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bippot · 7 months

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Summary: How many times does Vigilante need to get injured before Harcourt finally gives in and hires a medic to help out with the squad's injuries? Far too many times, that's how many.

When it's uncovered that a fancy hotel is linked to, not only what's left of the legion of butterflies, but also a string of weird deaths and missing persons reports, the only two for the job are lovesick Adrian and the newbie.

Tags: Canon-Typical ViolenceGun Violence, Blood and Injury, Undercover as a Couple, Fluff, Idiots in Love. Fake/Pretend Relationship, Summer Vacation, Butterflies, Alien Invasion, Stitches

Peacemaker, Adrian Chase Masterlist - here

Previous Chapter: No More Velvet

The Harcourt-L/N family were badasses. Their father was a stern military man who taught his daughters everything they needed to protect themselves from the dangers of the world around them. It was a family tradition to go to the shooting range every birthday and the girls were placed in taekwondo classes as soon as they could walk.

Their mothers, however, were very different. Emilia's mother had been a Russian Olympic gymnast back in the day and had envisioned her daughter would follow in that same path. Whether Emilia wanted that or not, she wasn't concerned with. Y/N's mother had been a nurse that had patched up Ol' Daddy Harcourt after a bar fight he had gotten into, and since he was no longer married to Emilia's mother, the pair hit it off from there.

Emilia didn't like the new addition to her family at first. Little Y/N was born and immediately stole all the attention away from little Emilia. But, Y/N grew on her, and it wasn't long before the girl found herself getting used to having a younger sister around. It became a very common sight to find the young blonde with a toddler on her lap and a book in her hands, reading whatever book about mermaids or unicorns or fairies that was picked on that day.

Y/N wasn't as withdrawn as the rest of Emilia's family. Her father barely cracked a smile in that gruff old man type of way. And her mother seemed to only remember she had a daughter when it came to her gymnastics training and competitions. When she won was the only time she was awarded with any sort of affection from the woman who had birthed her. But from her sister, all Emilia needed to do was breathe and Y/N would try attacking her with love.

So why Harcourt ever decided to go into espionage was beyond her. In that line of work, it's best to detach from everyone who knows you.

At first, Emilia didn't do that. After Y/N finished high school, Emilia was dragging her down the same path she'd been down.The Department of Extranormal Operations had employed them both once upon a time. But, after a mission gone wrong, Y/N was taking an extended leave of absence that eventually ended with her moving across the country and attempting to be a 'normal' person, where she remained until a month and a half ago.

There was a moment when the squad were driving to the airport where Emilia looked across at her sister and felt an indescribable urge to call everything off. Obviously that wouldn't happen no matter how hard she argued. Waller would just rearrange the flight and ensure that everyone did their jobs, no matter if she had to imprison Emilia to do so.

"Don't put that in your mouth." Y/N lowered Adrian's hand away from his mouth, pushing the custard cream looking shampoo bar that he was supposed to be packing into his bag away from his gob.

'This fucking idiot was the one who is protecting my Y/N?' Emilia thought. If she disliked him before, she would certainly loathe him if anything happened to her baby sister during this mission. She was putting a lot of faith into a guy that just tried to eat soap.

Before the newlyweds departed, Emilia pretended she was adding something into Adrian's backpack and subtly threatened in his ear, "If she's hurt in any way, I'll hunt you down and rip your prostate out of your mouth."

"But the prostate is in the butt?"

"Exactly. That's how fucking far my fist is going to punch into your goofy looking face."

Adrian took a step back and hid behind Y/N as they said their goodbyes, his eyes avoiding Harcourt and her hateful gaze. Emilia was pretty sure she could feel his heartbeat pick up through the floor, and that brought a little smug smile onto her face. She loved being intimidating.

As the sisters embraced each other tightly, Emilia whispered, "Try and avoid a repeat of last time, okay?"

"I think I learnt my lesson."

"Good. Now go and make contact as soon as it's safe."

"Yes, mother."

With that, it was time to separate and for the mission to truly begin. All the prep work that could be done had been done and it was go time.

Soon, the newlyweds were going through security and with the help of one of John's tried and tested gadgets - one that he had jokingly called The Metal Muffler and never came up with a serious name, bounced back any electromagnetic field emitted by a scanner before it could bounce off the metal and sound the alarms - they passed through without trouble despite their bags each holding a pistol and very illegal to fly with gear.

"How long do we have to wait?" Adrian whined, his foot bouncing impatiently against the floor in annoying patterns. His eyes darted between Y/N and all of the other passengers that were also sitting around and awaiting the moment they could get on the plane, where they'd be sat for even more time until they finally touched down in Dubai.

Patience had never been a virtue that Vigilante possessed. Everyone knew that. He'd be fine once they got onto the plane and watched one or two in-flight movies, but it seemed as if there were some delays on the airport side of things and the pair would have to stay idle for a few hours more than expected.

"You're lucky that I managed to get John to slip something into my bag when Emilia wasn't looking."

Y/N lifted her Chanel XXL carry-on handbag onto her lap and opened the flap so he could see inside. He grinned as he recognized what he was seeing and reached in to grab her Nintendo Switch that he often used whenever he came to her hotel room.

His fingers were immediately pressing the on button and he was wiggling in his seat with excitement to start playing. As the game loaded, Y/N rested her head against the hand nearest to him and attempted to get some well earned shut eye but she was distracted by the screen and how effortlessly good he was at Breath of the Wild.

"Do you want a go? We could have a game of Smash?" he offered, already engrossed in the game and, honestly, he was hoping she'd say no.

"It's okay. I'll just watch you play."

After a few minutes Y/N shifted and let her temple press against his shoulder and closed her eyes. Adrian sighed quietly as he played, enjoying the feeling of Y/N's body against his and wrapped his arm around her so she could tuck her head more comfortably against his collarbone. This new position impeded his game a little, but that was nothing a bit of awkward stretching couldn't fix.

From the outside, they looked as if they were a perfectly normal couple, which was beneficial as another couple were clearly going to the same place. A man dressed in a pristine suit was in the process of yelling at one of the workers as his wife stood beside him with a smug sneer and a 'The Monarch Hotel' branded Caprese-esque tote bag precariously perched on her elbow.

Despite her eyes being closed, Y/N hadn't drifted off. There was too much hustle and bustle and people chatting just a smidge too loud - especially the guy yelling - for her to actually be able to sleep. Instead, she relaxed and quietly chuckled to herself at the occasional grunt and curse whenever Adrian accidentally messed up. He was trying to focus on the game so he could keep his emotions under control but he couldn't seem to stop looking at her.

It came to the point where he placed the Switch in his lap for a second and just gazed at her, completely unaware that she was awake. Link got murdered during the break he was taking to survey her face, but he didn't care. And since he thought she was asleep, he pressed a gentle kiss to her hair and jumped out of his skin when her sleepy smile widened. He quickly grabbed the controller again and pretended that he hadn't done such a thing.

Eventually, they were allowed to board. The pair hauled themselves all the way to first class to sit their asses down into a way too comfortable lazy-boy looking chairs that had a plastic barrier in between that could be lifted up if they wanted to talk without their eyeline obscured. Each cubicle had a privacy panel above that was pulled into place at the first opportunity Y/N had. It was as if they were in their own little bubble. A comfortable bubble that came with a television set, a mini fridge stocked to full with snacks under a desk, which seemed a little redundant when the hostesses brought out a food menu to pick from.

"What the fuck is gravadlax?" Adrian whispered as he scanned all the fancy meals he saw listed on display.

He didn't know what half of this shit was. It was all posh person gibberish.

"It's like a Nordic version of smoked salmon."

"Oh." He wasn't a fan of fish. The texture was downright disgusting to him. "What are you getting?"

"The togarashi marinated halloumi poke bowl with sushi rice sounds good to me."

"Would I like that?"

Shrugging, she settled back into her chair and rested her head against the soft leather headrest, mumbling, "There's a tray of Buttermilk chicken sliders, you'd definitely like those." That sounded a lot better.

In a matter of moments, the stewardess approached the pair and took their orders with a pleasant smile. They both ordered and squabbled a little when it came down to picking a movie to watch but they eventually managed to agree on Renfield (2023). All in all, the flight was cushy and, quite frankly, inspired some sense of false belief that this mission would be an easy one. It would be one with lavish add-ons, but also need patience and a certain amount of subtle diligence to pull it off successfully.

They relaxed, they slept, they ate, they watched a movie, and then they arrived in Dubai. And when the car and chauffeur the hotel had sent arrived to pick the pair up in a limousine, they'd almost forgotten that they weren't on holiday. They were just two pals on vacation.

That was until they walked through the huge glass double gold brimmed doors and were greeted by a middle aged man with a bouffant, a permanent smile and a salmon suit as declared, "Welcome. Welcome to the Monarch Hotel. Judging by the fact that I don't recognise your faces, you must be Marty and Sidney Bardot?"

"That's us," Y/N smiled and wrapped her hand around Adrian's bicep.

"Splendid! Here at the hotel, we are very selective about our clients," the man leaned in closer to whisper, "To let you in on a little secret, we've only taken on one other couple this season and that was supposed to be it. But when you were inquiring about your honeymoon, well, we couldn't say no now. Could we?"

Y/N let out a huff of a chuckle from her nose.

"Tell me, how was your wedding?" The host smiled widely, clearly happy to give the two lovebirds the opportunity to gush about their romantic experience.

Adrian realised at that moment that he was yet to make a sound. He knew he'd never be able to keep up a shy and reserved front for this entire time, so he opted to speak up. "I cried my eyes out the entire day, but like, in a manly 'oh, I get to spend my entire life with this babe' kind of way."

The host laughed and clapped his hands together. "Yes, yes, very manly." He turned away from them to gesture towards the hallway, and as the pair followed him he explained, "We've got your suite ready and raring to go. I'll have our bellhop take your suitcases inside, and I know it's early and you're ready to catch up on some sleep, but I'd be more than happy to show you around the place." Y/N nodded. "If you'll follow me please, Mr Bardot, Mrs Bardot."

As they trailed after him through the lobby, Adrian gave Y/N a quick nudge in the side and way too exaggeratedly nodded towards a security camera located in a corner. She fake giggled as if he'd whispered something scandalous to her and leaned in to quietly urge, "You gotta be more subtle than that, babe."

'Babe.' How dare that word roll off her tongue and come out as naturally as it did. How dare that small gesture turn into a whole bunch of butterflies swarming his stomach as a result of it. How dare his brain start to freak out over just one silly little word. He shouldn't be this affected over something as simple and innocuous as that.

Yet, here he was with a coy smile on his lips and a light blush colouring his cheeks, unable to stop himself from staring at her longingly as she spoke to the man who was leading them through the hotel, seemingly oblivious to the effect her words had.

Although the host - who they found out called himself 'Sparrow' - was incredibly enthusiastic, the tour was fairly uneventful. The hotel was large, spacious and extravagant. Everything about it screamed that it was meant to be filled to the brim with the richest people on the planet. From its marble floors and chandeliers to its towering windows that overlooked the beautiful beach, the place reeked of money.

Every single room, even the janitor's closet that they happened to walk past as the janitor walked out of, they all were bigger than Adrian's apartment back home. Every single door was ornate. Every inch of the walls were covered in art that must've cost thousands of dollars per piece. It was a museum of wealth. It was a palace. But most of all, it was a sanctuary. Throughout the hotel, familiar iconography was dotted around. A painting here and there. A bust sitting precariously on an ornate coffee table. Wings engraved into a column. They were surrounded by images of butterflies.

In any other situation, that would've been pleasant. But they knew better.

When they finally got to their room, it was around the time that the other guests were waking up for the day. As the duo got halfway into their room door frame, the couple in the room next to them walked straight up to them. "You must be the new arrivals!" An overly cheery man with blonde hair grinned at the pair with wide sparkling grey eyes while his equally chipper partner who looked just as cheerful and chirpy. "I'm Steve!" The man extended his hand and waited for them to shake before introducing his friend. "This is my wife, Sam."

Y/N plastered a fake smile on her face. "Hiya!" And that's all it took before they were bombarded by hugs. Adrian didn't move an inch and Y/N let out a surprised, "Oh," as she awkwardly patted Sam's back. "Uh, nice to meet you!" She exclaimed as she was released.

Adrian just kept nodding along as if he hadn't fully dissociated the moment a stranger crowded his senses. His brain was going at a million miles per hour as he attempted to process everything. Obviously, Y/N noticed as his hand began to twitch, his fingers flicking around, searching for anything to latch onto but coming up empty handed.

But he wasn't empty handed for long since Y/N slipped her hand into his. If not to comfort him - which was her main objective - but to hide any body language that would point to them being anything less than welcoming. "I'm Sidney and this is my husband - wow, it still sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?" Adrian was still nodding along. "This is Marty, my main squeeze," Y/N declared with a chuckle.

Her response brought a wide smile to their faces. "Ahhh, that explains why we haven't seen you around before, you're the honeymoon couple, yeah? We didn't mean to intrude. You're probably jetlagged and want to relax, yeah?"

Steve's question prompted Adrian to nod again with a weak smile. "Yep," was all he could manage without letting out an unmanly whimper.

Thankfully, the couple seemed to finally understand that the new arrivals were in need of some alone time and didn't push things. Instead, the pair waved as they left, departing with a way too loud, "Well, we'll leave you two to settle in. You'll be at the mixer this evening, right?"

Both Y/N and Adrian nodded, still smiling at the couple and waving as they stepped away from the door and closed it shut behind them. They breathed in deeply and allowed the smiles to drop away from their lips as soon as the coast was clear.

Abruptly, Adrian swiped his hand away from her grip and took a step backwards, rubbing his head and looking as though he wanted to crawl under the duvet and hide. "Sorry," he muttered, "Just, uh... I've... I don't know them and they, uh, they just... made me really uncomfortable when they... when they - "

"It's okay. Why don't we sit down, huh? I think we both could do with a few moments of silence."

He stared at her quizzically but nodded and agreed to join her on the bed. She lay down first, folded her arms underneath her head and stared upwards. Adrian, however, was entirely focused on the slow steady rise and fall of her chest and tried to match his breathing to hers.

After a few minutes of quiet, she turned onto her side so that she could catch his gaze. "So..." She mused, "You wanna start getting ready for bed or are you planning on staring at me forever?" She raised an eyebrow, but there was no bite to her words. Just warmth and amusement.

The corners of his lips curled up into a faint grin. "Which one would you prefer, Mrs Bardot?"

"Go get ready for bed, Mr Bardot."

All of their luggage had been neatly placed in front of the wardrobes and their bags on their dresser next to an extravagant gift basket. Y/N hoisted her suitcase onto the bed and casually began searching through it for one of Auggie's devices that had been hidden in a secret compartment that had been built into the bottom of the bag.

When she found the device she was looking for, she grabbed it and turned the device on. The screen flickered to life, displaying several dots on a little map with one of them suspiciously close to their current location. Since the device looked like a smartphone, Y/N pretended as if she was texting as she zoomed in to evaluate whether that ping was a microphone or camera in the room with them.

"You almost done, baby?" Y/N called out in her sweetest voice. She heard Adrian shuffle over to where she was standing, confusion evident on his face that didn't dissipate when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Her smile remained plastered on her face as he returned the embrace.

"What are you doing?" He questioned, his lips brushing the hair right by her ear.

"There's a camera in the gift basket."

To ensure he didn't clearly react, she guided his lips to hers so that his face would be blocked from the view of the camera. It was a slow, soft press of lips against lips and yet it felt like fireworks went off in Adrian's chest. He melted into the kiss instantly. It was warm and sweet and gentle, like a soft summer breeze that was blowing gently against his skin and making goosebumps appear on his arms because of how pleasant and calming and soothing it felt. It didn't matter that it was for show. It was just a nice thing to experience.

"Ready to take a nap?"

"Uh huh."

"I'm just going to do my skincare and I'll be back, okay?" She kissed his cheek and then planted another lingering kiss on the top of his forehead before she pulled herself away from him completely and shuffled into the bathroom.

Once she'd checked that there wasn't any surveillance in the bathroom, Y/N was quick to catch the squad up on everything and sent along the IP and device information she'd gathered to John so he could swap the current feed with his fancy schmancy motion captured artificially animated footage.

Unknown: Take a while to override yours without affecting any of the others. Keep it up for two.

Adrian had gotten under the blanket and was waiting for the moment Y/N came back into the room. He felt a little awkward sitting on camera in just his underwear and had scrambled beneath the covers as soon as he could. Even though he understood that this whole ordeal was necessary, he couldn't help but feel a small wave of uneasiness wash over him when it was put on a spotlight.

As she reentered the room, Adrian was able to relax somewhat. She wore a tank top and panties with pink polka dots and a pair of white socks that came halfway up her calf. He admired the sight silently as he lay there, his eyes never once leaving her, until she crawled her way across the bed and onto his lap, giving him a wink that let him know to go along with what she was doing.

"How you feelin', big guy? Tired?"

"Way too tired."

"Too tired?" Y/N dragged her pointer finger down his chest, down his abs to the waistband of his underwear and gave him a seductive look that had him shivering involuntarily. "It is our honeymoon, afterall."

He groaned as his hands slid up her thighs to rest on her hips as he leaned forward slightly, desperately wanting to give in cause that would be awesome, right? He's in paradise and gets to get it on with the woman he's falling in love with? That's fucking sick! But no, he has a job to do, a mission to think about, and it doesn't need to be complicated so soon.

"I know, but..." His eyes trailed down to her mouth for a split second before he snapped his head back up and cleared his throat nervously. He looked up at her with the biggest puppy eyes as if she'd hung the stars, the moon and the sun for him and begged her to leave it at that. He was an impulsive fella so it would be easy to forget the mission and just get lost in each other, as they often did back in Evergreen.

"When we wake up?"

"When we wake up," he repeated with a shy small smile gracing his lips.

With the horny newlywed act done, Y/N slid off him and sunk into the duvet beside him. As she cuddled herself into his side, he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer to him.

"Should be safe when we wake," she reassured, her voice just audible enough for his ears. "You want me to play with your hair until you fall asleep?"

"Yeah, yeah please," he murmured softly as he buried his nose into her neck, inhaling deeply as she slowly started stroking his curls with her fingers. Y/N could feel every inch of him relaxing under her touch, his body leaning further into hers with each passing stroke, his breathing slowly starting to even out. Soon enough, she too fell into blissful unconsciousness with an arm tightly wound around her waist.

They'd woken up embracing a few times now, and this one was definitely the sweetest. In their sleep, Y/N had turned to face away from him and he simply wrapped himself around her like a snake around its prey. His chest pressed flush to her back and his arms wrapped around her possessively and securely, his hand clasped in hers. One of his ankles hooked around her calf as if he was trying to keep her firmly glued to him. Since they were so intertwined, however, any movement or change of position threatened to disturb their slumber. So when he stirred, she did too.

"This is cosy."

Her voice was hoarse and sleepy and barely above a whisper and so devastatingly sexy that Adrian wanted to melt into a puddle of mush on the spot. His heart thumped wildly and all rational thought had disappeared from his brain at the sound. It wasn't until she craned her head back to look at him and giggled at his absurd bedhead and dopey expression that he realised he must have been making some sort of pathetic noise to get her attention.

"I've slept better since I met you."

"I'm glad I have such a positive effect on your sleep schedule," she said in mock seriousness, a playful smile playing around her lips. A chuckle escaped Adrian's lips as he shifted and nuzzled his face deeper into the curve of her neck and shoulder.

It didn't escape her notice when his fingers began to trace circles against the soft skin of her stomach. They were warm, calloused and rough, but still somehow so incredibly gentle. She closed her eyes as goosebumps formed along her body at his actions and it took every ounce of willpower she had not to shudder. She was being selfish. She knew this but she didn't care; she just wanted to enjoy the moment for what it was. She wanted to savour it.

"We gotta wake up and head to lunch, don't we?" Adrian asked with his head still nestled against her collarbone.

"Yup."

"Can we stay like this for a few more minutes? I don't want to move just yet."

"Yup."

After those fateful few minutes passed, Y/N lifted herself out of his grip and slipped off the bed. Adrian watched from beneath hooded eyelids as she stood up and stretched her limbs before walking towards the suitcase to pick out something to wear while he sat there, staring at her as if she was some sort of mythical creature.

Maybe she was a nymph. Or an elf. Or a pixie. Or even a succubus. Who knows really? All he knew was that he found it extremely hard to tear his gaze away from her and whenever she was in the same room as him, his eyes always seemed to trail after her. It was like a magnet and he had to physically force himself to turn his head and focus elsewhere again.

This whole situation was ridiculous. Why was he acting like a lovesick teenage boy with a crush? He was the ruthless Vigilante. The man who killed people like flies. And his focus should be on their mission and nothing else.

Yet, here he was, sitting on the edge of his bed, looking so damn adorable with the duvet covering his lap as he sat back on his hands that it made Y/N giggle to herself when she glanced back at him. She retreated into the bathroom to get changed and check if the signal had been rerouted with a coy smile.

And she'd expected him to have moved when she returned. But no. He had lay back down and was smiling at the ceiling with his arms under his head as if the very idea of getting up was impossible.

"Outta bed."

"Nope."

"I'll bribe you. What do you want?" She offered playfully as she walked over to his side of the bed and knelt on the part of the mattress by his arm. "It's how I used to get 'problem' students to get to eat their lunch."

That got his attention. With a quick jerk, he sat up tall, his nose bumping into hers, and pulled her close, wrapping both arms around her waist. All this fake affection was like a drug. And there was no doubt in Adrian's mind that he was a Y/N addict. He had been for a while, but he was getting his fix more frequently these days.

"I would like a hug."

"I can do that."

Without hesitation, Y/N brought her arms around him and rested them on the small of his back, letting one of her legs dangle off the end of the bed. She allowed him to hold her for about three seconds before then he started tickling her sides causing her to burst out in a batch of giggles, squirming away from him in a feeble attempt to get away from his attack. He was grinning like a Cheshire cat the entire time as he continued to torment her until, finally, she managed to wriggle away from him and roll backwards onto the floor.

"That was a smart trick, Mr Bardot."

"Why thank you, ma'am!"

"Now get ready!"

"Will do, ma'am!" he hollered as he grabbed his clothes from the bag and ran to do as she said.

The pair eventually left their hotel room and ventured into the dining hall, which was as grand as the rest of the place, and from the moment they stepped in, it was obvious why their mission had been accelerated.

Sitting at the table nearest one of the enormous windows was the Queen Caroline of Markovia. They had been sent undercover to prevent an alien taking over the ruler of a European country that is well documented as having the most meta humans per capita.

Their little holiday had just got far more serious.

Next Chapter: Alien Perverts

Taglist: @sarahskywalker-amadala, @she-wolf09231982

(Wanna be added to the taglist? Just message me or leave a comment :p)

#adrian chase #vigilante #vigilante x reader #adrian chase x female reader #peacemaker #adrian chase x y/n #adrian chase x reader

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satureja13 · 2 months

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Saiwa finally modified the Circuit Board from Arturo. It's compatible with the Astromech now and ready for testing. That was about time. Arturo promised them this board would help them through this. Sai can't wait to finally get all their problems fixed! Ji Ho is moving the chairs aside to make some space. And Sai calls Jack. Saiwa: "Jack! Come over and bring your little friend!" ... Saiwa: "Not Logan! The tin can!" Jack: "Don't call him like this :'( " Saiwa sighs: "Ok, bring Tiny Can then..." (The glances from Adriano and Little Goat ^^')

Jack: "Now you're glad we took him with us all the way from Selvadorada, right?" Saiwa: "Maybe ;) "

It works! But - that wasn't what Saiwa expected...

Saiwa: "Are you kidding me? A Therapy AI? How is this supposed to solve our problems? No one is mental here!" Jack and Ji Ho: "..."

And that was when Saiwa had a complete breakdown. All the months under extreme pressure take their toll now.

Vlad sensed over the Bond that something was wrong and came over. Sai was still screaming.

Vlad: "Ji Ho and I call the horses. We'll bring him away for a while." Jack: "We can't bring Sai to the temple. He will kill Arturo ö.Ö' " Vlad: "There is another place... get ready and pack for a few days."

