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#well we all know how well that worked out for mac so good luck to dee
cat-in-da-wall · 1 year
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so we have pictures of kaitlin in both pink AND blue uniforms, i'm gonna go ahead and assume that dee is doing some "play both sides" shit
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catharusustulatus · 6 months
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Steddie Drabble, TW: child abuse.
Initially, Wayne doesn’t care for Steve. Calls him “the Harrington boy” or “Richard’s son” with contempt, asks if “Richard’s son” is coming over for dinner again and Eddie just rolls his eyes and says “yes, Wayne, STEVE is coming over at 7.” Wayne doesn’t like him because…well, he’s not stupid to judge a book by its cover, he thinks.
But the fifth time Harrington comes over, he brings a bouquet of flowers, and Eddie, well, his cheeks are redder than the spaghetti sauce Wayne’s been stirring, so that’s something.
And then the sixth time Steve comes over, he brings Wayne a Garfield magnet. It’s small, “found it at the thrifty mart with Robin, I’m sorry it’s not brand new…” Steve mumbles, and Eddie is wide eyed and smiling, and Wayne LOVES Garfield. He puts it on the fridge, pats Steve on the back, says “um, thank you son.”
They fall into a pattern, the three of them. Steve comes over for dinner every Friday night after work. He dresses clean and is polite to Wayne, helps with the dishes, sometimes brings bread rolls or licorice or beer or jokes. Eddie starts setting the table. Wayne starts laughing at the jokes. After Steve leaves, Wayne knows Eddie smiles himself to sleep. It’s different, now.
And then the next time Steve is supposed to come over for dinner, he doesn’t show. Eddie had been making macaroni and cheese all evening, grating the cheese carefully as he bopped his head to some metal song, cheerful, and then it was 7 and then it was 8 and then Wayne thought “maybe call him, Ed.”
Nobody answers. When they call again, nobody answers. And Wayne has a bad feeling about it.
It isn’t until almost 11, dinner cold and Eddie pacing, about to radio someone named Robin when Steve’s car pulls up, they know the lights so well. They run outside to greet him and Eddie freezes when Steve starts falling out of the drivers seat, face dark and pained. Wayne jumps into action. Wayne catches Steve and hauls him into the trailer, his living room, and oh god, he’s covered in bruises like he was put through Eddie’s cheese grater, and oh god, Eddie’s broken out into tears behind him.
Steve’s left eye is swollen shut, and his face is purple and bloody. His lip is split and his hair is wild, his shirt is torn, and Wayne wonders what’s underneath the shirt as he gets the first aid kit, wonders how the hell he thought Steven was anything other than an angel.
Eddie gets a dish towel wet in the kitchen and cleans Steve’s face, quiet and crying, and Wayne sets the first aid kit down next to Eddie and makes some coffee. He thinks about talking, doesn’t. Touches the Garfield magnet for good luck. He feels like maybe Steve needs it.
Steve who is holding Eddie’s wrist as he cleans him up, wincing and crying from his good eye. Finally, after a silence that gives Wayne heartburn, Eddie sits back on his heels and says whisper quiet, “your dad?”
Steve gulps, blinks. “My uh, my dad. I was writing you uh, uh a love note.” Eddie looks over at Wayne. Wayne wipes his brow. “But uh, he found it, and your name’s not uh, Edith” Steve lets out a chuff, winces again. “So he asked what was going on, and I told him. I told him. And then he said I had one minute to take it back or he’d make me take it back.” Eddie lets out a small gasp, more like a howl, and sits completely on the floor. Wayne sits down at the table, cold mac and cheese looking like a sick joke. And he’s so mad. Wayne is so, so mad, seeing this young man who so obviously loves his pride and joy, shares in his pride and joy, who brings him apples to make apple pie, he growls out
“Don’t you worry about a thing, Steven, not one thing. You stay here long as you like, hell, don’t leave. We got you, boy.”
And that’s that. Steve crumples in on himself, and Eddie pulls him into a big hug, just holds him, rocks him, coos “a love note, huh, sweetheart? For me?” And Steve nods until he nods off.
The next morning, while Robin takes care of Steve, Wayne and Eddie break into Steve’s room, clear out everything he owns, and slash his dad’s tires. That was Wayne’s idea - the least he could do for a loved one.
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We're Shit Out of Luck, Munson
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Eddie Munson x gn!reader
Masterlist Part Two
Summary: You're excited to take a trip north to Steve's cabin with all your friends. That is, until you're snowed in alone with Eddie.
Word Count: ~10.5k (I'm sorry)
Warnings: Swearing. Fluff. Improper knowledge of how a fire stove works. Sort of strangers to lovers? One Bed Trope!!!
A/n: This took way longer than I'd like to admit. I just couldn't get it work, but I hope it's good enough now :) Please let me know your thoughts! Love hearing from you all, and thank you for reading <3
--
The wheels of Nancy’s car churned up snowy roads under drifting clouds and floating snowflakes from above. In the rumbling backseat of her car sat you in the back, your head leaning toward the window. She drove, her bracelets jingling whenever she turned the wheel, while Jonathan sat in the passenger seat.
Some Fleetwood Mac song played through the old speakers, your head bobbing along as your eyes danced along the white landscape leading your way north – away from Hawkins and away from regular day-to-day life for just a few days. The three of you were planning to meet Steve, Robin, and Eddie there for an extended weekend away at a rarely used cabin Steve’s family owned. 
A knit hat hugged against your head, a heavy coat weighing along your body as you thought toward spending time with some you knew well – missing the days of standing doubled over again in laughter together every other day – and others you were excited to get to know better. 
Like Robin, who Steve had talked endlessly about how great the two of you would get along – though he seemed to especially say it after you teased or annoyed him. Or maybe like Eddie, your face quirking just a little at the thought.
You didn’t have anything against him, though you had only met him once. But it was just that you weren’t someone who would climb on cafeteria tables like he did back in high school or speak the way he did. You weren’t sure just yet whether his unashamed self put you off or impressed you.
Once your body had begun to ache from sitting for so long, you leaned forward, pushing yourself past the supplies containing clothes, food, movie, board games to rest a hand along Nancy’s shoulder. “Hey, we’re almost there, right?” you asked, peering at the map stretched across Jonathan’s lap.
He cleared his throat, stretching his legs before muttering, “Yeah, we should be there soon. It’s at the end of the road after we turn onto Lake Street.”
“Oh, is there a lake? Maybe we’ll do some ice fishing,” you suggested, humor in your voice as you leaned back into your seat.
Nancy let out a soft laugh, raising her eyebrows in a “maybe” sort of gesture and glancing to Jonathan.
He merely put his hands up. “You two feel free, but I think I’ll stick inside with all of my fingers warm and still connected to my body.”
With a smile, you returned to the view outside, watching it slowly change from straight county roads to winding dirt ones with trees growing thicker on each side. Swaying branches dusted off snow with each passing breeze.
Old brakes squeaked as Nancy pulled the car next to the cabin. Just as you thought about where the others were, Nancy muttered, “They’re probably not getting here until dark, if it’s those three trying to leave on time.”
You put down “chronically late” into your mental descriptions of Eddie and Robin, imagining Steve standing next to the car and waiting for them like the mom he often acted as. Spending time with the kids sometimes required a small escape like this, or at least it certainly seemed from Nancy’s urging to get away from Mike.
She huffed while getting out, but you just took it as a chance to get first pick at the cabin rooms. Grabbing your bag and hauling along food, you walked to the door as Jonathan asked, “Are we sure this is the right place?”
Glancing down, you saw a snowy welcome mat that said, “Live, Laugh, Love” – you turned around and shouted a giggly “Oh yeah.” Though all laughing died down as you tried turning the knob to open it… but nothing. Of course.
“Hey Nancy,” you called back to her at the car’s trunk, “Did Steve happen to give you a key to getting into this thing?”
You pressed your coat closer against your chest, trying to shield yourself from the wind, though the noisy breeze did nothing to hide Nancy’s sigh. “No, he didn’t. He said they’d be here in time, so it’d be okay.”
Pursing your lips, you nodded at the solemn information. Your breaths out made swirling white in the air in front of you as your boots creaked down the wooden steps. You searched around for a window that could be propped open and crawled through, but most seemed too high off the ground. The others refused to budge, even with all three of you trying to pull. Either they were locked or frozen shut out here.
A thud sounded out when your head rested against the cabin, slowly coming to terms with the rocky start to the getaway. Instead, you all were left inside the car, intermittently turning the car on to get enough heat going without wasting all of the gas. 
“Go fish,” Jonathan told you for what seemed like the hundredth time, making you mutter under your breath.
Your cursing only increased when Nancy asked you, “Got any eights?” You shoved your eight into her hands, ignoring her smug smile and ready to give up on this game. It’d been a couple rounds of her winning every single one.
All of your heads popped up at the same time as rumbling came from behind, eyes catching a large van pulling up on the other side of the front of the cabin. You breathed a sigh of relief at the unmistakable flowing hair of Steve through the passenger seat window after what felt like an hour. “Thank the lord,” you whispered before the three of you clambered out.
Nancy was the first to speak, her nose red like yours. “Steve, if you don’t open this cabin right now, we’re stealing it from you and locking you out.”
You guessed he would’ve had wide eyes and a surprised response, but he looked tired, nodding with a straight mouth. “Yeah, sorry about that,” he said, tossing the keys to her.
The wave and smile Steve your way had you returning them as you went to hug him quick. “You’re so lucky that’s all you’re getting from Nancy. Another half an hour, and you’d be getting much worse threats from me,” you laughed. 
As you turned to grab your things and finally find a warm blanket or bed or shower – something – he sighed out, “Hey, don’t blame me. Eddie here woke up late and was supposed to be the one picking us up. But I appreciate your kindness.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s good to see you though.”
“Good to see you too,” you said, patting his shoulder. And you meant it. That contagious smile and corny jokes were well-missed by you.
Making your way inside with your things, you wrapped your arms around yourself and grumbled under your breath things about Eddie that certainly didn’t help in his favor toward impressing you.
Stomping off the snow from your boots and slipping them off, you rushed through toward the rooms. You found three, which it didn’t take much mental math to figure out it’d have to be two people per room. Jonathan and Nancy would take one of them, leaving you with Steve, Robin, or Eddie. In the moment, though, you didn’t care too much as you picked a room at random and muttered your way into the bathroom with fresh clothes for a hot shower.
The steaming water dripped along your body, slowly warming your frigid fingers and toes. A long breath emptied from your lungs toward the smooth shower tiles, sending a warm shiver through your body. You weren’t sure how long had passed before you eventually turned the shower off, the leaky shower head dripping water droplets over and over again as you stepped out and dressed. 
You exited the bathroom expecting your bags to be right on the bed where you had set them. You had no reason to expect otherwise, until you were met with the chaotic sight in front of you.
Technically, your things were still where you had set them, but they – along with the rest of the bed, most of the floor, the wooden dresser – were covered in clothes, candy wrappers, toiletries, and… were those mini figurines? You only took one step into the room, making the floor creak below you, before a wild wave of hair popped up from the other side of the bed. 
Wide eyes stared into yours, big brown ones that nearly made you forget about the mess. That is until Eddie spoke up. “I uh, lost my Walkman. Tryin’ to find it before I go insane listening to their music.” He motioned his head toward the door with an unamused look on his face.
Listening for a beat, you heard music coming from the living room – which seemed to be “Material Girl” playing. Nodding, you looked around while asking, “Are you sleeping here?”
Eddie still rummaged through his bag as he muttered, “By the time I got in this woodsy cabin, everywhere else had been picked, and Robin was already nearly started the place on fire trying to start the wood stove before Nancy stepped in. So I guess?” He turned to you then. “Are we roomies?”
Between his lateness that caused you to sit in the car and freeze your ass off and having to now dig your things out from his mess, you pressed your mouth tight while thinking of your options. “I’ll be right back,” you told him, flashing a flat smile.
You didn’t give him time to answer before you left, seeking out Steve. You found him in the kitchen unpacking some of the refrigerated food. Walking right next to him, giving him a sweet look, you helped him put away some things.
His sigh filled the quiet space between you two. “What is it?”
“Have I ever told you how good your hair looks, Steve?” you asked.
“Of course. Now, what do you want?”
Groaning, you whispered, “I did not sign up for having Eddie Munson as my ‘snowy getaway’ roommate. Please switch with him. Or with me, I’m sure Robin is better.” You looked at her laughing in the living room while watching Nancy try to teach Jonathan to dance, unsuccessfully.
Steve let out a breathy laugh. “If you find uncontrollable snoring and sleep talking better, then maybe. But I already promised Robin I’d room with her. And you have those freezing fingers that I don’t want to wake up with on my back.”
“I promise I won’t do that, even if you are the greatest furnace I’ve ever known,” you begged.
He looked at you, stopping his unpacking and tilted his head. “What’s wrong with Eddie as your roommate? He’s not all that bad.”
You glanced back to your room to make sure he wasn’t listening. “I’m sure he’s not, but he’s been in there for two minutes and already trashed it. And I’m not exactly the type to share a bed with a stranger.”
“Well you could just talk to him. Or get to know him so you’re not strangers,” he offered, glancing toward the room. Your eyes followed, seeing that Eddie was walking out. You had meant what you said, that he wasn’t terrible – maybe you’d even like his sense of humor or laidback personality. But you already liked the rings wrapped around his fingers and the crinkles around his eyes – and all of that mixed with having to lay mere inches from him all night had you hesitating.
