writersuffertwice

[writersuffertwice]

can't sleep

vikings: valhalla

leif eriksson x reader

A successful battle always called for celebration and there had certainly been just that. There had been drinking, fighting, humping, and the necessary spill of traitorous blood. Even with the energy spent on the day's festivities, it was impossible to get any rest.

The adrenaline pumping through my veins wasn't keeping me awake, nor was it the concern over who would rule what. What I was worried about was being trapped in these stone walls.

Since Olaf had brought his forces to join Canute, he and I had been butting heads. His persistence in advocating for all Pagans to abandon the Gods had angered everyone who still called upon Odin. Anytime any of them spoke out against him, he raised his mighty fist and called them cowards and heathens.

When Freydís killed Gunnar, she'd only played into his hand. What Olaf failed to anticipate was that someone other than Harald and Freydís' brother would stick up for her in her time of need. He also couldn't foresee someone willingly rallying the other Pagans against him.

After we'd taken London, Canute asked me to find Emma and speak with her. After nearly an hour of searching, I managed to find her tucked away inside the castle and took her dinner. After some goading, she began to eat. It was during her nibbling she told me what Olaf had done to her.

"He's not a good man," Emma said.

"Neither was your husband."

Emma's jaw tensed. "I know you're upset about what Aethelred has done but I ask you not to punish my children for it."

I sighed at her distress. Canute had sent me here in hopes of easing her troubles, but Olaf had already made things worse. He had a tendency to do that and then blame others when it didn't work out in his favor.

"You know that Canute is only using you to keep the peace with the Pagans? He can't protect you forever," she said. "As long as you pose a threat to Olaf, he'll come for you."

"Olaf wouldn't be the only man who has made a habit of coming for me," I said. "You should know that better than anyone."

Emma pushed her plate away with a roll of her eyes.

"I will tell Canute about what Olaf has done to you and your children, but I make no promises. This is Olaf we're talking about."

I hadn't lied to her. As promised, I told Canute what Olaf had done, and he had taken care of it. He even shared it with Harald. They were both well aware of the animosity between Olaf and me, as would anyone with working eyes or ears.

Laying alone in bed in an unfamiliar place was enough to keep anyone awake. Especially when it was a place Olaf knew better.

I crept out of bed toward the large wooden door I'd locked. Turning the handle, I peered through the slit in the door. Light from the torches and candles on the walls peeked into the room, lighting the vacant hallway just enough for me to see the emptiness I hoped to find.

I stepped into the hall, shutting the door tightly behind me. Despite the warm embers adorning the walls, the hallway was incredibly cool. There were no footsteps or shadows within the hall, but I knew someone would be by on their round shortly. With one final look down either side of the hall, I hiked up the bottom of my nightgown and moved further down the hall.

Upon reaching the hall's corner, I stopped, listening again for any footsteps. After hearing none, I turned to the right, only to collide with a firm frame.

Assuming the worst, my eyes went wide. The soft fur cladding the chest of my intruder didn't help ease my worries, but the tenderness of their touch against my back did. Mustering the courage to look him in the eye, I exhaled a sigh of relief at the sight of the eyes staring back at me.

"What are you doing?"

"My last round just as I promised Harald," Leif answered with a raised brow. "What are you doing? I thought you went to bed."

I released a calming breath of air, stepping out of Leif's grasp. The hall's chill air immediately made me miss the warmth he'd provided from our collision.

"I couldn't sleep."

"So you decided to roam the castle?"

I rolled my eyes at his pestering. "Why are you on watch? Don't Harald and Canute have enough people vying for their respect to volunteer?"

"Couldn't sleep," Leif answered with a casual shrug of his shoulders. A mocking smile tugged on the corners of his lips. "Where are you headed? I can walk you there."

"No need, Leif. I don't need a bodyguard."

"Right," he chuckled. "You may be strong on the battlefield but you nearly dropped from running into me just now. Perhaps we should get you to the kitchen."

"I thought you were someone else."

"Oh," he sighed, worry evident in his tone. "Is it a good or bad thing that you found me instead?"

"Very good," I answered with a warm smile.

Leif returned the expression before casting a look over his shoulder. I followed his gaze skeptically, peeking around the side of his frame. Instinctively, Leif extended his left hand at his side to keep me behind him.

"Leif, what–"

He spun around, pressing the palm of his hand against my mouth. He forced me around, pulling my back firmly against his chest. If it weren't for the abrupt confusion of the act, I might have been able to enjoy it more.

Leif leaned his body forward, just enough for his eyes to pass the corner we'd collided at. I pulled away from him just enough to do the same.

At the end of the hallway, a small band of soldiers had rushed into my room with weapons drawn. My brows furrowed at the sight and I would've watched them longer if Leif hadn't pulled me with him into the room at the end of the hall. He shut the door behind us, pressing his back against it.

"What was that?" I asked him.

He raised his index finger to his lips, turning his head to the side. I joined his side, pressing my ear against the door.

"She isn't here," one voice said.

"Are you sure this is where she is staying?"

"Olaf said she'd be here."

My eyes went wide and I turned over my shoulder to look at Leif. He was already staring down at me, his own brows furrowed.

"Come on. We have to tell him," one of the men said.

Leif and I listened to their footsteps vanish down the hall. Once we were sure they were gone, Leif began to speak.

"What did you do?"

"Why do I always have to have done something?"

"Because I know you," Leif grumbled. "Why is Olaf after you?"

"You know why."

Leif rolled his eyes. "That's not enough for him to send someone to hurt you."

"Then you don't know him very well," I argued. "You saw how he was with your sister. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants."

"He's trying to kill you because you're trying to help the Pagans?"

"It's not just about the Pagans, though I know it's part of it," I sighed. "Canute trusts me. Harald trusts me. Jarl Haakon trusts me. Even Emma. He knows they listen to me. Emma may not have power now but the others do. He can't betray them outright."

Leif ran a hand over the top of his head as he listened to me.

"You have to tell Canute or at least Harald."

"It's not their fight, Leif."

Leif scoffed. "He's trying to kill you and you want to keep it secret?"

"Leif–"

"Would you have told me if I hadn't seen them tonight?"

When I didn't answer his question, he released a humorless chuckle along with a shake of his head.

"You're not going back there tonight."

"Leif, I'm not going to hide from him."

"You can't stay there when he's sending men after you. You're not safe there."

"None of us are safe. There are always people plotting here, Leif. This isn't Greenland," I argued. "I can handle Olaf."

"Like you handled him tonight? If it had been him instead of me that you ran into, what would you have done?"

"I don't know, Leif."

"You need to tell Harald. If his brother is trying to kill you because you're aiding his ambition, the least he could do is help you."

"He has enough to worry about. So do you. Don't make this your problem."

"It is my problem," he insisted. "I'm worried about you."

"You don't need to worry about me, Leif. I can handle myself."

"I know you can. I've seen you do it," Leif said. He took a few steps across the room in my direction. "I know you're not afraid of Olaf."

"Good," I said, taking a few steps toward him. Once I reached him, I raised one hand and cupped his cheek. "I appreciate that you're worried about me. I worry about you too. There is one man trying to hurt me. You have him and every Christian and Pagan watching your every move."

The corners of Leif's lips perked up.

"You worry about me?"

"Don't flatter yourself too much."

Leif's smile grew. He brought both hands to either side of my face and rested them there. The palms of his hands were comforting, reminding me how much I missed his warmth. My eyes fluttered shut, basking in the comfort of his touch.

"I don't want you to go back there tonight."

I opened my eyes, immediately finding his own. My hands found his chest, picking at the fur of his coat.

"Then where shall I go?"

"I can think of a place," Leif muttered.

My lips tugged upward and I leaned into his touch. With one swift move, Leif titled my head backward and began to lean forward. His lips captured mine and my fingers knit into the fur of his coat. His hands kept me in place as I desperately tried to push myself further into his embrace.

Leif's hands slid down from my face to my back, sending a familiar twinge of excitement to my chest. With his force, he backpedaled us further into the room until the backs of my legs bumped the edge of the bed. I tumbled backward but he was far more cautious, catching his weight as he hovered above me.