They brought Saiwa to the bathroom to get ready and pack his stuff. And then he saw the birds 🐦 on the wallpaper... And he freaked out again.

Jack: "Sai, get up. We're leaving. You'll be fine, hm? We're there for you." Saiwa sobs: "We finally have a home now and can be together without the council on our heels. But the struggles just don't stop. It just goes on and on and on..."

Sai: "I can't do this anymore." Jack: "You don't have to. We are going to take a break. Come." Jack tries to remain strong for Saiwa. But he's right. For one step forward they take 7 steps back. It never gets better.

Ji Ho and Vlad had saddled the horses in the meantime and then they left.

Letting Saiwa go without being able to help him was the hardest thing Jeb ever had to do. But the others are right. There's nothing he can do for him now. Being near him would only make it worse for Saiwa. And Kiyoshi felt guilty. Had they only left him in the tree. It's all his fault. They'd be better off without him but they are forced to stay here together.

Outtakes

'Talk to me straight, is it like this between friends? Saying let’s date, are my qualifications or charm not enough? When I stop this tsundere lifestyle and come at you, you You throw a breaking ball as if you mean something You plead the right to remain silent I beat the drum and jang-gu (=The most widely used drum used in the traditional music of Korea) by myself I think I know but then I don’t, you’re a nonsense quiz Reveal your sincerity

Mental breaker Mental breaker For a moment my fluttering gets flooded by huge confusion' (Original lyrics are in Korean)

Mental Breaker - Block B (Link above leads to a weird unofficial MV of this (also weird) song) TMI: Block B is the group the real Ji Ho (Zico) is in. It's still easily my favourite kpop group and this is one of my favourite songs of them. (It's been my wake up song for years! hahaha)

This is the beginning of the new chapter 'Therapy Game'! I went through some of the experiences they'll make myself (and still do), so this will be an insightful and healing chapter for me. And a therapy too, as so often :3 Try to remember: You are not alone. Don't give up and keep on looking for things and people that/who can (and will!) help you <3 Saiwa and Jack do not see it now but even if you think you only make tiny steps forward and huge steps back, you do make progress. Try to look farther back. Like a year. Then you'll see it.

TMI: 'Therapy Game' is also the name of a BL manga series I enjoy 💞

From the Beginning ~ Underwater Love ~ Latest 🛺 'Home happy Home' from the beginning ▶️ here 📚 Previous Chapters: Chapters: 1-6 ~ 7-12 ~ 13-16 ~ 17-22 ~ 23-28

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doktor74 · 1 day

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Recently i remembered that the Happy Mask Salesman appeared in Oracle of Ages and this just spawned a bunch of ideas and theories that i'd like to just dump here:

aight so, i'm sure we're all familiar with the Zelda timeline, OOT being of course where it splits into three (let's ignore BOTW and TOTK for a moment)

HMS (i'm calling the mask salesman this for simplicity) appears in two timelines The Downfall timeline where the Oracle games take place and The Child timeline where Majora's Mask take place in

the origin of Majora's Mask is shrouded in mystery, but we know that it was created by an ancient tribe, and at some point the HMS heard about it and found it

what if the ancient tribe that created Majora's Mask was from Labrynna, that's why the Happy Mask Salesman is there, HMS doesn't really have that big of a role, he's just... there, being hangry then gives you a mask if you give him food, and nothing else, what if this Mask Shop is just a temporary thing he set up while he was out looking for the mask

which brings me to my next ramble, Majora's mask is still out there, the mask is an ancient item that existed before the timeline split and obviously still existed after it, we see it in the Child timeline where it was rediscovered by the HMS until it was stolen by the skull kid then *insert events of Majora's mask* where it was defeated by the Hero of Time, but what about the other timelines?

in the adult timeline, wherever it was hidden away, it's now most likely at the bottom of the ocean after the world was flooded, HMS probably never found it, heck, he probably died during the flood, the legend of Majora's Mask was forgotten and the mask itself lost to history

but as for the downfall timeline where HMS makes an appearance, well as mentioned before, we saw him WHILE he was still looking for the mask in Labrynna, setting up shop along the way, at some point during or after the events of oracle of ages, he most likely found the mask, i like to think things went normally after that, either staying in Labrynna or leaving going from town to town again, no skull kid to steal the mask that almost causes the apocalypse

or maybe something similar like that DOES happen and he's forced to get help from the Hero of Legend again, maybe some kind of sequel that takes place after Link's awakening (the last game where we play as the Hero of Legend)

but WAIT there's more! i've still got more to yap about, in OOT during the time skip and when Ganon took over Hyrule, HMS was nowhere to be found UNTIL the end credits where we see him dancing, meaning he survived, but what did he do during that time? my idea is that he fled to Labrynna because 1. he's familiar with it because he heard that's where Majora is and 2. it's in general relatively close to Hyrule (i mean Link managed to get there)

after Ganon was defeated he went back to Hyrule and did his little dance but if Ganon won (leading into the downfall timeline) he stays in Labrynna where we see him in Oracle of Ages

alright time to talk about BOTW and TOTK, they're their own timeline, apparently the two games are at the very end of the timeline (doesn't matter which three) it takes place so far into the future and that all the events that happened in previous games are considered myths and legends (really puts the "legend" in "legend of zelda")

but somehow after all that time Majora's Mask still exists, which further proves my idea that "Majora's Mask is still out there"

why is it in Hyrule and not Labrynna? simple, a long time has passed and the mask got moved around a lot by different people including HMS

interestingly Majora's Mask also appears in a Link Between Worlds, which takes place in the downfall timeline but after the events that featured the Hero of Legend

anyways that's about it, thank you for listening to me ramble if you got this far, this isn't really meant to be taken seriously as an actual theory but just a bunch of random ideas and headcanons i came up with, the Zelda timeline is just so fascinating, now that the Hero of the Wild's story is finished the next Zelda could be anything honestly not to mention the movie that's coming at some point, i'd be interested to see them experiment with other genres like BOTW and TOTK, like a side scrolling Zelda Metroidvania, that'd be cool

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yandere-fics · 7 months

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I kind of imagine their spirit stuck in the item and being a looming spirit, but the reader and the OC are linked mentally. Like in the field while fighting their more focused of keeping reader safe and guiding their actions so they're in the item. While when it's calm, maybe walking through a market then they come have a "body" and loom.

I also have the idea that they have very limited control over the readers body. As well as having different kinds of control due to them being different items.

Like if Abigail sees reader do something that puts them in danger she jerks their arm hard enough to make them stumble back. As if she's grabbed them by the wrist. And when they try to leave to go on some dangerous adventure the hand that she's worn on grabs the other to stop reader from opening the door.

With Elisha who's a hair tie or a choker she might have slight control over the readers mind since she's so close the readers head. Same thing with Theanna and Ainsly.

I also think that when you realize how toxic they are they have ways to stop you from removing them.

Abigail constricts around you hand so tight she might end up breaking it. Veronia just wraps around you like a cocoon. If Elisha's a choker she tightens until you either tap out or pass out. If she's a hair tie then twists and pulls on your hair so hard it feels like you're being scalped. Ainsly makes the pendant untouchable whether it her heating it up or electrifying the thing. And Theanna squeezes around your temple harder and harder it feels like she's going to cave your head in.

Again this is just spooky brainrot so if you have anymore ideas feel free in hopping on bus. I'm interested in what you think too.

(I'm so sorry this took so long since I had to gather my thoughts on it but it's finally here, please enjoy.)

♡ Them As Cursed Objects ♡

Perhaps putting on the faintly glowing crown of the former leader who rose to power through mysterious methods was a bad idea, but with your fellow rebels gathering around you, you could deal with the after effects later. For now the kingdom needed a symbolic leader and you could always relinquish control to a real leader later so you put it on.

She didn't appear immediately, which now you realize was the crown luring you into a false sense of security. She wanted to make sure she got it right with this ruler so it started with your dreams being invaded. Dreams with brilliant ideas for how to lead the kingdom towards peace. Things that made you feel as though it were destiny for you to take control since you saw the perfect way to run things as you slept.

Then the specter from the corner of your eye. She looked to be a noble woman, dressed in the garb of a prince but when you turned to look at her, she was gone. It started as being in the corner of your dreamscape, weird dreams that you always remembered when you woke up and were way more comprehensible than before.

It wasn't long before she appeared in court, invisible to those around her, except you. Almost as if giving the message that she was behind all the peace in your kingdom, that you shouldn't allow the power to taint you. And you, well you were far more respectful than previous kings, it only seemed fair that you leave offerings for the spirit that was so generous to guide your decisions.

You weren't aware that she was tied to the crown until one day you were set to meet another noble, someone who could be your consort, when the spirit appeared and your crown felt as though it was tightening painfully. She glared in your room, and you obeyed, afterall she must have some reason that this one will not work out.

So you tried again, and again, and again, and it was always the same thing. There wasn't really any way to ask the spirit who you should marry since she never seemed to talk except for in dreams, and well in dreams you always seemed to forget to broach the subject.

It wasn't until two years into your reign when you began to discuss replacements, that she finally spoke and you almost wish she hadn't because it seemed the spirit thought of herself as the king and you as her queen. Like you two were romantically entangled and now that you knew that, she was only more persistent in her advances.

"I can not allow MY queen to retire, I swear anyone that you attempt to give the crown to share perish by my hand until you resume wearing the crown." It was in the library, you were looking through books of noble families who supported the rebellion to find a suitable candidate, when those words came out, the spirit shredding your book to pieces.

"That book was property of the royal library, please don't damage any property." You stood up and rushed out of the library, realizing it was kind of stupid considering that the spirit would always be at your location but you had to get out when you considered how possessively the spirit spoke to you.

She seemed to subsist until later in the day when she approached you in your chambers, you now being acutely aware of how the spirit watched you sleep at night. All her gazes as you danced at balls made sense now. When you laughed and got close to your rebel buddies. How angry she looked at your proposal letters, taking them and throwing them in the fire as she read them from behind you.

"I refuse to allow anyone else to be my queen, as long as the crown lasts, you shall be my queen and we shall rule together, darling." Her cold lips gave you a kiss on the cheek as she sat on your bed for the first time since this had begun and beckoned you. And of course, like a fool you followed, afterall who could disobey the spirit who made your kingdom so prosperous.

The hair tie was intoxicating, cursed artifacts always were but this one particularly so. It had made it's way into your wares and well, you had to know what the item was before you could sell it to your customers. You knew a curse object when you saw one so you felt it was best to try it on to see the effect.

It was only a day after that you generally seemed happier, your sleep was better, you seemed healthier, and your mind was clearer than ever. It was magnificent. Yet, you knew it was cursed for a reason and you didn't want to be responsible for a death by giving someone a product that they don't know everything about. It had to be tested by you, especially as you had warding devices around to ward off anything too malicious.

Some days it changed form, to a simple choker, like it could anticipate what you would want to wear that day, as if the object almost aimed to please? Cursed objects never usually were so friendly but you surmised this wasn't the typical object that you were dealing with.

Perhaps something cursed by accident without malice, an object made for nefarious purpose that had a will of it's own and didn't want to hurt people. Well that thought was disproven quickly, so quickly that you might have gotten whiplash.

There the spirit stood, in the middle of the market place, smiling as she killed the guards that stole all of your wares. Sure your wares were illegal but the only reason you got them confiscated was because you didn't want to pay a bribe. Well now you figured out why the object was cursed, but strangely, you didn't feel the need to take it off, even after seeing her tap the guards with her cold hands and causing them to instantly fall to the ground.

Your first impression of the spirit was that she was clearly loyal to her master, it would make her a great object to keep around, you couldn't sell this, it was too good for protecting your business. The second thing you noticed was she looked cute, the kind of girl that doesn't look like she would do these things, she didn't seem to fit the setting, as if she was born in another world.

You barely spoke to her but she spoke often, sitting next to you at your stall and telling you little secrets about every customer who passed. She never seemed to harbor bad intentions towards your customers either, sure she was protective but otherwise she seemed non-violent.

Or maybe that was the hair tie manipulating you to justify all of her actions. Either way, your life was better now so did it even matter if the spirit was made with malice or not? You couldn't even bring yourself to care about how it had made it's way into your wares or why it looked somewhat unfamiliar to this world. Why the hair tie came with a cute spirit with the power to kill in a single touch. It never mattered to begin with.

At least until a fling of yours visited your room at the inn one night, someone with no malicious intent but the girl didn't see it that way. One tap was all it took and you had a big mess to clean up. Oh well, it really didn't bother you, afterall things were so much better than before, right?

Coming from a family of sword fighters and not learning to sword fight made you the black sheep of the family. You were much more interested in becoming a proper lady and obtaining the love of a knight, but at the current moment you were from a lesser family ans so the only way to earn your way to court was to be exceptional. That was how you would be able to catch the eye of a pretty knight.

You did have one skill, and that was lore on magical items. Ones that made the wielder invisible on the battlefield, one that would get you exactly what you needed, fame and glory. A handsome lady who would swear a knight oath to you.

And thus began a year long journey to visit any old dusty caves that you could in order to find any object that called to you. Still you found nothing until you were alerted to a cave that had been caved in near your families property. And what is any desperate lady to do except to take a pickaxe and bust your way in there.

Your family would forgive you when your hard work paid off, and paid off it did when atop a pile of untouched goodies sat a beautiful knight, holding a glove and seemingly looking at you.

In truth she had been buried there for years and was unable to wander far from her glove, but before the cave in she would go to the edge and see you reading books of love letters in the meadow, hoping that when you got to court that a lady would swear and oath to you.

Abigail never got to have that in her human life before she was bound to the glove, but if she got you to put the glove on then you'd both get something that you wanted. She knew that knights were rarely loyal even after and oath of loyalty, and she knew your chances of going to court were slim to none, so she'd have to give the pretty maiden what she desired.

It's only fair since you pulled her out of the cave, and this way, you'd be protected no matter what. She'd always be able to guide you out of danger and she'd have complete control over her precious lady so she could guarantee that you wouldn't be meandering with any foolish squires, desperate for a crumb of attention(coochie).

The spirit, she called herself Dame Parley, though said you could call her any name you liked as it had been so many years that she forgot her mortal name, you decided on Abigail, wrote you lover ballads almost every day. You presumed she was just so grateful to be free from the cave.

Sure it was nice to have the attention of a knight but this wasn't what you were expecting, she rarely even allowed you out on the battlefield despite now having enough skill to become a hero. She didn't seem to want you to make your name known, content to stay on your small family estate.

You were the one who wanted a knight to swear their oath to you, and what was a more permanent oath than a cursed glove that promised you would be the only lady in their life and that if you ever died, they would have the glove thrown into a flame to go with you.

Veronia, the spirit, made a very nice travel companion. She said that she was bound to the coat in order to maintain the original masters health but now that you were the owner, she had to help you wherever you decided to go. You thought of her as a companion that others were unable to see.

She liked you far more than any other fool she had been made to serve, putting in more attention to detail than she had done prior. You actually spoke with her and bantered with her on your journeys, unlike the previous adventurers who had worn her.

Adventurers did tend to be a selfish bunch, you knew that all too well, your travels had been filled with strife before your luck changed and you met Veronia in an equipment store. You got a wonderful deal too since no one seemed to notice she was attached to the coat.

Your most common complaint on the road was having to cocoon in Veronia's coat temporarily so the other adventurers who were destroying your camp would see you, and so you wouldn't see when Veronia made her appearance and slaughtered them brutally.

You always wondered why that was the only time she showed herself to people other than you, but otherwise you weren't too bothered. She was just your companion until you reached the quests end after all and she was good company, minus the murder.

Veronia didn't see it your way. How could she? I mean despite being a spirit, she also had a destined mate and it was you. It did take her longer to discover that then it would have if she had her physical form still, but all that mattered was that at the end of the day, she had finally found her mate.

Now she just had to find a way to broach the news to you. You'd understand right? She was your only companion on the trip, at least consistent companion, others tried joining but were often unsettled by her aura being all around you.

You were also the exception to the people that found her aura to be haunting. Previous users wanted her off as fast as they could, often thinking using the coat was more trouble than it was worth but you had been wearing her for months now so surely you'd accept her as your eternal companion.

Of course, you couldn't even find any complaints with this, being on the road was dreadfully lonely and having permanent company would be a blessing, right? Yeah, let's go with that.

Ainsley had come to you with the bargain first, the pendant dangling from her hands. You had limitless potentially when it came to the study of magic but very little mana. Ainsley had infinite mana but no body anymore to continue to use it with.

She was property of the magic academy but no one had been allowed to wear her until she decide she wanted you to be her wearer and the academy had to oblige though they were warned not to warn you of any of the side effects.

She'd fallen in love with you as she saw your study, the way your mind worked when it came to magic was incomparable and she knew that you two must be destined for each other. She just had to make the circumstances to make it happen.

It wasn't hard to make the choice to wear the necklace, although you were a little bit bothered by the flirtatious spirit inside, a spirit was all she was so it wasn't like anything could actually happened and you wanted to progress your research before marrying your wonderful fiance so it was a win in your book.

Ainsley really wanted to give you privacy to begin with, she really did, she swears, but seeing you giggle and kick your legs like a schoolgirl when you received letters from home, was just pushing her limits.

For a genius, you were so blind to her advances so she should have seen this coming. She needed to work harder, after all you two were soulmates and with your weird circumstances, it meant she had to push for the relationship much harder. You'd come around.

She had almost free roam of the academy but usually chose to remain at your side, near the necklace so she could guide you in the right direction when you needed a firm scolding. Her free roam would work to her advantage.

The kingdom was desperate to keep her infinite well of mana on their side so they'd do her almost any favor, including sending a woman to seduce your fiance and then send you proof of the seduction so you'd realize that being with mortals when you were on the cusp of immortality, was extremely foolish.

The immortality was just a fun little surprise she'd tell you about later once you finally were rid of the mortals who were holding your studies back. Afterall, only those with a use were good enough to be near her baby girl.

#yandere oc #yandere lesbian #yandere x reader #yandere x y/n #yandere asks #yandere scenarios #my oc theanna #my oc elisha #my oc abigail #my oc veronia #my oc ainsley

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warmaidensrevenge · 8 months

Text

Is it hot in here or is it just me?

Pairings: Steddie x Fem!plus size reader

If you are interested in my previous work or to catch up on a fic, click HERE.

A/N: Why hello babes. I know it's been months since I posted for this fic. But I was recently inspired to write for this. I was stuck for a long time. However, I think I found a little something. To those of you who haven't read this, please feel free to click on the link above to catch up. As always, thanks for reading. Feel free to comment that you love it or if you want to say you hated it. No pressure. Kay love ya byyyyyeeee.

I don't give permission for my work to be posted anywhere else. Please respect all creators. Also, all pictures used were taken from Google. I only made the collage with them.

Word count: 8,000 + (ope...long one.)

Warnings: 18+ No Minors please. Heavy smut, Graphic depiction of sexual situations, smut, anal, rough partner, language, angst and not proof read. If this is hard to read because of grammatical errors I sincerely apologize.

Summary: You want it all. But do both of your guys want it too?

Part 6

"Shit shit shit." You said to yourself as you ran from the kitchen to your room.

Steve was just about to get up when he saw your worried look.

" Sweetheart? What's going on?"

" I umm…uhhh…Erin's coming. I forgot she was coming over here today."

" Oh! Umm should we go?" Steve asked. Shaking Eddie awake.

Eddie grunted. " Ugh! It's too early Harrington."

You hurried and put on some jeans and a nice shirt. " No. I'm sure Erin's gonna want you to come."

That's when Eddie shot up. " What?! Your sister is coming?"

You gave him a thin lip smile. " Yeah babe. It's her birthday."

Steve got up and got dressed too.

" Uhh so what should I do?" Eddie asked.

You and Steve looked at each other. Was this really how this relationship was gonna be? Were you always gonna have to hide that you and Eddie were together too?

You shook your head. No.

" Eddie." You said going to him. " Babe get ready. You're coming with us."

He and Steve said 'what?' at the same time.

You quickly glanced at Steve then sat with Eddie.

" Babe. You're my boyfriend too. It's time you met Erin."

Eddie gave you a worried look then looked at Steve for approval.

" Sweetheart, are you sure? What if she shuns you or something?"

You didn't look at Steve but answer him.

" Hun, Eddie is an important part of this relationship." You cupped Eddie's beautiful face. " Please get ready Eddie spaghetti. I need you today."

Eddie nodded knowing fully well that he would never tell you no.

You smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss before going to answer the door.

Eddie got up and went to the dresser. Pulling out a fresh pair of boxers.

" Munson, I know you're freaking out but this is what she wants."

" I-I know. And I'm really happy she wants to." He said, pulling a shirt over his head. " I just don't want her to lose her family over it. You know how important they are to her. And you know how people are."

Steve patted him on the back. " Whatever happens man. We never let her forget that we're her family too."

Eddie nodded and tried to smile.

"Hurry up. And come join us."

Eddie watched Steve leave and heard him greet your sister. Steve was always so good with people. Everyone liked him. He was a sun amongst planets. While Eddie was a speck of dust that everyone wanted to get rid of. As long as he could remember, he felt like that. No matter who he was with. He always felt like he was a bench warmer. That was until you. You made him feel seen. Feel wanted and adored. So he had to do this. You did so much for him. Made him feel so good. He could do this little thing for you.

For you Angel.

"Thank you Steve. I'm so happy you're here. Now you can join us for lunch."

Steve smiled at Erin. " I would love to come. As long as I'm buying."

Erin giggled. " Well who can say no to free food?"

" Well it's your birthday. Pretty ladies shouldn't pay for a damn thing on their birthday." Steve said, putting an arm around your shoulders. Giving you a kiss on your hair.

" Oh Steve. You better stop. Or you'll become my second husband." Erin joked.

You narrowed your eyes at her and huffed. " Over my dead body."

Erin and Steve laughed. With Steve kissed your head again.

" So are we ready?" Erin asked.

You looked over Steve's shoulder to your bedroom door. " Umm just a second."

Steve and Erin watched as you went to the room.

" Babe?"

Eddie was sitting on the bed with his leg bouncing. You went to him and put your hand on his knee. He immediately felt calmer.

" I'm sorry…I'm a little nervous."

You smiled sweetly at him. " That's okay. I'm nervous too. But I don't want to hide us. I want all the important people in my life to know we love each other too."

Eddie looked at you and touched your face with the back of his hand.

" No more hiding. Okay?"

He nodded and gave you a beautiful kiss. Meeting your forehead with his after. He whispered 'I love you' and stood up, holding his hand out for you.

You took a deep breath and took it. Leading him out.

You stood next to Steve holding his and Eddie's hand. " Erin. I want you to meet Eddie Munson…my Boyfriend."

Erin's eyes went wide.

Eddie held out his free hand. " It's uhh nice to meet you."

" Y-yeah." Erin stammered. " Erm Eddie is it?" She asked, shaking his hand.

Eddie smiled and nodded.

Erin looked back and forth between Eddie and Steve. " So this is…you guys are…"

" Yes. All three of us are together." You answered her unfinished questions.

Eddie let go of your hand and wrapped his arm around your waist. Steve put his arm around your shoulder again.

" Huh. How does that work?" Erin asked with honest curiosity.

You were quiet. But Steve took your silence as his que.

" Well umm we do normal stuff. Like what couples do. Just we do them with Munson too."

Erin nodded. " And how old are you Eddie?"

You looked over to him and he was staring at you with big round baby cow eyes. He was probably feeling the same way you were feeling. The conversation wasn't bad. It was actually going very well.

" I'm 20."

You smiled at him when he booped your nose.

Erin continued her interrogation. " And do you go to school too or do you work?"

You tucked his hair behind his ears as he answered.

" Both. I work at an auto shop."

" Really?" Erin sounded surprised.

Eddie finally broke the stare off to look towards Erin. " Yup."

" Cool. So my cars making this funny noise and-"

" Erin! No. Please don't-"

Eddie pulled at your chin to look at him. " It's okay pretty girl. Let me help."

Eddie took your breath away when he gave you those big eyes.

You nodded. " Okay. But let's do it fast. I'm starving."