You quickly gritted out, “He could just sleep on the couch though” while bringing a smile to your face as Eddie approached.
Steve looked the same, leaning over to whisper, “Or you could.”
You’d seen the couch, a fancy one that looked as if it hadn’t ever been sat on. Your back hurt from just thinking about using it as a bed. There were no other quiet protests you could give before Eddie made it to you two, the chain on his jeans jingling with each step.
“Harrington, you seen a Walkman around here or in the van?”
Steve shook his head, sending his hair swishing along his face. “I’m sure you just missed it when shoving nearly everything you own into a single bag, Munson.”
“Except for extra underwear. I did forget those,” Eddie said with a sad sort of grin, though it turned happy at seeing your twisted face. “Just messing with you, roomie. Though I did forget toothpaste.” He pretended to bat his eyelashes, silently begging for you to share yours and only stopping once you gave in.
His hand patted Steve’s shoulder before walking away to ask the others whether they’d seen his Walkman. With a tight mouth, you just looked at Steve with pleading eyes.
“He can borrow some of mine,” he offered. 
You leaned your head against his shoulder in a silent “thank you” before making your way back to the room, planning to unearth your bag to settle in. To your surprise, most of Eddie’s things were cleaned up – or at least shoved to one side of the bed, which you appreciated as you opened up your bag, putting away your things into the drawers. 
This was okay. You’d only spend the nights in here, and that was only part of the day. You’d be having fun elsewhere the rest of this time out in the snow or sitting among friends in a nice cabin. This was still going to be a great getaway, no matter what came.
“Oh shit.”
Your head jerked up at the sound, your heart sinking for a moment at hearing Steve say those words. The music quieted down a little, sure someone had turned it down at the outburst. Making your way back, you found everyone else staring at Steve as he ran a hand through his hair.
“Anyone seen the packs of beer?” he asked, his voice low like he already knew the answer.
At everyone shaking their heads, Robin spoke up. “I thought you were bringing them.”
He nodded, putting his other hand on his hip – his classic mom pose. “Yeah, yeah I was. Except they’re back at my house, just sitting on the counter,” he sighed out. “I forgot them when running out of the house when Eddie pulled up.”
Groans echoed out in the space, a quiet “Way to go, Steve” from Robin joining them. 
“Well, how about a trip into town? That could be nice,” Nancy offered, clasping her hands together. “Grab some beer, check out the stores too.”
Jonathan peered out the window, pulling open the blinds. “It’s stopped snowing for a bit. Is it supposed to pick back up?”
You shrugged your shoulders like the others, none of you having bothered to check the forecast. “I’m sure it’s fine. Let’s get this road trip going,” Robin said with a toothy grin.
“We already had a road trip,” you said with a laugh.
“Well, a mini road trip then. Maybe there’s a Family Video there, Steve. We could use our double employee discount to get The Apartment for basically free.”
“Robin, you’ve already seen that literally a hundred times,” he responded.
“But not a hundred and one times.”
You smiled at the sigh he gave as opened up his hand to Nancy. “I can drive.”
Nancy nodded, digging out her car keys before throwing them to him. Most of the others started making their way to the door. Though it wasn’t snowing, you weren’t yet ready to weather the cold so soon again. 
“I might stick back here, if that’s okay. Stay warm for a little longer,” you told them, giving a small smile.
“Want us to pick you up anything?” Robin asked as she shoved a winter hat on her head. 
You waved them off, happy enough to just have the place to yourself for a bit of quiet before everything got going. But your body stilled when Robin turned to look past you, asking, “What about you, Eddie?”
“Besides beer? Nah, I’m good,” his voice sounded. You began to chew on the inside of your cheek, suddenly debating on joining the group after all. Your chances of relaxing went down to zero, instead launching in the other direction of keeping you on edge.
But Steve gave you a pointed look, as if telling you to stay and get along with Eddie. Between his flared nostrils and a breeze pushing through as the front door opened, a fresh wave of frigid air coming through, you just swallowed hard and nodded. You gave them a wave and locked the door after they left, soon watching it pull away.
You could hear your heartbeat in your ears as you slowly turned around, preparing yourself to say something to the near-stranger you shared this cabin (and bed) with. But all you saw was the tail-end of the towel sticking out of Eddie’s back pocket as he walked into the shared room, calling back, “Taking a shower” right before the door shut.
Standing in the middle of the cabin, staring at the space where Eddie had just been, your stomach twisted. This wasn’t going to be as easy as you thought. Leaving you with the empty rooms of the rest of the place, you grabbed a snack from the kitchen and the book you’d left on the counter. Taking a blanket thrown over the back of the uncomfortable-looking couch, you sat in a La-Z-Boy next to it, tucking your feet under yourself.  You weren’t sure how many pages you made it through before leaning your head back and slowly drifting off into sleep, the crackling of the fire and winds gusting outside weighing on your eyelids.
The second Eddie shut that door to shower, his mouth opened in a silent scream as his palms came up to his face. Only once he started the shower did he release a groan, fingers coming up to wind through his hair. He trashed the room of one of the most beautiful people he’d ever seen? God, he must’ve looked so dumb and selfish looking for his Walkman.
Where did he put that damn thing anyway?
And he saw the way you talked with Steve right after, probably begging him to switch rooms. A sharp pang ran through his chest thinking of you running to mother hen Steve to tattle on Eddie – all spiraling because he’d forgotten to set his alarm last night. He deserved a little slack, right?
He would’ve tried to make a better introduction if he knew he’d be meeting you. He was sure someone had mentioned it earlier, but after hours of listening to whatever Steve and Robin deemed “music” in his van before being unable to escape it even here, his mind wasn’t altogether there.
He’d stayed back from the beer run to shelter from more musical soundtracks, but he hadn’t expected you to stay too. So here he was, standing in the bathroom, head resting against the tiled wall as he thought of the least annoying way to share this room – or at least not make you hate him during this weekend. 
Eddie’s shower burned against his skin, scalding water dripping down him and washing away the bad start. The curls of his hair grew heavier as he washed it. At least this place had hot water. 
As he dried off and dressed, his lungs filled deep with breaths and emptied them fully, preparing himself to face you again. Silently opening the door, squeezing his dripping hair with a towel, he padded across the floor back and forth for a while. He wasn’t sure how long he’d spent arguing with himself on how maybe hash this out, occasionally taking breaks to tidy his things further – maybe that’d help? As the sun began to dip toward the horizon, he threw down his towel he’d somehow picked up again to find you and fix this. And find you he did.
His breaths grew much shallower, quieter, at seeing you curled up in that plush chair, blanket and book resting against your body. Though he knew if you woke up to see him staring at you, there was no way you’d stop hating him. But your chest rose and fell in even waves, your eyelids twitching once in a while, your fingers intertwined with one another. And as he was about to turn around and go back into the room to leave you asleep and content – without him – his eyes returned to yours one last time to find them already staring at him.
The scream you let out rang through the air, echoed by expletives from Eddie. Hand clutched to your chest, you gritted out, “Why were you staring at me? You scared the shit out of me!”
His teeth clenched together, eyes wide, as he nearly yelled, “You? You scared the shit out of me. Jesus… just came out to check on you, got a fucking heart attack instead.”
Eyebrows screwed downward, you replied, “Is that how you check on people? By staring at them until they wake up?”
“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes, though not quite as menacing as it could have been. “I’ll leave you out here to die next time, sweetheart.”
“Die? From what? The only thing that’s made me fear for my life was finding a mysterious man standing over me,” you scoffed, a hint of an incredulous smile across your face.
That made his face change, a growing smirk replacing his grimace. “Ah, so you think I’m mysterious,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. He’d changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants, and your eyes flicked down to his forearms more than once. And maybe at the way his damp hair curled against his shoulders.
“Mysterious like a man wearing a trenchcoat at the end of an alleyway, maybe,” you told him with a hint of laughter in your voice, your gaze rising up to see his face screwed tight.
“Yeah, well at least–”
Whatever retort Eddie had fell flat as the phone rang right next to you. Your gaze went between it and Eddie’s for a brief moment before you threw off the blanket and your book just as he scrambled to it as well. But your hand reached it first, your other pushing him away from getting it.
Your fingers grasped the handle, rasping into it, “Hello?”
“He- hello? Can you hear us?” The voice crackled through the receiver, though it sounded familiar. But Eddie by your side whispered, “Who is it?”
“Robin?” you asked, ignoring him.
“Hey!”
“Where are you all? You’ve been gone awhile,” you said, though only guessing from how much darker it seemed outside.
“Oh yeah, about that. We’re in the middle of butt-fuc– Hey!” The sound of rustling and distant voices talking over one another on the other end erupted into your ear before Nancy’s voice came into focus.
“Still there?” she asked, a bit out of breath.
“Still here, Nance,” a smile evident in your voice.
She huffed out a breath before speaking up again. “We’re stuck here in town. Snow blocked my car in while we were shopping – we can’t get it unstuck no matter what we try–” More noise comes from behind before Nancy’s voice comes from farther away as she says, “We are not using Steve for traction.”
You assumed she said that to Robin, and you’d laugh if you weren’t waiting for the other shoe to drop. Nancy let out a long sigh. “No one can come get out to us today… or even a few days if the storm stays this bad.”
Your eyebrows lowered into a deep valley. “Storm?” you asked. You craned your neck toward the nearest window, unable to see much outside with the sun far down now. As you did, you caught Eddie’s face in the reflection looking stern, making you turn to him. 
He waved a hand at you, mouthing something that you only caught every other word of. You mouthed back “What?” but held up a finger as Nancy began speaking again – leaving Eddie with his arms crossed and jaw tightening.
“Yeah. Ugh, I was stupid not to check beforehand. But we’re not making it back tonight.”
“Not at all?” You knew the question didn’t quite make sense, but your eyes flicked to Eddie for a moment, your heart crawling up your throat. All it did was make him whisper-yell at you to tell him what was happening. “What about all of your things here?” you asked, your voice much quieter. There was no way they’d be able to walk all the way back, especially if this snowstorm was as bad as she was saying.
You could practically hear the frustration laced through Nancy’s words. “After we walk to the one motel this town has, we’re going to buy toiletries and things. We’ll try again tomorrow and call you, but in the meantime, are you two okay by yourselves? I know you and Eddie don’t know each other too well.”
Glancing at Eddie again brought his patience to an end, his legs bringing him to your side and holding the receiver between both of your heads to listen. The proximity of his body so close to you all of a sudden had you stepping back, eyes merely blinking at him as you tried to answer, but the way he looked at you didn’t make words come any easier. Eventually, you let out, “Uh, yeah, we should be okay. We brought enough food to last us.”
His gaze held yours, his eyebrows raising high at your words. He mouthed, “Why?” but Nancy responded first.
“Good, good. Okay,” she breathed out, “Sorry about all this, but we’ll hopefully see you tomorrow then.”
You didn’t think Eddie’s face could’ve twisted further in confusion, but you were mistaken. “Yeah, see you, Nance,” you said, your own voice feeling distant from where your mind was at. The line clicked to an end after saying goodbye, the receiver falling limply with your hand.
Before you could even collect your thoughts, Eddie spat out, “Can you finally tell me what the hell is going on?”
Your head jerked back just an inch before your eyes rolled. This was going to be a longer weekend than you ever thought. Instead of answering him, you walked to the cabin’s front door, pulling it open carefully so the wind didn’t fling it off its hinges. Standing there, gazing out into the world, you felt Eddie’s feet walk across the floor until they stopped next to you.
With the front porch lights illuminating the way, you could see heavy flakes pelting down onto growing piles of snow. It wasn’t nearly as much of a surprise as to how their car had gotten buried so fast after seeing how much snow blanketed the world.
“They’re stuck – staying in town tonight,” you finally muttered. “They’re shit out of luck.”
He rubbed a hand down his face, fingers tangling in his hair as a groan rumbled up his throat. “No, we’re shit out of luck. Jesus.”
Despite the view of endless stars littering the sky, goosebumps started littering your skin. Your hands grasped the door handle and pushed it shut and locked before resting your head against the thick wood. 
“Well,” Eddie said from behind, making you turn and watch him shift from one foot to the other, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “At least we don’t have to share a bed anymore.”
You let out a mostly unamused snort, lifting your head to shake it back and forth. “That’s the least of your problems. They had all the beer.”
“Shit…”
The two of you had nearly started a fire and a fistfight in the kitchen while trying to make a late-night dinner. This cabin felt ancient, none of the appliances working how either of you thought they would. Eddie tried to come in to help, hoping it’d mend some sort of relationship between the two of you, but he ended up pulling off one of the dials. Instead, while he piled up logs high into the wood stove for the night, not knowing if any of what he was doing was right, you rummaged through food to make a couple sandwiches.
In silence, you two sat at a creaky dining table and ate a meal that wouldn’t fill you up and that would have you searching for snacks in the middle of the night. But he was having dinner with you, trying to not stare at you too much – though, part of him thought “How could he not?” There was a way you spoke, lived, breathed that had him strangely captivated and wanting to know more.
“So…” he started saying in between bites of his surprisingly delicious sandwich, “do you forgive me yet for scaring you?” He tried to sound sincere, but a wry smile rose along his cheeks.
