo! there you are! im so sorry, i got caught up helping my sister with something" she said, sitting next to him, grabbing his bicep, "we can go now though!"

"its ok..." leo said awkwardly, looking down before he looked back up at you, "i actually wanted to spend time with (y/n) right now"

you gave him a melted smile, but looked back at becky who was giving you a venom-laced glare.

"but you said you'd go to the lake with me!! remember?" she whined, holding onto his arm tighter.

"i actually don't, but we can go tomorrow! besides, its dark right now and almost time for curfew-" he began, looking back at her.

"oh come on leo! let's go!" she said, her voice raising.

leo, no surprise, got up and followed her to the lake.

but there was something off about the way she spoke that last line.. something about it almost made you get up and follow her to the lake. it was as if your body was following her demands, and you had no way to control it. that's when it hit you. she was using her charmspeak.

could that be why leo was following her around? did she actually have him wrapped around her finger? was she using him against his will?

these thoughts and more flooded your brain as the apollo cabin finished up the last song for the evening, signaling everybody to head back to their cabins. you got up and followed your siblings back to your cabin in silence, trying to process what you had just realized.

that night, you could hardly sleep. you were tossing and turning all night, your mind racing with questions, prohibiting you from sleep. eventually, you turned over to your nightstand, checking the time on your alarm clock. 2:41 am. dear gods, you did need sleep. you finally decided to just shut off all your thoughts. not one thing crossed your mind as you shut your eyes tightly, finally allowing hypnos to take you under.

the next morning when you woke, you had a personal quest that you needed to complete. you needed to find out as much about becky as you could, hopefully answering at least some of the questions you had.

seeing them together at breakfast only fueled you more.

all day, during your lessons you went around trying to find out as much about becky as you could. you asked her siblings, friends, and anybody who you thought could tell you anything about her.

turns out, becky didn't have very loyal siblings and friends.

all you had to do was casually drop her name into a conversation and the secrets began to spill.

you found out that using her charmspeak on leo wasnt even the worse thing she'd done. most of their conversation were actually being led with her charmspeak. she had to use it to even convince him to talk to her for so long. she began acting differently, her personality shifting whenever he was around. you see, dear becky was yet to complete her rite of passage, so what did she do? she cornered the most helpless romantic in camp and was spending weeks trying to get him to fall in love with her.

you almost felt sorry for her, the way she had to use her charmspeak just to get a guy who falls for anyone to even talk to her... nah, who were you kidding? she was using your best friend for some stupid rite of passage, you couldn't hate her more.

while learning new things about becky definetly answered some of you questions, the new information left you feeling confused. you still had questions, ones that becky herself probably couldn't even answer, but you mostly just felt awkward. unsure of what to do next. should you tell leo? there was no doubt he probably had a small crush on her before, but did he still have that crush now? if you told him, how would he react? would he think you're making things up? would he believe you? even if he did believe you, was he really going to confront becky? would becky put up an argument? who's side would he take? questions and possible solutions flooded your mind through dinner. you meant to talk to leo again at the campfire, maybe get an idea on how he felt, and then move forward from there, but before you could even call his name before becky dragged him off to the lake again.

you didn't want to follow them, you couldn't. if you did, would what you saw make you regret it? you didn't want to run the risk, so you stayed at the campfire. you tried to distract yourself by singing along and making s'mores with your siblings but truthfully, you couldn't wait to go to bed and have time to think.

when the campfire ended, you were first in bed in your cabin. your mind just functioned better at night while in bed, and that's what you needed at the moment. you spent hours listening to the pouring rain outside and coming up with possible scenarios, each having its own ending. you tossed and you turned, lost in thought until you finally couldn't take it anymore. if you didn't tell leo about becky's plan, it'd eat you alive. so you got up, put on your shoes, and scurried over to cabin nine.

zeus had to be completely against you seeing leo because it was raining buckets when you stepped outside. you grumbled when you realized you'd forgotten a sweater, but you were already outside, why go back in? going back in meant you had time to reconsider your decision and leave leo to find out by himself. the longer you saw him with becky, knowing what she was planning, the more torture it was for yourself. you sucked up the fact that you'd have to get wet and ran over to the hephaestus cabin.

lucky for you, leo's bunk was located in the back of the cabin. if you knew anything about your best friend it was that he was not one to fall asleep early, and early meaning before midnight. so instead of knocking on the cabin's front door and waking up one of his siblings to get him, all you had to do was head to the back of the cabin, where he had snuck you in before, and knock gently on the door.

you took a step back and it was only a matter of seconds before leo opened the door, confused look on his face he asked, "(y/n)? what're you doing here?"

you took a deep breath in before beginning, "ok, i know you may not believe me, but I really need you to hear me out a-and consider what im saying, okay? i was talking to one of the aphrodite girls about.. becky.. and she told me that she's trying to get her rite of passage and she's planning to get it from you. i'm not saying this to try and hurt you leo, but if that is true then i don't want you to find out after its done, okay? i care about you, and if i have to watch-"

"(y/n)" he said.