…

The guys were perfect gentlemen. All afternoon they were absolutely amazing. From opening doors to paying for lunch. Honestly they were the best boyfriends anyone could have. And they were all yours.

But today Eddie went above and beyond. He was chatting up a storm with Erin. While you and Steve just sat there enjoying the company. After lunch you guys took Erin to an ice cream shop and Eddie was putting on a performance. Doing a monologue from Star Wars. Making Erin laugh. Every now and again Eddie would look at you and just smile. With a thumbs up. You were so happy that Erin and him were getting along.

When it was finally time for Erin to leave she asked if you could walk her to her car. While the boys went to the apartment.

" So…umm well this will be a birthday I never forget." She said.

You smiled. " I hope that's a good thing."

She chuckled. " Yeah. I like them. Eddie is really a character."

You laughed to yourself. " Yeah he is."

There was this brief second of silence as you stopped to give her a hug.

" Y/n. So I get that having two guys is fun and all… but there's gonna be a day that you're gonna have a choice to make."

You pulled back a little. " What do you mean?"

She sighed and let you go. " I like Steve. He's good for you. He has a bright future ahead of him, like you do."

" But?"

She took a step back and pulled out her keys. " But I have never seen anyone look at anyone the way Eddie looks at you…I can't really put my finger on it, but there's something bone deep with him. Like he would burn this world down for you. Like he worships the ground you walk on or something."

A little confused you took a sharp breath in to say something. But she stopped you before you could.

" Just listen. Zeke won't like this. You dating two guys. And I know he won't approve of Eddie…when it comes time to choose one. Go with your heart. And whoever you choose. I got your back."

" What-what if I choose both?"

She sighed again. " Y/n it's not going to work. Sooner or later one is going to get jealous over the other. And that's not going to be pretty…a friendship is going to be ruined and you'll be left with a broken heart. To be honest, I think the sooner you choose the less amount of hurt it will be."

At first you thought that she was wrong. That the relationship you had could work. But then you thought of the future. Getting a job in the field you were going to school for. Getting married and having kids. Sure you were still young, but you were always mature for your age. And you had a timeline in which you wanted things to happen by. But now being in this three way relationship kinda threw you. How was marriage and children going to factor into this? You could only marry one. And you never thought about how you would explain to your kids who their fathers were. This was also something you never talked about with your guys. And that was definitely a conversation you needed to have.

You gave Erin one last hug before she got in her car. Once she turned on her vehicle she rolled down the window.

" Y/n. Just so you know. If a guy looked at me the way Eddie looks at you…I would pick him."

You bent over to meet her gaze. " Jessie doesn't look at you like that?"

She scoffed. " Not since we were in highschool. But it's okay. Because, I know he still has it in him. It's just he forgot that I'm still that girl for him…and tonight I'm going to remind him."

You chuckled. " Eww."

" No offense to Steve. Like I said, he's a good guy. And clearly he is infatuated with you. I just feel like there's something missing."

You nodded and waved her goodbye.

While you watched her drive away you got in your head about it. Would you really have to choose? You were in love with both of them. But their friendship was more important than the relationship. You couldn't destroy that. Erin was right. You and Eddie had this raw connection, that kinda just happened the night you met. And though Steve said he was over Nancy. For you it felt like you weren't on the same wavelength. Could it work out? Could you keep both? Or did you have to give them up? Because you rather give them both up than to be the one that ruins their friendship.

It was a lot to process. And all you wanted to do was be in their arms. So you decide to get deeper with Steve. You had to. Because the thought of being without either one made your heart sink.

…

Over the next few weeks the guys had been planning a special birthday surprise for you. Spooky season was without a doubt your favorite season. Not only because your birthday was in October. But because fall was the absolute best. The baggie sweater weather was perfect to hide your body. The different shades of oranges and reds were stunning. Hot cinnamon tea with a little bit of french vanilla creamer was your go to drink for especially cold days. But what you love the most about October was the first snowfall. It happened every year for as long as you could remember. And though it never sticks, it was always so gorgeous.

However, this year was going to be much different. Now with Steve and Eddie being the loves you never knew you needed. Ever since Erin's birthday you tried your darndest to get into Steve's mind. He constantly told you how beautiful you were and how much he loved you. But Erin was right. There was something blocking him from opening up.

You spent the last few days with just him. And though Eddie missed you like crazy. He understood what you needed to do. So the night before your birthday Steve wanted to do something just for you two.

He picked you up and took you out to dinner. After he took you to the drive-in. The same one from the first date. Only this time it was empty and you guys had to sneak in.

Steve led you to the benches that faced the screen. He had a small lantern leading the way. When you finally got to the spot, you saw that he had set up a makeshift bed. He had a small styrofoam cooler with drinks and snacks. You sat down while Steve disappeared for a second. Next thing you knew you saw the opening credits to a movie. Steve came back and sat with you.

" Henderson set this all up for us."

You smiled. " Aww that's sweet of him."

You both exchanged smiles then Steve grabbed a blanket and wrapped himself and you up.

As the movie played you snuggled closer. Steve had picked the movie A Room With A View. It was a romantic movie that had the main character face a decision. Which wasn't too far from what was going on with you.

It was hard to watch when you wanted to tell Steve what Erin said. But he was being so sweet and so lovey dovey right now, that you didn't want to ruin this beautiful date.

Steve's watch went off.

" It's officially your birthday sweetheart." He said giving you a long beautiful kiss after. " Happy birthday baby girl."

You hummed against his lips." Thank you hun."

" I have something for you."

You smiled and watch him pull out a small white box with a pretty pink bow. When you opened it, your mouth dropped.

It was a stunning gold necklace with a heart shaped pendant on the end. The glimmering tourmaline in the middle of the heart made your smile bigger.

" Thank you. It's gorgeous."

" Here baby. Let me help you put it on."

You handed over the necklace and leaned forward for him to put it on. Lifting your hair in the process. You smiled down on the pendent and looked back at Steve. There was this distant look beyond his smile. One you hadn't seen before. It worried you. For a second you thought that he was going to say something awful. But he didn't.

" Sweetheart, I umm I know what you told Eddie. And I need you to know how sorry I am for adding more stress on you. But baby I need you to know that I do want all of us to be together. Sweetheart, you still make me so nervous. I swear that every time I'm with you I feel like I'm gonna say the wrong thing or scare you away. I worry about you and you're constantly on my mind. When I'm not with you I'm wishing I was. Seeing you always makes my day better. Hearing you laugh with that little squeak makes me so happy. You make it worth getting up in the morning. Well you and coffee."

You laughed and moved his hair away from his eyes.

" But seriously, I was always afraid to admit how I really felt. And maybe that was the reason Nancy and I didn't work out. But I'm glad it didn't. Because I found you. And I'm not gonna hold back. Not with you... Sweetheart you give me so much just being yourself. And I want to give you the world. Because that's what you deserve. I would do anything for you…I love you. And you will never have to choose between Eddie or me. Because we want this forever. A lifetime of you, me, and Munson."

You were stunned. With pretty much everything. The date, the necklace. But Steve's words meant so much more than any of it. For the first time this started, you never felt so loved and appreciated. All you could do was kiss him. One thing led to another and your bare body was being covered in kisses. Beautiful soft lips pressing tender kisses across your chest. Down to your tummy and between your thighs. Feeling Steve's mouth between your legs drove you insane. He was just so good at it. He knew exactly when to put his fingers in you. He knew exactly how fast or slow you wanted it. How hard and everything. Right now he was being kind. Slowly and gentle pumping into you while sucking on your swollen nub.

He was cursing under his breath while you turned into a moaning mess of a puddle.

" D-daddy?"

Steve groaned. "Mmm. Yes baby girl."

" Please. I need you in me. I need to feel you."

He pulled away, giving you two little kisses on either side of your thighs. He then grabbed one of your legs and turned you on your side.

"Keep your bottom leg straight sweetheart."

You nodded and he moved your top leg to a bend. His cock made you see stars. Everytime you were with him it felt like he was rearranging your insides. In the best way of course. But this position brought tears to your eyes. Every delicious thrust hit a soft spot deep in you that you couldn't contain your cries.

Steve wanted you so cock drunk that you wouldn't even remember how to talk. So he did some research in a little book called Kama sutra. And this particular position was perfect. He had a hand full of ass, pounding into your tight wet pussy. But the best part was still seeing the faces you were making. A mixture of pain and pleasure. Eyes screwed shut, with tears falling from the corners. Your cries and whimpers echoed out. The snapping of his hips into your bottom was fucking music.

Your pussy clenched. Hugging Steve's thick long cock.

" That's it sweetheart…that's it…cum for daddy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cum for me baby."

Your core shook as your release covered him. But he didn't stop. He let go of your ass and moved your leg so that they were on either side of him. He hunch over you, putting an arm under your lower back and lifting you up a bit.

" What are we at baby girl?"

"Y-yellow." You whimpered.

Steve nodded and slowly pushed himself in you.

" Can you give me one more? Just one more."

You didn't say anything. You were trying to concentrate.

" Common baby. Please. I need one more. Just one more."

You bit your bottom lip and said a small 'one more'.

Steve grabbed the side of your neck and pulled you up a little to kiss you.

" That's it. That's my sweet girl." He cooed.

He thrusted harder and deeper. But stopped when he felt the spot that made you gasp.

" N-no. Please-please don't stop. " You begged.

" I…baby-" he choked out as he started moving again. " I love you. God I love you so much… I want everything with you."

You looked deep into his pretty brown eyes as your body jolted upwards. " E-everything?"

Steve nodded. " Everything. House, babies, marriage…everything."

Your eyes rolled back. His confession aided in one of the best orgasms you ever had.

"B-baby I'm-"

He came right along with you. When both of you caught your breath he laid down on top of you and kissed all over your chest and neck. Saying 'I love yous' between each and every one. After he rested his head in the crook of your neck while you caressed his back.

" Did…did you mean what you said?"

He lifted his head and started stroking your hair while he grinned. " Yeah…I know all of us are still young. But…when you know. You know."

You smiled up at him. " Does Eddie feel the same?"

Steve's grin faded. " I…I think so. Never talked to him about that before."

You smiled. Eddie and Steve would be the best dads and partners. They treated you like a queen. So they were bound to treat any children you guys had like princesses and princes.

" What're you thinking about sweetheart?"

"Just...you and Eddie. You both make me so happy."

Steve kissed you deeply and met your forehead with his after. " Just returning the favor baby girl."

...

Right after the date, Steve drove you guys to his parents cabin. Where Eddie was getting ready for your arrival. You were so tired that you almost fell asleep on the short drive. But as soon as Steve parked Eddie ran outside and opened your door. You smiled up at him as he leaned in and kissed you.

" Mmmm. Happy birthday pretty girl."

You yawned a little. " Thank you Eddie spaghetti."

He helped you out of the car as Steve got the bags. Eddie then led you inside and you looked around. There were streamers and balloons everywhere. With a huge hand painted sign just above the TV.

" Oh Eddie. It's beautiful." You grinned, hugging him tightly.

" You're beautiful Angel."

Steve cleared his throat. " Munson, let's get our girl to bed. She's tired."

Eddie frowned but agreed. He took your hand and led you to the master bedroom. He helped you out of your clothes and stared at the necklace. A part of him wished he could have gotten you something that pretty. But with the shop cutting back his hours, he barely could afford rent.

Steve had offered to help him out. But he wanted to do things on his own. So since he was low on funds he wrote a little tune just for you. He also had Robin help him make a cake. Then he and Dustin decorated it.

All his gifts would have to wait until you woke up. He hoped that you wouldn't be upset with him for not getting you something like Steve's gift.

You took off your bra and pulled on the shirt Eddie held over your head. Steve came over and held out your toothbrush. You smiled sleepily at him and he pointed towards the bathroom.

Once you closed the door Eddie sighed. " Why did you guys come so late?"

" Sorry man. Kinda got carried away."

Eddie shook his head and changed into his pajamas. Steve pulled off his shirt revealing scratch marks on his back and hickeys on his chest.

Eddie chuckled. He liked when you marked him and Steve up. Claiming them as yours. He wondered when he could get his. You didn't do it often. But when you did, he and Steve absolutely loved it.

You came back out with your eyes barely open. Steve pulled back the blankets and called out to you. You smiled and went to him. He gave you a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

" Common baby girl."

You crawled into bed with Steve and Eddie following right behind you. You turned to your side and snuggled with Steve while Eddie spooned you.

The guys said goodnight to each other and Eddie kissed your shoulder.

" Goodnight pretty girl."

You sighed a little in response.

…

You woke up in the very early hours, thirsty and hungry. Your boys had you sandwich between them. So moving out of their arms without waking them took forever. But as soon as your feet hit the floor you quickly tiptoed out of the room. Before you went to get something to drink you looked around a bit. Trying to get your bearings. You found a second bathroom and went pee. Your vagina was a little sore, but other than that you were feeling really good.

You went to the kitchen after and poured yourself a cup of tap water and started searching the cabinets for snacks. For some reason you were craving something sweet.

Hmmm fruit maybe?

You went to the fridge and looked for something. You ended up finding some blueberries and a can of whipped cream. When you pulled them out and closed the door, Eddie was standing there. Making you gasp.

" EDDIE!?" You said in a very loud whisper.

He groaned. "I woke up hugging Harrington instead of you."

You giggled quietly. " I'm sorry. I was hungry."

You turned around and set the stuff on the counter. Eddie came behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist. Putting his chin on your shoulder.

" Can I have some?" He asked in his sleepy voice.

You nodded. " Open your mouth."

You turned around and he bent down a little so you could reach his mouth with the whipped cream. You gave him a mouth full, popping berries in your mouth at the same time. When he stood up he wiped the little bit of cream off the side of his mouth. But before he could lick it off you grabbed his hand and sucked his thumb clean. The way you slowly released him had him hard instantly. He pushed you against the counter. Putting both hands on either side of you.

"Eddie?"

He got closer and leaned down to brush his nose in the side of yours.

" Hmmm?"

" I missed you today."

He smirked. " I missed you too Angel."

He bumped your nose with his and you laughed a little. Making him so happy.

He let go of the counter and grabbed your hips.

" Jump." He whispered.

You put your hands on his shoulders and did so. With his help he lifted you up onto the counter. Pushing the small plastic box of berries away. He pulled at your hips so that you were closer to the edge. He then went between your legs and lifted your shirt a little so he could grab your panties. You finally kissed him once they were off.

"Ed…take it easy on me okay? I'm a little sore."

He nodded and kissed you softly. Gently pulling you closer. Your hands went to pull down his bottoms and boxers. Once his rock hard length was out you guided him into you. When he was fully in you, you wrapped your legs and arms around him.

Eddie took you nice and slow. He was such a good lover. Making sure to say he loved you over and over again. His lips were on yours more often than not.

As much as you wanted to cum. You really did miss him and wanted this to last longer than 5 minutes. So you told him that.

"B-babe. I-i want to cum. But I want you to keep going."

Eddie stopped moving and help you lay back. He pulled at your hips to move you back onto his cock.

" Do you want to edge Angel?"

You bit your bottom lip and nodded.

Eddie smirked. " Okay. Just tell me when it's too much. Then we can cum. "

You said a small 'okay'. Eddie then put your legs up and started moving again. He had you almost there about 3 times before neither him or you could take it. After the last one you gave him the go ahead to go as hard and as deep as he could.

It was only a matter of seconds before you and he felt this white hot intensity. Your nipples hardened and every inch of your skin raised. Your hearing went as you finally gave in. Eddie's body hunched over as he continued to thrust shallowly until his balls were completely emptied. After he laid his top half on your soft tummy. Your legs went slack and your hands instinctually went for his head. He hummed as you lightly scratched his scalp.

" Now I'm hungry."

You giggled.

Eddie stood up grabbing a towel, wetting it with warm water. He cleaned you up first then himself. After he pulled up his bottoms and helped you with your undies. He then proceeded to pull out a cake from it's hiding place. You smiled so bright he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Eddie it's so pretty."

He set it down next to you and went to grab a fork.

" Let's have some."

"Really?"

He kissed your forehead. " It's your birthday. You can eat the whole thing if you want."

You smiled again. " Why are you so good to me?"

He brought a fork full to your lips. " Well that's because I love you. And my girl deserves to be happy and taken care of."

You hummed as the sugary goodness danced on your taste buds.

Eddie smiled and took a huge bite himself.

" This is so good babe. Did you make it?"

He nodded, giving you another bite.

This little moment you had with Eddie was everything. You caught a glimmer in his eye as he grinned happily at you. You saw something. You saw your future. Years of this. Filled with love like this. It was such a simple thing. Eating cake on your birthday. But what it took for him to make it and decorate it. It was the time he took thinking about you. The love and care he had for you. And in this moment you knew. He was half of a whole. He was a part of you and you were a part of him.

" Can I ask you something?"

" You can ask me anything Angel."

You took a small drink of milk that he poured for you. After clearing your throat. The way he looked at you and smiled took your breath away.

" Ed… do you ever think about the future?"

" Uhhh. Like future as in tomorrow or like a 5 year plan."

" 5 years?"

He put his hands on your shoulders and began rubbing them.

" Well let's see. I hope by then we will all be living together. And Corroded Coffin will take off. Then we can all be happy. Just the three of us."

Just the 3 of us?

" Oh. So you don't want-"

" What are you guys doing up?" Steve said groggily.

Eddie and you looked over.

" Nothing man. Just having some cake."

" Munson that was for the party."

" Party? What party?" You asked.

Both of your boys went silent.

" Eddie spaghetti?" You said in such a soft sweet tone it could have broken both of their hearts.

Eddie laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. " I uhhh it was supposed to be a surprise."

Steve came over and started running his hand up and down your back. "We invited our friends and Erin."

You looked at Eddie and he just smiled.

…

The day couldn't have gone any better. The guys watched as you played with your nephew. The way you smothered him with kisses and hugs made their hearts melt. Everyone was having a good time. Music was blaring and Steve was grilling. While Eddie was messing around with Dustin and the gang.

Seeing your guys like this was so different from how they were behind closed doors. You liked this version of them. Entertaining friends and family. Stealing loving glances at you.

You were watching Eddie wrestling with Dustin and Mike. Another moment had passed when you saw your future kids playing with Eddie. Seeing him smile and laugh like that was all you could ever hope for.

What is going on?

You shook off the thought. It was way too early to be wanting this. Sure the plan was to finish up school in two years. And by 23 or 24 you thought you might get married. Then start a family right away.

But this relationship made you want it sooner.

…

After everyone was gone you took a shower. With Steve joining you. Eddie went into town to pick up some movies for the rest of the weekend. Scary ones of course.

Steve made love to you while you both bathed. And though you wished Eddie would hurry and join. Steve could easily make you forget everything but him.

Which he did. He had you bent over. Legs spread apart. Hands flat on the shower glass door. He had been so gentle and kind. That you wished he would do it more often. Not that him being rough was a bad thing. It's just refreshing when he takes care of you like this.

When Eddie finally came back he found you cuddled up next to Steve on the couch. Your eyes lit up when you saw him.

" Babe. What took you so long?"

Eddie frowned. " I'm sorry. I went home to grab something."

You pouted but held up your arms for a hug.

When he came you whispered in his ear. " Please don't leave again."

He gave you a kiss on the forehead. " I won't pretty girl. You got me and Steve for the rest of the weekend.

You held out your hand and he helped you up.

" Go shower babe. Dad and I will set up the movie and pop some popcorn."

Eddie grinned and kissed your cheek before disappearing down the hall. You looked over to Steve and held out your hand for him. He gave you his perfect grin and took it. Hugging you from behind as you guys awkwardly penguin walked to the kitchen. Both laughing the whole way there.

Eddie took a quick shower and hurried to get back to you. When he came out he saw Steve lighting the fireplace and you were just setting down the bowl of popcorn and drinks on one of the end tables. Eddie snuck up behind you and smacked your ass.

You yelped and quickly turned around. " Oh you're gonna get it."

You moved towards him as he backed away with his hands up.

" No. Don't act all innocent. Give me your toosh."

Eddie chuckled and kept backing away until he hit a wall. You immediately took advantage and grabbed his hands.

" It's only fair, Eddie. You spank me and I get to spank you…or…dad can do it for me."

Eddie had the biggest smirk and raised his brows. " Is that what you want, Angel? You want Steve to spank me?"

You let go of his hands and started playing with his hair. " I want what you want. We always do things for me…maybe this time we can do something you've both been wanting to do."

Steve walked over to you and moved your hair to the side. " What is that sweetheart?"

You looked over your shoulder at him. " Better if I show you."

You moved away from between them and started for the bedroom. " Could you please move the coffee table? And maybe lay a blanket down?"

The guys looked at each other and did as you asked. When you came back you had a medium size pink silk bag. You sat in the middle of the blanket on your knees. While the guys got on either side of you. Eddie tried to snatch the bag but you pulled away in time. He chuckled and kissed your temple.

" What's that baby girl?"

You turned your head towards Steve. " A toy."

You pulled the drawstring back and revealed a pocket pussy.

" I know it's not the real thing. But since I only have one. I thought maybe this could help."

Eddie grabbed your chin and pulled for you to look at him. " What exactly do you want to do with that?"

Your face got serious. "You like to watch right?"

A smirk grew on his lips. " I do."

" Well babe." You said inching your face closer to his. " What would you like to see me do with it?"

Eddie looked at Steve but you pulled at his chin.

" Don't look at Dad. Look at me…what do you want Eddie?"

The way you whispered his name sent chills down his spine. He definitely liked you being in charge. Steve did too. Steve was actually enjoying the conversation you and Eddie were having. Something about the way you took the lead. No girl had ever done that before. It takes a lot to just be able to do this with them. But not only did you take it up so well, you were taking the reins more often than not.

" Eddie?" You whispered his name again ever so sweetly.

He was nervous. You saw his Adam's apple bop up and down and he started drumming his fingers on his thigh.

You put your soft warm hand on his and he relaxed.

" Eddie. Don't be shy." You said getting to your knees and wrapping your arms around his neck. Slowly scratching his head. " Tell your Angel what you want her to do."

Eddie stared into your big beautiful curious eyes. What was it about you that made him want to give you everything? Like if you asked, he would burn the whole world down for you.

He smiled and pulled you so that you were straddling him.

" I want to watch you fuck Steve with that."

You bit your lip and felt your core throb. Eddie then wrapped his hand around your neck and pulled you closer. Lips almost touching.

" Pretty girl…can I watch you fuck Steve?"

You nodded and kissed him. It got really heated very fast that you had to pull away so you could do what he wanted.

You stood up and went to Steve. He was sitting down leaning against the couch. Running his fingers through his perfect hair. You smiled down at him as you pulled off your pajama shirt. Steve's eyes were slits from the smile that was suddenly there. He sat up and slid his hands up your voluptuous thighs towards your panties. He placed one lingering kiss on your mound, then buried his nose between your clothed warmth. Bopping your clit and taking a whiff. With a soft groan he pulled away.

" Smells so good baby girl…can I take these off." He asked, snapping the elastic of your underwear against your skin.

You looked over your shoulder to Eddie and saw him palming his growing length watching the exchange. You looked back down to Steve and nodded. He quickly took them off. You dropped down and helped him take off everything. His long thick cock was harder than you've ever seen it. Your mouth watered seeing it drip with precum. You shimmied down his body. Leaving a trail of kisses along the way. Now on your side you moved to give Eddie a good view of what was about to happen. With your leg bent over Steve's you teasing him with your tongue. After a minute or so you got on your hands and knees.

Eddie's cock ached. Seeing you on all fours with your back arched and your big beautiful ass facing him was everything. He caught a glimpse of a silver plug with a bright pink gem and your perfect pussy soaked.

He smirked. My naughty angel.

He moved a little to see your mouth wrapped around Steve's head as you pumped him. Eddie's hand went straight under his bottoms and started stroking himself. He heard you softly moan as you took Steve deeper. Then you let go with a pop and moved a bit so Eddie could see exactly what you were doing next.

He could have came at the sight, but he stopped touching himself so that this experience lasted longer. The first time this happened. He got way ahead of himself and came so fast. But not this time. This time Eddie was going to make sure you came a few times before he would allow himself.