Tilting your head, you told him, “Might be my memory, but I don’t quite remember you apologizing for it, Eddie.”
As his name rolled off your tongue, he couldn’t stop his face from flushing for a second. But his grin came back almost immediately. “Think it’s your memory then.”
“While how about you refresh it for me,” you said, looking at him expectantly. The crackling of the fire filled the air between you, its heat wrapping around his body while you waited.
A few emotions crossed his face, determining the right way to do this, before he finally said, “Sorry about it.” He shrugged. “Not sure you could blame me for staring me for staring at you, though I didn’t realize you were so jumpy.”
Eddie’s throat felt tighter as he swallowed down the risk he took to say that, but he’d say it a million more times if it meant to see the way you paused, your face turning shy as you looked away. 
“See…” you said, your voice returning to you as you pointed at him with your sandwich, “I don’t think that’s a very good apology. Not sure why it’d make me forgive you.”
“It came from my heart.” His hand came to rest on his chest, right above his heart with a solid thump. His fingertips felt the way it beat just a bit too fast for his liking. His apology wasn’t good, but it got you to talk to him some more, and that felt like enough.
Flat-toned, you told him, “Sounds like you should go to a cardiologist, cause your heart gives shit apologies.”
Dramatically, he pretended to stab a stake through his chest. “Great, now you’ve wounded me.”
“Clean up dinner and I’ll forgive you, okay?” You stood up with a smile you tried to hold back, only moving to the living room once he wordlessly nodded. “Thanks.”
He felt glad you weren’t watching at how fast he put the few ingredients away and tidied up the table. He glanced at you while you gathered up your things, your face a bit shyer as you approached him.
“Gonna get ready and head to bed. See you in the morning, yeah?” you said, making a pang hit his chest in a way that left him confused and nearly breathless. 
“Yeah, sleep well,” he muttered, hands back in his pockets and playing with the coins left in there. 
Standing in the cabin alone as your door shut, only accompanied by the hot fire and chilling winds outside, had Eddie walking to bed with too-loud thoughts. Had he won you over? The way his body seemed to care so much about the answer to that question didn’t help his tiredness as he climbed into bed.
Despite the constantly creaking house under the harsh force of the storm’s wind, the night passed quietly at first, only accompanied by your occasional tossing and turning. You went to Steve and Robin’s bed that night, leaving Eddie in the one you were supposed to share with him. You thought of your friends and hopefully what plans they had in store for all of you once they made it back tomorrow.
Robin had a million movie recommendations for the group to watch. Nancy brought games for you all to play. Mostly, you just wanted to catch up with everyone that you hadn’t seen in awhile, happy to finally find a time to be together, but look where you were…
Sleep came and went, and came and went again until you woke up a few hours later with a chill climbing up your spine. Your weary blinks barely did anything, the room soaked in dark. Though if you had been able to see, you would’ve expected to see your breath billow out into the air. 
How did it get so cold? Squeezing your eyes shut, you willed yourself to curl tighter against yourself and fall back asleep. But it evaded you, slipping away through chilled fingers and goosebump flesh. 
No part of your body agreed, but you slid out of the bed with a blanket wrapped around you. Your feet curled against the cold floor as you made your way to the fire stove, doing your best to not run into anything. 
In the dark, you could spot the last embers in the fire stove still dying out. Shit, you hadn’t been paying attention to where Steve’s family kept the logs. While searching in the dark for a light switch or the logs, pain erupted through your toe as you stubbed it against something. 
A subdued groan stuck in your throat, one hand over your mouth while the other went to your toe as you bent down. Breaths came from your nose in rough bursts, the cold air only making the pain worse. 
Feeling around, you vaguely recognized what you ran into as Eddie’s bag he’d brought out at some point last night. You silently cursed him before making your way to his room, exhaustion fueled by the cold weighing on your eyelids and shoulders, slowing you down.
Fingers wrapped tight around the blanket still, you knocked on his door once, twice, three times… you lost count when he didn’t answer. Fed up, you creaked the door open and whispered, “Eddie?”
Only once you repeated his name louder did he stir, his mouth releasing a groan from beneath the sheets.
“Hey, Munson. Where’s the firewood?” you asked, walking closer to him.
His hand came up to rub at his eyes. “Jesus,” he mumbled, “it’s freezing in here.”
He couldn’t see you roll your eyes, but that didn’t stop you. “Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. The wood stove burned out, where’s more firewood?”
“I used the last of it when I filled it. Thought it’d last us awhile.”
You didn’t want to absolutely lose it on Eddie, but the heat of your frustration felt welcome in your cold body. “You used the last of the firewood in a winter storm? Are you trying to get us killed?”
He sighed out, “I’m sure there’s more somewhere.”
“Where?”
“How should I know?” he asked, sleep still laced through all of his words. You envied him and wanted to strangle him. “We can look in the morning or call Harrington, okay?”
“And what, do we freeze until then?” you asked, pulling your arms in closer to your body. You weren’t sure you had enough layers to last you that long.
Shifting himself over, Eddie offered, “You could join me to share body heat or whatever, or you could leave. Either way, I’m falling asleep in the next 60 seconds.”
Your face twisted, nails digging into the softness of your blanket. Part of you wondered whether freezing during the night would’ve been better than sharing a bed with Eddie, the first thing you tried to avoid after getting here.
But his hand flopped over near you, and you could feel the warmth of him washing onto your thigh. With a final shiver through your spine that you blamed on the cold and nothing else, you grumbled, “Let me in. And watch your hands.”
He held up his hands as if to show you he wouldn’t dare, not that you really expected him to. Climbing into the bed, your body relished in being near him. Your tired muscles loosened with the heat as you curled against him while he laid on his back. 
“Shit!” Eddie nearly yelped as your cold feet accidentally brushed against the skin of his legs. 
“Oh suck it up and warm me, Munson.” You pressed closer to him still despite his protests, and despite the nerves firing inside you. Your blanket stayed wrapped around you like a burrito, acting as a barrier between your bodies at least a little bit. Maybe it’d be enough to let you fall asleep without overthinking all of this.
But the blanket constricted your upper half, so as you wiggled against Eddie to get comfortable, you brought your arm across his chest. Hoping that didn’t go too far, you began to ask him, “Is this oka– are you not wearing a shirt?”
Pulling back a bit, you tried to look him in the eye… and maybe lower. But the darkness obscured any glimpse. 
“Got warm when going to bed. Shirt’s somewhere on the floor. S’that okay?” For once, his voice sounded void of teasing. Instead, you could tell he angled his head to try and get a look at you as well.
Settling back against him, laying your head against his shoulder and pressing your body to his, you nodded. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, of course.” Was it okay? Your fingers rested along his ribs and unable to get the feeling of his bare chest out of your body’s memory.
The weight of his hand resting against your back and the slight tickle of his wild hair brushing along your face warmed more than just your skin. All of this breathed intimate, made you close in more than a physical way.
“Good night, Eddie,” you whispered. Your body began to relax as the chill left in favor of the blooming warmth he provided you.
Against your head, he whispered back, “Good night, sweetheart.” 
You thought sleep would be impossible while wrapped together with him, and while calling you those pet names, but the comfort of your breath falling in line with his had you tipping toward exhaustion. And though you seemed to be bursting with thoughts and questions, Eddie had vowed to go back to bed soon, so you shut your eyes to let him sleep, falling into unconsciousness within moments.
Eddie did not fall asleep soon, not even close to the 60 seconds that he had told you. Not with you snuggled this close to him, your soft breath sliding against his skin with each exhale. He was sure you’d fallen asleep then, little noises sounding from the back of your throat kept his mind racing and his body all too aware of yours.
When your thumb had rubbed back and forth along his skin, his brain went blank then burst back online when his stomach tingled. Did he really have god damn butterflies from that? At least it seemed he’d won you back over from pure annoyance to mild tolerance. 
He hadn’t told you, but he’d been cold too. Eddie absolutely wouldn’t have told you about the way his heart lept into his mouth when asking you to stay in the bed together. Or how wide his smile had gotten when you actually said yes. Each time you twitched, he feared you had gotten cold again or had some bad dream. But there you stayed, in his arms.
No part of him could tell what time it was by the time his tingling nerves finally settled and warmed. Dipping toward unconsciousness, he knew he’d sleep better than he had in a long time. And he did, with you pulled tight against him and refusing to let go.
The sun peeked its body up above the horizon. Light streaming in painted the frosting swirls adorning the window in a rainbow of shades. The absolute silence out here in the winter felt welcome against your ears. Through everything this trip had brought, at least you had time to sleep in. 
And Eddie took full advantage of that. As your eyes blinked open, you found him out cold – but he certainly didn’t feel cold. The first thing touching your awareness was the feeling of Eddie pressed against your back, the rising of his chest and pounding of his heartbeat. His arm wrapped across your ribs and came to rest his hand on top of yours. 
Silently, a soft smile rose on your face as his nose nuzzled against the back of your neck. Who knew he loved to cuddle so much? As each quiet minute passed, you seemed to care less and less about the minor ways he had annoyed you through this trip so far. Well, not completely – but at least this was nicer than bickering with him or being stuck outside.
Despite the chill still in the air, your body ached to stand and stretch. As you slipped from Eddie’s grasp, you glanced back at him. In the morning light drifting past the curtains, you could get a better look at him. But only a short one, not wanting a repeat of what he’d done to you yesterday. Facing you, your gaze took longer than you’d like to escape from staring at his arms and chest or how his hair cascaded across his face and onto the skin of his shoulders.
 He had nice shoulders.
Shaking your head, you opened the door to let him continue resting, which apparently he really needed. While he slept in through most of the morning, you’d managed to make breakfast, get washed up and ready for the day (and covered in many, many layers) and actually read this time – with the record player on its lowest volume. Through the busyness of work and college, you found it hard to capture (let alone appreciate) moments like these anymore.
You’d checked outside again and again to see whether the snow had miraculously melted since you last looked. But each time you pulled back the curtains, the blanket across the land still sat there – though snow continued to fall, it drifted slower now. Its quiet and undisturbed body looked peaceful, comforting in a way despite everything.
Though not unwelcome, the soft air broke once the phone rang. With quick footsteps, you went to it and picked up, rushing out, “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Nancy again,” the voice on the other side breathed through the receiver.
Maybe you should’ve asked how she was or how she slept, you skipped past any pleasantries. “Any good news?” you asked.
The sigh Nance let out told you the answer before her words did. “Wish I had some. Everywhere within a hundred miles is facing exactly what we are. No one’s getting anywhere for a bit, barely even plows.”
You swallowed down a deep groan, your fingers tightening around the phone. “There’s no way you’re getting here today?”
“Maybe, if we’re lucky. I’m sorry.” And she did sound sorry, but she was the one stuck in a motel room in a tiny town buried in snow.
“Don’t worry… I’m sorry you’re roomin’ it in that motel for the time being. And with those two children,” you laughed out, breathing easier when hearing Nancy’s laugh too. You vaguely heard her say something else, but you turned to look at Eddie’s room to see the door open.
Your eyes roamed across his sleepy state as he walked toward you, the back of his hand coming up to rub against his eye as he yawned. His hair laid at odd angles, the curls raining down on a faded Judas Priest shirt he now wore, which hung down onto a pair of black sweatpants. You couldn’t quite look away, a warmth in your chest at seeing him in such a state. Only hearing your name through the phone brings you back.
“Sorry Nance, what was that?” you ask, shaking your head and keeping your gaze elsewhere.
“Just wishing you luck on your extended vacation with Eddie,” she said, a slight humor in her voice, almost as if she knew what just went through your head.
You nodded even though she couldn’t see – maybe she could apparently, or you were just that obvious – but you followed up with, “Yeah, good luck too. Keep us updated?”
“Of course,” she said, and your mouth pressed tight. Perhaps from missing out on this time with her or perhaps from the impending conversation with Eddie in a second. 
“Oh wait!” you said louder, “Please ask Steve where the extra firewood is. We’ve burnt through it.”
Nancy mused out loud, “We should’ve had one of you there when he explained all this. One second, I’ll ask.” You imagined her whispering to Steve while Robin was still asleep.
While sounds of shifting and moving went through the background, you watched as Eddie grabbed the blanket you’d been using on the couch and wrapped himself in a burrito. You turned away to hide your smile, thankful Nancy came back.
“Hey, he says it’s out back in a log rack. And that you only need to put some in the stove at a time, not too many or it’ll burn out faster,” she explained to you. 
You thanked her, and the click of putting the receiver back echoed through the room. A silence settled before Eddie finally asked, “They on their way back yet?”
Leaning back against the kitchen counter, you angled toward him as you answered, “Uh, no. Quite the opposite, actually. There’s a small chance they get back today.” Gesturing to the window with the head, you followed with, “Snow’s probably not stopping soon.”
You allowed yourself to glance back at him while he looked past the curtains, knocking his head against the glass with a groan. “This storm has a vengeance against my quest for beer.”
Letting a laugh out through your nose caused him to stare at you, eyebrows furrowing in a way to ask you what was so funny. Shrugging, you told him, “You certainly have a flair for dramatics.”
He crossed his arms as he stood tall. “Maybe you’re not being dramatic enough. We’re stuck here for a whole weekend.”
With wide eyes, you asked, “Oh, having to stay here with me calls for melodrama and agony?” Eddie’s face looked hesitant, even speechless for a second, until you were unable to hold back your smile anymore.