"I think we can help each other get to sleep."

#vikings valhalla imagine #leif eriksson imagine #leif eriksson x reader #leif eriksson fanfic #vikings valhalla fanfic

[writersuffertwice]

the babysitter and the tutor

stranger things

eddie munson x reader

After starting Hawkins High, Lucas, Max, Dustin, and Mike were going through some serious changes. El wasn’t here to have girl time with Max or gross anyone out in her relationship with Mike. Will was no longer here to keep their D&D spirit alive, but Dustin was single handedly trying to change that by making the group sign up for Hellfire. It was the one thing Dustin had been looking forward to about moving from junior high to the bigger building next door. After he’d met Eddie Munson for the first time, he was all in.

I’d heard about Dustin’s admiration of Eddie from Steve, who was passive aggressively ranting about Dustin’s new high school friend when I went to Family Video to return The Outsiders. He’d suggested it to get me out of reading the book for our English paper, but I’d already finished it before he made his unhelpful suggestion. 

It was the same day Max had come into Family Video with a problem of her own.

“Woah, what’s wrong with you?” Steve asked, staring at the redhead.

“Billy.”

Steve and I shared a knowing look. Since moving to Hawkins, Billy Hargrove had made a lot of friends, and a fair list of enemies. We’d all grown to know how insufferable Billy could be but since Max, Lucas, Dustin, and Mike had joined us at Hawkins High, he’d grown even more unbearable.

“What’d he do now?” Steve asked.

“Lucas wants me to join Hellfire with Dustin and Mike, but Billy’s convinced Eddie’s some kind of freak and won’t let me,” she said. “He says it’s his dad but I know it’s his fault. He says he can’t give me a ride from school that late and my mom and step-dad don’t want me skateboarding home in the dark after everything that’s happened.”

“I’ll give you a ride,” I offered. “I babysit you so they’ll trust me to do it. I’ll come over and play nice.”

“Really?” Max asked, doing a poor job of downplaying her excitement. “You think that’ll work?”

“Yeah, it’ll work,” Steve chimed in with a disinterested shrug. “Most trustworthy person I know.”

“Don’t let Robin hear you say that,” I laughed.

After Max and I left Steve to finish the rest of his shift in misery, I accompanied her to her house where I subtly brought up Hellfire. I told them I always took Lucas, Mike, and Dustin home, and that the others involved in the club were kind. Max’s mother was convinced and because she seemed open to it, Max’s stepfather was too. From what I heard, if he was on board, so was Billy. Max was beaming and I wasn’t sure anything could crush her high. That was until her mother asked:

“Does it get weird playing that game with a bunch of kids younger than you? I mean, high school has so many kids of so many ages hanging out that–”

“Mom,” Max cut in with a heavy sigh. She was ready to correct her mother, telling her I was only the chauffeur and not an active member of the club. I wasn’t so willing to let her dream be crushed.

“It’s not weird at all. They feel like family so much that I hardly notice,” I said.

And so the next phase of the lie began.

That night, before I left for school the next day, I mentally prepared myself for having to beg Eddie Munson for a spot in his beloved club. In all the times I’d picked Lucas, Dustin, and Mike up, he and I rarely said anything to one another. Other than his profuse apologies for running late again, the only other thing we ever talked about was the assignments he wasn’t going to turn in on time in our shared classes. Knowing I had to confront him for a favor was entering into uncharted territory.

By the time I got to school, Max had already told Lucas, Mike, and Dustin. To say Dustin was over the moon about the idea of Max and I in Hellfire was an understatement. Dustin practically had an itinerary of Eddie’s day to tell me where I could find him, but thanks to our nearly identical senior class schedule, I knew exactly where to find him.

After our history class, Eddie was the first one out of the door, as usual. This time, I made sure I was right behind him, nearly knocking Robin down in the process. I followed him to his locker, stopping a foot shy of him. As if he sensed someone near, he shut the square metal door with raised brows.

“You need something?” Eddie asked. There was no judgment in his tone or even a hint of annoyance. The only thing I could pinpoint was curiosity.

“Yeah,” I sighed with a nervous smile. “Is that a new jacket? It looks great on you.”

Eddie laughed dryly. “Yeah okay, what do you want?”

“What? Nothing. I can’t just give you a compliment?”

“In all the times you’ve picked Henderson and his friends up, you’ve never given me a single compliment,” Eddie said. “You hardly even look at me. Now you track me down in the hallway just to give me a compliment? What’s up?”

I exhaled deeply, letting my eyes flutter shut for a moment. “I need you to let me join Hellfire.”

Eddie remained so silent that I almost thought I’d imagined the whole interaction. It wasn’t until I opened my eyes and saw him studying me that I accepted that the words had fallen from my lips.

“I promised Max’s parents. It’s the only way they’ll let her come to your meetings.”

“Don’t trust the freak of Hawkins, huh?”

“I get it if you don’t want me in it–”

“It’s alright,” Eddie said absentmindedly. “I’ll make you a deal.”

I scrunched my brows. “What kind of deal?”

“I’ll catch you up on the campaign we’re working on and you can help me with whatever the hell Ms. Harlin is up my ass about.”

“You want me to tutor you?”

Eddie shrugged. “You can come to babysit Max at our meetings if you tutor me. Be my partner on this shitty English assignment. Apparently the movie isn’t a good substitute for the actual thing.”

I thought his words over for a moment, but knew I was in no place to refuse. It was to help Max, or at least that’s what I told myself. Inside, I was freaking out at the fact of having to spend so much time with Eddie. 

Foolishly, I thought that would be the most of my problems, but things were never as simple as that in Hawkins. Especially when Billy Hargrove still roamed the halls.

“Hargrove? You’re in front of my locker,” I complained.

Billy leaned on the small metal door, a dark grin on his face. “You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about your little charity work with Max.”

“It’s not charity work,” I argued. “I’m just being nice. You should try it sometime.”

Billy grunted. “I don’t think that’s it,” he argued. “I think you’re only doing this because you’re getting something you want out of it.”

“I think you’re getting the two of us mixed up, Hargrove,” I said. “What ulterior motive could I have for wanting to help Max?”

Billy grinned. “You wanna go on a date with me.”

My eyes went wide, fearing I’d heard him wrong. The cocky smile on his face was the only evidence I needed to know that I had heard him correctly. So, I did the only thing I could think to do, and laughed.

“Where did you get that idea?”

The corners of Billy’s confident, cocky smile slowly faded, dropping into a scowl.

“Oh,” I sighed knowingly. “You think everything with a beating heart in Hawkins is dying to go on a date with you, don’t you Hargrove? I’m sorry to say I’m not interested.”

Billy’s eyes were blank, but he was clearly fuming.

“Look, I can help your sister without wanting something from anyone, especially you.”

“She’s not my sister,” Billy spoke through gritted teeth. Whatever pleasant expression he’d painted on his face had now been replaced with that anger I’d heard so much about. He set his jaw and I prepared myself for whatever insult he was going to hurl my way, but it never came. Instead, a low hum passed through his lips. “Are you helping Munson recruit for his freakish club?”

“What?”

“Munson. Is he why you don’t want to go out?”

“I don’t have to be interested in someone to not want to go out with you, Hargrove.”

My words fell on deaf ears and by the end of the school day, the entire school was buzzing about the newest oddball pairing: Eddie Munson and I. If I thought the reaction to Nancy and Jonathan dating was ridiculous, this was entirely different. Every time I walked down the hallway, eyes clung to my body, and the not so subtle remarks were deafening.

Nancy and Jonathan have everyone thinking they’re datable. 

I can’t believe they’re together. 

Freaks of the same feather flock together.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at all the comments but I couldn’t help but wonder what Eddie was thinking. He tried to steer clear of all the high school drama, same as I did. He just did a much better job at it. With everyone talking about it, it was impossible to ignore for the rest of the day, and I worried what it was going to be like to see him later in the evening for our first tutoring session. 

By the time it rolled around, I was a worried mess.