When you slid the pocket pussy on Steve, the sight made you impossibly wet. With Eddie watching you and Steve grunting made you feel on top of the world.

Steve grabbed your chin, making you look at him. " Feels good."

You smiled at him. " What would it feel amazing?"

Steve leaned forward and whispered into your mouth. " Suck on my balls."

You kissed him quickly and leaned forward. Swirling around your tongue on each heavy ball.

That was it for Eddie. He couldn't take it anymore. He got up and went behind you. Grabbing one of your cheeks. Lifting it to expose your pussy more. He then grabbed his dick and pushed into you. Your head instantly went back with a gasp escaping you.

Still trying to focus on Steve while Eddie pounded into you was harder than you thought. It was always hard to focus on more than one person at a time. And you thought you would eventually get there. However tonight wasn't the night. You stopped moving your hand and squeezed your eyes shut. Eddie had never been this needy for you before. Nor had he been so rough. Yet here he was smacking your ass pretty hard and pulling your hair so that your back was up against his chest. Once you were up he wrapped an arm around your overhanging tummy and gripped your neck.

Eddie growled. " Yeah. Yeah. Fuckin' take it."

Your cries got louder and Eddie was gone. He was so damn close. It was almost impossible to not cum. Especially when your walls fluttered around him. Giving him the indication that you liked when he was rough with you. He took that as permission to push it a little more. He then squeezed your throat a little and bit your shoulder. That's when your warm wet walls clenched him the tightest he ever felt.

He let go of your neck and pulled gently at your chin. Giving you a harsh wet kiss while he came.

When he was done he loosened his hold on you and kissed where he bit you. You hummed and finally opened your eyes to find Steve smiling at you while he used the pocket pussy. Eddie gave you one last kiss before pulling out and letting you go. He let himself fall to the side and closed his eyes. Still panting.

Steve tossed the toy away and held out his arms. " Come to daddy sweetheart."

You gave him a little nod and crawled into his lap.

Steve tucked your hair behind your shoulder and whispered. " Did you cum baby girl?"

You nodded again. " Just a little one."

He kissed your cheek. " Well, let's give you a big one yeah? Can you do that for me baby?"

" uh-huh." You whimpered against his lips.

Steve kissed you and lifted you a bit to align himself with your entrance. Slowly letting you sink into his lap. While moaned into his mouth you start rolling your hips. Steve then threw his arm around your waist and guided you into a little bounce.

" Good girl. Just like that."

You held onto his shoulders in order to get some support as you moved faster.

" God I love your pussy."

Eddie opened his eyes after a minute or two and looked over to you and Steve. Seeing your hair bounce on your bare back while you hopped, combined with your heavy breathing got him hard again. When he sat up he felt a little bit of his cum dribble down his stomach. He scooped it up with a couple of fingers and went to you and Steve. Eddie first glanced at Steve then cupped your face. Making you meet his gaze.

He lifted his cum stain fingers and you grabbed his wrist and sucked them clean.

" Fuck! That's my girl." Eddie cooed. " Such a good little slut."

You gave him big pouty eyes. Like you wanted more of him. So Eddie had to oblige.

Steve's mouth was now on your chest. Sucking bruises everywhere. Marking you up as his too. That's when Eddie grabbed Steve's knees and said.

" Hold on to your daddy pretty girl."

You did so and Steve held you a little tighter. Eddie then pulled both you and Steve down. Causing Steve to fall back, pulling you with him. Once you and Steve were comfortable again. Steve held you where you were and pounded into you. Hitting that sweet spot.

Eddie then put a leg over Steve's thigh and put both hands on your bouncing ass. Flicking your cute little plug. Steve stopped ramming into you for a second so Eddie could take out the toy. Eddie leaned in and spit on your now empty hole. He then aligned his tip with the only open space left for him.

" Where we at Angel?" He asked.

" Uhhh. Green-green." You answered breathlessly.

Steve kissed you then met your forehead with yours. " Eddie's gonna go slow okay. If it hurts too much tell me."

You nodded once more. Eddie then spit on his dick and spread it around.

You gasped as Eddie's tip split you open. This was a first. The guys always took turns with your lower half. But now you were incredibly full. Deliciously full. It felt otherworldly. Just a touch under overwhelming.

When Eddie felt you relax he went balls deep. The slight discomfort went away and all you felt was immense pleasure.

Steve then brought your attention back to him.

" I'm gonna move okay."

" y-yes daddy."

He grinned at you and started going the same pace as Eddie. You scrunch your eyes closed and buried your face in the slope of Steve's neck.

The boys were doing an excellent job of making you feel good. So good that you felt this white hot fire burning deep within your stomach. But what pushed you over the edge was Steve whispering things in your ear.

" Mmm my sweet sweet girl…you know how good you would look with my baby in you…you want that? Would you like me to put a baby in that beautiful belly?"

You clenched. What was it about those words making you feral?

"Yeah sweetheart?"

Steve felt you nod and smiled. "Y-yeah. But you have to cum for me…Give me a big one baby girl. And you can have all my babies. "

Without warning you went over that edge. Letting the wave consume every inch of you. Your skin laced with goosebumps and your nipples hardened as your climax felt like it was seeping from your pores. Legs shaking, fingernails digging into Steve's arm, eyes rolling back.

Eddie couldn't hear what Steve was saying but he didn't care. Whatever he was saying to you, made your already tight suction cup of a hole hugged and pulled him in even more.

" OH G-GOD!" Steve and Eddie said at the same time.

That orgasm lasted at least a minute and a half. You were officially out for the count. However, your boys kept going. Making it nearly impossible to not squirm.

" Yel-low!" You cried out.

Eddie and Steve looked at each other and nodded. You were almost to your limit. They both thrusted a few more times before Eddie pulled out and came on your bottom. Steve gave you what he promised. A pussy full of his babies.

Once they finished you went limp on Steve. They gave you a few minutes before helping you up. You barely could keep yourself up. So Eddie held onto you while Steve started the shower. All of you squeezed in. You leaned against Steve while Eddie washed you up. You could have fallen asleep right then and there.

Soon after the shower the guys got you dressed and into bed. The last thing you remember was laying in Eddie's arms with Steve caressing your side.

When Eddie heard your little moans he kissed your forehead.

" Harrington?" He whispered

" Yeah?"

" uhhh what did you say that made her cum so hard?"

Steve lifted his head. "Why? Did you not like it?"

" Yeah I did. I fuckin' loved it…I just want to know what got her like that."

Steve looked at you and smiled. " I said she would look beautiful with a baby in her. And I asked if she would like that."

Eddie's stomach sank. " You what?!"

Steve shot him a look when his sudden outburst caused you to stir.

" Munson seriously?! She needs to rest. We took a lot out of her today." Steve said just above a whisper.

" I-I know man. Sorry. But really? Now you guys are talking about that?"

" Uhh yeah Munson. We talk alot about our future."

Eddie clenched his jaw. Again he felt like a third wheel. Was that what you were trying to talk to him about? Did you want kids… now?

He looked at you and felt bad. He didn't want kids. He didn't even believe in the whole institution of marriage. Sure he wanted a person to love and be fully committed to them. But he was cynical. He thought that a soul mate wasn't real. That in order to make things work, you have to be able to accept that not one person in this world is perfect. However, on the other hand he never felt this way about anyone. He never felt such happiness. When he was with you, nothing else mattered.

Eddie sighed. " Harrington I know we all want to be together. I just…" he tucked your hair behind your ear. " I don't want her to be disappointed if things don't happen the way you guys want it to."

" What does that mean?"

Eddie pulled you closer and gave you a little forehead kiss. " It means that I want her to be happy. I want her to have everything she dreams of having. And if the day comes where I can't give her that…I want you to."

…

Thanks for reading. What should happen next?

@salenorona23 @erinsingalong @sillypurplemurple @tessab154 @bethanysnow @ibathealone @stardustmunson @impossibelle

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astupidweeb69 · 2 years

Text

Unrequited (Yandere! Ticci Toby x Reader) Part 4

Next Chapters: Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Links to Previous Chapters: Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3

Author's Note: I feel like this chapter sucks lol. My summer courses just ended and I had to pull a couple of all-nighters to write a 10-page research paper. So I'm VERY sleep-deprived and still recovering. But I wanted to post another chapter now since I had it planned out with a rough draft for days.

After editing it’s actually about 1,000 words longer than originally. So, damnit, I’m posting it. Cross-posted on my Ao3 account which I update quicker.

Warnings: Swearing. Non-consensual touching/groping/kissing (Technically sexual assault. But I tried not to make anything too graphic. I’m not super comfortable writing things like that, but it’s important to the plot for this specific chapter). Descriptions of gore? Also, some minor spoilers for the movie Hellraiser if you haven't seen it. (4,450 words)

********************

“You invited that guy over?”

Anne immediately snapped her head from the TV, shocked at the news. Giving you a look that could only mean ‘are you crazy?’.

Just like the two of you had agreed a couple of days ago, she had been staying over at your place to keep you company. You were feeling especially vulnerable now, so you’d only allow the presence of someone you were really close to.

That’s why when you told her about your recent development with the “weird guy” from the bookstore, it didn’t make any sense to her.

“Well, yeah… I thought maybe I’d been overly sensitive about how he was acting. Or remembering things wrong? You know I’ve been in a rough spot lately.” You sighed, cringing at the memory. “Plus, you should’ve seen how sad he looked when I tried to leave. For a second, I thought he was going to cry.”

Anne rolled her eyes. You could tell she was trying to hold back giving you a lecture.

“Don’t just hand over your phone number because you feel bad.”

A fair point.

Normally you could tell someone off if they were making you feel unsafe, hell, even throw a punch if it came to it. But if someone looked at you the way Toby had… there was something in you that had a hard time saying no.

At your lack of response, Anne continued. “And you didn’t have to give him your address too. Why didn’t you just meet him in a public place?”

Logic never failed her, you thought bitterly. Eyes drifting down to your feet, embarrassed, you prepared your stupid reasoning for putting yourself in this situation.

“I just… still don’t feel comfortable going out yet. And I wanted to show him some movies. I know it was dumb, but I’d feel more at ease doing something I enjoy in a place I’m familiar with. And remember, I said that my mind had probably been exaggerating things.”

Your friend frowned at the explanation. Sure, she’d been helping you get out a bit more, but whenever you found yourself in a rut it took more than a few days to get back to normal. You could see it pained her whenever you still refused to leave the house.

“Fine. It’s your call. Just… promise me you’ll text me the entire time, so I know you’re okay.” Anne got up from the couch and made her way to the front door. She smoothed out her short brown hair and grabbed her keys and purse.

“You’re leaving?” You asked, unclear on what her plans were for the day.

She nodded. “Yeah, my boss texted me this morning asking me if I could work the late shift. I would have told you earlier, but I didn’t realize you would be inviting Tony over. It kills me I can’t be here to make sure he doesn’t try anything.”

“Toby.” You corrected, “And don’t worry…” Flashing her a stupid grin, you lifted your arms up and jokingly flexed your muscles. “He wouldn’t stand a chance. I’ll just kick his ass to the curb if something happens.”

“Of course you will.” Anne scoffed. “Seriously though, be careful.”

With one last worried smile, she left.

After hearing her car pull out of the driveway, you started thinking about what you had just agreed to.

This was just two people getting to know each other…. right?

Hanging out as… potential friends.

That’s all.

But you couldn’t shake your doubts.

The fear beginning to resurface.

Was this a date?

Hopefully not.

You were honestly just excited you’d found someone with a similar interest, who wouldn’t flinch at excessive gore. You didn’t want to start dating now. Especially while you were still trying to recover. Walking up the stairs towards your room you thought more about Toby.

He wasn’t… ugly?

That was the nicest thing you could bring yourself to say. Any attractiveness that might’ve been felt was suppressed by how uncomfortable he made you feel. Plus, the whole time he was around you’d been avoiding looking directly at him.

The mirror in your bathroom reflected your tired face.

Date or not, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to put some effort into how you looked.

Doing your standard routine, you finally put on a cozy sweater and your favorite pair of jeans. Nothing that would make it seem like you put too much thought into it. Again, wanting to avoid sending any messages to Toby that this was going to be a romantic thing.

When you finished fixing yourself, you hurried back down to the kitchen to make your last-minute preparations.

There was a frozen pizza set out, a pile of movies to select from, and now all you had to do was wait.

***********************

It was getting dark.

That was normal this time of year, and it gave the perfect ambiance for watching films. The house was cold, so you had made sure to get plenty of blankets for the couch, trying to do anything to keep your mind occupied.

To say you felt nervous was an understatement.

As the hours crept closer to 6, your stomach began doing flips. Regretting everything leading up to this moment.

You sat on the couch flipping through channels on the TV, not paying attention. Leg bouncing up and down, you glanced at the clock on the wall for probably the 100th time in the last minute.

‘5:59’

The doorbell rang.

The remote flew out of your hand.

He was here.

You smoothed out your sweater and hesitantly walked over to greet him.

As your hand grabbed the doorknob, you took a deep breath. Before getting the chance to say hello, your senses were overwhelmed by some kind of musky fragrance.

Sandalwood and lavender?

You stifled a cough.

“Huh-hey.”

Toby stood in front of you, his hands in his pockets, hunched over, giving you an awkward smile. He wore the same black turtleneck you saw him in before and his unruly brown hair was combed in a half-ass attempt to tame it.

Apparently, he had also decided to bathe in cologne.

Okay, this guy was trying a little too hard. Shit. He probably did think this was a date then.

Trying not to panic, you smiled politely. “Nice to see you again.”

You turned to the side to let him in.

But he didn’t move.

He just kept staring.

“Uh… Do you plan on staying outside the whole time or….?”

Toby blinked, realizing he’d been spacing out. He looked like he was in a bit of a daze.

“Suh-sorry.”

He came inside and you shut the door behind him.

Both of his arms reached forwards. Baffled by the unexpected gesture, you found yourself wrapped in a vice-like grip. A bone-crushing hug that made it hard to breathe. You awkwardly patted his back, feeling his body shake all over, and warm breath fanning through your hair. You pulled away slightly to signal to him it was time to let go.

He released you slowly with a disappointed pout.

“Umm… okay… that was… nice?” You swallowed.

He tilted his head beaming with affection.

This was already off to a weird start, but you were trying to stay optimistic.

Getting a better look at him now, you noticed his face had quite a few scars on the left side. Especially leading up to the bandage covering his cheek.

You wondered what the story was there, but you weren’t going to ask. Toby was probably self-conscious about it, since the more you glanced at it, the more he started to twitch.

But now it was time to maintain the role of a considerate host. Offering drinks and food. The standard crap you always did when having guests over. Even more so when you didn’t know the person well.

You motioned your head towards the kitchen. “Follow me.”

“Have you had dinner yet? I have some frozen pizza if you want.” You grabbed the cardboard box containing the gourmet meal you planned to have that evening.

He shook his head, face grimacing involuntarily. “Nuh-no, I haven’t had any food today. I fuh-forgot to eat.”

“Damn… Well, I’ll pop this in the oven right now then. I have some snacks too you can have while we wait.” How the hell did a tall guy like Toby forget to eat for an entire day?

You couldn’t help the look of concern on your face. More so when you became aware of just how pale he was. There was almost a gray complexion to his skin that was borderline unnatural. His body wasn’t getting enough nourishment, that’s for sure.

“Here, I’ll get you some stuff to eat. Skipping meals is never good.”

With a sly grin on his face, Toby lifted an eyebrow when you began handing him bags of food from your pantry. “You’re wuh-worried about me? That’s ssss-so sweet.” He teased.

You stopped and looked over your shoulder. The man was already cornering you in the small storeroom, proving he had no grasp on the concept of personal space. Toby leaned down a bit getting closer to your face, a playful smirk crinkling the tape on his skin. Eyes drifting south for a second before snapping back up again. He wasn’t subtle.

Something you were noticing more and more with each passing moment.

It was making you grow weary, and you sure as hell didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of admitting you cared about his wellbeing. “I just don’t want you to pass out during the movie. It’s not as fun if I don’t get to see you scared.”

Toby suddenly laughed, loud enough to make you flinch.

“I don’t scuh-scare so easily.”

The way he spoke was hard to describe. It was like there was an inside joke you weren’t a part of.

Moving away from you, he stood to his full height, cracking one of his shoulders in the process.

God, he was tall.

“What muh-movie are we watchin’ anyway?” Toby tilted his head, smiling down at you with an uncharacteristically boyish charm.

Your heart fluttered for a split second. “I – uh – picked out some we can choose from.”

You gritted your teeth, annoyed you let yourself be charmed. If only for a moment.

When you finished placing the pizza in the preheated oven, you lazily waved your hand for Toby to follow you to the living room.

The man was constantly at your heels, occasionally bumping into your body and muttering a quick “sorry” under his breath. You would’ve assumed it was an accident if it hadn’t been for the few times his hand lightly grazed your ass. Even when he wasn’t putting on his little “clumsy” façade, you could still feel him raking in your entire shape.

It was terrible.

On the coffee table, there were four movies you had laid out as options. ‘Alien’, ‘The Shining’, ‘The Evil Dead’, and ‘Hellraiser’.

“Any pique your interest? We can always watch something else; I’ve got plenty more options. I just figured we could start with some classics.”

Toby scanned the cover art of each case, twitching fingers turning them over, pausing on some of the more disturbing pictures on them.

“Hmmm… Huh-how about Hellraiser?” He glanced over at you with uncertainty.

You grabbed the movie beaming, “Great choice! The special effects are incredible in this one, Bob Keen is an amazing designer.” Putting on your best Pinhead impression, you added “We'll tear your soul apart!”

He looked at you confused but seemed entertained by your cartoonish attempt to sound intimidating.

“Pinhead? From the movie?” You felt your cheeks warm up.

He snorted. “I duh-don’t know what that is. But it sounds cool.”

Rubbing the back of your head, you shrugged. “Well, you’re in luck I guess… you’ll get to see the guy soon enough. I don’t exactly do the character any justice.”

“Suh-sooo… How bloody is this movie?” Toby asked.

You raised a brow, the way he said the question was weird. “I mean… there’s a lot, and it can be unnerving for most people…”

He put a hand on your shoulder, squeezing slightly. You flinched.

“Wuh-well… if I get scared, promise you’ll comfort me?”

Okay… gross.

You were going to pretend it was a joke, even though you knew it wasn’t.

You looked up at him with a fake overly enthusiastic grin, “Nope!”

Quickly opening the DVD player, you place the movie in the slot. Sitting on the couch with a bag of chips, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, the weight of the couch shifted as Toby joined you.

************************************

He was too close.

It was fifteen minutes into the movie, and the whole time Toby had slowly inched closer.

His breath was heavy, shoulder pressing into yours. It was obvious his face was completely flushed; the sickly gray paleness of his skin wasn’t hiding it.

Every time he made contact with your skin his body reacted like he had run a marathon, with loud panting and red cheeks.

Under the blanket you shared, you could feel his clammy hand twitching for a touch. Once in a while he’d graze a finger on your thigh, knee, or hand.

He was always moving like he couldn’t sit still. You had a couple guesses as to why. It’s not like you were born yesterday. But it still made you nauseous to think about.

All you wanted was to watch this damn movie in peace and Toby clearly had other things on his mind.

Plus, the many attempts you made to create some distance between the two of you proved pointless. Toby would instantly ‘adjust’ his position to close the gap again. It was like fighting a losing battle.

You didn’t even know what was happening in the plot right now. The only reason you could piece things together was that you’ve seen the movie before.

His hand started making another daring journey for a part of your body. Toby once again ‘adjusting’, you could feel the tips of his fingers make their way slowly towards your ass. Of course. At this point nothing surprised you.

Ding!

The timer in the kitchen went off.

The pizza was done.

Thank God.

“Dinner’s ready!” You shot up from your seat, pausing the moving, feeling grateful to finally have room to breathe. To not have Toby’s hands swarming all over you.

As you almost sprinted to the oven, the man of the hour didn’t hesitate to trail behind. Like he was attached to your hip.

Cutting the pizza, you could feel him observing you with every movement. Looking over your shoulder and taking a step closer whenever he felt like you wouldn’t notice. You always did.

You set two slices on plates and turned around to give him his food.

He immediately tried to grab it, but his arm unexpectedly jerked to the side, instead knocking it out of your hands, ceramic scattering all over.

“FUCK!”

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I’m suh-sorry!”

Toby yelled in frustration.

You jumped, trying to move away as you witnessed his outburst. What the fuck was happening?

He pulled painfully tight on the ends of his hair. Completely freaking out with a disturbing amount of anger.

It wasn’t directed at you, but it was still frightening. You were alone with a 6-foot-something man that was flipping the hell out. Over something so trivial too.

“I-it’s okay Toby! Really!” You tried to calm him down.

But it was like he couldn’t hear you. Toby continued to glare down at the mess, tearing at his scalp.

What was someone supposed to do in a situation like this?

You knew you had to do something.

Carefully, you placed your hands over his.

God, you hoped this would work. It felt weird to touch him, but you’d try anything to not have to watch someone hurt themselves.

Feeling your fingers delicately wrap around his, Toby stopped. His gaze met yours, and you were taken aback by the dreamy expression he looked at you with. It was like his emotions did a complete 180. It concerned you, realizing that at any moment he could have another intense reaction to something that was normal.

And did he misinterpret your intentions? All you were trying to do was make him stop pulling out his hair. But he looked at you with such passion now. It almost felt predatory if you were being completely honest.

With his body now relaxing, he let out a shaky sigh. “I guh-guess I overreacted, huh?”

Understatement of the year.

“Yeah, I guess. I thought you were going to make yourself bald.” Maybe if you made light of the situation, you could just get this evening over with.

You prepared him a new slice, this time grabbing both plates, and walked back to the living room.

*******************************

Every time he took a bite his bandage moved, the greasy food loosening the adhesive that kept it in place. It started to slide up, a visible redness underneath.

You couldn’t help but stare.

Thank God he didn’t notice.

Toby was fully focused on the movie now that the plot had begun picking up the pace. Especially when the Cenobites appeared. But his reactions were disappointing. He never jumped or looked afraid the entire time. Hell, you would even settle for a small look of disgust when a body got ripped to shreds.

In fact, he had the complete opposite response. He laughed or snickered when someone was hurt. It was kind of off-putting. Sure, it wasn’t uncommon for you and your friends to joke around while watching scary movies, but this was different. What he was doing didn’t feel like a joke.

Saying things like “Take that fucker!” When one of Julia’s victims she lured into her house with the promise of sex got their head caved in with a hammer. Then making a joke about how she “nailed” him.

Or grinning and laughing like a maniac when the Cenobite’s hooks tore through a person. He even chuckled when the final girl Kristy cried over the death of her father.

It wasn’t in good fun.

Luckily, the movie was down to the last 20 minutes. Even if you ignored the content of Toby’s words, the fact that he kept interrupting and talking through the whole movie made it hard to enjoy. It was like he was totally unsympathetic.

This had been one big mistake on your part, and now you just wanted to go to bed.

Toby shifted in his seat, arm slowly slithering its way around the back of your neck.

Your breath hitched. Not again.

This was way more forward than he had been before.

Was he seriously making a move on you?

You felt paralyzed as his arm settled around your shoulders. His hand gripped your side tightly, bringing you closer.

This was bad.

Maybe if you waited a little longer, he would stop once the movie finished. So, your plan was to concentrate hard on the TV and refuse to acknowledge the situation. Stupid, but it might work.

Toby twisted his head fully in your direction.

He wanted you to look at him. This wasn’t a side glance hoping you wouldn’t notice like he had been doing the whole night. No, he was intentionally letting you know his focus was now on you and you alone.

You weren’t falling for his little trap. Absolutely not.

However, when you still didn’t face him, his fingers glided up more on your waist, grip settling on the side of your chest.

Before getting time to process the change, his hand started massaging your breast.

Your eyes widened.

Oh shit.

You swiftly turned, at last getting a full look at how red the man was. His eyes lidded and mouth parted slightly.

“Toby, please sto-“

He lunged forward.

No warning.

Mouth crashing into yours in desperation.