His eyes roll back, his usual demeanor coming back quickly. “You’re the one that didn’t want to share a bed with me, sweetheart.”
Your fingers came to pick at the hem of your shirt, eyes drifting downward. Your grin fell, throat tight as you struggled to explain yourself. “I, uh…”
His shrug followed with, “S’alright. We made up for it last night.” He let out a small laugh, one that didn’t quite ease your embarrassment. “Where’s this firewood though? Freezing my tits off here.”
That did get a giggle from you and let your shoulders ease a little. If Steve were here, he’d give you an “I told you so” about communication or whatever, but you were just glad Eddie wasn’t too upset.
Still, you couldn’t stop your sigh as you told him, “Firewood’s out back in some log rack apparently.”
Raising his eyebrows and pulling his blanket tighter, all he offered was, “Well, good luck. Have fun with that. I’ll be here to warm you up again when you get back.”
“Ahh… no. You’re the reason it burned out in the middle of the night. So if anyone is going out by themselves, it’s you, Munson.” You crossed your arms, letting the silence grow louder as you two stared each other down.
“Fine! We’ll both go,” Eddie gritted out, shuffling back to his room. You slipped on boots, a hat (or two), gloves, and your coat. You were plenty tired of the all too familiar chill aching through your body.
But as Eddie came back out, you barely contained an explosive laugh at seeing him covered up. A ratty sweatshirt bulged against him, clear that he wore many layers beneath it. And he at least had on two pairs of pants. 
“Not one word,” he muttered, about to grab his shoes when you convinced him to wear Steve’s boots he’d left here. You also spent too long forcing him to put on a hat – it would “ruin this perfect hairdo” he told you, but you won out.
You were sure the two of you resembled young children bundled up and unable to move well by the time you opened up the front door. The porch allowed you to open it at all, unlike the back door that had a growing wall of snow barricading it.
Both of your boots crunched as you walked around the cabin. Despite trying to shield your face from the wind that seemed to come from every direction, the view you had certainly didn’t get old. Thick trees weighed down with fresh snow all spanning for miles, looking like a scene out of an old Christmas movie.
Nearing the other side, you spotted a rack with a tarp over it, sure to be piled high with logs. Your freezing fingers clenched at the promise of warmth soon. Just as you were about to look for the logs, you felt a thud against your back along with muffled laughter. Eyes narrowed and jaw tight, you turned around to see Eddie very obviously looking away from you, pretending nothing happened – like he didn’t just pelt you with a snowball. 
But in his act, he didn’t see you bend down to form your own snowball between your gloved hands. Packing it tight, you pulled back your arm and let it fly, hitting him square in the chest as he turned toward you at the last second.
There was no stopping the shit-eating grin on your face at his mouth dropping open or the way his gaze steeled. The look pierced past all the ridiculous layers, making you feel a little less cold out there. The way his head tilted to the side, awaiting him to make some cocky comment that’d have you internally stuttering – it kept you still, even as he bent down.
“Oh, you are so fucked,” he told you, packing another snowball.
He had no idea how right he was.
The second he stood back up with his ammo, your legs took off in the other direction, feet slipping through the snow as you ran from him. Though the icy air sharpened against your face, your grin stayed, now accompanied by uncontrollable laughter as Eddie chased you.
Rounding the next side of the house, you slipped around the corner to press against the wall, hiding from his view. His own laughter grew louder as he followed, making your teeth sink into your lip to stop from letting out any noise.
As he ran full speed around the corner, which wasn’t that fast in knee deep snow that wormed its way into your boots, you jumped out at him. Your hands landed on his shoulders with a slap, forcing a scream from his throat and his hand to release the snowball.
But he flew back in surprise, his legs tangling with yours and bringing you both down into the sea of snow. White powder billowed up and around your bodies, some of it wiggling into your exposed neck and wrists.
And yet, you weren’t complaining as you landed with your body pressed against Eddie’s, half of your chest on top of his – your faces only a breath apart.
Perhaps you should’ve scrambled back, apologized, or even laughed at him for screaming, but you admired the snowflakes littering his dark hair like constellations against a night sky. Then you glanced to the soft red covering his cheeks and nose, sure that it came from the cold but hoped it grew from something more.
Eddie’s breathing rose and fell beneath you, pressing close and then all too far a second later. You thought you might’ve caught his doe eyes glancing toward your mouth, yours doing just the same, but as he shifted closer, more snow dipped on the back of his neck and down his coat.
“Shit!” he yelled, flying up to try and shake it out, breaking whatever had held you two together for that all too brief moment. 
You sat there with a smile, watching him scramble to rid himself of the quickly melting snow. Letting out a long sigh, you stood up and waited until he calmed before nodding your head back toward the logs.
Moment broken indeed as you began to sweat trying to grab as many logs in your arms as possible – no part of you wanting to trudge back out here. Between the two of you, there stood (balanced precariously, really) a sizable amount of logs to fuel the wood stove for a while.
Your body felt a little lighter as the layers of clothes dropped to the floor, your cold cheeks beginning to warm up back inside and out of the wind. This time, you loaded the logs and set the stove ablaze, declaring the spot directly in front as yours for the next half hour.
Eddie, of course, had none of that. He plopped himself next to you, pressed against your side – claiming “it had the most heat, stop hogging it.”
You didn’t stop, not when the still-warming skin of your arm goosebumped as it touched his. The veins running along his forearm occupied most of your thoughts while you two sat there in silence, only interrupted by occasional complaining of a different body part being cold and cursing of this storm.
“You warmed up?” Eddie asked, turning his head to look at you. 
If you turned to him, you’d get caught up in the deep brown of his eyes or how soft his lips looked, so continued staring at the flames in front of you. You’d been plenty warm for some time now, but if you told him that, then you’d have to leave his side.
But before you could speak, he brought a hand up to scratch at his neck as he continued, “Cause I was thinking we could watch one of those movies Robin brought.”
Oh, that you could do. “Yeah. You can pick, I’ll go search for that popcorn Nancy put somewhere,” you said, getting up and finding it before he noticed how scattered your brain was becoming. 
The TV came to life as kernels popped in the pan you shook on the stove. As you watched each one burst, the nerves of being with Eddie settled back in your body, sleeping against your spine. This weekend hadn’t gone as any of you expected, especially not with seeing this near stranger as cute, charming even – not that you’d tell him that.
And rather than watch The Apartment as planned, you realized you didn’t want Eddie to be a stranger anymore. So you pestered him with questions, not that he seemed bothered. You loved hearing about Uncle Wayne and the auto shop Eddie worked at, or his D&D campaign he was planning at the moment.  Not with that smile when you told him about your family, friends, and how work was going. He even vowed to fight your annoying coworker if he ever saw him in public – like you had promised to check out Corroded Coffin when you made it back.
“Like, I know we fight literal demons in our game, but are you sure Tanner isn’t one of them? I mean, who falls asleep in the only bathroom? And locks it!” Eddie said, shaking his head as he filled his mouth with more popcorn.
“Right?” you said in between salty bites, “But as long he doesn’t show up at The Hideout, I’m coming for your show next month.”
And you’d give him a million more promises if it meant making that look spread across his face again – excited grin, cheeks squishing up to make his shining eyes shut. Wow. Maybe you’d put too many logs in, the air feeling much warmer now.
But it was easy, so surprisingly simple to spend the day with Eddie. He played you some of his favorite songs while you both laid on the ground, heads next to each other but feet pointing opposite directions. Every time he bopped his head to the beats, his hair brushed against you. The way his hands shot up to play an imaginary guitar and softly mouth the lyrics had you holding back giggles. 
This time, he tried making you dinner. And he did make a surprisingly good plate of pasta – without burning the whole place down. While eating, he nodded along to what you said as if every word quenched some sort of thirst he had for listening to you, for learning everything there was about you. He had this air about him of confidence, but past that, in those soft moments, you saw him settle into a quieter form of himself – one that calmed you too.
And reaching the end of the night, you awaited his question. Whether you’d be staying in his bed again. The fire was fixed; it’d stay lit throughout the night. But the two of you threw on another movie, maybe just so you didn’t have to confront that just yet in case you would separate ways. Your eyelids drooped and you yawned so hard it shook through your body. And that tiredness made your decision just a little easier.
“Hey,” Eddie whispered, resting his hand on your arm and shaking it gently. “Let’s get to bed, alright?”
Your head had drifted down until it rested against his shoulder, so it ruffled his shirt as you gave him a few sleepy nods. Shutting the TV off, he grabbed your hand and led you toward the bedrooms. As he slowed at the split between the two doorways, you kept shuffling your feet, pulling him into his room. Not bothering with getting ready, afraid it would break the unspoken moment between you two, you climbed into the bed and took the leap, holding out your arm as he had the night before.
God, he took the space next to you so quick. But he kept his movements gentle, not wanting to rock you out of your sleepy state in case it woke you from this dream you’d created. Eddie settled in, wrapping himself around you and under the covers. Jesus, he spent all night working up a way to ask you for this.
A deep sigh loosened from his lungs that you had done it instead. Maybe it’d been the way your eyes lit up whenever he made you laugh before they shut as you turned breathless, clutching your stomach. Or how excited you got talking about your favorite show at the time, your hands flying through the air. 
It’s not that you were intimidating, but you sure made him feel intimidated – nervous that he’d say the wrong thing and make that beautiful smile drop. But it didn’t. He could still see it in the faint light coming from the hallway, and it only grew as he pressed his body against yours.
Eddie really wanted to stay awake, on purpose this time. To enjoy this time as he stroked a thumb along the soft skin of your hip peeking out from under your shirt. But your heartbeat pumped against him, your breath made his fall in line to yours like a steady conductor – leading him right into sleep along with you. And he followed you without question.
It was in the late morning that you it happened, it finally came together. Half-awake, you laid your arm on the one wrapped along your stomach. It pulled against you, bringing you closer to the chest behind you. You weren’t yet aware enough to recognize that you weren’t dreaming, that it was Eddie also on the cusp of sleep holding you.
Not until did his lips connect to the point where your neck slopes into your shoulder did your eyes shoot open, any bit of tiredness inside you disappearing in a moment. Your head turned back to look at him, seeing his own eyes shut before also blinking open at your sudden movement.
He glanced between where he’d just kissed and your face, a blush rising to his cheeks as his mouth opened and closed wordlessly. “I, uh… I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry, um…” he stammered out before pulling his arm and scooting back until no part of him touched you anymore.
You’d done it – you’d broken the tension in the ugliest way, and you felt cold without him there. Turning to fully face him, you rambled to try to fix this in some way. “No, no, it’s okay. Don’t be sorry, really I should be the one sorry for taking your bed and forcing you to sleep next to me–”
“You didn’t force me–”
“But it’s really okay because it was cold that first night and so it made sense. And we both weren’t really awake just now, and–” You’d gotten up now to pace, unable to look him in the eyes anymore. You didn’t want that extra space between you, but he’d done it first and maybe that’s what he actually wanted.
Shit. Shit. Shit. How could he kiss you in his sleep? What a god damn idiot. Though he understood why he did it, watching you pace and float through the room like some angel he felt undeserved to kiss.
As you glanced at him for just a second, you saw the way his fists squeezed the blanket between his fingers. Oh, how could you have been so stupid to misinterpret things, and now you’ve made him uncomfortable.
Taking a long breath, you finished with, “I’m sorry, Eddie.” Your hand clasped onto your other one as you shifted from foot to foot.
With a hand rubbing down his face, he shook his head. “I’m the one that kissed you, and you’re apologizing,” he laughed out. “I didn’t mean to do that, especially without asking or something first, Jesus.”
You barely heard his next words that he spoke to himself, but your ears held on to every word. “Maybe my subconscious had gotten into my thoughts…”
Your teeth dug into the inside of your cheek as you contemplated your next sentence, the rabid butterflies ravaging your stomach. Pursing your lips, you quietly asked, “So… you would have wanted to do that if we were both awake?”
And his face shot up, those eyes the color of melting chocolate meeting yours. He climbed from his side of the bed, shuffling toward you – one of his steps for every three of your racing heartbeats. “Yeah, of course. But I didn’t even ask if you wanted that…” he said, leaving his unspoken question hang in the air.
Fighting the smile trying to rise up, you said, “So, you should probably ask then, Munson.” And the kind light shining from his eyes turned brighter into a tall flame threatening to burn you both. There it was, that cocky way he had.
His hand reached to grab yours, giving it a squeeze before he finally said it. “Can I kiss you?” he whispered, gaze unsure of where to stay, definitely your mouth it seemed.
You tried to come up with a million different ways to say yes, to tell him that you couldn’t stand another second without him being pressed against you again. As your mouth opened, a creaking noise came from the front of the cabin, followed by voices.
“We’re alive!” Steve shouted as the group walked through the door and stomped off snow from their shoes. Other words shot through the air, destroying the haven the two of you had made. Dropping your forehead against Eddie’s, you sighed out a breathless “Yes” that fell flat against his cheek.
Fuckin’ Harrington.
--
A/n: ​Thank you so much for reading. Reblogging and commenting make my day (and make me love you), so I’d love to hear what you thought! <3
690 notes · View notes
cass-rambles · 2 years
Note
Head Engineer Mark entering the universe where Mack and Captain is and completely ruining the chance for Mack to confess his.. undying love for the captain. (Tsundere vibes)
Their thoughts would probably be like this;
Mack; "Not another disruption! After I had just worked up every atom in my body to have the courage to confess, too!"