I’d gone to the Hellfire meeting with Max, Dustin, Lucas, and Mike, as promised. The campaign ran over and to make up for it, Eddie insisted on driving everyone home in his van. I walked each of them to their doorstep, much to their annoyance and the appreciation of their parents. Except, when I took Max to her front door, it was Billy that answered. 

The second he opened the door, he had a wide grin on his face that made my stomach churn. Max brushed past him to walk inside and flashed me a small, grateful smile that I was happy to return.

Billy leaned against the door frame, eyes darting behind me toward Eddie’s van.

“Your boyfriend dropped you and Max off? That’s cute.”

I rolled my eyes, turning my back to him.

“Tell him I said hello!” Billy shouted mockingly.

I reached Eddie’s van, slamming the door shut once I settled into the seat.

“You okay?” Eddie asked. The question geared toward me but his eyes were focused on the front door of the Mayfield-Hargrove residence. 

“Yeah,” I shrugged. “Just go. Please.”

“You sure?”

“Eddie, please just go.”

Eddie didn’t say anything else and put the car in gear. We left the air silent for a moment, but by the time we reached the end of the block, Eddie was already trying to pry.

“You wanna tell me what happened back there?”

I looked at him with narrowed eyes. Was he living under so much of a rock that he hadn’t heard of the rumor flooding the halls of Hawkins High? The rumor that Billy Hargrove had started out of spite?

“It’s nothing.”

Eddie pulled his van over to the side of the road, bringing it to a harsh stop against the curb. There was a man walking his dog on the sidewalk beside us, and he peeked into the van with a disgruntled look. Eddie waved mockingly at him, leaving the man and his dog to scurry away. With a roll of his eyes, set his concerned gaze on me once again.

“What happened back there?”

“Eddie–”

“Don’t say that it was nothing. You were fine before Hargrove came to the door. What did he say to you?”

I sighed. “He was just poking fun at us. That’s it.”

“Poking fun at me, you mean?”

“No, Eddie. Not you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The rumor,” I answered simply. When he still seemed confused, I knew I had to give him more. “The one about us.”

“The one about me brainwashing you to join a cult with some ritual sacrifice?” he asked. “I’m kinda used to it by now.”

“No,” I laughed. “The one Billy started about us being together. The whole school’s been talking about it all day.” 

“Oh.”

“Billy’s just being an asshole,” I said. “I hope it doesn’t stop you from getting an actual date. I’m sure you could just explain the situation and they’d understand.”

Eddie said nothing for several moments and then burst into laughter. When he realized I wasn’t laughing with him, he composed himself.

“Stopping me from getting a date?” he scoffed. “I’m the freak, remember? I don’t exactly have a long line of people at my locker hoping I’ll ask them to the spring dance.” He paused, watching me carefully. “So uh, what did you do to piss Hawkins’ California douchebag off where you got socially saddled with me?”

“Nothing,” I answered too quickly, leading Eddie to raise a questioning brow. I sighed, knowing Eddie would only keep pestering me about it if I didn’t answer him now. “He asked me out and I turned him down. I guess he didn’t take it well.”

Eddie laughed again. “That douchebag asked you on a date? Really?”

“Don’t sound so surprised.”

Eddie’s eyes went wide. A string of protests began falling from his lips as he tried to recover from the statement I knew wasn’t meant to come across the way it had.

“I didn’t mean–” Eddie clenched his fist, fumbling with his words. “He just doesn’t seem like your type.”

It was my turn to look at him with raised brows. “And what is my type?”

Eddie bit the corner of his lip. “Not a douchebag. I just sort of figured you went for the nerds. The first to arrive and last to leave kind of deal.”

“Promptness doesn’t hurt,” I shrugged.

Eddie sighed dramatically. “I said I was sorry for the campaign going over. I can’t exactly control how long these things are going to go over. It’s an art.”

“Right,” I agreed sarcastically. “Just seems like something the Dungeon Master could control.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, dragging his hands over his face.

“The first to arrive and last to leave doesn’t just apply to school stuff,” I said, gaining Eddie’s attention. “Sometimes it’s extracurriculars. Work, practice–”

“Like Hargrove and Harrington.”

“–Clubs. The dedication is nice to see.”

“Clubs?” Eddie repeated as if he’d heard me wrong. “You think my dedication to Hellfire’s hot?”

“That is not what I said!” I argued, struggling to stifle the laugh that was threatening to pass my lips. “But it’s hotter than Hargrove’s for sure.”

Eddie tried to hide his grin but did a poor job. “You’re pretty hot for a babysitter. I get why people fantasize about this shit now.”

I slapped his arm, only making his smile grow.

“I’m guessing there are worse D&D tutors out there.”

Eddie fiddled with the rings on his fingers for a few moments and we fell into a comfortable silence. To distract myself from whatever was going on in his head, I began tugging on a loose thread of my shorts.

“So you weren’t bothered by Hargrove’s rumor because it was with me, but because you thought you were interfering in my non-existent love life?”

I tore my gaze from my lap to look Eddie in the eye. “Seems pretty existent to me.”

If possible, the smile on his face grew even wider than before. “You know, it’s actually Harrington’s fault. He recommended that I watch the movie instead of reading the book,” Eddie said. “I’m kind of glad he helped me shit the bed now.”

“I think we can use this whole thing and make a project that’ll get Ms. Harlin off your ass.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Who’s the oddball D&D character? You know, the outsider?”

“Oddball D&D character? If you really think there’s a simple answer to that question, I have done a horrible job teaching you.”

“It’s been one night!”

The next day, I made another trip to Eddie’s locker. He wasn’t as surprised to see me this time but did spare a glance around the hallway to see the several pairs of eyes that were not-so-subtly watching our interaction. 

“Is this where the line starts?”

Eddie knit his brows together. “What are you talking about?”

“For the people hoping you’ll ask them to the spring dance.”

Eddie stared at me for a moment, just like he had last night, before he began laughing once again. He nodded his head as he reached inside, pulling two books from his locker. 

“If I even consider going to that thing, I have one condition.”

“What’s that?”

He kept one book, handing me the other.

“You study this, cover to cover.” I looked at the cover of the book now in my hands and laughed when I saw it was the D&D player’s handbook. “I will quiz you. Between us, I’ll give you a run for your money.”

“I don’t doubt it,” I muttered, flipping through the extensive book.

“And in return, I’ll read The Outsiders. Actually contribute to our project.”

“Cover to cover?”

“Does Kas kill Vecna?” Eddie asked.

I looked at him with a blank expression that only earned another laugh out of him, followed by a shake of his head. “We’ll get there.”

#eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #stranger things imagine #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfic

[writersuffertwice]

our secret

eternals

druig x reader

Sersi and Ikaris stood happily at the altar, gazing deeply into one another’s eyes. The town was in a frenzy around them, happily buzzing to celebrate their union. Off to the side, the rest of us were stuck watching the affair take place. 

Sersi glanced over Ikaris’ shoulder to look at us and I offered her an overly enthusiastic thumbs up. Makkari didn’t find my gesture very encouraging and kicked me with her boot. I looked at her over my shoulder and shrugged. She only rolled her eyes. 

I shifted my gaze over the other Eternals and first found Kingo who looked teary-eyed. Gilgamesh wasn’t far off from Kingo and Thena watched with a vacant but amused expression. Sprite looked like she was trying to look anywhere but directly at Sersi and Ikaris, while Ajak nodded her head toward the couple in approval. Phastos’ eyes were full of curiosity as he surveyed the people bustling around us. 

Druig was the only one who caught my wandering eyes and dropped his left eye into a quick wink. I shifted my eyes away from him immediately, quickly averting them to Sprite. Looping my arm through hers, I tried to pull her thoughts away from Ikaris and Sersi for a moment.

“You doing alright, Sprite?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked bitterly. “It’s a happy occasion.”

“Right,” I muttered. “I don’t know why I asked.”

“Ignore her, she’s just moody,” Kingo whispered to me, dropping an arm over my shoulders. “The rest of us are fully capable of talking about our feelings, right?”