On your back, arms pinned above your head, you tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

But he didn’t notice. Or didn’t care. He was too preoccupied trying to shove his tongue down your throat.

The warm muscle twisting and exploring every surface of your mouth. His saliva mixed with yours. It tasted like blood.

You felt sick.

The cotton texture of his bandage rubbed against your skin as he continued assaulting your lips. The adhesive having no hold left on his skin, it finally slipped off.

Skin textured and flaky, scabs and blood-encrusted tissue. All leading to the gaping tear on his face, you could see the back of his molars and his tongue lapping against the side of his mouth.

You let out a muffled scream.

In a frenzy, you bit down on his tongue as hard as you could. He didn’t flinch, instead, he furrowed his brows and slowly released his lips from yours. Shit, he must have one hell of a high pain tolerance.

You gasped for air. Visibly shaking, tears starting to form in the corners of your eyes.

Toby’s body hovered over yours, perplexed by your current state. As if he was oblivious to what he just subjected you to.

It brought back too many memories. That feeling of powerlessness. Knowing that you had been physically incapable of stopping him. Anger raged through your system. All you could think about was decking him.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

You shouted, despite knowing how unpredictable the man in front of you was. But you couldn’t help it. This wasn’t just about Toby anymore. Or even his horrifying scar, although that had certainly not helped.

At the reminder, your eyes flickered back to that hole in Toby’s cheek. No amount of scary movies or practical effects could ever prepare you for something like this.

That was his face.

This was all real.

A part of you was disgusted by it, another part morbidly curious.

Were you a little desensitized? Probably. But your current outburst wasn’t about that, if anything seeing a person with a wound like that just made you want to take them to a hospital. Or at the bare minimum ask if they were okay.

At this point, it must have dawned on him that his mouth was completely exposed. You’d been glaring at it for a while as you tried to regain your composure.

Toby smacked his hand over the gash mortified. He jumped to his feet and backed away from the couch, shamefully hiding his face.

“FUH-FUCK! I-I….”

He couldn’t get a clear sentence out. His body shook and cracked; it was like every one of his muscles started to spasm at once.

You almost felt pity.

Almost.

This was the last straw. You couldn’t take it. You had been going through enough as it was in your personal life and with all of tonight’s events piling on top of everything, it was too damn much.

Through gritted teeth, you cut off his ramble, “Listen! I don’t give a flying fuck about your face! Sure, is it concerning? Yes! Do I think you should seek medical treatment? Most definitely! But right now I’m fucking livid that you just pounced on me without asking!”

You rose from your seat. You might have been shorter than him, but you didn’t care. You walked right up to the man, looking him dead in the eyes. A reckless move on your part, having far more courage than sense.

“I’ve been really patient with you tonight, Toby. I’ve ignored your outbursts. I tried to ignore your unwanted touches. But I won’t just sit here and pretend that it’s fine for you to pin me down and have your way with me. Fuck that.”

Toby’s body went still. Looking down at you in shock. Probably not expecting a full-on confrontation from you. You had put on an understanding, almost to the point of being a pushover, attitude the entire night. But everyone has their limits.

Toby’s initial surprise didn’t last long before you could see things were about to take a dark turn.

Now his eyes were narrowed, his expression forming into a scowl.

He removed his hand from his face and tilted his chin up, glaring down. Reminding you how much bigger he was in comparison.

Your body screamed at you to back away. A primal instinct letting you know that the thing in front of you was dangerous. A predator. Your senses being proved right all along.

But you didn’t listen now. You refused. You’d let people like him get their way so much in your life, and you had promised to yourself you wouldn’t let that happen again.

Instead, you took a step forward. Challenging him.

If he could act scary, so could you. You may have been smaller, but what the hell did he know about you? You’ve stood up to people his size before, and you’d do it again.

He smirked at this. Finding your act of bravery amusing. But his eyes still held their threatening aura.

“Suh-so… let me get this straight. You’ve just been tolerating me the whole time? Then why were you acting all coy when I tuh-touched you? Why did you hold my hands earlier? And why are you always too shy to look at muh-me? Hmmm?” He batted his lashes, bringing his face towards you condescendingly.

Did he really think he just won the argument?

What a jackass.

This was some grade-A manipulative bullshit, and you weren’t going to stand for it.

“You’re such a fucking prick! Have you ever thought I was just trying to be nice because I was afraid?! No! Of course you wouldn’t! And if I tell you I didn’t want to touch you, you can’t just disagree with me! It’s not up for debate, asshole!” You fumed, hands forming into fists.

Toby raised a brow, opening his mouth to say something.

“No.” You hissed. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

He blinked, seeing you point towards the door. If he stayed any longer, you’d take a swing at him. You hadn’t been this pissed in years.

But it was nothing compared to how Toby’s face contorted in wrath. A glimpse of madness in his eyes you hadn’t seen before.

“Make me.”

It was a growl. Utterly inhuman.

Neither one of you moved.

A beam of light suddenly glared through the windows.

Anne was back.

Toby noticed too and was the first to back away. “All ruh-right. You want me to go? I’ll go.”

He stomped over to the front door, opening it to leave.

But not before turning around one last time.

“You’ll be seeing me again soon, (Y/N).”

#creepypasta #ticci toby #toby rogers #ticci toby x reader #x reader #yandere #toby rogers x reader #yandere creepypasta #yandere ticci toby #fanfiction #yandere creepypasta x reader #my writing #horror #obsessive behavior #yandere ticci toby x reader

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writernopal · 10 months

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Writing Questions Tag

Tagged by @crowandmoonwriting for this one, see their post here! Thank you so much! I've been looking forward to it :D

Tagging (gently): @captain-kraken @mariahwritesstuff @elshells @outpost51 @tabswrites @sam-glade @moonluringfrost

What is your absolute all-time favorite idea you’ve ever had?

Starting with the hard questions already! This is hard to pin down, but I'd say the idea behind the worldbuilding between the Faefolk and Dragon races/species in AASOAF. There is a lot I'm proud of there, and every time I think about it, I get shivers! I just wish it was less spoiler heavy so I could talk about it, but I CANT T_T (i cry). A close second would have to be The Realm of Dreams!

Is there a question you’ve been asked in the past that really stands out to you, and you still think about sometimes?

About my writing, not really! To be fair, this is because I didn't start sharing my writing with a wider audience until very recently (read: the start of this year), and a lot of people IRL still don't know I write, so I don't think there's been a lot of opportunity for that.

What is your favorite part of being a writer? What parts could you take or leave?

My favorite part is definitely coming up with new ideas and writing pretty/poetic prose! I feel like that is where I get to flex my creative muscles the most, and it's really satisfying to come across something that fits into that part of the story just right. The part that I could leave is COPY EDITING, specifically punctuation. Commas are my great burden because sometimes they seem like they go in a spot, and then I come back to read it, and they make no sense there. Line editing, however, gets a happy little kiss on the head because I LOVE that.

What is your greatest motivation to write/create?

The freedom of play. It is one of the creative outlets that really feels accessible and safe to me, not to mention the possibilities of what I can create aren't bound to ANYTHING. It's a place where I have full agency. I can make or unmake it as many times as I want, twist it, turn it, bop it, you name it, I can do it! Conversely, I can also choose NOT to do it.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever read or been given as a writer?

"Write." It sounds largely unhelpful, but to me, this is the permission/encouragement/onus to take that thing in your hands and just do it. Leave your notions of what it should or has to be at the door and create. Make mistakes because there will be many, and when they come, reach out for help, give yourself grace, learn, be patient, and try again. Write, write, write!

What do you wish you knew when you were first starting out writing?

It's okay to write for fun. This sounds silly to say now, but when I first started out, I met a few people (IRL and online) who seemed unimpressed (putting it nicely) that this was my big "Why?" It was alienating and really made me question why I was putting so much effort into my works and made me wonder if I'd made a mistake by not monetizing it, etc. Every now and then, I still interact with people who are baffled/less than kind about that concept, but it doesn't bother me as much as it used to. I just wish that I could go back and give previous me a hug about it, though, because I remember it really negatively affected my confidence.

What is your favorite story you’ve written to completion? Link it if you’d like and can!

Out of the publicly available completed pieces, I'd say Pare (horror/gore, 18+, tumblr link) is my favorite! I wish I could say AASOAF, but it's not done yet T_T

What is your favorite out-of-the-box quote?

"Sit down and stay a while." I don't know if it can be attributed to anyone or where I first heard it, but there is something warm about it. It's a nice way to remember that it's okay to just be. You always have a seat at your own table type beat.

Which of your characters would you say has the most controversial mindset? Why do you say so, and how do you personally feel about their ideals?

OH MAN. This is really difficult for me, but if I had to choose one, it would be Wilkes. His circumstances are unique and pretty spoiler-heavy, so I won't really get into them, but the best way to put it is that he has seen so much of the forest that all he wants to do is look at the trees, no matter the cost. His type of fixation is quite volatile because while it can demonstrate care and love, it can very easily cross the boundary into smothering and the willing abandonment of the self. To me, that is what makes him so dangerous despite looking rather noble compared to someone like Fay, who is openly cruel, because this is someone who is voraciously hungry for something. But they don't know what that thing is.

If you, when you first started writing, met you now, what would younger you think?

I think she'd cry! I think she would have a hard time believing that someday she'll write her very own novels. And that people will read them. And people will make a special little place for her characters in their minds. Frankly, I think she'd be awestruck, touched, and saddened that we abandoned writing for a long time but then came back to it. It would be a very sentimental encounter, for sure!

#tag game #writing questions tag #writeblr tag games #my writing journey #about me #writeblr

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appamarshmallow · 10 months

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Ladynoir July Day 2

(This is part of a series on AO3 btw! So check out the link above to access the first chapter <3 )

Chapter 2: Emergency Contact

It had been only 24 hours since that tweet by Chat Noir had been posted.

Only a couple hours since she saw Chat last night, chasing him across rooftops while he ran for his life.

Marinette giggled quietly at the memory, making Alya raise a slight eyebrow in her direction.

“What could possibly be happening in your head right now to make you go all starry-eyed like that, girl?” her friend questioned with suspicion laced clearly in her voice. “You said you were over Adrien months ago, what is happening?”

Marinette rolled her eyes at the question, smiling at her friend’s inquisitive nature.

“I just remembered something Chat said on patrol once, it was surprisingly funny,” she supplied instead of giving the whole truth to satisfy her gossip-driven friend.

“Oh, right,” Alya nodded, as if just remembering who Chat Noir was. “Yeah, no big deal. Just you, my best friend in the whole wide world, giggling and kicking her feet while thinking about her literal superhero partner—emphasis on superhero, because you are also a literal superhero—who wears a skin-tight leather suit, has the body of a Greek god, loves animals, saves animals, has fantastic morals, and a great sense of humor! For you to have never been attracted to Chat Noir at all seems like an actual federal crime at this point.”

“Why must everyone bring up his leather suit in my presence?” Marinette groaned, falling back into her bed.

“How can you not?”

“It’s a very small detail about his physical description.”

“More like…,” Alya trailed on, stretching her arms to the sides. “About this big of a detail. By the way, this is the approximate shoulder width I think he has, but you can help confirm that for the Ladyblog since you saw him yesterday.”

“Why do you need that kind of information for the Ladyblog?” Marinette asked with a suspicious stare.

“Tsk, tsk. Asking all the wrong questions my friend,” she tutted. “You should be thinking, ‘why do the people not know Chat Noir’s shoulder width size? And what can I do to help the poor, desperate people?’”

“Why are you trying to guilt me into telling you his physical measurements,” Marinette said with a quirked grin.

“Because I can already tell that my methods are working on you. Should I mention the thousands of curious minds on the internet, not being able to properly eat or sleep without knowing the true answer behind the question I’ve presented you? Or do you already know of their suffering, and are unwilling to satisfy the minds of these innocent souls!”

“Alright, stop! Stop!” Marinette exclaimed while laughter began to bubble up in her throat.

She sat up in her spot on the bed, and moved Alya’s hands slightly closer together, but still leaving a great deal of space between them.

“Stretching your hands out that far is just unrealistic. He’s about from here to there,” she answered.

Alya grinned mischieviously, her eyes intently focused on memorizing the exact distance that Marinette had presented to her.

“Ugh, I wish my phone had enough juice to capture the width of Chat Noir’s shoulders right now!” Alya complained, moving to look down at the phone screen on Marinette’s desk from her position above on the bunk bed.

She scrambled down and unplugged the phone from the charging cable.

The mood in the room seemed to immediately darken as Alya grew quiet.

“Oh, shit,” Alya muttered to herself while unlocking her phone, climbing back up into the bed and sitting in her previous position across from Marinette.

“What happened?”

Her friend shook her head, turning her phone for Marinette to see.

“There was an akuma attack across the city thirty minutes ago, and I completely missed it!”

Marinette’s heart thudded to a stop. The soft pulsing thrum, coming to a halt as the wind was quickly knocked out of her.

“...What?” she asked slowly, digesting Alya’s previous words.

Her friend looked up from her screen momentarily, and then her eyes returned to her phone. Then as if processing who was sitting in front of her, her jaw dropped.

“Ohh… double shit,” Alya gasped, processing for the millionth time during their friendship that Marinette was Ladybug. “Wait, if you’ve been with me in your room for the past four hours, then…”

“Then, I fucking missed the akuma attack!”

Both girls yelled and jumped off the bed, rushing to turn on Marinette’s computer monitor.

“As in ‘happened thirty minutes ago,’ do you mean the akuma battle started or ended thirty minutes ago?!” Marinette cried out as she began typing in a news site that she often frequents for immediate akuma updates.

Alya double checked her phone, looking at the many messages she’s gotten about the lack of footage on the Ladyblog.

“Um, definitely ended thirty minutes ago!” Alya supplied with a wince as she stared at a selfie that the akuma victim had posted with Chat Noir.

“Shit!”

Marinette’s worst fears were confirmed when the news site’s headlines stated,

“Chat-Noir’s Solo Debut Against the GarbageMan!” and “Ladybug Nowhere to be Found as Garbage Monster Rampages Paris?”

Instead of dwelling on the situation, she jumped to transform, letting the pink glow wash over her while climbing up to her skylight.

“Assuming that our hangout is over, should I leave… or?” Alya yelled towards Marinette as the girl in question jumped up to her balcony.

“Might come back late, see you tomorrow!” she responded promptly while shutting the trapdoor.

Marinette didn’t feel all that bad about cutting her and Alya’s hangout shorter than usual, because her friend knew the importance of superhero duties after all. But a little bit of guilt pinched her as she sprang off the railing and swung randomly away from her balcony in the humid summer air.

As she ran across a series of rooftops, Ladybug took out her Bug phone, pulling up Chat Noir’s contact.

When she clicked the green call button, Marinette expected for the line to ring a couple of times, and then fall dead — probably because the akuma already had been defeated so long ago.

But she was surprised when Chat almost immediately picked up, his voice filling the other end of the line.

“Three days in a row,” he said slowly. “What good things have I done recently to be graced by M’Lady’s presence once again?”

Ladybug stopped moving and let out a couple of deep, confused breaths.

“What?”

“Turn around sweetheart.”

She immediately spun on her heel, setting her eyes against his.

Chat’s green eyes were teasing, happy even.

Not one thing in his expression showed that he was disappointed with her for accidentally missing the akuma alert.

Then she saw it, a sharp gash against his cheek. It wasn’t a large, ugly thing. Rather, it looked like the type of scratch that Chat would be able to brag that he got from a fist fight with a bear, or from holding off a thief from robbing an elderly woman. But a large wave of guilt washed through her all the same.

He caught her eyes, staring at the cut with an aghast expression filled with remorse.

“Oh, this old thing?” he pointed to the red marking on his face. “Yeah, I got it from wrestling a dozen elves in the woods. You wouldn’t believe the muscles those little minions got!”

“What really happened?” she asked with a concerned huff.

“The akuma threw a crushed Coca-Cola can at my face,” Chat shrugged.

“You’re joking,” Ladybug said with a small breathy laugh.

When she stepped closer to inspect the cut, he didn’t move away but rather leaned forwards.

Ladybug reached out with a hand to tentatively grab the side of his jaw, moving it to tilt his head slightly to the side for a better angle of the red mark.

“Oh my god, that is definitely on the precipice of leaving a scar,” she muttered, letting the guilt deepen further and further into the pit of her stomach.

“Anything you can do to fix it, my Lady Love?” he said with a voice that was annoyingly mocking her, his bright eyes screaming back at hers with delight.

“Stay still,” she replied with an eye-roll.

Ladybug reached into her Bug phone, which also served as a infinite space for her things, and pulled out a band-aid.

Chat quirked an eyebrow.

“Is that gonna un-scar this…?” he asked with suspicion.

“Shhhh,” she shushed him. “It’s made out of magic remember?”

“Rigghhhttt,” he replied unsuredly, watching her lean in closely to carefully apply the band-aid.

When the mark was patched up, Ladybug’s fingers lingered on his skin. A momentary second where she knew she was done with removing the cut, but the air between them had grown thick, and she had to let down a tight gulp before pushing against his chest to give some space between them.

“So, about that akuma…,” she nervously trailed on, trying to remember the akuma’s name.

“GarbageMan,” he finished for her.

“Right, him,” Ladybug nodded curtly in thanks. “Was the fight okay? Anything I should worry about besides that scratch? I have the time to do some fixer-upping right about now.”

Chat shook his head.

“Just a bit of litter was left behind since there was no miraculous cure, but the community service guys already got that covered. The fight was fairly quick too, so there wasn’t much time for the akuma to really leave behind any permanent damage.”

“How’d you get rid of the akuma?”

“Broke the akuma object and cataclysmed the butterfly.”

When Chat revealed that piece of information, he noticeably looked away, avoiding eye-contact with her. Something dark flashed in his eyes, a type of burden that Marinette could only describe as guilt.

“You okay, minou?” she asked softly.

“Yeah, I just felt kind of uncomfortable having to kill that butterfly,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck in that awkward way whenever Chat felt uneasy. “I know I hold the powers of destruction, but there was something icky about using my cataclysm today. We always see the butterfly cleanse and fly free, but knowing that it was under Hawkmoth’s cruel influence against its will, and having to watch it disappear into ashes in my own hands? I just feel unnerved, that’s all.”

Marinette was pulled back to that conversation with Alya earlier.

Her Chat Noir really did have good morals and a crazy love for all forms of animals.

She left her hand on his arm in a comforting manner, rubbing it to soothe him.

“That’s good that you feel that way, Chat. It means that you’re deserving of these powers because you know that your ring shouldn’t be unleashing death,” she reassured him. “I’m sorry that I left you no choice in having to destroy the butterfly. My phone was off, and my friend’s phone was dead so I didn’t hear the alert. I promise that as soon as I heard of the akuma, I transformed right away and called you.”

“I trust you,” he reassured back.

Marinette shook her head and looked at the ground, thinking about how much she had messed up.

“There must be something I could do to prevent this from happening in the future,” she muttered to herself, her hand still rubbing circles on his arm.

“Do you think your Kwami can sense that I tried calling your Bug phone earlier? Maybe your Kwami didn’t say anything since you said you were with a friend?” he questioned.

Marinette tried not to wince, since the friend she was with was Alya, someone who knew Ladybug’s secret identity.

“No, I went to the bathroom alone, so I don’t think my Kwami can sense those type of things when I’m not suited up,” she lied.

When Chat let out a hum that signaled that he was trying to think of something, the cogs in Marinette’s head began to steadily move together like a well-oiled machine.

One thought led to another, turning on the lights in her head with a slowly-forming idea.

Chat watched her expression change, moving quickly from thoughtful to contemplative then back to thoughtful.

Then Ladybug reached into her Bug-phone (or now Bug purse?) and pulled out a black marker.

“What are you doing with that?” Chat questioned warily as Ladybug popped open the cap, moving closer to him with a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Close your eyes.”

Her partner crossed his arms, showing his extreme reservations with being drawn on.

“That marker is not going on me.”

“Pleaseee, Chaton,” she begged, hovering the tip of the marker close to his face.

“You know calling me ‘Chaton’ is my weakness,” he complained before shutting his eyes, subtle annoyance etched across his features. “I always get the short end of the stick of your plans.”

“Sorry… Chaton.”

He grumbled more as she went up on her tippy-toes and lifted up his bangs while laughing, writing a twelve-digit number on his forehead.

“Ha. Ha. Great plan,” Chat laughed with heavily laced sarcasm once she put the cap back on the marker. “What does it say? Oh! Oh! Let me guess. I’ll put my bets down that you wrote either ‘stupid’ or ‘sidekick’ on my forehead.”

“Neither. I gave you my number.”

A long pause stretched between them.

“W-What?!” he asked incredulously.

Ladybug nonchalantly dropped the marker back into her Bug phone, her gaze returning back to Chat’s one of shock.

“It’s for emergency purposes, ONLY,” she emphasized carefully. “I want you to let me know immediately the next time there’s an akuma. I feel extremely bad I missed this one.”

“Oh my god, you really did write your number on me” Chat Noir muttered to himself in disbelief. “And it won’t rub off once I get home? Please tell me that was a permanent marker, we can’t risk it!”

He lifted up his bangs, wondering if it would smudge with the sudden gesture.

Ladybug checked the digits on his forehead.

“Still perfectly legible,” she said with a thumbs up.

“And since that problem is fixed, I should be heading back home. See you soon?”

Chat Noir nodded dazedly back at her.

“Yeah… yeah, see ya.”

Marinette laughed a little softly to herself, and jumped lightly off the edge of the building, swinging freely in the direction back to her home.

***

Marinette awoke that night with a buzz underneath her pillow.

She reached tiredly for her phone, fishing it out like a needle in a haystack.

And Marinette found only one notification.

Unknown Number - 12:17 am

Still on for patrol tomorrow? /ᐠ. ᴗ.ᐟ\

#ladynoir #ladynoir july #ladynoirjuly2023 #ao3 ladynoir #fanfic

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unexpectedgeese · 2 years

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Quick preface before I get into this- This is an add-on to a previous thread about ORV, linked HERE. You won’t need to read it to understand this post, but you can if you want! if you’re looking for a better look at ORV as an allegory for trauma, I’d recommend @bidokja’s blog. He’s the one that clued me into these themes in the first place, and he’s really good at explaining them! I’m going to do my best here, but I won’t be able to cover everything.

So! Stories in ORV have a dual role– they’re both a way to cope with trauma and a traumatizing cycle. I’ll be talking about the former here- I might make another post later about the latter, but It won’t fit into this one.

ORV has a LOT to say about trauma– specifically, about the ways that people cope with it. And not all of these are directly related to stories! We have the Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World, for example- Regressors, Returnees, and Reincarnators. These, like stories, are both a way to cope with trauma and the trauma itself. Yjh’s regressions let him change the traumatic events of previous rounds (kinda sorta- he can’t actually rewrite things, but the concept of saving everyone does let him cope), but they also trap him in a nightmarish cycle of watching everyone he loves die over and over again (hey! PTSD much?). The returnees get to escape their trauma on Earth, but they’re unable to interact with their loved ones (hey look! dissociation!). Nirvana’s reincarnation lets him live unfettered by the past, but they trap him in an eternal ‘present’ (I didn’t write this one too well…). There’s also the ‘past, present, future’ thing, but I’ll spare you the rant on that for now.

Stories are introduced to the fray with the ‘author, reader, protagonist’ bit. The character’s connections to the story serve both as a way to cope with trauma, and as a shackle of sorts that chains them to the narrative. They also line up nicely with our other coping mechanisms! Our protagonist, who has the power of regression, tends to live in the past (his previous rounds). His protagonist status gives him ‘plot armor’, in a way- but it also traps him as the focal point of a horrible tragedy. The reader, who is a returnee, tends to live in the future (what with all his constant planning). His knowledge as the reader gives him a leg up in planning and understanding the characters, but it also traps him behind the fourth wall as an observer (remember Uriel’s ‘most powerless god’ line? Yeah, that.) The author, who isn’t technically a reincarnator but I think Avatar counts, lives in the moment. Her privilege as the author gives her the ability to write her own story, but it leaves her at the mercy of her audience (the editors, the constellations). And it’s only together that they can break the cycles of tragedy they’re trapped in. I have so many thoughts about this, but I’m going to skip straight to what I was talking about in my OG post. (quick thing to remember, though- none of our characters use just one of these coping mechanisms. Hsy is also a reader, Kdj is also a protagonist, Yjh is also an author.)