"-you go through that, i just know it won't be like those other times. i know you dont want to experience it again and i don't want to see you heartbroken again-"

"(y/n)"

but you wouldn't stop. the words kept spilling out of your mouth, trying to 'warn' leo of becky's plan. he needed to get your attention somehow, and he didn't like yelling at you so...

he kissed you.

something in him made him surge forward, cupping your face and connecting your lips. he didn't care if he was getting soaked from the rain, he was finally kissing you, something he'd wanted to do for years, and you were actually kissing him back.

you were the one to break away, breathless, staring at leo with both admiration and confusion in your eyes.

"i know about becky's rite of passage." he stated, taking your hands in his, "she told me earlier, well, not really. she just told me that she really liked me and i told her that i didn't feel the same, and then she went batshit crazy, calling me useless and stuff but eh, whatever."

"oh.." you said, processing what he just said, "wait- you didn't feel the same??"

he simply nodded and smiled, "no, no i didn't. but i think she helped me realize something." he said and paused, quickly looking down then back up, "i really, really like you, (y/n). and not just as friends. its almost like... being forced to be away from you just confirmed that i need you, and i can hardly live without you. when becky was forcing me to spend time with her, all i could think about is you, and how much i like you. you've always been there for me, even helping my slut self through problems with other girls and i'm so sorry i didn't realize before how good you are to me. i completely get it if you don't feel the same, but i just really need you to know how much i appreciate you. i can finally see that you're the only person who really knows me. you get me like nobody else does, you understand me. i trust you with everything, and you're the best thing i could ever ask for. im so sorry it took me so long to see that."

leo's words felt like a weight was being lifted off of your chest. your feelings weren't one-sided. he didn't just see you as a friend. he liked you back. like- romantically! you couldn't help yourself, you sprang up and quickly kissed him, raising your hand to the back of his neck.

"gods, i really really like you too leo. good to know it isn't just machines in that head of yours." you said, laughing as you moved your foreheads together.

leo's light up grin was back again, "can't you see, baby? you belong with me~"

you groaned, pushing him away, "that was so bad, please dont ever do that again."

he laughed and grabbed you by the waist, pulling you back in. your faces were close once again, lips aching to connect again.

"so (y/n/n)," leo began, a sweet smile on his face, "do me the honors of being my girlfriend?"

you let out a small laugh, "of course, repair boy. i thought you'd never ask."

you smiled as he kissed you once again.

a/n pt. 2: i kinda hate this but wtv <3 its 5am, i'm tired, i will edit this when i wake up, have a good day / night ily all sm ♡

peace from manhattan,

percy jackson ♡

#percy jackson #pjo #heroes of olympus #pjo x reader #heroes of olympus x reader #hoo x reader #leo valdez #leo valdez x you #leo valdez x reader #by bells ♡⋆ ࣪.

[roxy206]

This is the finale. This is SO long I am SO sorry, I live-asked this again because I’ve been loving giving all my thoughts in one place.

“This choreography is no joke” -my FAVORITE mood of drag race episode. I ~love~ choreo/dance/song heavy episodes because that’s my favorite kind of drag. I love when people bring their artistry to it. Watching skinny slay it made me SK happy. She really gave everything I love about these challenges, watching her excel in pray learning the choreo was so beautiful. She’s actually been a joy to watch in that aspect. Jaida too!!!

I liked the conversation of all of them talking about how they’ve grown because we can see through the edits how it’s happened but I like to hear their perspectives and how they support each other through it all. This show is no joke, this show mentally is so taxing, and I love hearing the queens speak so kindly and honestly to each other about what they’ve noticed about each other’s growth and how proud they are of each other.