“Why do I feel like you’re trying to attack me?”

“Probably because he is,” Sprite chimed in, turning her attention to Kingo and I.

“Oh so I try to be supportive of you and the only thing that gets your attention is Kingo making jokes?”

“At your expense, sure,” Sprite smiled smugly. “Going to do anything to change his mind?”

I flashed my middle finger at her and Sprite returned the gesture. A smug look accompanied the gesture, taking a permanent hold of her face for the time being. 

Kingo seemed proud of himself and patted my shoulder approvingly.  He dropped his hands to join everyone in a thunderous sound of celebratory applause at the end of the ceremony. As I joined in with the applause, I matched Sprite’s less enthusiastically paced claps. She looked over at me upon noticing what I was doing and I winked at her.

“I need a drink,” she grumbled under her breath.

“Make sure it’s caffeine free!” Kingo called after her. “It’s already past your bedtime!”

I laughed at the sight of Kingo chasing after Sprite, hurling more backhanded comments at her. Sprite was more than capable of handling things on her own, especially Kingo and his teasing antics. She had a quick tongue that had the ability to catch even Kingo off his game every now and again.

“And to think, we could’ve had two things to celebrate today,” Phastos’ voice drifted through my ears as he bumped his arm with mine.

“You were going to get married? Who’s the lucky guy?”

“Oh leave her alone,” Thena added, approaching Phastos and I with Gilgamesh in tow.

“You’re supporting this?” Phastos asked.

“No,” she scoffed. “Figured that’s her choice though. Not much the rest of us can do about it, can we?”

“Why does everyone have this sudden interest in my life?” I asked, gazing around at the trio with curious eyes.

“Because we don’t want to see you die an old, lonely spinster,” Gilgamesh joked.

“Or because we have a bet--” Gilgamesh smacked Phastos’ arm, cutting off the remark Phastos was going to make.

“Is no one really gonna say it?” Thena asked, earning no response. “Fine. I’ll say it. You and Druig have been doing this same dance around each other for years.”

“Why doesn’t anyone harass Druig about any of this?” I asked, my eyes traveling through the crowd to find him.

“Over there,” Phastos turned the top of my head. “You know, not that it matters. Because you totally weren’t looking for him.”

Druig leaned against a wall, watching Makkari interact with a group of men seated across from them. There was a pile of things on the table and I knew Makkari was striking up some sort of deal with the men. I didn’t miss the one man swiping something from the table once Makkari turned her back to them, caught up in something Druig had said to her. 

“He just does that to get a rise out of you,” Gilgamesh spoke softly.

“Childish if you ask me,” Thena muttered, earning a sharp slap in the arm from Gilgamesh. “What are you getting mad at me for? Druig is the one doing it!”

“I appreciate the pep talk, guys,” I hummed, looking away from where Makkari and Druig continued to talk. “Really, but we’ve got our entire lives to figure it out. Maybe one of these days we’ll get around to it.”

Thena opened her mouth but Gilgamesh was quick to silence her. Phastos placed a comforting hand on my back, patting it softly. I offered him a small smile, a silent thank you for his support. He returned it before pulling his hand away, turning to congratulate Sersi and Ikaris.

Sersi and Ikaris were surrounded by a growing group of people who all hoped to wish them well for the remainder of their days. None of them could comprehend what a bond like this really meant, but if anyone was going to have a huge ceremony like this to celebrate their love, it was certainly the two of them. I couldn’t stop my own eyes from searching for Druig, who was lurking somewhere far away from this sea of people.

“You should talk to him,” Ajak encouraged, coming to stand on my left. “Even Sprite is sick of seeing the two of you dance around the subject.”

I followed Ajak’s nod toward Sprite in the crowd and rolled my eyes.

“Sprite is one to talk about dancing around the subject,” I retorted, receiving a middle finger from the red-headed girl across the way.

I sent her one back, running my eyes through the crowd of bodies that were dancing and celebrating. Smiles covered their faces, making Sprite’s angry expression stand out even more.

“It’s okay to do so, you know. You’re not mindless. You have hearts, wishes, desires. It’s okay to have feelings.”

“When was the last time you took that advice?”

“She’s got you there, Ajak,” a voice spoke up from behind me. A man dressed in a deep shade of purple took residence on my right side. “Why are we talking about Ajak’s love life anyway?”

“We weren’t talking about Ajak’s love life,” I countered. “Ajak and I were.”

“No,” Ajak disagreed. “You were deflecting.”

“Ah. Everyone seems to be doing that today. For a wedding, you’d think everyone would be a little more lively.”

Ajak chuckled under her breath. “Kingo, why don’t you help her loosen up. I don’t think she’s moved from this spot all night. Maybe she’ll listen to you.”

“That I can do,” the man responded, offering his hand to me. “C’mon, let’s show these people how to dance.”

“Kingo–”

“Nope, none of that,” he interrupted. “C’mon.”

He pulled me by the hand toward the group of people dancing and enjoying one another’s company. Kingo attempted to feel the beat of the song and the movement of his body led an unnatural laugh to leave my body.

“What? You don’t like this move?”

I shook my head, laughing at the way his body jerked from side to side. “What do you call that?”

“I don’t know. I’m thinking the Resistance? You know the side-to-side motion? Resisting the pull of gravity?”

“Absolutely not,” I protested with a loud laugh. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Dumbest?” Kingo fiend offense. “That’s harsh. I’ve heard Ikaris say at least fourteen things dumber than that. He’s not as smart as he thinks he is.”

“That  I can agree with,” I nodded, allowing Kingo to spin me in a circle before dipping my body dramatically.

“You know, you should really go for it with Druig.”

“Oh my God, Kingo,” I groaned. “I thought you brought me out here to dance. To loosen up?”

Kingo shrugged. “That’s why Ajak wanted you out here. I brought you out here to make Druig jealous. Haven’t you felt his eyes on you the whole time?”

“What?” I asked.

“Seriously? You don’t feel that? His eyes are like daggers,” Kingo continued, looking over my shoulder. “Oh look, here he comes.”

On cue, I felt Druig’s arm snake around my waist. “Mind if I cut in, Kingo?”

“Uh, I don’t know,” Kingo protested.” We were having some serious fun–”

“Wasn’t really a question, Kingo.”

“Uh, it’s fine,” I interrupted. “Right, Kingo?”

“Yeah,” Kingo shrugged. “You two have fun!”

As Druig steered me away from the crowd, I shot Kingo a look behind Druig’s back. Kingo mimicked my thumbs up from before and I rolled my eyes, flipping him the bird. Even though Druig didn’t look, I heard him laugh to himself, and I knew that somehow, he knew what I had done.

I expected him to stop once we found our way out of the crowd and I was surprised when we didn’t. His arm left my back as we walked up the stairs and I hated the feeling that bubbled in my stomach at the loss of contact. He rounded the corner at the top of the stairs which was very dimly lit. 

With the limited lighting, it was hard to make out the terrain in front of me and I lost my footing. Before I went crashing to the ground, I was caught by the familiar touch I was previously missing.

“Did you have fun with Kingo?”

“Druig–”

“Did you?”

I shrugged, playing into the annoyance that was already coating his face. “A little.”

“A little?”

“Might’ve had more fun with someone else, though.”

A small smile graced Druig’s lips. “That so? Anyone specific in mind?”

I hummed, pretending to think it over. “Thought of asking Sprite. You think she’d be interested?”

“She didn’t seem to be in the best mood tonight,” Druig suggested. “So I’m not sure she’d be up for a dance.”

“And you? Are you the dancing type?”

“Not really, but for the right person I might be willing to give it a go.”

“Should I go tell Makkari her partner is waiting for her?” I asked with a raised brow.

Druig scoffed, tracing his tongue across his teeth. “So that’s what this is about. Why you haven’t looked at me all evening? You’re upset.”

“I’m not upset,” I reasoned. “I had everyone coming to talk to me about you tonight. I had to pretend like you and I haven’t been–”

“Sneaking around for months? You could’ve told them.”