Now, in my Og post, I was talking about the way the past is portrayed in ORV. The original novel, for example, has already happened by the beginning of ORV- and because the past (specifically, reliving it) has links to the themes of overcoming trauma, we can look at it to determine what ORV is trying to say about how you overcome a traumatic past.

It would have been easy for Sing-Shong to have KimCom undo the tragedies in WoS, but they don’t. WoS still happens in its entirety- and this is for a reason! In ORV, the past isn’t something you can change. Because Kdj has read WoS, because Hsy has written it, because Yjh has lived it- WoS will never go away. Because trauma doesn’t go away. You can’t just resurrect dead family members, or undo bullying, or anything of the sort. It will always have happened. But what you can do is move forward. WoS still happened, but everyone was there to pick up the pieces. Everyone from WoS is saved- the outer gods, secretive plotter, the characters from the 999th round.

Whew! That was a long post… I still have SO MUCH MORE to say, though. I barely even scratched the surface of Orv! I’ve barely talked about the ‘reader, author, protagonist’ thing, or the future/the present– hell, I barely even MENTIONED stories as trauma! But I think I did pretty ok talking about the themes needed for my OG post, so I think I’ll leave the rest up for later conversations. I’m super glad @mae-i-scribble added her comments! I really didn’t elaborate enough originally..

#orv #long post #analysis #orv spoilers #man I hope I made sense here

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ymaohoh · 2 months

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Chrissy Ran Away - 3/3 - Fic

Chapter 3: On the wharf, I was caught in a tailspin

Eddie wasn’t being so friendly to her now. He’d barely spoken to her since she turned up covered in mud and leaves with a fucked up knee. He seemed to be doing his best to avoid her completely. What if Chrissy ran from Eddie after her vision? What if it pushed them apart? They share a joint and it gets much much worse. My take on 'Chrissy lives'.

Word Count: 10,188 (Oh god, I'm sorry)

Chapter: 3/3

Warning: some non-con touching about halfway through.

Also on Archive of Our Own.

Previous Chapter 1/3 here.

Previous Chapter 2/3 here.

(see end for notes)

------

Chrissy knew she was pretty. Knew she had a nice symmetrical face (according to a magazine quiz it was a ’heart-shape’) and people always remarked on her smile. Ever since middle school people had taken it upon themselves to comment on her looks as if she should be eternally grateful for their compliments and praise. She always pictured her mom’s screwed up face when she heard the word ugly - always saw the sewing machine she would bring out when she thought Chrissy looked heavy. The way she uttered the word ugly made it sound like the most awful thing that could ever happen. Forget about disease or poverty or mental illness. No no, being considered ugly was a sin in the Cunningham homestead.

So Chrissy knew her appearance meant a lot. It held weight. It was the only real source of currency she owned and could trade off (you know - apart from actual currency). She had learned by the tender age of twelve (when her body started changing in funny new embarrassing ways) the impact her looks had on others and that other people felt good and treated her nice when she smiled and giggled and tried.

Her mom would repeat over and over that appearance was everything. It didn’t matter how shitty you felt inside as long as you kept it to yourself. Chrissy’s mom was not a brilliant example of a good mom. Chrissy knew this. Her counsellor Ms Kelley knew this. Her father probably knew this though he would never lift a finger to help. Chrissy worried about turning into her mom one day but maybe the real worry was taking after her dad instead. Turning the cheek and ignoring what was right in front of you to keep up the facade of normal. Her parent’s greatest fear was to be abnormal and (God forbid) it tarnish their carefully curated reputation of a perfect upper-middle class wholesome family. Reagan’s wet dream, honestly.

So even though Chrissy woke up the next morning feeling embarrassed and broken and totally called out, she could at least try not to look it.

It was like when Jason asked about her headaches (which was weird in itself as he rarely noticed little things like that) and her automatic response had been to give him a pretty smile and lie and say they were probably due to her ‘monthly troubles’ instead. Jason had chuckled at that and rolled his eyes, appropriately (because society said it was okay) abashed. “Well take it easy, babe,” he’d said, pressing a distracted kiss to her cheek, his thoughts already turning to the big championship game coming up. “Have some candy or something.”

Because that’s what boyfriends did when you were unwell right? They’d buy flowers or chocolates or teddy bears with creepy stitched up mouths.

Chrissy hadn’t really thought about Jason much over the last few days but instead of feeling guilty or worried she felt sort of…fine? In the films and TV shows she liked to watch, girls in trouble always went to their boyfriends first for comfort, but the idea of calling Jason now was just something she didn’t want to do. Was that unfair? Nancy’s boyfriend Jonathon (who she vaguely remembered from photography class) knew everything that was going on with Vecna and the upside-down world. She even caught the cute little looks Lucas and Max exchanged when they thought no one was watching, and Nancy’s brother Mike Wheeler was linked to this superhero El. They all seemed fine and even bolstered by sharing this madness with one another.

She tried picturing Jason’s face if she told him about Vecna and nearly dying. Would he offer to come here and help Steve build up the defences? Show the freshmen how to shoot straight? Buy her candy? No, he’d probably get more angry at Eddie and the fact she was in his trailer, than her coming so close to having all her bones snapped and her eyes gouged out. He seemed so far removed from all this that she couldn’t fathom him beside her in this world of magic and hellfire.

Eddie’s reproachful words from last night kept ringing in her ears… ‘did you hear what he did to that kid two weeks ago? Their parents had to pick them up’.

She was so ashamed. That poor kid. She was ashamed too that Eddie knew she had no idea about it. Like he assumed Jason would hide it from her and she would just go on with her little (sparkly pink bubble) life. ‘You just don’t know’.

Well she knew now, and she would not be like her father and ignore it. She was resolved to try and make things right at school even if it brought on Jason’s ire. The idea of him picking on Dustin or Mike Wheeler or any of them made her chest feel tight.

Beep beep beep.

Chrissy managed to get maybe two hours of sleep when the alarm on Steve’s watch went off and she groaned at the sudden rude awakening. She pushed her face deeper into the pillow, away from the sunshine beaming in through a blind. She tried to ignore that the pillow smelled like the eucalyptus shampoo Eddie used. There was also the unmistakable smell of cigarettes and weed but instead of being turned off she found it unexpectedly comforting.

She felt Steve roll over and then there was a delicate pause.

“Uh…Hi… Chrissy?”

“Hi Steve,” she mumbled.

“Uh…there a reason you’re here and not Eddie? Not that I’m complaining, just a bit of a surprise first thing in the morning, is all.”

Steve was peering over his pillow at her, bleary eyed and yawning. His hair was sticking up in all different directions and the sleepy hand he ran through it only made it worse. He still seemed half asleep. Chrissy might have giggled if she didn’t feel like total crap.

“Couldn’t sleep so I took over the watch from Robin. Then Eddie came down and…well… he took over. Told me to come up here.”

“Alright.”

“Steve?”

“Mhmm?”

“I heard the ticking noise again last night. Nothing floaty happened, but I thought you should know just in case. I think Nancy’s right. I think…I think it happens when I’m feeling really sad about something.”

“Damn.” She heard him swallow. “So I guess we’ve got to keep you and Max happy then. Happy thoughts an’ all. What got you so down?”

“I…I had a chat with Eddie and we kind of argued. We both said some really shitty things.”

That was putting it mildly.

She sighed and it seemed to reverberate down to her toes. She felt like the mattress might swallow her up whole. She eyed Eddie’s bag in the corner of the bedroom and the Hellfire Club T-shirt he so treasured screwed up beside it. His heavy belt was there too and the chains he clipped to the side of his jeans when he was trying to lean into the scary freaky look.

“I think he hates me now.”

She wasn’t sure how to feel about someone hating her. It was a new. Everyone at school seemed to like her a lot and she never got into arguments or drama. Maybe some of the other cheerleaders were a bit put off when she beat them for the captain spot but they didn’t say anything mean. Her parents didn’t exactly treat her nice but that wasn’t out of hate. They said it was out of love.

Steve’s voice noticeably softened. “Nah. He doesn’t hate you, Chrissy. Far from it. The guy’s just…I don’t know…”

“Hanging on by a thread?”

“Exactly, yeah. He’s got a lot going on in that fucked up head of his…and he was a nutcase before all of this too, you know? We’re all trying our best but…it’s hard. He likes you though. Trust me.”

Steve wouldn’t say that if he’d heard the way Eddie spoke to her last night…or this morning? Ugh. Or the way she spoke back to him. She tried not to linger on the awful expression on his face when she threw the words ‘hypocrite’ and ‘jealous’ at him like sharp darts. She’d meant every word - but she still felt bad. She wasn’t the kind of person to enjoy inflicting pain on others just because she was losing her mind, or punching down on someone who was already sinking.

“We bought coffee, right?” Steve yawned again as he sat up and stretched, wisely changing the subject. “I can’t function without at least two cups in the morning. And Henderson has really been dialling up his attitude recently. The little shit.”

Chrissy sat up too and only then fully appreciated what an awkward situation they were both in. She’d deliberately not slipped under the sheets when she came to bed so they weren’t exactly side by side but it was still weird. She got out from under her borrowed blanket and wobbled to her feet. Christ, her head was reeling from the lack of sleep and food. And weed, probably, even though she barely had half.

“I’m going to shower and I’ll make some. I think I spotted a coffee maker stashed in one of the cupboards.”

Steve hummed happily as Chrissy padded out the room barefoot. They had all agreed to keep the bedroom doors ajar last night so the person on guard duty could do their checks. Chrissy spotted a note tacked on their wood with what looked like gum.

Gone to get milk - E.

The idea of Eddie coming up here while she was asleep and seeing her side by side with Steve made her feel odd, even if he’d been the one to suggest it. Another thought to push way down and ignore.

She jumped in the shower before anyone else was up and washed and scrubbed her body thoroughly (who cared if her skin was pink and sore as a result?). She then scrubbed at her face and brushed her teeth. She applied her make up so well that you would never suspect she’d been awake all night crying over ticking and spiders and Eddie Munson telling her she was a sheep. She tossed her head side to side and smiled when the reflection met her approval. Once finished she towelled herself off and got dressed.

She hadn’t been able to stuff much into her cheer bag but dug out an (admittedly wrinkled) flowery summer dress that would still look okay if she smoothed it down with her fingers. The thin straps showed off her slim shoulders but the skirts hid her knees. She decided to leave her hair down to dry as she hadn’t brought a hairdryer (though Steve probably had an emergency one stashed beside his hairspray). She very rarely wore her hair down because Jason said he preferred in a ponytail or in plaits. It felt different. New. She used her fingers to fluff out her bangs.

Downstairs Dustin and Lucas were already awake and poking around the kitchen cupboards hopefully. Chrissy asked them to start up the coffee machine and found some breakfast stuff. By the time Robin and Steve came downstairs she was whisking pancake batter in one of Rick’s bowls. Robin said Max was still in the shower and Nancy was keeping an ear out.

“You’re an angel, Chrissy,” Robin added gratefully, plonking herself down at the table. Her wet hair was still wrapped up in a towel. “Do we have syrup?”

“No way. Chocolate chips are the way to go,” Dustin corrected, still in his pyjamas. He reminded Chrissy of her little brother when he was still nice and occasionally an ally against their parents.

Chrissy served up the pancakes as they debated the perfect pancake toppings. She never actually ate pancakes herself (far too many calories) but her grandma showed her how to do it when she was little and she could even do the perfect flip (naturally). While the others tucked into their food with thanks, she buttered some toast and nibbled it while leaning against the counter.

She suddenly thought about those creepy lifeless women on the covers of Good Housekeeping. All made up with stiff fake smiles and with hair that looked totally pristine. She probably looked like one of them now.

But no matter how pretty and composed she looked or how attentively she listened to Robin debate the virtues of pancakes versus crepes, Chrissy felt herself tense all over again when she heard the front door open. She turned at once to make herself a cup of coffee even though she hated it black. It would give her an excuse to do something with her hands besides wringing them together like a one dimensional damsel-in-distress character in their Dungeons and Dragons game (though Dustin, Lucas, and Eddie all seemed keen to them).

“Daddy’s back safe and sound, kids, despite the looming threat of annihilation and bogus wizards that make even Saruman the White look like a pansy. Miss me?”

“You get milk?” Steve asked bluntly.

“Yes dear. Got some more snacks too seeing as Lucas’ gone through like three bags of chips already.”

“Thanks man,” Lucas said, relieved.

“I grabbed some gas too if you guys still want to hit up the War Zone?” Eddie added. “There’s plenty of room in the back of the van for guns, grenades, nunchucks…Could probably smuggle in some rocket launchers too.”

“Flame throwers,” Nancy corrected him, walking into the kitchen.

Chrissy didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know everyone was glancing at Nancy with a fair amount of respect (maybe a smidge of fear too).

Hands wearing heavy silver rings placed shopping bags down onto the countertop beside her. A carton of milk appeared by the coffee pot but she ignored it stubbornly as she filled her mug to the brim. It took all her resolve not to shudder when the bitter liquid touched her tongue. Ew.

“Can I grab a cup, ‘Rissy?” Nancy asked.

‘Rissy? She liked that. “Sure, Nance.”

Chrissy turned to see Nancy (followed by a clean and dressed Max) joining the others at the table. Eddie remained standing though as he slowly unpacked food into the cupboards.

Like her, he looked completely composed. He was wearing his usual ripped jeans but instead of a rock shirt he’d pulled on the black and red flannel that usually adorned his waist. Other than that though, the same Eddie; creepy rings that no store in Hawkins would surely sell, guitar pick around the neck, the now-familiar bat tattoo on his elbow (his sweet ol’ tatties, she remembered him saying). The only subtle tells that something may be amiss were the faint purple circles beneath his otherwise warm brown eyes and the fact he needed a shave (but saying that so did Steve).

Eddie was putting away chips and soda and laughing at something Robin said. He even responded with a joke of his own in that flirty tone he seemed so comfortable using. Totally at ease. Totally in control. But it can’t be real, Chrissy thought, not after what he said this morning. He must be running on fumes.

Which meant he had an excellent poker face. It almost rivalled her own. The others would observe them going out for milk, making breakfast, helping. Both of them seemingly fine. Christ, they could be her parents.

Chrissy forced her shoulders to relax and flashed a blinding smile. When she spoke she made sure her voice was peppy and cheerful like she was getting ready for a cheer rally. Looking at her now you’d think she was running for the 1986 Miss America title and not miserable and sad and so fucking tired. Aren’t you proud of me, mom?

“Want some pancakes too, Nance? Max?” she asked. “And you? How do you take your coffee, Munson?”

He almost - almost - cracked at that but caught himself just in time. She was nearly impressed.

“I can make it myself thanks,” he was all he said.

–

They were indeed still going to the War Zone today. It was Nancy’s idea originally after spotting an advert in the paper but Eddie seemed to know about it too. It was about a two hour drive away and sounded like a Republican paradise. It would definitely have all the weapons and tools they needed until El and the others got there and they could regroup. Steve offered to drive but Eddie shut him down real quick. Only he drove his van, he explained. It wouldn’t run for anyone else.

“Some of us should stay to guard this place,” Robin pointed out. “I don’t mind. I’m still sleepy from last night.”

Max and Lucas were quick to bow out too. Nancy was going to stay as well as she wanted to phone Jonathon again and check on his progress. Chrissy noticed her fingers twitching when she said this but didn’t make a deal of it. Nancy rarely spoke about Jonathon so maybe there was something not quite right there (though who was she to talk? Jason who?). She felt herself getting closer to Nancy every day but she still wasn’t sure they were in the boy-chat territory. Guns? End of the world? Sure. Heartbreak though? She felt herself growing closer to Robin too but there was something…different…about Robin she couldn’t quite place. It was like she belonged in a different era - one in the future maybe where they used flying cars and everyone was cool like her. She’d assumed at first she was Steve’s girlfriend but after only a millisecond it became abundantly clear they were just best of friends.

Maybe one day after saving the world (they could do it) she and Nancy and Robin could crack out some wine coolers and discuss all the wonderful highs and tragic lows of being a teenage girl. Maybe even Max could join in. She’d like that a lot.

So it was Eddie, Dustin, and Steve who got ready for the War Zone and then to everyone’s surprise Chrissy said she wanted to go too. She hurriedly retrieved her purse and opened it wide so they could see the large amount of cash wedged inside.

“Woah!”

“Did you rob a bank?” Max said, eyeing her curiously, and Chrissy laughed.

“It’s just my savings and what I could find in my dad’s office. Don’t worry, he’ll never notice it missing. He’s always leaving cash around the house. I brought some of my gold jewellery too in case we need to pawn it…though someone will have to help me. I’m not exactly sure how to pawn things,” she admitted. The words sounded unbelievably odd on her tongue. “I never wear any of it so I don’t mind. I only wear this one…” She gently flicked a nail against the ‘86’ at her neck.

“We can’t accept your savings, Chrissy! You’ll need it for college, right?” Nancy pointed out.

“Don’t worry, I have a separate college fund which is under lock and key. My dad won’t let me touch it until after I graduate. It’s his guarantee that…well, that I don’t drop out and do something to embarrass the family,” she said. “Please. I know you guys have all chipped in here and there and I wanna help too. Use this money to buy the…weapons…and food and things.”

“That’s really generous honestly but really we can manage if we stretch our money together. I think we’ll be okay if we’re careful.”

“But I don’t want you guys to be just okay. You’re so brave by doing all this - the least I can do is make sure money isn’t an issue, you know? This is something I can actually contribute to the group. Please just use it.”

She looked imploringly at Steve then. Steve came from a similar background to her own and must surely get it. Chrissy didn’t need this money and likely never would whereas she knew some of the others came from humble backgrounds and it just wasn’t fair. She found speaking about all of this uncomfortable - Jason and her other friends were just as privileged as her and her mom would rather die than discuss something as tacky as money - but Chrissy held fast because this gesture would alleviate some of the pressure from the others. It was her way of pulling her weight.

“And…” she added brightly, smiling. “It would really annoy my mom if she ever knew and that thought makes me seriously happy. That’s got to be worth it, right?”

Steve laughed and she knew she’d won. “Alright, thanks Chriss. We’ll use the money today. Keep your jewellery though…we’ll only pawn that as a last resort, kay?”

Chrissy thought she saw a flash of relief cross both Steve and Nancy’s faces (they must have been worrying about this too) before they turned away and that made up for any embarrassment.

Thankfully Dustin called shotgun in the van and the conversation shifted to a debate about what radio station to listen to. Chrissy collected her things - she borrowed a pair of Rick’s aviator sunglasses too as it was sunny (she hoped he wouldn’t mind) - and made to follow the others outside.

But a touch to her elbow made her hesitate and Max was there looking awkward. “…I know we haven’t really spoken much before but I just wanted to say… that you do contribute to the group. Maybe you don’t feel that way, but it’s…nice…having you here.” Every nice word seemed to pain her but she held herself steady. She had a kind of intensity in her eyes which would surely make grown men tremble.

She could be a governor or a DA, Chrissy thought, speechless. She finally choked out, “Thanks for saying that Max.”

“Yeah whatever. Bring me back some peanut butter, ok? Smooth. I like that best on my pancakes.”

Evidently dismissed, Chrissy jumped up onto the passenger seat beside Steve and Eddie started the engine. Eddie was the one to pick the music (“my van - my rules, Henderson”) and fiddled with the radio until some loud rock blasted out from the speakers. A few minutes later they were driving along the lake towards town.

End of passion play, crumbling away

I'm your source of self-destruction

Veins that pump with fear, sucking darkest clear

Leading on your death's construction

Chrissy folded down the skirt of her summer dress so it lay neat against her thigh and settled back on the leather seat, doing her very best not to look ahead at the driver. She tried to ignore Dustin babbling about making improvised weapons, or Steve complaining about the volume, or the thought of a certain pair of eyes watching her in the mirror. Instead she slipped on the too-big sunglasses, pulled out a shitty Capitalist magazine from her bag, and unfurled it resolutely. She would read it word to word like it was a textbook for class. No matter what anyone else thought.

“Woah, what happened to your hand?” Dustin was saying. That did draw her attention.

“Girls dig bruised knuckles, man, what can I say? They love that dangerous vigilante look. I caught it in the van door earlier, Henderson, I’m alright. It’s no biggie.”

Did she imagine it or did Steve glance her way? She looked back at her magazine pointedly.

Taste me, you will see

More is all you need

Dedicated to

How I'm killing you

“This music is killing me,” Steve grumbled.

“It’s not so bad.” It wasn’t Chrissy’s style of music either but she liked the lyrics. “I think the band’s called metal something.”

“Metallica,” Eddie corrected without looking round.

She thought about the other time she’d taken a ride in Eddie’s van before her vision of Vecna. She’d met him in the car park after the championship game (ears still ringing from the cheers) so he could drive her back to his trailer for something stronger. He’d surprised her by holding the passenger door open like a gentleman from those old black and white movies. He’d even offered to let her pick the music though now it was his van, his rules. She’d been too nervous to suggest anything though. She remembered that whole journey being very very aware of just how bare her legs looked in her short cheerleading skirt.

It was getting hot so she tried unrolling the window but the handle seemed to be busted. Eddie must have noticed because his window was suddenly down and a burst of cool air snaked around her shoulders and made her sigh.

The War Zone was exactly as Nancy and Eddie described. Everything was made from lumber and it smelled strongly of polish and pine and oil. Testosterone in a bottle. There were rows and rows of clothing displays - hunting jackets, cargo pants, heavy work boots - as well as all the hunting and fishing equipment you could ever need. Behind the (again wooden) counters the guns and knives were locked away side by side in glass cabinets, and she thought they looked intimidating and scary.

They let Steve take the lead inside. He seemed in his element and casually reeled off all the things they would need. He asked her and Dustin to go pick out some of the heavy duty coats and boots so Chrissy found herself ambling down the aisles with a heavily laden basket. She picked out a few things she thought might be helpful. She almost kissed Dustin on the cheek when he spotted a padded jacket he thought she might like (“There’s no pink, but it’s got little dots like your dress?”). It was so unbelievably cute that she thanked him and put it straight into the basket. They actually started having some fun picking bits out together (Dustin was going full Rambo with his own choices) - and inevitably their laughter started to draw stares.

Not at Dustin though. At her.

There were a few men openly staring at her now and she tried to ignore it like she always did when she drew unwanted attention. “Thank the heavens for that summer dress,” a man nearby drawled. He looked about the same age as her father. Maybe even older. “What’s a sweet girl like you doing here?”

She could hear Robin’s voice in her mind saying ‘buying a deadly weapon, dipshit, what’s it look like?’

Chrissy remained silent though. She knew that if she responded it would encourage them. It was a lesson that had been drummed into her ever since middle school. Don’t respond. Don’t be a tease. Don’t lead them on. Another voice behind her piped up. “Want a date, honey? Ditch the kid and come back to my van, eh? We can have ourselves a little party.”

Dustin looked angry but was clearly out of his element and unsure how to best handle this sort of thing. “Let’s go back to Steve and Eddie, Chrissy. We’ve got enough stuff,” he said instead. His trust in the older guys seemed unshakeable.

“Sure thing, Dustin. Everything’s cool, okay? Just ignore them.”

They walked back over to the counter and waited. Steve was signing some paperwork and had four guns lined up on the counter in front of them. Chrissy stood as close to Steve’s side as she could and hoped that maybe those men would assume he was her boyfriend and leave her alone. They certainly looked like they could be a couple with their preppy clothes and looks.

She saw Dustin whispering something into Eddie’s ear just as someone said loudly, “Want to come hold my gun, babe? I’ll let you polish it. Might even go off.” His friends seemed to think this was real funny because they began cracking up.

Steve and Eddie heard that. She felt herself blush. “Sorry about this. Don’t worry, they’ll wind down in a little bit. Let’s just finish up and go…”

“You can polish both our guns at the same time!”