Mark; "Who is this? Why did he sound like he was gonna confess to the Capta-. Wait a minute."
Captain; "Oh, there's the person I've given up on looking for!"
ANON THAT IS A GREAT AND HILARIOUS IDEA, THANK YOU!!
also making this a poly-relationship with mark/captain/mack bc I can!!
⚠ WARNING;; This gets a bit spicy ;) but no smut or something, just a bit of non-pg stuff
❃.✮:▹
➷ As soon as Mark is dropped onto the floor next to Mack, trying to get out his confession, everything freezes. They look back and forth between each other and you before erupting simultaneously in screams.
➷ Que Captian going “What the fuck is going on?”
➷ It's a bit hard to get them to all calm down, but soon they both settle on listening to your explanation, clearly unhappy with each other's presence.
“Captain, so what you're saying is - that Mark - Is some kind of different version of me? Like a walmart Mack?”
“A walm- Excuse me?! You're obviously the cheaper version of me you prick! Besides me and the Captain go wayyy back. Tone down your sucking up.”
➷ You end up watching them wrestle, with Chica nuzzled into your lap, the two of you exhausted of the constant arguing. While yes, it was hilarious to watch them try to one up the other, how long could they go on like that?
(Answer: Hours.)
➷ Eventually the men return to focusing on you, both eager to say something.
“Captain can we continue our conversation? Preferably without this destructive dumbass.”
“Captain, I'd also like to have your sole attention for a few minutes, away from this egotistical dick.”
“Guys, I really love you both, I really do, but I cannot handle your fights or having to choose between you. Sort this out yourself. Good luck big boys~!”
You proceed to leave with a happy Chica trailing behind you, leaving them equally baffled.
➷ At exactly three hours after that, they both return to you, flushed.
“Soo, Captain... We made an agreement. Me and Mark. And we've promised not to argue while you're around.”
“Yup! We'll be as quiet as a mouse.”
You give them a doubtful glare, but reply that it's a good agreement.
“Alright then. Challenge number one: Both of you come here and cuddle me.” you say with the most shit-eating grin the two of them had ever seen in their lifes.
Mark is the one to break out of shock and embarrassment first, snuggling up to your left side. He chuckles into your neck, hands pulling you even more towards his body before Mack suddenly pops up on your right side, scowling at the other man.
“Don't grab them so roughly, you'll leave bruises.”
“Okay, okay. But maybe they want me to bruise them. To leave marks. I bet you wouldn't mind that, would you Captain?”
His hands squeeze lightly your hips and your neck, giving a wolfish grin to Mack. You try not to react to it, but it's nearly impossible to suppress the heat emanating from your whole face now.
“What a ‘gentleman’ you are, Mark.”
Mack sneered at him before grinning at you, devilish sparks dancing inside his eyes.
“But I think they'd prefer a bruising kiss, rather then just a bruised body part.”
Maybe you could handle their rivalry, so long they kept it that way and not violently.
➷ “You know, as much as I both love hearing you two talk, I bet that you could put your mouths to better use. On your knees, would be even better.”
They both shiver at your remark, red as traffic lights.
“Be good for me and maybe, who knows, you'll be rewarded. I'm sure you two lovelies can do so much more than just bicker.”
➷ Turns out they both have praise kinks. (Not really that much of a surprise but oh well-)
➷ The three of you fumble a bit at first, as Mark was more open with PDA and Mack preferred to show affection behind closed doors, but you made it work. While Mack doesn't shower you two with kisses, he brings you both coffee every morning before your separate duties. Usually accompanied by a teasing “I trust you not to blow up this ship!”
➷ Mark however loves to pepper in cheek kisses and forehead ones when the crew is busy, leaving you giggling and Mack trying to wave off the man like some kind of insect, still crimson.
➷ For some time you wondered how Mark and Mack were doing, how was their separate relationship, but you got enough of an answer, walking in on them.
(Mack's shoved into the wall, breath staggering, his neck covered with small hickeys, blooming more and more because of the other head engineer nearly caging him.
He groans at the impact, but it soon turns into a half-muffled whimper when Mark finally, finally, stops teasing him and kisses.
“Look. At. You. Barely even did anything besides marking you and you're melting in my arms. Huh. Never knew you'd be such a slut for someone who's ‘beneath you’, ‘reckless’ and a thousand other negatives.”
“Didn't - please - expect either.”
Mack tries to shuffle, attempting to position himself better before his chin is grabbed and forced straightforward.
“C’mon, stay still for me sweetheart. You're making me want to fuck you brainless with not a single quip able to come out, even more.”
You leave them to their own devices, smiling knowingly.
“Took’em long enough.”)
◃:✮.❃
Anyways, hope ya liked it anon! Sorry if you expected angst or something, my brain just went "crack n spicy stuff!!! now!! no sad involved!!" so I had to do it
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sim-berry · 5 months
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Reminders for the upcoming TS4 update!
Simmers, the new expansion pack For Rent comes out on December 7th and as we all know, big updates can mess with your game especially if you use mods. I've learned my lesson from the last few updates and I'd like to give some suggestions to help!
Note: I use the EA App for Sims 4, on a Windows computer. The methods I describe here will probably not apply to MAC users. I also don't know if these work for pirated games so just be careful!
-BACK UP YOUR SAVES. Just in case your save gets corrupted or the update somehow manages to lose your saves (this has happened to me- after the update, my saves were gone). Here's what I do:
Navigate to your "Sims 4" folder. In my case it's Documents>Electronic Arts>Sims 4.
Find your "saves" folder and right-click to copy it.
Paste your copy of your saves folder to your desktop (some people paste to their external hard drive as well, but I'm not sure how to do this)
Right click on your copy to rename it. It's a good idea to write the date on which you copied your folder. Here's my current backup:
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Your saves are now backed up! If you lose your files in the game or they become corrupted, open up your backup folder, then select and copy all the files in the folder and then paste them into your actual saves folder. Your saves will then be restored! You should do this every so often just in case. I try and back up my saves once a month.
-Turn off automatic updates. This way you can choose when to update your game. I personally wait until mod creators start updating their mods and then update the game.
Open the EA App and head to your settings, then the "downloads" tab.
Turn off the "update games automatically" option.
When you're ready, update the game and enjoy!
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-Follow mod creators on social media. If you use mods, it's a good idea to keep up with updates and what the creators are up to. When there's a huge Sims update, many mods (especially script mods) tend to break and need to be updated by the creators. Keeping up with them allows you to see what their plans are for updating the mods. Creators use many different platforms, but from what I've seen most tend to use Tumblr, Patreon, and Twitter/X to post updates. If I find a mod I really like, I always follow the creator. They also deserve tons of support for their amazing work!
-Know which mods are broken and updated. In addition to following mod creators, there are multiple threads that log all mods with each update. They tell us which mods are broken, which are updated, and which were unaffected by the update. If you're experiencing a glitch with a mod, you can report it on these threads. Here are examples of threads from previous updates:
Always check these before writing to an official Sims/EA forum about a glitch. If you use script mods, the bugs you're experiencing will most likely be from these mods. Also, if you use UI mods like UI Cheats, don't freak out if your UI looks like this:
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Your game isn't corrupted, the mod is just outdated. UI Cheats almost always breaks after a big update. The creator of UI Cheats updates frequently, so make sure to check up on their Patreon page.
-Check in with the community if you have a bug. The Sims Forums, r/Sims4 on Reddit, and Simblr are good places to go if you have a question about a bug you're having. r/Sims4 was a lifesaver for everyone who had the dreaded tooth glitch in Growing Together. If you're having a non-mod related bug, chances are others are having it too, so don't feel afraid to ask!
I hope this helps some of my fellow simmers. Good luck with the new update and pack, I can't wait to see how my favorite Simblrs use it in their stories and gameplays!💖
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myfirstgamejam · 9 months
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My First Game Jam Summer 2022 is on!
The optional theme is: "Cycles"
Here’s a few tips and links to get the most out of the jam.
Make a dev log on the community!
A development blog is a blog in which a game developer or team talks about the process they’ve made over the course of the game’s creation. Maintaining a devblog keeps your audience in the know and helps facilitate productivity so you’ll have something to blog about. It also serves as a record of problems you encounter as well as the solutions you find for those problems.
Development logs are essentially the same thing, except we’ll be using the jam forums rather than a blog. However, you are free to use both the forums and your own blog as you develop your game.
Doing so is not necessary at all, but check out all the logs from last jam! In order to get the most out of your jam experience, it is vital that you interact with your fellow jammers and the community surrounding it. They’ll provide valuable feedback and support to help you along the way. So please, we encourage you to mingle, post in other logs, and of course post your own!
In addition, you are encouraged to add images and gifs. Here’s some programs to help facilitate that:
ShareX
Greenshot - a free and open source screenshot tool for productivity
Lightshot — screenshot tool for Mac & Win
Gyazo
ScreenToGif
Licecap
Start your dev log today!
Respect your community!
Take a moment to review our code of conduct. We strive to create a safe, supportive, and productive environment, and we appreciate your efforts to make our community welcoming for everyone!
Post daily updates!
Post screenshots or fun mishaps to your dev log, twitter, tumblr, or your own blog to track your progress and get feedback. Tag your posts as #MyFirstGameJam so other jammers can find your work! To get the most exposure you can also tag #gamedev or #ScreenshotSaturday for Saturdays! Share your work and link back to your devlog to get feedback.
Manage your time and tasks!
We updated our list of useful time and task management tools with tips and ideas for staying on top of your project. Set goals early and keep track of how fast it takes you to reach them!
Use our resources!
Still deciding on an engine? No problem. Check out this post to see what fits your project best or try the sortingh.at!
Unity resources
Gamemaker resources
RPGMaker resources
Ren'py resources
Twine resources
Free assets
Winter jam resource list
Resources tag on blog
If you still have questions about the jam itself, take a look at our rules page!
Join the jam chat!
Want to share your work or ask for help? Or even just take a break from dev? Join discord chat here! (Please note you must be at least 14 years old to join!) Feel free to say hi and share your work! If you need help with a specific skill or engine, you can @Unity or @2D Art to notify mentors. If you think you would like to help other people with some part of games–join us as a mentor! You can get notifications when someone has a question about engines or skills you have expertise in!
Here’s a quick guide to how you can become a mentor.
Heed advice from previous jammers
This jam we took the time to write up a quick summary of advice from previous jammers: Know how to scope.
You can read about the number one game jam killer here!
Take care of yourself!
Game-making can be exhausting as well as rewarding! You are more important than your work, and we compiled a list of helpful tools for getting the most out of you!
Aaaand good luck!
Game dev can be exciting, frustrating, and extremely rewarding. We hope to give you the tools to help you succeed in your goals in the next two weeks!
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Olfactory memory is the wildest thing.
The other day I was just sitting and waiting for my class and I randomly started smelling something that would NOT stop putting the thought of Good Luck Charlie in my head and I had no idea why. I mean, I hadn’t even thought of Good Luck Charlie in such a long time, and now I had the theme song playing in my head. As I sat there, perplexed at how a smell could remind me of any TV show, let alone such a random one from my childhood, it suddenly hit me what the smell reminded me of. Those squishy cake toys.
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I think it was May of 2017 when I had received one of these from a friend as a party favor from her 13th birthday party. I loved it. I mean, I was infatuated by it. It smelled (kind of?) like strawberries, and you could squish it every which way and it would slowly grow back to its normal size and shape. It really wasn’t all that exciting or remarkable, but I loved it. I would be holding it, squishing it, smelling it, all of the sensory aspects that I could possibly take in from that toy, all throughout the summer of 2017 (especially the early summer).
I didn’t watch Disney channel growing up (for what I used to think was because my parents didn’t want me to watch it, but it turns out we just didn’t have access to it for a while) and I wasn’t really allowed to watch YouTube on my own because of negative experiences my parents had had with my older sister, which had made them more stringent on rules. Of course I, being the big Rule-Breaker I was, would disregard (or rather find loopholes for) these rules, and use google docs (I think an “explore” section or something? I haven’t used google docs in years) to watch, prepare yourselves, Good Luck Charlie (as well as other Disney Channel shows and random Harry Potter behind the scenes videos). Literally any chance I could get, I would use my family’s ten year old mac and find my crusty headphones and hide away in my rooms so I could be such a rule breaker and watch Good Luck Charlie. And of course, the super blurry and grainy, filmed from another screen type of videos. I would pause the video every minute or so to make sure I didn’t hear any approaching footsteps, and if I did, I would quickly switch to a different google docs tab and show them how I was “working on writing stories”. As time went on, I would sneak onto pinterest so I could see screenshots of Tumblr posts because in my little middle school mind, anyone who posted funny things on Tumblr was a celebrity who deserved my utmost respect. If you posted on Tumblr in 2017 or earlier, just know that little me was your biggest fan. But before that, I was just a girl who secretly watched grainy videos of Good Luck Charlie while I played with my squishy cake toy and thought I was the biggest rule breaker in the world.
(I just thought I should share.)
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rachaeljurassic · 1 year
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So, I'm five episodes in, having a blast. So I guess it's first impressions time.