“And give them the satisfaction of being right? Absolutely not.”

“So you’d rather let them annoy you instead? That makes perfect sense.”

I rolled my eyes, giving him a dumbfounded expression. “The point is, I was doing all that while you were off schmoozing Makkari.”

“Schmoozing,” Druig laughed. “That’s what I was doing? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous.”

“No,” I protested. “The only jealous person here is you. What was that whole thing with Kingo about?”

“That was entirely different. He had his hands on you.”

I rolled my eyes again but before I could say anything, Druig dipped his head and pressed a tender kiss to my forehead. I smiled to myself at the gesture and tilted my head upward to meet his lips halfway.

“Oh my God,” a voice muttered, forcing Druig and I apart. Our heads spun, immediately finding the familiar face of Kingo. “Guys! You are never going to guess what I found! And more importantly, what you owe me!”

Druig groaned, dropping his head to my shoulder.

“So much for our secret,” I muttered.

#eternals imagine #druig imagine #eternals druig #marvel imagine #druig x reader #druig x eternal!reader

[writersuffertwice]

nancy jonathan plan

stranger things

steve harrington x reader

“Have you started applying to colleges yet?” Robin asked, applying the final touches to her makeup from the front seat of Steve’s car. 

“We were working on our essays together in Family Video,” I answered with a roll of my eyes. When Robin shrugged, having no recollection of the event, I leaned between Robin and Steve’s seats. “It was that day Vickie wandered in.”

Steve snorted. “Explains why she wasn’t listening.”

Robin smacked his arm, earning an immediate protest from him.

“Hey!” Steve shouted. “I’m driving! What if I’d run us off the road?”

“Would save us the embarrassment of having to get rejected from college,” Robin muttered. 

Steve sighed, refocusing on the road without Robin’s interference. His eyes flicked to his rearview mirror, catching my eye. “Are you planning on going back to Michigan? You know, applying to schools out there?”

“Haven’t decided.”

“God, please don’t,” Robin pleaded, rotating in her seat to face me. “We have to go to the same college. We have to be roommates. I will be lost without you. I mean, we need a full on Nancy Jonathan plan.”

“Couldn’t you just apply out there too?” Steve asked as if it were the simplest answer in the world.

Robin ignored Steve’s comment so I left my attention on hers.

“Nancy Jonathan plan? Really?”

“It’s necessary,” Robin deadpanned, turning back to sit normally in the front seat of the car.

“Unless you plan on staying in Hawkins,” Steve chimed in.

“If you are, it’s not for me,” Robin muttered. 

After a moment, she turned to face me again, a wide grin on her face. “Are you planning on staying in Hawkins?” She paused, only to gasp dramatically. “Are you forging your own Nancy Jonathan plan without me?”

“There is no Nancy Jonathan plan!”

Robin did a poor job of discreetly looking between me and the driver of the car. Steve was already watching us skeptically in the rearview mirror as if waiting for an answer to Robin’s question himself. The last thing I wanted to do was draw attention to Robin’s lack of awareness. 

“Robin, would you turn around?” Steve chided. “God, you’re worse to drive around than Dustin.”

Robin rolled her eyes, turning to face the windshield again.

“For the record, I’ve heard Dustin say he can drive his bike better than you can drive this car--”

“Okay, that’s ridiculous,” Steve dismissed with a wave of his hand. “Dustin is always riding his bike in the middle of the street and I keep telling him that if he’s not careful, someone’s going to run him over.”

“Billy hasn’t been as awful since Max threatened him and stole his car,” I said. “I mean, he still sucks but he keeps it to himself. If anyone around here is contemplating running over kids, it’s him.”

Steve snorted and Robin laughed.

“Or beating up teenagers,” she chimed in. “Remember that, Steve? Apparently, you’re like horrible at fights. I guess it’s a good thing people think you’re pretty. As long as there’s no long-term damage to your facial structure, you could male model,” Robin rambled. She paused, gasping once again. “Wait, you think Keith would let us recreate movie posters at the store? I bet we’d sell at least six extra copies of whatever we slap your face on.”

“You two could totally pull off Sixteen Candles,” I chimed in. 

“Or The Breakfast Club,” Robin agreed. “But we’d need a couple extras. You interested? If not, I bet we could get Nancy and some of the younger ones to do it.”

Steve rolled his eyes, narrowly repressing a groan. “Okay, for starters, if I’m recreating anything, it’s Michael Douglas in Romancing the Stone. We’ve got the same look going on, only I have better hair.” 

During Steve’s brief but dramatic pause, Robin rolled her eyes and I stifled a laugh.

“Second, Billy is twice my size.”

“At least,” Robin muttered.

“But,” Steve continued. “I got a few licks in. I couldn’t let him hurt Max or Lucas or Dustin, so I had to. Wasn’t like anyone else could.”

Robin pursed her lips mockingly. “Correct me if I’m wrong since I wasn’t invited to this end-of-the-world showdown, but wasn’t Max the one that actually got Billy under control? I thought you were too busy bleeding out in the backseat?”

“I wasn’t bleeding out!” Steve shouted, having to compose himself when he nearly veered off the road. “Sure, I had some bruises and cuts, but I had one hell of a doctor.”

Steve met my eye through the rearview mirror once again and this time, I gave him a warm smile.

“I’m just saying that from my experiences with you, you’re not very good at defending yourself,” Robin reasoned. “Remember when we were trapped in the mall nine months ago? You totally got your ass kicked.”

“I was restrained! To you!” Steve shouted.

“And you still got your face caved in. You should be able to fight with or without your hands.”

“Weren’t you also on drugs?” I asked, hoping to throw Steve a bone.

Steve took his right hand off the wheel, gesturing over his shoulder where I sat. “See?”

Robin rolled her eyes. “Do you remember much about that night?”

Steve shrugged, his eyes locking with mine, only for a brief second. “Some things more than others.”

Unlike Robin and Steve, I had a fairly strong memory of that night.

Dustin’s voice hardly came over the walkie they’d given me for emergencies only, pleading for someone to come to the mall to help him. I’d caught his message just before it had cut out for good. When I got there, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find them, but on my toward Scoops, I’d caught a glimpse of Dustin’s hat by the theater.

“Dustin? Erica?”

“Oh thank God,” Dustin sighed dramatically. “Did you hear my call? On the walkie?”

“Yeah. How else did you think I knew where to find you? A tracking device?”

Dustin put his arm out in protest. “Don’t joke about tracking devices right now.”

I scoffed with a quick shake of my head. “So what’s the problem?”

Dustin took a deep breath. “Right now, I need you to help us find them.”

I knit my brows together, glancing between him and Erica. “Find who? The others are on their way.”

“They are?”

It was Erica’s turn to sigh dramatically. “We can’t find Robin and Steve. They got injected with some drugs or something and they’ve been acting all funny. We were hiding in the theater but they’re gone now.”

“Injected with drugs?” I repeated, ensuring that I heard her right.

“Remember that Russian cipher we were trying to crack?” Dustin asked. “It’s a long story, but it’s all connected.”

I threw my hands up, not knowing what to say. “How did you two manage to lose two tall, drugged-up teenagers?”

“We were too busy worrying about the Russians looking for us!” Dustin shouted in a low whisper.

“Okay,” I sighed. “Where did you look?”

Dustin gestured vaguely to the theater’s lobby, forcing me to roll my eyes.

“Really?”

“Did you miss the part I said about avoiding the Russians?”

“Have you checked the bathrooms?”

Dustin and Erica shared a look.

“Okay. Can you two check one and I’ll check the other? We’ll meet back here.”

Erica and Dustin trotted off toward the bathrooms to the left, while I wandered off toward the ones on the right. I glanced over my shoulder every now and then, looking for anyone that would seem like they were looking for Erica, Dustin, Steve, or Robin. Thankfully, all I could seem to find were movie patrons who seemed put off by my glances.

As I neared the bathroom, I could hear laughter coming out from behind one door. I followed the sound through the door, finding myself looking at an arrangement of bright red stalls. Only one of them had the uniforms of two Scoops Ahoy employees peeking out of the bottom and I sighed to myself. 