“Shit,” Steve muttered. He was flushed too and she felt awful. “Sorry, Chriss. Just paying now. Won’t be long…Hey, can we speed this up please?”

She pressed closer to his side. Chrissy had this trick during times like this where she would try and physically make herself very small as a way of trying to hide. Her shoulders were already turning inwards and she crossed her arms over her chest. She tried to focus on what Steve was saying to the cashier but it was drowned out by a roaring noise in her ears. She wished Dustin would stop whispering to Eddie. She wished they would stop looking at her.

But then someone brushed up close against her back. She felt a lingering hand on her hip. Her ass. She couldn’t stop herself from squeezing her eyes shut and grimacing.

Here would be the part where someone should step in or where Chrissy finally told this jerk to get the fuck away from her (maybe even a tall body shielding her with his own, a gentle hand guiding her away) but this was 80’s Indiana and that shit didn’t happen just yet. The ideas of what to do when your customer or friend was being fucking manhandled in public just weren’t invented yet - and she could see her friends were pissed off but they hung back because they didn’t have the fucking right to get involved, you know? They weren’t her boyfriends or father or brother, they weren’t her. If she asked them to punch this guy's lights out they would in a heartbeat (and Eddie and Steve looked like they were gunning for it) but she didn’t. Chrissy just clenched her jaw and took it.

They paid and left, and as soon as she slid onto the backseat she pushed on Rick’s sunglasses and stared out the window. She could feel the guys glancing at her (worried, angry, guilty) but they were following her lead and giving her some space. They made it a few miles before Steve reached out and turned the heavy rock music back on.

“Did that asshole hurt you, Chrissy?” Dustin said at last and because it was Dustin she answered honestly.

“No. He just touched my leg and my…” She shuddered at the memory and seemed to shrink even further back into the seat. “I’m sorry you had to see it. I swear I didn’t say a word to any of them or smile or even look at them. I didn’t…”

“You don’t have to be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

She could have told him about the lecture she got at church when one of the pastors touched her leg because she wore a dress that was one inch too short, but Dustin didn’t need to know about any of that crap. He was just a kid. “I should have just stayed in the car,” she sighed.

“It’s just not…fair. You can’t just not exist, you know? I don’t know…it’s messed up.”

“Yeah, it is.”

He paused for such a long time that Chrissy thought he was done, but then he turned around properly and peered through the seats at her. “Chrissy? I’m sorry I didn’t…you know, defend you when that first creep said something. I didn’t know what to do and kind of freaked. Next time I’ll be better, though, I promise. I’ll look after you.”

So this time Chrissy did lean forwards and press a kiss to his cheek. Dustin turned an alarming shade of red but he smiled. “You were perfect, Dustin. I promise. Never change, little guy, okay?”

She felt tears spring to her eyes so once again turned her head to the window.

She didn’t notice Eddie pat Dustin on the shoulder. Or Steve messing up his hair.

When they got back to Rick’s it was way past lunchtime but Nancy had left them some cheese sandwiches in the fridge. Chrissy took hers outside to eat in the back garden, along with a book she borrowed from Dustin. “Keep the door open though, yeah?” Steve had called. She promised she would.

She dragged one of the wooden chairs from the circle towards the dock in what she considered was a perfect spot by the lake edge. Here she would be able to enjoy the last of the day’s sunshine and hear the gentle flow of the river in peace. She’d even borrowed one of Rick’s floppy fishing hats so the sun wouldn’t burn her nose again (poor Rick - she might as well try on his boots next). She’d thought about sitting in this spot last night - this morning - when she was out here sharing that joint with Eddie and thought it would be such a sweet place to relax and unwind. It was so quiet here.

It was quiet back in the house too. Nancy and Robin were spending the afternoon researching the Creel family in the library archives and had taken Steve’s car. The others seemed happy enough to admire their new cache of weapons and gear and Steve was trying to get the TV to work so he could watch a sports game.

There wasn’t much for Chrissy to do this afternoon except to stay quiet and not draw any more trouble.

She could still feel those prickling eyes on her face and body and hear those vile comments at the War Zone. The laughter. They’d found it funny to make her uncomfortable and humiliate her. Like it was a game. And why hadn’t she spoken up? Why not answer like Robin or Max or Nancy might have? No, she’d just tried to ignore it and wait it out like a storm. Hadn’t she already made the decision not to end up like her parents? To challenge Jason? To stand up, to say something, to shout and make some fucking noise. She was off to a crap start.

Christ, she was so weak. She couldn’t even go to a store with her friends without stirring up some kind of mess. She thought about Dustin’s helplessness when it first started to happen and Steve’s sympathetic (pitying, her dad’s voice corrected) smiles in the car after. She’d upset Eddie again. She should have just stayed in the damn car.

She couldn’t focus on the book in her hands or even the sunshine. Everything suddenly felt so cold and dark. She hurled her sandwich into the lake.

She made a noise that sounded like a whimper. Fuck fuck fuck.

And just as she fell to her lowest - it happened.

It started with a dark shape emerging beneath the surface of the lake. It was big - maybe the same size as a person - and way too big to be an eel or a fish. Maybe it was a body? Chrissy was suddenly standing and she peered over the edge and saw it was starting to move towards her. She stepped back (not noticing that the chair was no longer behind her). She began rubbing her eyes. She’d heard about people cracking up from stress and exhaustion. Maybe it was finally her time?

But then the ticking started and it filled her belly with an icy cold horror. Tick. Tick. Tick.

She suddenly knew that whatever that thing in the water was, it was not something good and it was going to hurt her. She did not want that thing to come any closer!

But it did. The top of its head broke the surface and she saw grey slimy flesh…

“No…” she moaned. “You’re not real. This isn’t real.”

Like a nightmare, Vecna’s face emerged inch by inch as he drew closer. His black lifeless eyes were staring at her and when she flinched back, he smiled. His teeth (black and sharp like fangs) twisted into a terrifying grin. “Chrissy…” he seemed to sing her name like it was a verse or a melody. “It’s time Chrissy.”

Chrissy shook her head as she took another step away from the water’s edge. She turned to run back to the house (to her friends and safety) but it was no longer daytime. Dark smoke caged her senses and the grass beneath her bare feet turned now to ash and soot. The smoke flooded her nose and mouth and she gagged on it. The sickening taste of death clawed at her throat making her eyes water.

“You’ve been so clever trying to run away from me, Chrissy, but you knew I’d come back to claim you. You always knew, didn’t you? In the back of your mind. You knew that we needed each other. Poor Chrissy. You’re so tired, aren’t you? So exhausted. Let me help you…”

She couldn’t see the house or the dock or anything. Everything was so dark.

“You don’t want to help me,” she cried. “You want to murder me.”

“No. I want to help you become something bigger than yourself. Something incredible and exciting. Chrissy…come to me. You’re so good at doing exactly what you’re told. Come to me now.”

He was rising out of the water and then - as sudden as a blink - he was standing before her, tall and threatening. She stumbled back against something hard and knew she could not run away. She felt her legs buckle beneath her and she fell to her knees.

She was crying. She was terrified. “I don’t want to die. Please. I don’t want to die.”

“Can you really call your miserable little existence living?” he asked cruelly. He bowed and curled one of his long fingers beneath her chin and forced her to look up at him. “You who are utterly without love. Not even for yourself. It is kinder to put you out of this misery, Chrissy. Believe me, you know that there’s nothing in this world for you. It won’t make the slightest bit of difference if you are alive or dead.”

His words seemed to pierce her heart like ice. Was he right?

“You have a weapon - a gun - hidden upstairs. You’ve kept it so secret and safe but why do you have it, really? You and I both know why. You know that there will come a day when you finally snap and you want it all to end..”

“Oh god…”

She couldn’t look away from his piercing eyes. He was cradling her face now and scratched his claws down her cheeks, tearing at her flesh. She felt no pain though. She was completely in his thrall.

“Come with me….”

“I…”

Chrissy!

Someone was screaming her name, but no that was impossible. It was just her and Vecna and Vecna was going to murder her.

But then there was music. Such loud ringing music that it seemed to shake the foundations of the world around her and flood it with a bright gold light. Its sparks gathered by the red vines twisted around her limbs (when had that happened) and seemed to rip them away.

We are young

Heartache to heartache

We stand

No promises, no demands

Love is a battlefield

She remembered the first time she heard this song. One of her friends played it during cheer drills and they laughed themselves silly dancing along to it. She’d bought a tape herself and listened to it secretly at home using her headphones.

We are strong

No one can tell us we're wrong

Searching our hearts for so long

And then she saw a swirling white light just behind Vecna. At the edge of the lake. Just like when Eddie saved her last time.

Chrissy! That was Eddie’s voice calling her name. That sounded better than any cheering crowd, any morning birdsong, any fucking power ballad.

She knew what she needed to do if she wanted to fight this but she didn’t know if she had the strength. Then she thought about Max telling her she belonged in the group. She thought about Nancy who was brilliant and badass and kept guns under her bed, and Lucas who was an athlete but also a total nerd. She thought about Steve who was a fucking hero and Robin who might be a timetraveller and who she wanted drink wine coolers with. She thought about Dustin who promised he’d fight for her even when he was scared. She thought about Eddie and the way he made her laugh in the woods and how he was hanging on by a fucking thread now because of Vecna. She owed it to Eddie to fight this.

Vecna suddenly became those rednecks back at the War Zone with their creepy entitled eyes. He became her mom. Her dad. He became Jason and the way he and the team bullied the freshmen kids. He was a fucking asshole.

She got to her feet with a whimper.

Both of us knowing

Love is a battlefield

Chrissy!

“LEAVE ME ALONE!”

She screamed and kicked Vecna right in the chest. All those years of cheerleading drills had made the muscles in her legs strong and the strength of that kick was just enough to surprise Vecna and give her a split second advantage. She ran towards the white light.

She jumped.

–

And then she was underwater. She was being pulled down to the bottom of the lake and her lungs were empty and she was screaming but she had no voice.

She couldn’t believe that this might be the end after all. Not when she’d jumped into that bright white light wanting to live and come home.

But then hands were grasping hold of her and pulling her away from the darkness and up towards the surface. More hands dragged her out of the water and she sank, shivering and cold, onto the grass of the riverbank. She felt warm lips against her mouth and then she was choking and then she tasted gloriously sweet air. She gulped it down greedily and let it fill her lungs. The world seemed to clear and settle around her.

It took a moment for her senses to catch up but when they finally did she could feel everything. She could hear someone crying and people shouting in hurried frantic voices. She could feel the way her lungs ached as her chest rose and fell. She could smell the coppery tang of blood.

Her dress was clinging to her body like a second skin and she felt so achingly cold but she was alive. That was all that mattered.

She opened her eyes and Eddie’s face was all she saw. He was kneeling in front of her, his hands still gripping her wrists, and he had tears running down his cheeks. He was soaking wet too. Chrissy raised a thumb and wiped at his cheek gently.

“Are you here, Chrissy?” he was asking over and over. “Are you back with me?”

“I’m here. Eddie, I’m here.”

He crushed her to his chest and she let him. Burying her face into the crook of his neck, she let her own tears come and she wept and wept. She let out every single tear and drop of fear into Eddie’s strong shoulder. His arms were tight around her back but she wanted the weight. It made her feel held.

She might have cried for hours (it wouldn’t have mattered).

“Eddie? I need to look at her cheeks, man.”

Her cheek? She felt Eddie release her slowly and then Steve (also wet and shivering) was there inspecting her face. He was trying hard to keep calm so he could focus on whatever it was he was doing, but when she caught his eye he broke into a proud grin. “Hi Chrissy. Welcome back to Earth.”

“I can smell blood. Is it mine?” It was easier to breathe now. The smoke and ash and water were no longer in her lungs and throat.

“You were floating in the air above the water,” it was Max speaking now. Chrissy’s gaze came to rest over Eddie’s shoulder and she saw Max and Lucas watching her closely. Max’s face was as white as a ghost. Dustin was kneeling at their side beaming though. All of these wonderful human beings who she had heard in her vision. Who brought her back. “And then your cheeks just slashed open. Like you were scratched either side by invisible claws. Was it Vecna?”

“Yeah. I think so. I remember…he came out of the lake,” she murmured. She glanced back at the lake now and saw that it was still and calm. It looked beautiful again. “I knew I was having a vision but couldn’t stop it.”

Steve cleaned her up while she told them everything that happened.

“...Then I heard my name…and I heard music…my favourite song. It made a bright light appear. As soon as I saw that I knew it was my way home.”

“It was Eddie’s idea!” Dustin said proudly. “He saw you from the window and grabbed Max’s walkman. He managed to cram the headphones over your ears just before you started floating up…but I guess it’s in the lake now though.”

“I’m just glad I had Pat Bentar on there,” Max mumbled.

Chrissy didn’t want to think about ‘what if’s’ right now. Instead she looked back at Eddie. His hands were still holding her waist. “How did you know that was my favourite? You’ve never asked.”

“Didn’t need to. You humm it sometimes.”

Chrissy smiled. She began to cry.

She let Steve finish cleaning her wounds while Lucas grabbed them all warm blankets. Steve told her she had two large jagged scratches on either side of her face, running from the tips of her lips all the way to her eyes. “They aren’t deep enough to need stitches but I’ll get you something for the pain. I don’t think they’ll scar…”

Chrissy found she didn’t care. She might’ve once. She was just thankful Vecna missed her eyes.

“I can't believe you kicked Vecna,” Dustin was saying. “That’s so fucking cool.”

“Very metal,” Eddie agreed quietly.

Eddie was still watching her closely. It was like he didn’t quite believe it was over and she wouldn’t start floating away again. She watched as two faint red patches started forming on his cheeks. It was like he was just now realising how close they were.

“I need to sit down. Can I…?”

Steve immediately suggested she go upstairs to lay down on the bed but instead she asked them to help her back into the wooden chair she’d positioned so carefully before her vision. She wanted to stay outside and sit in the last remnants of the day’s sunshine. The sun would be starting to set soon and she wanted most of all in the world to sit out here on Rick’s dock and watch it. Like he did. She didn’t want to give Vecna the satisfaction of sending her to bed and having her miss out on something she damn wanted. “Can I have some alone time?” she asked. “I just want to…sit here.”

“I don’t think you should be left alone…” Max started but Eddie spoke up.

“I’ll stay,” he said quietly.

The others went back inside (though Steve brought her out the much-appreciated pain medication). Her hands were trembling too badly to take it alone so he helped her. She thanked him gratefully.

“You’re one of the team now,” he said. “We look after our own. Eddie, bring her in if she starts turning blue, okay? Doc’s orders.”

Chrissy sighed and she lay back in the chair. Her mind was swimming with Vecna and his soft velvety voice. He’d said he wanted her purposefully because she needed him to end her long drawn-out suffering. The most tragic and clever thing, she realised, was that his words had been sprinkled with seeds of truth. She was everything he’d said. He’d looked into her heart and only held up the cracked mirror.

Chrissy was sad. She’d been sad for a long time. But did she really not want to be here anymore? Chrissy looked out towards the lake. The blue sky was gradually fading into pink.

“Eddie?” she said softly.

“I’m here.”

“Will you sit with me?”

She heard the sound of scraping wood as Eddie pulled over one of the chairs next to hers on the dock. He even readjusted the blanket around her shoulders before sitting down even though she was capable of doing it alone. It was just her face (and heart) that ached.

They stared at one another, sizing each other up almost. She noticed for the first time that his eyes weren’t entirely brown. They had little flecks of gold in them too. She’d never thought of Eddie as pretty before but she did now.

“So you jumped in the lake for me?”

“Didn’t even hesitate,” Eddie chuckled. “You can thank Steve for the lip service though. He just loves to be the hero and save the girl.”

Chrissy was so tired but she didn’t dare close her eyes in case she fell asleep. She was happy sitting here on the dock with Eddie. She lifted her feet and curled them up beneath the blanket.

“I thought I was a goner. Again. I almost gave up,” she said. “I know that’s such a pathetic thing to admit but when Vecna told me about wanting to put me out of my misery, a tiny part of me wanted to believe him. He knew about me being unhappy and sad all the time. Knew that I was shutting down inside, you know? He told me it wouldn’t make any difference to the world if I was alive or dead and I let myself believe him. Does that make me stupid?”

She saw Eddie swallow. “Look, I’m not gunna’ sit here and pretend to know what your life is like because I was dead wrong before. I know now it’s been… tough… and that asshole Vecna used that to try and manipulate you. But, Chrissy, it didn’t work. You chose to come back and you kicked him like some cheerleader warrior. It probably won’t mean much, but I’m fucking proud of you, kid.”

Chrissy smiled despite herself. “As I live and breathe, scary Eddie Munson acknowledging cheerleaders might not just be some dumb stereotype. You’ve dropped Cunningham too. It sounds nice.”

“No turning back now. It felt like such a trip when you called me Munson during breakfast. Even if I totally deserved it.”

“You didn’t.”

“No, I did. I was a complete asshole. Chrissy, look, I know you’ve been through a lot today and the kindest thing would be to leave you alone, but can you stay awake just a little longer to hear my shitty apology? After that I’ll give you some space or carry you up to bed or…whatever you want.”

“You don’t need to -”

“I do. Please. I need to apologise for everything. For the way I’ve been avoiding you and for every fucking crappy thing I said to you this morning. I would take it all back in a heartbeat because every word was total bullshit, Chrissy. I didn’t mean any of it. I was so angry and scared and worried and pathetic… and you were right when you called me out on it because I was taking it out on you.”

“But why me? Because I ran away?”

“No, Chrissy, please listen…” He moved his chair so close that his leg brushed against her knee. “It wasn’t anything you did or didn’t do, okay? You’ve been so fucking spectacular. The way you’ve been caring for everyone and helping out. It’s just…in my fucked up brain…every time I look at you I think of that Fred kid - but I see you like that and it just breaks me. Every time you flinch at the name Vecna or touch your jaw I die a little bit inside. I feel so guilty and scared that it could have so easily have been you. I still can’t believe tonight…seeing you floating like that above the water and seeing the blood when that fucker cut into your face…God, if Max hadn't had that stupid song on her walkman... Chrissy, I can’t deal with the thought of…you dying.”

Eddie had closed his eyes but when Chrissy lightly touched the back of his hand they flew open.

“Eddie, I’m right here. I’m alright. Look at my neck. My wrists. My jaw. I’m not broken. Look at my eyes. I’m here.”

She shrugged down her warm blanket and held out her arms, bared her neck, lifted her chin. She let him trace his fingers along her skin, reassuring himself that yes she was smooth. She was whole. His eyes searched her greedily. She might have found the idea of letting Eddie Munson do this to her odd once but now it only made her feel safe.

Then his eyes came to rest on her face, on the deep scratches. “Steve’s done a good job and I don’t think they’ll leave any punk scars. We’ll have to think of an excuse for your folks though…and Jason. If I’d only put that music on sooner…”

“The important thing is you did. It was quick thinking.”

She let him trace his fingers over her face too. She could see it helped clear away some of the tightness on his face.

“When I looked out the window and saw you go still…I’ve never felt so fucking scared, Chriss. And the last time in my trailer? I was so freaked out I nearly ran out of there myself. I thought I was used to horror and gore and monsters, but that was all pretend before. I don’t know jack shit about any of this or how I can help, and maybe I’m a coward but I think that just added to whatever sizable chip I’ve got growing on my shoulder right now. When I saw you again at the Wheeler’s you thanked me, Chrissy, and kept looking at me like I was some hero like Steve and I knew I wasn’t. You’re still looking at me like it even now…it’s like, what the fuck can I do?”

“But Eddie, don’t you remember that Twain quote in English class? About courage being resistance to fear? We had a test about him.”

“You know I’m failing English, Chrissy.”

“Well that’s what he said. The fact is you’ve saved me three times now. Twice from Vecna and once from drowning, and you’ve been scared the whole time. I think that’s pretty courageous,” she added with a small smile. “So I do get to call you a hero. That’s my prerogative as the crappy damsel.”

Eddie’s lips twitched into a smile and it looked like he was blushing.

“Well maybe I’m okay when Vecna comes calling… but I was too much of a coward to face you though. To give you what you wanted. What you needed…”

“What do you mean?”

They were both still soaking wet although the blankets and sun were doing their damn best to dry them off. But when Eddie reached out and took her hand she felt like it was a summer day in July. He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze.

“By my count, we’ve shared two fucking terrifying moments together but instead of…I don’t know, bonding over it? Helping each other out?...I’ve been pushing you away like an asshole. I don’t know a damn about psychology or trauma or whatever…but what I do know is talking to you about it now feels really good. Like some of my damage has mended and I can breathe a little easier. That’s got to be a good thing, right?” he said. “So let me finally step up and be here for you. I want to. I want to hear everything that’s going on with you. No frills. No bullshit... Lay it on me, Chrissy. Please.”

Chrissy met his eyes and saw such honest sincerity and warmth there she thought she might start crying again. He was putting down his shield and offering her his friendship and she wanted to take it so badly.

This wasn’t an olive branch or a sledgehammer - this was a flamethrower - and they would burn the metaphoric wall down to the ground. Together.

So Chrissy told him everything. She told him about her life before her visions - about cheerleading and her shitty parents and her miserable anxieties about food. She told him about Jason and how she was pretty sure she was going to break up with him because she hated bullies and didn’t want babies and a house and to be ignored for the rest of her life. She even told him about the incident at church and how it made her hate her body but at the same time she wanted to buy fucking silk pajamas too because she knew they would feel nice. She told him about college and how she wanted to take a year off and see some of the world. She was sure she’d love California and Rome and maybe even England so she could visit some real life castles.

She told him about her first vision and why she’d come to him for drugs and about how crap she still felt about running away from him. She told him about this vision. About how Vecna made her feel so worthless and weak. She told him about the gun she had upstairs (this was the only time he interrupted her to say gently they would get it later and store it with the other weapons so it was safe). She told him about how much she liked her new friends and how thinking about them helped her find the strength to get away from Vecna.

Eddie listened to it all and seemed to be drinking it in. With every word she felt a coil inside her begin to unwind a little. It was just like he said before about feeling mended. Like he was switching her up.

“...And I thought about you,” Chrissy admitted at long last. “How I owed it to you to come back and be here for you. I didn’t want to leave you alone again.”

Eddie had tears in his eyes and so did she.

“You weren’t totally wrong about me this morning. I have been ignoring some of the crap that goes on at school,” she admitted. He looked like he wanted to interrupt but she kept going. “I didn’t know how rough things were for you guys, but that’s no excuse now. I promise I’ll help from now on. No one should be treated that way.”

“Chrissy Cunningham, defender of the downtrodden misfits and freaks. Atta’ girl,” Eddie smiled. “But you don’t deserve to be treated that way either, you know? Not to be a dick again, I swear, but you kind of let people walk over you sometimes and you seriously don’t deserve it. You’re so cool and smart and really talented. You…you’re the real deal. You should own it.”

“…I’ll try.”

Loving oneselves was not easy and Chrissy had spent years putting herself down, but she knew Eddie was right and she should exercise more self-love like Ms Kelley said. She should try, at least. Baby steps.

Behind them the sun was setting behind the trees and the sky was a colour palette of pink, yellow, and orange hues. She lay back against her chair and she let her eyes flutter close for just a minute. She could almost purr she felt so content right now.

“The next day at the hour of sunset Aragorn walked alone in the woods, and his heart was high within him; and he sang, for he was full of hope and the world was fair…”

“Is that from…?” Chrissy clumsily scooped up Dustin’s book from where she must have dropped it before her vision. On seeing the cover, Eddie grinned and she found herself grinning back just as wide, though she didn’t know why they were both so happy. Eddie took it from her gently, seeing that she was at risk of dropping it again in her tiredness.

“Same author but different book. If you like The Hobbit you can borrow my copy of Rings after. I promise you’ll love it. That’s a Munson guarantee.”

“I’d really like that, Eddie.”

“And I’ll try and read Little Women…are they actually tiny women or…?”

Chrissy found herself giggling softly. “Maybe we can talk about them together? Start our own private ‘End of the World’ book club. I’d like to hear more about D&D too and what it all means. Maybe even watch a game sometime…if that’s okay?”

“It’s a deal.”