Phryne - glorious and yes, definitely Jenny in the 20's (and did I mention how much I have always loved the 20's). Jenny needed some of those outfits, she'd have slayed. But I digress. So, clearly came from a poor background and a nurse during the war. Some troubling stuff has been hinted at and I guess we'll find out some day. I love the fact that she just does her thing and hang the rest. I love that she sees something (or someone) she wants and takes it (him). I am outraged at how many people seem to think that they can shoot at her, manhandle her and hit her with books, crow bars and the like. Up with this I shall not put! Anyway, she's 😍 Hard to pick a favourite moment but swinging off the back of a train was a highlight
Jack - I love his face, and yes, he has the same still-waters-run-deep feel as Giles, the same soft and somewhat sad face. Giles needs Jack's hats and that long coat, I swear to god!! But back to Jack. Also in the war, clearly not a good time :/ and now we have it, his wife has essentially left him. Damn that ending. They both know that's fucked that then 😭 Of course that won't stop them invading each other's personal space and sharing drinks and confidences, and generally driving each other (and me) insane. Not liking his wife that much right now 😡 maybe we'll get more on that. Anyway, he has a certain air of melancholy that I ALWAYS find attractive. AND he's a trouble making ex-striker, marvelous 😁 Favourite moment - any time he has to bite his lip around Phryne
Dot - sweeite, ridiculously brave, terrible clothes, good taste in men, a rock, possibly needs to stop praying for Hugh to turn Catholic lol NOBODY HURTS DOT I WILL COME DOWN ON THEM SO HARD 😡Favourite moment - manipulating Bert and Cec into working together, any time she gets embarrassed over Hugh
Hugh - sunshine, also a sweetie, love how Phryne is helping him look impressive in front of Jack (even though Jack is TOTALLY on to that). Probably needs to know when NOT to blurt out all the info to Phryne if he wants to continue to impress Jack (although he doesn't seem to mind that much in the end) Favourite moment - him seeing her with lipstick on, poor boy
Mr Butler - mind reader, ready for anything, has taken to Phryne remarkably well, could have been a bit of a cliched disapproving butler, so glad he's not, I like the slight hints at the relationship between him and Dot - Favourite moment - him having the right vase ready for the flowers
Jane - so glad she got adopted 😁 I love that Phryne backs her up and that Jane is a super sluth too. Nobody better come near her or I will throw hands! Favourite moment - giving Phryne the diary
Aunt P - As a long time fan of Miriam Margolyes I LOVE HER. MM does disapproval so well (which is hysterical given her personality - I was listening to Radio 4 recently when she was talking about Jeremy Hunt (the original rhyming slang), and I quote “The thing is, when I saw him there, I just said, ‘you’ve got a hell of a job, best of luck’. And what I really wanted to say was, ‘fuck you, bastard’. But you can’t say that!” I lmfao) Favourite moment - damn that's hard, any time she looks outraged by Phryne
Bert and Cec - I'll be honest, I don't know which is which but they're great guys, who I always enjoy, and Phryne definitely needs them watching her back!!!! Favourite moment - being hood winked into helping Phyrne move house
And Doctor Mac 😍 I love her clothes, I love the way she sits, I hate that she's not in it much. Come back to me Doctor Mac 🥰🥰🥰 jhggjhghjk walking around in those suits and waistcoats, how dare you ma'am! Sciencing. All of it
Favourite episode - possibly the train one (I'm not sure, was that 1x03? I don't know the titles in English I'm afraid). I mean it had the first no-understanding-of-personal-space moment that was 100% blatant IMO lol (although the 1x04 gratin moment diserves an honourable mention and elevates that entire episode 😁). tbh I've thoroughly enjoyed them all
🥰
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emilykat-artblog18 · 7 months
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The Other Port
(Chapter 5)
.:: Scraping It Off ::.
Ten cents slowly began to wake up, he began to contemplate the events that unfolded last night. It felt like such a weird dream and yet it felt so real, The Other Captain, Other O.J. and Top Hat, even Sunshine was there too. Was it even a dream?
Then Ten Cents began to realize something; It was morning, the barracks looked… normal. Gone was the lively, rich, bright, and colorful bedroom, now he was back to plain boring barracks he knew.
“Are we back in our world?...” Ten Cents whispers to himself not feeling sure if they’re really back.
Ten Cents gets off from his bunk bed and looks on the bunk above him to see if Sunshine was okay. He was relieved when he saw Sunshine still here and sleeping peacefully.
“Maybe this was a crazy dream after all,” Ten Cents thought to himself as he began to wake Sunshine up in a calm and gentle manner. “SUNSHINE! GET UP IT’S MORNING!!”
Sunshine jolted awake from the sudden loud voice from Ten Cents, “What?! What?! What’s going on?!” Sunshine shouted, looked around and noticed how everything was back to normal.
“Ten Cents, What was that for?!” Sunshine shouted,
“Hey, you know i’m just messing with ya” teased Ten Cents
“But not when I'm sleeping, man.” Sunshine remarked, sighing in frustration.
“Not while we’re sleeping too,” a voice suddenly spoke up accompanied by a head poking up from another bunk; It was Top Hat,
“We’re working in a difficult time, you two. We employees of Star Tug & Marine have a position to keep up, we need to get as much rest as we can so we have more energy to do work early in the morning.”
Before Ten Cents could reply, a pair of groans cut him off, “Come off it, Top Hat, at least they’re up early and bright, unlike you,” Big Mac scoffed, Warrior laughed at this.
Before Top Hat could retort, the PA speaker turned on, accompanied by small feedback from it.
“Good Morning Star Fleet, I see everyone is already up so we can skip the wake up call and get to the announcements. As of now we’re going to have to work even harder than before for this week following the accident that occurred yesterday. Big Mac and Warrior you’re going to be assisting Hercules with the docking and unloading of another tramper, Top Hat you're on garbage detail today after that you’re to transport the rail fairies across the port, and since O.J isn’t available, I’ll have to ask Captain Zero to lend one of his employees to do his duties in the meantime-”
“But Captain,” protested Top Hat, “can’t one of us do O.J’s jobs, we’re more than capable of handling his work as well as our own.”
“I would but I’m afraid O.J’s duties would be too much to handle on top of your already scheduled duties. And I can’t spare my youngest employees to do them because of what happened recently.”
“Can’t we just do O.J’s work as a punishment?” asked Sunshine.
I let out a sigh, “I would Sunshine, but I’m afraid that because of the companies you three kept waiting as well as making a fool out of the company in front of the tramper’s crew, no one at the moment is going to trust you with your duties.”
I couldn’t see the expressions of my young employees, but I could sense they felt worse after what I said.
“You three are just going to have to start from the bottom and work yourselves back to the top starting with scraping the barnacles off of pier 3, Scuttlebutt Pete will meet you there and supervise your work. That is all, best of luck to all of you.”
The P.A speaker let out a crack and a squeal as I turned it off. All of my employees set off to do their assigned jobs of the day, as they walked out the entrance Ten Cents and Sunshine couldn’t help but feel as though Top Hat was staring coldly at them.
Ten Cents and Sunshine were quiet to each other as they made their way to Pier 3. Some ways into their journey, Ten Cents decided to speak up, “I’m sorry for waking you up the way I did, Sunshine, but... do you remember what happened last night?”
Sunshine paused for a moment then asked “You mean with the Other Captain, the Other Top Hat, and the Other O.J, even the food he gave us?"
“Yeah all of that.” Ten Cents replied.
“How do you know all of that? I thought it was just a dream I had,” Sunshine asked perplexed.
“I was there with you and you were there with me. It was weird, the whole thing had to have been some dream of sorts right?” Ten Cents ventured.
“I suppose, but how do you know we’re not having a dream right now?” Sunshine asked.
“Only one way to find out,” Started Ten Cents before grabbing Sunshine’s left arm.
“Oi! not too hard, you’ll pull my whole arm off!” Sunshine yelped.
“It’s not there anymore…” Ten Cents remarked as he stared at Sunshine’s healed hand.
Sunshine retracted his arm back and slapped Ten Cents across his face with his other.
“Ow geez!” Ten Cents recoiled, “What was that for?”
“I just had to be sure you felt pain as well, just to be sure that we both aren’t dreaming.” Sunshine explained before looking back at his hand.
Ten Cents thought for a moment, “Maybe some rope burns can go away quickly,” he suggested.
“But how would that explain how we had the same dream last night?” Sunshine raised an eyebrow.
Their pondering was cut short when they heard someone running up to them, it was Tillie.
“Hello Ten Cents, Hey Sunshine! I see you two out pretty early this morning. Did Captain Starr already give out the announcement for the day?” Tillie asked.
“Yeah he did, but don’t worry you didn’t miss anything. We’re still scraping barnacles today.” Ten Cents reassures Tillie
“Oh right… Well I guess it’s lucky I have my own scrapper and gloves just in case, my sister got them for me after I told her about yesterday’s accident.” Tillie recounted
“How did she take the news?” Sunshine asked
“Well… she took it in stride, a bit better than I imagined but she understood the situation. Anyways we better get going to the Pier.” Tillie said, trying to liven up the mood.
“Yeah you’re right, we can’t keep Scuttlebutt Pete waiting for us any longer.” Ten Cents sighed.
Ten Cents led the way to Pier 3, Tillie walked in the middle humming a tune, and Sunshine followed behind looking at his now healed hand again thinking that maybe The Other Port was real, all while a black cat was following them from afar. The three found Scuttlebutt Pete waiting for them at the entrance of Pier 3.
“You three made it here in good time.” Greeted Scuttlebutt Pete.
“Thanks Scuttlebutt, we’re all here and eager to work.” Tillie exclaimed.
“Good, well here you go,” Scuttlebutt Pete started handing the scrapers, gloves, and buckets to the three, but Tillie declined her pair.
“I brought my own scraper and gloves, Scuttlebutt.” Tillie explained.
Scuttlebutt Pete was a little taken aback but smiled, “Didn’t think any of you would be eager to get to work on your punishment. At least that makes one of you.”
“Why’s that?” Tillie puzzled.
“You’ll find out why, but before we start, what end of the pier do you three want to start from?” Scuttlebutt queried
“The ne-” Ten Cents began
“The far end of the Pier!” Tillie cutted in
“The far end it shall be then,” Scuttlebutt Pete smiled.
Ten Cents and Sunshine winged at this. As they followed Scuttlebutt Pete to the far end of the Pier the boardwalk creaked and groaned as they walked along it. Tillie also noticed that the pilings were rotting and covered in colonies of barnacles. When they arrived at the far end of Pier 3, they found a strange contraption waiting for them.
“This is what you three will be standing in as you scrape the barnacles off the pilings. It’s a ‘floating platform’, once you finish scraping off the pilings I’ll come back and lift you three back up onto the boardwalk and move it to another spot.”
“Say uh Scuttlebutt, wouldn’t this be a lot easier if we were standing in a boat?” Sunshine queried.
Scuttlebutt Pete interjected, “A boat isn’t stable as the platform, if you stepped too close to the side, it would tip over and you three would end up in the ocean. Trust me, this is a safer alternative”
Sunshine still felt unsure about this. Ten Cents went in first before he helped Tillie and Sunshine get onto the platform and slowly, with the help of the pulleys holding platform, lowered the three down to one of the pilings and they got to work at once.
Meanwhile, Top Hat was refueling his railway tug at the coal yard when he heard a familiar whistle, it was one of the harbor tugs from Zero Marine hauling behind it a couple Star Line fuel barges, on board was Zorran. Top Hat ran over to his tug’s wheelhouse and radioed over to the passing tug,
“The refinery is in the other direction Zorran, why are you coming this way? If you’re here to gloat, I don’t want to hear it.” Top Hat huffed.
What Top Hat received as a reply however he couldn’t believe came from Zorran,
“I just wanted to come by and say that I’m sorry for what happened to OJ,” Zorran lamented, “the recklessness of your younger crewmates is unforgivable.”
Top Hat didn’t know what to say,
“What are you trying to accomplish here, Zorran? I don’t understand” Top Hat puzzled.
“I’m not trying to accomplish anything but the work your captain assigned to me. I’ve always had a deep respect for OJ. This may not mean a lot coming from me, with us working for rival companies, but I hope he recovers” Zorran consoled.
Zorran tipped his fedora to Top Hat who watched as the Zero Marine harbor tug turned around and headed across the bay to the refinery. Top Hat then walked to the stern of his tug and stared at the docked paddle steamer at the Star Pier, his eyes welling up with tears.
By mid-afternoon, Ten Cents, Tillie and Sunshine felt tired. Scraping off the barnacles was hard work especially to Ten Cents and Sunshine, their leather gloves were worn and the scrapers were rusty. True to his word, Scuttlebutt Pete finally decided it was time to give the three a break.
“Well lads, you’ve earned your hour long break, make use of your free time wisely because you all got a lot of scraping to get back to,” advised Scuttlebutt Pete.
“Finally, I was getting tired of scraping for this long,” exclaimed Sunshine wearily.
“Yeah, at least for now we can catch our breaths, my arms are killing me” Ten Cents sighed as he put his scrapper in his pocket.
“Well what can we do during our free time?” Tillie asked.
All three thought about it for a moment as Scuttlebutt Pete pulled the suspended platform up carefully to the pier’s surface. Once they got off the platform, Ten Cents had decided, “well we can just hang out here for the whole break and maybe have something to drink.”