I tapped on the door with my knuckles, hoping to give them some warning that I was here and that I wasn’t someone who intended on hurting them.

“Steve? Robin?” I called, pushing the door open slightly.

Robin’s face was the first I saw and she barely moved her head from its position against the stall’s wall. Steve on the other hand, had his back to me. Both of his arms were propping his head up above the toilet, though he seemed to be growing drowsy.

“Hey Steve,” Robin said, lightly tapping Steve with the back of her hand. “Look who’s here.”

Steve struggled to turn around in the tight space and I backed away slightly, hoping to give them both some more room. When he settled, I had to suppress a gasp at the sight of his face.

“Dustin and Erica are looking for you.”

Robin groaned. “We got thirsty and then we got sick. Can’t you just tell them that for us?”

“Are you still sick or do you think you can walk back to the lobby?”

“I’m feeling better,” Robin murmured, turning her head slightly toward Steve. “Not so sure about him though.”

Steve looked like he was still reeling from whatever was in his system - or the pain from whatever had happened to his face - and a soft whine passed his lips.

“Steve?”

“Just tell Erica and Dustin we’ll be out in a second,” he said.

“I’ll tell them,” Robin offered, crawling past me toward the sink. “You just finish doing that.”

“Do you want me to get you back to the lobby?”

“No,” Robin waved off. “Just help him. He needs it more than I do.”

“Hey!” Steve interjected.

“Steve? Robin?” Dustin’s voice called out. A moment later, he and Erica rounded the corner. “Jesus Christ, we’ve been looking everywhere for you two!”

“By everywhere, he means the lobby,” Erica said.

“And a bathroom!”

“Dustin, Erica. Can you get Robin out of here? Just keep her hydrated. I’ll get Steve.”

“You sure?” Dustin asked.

“It’s obviously under control, Dustin,” Erica gestured to the scene around us. “At least this time we’ll out number her and she can’t run off.”

“Fine,” Dustin sighed. “Come on, Robin. Maybe we can get you a stick of gum or something on the way.”

As Erica and Dustin led Robin out of the bathroom, I crouched down to take the spot Robin had left unoccupied across from Steve. From the tiled floor, the stall looked a lot bigger than it had when I was standing.

“Are you okay?”

“Ask me again in five minutes.”

“You want to tell me what happened to you?” I asked, gazing at his beaten face. “I’m starting to wonder if you can actually fight.”

“I was tied up this time,” Steve argued.

“Right, and you didn’t have time to plant your feet when Billy kicked your ass before this.”

Steve shrugged. “Maybe I’m just a lover and not a fighter.”

I laughed at his suggestion. “I don’t think that’s it. You’ve been fighting against all these monsters for years. You’ve probably saved all of our lives at one point or another. You’re a hero to most of us.”

Steve scoffed. “A hero. I don’t think I even know what that means anymore.”

“I can tell you if you’re interested.”

Steve released a soft hum, leaning his head back against the stall.

“A hero isn’t just the person that fights the big scary monsters, but the one who keeps on trying, even when the world tells them to give up. For some reason, they keep going when any sane person would stop. The person that can be beaten almost unrecognizably beaten and still go into a tunnel full of dangerous vines and be willing to light themselves on fire if it meant protecting the others. Helping someone crack a secret Russian cipher and chasing them down, just to give them the adventure they so desperately need, even if it means getting kidnapped and beaten up all over again,” I said. “Hawkins is lucky to have you. We’re lucky to have you.” I paused, lowering my eyes toward my hands in my lap. “I’m lucky to have you.”

“I get it,” Steve said. “I hear what you’re trying to say.”

“I don’t think you do. It’s not your Upside Down adventures, Steve. Even in normal things, you’re fearless. Applying to college, trying to win Nancy–”

“I’m not trying to win Nancy back,” Steve interrupted. “Not anymore.”

“What happened?”

“Besides her being with Jonathan? I was kind of forced to realize I have feelings for someone else.”

“Have you told them?”

Steve shook his head. “No. Guess it’s not very heroic of me, is it? I mean, not like you.”

It was my turn to scoff. “I’m not a hero, Steve. I think those drugs are messing with your head.”

“You were there when we went down in the tunnels. When I was going to blow the whole thing up and draw the dogs back to us. You pushed the kids out, including Dustin, even when he tried to stay. You were going to let yourself burn with me if it meant protecting them. Not to mention that we wouldn’t even have gotten there if you hadn’t gotten to the Byers’ house when you did. Billy probably would’ve killed me.”

“Not true. Max probably would’ve done something.”

“I’m glad she didn’t have to. I’m glad it was you.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Look, what I’m saying is, if you think I’m a hero, you’re right there with me. It’s part of the reason I like you so much.”

“I like you too, Steve.”

“No,” Steve argued, adjusting his posture. “I mean really. I think a part of me always has, you know? All this time I kept thinking Nancy was the one I wanted because she was always there, but Robin pointed out that Nancy’s not the one that comes into the mall every day to say hi. Nancy isn’t the one taking Dustin off my hands when I want to put him through a wall. That’s you.”

“I think the drugs are–”

“It’s not the drugs,” he argued. “I mean it is, a little. I couldn’t say it to you when the world was ending, but I can now.”

I looked at him, long and hard, searching for a sign that he was telling a lie. That the drugs in his system still had their stronghold over him, but eyes weren’t as cloudy as they once were. They were that confident, deep shade of brown that you’d find yourself lost in if you weren’t careful. 

“You can just forget I said anything–”

“No, Steve,” I cut him off, reaching for his hand. “I like you too.”

Steve glanced back in his rearview mirror again and sent me another warm smile. I returned it, still struggling to pull myself out of the memory I was recalling.

“Wait,” Robin said, looking between Steve and I. “Is there something about that night I don’t know? I’ve heard about Steve getting his heroic ass kicked, Max’s high-speed chase, and Steve and I throwing up buckets, but not whatever you two clearly know.”

“We don’t know anything,” Steve shrugged. “Guess you had to be there.”

Robin rolled her eyes, settling her gaze on me. “Spill.”

“There’s nothing to spill,” I said. “But to answer your question, I’ve got pieces of a Nancy Jonathan plan in mind,” I began, making Robin groan. “But I couldn’t have a good one without you.”

Robin grinned, clapping her hands once out of excitement. “Yes! Suck it, Harrington!”

Steve shook his head, the smile still etched across his face. “Yeah, I guess you won this one.”

When he was sure Robin was too busy relishing in her victory to notice, he winked at me in the rearview mirror.

Maybe Robin wasn’t so wrong about this Nancy Jonathan plan after all.

#steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x reader #stranger things imagine #stranger things x reader #steve harrington fanfic

[writersuffertwice]

lost in translation

robin buckley x reader

"Will you two slow down?" I called after a retreating Max and Eleven. "I promised you ice cream but not if I'm going to have to chase you all over this mall!"

My complaints fell on deaf ears as the girls ran into Scoops Ahoy where an equally annoyed Steve Harrington stood behind the counter.

When Max had knocked on my door this morning, desperate to complain about Lucas and escape her psycho brother, I lent an ear.

When she suggested visiting El who was going through her own issues with Mike, I reluctantly agreed to visit. I hoped El's appreciation for our visit would make up for the obnoxious drive to the cabin.

When the two girls suggested going to Starcourt Mall to shop and get ice cream, Max sensed my hesitation. In an effort to convince me, Max suggested there would be a chance we'd run into a certain Scoops Ahoy employee as if that would make me less anxious.

"What are you two doing here?" Steve asked, eyes darting between the two girls who hadn't stopped giggling since they entered the mall. He looked to me for help and all I could do was shrug. "Is she even supposed to be out?"

"Don't think so," I sighed, leaning against the counter. "But unlike you, I'm a horrible babysitter."

Steve scoffed, I'd say we're closer than you think."

Steve fulfilled Max and El's order with minimal regret and warned them that he wouldn't be implicated in aiding and abetting El's escape.