Chrissy found her eyes once again closing and she yawned. She thought she could sleep for a thousand years. She snuggled down further into her blanket.

“Sleep Chrissy. We’ll be here when you wake up.”

She liked the sound of that. Her friends. Nancy and Robin would be home soon too.

“Eddie?” she mumbled sleepily.

“Mm?”

“So you really don’t hate me?”

“No way. Not possible.”

“Can we…can we be friends? I’d really like to be your friend.”

There was a little pause and she just about heard him clear his throat.

“Best of friends, Chriss. Best buddies.”

And her heart sang.

---------------

A/N:

Annnnnnd we're done folks. Chrissy and Eddie can now look to the future and kick some Vecna butt as team mates (the best team mates). A few notes:

- Firstly, thank you so much for reading this crazy mess. I promise to go back at some point and edit and cut that word count down - but I'm already up to my eyeballs with others ideas for the two (maybe taking place in the same series as this one?) - I wanted to leave it as them friends but it's pretty clear they are going to be something more, you know? Plenty of hints scattered in that Eddie is crazy about Chrissy and she's starting to notice him too. - Eddie IS crazy about Chrissy throughout this fic though he might not feel like he can show it (she has Jason remember and as far as Eddie knows they're a couple couple until she admits it at the end). He's not treading on any toes. - Lyrics are from 'Master of Puppets' and 'Love Is a Battlefield'. I saw an interview where Chrissy's actor mentions this would be the song to pull Chrissy out. - Yeah the men at the War Zone suck balls, but it's something we read about every day right? I'd like to say things are better but fuck that. Make noise, people. I actually wrote Eddie stepping in and guiding her out initially (with Chrissy under his arm naturally) but it just didn't feel right. You can bet that both he and Steve wanted to kick ass though and Eddie was gritting his fucking teeth. - I love Dustin and Chrissy moments. I also love Steve and Chrissy moments. - Yeah sorry Steve gave her mouth to mouth because he actually knows what he's doing - being a lifeguard and all - but Eddie was first in the water. Steve helped pull her out. - The Rings quote Eddie says '...The next day at the hour of sunset Aragorn walked alone in the woods, and his heart was high within him; and he sang, for he was full of hope and the world was fair…” is about a sunset, yes, but also before Aragon meets the love of his fucking life and thinks he's stumbled into a dream. Nice work, Eddie, lay those seeds.

Love to you all - Hellcheer forever.

#chrissy x eddie #hellcheer #eddie munson #edssy #eddie x chrissy #eddissy #hellcheer fanfic #hellcheer headcanons #chrissy cunningham x eddie munson #chrissy cunningham #chrissy deserved better #ymaohoh #chrissy and eddie #fuck you vecna

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original-orbus · 4 months

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Stories from Argo Academy part 2

Once again crossposted on A03. Will link that and the last part at the end.

Hello once again, and welcome to my 3 a.m. writing, Sesh. Today I have for you a follow-up or parallel chapter following Josephine. To set the scene, this is the second part of a three- or four-parter, setting up Argo Academy and opening the floor to more demigod stories. Don't worry though; you will still see a lot of these two after this resolves. Also, I don't know how to denote text messages in writing, so I will place them in these things until I get a better idea.

Being a child of Poseidon comes with its ups and downs. On the one hand, you have an incredibly powerful heritage, only truly rivaled by the children of the other big three. But on the other hand, you are perpetually stuck in second place, always falling behind someone or something.

For Josephine, this wasn't as big a deal; she was always comfortable where she lay, able to satisfy her desires, and fit wherever she needed to be. However, there were times when even she would look towards someone else and wish that maybe she could stand where they stood, have what they had, or perhaps even drag them down to her level. She was like the ocean in those kinds of ways, fluid and warm, but also greedy and envious at times.

There had been a lot of that this week. First, she had to deal with a transfer camper practically hanging off her partner Charlie (the son of Apollo), which, all in all, wasn't actually that bad, but it set a precedent for the week to come. Then she got into a fight with a son of Zeus over bathroom cleaning duty, where she so desperately wanted to emulate a previous Poseidon child and blast their ass. And to top it all off, tonight her frustrations almost boiled over because her friends cancelled their night out at the last minute, only to go out with their other friends. Maybe this last one wasn't as bad, but she had been looking forward to tonight, giving her a much-needed escape from her camp responsibilities for just one night, and so to have it pulled out from beneath her left her feeling some type of way.

So now she lay upon the roof of her cabin, staring up into the night sky, watching the stars, and trying to get her mind off her woes. It wasn't as easy to see the stars out here as it was back home, but at least laying here like this brought her back then momentarily.

She couldn't help but remember those nights every now and then, back when she still lived out at sea, when nothing else mattered besides the metal beneath you and the dark waters around you. Back then, it was just her and her mom, living off the sea for half the year and staying on the mainland for the other half.

As these memories rose within her, she began to feel the sting of saltwater in her eyes once again as she clenched her jaw and fought to stay afloat as the waves came crashing down inside her.

After what seemed like an eternity but was most likely just a matter of minutes, Josephine regained control of her vessel and stilled the waters.

She would sit up from her position on the roof and look out over the camp, the place she called home for half her life, and something she had been musing about for weeks would click into place.

Despite every bad thing she's experienced since coming here, Camp Half-Blood was truly home to her.

But it was time to move on, to find something better. She would push herself off the roof as she pulled out her phone, steps of water forming underneath her as she formulated a message to send.

~If you are receiving this message, then I think you would be interested in what I have to say. I love Camp Half-Blood, but despite that, I'm leaving camp. I'm hoping to go out there and create something new, another safe space for demigods. I don't know if I will succeed, but I feel like it is something I must do. I am extending an invitation to you all, whether you choose to accept it or not. If you are interested, meet down at the lake at midnight.~

As she typed and erased, and typed and erased, she would make her way over to a familiar cabin, covered in colors that seemed to drain life out of everything around it. The Hades cabin is the home of Kenneth Michael Armstrong.

Unfortunately for her, as she climbed the steps towards the front door, she would find her friend missing. Normally, at this time of night, she could find them sitting on the steps of their home, sketching whatever ends up wandering through the night. Tonight instead, all she found was Kenneth's personal Undead, Arthur, cleaning up the empty cabin. As she approached, Arthur would look up slowly before shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders before returning to the task at hand.

Despite this setback, Josephine would type out another text to her dear friend before waving to Arthur and doing an about face to walk off.

~Hey Ken Ken, I stopped by your cabin on the way to the lake but found you weren't home. I'm going to assume you went out and lost track of time. If or when you get back tonight, let me know. We need to talk.~

As Josephine walked the path towards the lake, she would feel the shadows shudder beside her as a familiar presence appeared beside her and matched her stride. She gave Kenneth a quick glance, immediately placing the frost covering their clothes and the snow dusted throughout their hair.

"Aww, I'm sorry, did I interrupt your trip to the tundra? I'll try to keep it quick so you can go back." Josephine would tease her friend as she reached out to brush some of the snow away.

"If you must know, I decided to stop by the arctic to see some penguins, and I would really like to get back to them. They’re almost ready to accept me into their pack." Kenneth would respond back in kind, their voice rough as if it hadn't been used in a few days. "Anyway, what's this about? Did something happen?"

As Kenneth spoke, they would take note of the state of Josephine’s eyes, seeing the telltale signs of her crying. Silently, they would reach into the shadows around them before retrieving an ice cream bar from his stash for her, to help her feel better.

In response, Josephine would pass her phone over to Kenneth in exchange for the ice cream bar, with her phone screen open to the message she sent out on the way over. She took the time when Ken was reading to begin snacking on the sweet treat.

As she ate her treat, Josephine would once again look over at Kenneth. It was moments like these that reminded her why she loved them so much. If it were anyone else, they might have made a big deal out of it or even not noticed that she had been crying. But Kenneth always seemed to notice and offer silent support until she needed or wanted to talk.

"Oh, you're working on Argo again? I can't say I'm surprised, but what decided it?" Kenneth had previously been Josephine's partner in crime when it came to working on Argo stuff, so they immediately recognized what this meant. After reading through the message once more, they opened up the member list of the group chat to look over who was recruited.

"I don't know, Ken. Something finally clicked for me tonight. But you and I both know it was going to happen sooner or later." Josephine would briefly pause in her speech, her tone full of certainty and emotion. "Despite everything, this place just ain’t right for us, and it's not right for a lot of people."

Kenneth would remain silent in response, thinking through their own feelings. She was right; despite how much they both tried to make it work, as they grew older and older, it became more and more obvious that they were mismatched.

"What're your thoughts on the recruits? Anyone missing?" Josephine would take her phone back after Kenneth was done reading.

"I think it wouldn't hurt to include a few more people, reach out, and see if anyone from Jupiter wants in. I'm sure someone from there feels the same as we do." Kenneth hadn't spent as much time over at Camp Jupiter as others, but there were likely to be people like them. "Aside from that, you have a decent split of gods, which should make construction and planning easier. Let's just hope they all show up."

And with that message, the two would continue on towards the lake, discussing the pros and cons of the different people on the list as well as possible locations to set up shop.

Alright, everyone. I think I feel moderately good about this chapter. I didn't really plan to update this so soon, but this sort of mini-introduction arc should hopefully lay the groundwork for more stories in the future. As always, let me know your thoughts, and thanks for reading. Next time, it will probably be the meeting or the aftermath of the meeting. Maybe a whole new perspective. Who knows? Not me.

#camp argo #Argo academy #percy jackon and the olympians #writers #oc

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ravs6709 · 9 months

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These Feelings Inside (How Deep Do They Go)

Chapter 10- Look At Me

Previous. Next. Masterlist.

Or read on ao3 here!

Word count: 3.0k words

Finally back with another chapter!!! A bit longer, so enjoy!

warnings: panicking (panic attack kinda but not quite), swearing

•~•~•~•~•~•

"Sophie, can we talk for a bit?" Edaline asked.

Grady was standing beside her, so she figured it was important. Keefe and Fitz seemed to have the shop under control.

"What's up?" she asked.

Edaline and Grady shared a look. "Not here. In our room."

Well, that was a little weird. It wasn't that often that she went in their room, she liked giving them privacy and they were rarely in their room in the first place.

Sophie walked with them there. It was a light, airy room, decorated a little bit but what always grabbed Sophie's attention were the picture frames. The ones of Jolie, especially, as pictures of Jolie weren't found anywhere else around the house.

"We need to talk about Keefe," Grady said.

Sophie turned to him. "What? Is something wrong?"

Grady just looked at her, Edaline too, though her gaze was more sympathetic.

"Sophie, we're happy to have Keefe here and all, and we've refrained from asking too many questions, but don't you think things are a little strange?" Edaline asked.

"No government ID, they haven't been able to even give me a last name, and they're just relying on your name for income. You know they can't rely on you for everything, right?" Grady continued.

...I think I rely on them more than they do me.

"Are you kicking them out?" Sophie blurted out, feeling dread build up.

"No," Edaline said, while Grady said "Not yet."

"Seriously, kiddo," Grady said, "it couldn't have been that long since you've known them, otherwise you would've told us about your 'online friend'. The lack of last name, that's what gets me. How could you know that they're what they say they are?"

"I know their situation, I've seen it," Sophie murmured.

"You've also seemed more stressed since their arrival," Edaline added.

Sophie felt bad, because she was right, but somehow, the more time that passed, the less she felt like blaming Keefe, even though it was very much their fault.

"We're worried for you, and the toll everything will have on your heart. You've been looking more blue lately."

Sophie blinked, getting the basic idea, but she was so confused at the weird way they were going about saying it. "I'll be fine," she said.

She truly hoped that the more she said it, the more she'd grow to believe it.

"We're still housing them," Grady said, "and even if we did kick them out, we wouldn't leave them with nothing. But you come first, remember that."

Sophie nodded.

~•~•~•~•~•

"So... you want to go on a date?" Fitz asked. "Later today?"

"Sure," she agreed. A date with Fitz! She wanted to do a little dance, even though it'd been a few days since she officially became Fitz Vacker's girlfriend.

"We could go watch a movie."

"But if Foster leaves, what am I supposed to do?" Keefe said, appearing out of nowhere.

Fitz rolled her eyes. "Sophie's not your mom."

They grinned. "I know. I'm older."

"That's not what I meant. But how old are you?"

"That's a secret!"

Sophie held back a sigh of relief. Though, she did wonder how old they really were. She remembered how they said it'd been at least a year since they were turned into a siren. They looked to be around her age, maybe slightly older.

"Fitz and I want some alone time, no third wheeling," Sophie told them, because she really wouldn't put it past them to spy on her date. Sure, there were going to be moments where she'd be tempted to kiss Fitz, but she knew not to risk anything.

"Me? Third wheel? I would never."

They continued working their shift and after that they got ready for their date. She took out a cute top Biana bought for her but she said she'd never wear. A date with Fitz! She felt like the same giddy highschooler that she'd been back when she first fell for him. When he came back to pick her up, she linked elbows with him and they drove to the movie theatre.

The movie was fine, although a cliche romance story. She honestly paid more attention to staring at Fitz, holding his hand and feeding him popcorn more than anything else.

This was what she'd wanted so badly. His eyes on her, smiling his charming smile at her. For him to feed her popcorn too, to hold her face in his hand, his eyes flitting down to her lips and—

Sophie kissed his cheek before she could be too tempted and do anything more.

"I don't want to rush you," he whispered, but she could see disappointment flash in his eyes, "do you know how long until you can..?"

"I don't know. I want to, I really do, but I can't." She kissed his other cheek, and this time, his expression softened. "Not yet. But I will, one day."

He took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips. "As I said, I'll wait for you."

He turned back to watch the movie, and she turned away too. I'm sorry, she wanted to say. I must be disappointing you so much, aren't I? You waited all these years for me, and...

She didn't even notice when the movie had finished, or when Fitz had walked her back to the car, only when Fitz was calling out her name and she absently picked up a bottle of water in her hand did she realize that the world had muted. She weakly opened the cap, downing half the bottle, noticing how hot she felt. It was the withdrawal again, but she had taken a bath not that long ago...

"Sophie," Fitz whispered, "are you okay?"

She nodded. "Sorry."

God, she couldn't even go through the whole date without making things go wrong. Though she felt a little better, Fitz still insisted on helping her inside.

"So, you two, how was the date?" Keefe asked from the dining room table. "Oh, Foster doesn't look well."

"Nothing that a little rest and hydration won't fix," she replied.

Keefe looked at her, then shrugged. She figured they got the message.

"We could have our next date next week?" Fitz asked. "On my birthday?"

Sophie grinned. "You'll spend practically your whole day with me. Movie midnight, sleepover, work, date and party."

"I'll enjoy every minute of it."

"Ugh, gross," Keefe gagged, and both of them turned to glare at them. "You two are insufferable."

"Not as insufferable as you are," Sophie said, rolling her eyes.

~•~•~•~•~•

Over the next week, she noticed that the withdrawals started to come more frequently, but it wasn't like she could just spend all day in a bathtub. So instead, she bought herself a giant shiny cup to drink water out of. It honestly worked better than she thought it would, and she wondered why she never tried doing this in the past, considering she was usually dehydrated.

"That's strange," Biana remarked, upon seeing Sophie refill the cup after having already drunk the entire cup once.

"I'm in my hydration arc," she told them.

"That's a first," Biana said.

Sophie snorted. "I know, right?"

After her shifts, she usually went out with Keefe to the water for a proper rehydration, plus it allowed for them to do so too. While her afternoon outings with Keefe were already a constant, they began to become something more daily. Going to the water allowed them both to get their water intake plus it allowed for some privacy to talk about any siren stuff.

She knew it meant spending less time with Fitz and Biana, and she wasn't completely oblivious to Fitz's questioning stares, but what could she do?

~•~•~•~•~•

"I'm getting good vibes today," Keefe declared. "Let's go, I'm feeling that Marella and Linh might be back."

"Oh?" Sophie replied, "good vibes, huh?"

She wasn't the biggest fan of leaving things up to fate or luck, but when nothing new could be learned, or no actions could be taken, luck was really all she had. If Marella and Linh were back, then maybe they'd have figured out an answer and all this siren stuff could be over.

She could go back to her normal life. Keep Keefe in it too, even have Marella and Linh hang around. She wondered if maybe other sirens could use this knowledge too. Wouldn't that be nice? They wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

The two of them headed out, though Marella and Linh weren't there.

Keefe sighed. "Damn it, I was really hoping."

"It's fine," she said on autopilot. "Maybe tomorrow."

"Maybe," they shrugged.

They went on to that little piece of land and laid there on the sand. Sophie turned to look at them, poking their cheek.

"Foster, what are you doing?"

"I'm bored," she said, poking them again.

They poked her back. She poked them again. They kept poking each other, and Sophie laughed, feeling relieved to be able to act so immature, even if for a little bit.

"Keefe?" she whispered, her hand drifting in their hair, ruffling it a little. "'m glad you're here."

Their eyes widened, and they turned to face up. "I thought I was insufferable. Don't worry though, I know. I'd be glad to have me here too. Can't resist the Keefester."

She punched their shoulder. "Oh, shut up."

"Oh, no no no, I will not. You care about me, Foster. Don't lie to me, I can see your heart." She honestly expected them to poke her heart, but instead, they stood up. "Getting late. I think it's past midnight."

"Oh shit?" Honestly, she was disappointed. She got up too, and they swam back to the mainland.

She picked up her phone and started absently going through her notifications, only to see a few missed calls from both Biana and Fitz. There were a few texts from each of them too.

Biana: Sophie? Are you running late?

Sophie?

Sophie where tf are you?

Keefe's unreachable too. Are you with them right? Seriously???

Sophie, did you really forget?

It's past midnight, what the hell. You actually just ditched us?

And then just one from Fitz.

Fitz <3: Where are you?

...and then her phone died. Damn this cold weather.

"Foster? Something wrong?"

"I think I was supposed to be with Fitz and Biana. But I have no idea what it is."

"Huh? Was there something you were supposed to do with them now? Let's just walk to their place, maybe you'll figure it out."

As they walked, Sophie tried to wrack her head for anything. She didn't recall making any plans. She thought of the date: October 27th. It didn't sound significant... what on earth was it that had both Biana and Fitz calling for her so urgently?

When she opened the door, it was to Biana's disappointed stare.

"Did something happen?" Sophie asked. "It's late."

Biana raised an eyebrow. "You mean you haven't figured it out?"

"I'm not a mind reader, Bi," she said, walking in. She looked around for Fitz, but he didn't seem to be around.

"He's upstairs, changing."

"Sorry," Sophie said.

Biana shrugged with one shoulder. "I'm not the one that needs it."

"Sophie? You're here?" Fitz asked from the stairs. "Hey, can we talk?"

Sophie went to climb the stairs.

"Alright, I'm coming with."

"Alone," Fitz continued, glaring at Keefe.

Sophie climbed up as Fitz led her to his room. When they entered it, Fitz locked the door.

"I'm being an awful girlfriend, aren't I?" Sophie asked, unable to look up at him.

A few seconds of silence. "Honestly, yeah. I want you to be honest with me Sophie, do you have a thing for Keefe?"

Her gaze wrenched upwards, looking up at him in shock. "What? No, I don't, why would you—"

"I don't get it. It took you a while for you to be comfortable with Biana and I, but with Keefe, it's effortless. They're touchy with you, just like that. I have been trying so hard to ignore it, because I have no right to control who you're with. But seriously? You ignored pre-established plans, plans for my birthday, when we never skipped our midnight movie, all for someone you've barely known. I'm your boyfriend, no—I'm one of your best friends and it hurts."

"I forgot," she mumbled.

His birthday. How on earth did she forget that? While she was prone to forgetting most dates, birthdays had always been a thing her brain instinctively kept track of. She'd been excited about it, the gift she bought for him was...

...what was it again? Her head felt heavy as she tried to recall, but it was like the memory didn't exist.

Memory, Sophie thought. A siren, their memories would—

No.

"Forgot," Fitz murmured, "Sophie, are you okay? Ever since Keefe came here, you've been more stressed, you've fainted once and nearly did again all within this month. You've been on multiple of your 'stress walks' and you've been drinking more water. You've been hiding something from me, haven't you?"

"No, I—"

"I won't judge. Even if you accidentally had a thing with Keefe and the reason why they're here is because you're pregnant and—"

"What?"

Fitz stopped talking. Sophie stared at him. "You think I—wait wait wait—"

She nearly burst into laughter, but only stopped herself at the serious expression on his face.

"I've been trying to think of any logical explanation. For your symptoms, for Keefe's presence, because we both—not even us, Biana and even your parents—know that the story you gave us sounds like bullshit. But I accepted it, thinking you'd tell me the truth eventually. I don't get it then, what's going on? And you also said I shouldn't blame Keefe for you being unwilling to kiss me, but isn't that the truth?

"You're hiding something from me," Fitz said taking her hands in his. He held them close to his chest. "I'm hurt that you don't think you can trust me, when we've known each other for so long."

And then, for a brief moment, a blue light drew her attention. Emitting from his chest where his heart was, was a series of blue swirls shaped like a heart. It looked exactly like Keefe's drawing of her.

Heartbreak.

She blinked, and then it was gone, but the pained expression on his face still remained.

"Do you want to know the truth?" she asked.

"Yes! I want you to be honest with me!"

She took a deep breath. She had to tell him, to alleviate that heartbreak. She never wanted to see his heart turn blue like that again.

"You remember what sirens are, right?"

"Mythological creatures that sing and seduce sailors to their death," he said slowly. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"They're real. And I'm—I'm one of them. Part, technically, I'm a half siren—"

"What the fuck are you talking about? Explain. Slowly. Please."

She took another breath. "Sirens, they're former humans who were cursed to lose all their memories and forced to stay in solitude underwater. They have a song that they sing to lure heartbroken humans so that they could pass the curse on to that human, all so that they can become a human once more.

"Keefe was a siren, and they tried to pass the curse down to me—it's not their fault though because sirens live in solitude and they just want to actually live again, but the transferring process went all weird so both of us just ended up as half sirens, though I'm slowly becoming a siren and Keefe human I guess and it means that—"

Fitz put his hand over her mouth, the other moving to wipe her face. Oh, she was crying.

"A siren," Fitz said blankly. "A siren? And you were... cursed? By Keefe?"

He took hand off her mouth. She looked down, afraid to see his reaction.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She looked back up at him, and his eyes were glimmering with tears. "You're going to become a siren? Is that... is that what I heard? Why didn't you tell me?"

His heart shone blue again.

"You believe me?"

"It's ridiculous. It sounds like bullshit," he sighed, running a hand through his hair, "but I'm choosing to believe you anyway. You should've told me earlier. Didn't we once promise each other to not keep secrets?"

("I'm scared, sometimes," Fitz once said, "I think I lucked out, getting to meet you. That we got to be friends. I get worried I'll lose you. Can you... can you promise me that we'll always be together? That we won't push each other apart, that we won't keep any secrets?"

Sophie looked at him, and all she thought was the biggest secret that she could never tell him. That she was in love with him. But that secret... that one would stay hidden, and she would never let it drive them apart.

And then she said... what did she say next again..?)

"I didn't want to burden you," Sophie said. "And you can't solve this problem."

"Burden me? Did you think helping you was a burden? That listening to your problems was a burden? Even if it is, it's a burden I'm willing to carry!" he grasped her hands again, brushing a thumb over the back of her hand. "I'm hurt that you thought I wouldn't always, always choose you!"

His heart shone even brighter. He was so close to her... she cupped his face in her hands, and brought herself closer, close enough to kiss—

Fitz shoved her away. She reeled back and stared at his heart, as it dimmed slightly.

"No. Not like this," he said, "I'm not letting our first kiss happen just because you want to appease me."

First kiss... she... she tried to kiss him, and his heart was clearly so broken—

She staggered towards the door, clumsily opening it.

"Sophie?"

She needed—she needed to leave, she couldn't control herself and she nearly transferred the curse to Fitz—she couldn't stay.

She flung the back door open wide, ignoring the feel of concrete against her bare feet as she ran. Away, she had to stay away, or else she'd ruin things.

•~•~•~•~•~•

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