“Say, Scuttlebutt Pete, are there any refreshments nearby?” Tillie queried.
“Fraid not. Sorry lads, I can go and bring some, especially to cool off from the heat of the day,” Scuttlebutt Pete apologized.
“Oh thank you Scuttlebutt Pete.” Sunshine sighed in relief
“But you three have to stay put here and try not to get into any trouble while I'm out, do you all understand?” Scuttlebutt Pete remarked.
“Yes Scuttlebutt Pete.” all three affirmed in unison.
“Good, I’ll be back as soon as possible,” and with that, Scuttlebutt left the three young harbor employees at the pier with each other’s company.
“I guess while we wait… what’s been going on with you two?” Tillie inquired.
“Well…” Ten Cents began,
“Last night something weird happened to both of us.”
Tillie perked up at the sound of this.
“Oh? What is it? Was it something interesting?” Tillie quizzed.
“Do you remember that small door we found in the employee lounge?” Ten Cents hesitated,
“Uh… yes? There was just a wall of bricks behind it, what about it?” puzzled Tillie.
“Well last night, me and Sunshine chased a mouse to the employee lounge where the small door is and-” Ten Cents was suddenly interrupted by a sudden yet faint sound coming towards them.
“Meow,” it was a cat; its fur was colored black and it looked tatty and frail, rather strangely it was missing an eye. Tillie and Sunshine turned their attention towards it.
“Oh look, a little cat!” Tillie said adoringly at the black cat.
Sunshine took one look at the cat and instantly recognized it from yesterday. “Hey I remember you,”
The cat walked slowly up to Sunshine. Sunshine was nervous until the cat started to rub itself against Sunshine’s leg affectionately, purring all the while.
“Aww it likes you, Sunshine!” Tillie exclaimed, getting closer to pet the cat.
Sunshine was hesitant about being near the black cat since it was the main catalyst of yesterday’s incident, but despite the look of the tattered one eyed cat he couldn’t resist its seemingly friendly nature as he got down to being eye to eye with the cat.
“Huh, you don’t seem bad, are you lost?” Sunshine asked the cat as he pet it.
“He must be a stray considering how thin it looks.” Tillie sighed at the feline.
“Yeah… Poor thing.” Sunshine added.
Ten Cents however wasn’t thrilled to see the black cat. He marched over to the cat
“Oi! Get lost!” Ten Cents hollored.
The black cat, frightened by Ten Cents’ sudden approach, scampered away to the entrance of the boardwalk. Sunshine and Tillie were surprised and a little offended.
“Why’d you go and scare it off, Ten Cents?” Sunshine puzzled,
“Have you forgotten it is the exact reason why we’ve gotten into this mess?” Ten Cents chastised,
“No, I haven't forgotten Ten Cents, but I don't think it warranted you scaring it off.” faltered Sunshine,
“It’s only a harmless animal, Ten Cents,” Tillie soothed, “It probably didn’t mean to cause what it did,”
Ten Cents took a deep breath, he knew Tillie was right. His thoughts were then suddenly interrupted by the sound of two pairs of boots making their way over to them.
“Well well well, looks like you three are in a spot of bother,”
It was Zip and Zug.
“Don’t you two have anything else better to do? We’re trying to enjoy our break” Sunshine hissed,
“Hey calm down Sunshine we’re only here cuz we heard what happened, and we thought we’d check up on our fellow deckhands,” Zip insisted.
“Yes,” added Zug, “after all if we had put OJ in a hospital room, we’d feel very upset ourselves”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ten Cents scowled.
“Oh nothing, it's just if we had hindered the old man we’d feel very remorseful.”
“Are you saying I don’t feel remorseful?”
“Well by the look on your face I’d say not,”
This infuriated Ten Cents, clutching his scraper in his pocket, his thoughts swirling through his head. How dare Zug accuse him of being remorseless about O.J.’s injuries.
Tillie soon saw this in Ten Cents' face, she could see how this was getting under his skin, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Ten Cents… please calm down. He’s just trying to get to you…” Tillie soothed.
“Tillie’s right Ten Cents, he’s just trying to mess with ya.” Sunshine added.
Zip and Zug turned to leave
“How pathetic,” Zug smirked, “Ten Cents can’t even stand up for himself, those smaller than him always get in his way,”
“What a disgrace to The Star Fleet” snickered Zip.
It was then Ten Cents snapped, he broke free from Tillie and Sunshine, drew his scraper from his pocket and charged at the two zeroes.
“Ten Cents, no!” “Stop!” cried Sunshine and Tillie as they chased him.
Ten Cents tackled Zug suddenly and began slashing Zug’s face with his scraper.
“DISGRACE TO MY COMPANY?! PATHETIC?!” Ten Cents shouted.
Zug squealed in agony as Zip tried pulling Ten Cents off Zug but Ten Cents shoved him off into one of the wooden railings of the pier. Tillie and Sunshine then ran up and yanked Ten Cents off of Zug, his face red with fury and tears welling in his eyes.
“I’M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO OJ!” Ten Cents seethed.
“That’s enough!” boomed another voice, it was Scuttlebutt Pete who was holding a crate of bottles of soda.
Zip pulled Zug back onto his feet, Zug limped to the entrance of the pier,
“You’re in for it now,” he scowled at Ten Cents.
Zip turned to the three stars, “I’m sorry about this,” he apologized before following his colleague.
“Scuttlebutt I can explain, I-”
Scuttlebutt Pete held up his hand in front of Ten Cents,
“Save your explanation, you’re going to have to give it to Captain Starr. However, either way you’re going to be in a heap of trouble with him.” Scuttlebutt Pete said solemnly.
Ten Cents let out a sigh, somehow he knew deep down, Scuttlebutt Pete was right.
(To be Continued)
{End of chapter 5}
<- Previous chapter —•— Next chapter ->
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Tables Have Turned–Joe Keery
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Requested by @levisimp1122
"You have my number," Joe stuttered. "You have Y/M/N's number. I also have the number of my assistant on the fridge, the number for the studio the interview is being filmed, the number for my driver, and the personal security. You will always be able to reach me."
"Dude," Gaten laughed, "little Y/N is going to be just fine. We'll watch some cartoons, eat some mac and cheese and then I'll rock her until she falls asleep. See? I got this."
Gaten hesitated before asking, "Is this the first time you've left her?"
"Of course not," Joe scoffed. He sighed before adding, "But usually she's with Y/M/N."
"Don't worry, Dad," Gaten chuckled. "Your little princess is going to be just fine."
"If anything happens. . ."
"I'll call you," he finished for Joe.
"Gaten, I'm serious," he sighed. "Y/N is my little girl and. . ."
"Will you relax? Y/N is going to be fine with her Uncle G, alright? We're going to have a great time!"
"I just. . ."
"Joe, you need to go or you're going to be late for your interview."
"Maybe I shouldn't do this," Joe sighed.
"Go to the interview?" Gaten asked.
"Go back to work."
"I thought. . . I thought you and Y/M/N talked for like days about you going back to work. One of you has to."
"I know," Joe cut him off, angrily running his hands through his hair. "But ever since I started getting ready, I've had this huge pit in my stomach. I can't help but feel like something is going to happen the minute I leave Y/N."
"You're a first-time dad," Gaten sighed. "It's not supposed to be easy to leave your child, especially your first child. Don't be so hard on yourself, Joe."
"You're right," Joe mumbled. He paused. "Why are you smiling like that?"
"The tables have turned," Gaten laughed.
"And I don't know how I feel about it," Joe sighed.
"The babysatter becomes the babysitter."
"That doesn't make sense," Joe mumbled as he finally left the house.
                                * * * * *
The interview had barely started and Joe was already dying to reach out and see how Gaten and Y/N were doing. He was waiting for a commercial break before checking his phone. The second they went to commercial, Joe pulled his phone out of his pocket.
He couldn't tell if he was relieved or nervous that Gaten hadn't texted him. He decided to call him and check.
"Y/N's fine," Gaten said when the phone stopped ringing. "We just finished eating mac and cheese. I'm going to clean her up and then get her ready for bed. I would put her on the phone but she can't talk yet. We're working on it. I've gotten pretty close to getting her to say, "My Daddy is going to be extremely overprotective. Especially when I start dating. . ."
"My daughter will never date," Joe cut him off.
"Yeah," Gaten scoffed. "Good luck with that."
Joe sighed, slowly calming down. He hesitated before asking, "So. . . She's okay?"
"She's fine," Gaten said with a small laugh. "I promised that I had this under control and I meant it."
"I know," he sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just. . . The last few months have been rocky. Y/M/N was on bed rest for two weeks. Then another two weeks after she had Y/N. During those two weeks after she was born, I was able to spend 24/7 with Y/N and. . . I never wanted to leave her side. The second I walked out the door, I regretted it."
"Have you talked to Y/M/N about all this?"
"Well. . ."
"You're connected to your daughter," Gaten said. "There's nothing wrong with that. But if you're thinking about quitting your job and becoming a stay-at-home dad, you need to talk to your wife."
"I know you're right," Joe mumbled. "But I'm the one who is supposed to work and provide for the family. I can't stay at home while Y/M/N works long hours."
"So you don't think women should work?" Gaten teased.
"Don't be an ass," Joe sighed. "You know that's not what I meant."
"I know," he laughed. "It's just fun to mess with you. But in all seriousness, it doesn't matter who or how. You could each work part-time. Y/M/N could work. You could find a different job or cut back on your projects. You and Y/M/N have the same goal: to take care of Y/N."
"You're right. Y/M/N and I have a few conversations we need to have," Joe sighed.
Joe paused when someone tried to get his attention. The interview was about to start again. He nodded toward the assistant, holding up one finger.
"Would you mind watching Y/N tonight? I should take Y/M/N to dinner so we could have those conversations."
"Of course," Gaten said without a second of hesitation.
"Thanks, man."
"The babysitter just got babysat!"
"You're really making me regret putting you in charge of my daughter."
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nativestarwrites · 1 year
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A WIP you never finished that you’d like to revisit?
Thanks for the ask!
I have around a hundred Macgyver WIPs so there is a very long list! But one that I'd really like to get done at some point is a Macgyver version of a Stargate SG-1 fic I read a very long while ago. Its very well written and stuck in my head even after many years. In the original Daniel (who has a fear of heights, like someone else we know...) falls halfway down a cliff, landing on a ledge and Jack O'Neill talks to an injured and scared Daniel, keeping him calm and distracted during the rescue effort.
Honestly, its perfect to adapt into a Macgyver version and I was even lucky enough to find the original author and get their permission to adapt it. I feel like if Jack O'Neill and Jack Dalton ever met they'd get along very well. Especially when they traded stories about Mac and Daniel! I really need to finish this one. In case I don't though I've popped a snippet under the cut and the original SG-1 version is here.
Riley walked to the edge, slowly, and when she was a few feet away she dropped to her knees and crawled to the edge, careful for any sign the ground was shifting or crumbling. She kept her eyes firmly focused on the horizon the entire time. Then, when she was as close to edge as she dared she stopped and closed her eyes. She knew what she expected to see but right now, if she didn’t look then there was still hope. She wanted to make this moment last forever, but she knew it wouldn’t change anything. She opened her eyes, took at deep breath and--- “Oh my god!” “Riley?” “Oh my god,” Riley gasped. “He didn’t fall! I mean he did, but, but Matty, there’s a ledge! Of all the dumb luck, he falls onto a fucking ledge.” Riley pressed her forehead into the ground. Never had she felt relief like this before. “That’s good news, Riley.” She could hear the smile in Matty’s voice. But she didn’t sound anywhere as near as happy as Riley was. “But did he survive the fall?” Oh. Riley’s heart plummeted. Mac had avoided the sixty foot fatal drop, unlike the target but he’d still fallen at least halfway down and he wasn’t moving. Assuming his comm was still working, he also hadn’t said anything in the last ten minutes either. He was lying on his side facing what would be a pretty spectacular view of a valley under different circumstances. Even from a distance she could see blood on his head and a few scrapes on his arms but nothing else. He was too far away for her to make out if he was breathing or not. She decided that he was unconscious, it was the only acceptable explanation. Not dead. Not dead. “He’s unconscious.” Riley reported. “Are you sure?” “He’s unconscious.” Riley repeated more firmly, removing any doubt from her voice. The more she said it the more she believed it. He couldn’t be dead, he couldn’t miraculously hit a ledge only to die anyway, that wasn’t how it worked. She also didn’t want there to be any delay in getting help for Mac and if that meant stretching the truth so there wasn’t any doubt that they were retrieving an injured agent not a body then that was fine by her. “Okay. That’s great news. Now get away from that edge, Riley. I’m getting you some help but its going to take some time.” Riley scuttled back but stayed sitting on the ground, she wasn’t sure she could stand if she wanted at this point anyway she was shaking from the shock and then relief of it all. She wrapped her arms around her legs. She felt helpless. “Just hang on, Mac. We’re coming for you.” She said quietly.