"So Steve," Max began slowly. "Where's that girl that works here?"

"Robin?" Steve asked with knit brows. He once again looked toward me for help, but this time, I was too busy staring daggers into Max's back.

"Uh she's in the back with Dustin," Steve said. "You need her for something?"

"No," Max shrugged unconvincingly, turning to face me. "Just curious."

Steve narrowed his eyes at the young girls but mercifully didn’t question them any further. I didn't doubt that if he'd kept pushing, Max would've slipped up in her smugness, and said something that led Steve to focus on me.

So when Max and El asked to wander the mall on their own, I wasn't going to stop them. If Max could spend half her energy trying to set me up on a date with keeping El out of the wrong people's sight, then we'd be just fine. I just made them promise to meet me back at Scoops in two hours.

"So what are you and Dustin up to?" I asked once Max and El were out of earshot.

Steve's eyes scanned the store for any new customers or those with eager ears but found none. 

I furrowed my brows at his odd behavior. "Steve, what's going on?"

He released a sigh that I thought was reserved only for Dustin. "We're transcribing a Russian code we caught on Dustin's walkie. We weren't having much luck with it but apparently, Robin's fluent in Russian, so she's helping us out."

The mention of Robin got my ears perking up. "She is? I didn't know that."

"Apparently she's fluent in four languages." His eyes flicked between the door that concealed Robin and Dustin from the rest of the store, and myself. "Wait a minute, aren't you fluent in Russian? Because of your dad?"

Steve and I met because my dad had been hired to look into the disappearance of Barbara Holland. He'd developed a reputation for pushing the fears of conspiracy theories on people, especially if they involved the Soviets.

"Yeah, but doesn't Robin have it under control?"

"Sure but wouldn't it be faster with two people who know the language? Besides, Dustin can't be offering much help back there."

"Hey!" Dustin shouted. "I heard that!"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Just go back there. I'm sure they'll be happy to have you."

I swallowed thickly as I stared at the door that stood less than a foot behind Steve. All I had to do was wander into the back and playfully ask if they needed help transcribing whatever it was Dustin stumbled across this time. 

"You good?" Steve asked, walking toward the door. 

"Yeah, just worried about El."

He pushed it open slightly and gestured for me to step past the threshold. Reluctantly, I followed his lead.

"I'll let you know if the girls come back," he said, gaining the attention of Robin and Dustin. Happy with himself, Steve shut the door, returning to his task of slinging ice cream and giving Erica way too many free samples.

"Hey!" Dustin shouted happily. "What are you doing here?"

"Steve said you were translating a Russian code and--"

"He's a genius!" Dustin shrieked. "Come sit down."

"Am I missing something?" Robin asked.

"She's fluent in Russian," Dustin answered Robin's question before waving his hand toward the chair he wanted me to sit in. "I can't believe Steve thought of asking you before me."

"Well, I'm glad someone is actually thinking," Robin grumbled.

"Hey! The alphabet thing was a good idea!" Dustin argued.

"For you and Steve to spend the rest of your lives trying to crack this thing one letter at a time?"

"Would you tell her it's a solid plan?" Dustin asked, his eyes watching me closely. "For two people that don't know Russian, I thought we did pretty good."

"Look, I'm just here to help translate. I tried to tell Steve that Robin probably had it under control but he thought two heads would be better than one."

Robin smiled faintly to herself. "Glad someone has faith in me.”

I couldn't help but smile with her, hoping it would conceal the blush rising to my cheeks at the gratitude I'd been able to give her.

"As much as it means to me that you think I can figure this out, I could use your help," Robin continued. "Plus, Dustin is awful at letting me concentrate."

"Hey!" Dustin interjected.

"How much have you gotten so far?"

"Nothing," Dustin answered.

Robin rolled her eyes. "Nothing is Steve and Dustin's handiwork. Even with Dustin's genius plan, all Steve could focus on was the music in the background."

"That sounds like Steve."

Robin cracked another smile and when our eyes met, I quickly looked away. 

“But I’ve managed to get a few words. All I’ve got is ‘the week’ so far. Could use your help.”

Robin and I had a hard time listening to the recording with the bustling atmosphere of the mall and the chatter of the customers Steve was doing a poor job of serving. The quality of the audio wasn't the best and with the added intrusions, I wondered if we'd ever make any progress.

By the time Max and El circled back to Scoops, the two had ditched their cheery expressions for two annoyed ones. They were in a rush to get out of the mall and I promised Robin, Steve, and Dustin that I'd return the following day to finish translating the words. 

Together, Robin and I had only gotten The week is long. The silver cat feeds.  As promised, the next day, I arrived at Starcourt just as it opened. I quickly made my way toward Scoops, using the windows along the way to ensure I didn't look a mess. 

When I got to the ice cream shop, Robin was already there with her back to me. She had a pair of headphones covering her ears, allowing me to check my hair a final time.

As she turned to look past the counter, I waved. She flashed a wide smile that I hoped was for me and not some customer wandering behind me, that almost made me weak in the knees. Robin tugged the headphones off of her ears and leaned against the counter.

"Thank God it's you. I thought you were a customer."

"You're safe for now," I said with what I hoped was a pleasant smile. I released a shaky breath to compose myself, hoping she didn’t notice. For good measure, I cleared my throat. "Have you made any more progress with the code?"

"When we left last night, Steve realized the music he couldn't stop talking about, is the music from the carousel. So, the new theory is that the call came from inside the mall," Robin explained. "And more importantly, I got another line of our translation: 'when blue meets yellow in the west.' Took me a few hours after you left to figure it out but you should listen and check for yourself."

"I trust you," I said a little too quickly. Robin raised her brows questioningly. "I mean, that what you heard is what I'd hear. But I'll listen to it again before moving onto the next line."

Robin nodded her head, a faint trace of a grin on her face.

As the only employee here, Robin had to stand at the counter and couldn't leave her post. To listen to the audio together, I had to lean on the counter beside her. Our shoulders were forged together and every now and then I’d meet Robin’s eyes and panic would strangle my throat. 

It wasn’t that panic that made you afraid but the panic that made you nervous. Almost as if there were this tense moment just waiting to veer your life in a new direction. Perhaps this was all a delusion I was concocting in my head to hope she felt anything close to the same way I did. 

If Max were here, I knew she’d laugh at how ridiculous I was being.

The headphones were perched between us, forcing us closer together. I could feel her breath brushing over the bare skin of my shoulder and rubbed my hand over my arm hoping to conceal the goosebumps blossoming on my skin.

“Are you cold?” Robin asked. “I think we have Scoops jackets in the back. I can give you mine.”

“No, it’s okay,” I brushed off.

“You sure? I mean they’re kinda ugly but these ice cream freezers are insanely cold.”

“Yeah, I think I’m just eager to figure out this code. This kind of mystery is a nice change of pace from what I’m used to.”

“Hanging out with Steve and Dustin probably has that effect,” she teased. “I have to admit that working with Steve isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I mean, working with the social king of Hawkins seemed like a nightmare but it has its perks.”

“Like what?” 

When I turned to face her, I found her eyes already staring at me. I watched as her lips parted and I held my breath awaiting her answer. Instead, a loud knock sounded from the backroom, forcing both of us to pull away from one another. The clattering plastic of the headphones rattling against the counter was the only thing covering the soft pants of my breath. 

“I-I’ll be right back,” Robin said, dashing off toward the sound of the knock.

I turned toward the counter and released a deep sigh. After composing myself for a brief moment, I reached for the headphones and placed them both over my ears. I hummed the carousel tune under my breath, hoping to tune out the sound and focus on the words.

A trip to China sounds nice, I jotted down in the small notebook Robin had left behind. The sight of her handwriting and the small doodles littering the sides of the notepad brought a giddy smile to my face.

I started the recording over, focusing on the last bit that had yet to be translated and quickly finished it: if you tread lightly. I read over the full translation in Robin’s notepad with furrowed brows. If the call came from inside the mall, what did any of this mean? Besides, that carousel was probably at a ton of malls. How could we know that it was from this mall?