I loved the choreo, the lyrics were good, but I wish there had been more singing and less rapping. But I think that was the song they were given tbh, it didn’t lend to vocals as much. And I love a vocal queen so I think that swayed my opinion of the performance overall. I do love Gisele. I think they all did well but Gisele just reminds me of my own heritage and listening to relatives speak French growing up so I am 1,000% biased and have been from the beginning, I’ll admit that. I loved Viv and Irma from the jump but Gisele made her way into my heart real fast. She also wore rose gold for that runway? My favorite color?! Man, she really just speaks to me as a person. Her drag is SO in synch with my personal preferences.

Jaida had me crying during those pictures though.

When all the queens come back and they’re talking and then all of a sudden Viv’s like “Irma gerd, heeeey” it gets me, it’s a SUDDEN pivot. It’s the producers being like “hey, here’s what you’ve all missed here.”

“I’m a performance queen first” ME TOO BROOKE LYNN

(Chaos ATE with her look it was SO good.)

The way they all screamed for Irma like ME TOO bitch, me too. I missed her too.

(I got drunk with 10 minutes left in this, I’m 27 it’s fine, but like. The rest of this episode’s synopsis will be effected by that and me having to pause to have a lil text chat with my bestie just so you know.)

(I tuned in with Gisele and Jaida lip synching just going with it. This fucking Celine Dion. It reminds me just how Canadian I truly am. I’m American born but French Canadian raised and good god I’m SO Canadian culturally bc of how I’m raised this is my JAM.)

I SCREAMED WHEN THEY SAID GISELE OMG MY NEIGHBORS HATE ME. Man, I LOOOVE her. This season gave me Irma and Viv but it also gave me Gisele which I am so thankful for, omg I have been blessed by a literal angel I am crying I am SO happy for her. Whoa. Didn’t expect to scream, didn’t expect to get THIS invested, but I did. I sent a picture of me SOBBING to my best friend as proof that I can’t handle my own emotions but I am SO happy for Gisele that I can’t even handle it.

Anyway, I guess now’s the time that I thank you and your posts for getting me to watch this season. It’s been a real treat to get to see queens I’ve only seen through social media shine through these competitions. I’ve tried to check everything but excuse me if there’s errors in my grammar or spelling it’s been a long week as a preschool teacher and this season recap has been the ultimate wind down activity.

Thank you 💖 I’ll continue to follow and hang with your drag discourse because it’s been so fun. Thanks for hanging! And if I’m not mistaken you’re a fellow Boston queen?! If so, thanks even more, from one semi-local to another. (I live in the NH woods but claim Boston whenever anyone from far away asks where I’m from and I’m too lazy to elaborate. I just give them my approximate time from Boston because that city has some of my heart.)

Omg I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to get to this! I think it must have been the middle of the night when I answered your other ask about starting the finale

I live for the live asking of CDR 3! Truly if anyone else wants to watch the season & give me their opinions I would welcome that. I love this season & Irma & Viv, & I think it’s a shame that more people haven’t been introduced to them because they don’t watch CDR

Okay so obviously I was rooting for Gisele, but lowkey I started rooting for Kimmy to win between her slaying that choreo & then her & Icesis!!! It was just so sweet. But the choreo yes omg, Hollywood Jade being impressed was so great

The growth throughout a season is honestly so impressive when you realize it’s actually such a short amount of time that they filmed it versus how long it takes to air. They’re filming an episode in two days usually, they maybe have a weekend off, but they’re going back to back so to be able to so quickly take on those critiques when it’s something they can work on (obviously they can’t change what they brought for their package while they’re there, it’s only in design challenges that they can try to take on those critiques unless they brought back up options that are a different style for the runway categories) is really noteworthy

I love how much you love Gisèle too 💕

I lost track of how many times Jada made me cry this season lol

Ah I’m so sad that we didn’t have a full reunion this season, but I did love the little Viv & Irma convo. Production chose right with who should ask Irma about being the first east coast queen on the franchise

Please your not sober commentary lmao 💕

Okay can I recommend that you rewatch that lip sync but watch Viv & Irma in the background …

GISÈLE!!!!! I was so so happy. This was her season. She’s so talented, she helped everyone with design challenges, she lip syncs the hell out of a song. She so deserved this!!! 👑

Omg honestly thank you for watching & letting me know that you were plus all of your updates!

Lmao yes the distance to Boston is the way to go. I’m in Central Mass, you’re right!

I hope your week is going well — just a couple more days until it’s the weekend again!

#wanna boogie #your eyes are like water coolers #kimmy answers #hollywoodx4