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the-firebird69 · 20 days
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Do a good job listing me tires and you wrote it down he's got back up and that's how he does things that's how we do things so we know what you're up to and we're going to intercept you here you don't really have much of a chance and you open your mouth and your dirty rotten liars tons of you are trying to buy these tires a ton of you and John remillard is getting beaten up by it constantly the new tire came and reminded people and that one's sitting out too and people think I'll buy the used one and he probably won't sell it cuz it's not in good shape. You have other things to talk to there will be changes in this area and they won't of course not be felt because of you by our son for a while and he really needs change here we do too and your fools for doing what you did and you're going to suffer very ridiculous it's a lot of people here who are stupid and just plain nuts I really need you out. We're working towards that goal it's going to be happening very soon really soon and heads are going to spin very fast we told you not to do what you're doing and you continue really soon we're going to feel the pinch from it all over the world you can have very few places to go and then those places will no longer be an option including your Islands and people hate you for what you do you don't look at it people that way they're going to beat you up you got a stupid look on your face yeah but people don't react that way okay stupid you're not a lion in the woods with lions and besides they know what you're saying they don't even like you you start doing that s*** to them and they come over there where you are in the heat and head a lot of you die instantly and stay dead and they don't eat you because you're gross idiots you got an announcements to make and we're going to do so
-it was seen that we have announcements to make yes okay we have several things here in Charlotte county in a notable and residents should be aware of especially outside they're making preparations to come and pick up the assholes making all the noises and they mean all of them they'll try for our son because they see him making a lot of noises and we will intercept them and lay them low for the attempt it's going to happen shortly and they will continue to try daily they said until the job is done and they want to hold him in threaten to get rid of people and now it's the more luck that they're after and they were doing it the whole time and it is that group and they did it to mac and he is telling them and he's saying not to do it and they're trying to do it now that's who's been doing it and they get caught in it and yes ultimately it is the empire and they were seen doing it but the pseudo empire is improved with it and does it people because they're stupid we are going to intercept them all right now they're hostile and bitter and they want to force us out of the rings and they also want to force the empire out so yeah that makes them the hospital people at this time they're rude they're vulgar they are crafts they are repeating statements like little children they should not be fed house or given anything not to mention these little ships we need to take these s**** out they're extremely rude and caustic and they are well ahead of their game meaning that the game is not in hand and their insults burnt seed any tolerances that they have and they stated over and over that they don't care and we have to stop them is come down to the wire just come down to the plane where it is necessary to use Force and both of these groups of idiots need out and they're both going to be out of here shortly when the more likely that they will take their equipment with you with them from the factories and they will start to set up elsewhere to grab small shifts we are utilizing it to invade their areas and will continue to do so until we have them secured 100% and it is our duty to do so enjoy they're extremely rude people I'm going to publish going on now
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oldarticles · 3 months
Text
College vs. Real College
by Jake Hurwitz
Like many of you, I grew up watching Saved by the Bell, Boy Meets World, and (don't tell anyone) Dawson's Creek. Those shows taught me all I knew about relationships, family problems, and, as years passed without network cancellation, college life. Well, you can imagine my disappointment when I moved into my dorm freshman year only to discover that the college life portrayed on television during my youth was not even remotely similar to real college life. Allow me to explain:
Saved by the Bell: First of all, the fact that Zack got into UCLA without ever doing any homework (aside from that project he did with the Native American that one time) just because he got a good SAT score is ridiculous, but I won't even get into that. Zack moves in to his dorm with A.C. Slater and Samuel "Screech" Powers. Talk about a stroke of luck! Who saw that one coming?! As freshmen, Zack and the guys had a sweet common room, complete with a kitchen, which connected them to one Miss Kelly Kapowski and her two hot roommates, Leslie and Alex. My freshman year I lived in a 12 by 10 cinderblock cell with a strange Indian kid who had a nasty Hot-Pocket addiction and rampant body odor. There was no common room connecting our room to the room of three gorgeous women. Instead, we had a hallway with a puke-stained carpet connecting our room to the R.A.'s room - who, by the way, was not an awesome ex-football player named Mike but a tiny computer nerd named Barry. Yeah, my first day on campus was a let-down, and it only went downhill from there.
Boy Meets World: Just like Cory, Eric, Topanga, Sean and Angela, I applied to Pennbrook University. Sadly, I didn't get in, but not because of my low G.P.A. or because of a lack of extra curricular activities. No, I'd say the biggest determining factor in my not being admitted was that Pennbrook doesn't exist. That's probably the reason my spell check has it underlined in red right now. Anyway, as if that wasn't bad enough, I was totally thrown off when I went to my first class and didn't see my favorite teacher from high school standing at the front, ready to throw some sweet life lessons my way. What the hell, Mr. Deck? Mr. Feeny followed his students from school to school. I know change is difficult, and you might be missing that PhD, but, dude, get with the program. I mean, what am I supposed to do if Topanga gets mad at me? Or what if Angela wants to move to Europe for a year with her Dad? I can't solve problems like this on my own!
Dawson's Creek: That's when I started thinking, why should I even go to college? Pacey didn't go and he did fine. He was an investment banker, and later in the very same season, a chef. Those things sound like stuff I can do without ever getting any sort of actual training, right? So I put on a suit and went out there and gave it a shot. Amazingly, no brokerage houses or five-star restaurants hired me after my interviews. I did everything Pacey did; grew the goatee, drove a cool vintage car, even tried to use unnecessarily big words in my sentences"; unfortunately my math knowledge is at or below third grade level, and I don't know how to use a calculator. The chef thing didn't go too well when they discovered my culinary skills were limited to making Easy-Mac, and even that comes out a little watery sometimes".
What I'm trying to say is that college is not like TV. You're not going to bang Joey Potter, Topanga or in Zack's case - whoever the hell you want. Your teachers aren't gonna be Mr. Feeny or Professor Lasky (Thanks IMDB!). And you're gonna have to work hard to excel in life, my friend. But there is one upside that TV didn't tell you about. There's tons of alcohol to drink and crazy drugs to do in college, way more than any TV shows let on. So have a ball! Cut loose! Get fucked up! Hey, maybe Topanga will pass out and you can feel her boobs.
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88088-8 · 1 year
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Idk how i feel. I guess I’ve been doing pretty good lately. But today talking to Derek about all the things him and Ashley are going through really brought up some old feelings that I have with Caleb. Unresolved trust issues. I wish i could just erase it. Or believe him. But i always feel like there’s more that he is hiding from me. Or something huge that he’s scared to ever tell me. I just want the truth though. I hate the unknown of it all.
I mean lately our relationship has been doing really well. And we are both sober and seem to have no issues with sobriety. (I’m loving it, im the healthiest I’ve ever been. Mentally. But obviously im still working through stuff) — i can tell he’s really trying. He’s really making me and halie a priority. He’s not perfect but its the effort. The effort is all i ever wanted. I will never expect you to be perfect. Just trying. —- but i still get these random feelings like he wants to tell me something but is scared so he holds back. Like there’s some lingering information wedging a wall between our love force.
Maybe im crazy. Maybe one day ill read back on this and know i was right and have the truth. Only time will tell.
One thing i know is im very sensitive to people’s energy. More so lately. Yes im full of anxiety but just being around someone going through a really hard time brings me down. It’s strange though because i can disassociate sometimes. And feel completely numb. Like through the process of grieving Kindyn’s death at first. But recently i had my music on shuffle and good news by Mac miller came on while me and Caleb were on our way to Austin and it literally felt like it was Kindyn talking to us. It’s so weird because i was closer to Kaitlynn. But i miss Kindyn more. I guess its because, he had more of a constant in our lives in the most recent years.. but seeing Kindyn in the casket hit me harder than seeing Kaitlynn. And im mad that their names have similarities. But it may not mean anything.
Also, I’ve felt connection to lion fish lately. And i looked up the meaning. It’s basically a guide saying to let go of old negative feelings. Let me double check…. BRB 
++++++++++ taken from a website down below+++++++++
In general, Lionfish symbolism is telling you to let out negative emotions and free yourself of pain. In other words, like the Bluebird, it asks you to take charge of your life and protect your happiness. Seeing this animal is also a sign that you will soon encounter a stroke of good luck in your career. In this case, the spirit animal reminds you to seize opportunities as they present themselves to you. Moreover, the Lionfish’s meaning could be asking you to remain strong in the face of adversity.
Furthermore, Lionfish symbolism encourages you to have a bit of faith in the goodness of people. When this power animal visits you, it asks you to let your guard down and express your authentic self. Like the Tasmanian Devil, this sea creature also teaches you to stand by your word and not let anything or anyone sway you.
Alternatively, encountering the Lionfish could be a sign that you are short towards your loved ones, creating tension and conflict. Surprisingly, this could be because you have spent too much time around them. It is best to tell these people that you need to distance yourself for a little bit. This issue is not personal but merely a case of social exhaustion. Your heart will know when the time is right to come back.
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followtrendings · 1 year
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FT Tech News 07: Instagram to focus on photos in 2023 | Google AI Music Generator | Apple’s own search engine | Hasbro cuts workforce by 15% despite profits | SpaceX launched 49 Starlink’s internet satellites
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What's hot in today's tech news? Let's find out.
Instagram to focus on photos in 2023
You must have noticed a lot of videos and reels being recommended in your Instagram feeds in 2022. Since Instagram reels were a new feature added by Instagram, it was promoted heavily. Even the Chief of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, accepted that Instagram overfocused on videos last year. He revealed this in his weekly Q&A last week. He admitted that in 2022, they put an excessive amount of emphasis on video, pushed ranking too much, and essentially showcased more videos than photographs. Mosseri admitted that videos were favored in the ranking algorithms of feeds and explore pages of Instagram in 2022. They pushed the ranking of videos way too far and show way more videos and very few photos. He also said that things are balanced between the number of likes and comments on a photograph vs on a video. And this is a good thing. Yes, videos are more in number than photos on Instagram and this is what drives more traffic to Instagram. But photos are always going to be a significant part of Instagram. So in 2023, Instagram will focus on photos more. This does not mean that it will just focus on photos, it means now you will see an almost equal number of photos and videos in your feed and explore page. If you are someone who was just ranking because of your videos, be ready to include photos as well. This strategy will surely help you maintain the position that you have gained just because of videos. Good Luck.
Google AI Music generator is impressive
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Recently Google shared information about its new AI research project named MusicLM. According to Google, this advanced AI can create music from texts or from a human humming or whistling. Seriously, ChatGPT was not enough to kill the majority of technical jobs that now music artists' jobs are in jeopardy. Currently, this tool has not been made available for public use like ChatGPT is. But Google has shared multiple webpage information on MusicLM. Here you can find a large collection of music samples generated by Google’s MusicLM. These collections range from ten seconds snippets to five-minute-long music. Let me explain in brief how this MusicLM works and generates music. It receives input from texts, human humming, and whistling and processes it through its AI algorithms and finally produces music at 24kHz which remains consistent for several minutes. It is obvious that it cannot produce human-like music perfectly because it cannot do the voices. But still, the music that it produces are melodious. It can even create a song that evolves over time by using a series of text prompts. For now, there are announcements or release dates when this MusicLM will be available but one thing is for sure because of AI no job is safe.
Apple’s own search engine
It is rumored that Apple might bring its own search engine sooner or later. This is good news for the users because more search engines mean more competition and we all know that competition is very very beneficial to users as it constantly brings new features and ideas to users. So what makes people think that Apple will launch its own search engine? First Apple already got a huge user base plus it is refining its search products since 2013 through the other companies it owns.  For instance, through Siri or Apple's Spotlight search on the Mac, a technology from Topsy Labs already enables specialized queries, and Laserlike utilizes AI to search the web and compile a database. This perfectly makes sense for Apple to make its own search engine. But there is one big problem for Apple. Do you know Google pays Apple about 8 to 10 billion dollars to make Google search the default option on every iPhone and iPad? If Apple launches its own search engine, then it will have to say goodbye to this huge amount of money. It will be a huge loss overnight. But the Apple search engine definitely will have potential because of the Apple brand value and software and security standards. Also Read: FT Tech News 06: Donald Trump back on Facebook and Instagram | Android 14 to block the installation of older version apps | Apple rolls out update for iPhone 5s | Biometric lock for Chrome incognito tabs | iPhone 15 to come with Wi-Fi 6E
Hasbro cuts 15% of the workforce despite profits
I literally cannot understand why so many international companies are cutting off their workforce. First, it was Meta, then Amazon, Microsoft, Google, NasDaily, and now Hasbro. In case you do not know what is Hasbro, let me answer in brief. Hasbro is a multinational entertainment corporation and it is most recognized for being the owner of toy brands like My Little Pony, G.I. Joe, and Transformers. Wizards of the Coast, a gaming firm that oversees franchises including Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, is part of the corporation's gaming division. Hasbro has declared that it will lay off 15% of its global workforce which is equivalent to 1000 jobs. The reason they gave was consumer products underperformed in the fourth quarter. According to Hasbro reports, the company’s gaming division made a 22% of year over year increase whereas other departments made a 17% overall loss. This layoff was among the new plan announced by CEO Chris Cocks named “Blueprint 2.0” This blueprint also includes the departure of president and chief operating officer Eric Nyman.
SpaceX launched 49 Starlink’s internet satellites in orbit
SpaceX launched Starlink’s broadband satellites into orbit on January 30. The number of satellites was 49. It was live broadcasted on its website space.com and on its youtube channel. SpaceX has already launched 3800 Starlink satellites into orbit and this mission just added to the number. SpaceX has the permission of launching 12,000 satellites and in advance, it has already applied for 30,000 launch permission. Read the full article
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kaspersentychsen48 · 1 year
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sandboxie download windows 10
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