Robin rushed back in, slamming her hands on the counter. I jumped, removing the headphones from my ears and resting them on the counter.

“What was the second part of that translation again?” she asked.

“The second part?” I repeated, glancing down at the notepad. “Uh the silver cat feeds–”

“Silver cat. I think I know what it is.”

I gestured for her to continue and her smile grew. “Those obnoxious assholes with the loud knocks that drop off our shipments work for Lynx Transportations. Their logo has a silver lynx on it. I think that’s the silver cat.”

I listened to her words trying not to be distracted by the enthusiasm in which she spoke, but was having difficulty.

“And I think they make deliveries to the other restaurants in the mall. Maybe even some of the stores.”

“Wait,” I said, looking down at the notepad. “If the music is from the carousel and the silver cat are the people that make shipments, then the rest of this has to be connected to the mall too.”

“Right,” Robin smiled excitedly. “But we need to finish the translation first.” “I did while you were gone. It’s all right here,” I said, sliding the notepad over to her.

Robin’s eyes flicked over the words quickly but carefully. “China is the Chinese restaurant,” she murmured, walking around the counter toward the food court. My steps fell behind her as my mind worked to comprehend what she was suggesting.

“If that’s it then tread lightly would be–”

“The shoe store,” we said together. 

We shared a quick look and glanced around the rest of the mall.

“Blue meets yellow in the west,” I muttered.

Robin and I’s eyes darted around, having eyes on everything we’d already named from here. After a moment, Robin abruptly grabbed my hand.

“What color are the hands on that clock?”

I looked toward the large clock stationed in the middle of the wall. 

Blue and yellow.

“The west would make it nighttime,” I said. “What time would the two hands overlap?”

“I’m not good with numbers.”

I bit my lip, watching as the narrowest hand slowly ticked around the clock. If they were meeting at night in the mall, it meant they were up to something. Speaking in a different language meant they were hoping not to be caught. The question wasn’t just what time they were meeting but who they were meeting and why.

“9:45. That’s when the hands will meet in the west.”

I turned toward Robin who once again, was already looking toward me. 

“Did we just crack this thing?” she asked, a wide grin on her face.

“I think so.”

Robin laughed and threw her arms around my neck, pulling me into a tight hug. I was taken aback by the action and even more so when I realized how close I was to Robin. Her hair faintly smelled like that lavender shampoo from that one store in the mall but was masked by a thin layer of hairspray. 

“I cannot wait to tell Steve we figured it out,” Robin said.

She pulled back slightly, a wide smile on her face. I hadn’t pulled back with her and my face was only a few inches from hers. There was no hiding the shaky breath that passed my lips this time, but there was no time for me to panic.

“Before the shipment came earlier, I was going to say that seeing you was the best part of working with Steve. I mean he’s funnier than I thought and Dustin’s not as annoying as he was at first, but none of that comes close to seeing you,” Robin whispered. “Steve told me I should go for it and I wasn’t sure if you were into me, and I thought that working on this code would–”

I leaned forward, pressing my lips against hers. When she didn’t move, I pulled back, looking anywhere but her face.

“I-I’m sorry. I–”

This time, I was cut off by Robin’s lips on mine. Without the nerves coursing through me this time, I was able to appreciate the soft texture of her lips and the faint taste of the mint chapstick she used. When I pulled back, I gave Robin a shy smile of my own that made her laugh.

“I think we’re past being shy now.”

I laughed with her, bringing my hands up to hide my face.

“Guys!” Steve’s voice called. At the sound of his voice, I lowered my hands. “We’ve got news!”

“Not more news than we’ve got,” Robin grinned, tossing her arm around my shoulder.

Steve looked between us with furrowed brows. “How long was I gone? You two were subzero last time I saw you and now you’re touching?”

“You get used to it,” Dustin chimed in. “This is what happened with Mike and El, Lucas and Max, and me and Suzie. I think you’re the one that needs to start taking our dating advice.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s not happening.”

#robin buckley imagine #stranger things imagine #robin buckley x reader #stranger things x reader #robin buckley

[writersuffertwice]

masterlist

stranger things

freakin' bats (eddie munson x reader)

the babysitter and the tutor (eddie munson x reader)

little bit of help (robin buckley x reader)

lost in translation (robin buckley x reader)

nancy jonathan plan (steve harrington x reader)

vikings: valhalla

power of words (harald sigurdsson x reader)

can’t sleep (leif eriksson x reader)

marvel

our secret (druig x reader)

[writersuffertwice]

little bit of help

stranger things

robin buckley x reader

"I just think it's ridiculous that my little brother and his girlfriend have better communication skills than Jonathan and I do," Nancy said, turning the wheel of her car down the cement path that led toward the high school.

Ever since Jonathan had called to tell Nancy that he wouldn't be coming back to Indiana for the break, Nancy had been passive-aggressively finding every way she could to discuss how ridiculous it was that he wasn't coming, Out of spite, she refused to go to California to see him, creating this bubble of angst that followed her around wherever she went.

"You could always go to-"

"I'm not going to California!" she shouted, whipping the car into a parking space. Even with the seatbelt, the aggression of her action nearly sent me crashing into the passenger door. "He told me he was coming here and he doesn't even have a good reason for not coming. He just wants to be there for his college letter to come, and it might not even come. Joyce could call him if it did. Even Will. It's not like it wouldn't be there when he got back."

"Maybe he's gotten it already and he doesn't want to disappoint you," I suggested, turning to face her now that the car was in park. "Or he's afraid that this college thing is going to tear you guys apart. Have you ever considered the fact that you guys might go to different colleges next year?"

"Of course I have," Nancy said, turning to the backseat to grab her backpack.

Her answer wasn't a surprise. Anyone that knew Nancy knew that she had developed a tendency to prepare for the worst. Since Barb had been killed in the Demogorgon's invasion of Hawkins a few years ago, Nancy hadn't allowed herself a moment to breathe. If she wasn't pursuing the truth for someone else, she was protecting her family and friends from the monsters threatening to spill into Hawkins from the Upside Down. If it wasn't that, she was preparing for her future. The one that logically included her current boyfriend.

"He should be able to tell me if something isn't working," she said, her voice soft. "I deserve that, don't I?"

"Of course you do, Nance," I sighed, placing a comforting hand over hers. "Maybe he's working his way up to it. If it's not working for you, then you need to do whatever brings you peace of mind."

Nancy gave me a soft smile. "Yeah, you're right. Maybe the distance is still taking its toll and maybe more distance is what we need."

I returned her smile. She turned to look in the mirror on her sun visor, adjusting a few strands of her hair. I watched her for a moment, catching sight of another car turning into the parking lot through her window. Inside, I could see the neat and somehow hasty looking head of hair that belonged to Steve Harrington, and his passenger that I would recognize anywhere.

"Hello," Nancy sang. "Are you listening to me?"

"Hm?"

"I asked if you were ready," she said. "To go in?"

"Uh yeah. Sorry."

Grabbing my backpack from the floor of the front seat, I sat it in my lap, making sure the zippers were closed. Nothing was worse than the wind blowing a stack of paper all across the parking lot at 8 a.m. After chasing them all down, no one even needed gym class.

Nancy looked out of her window and nearly pulled on her door handle to climb out of the car, but paused when she caught sight of the same car I'd noticed a few moments ago. She turned back to me with a knowing smile on her face.

"Ah, now I see why you weren't listening."

"What are you talking about?"

"Robin," she said knowingly. "Is she still avoiding you?"

"Like the plague."

Nancy stifled a laugh. "Have you tried talking to Steve? Maybe he can help."

“By what? Handcuffing her to the chair? No matter where I run into her, no matter what I try to say to her, she says like two words and then runs off. I mean, what am I supposed to do with that?”

“Maybe she’s nervous.”

“Because of me? She runs away from me like all the jocks do when they see Eddie Munson coming down the hall.”

Nancy laughed. “People get nervous when they see someone they like. Robin’s not exactly the most eloquent with words.”

“That’s not true. She’s totally coherent. Really smart too. I mean without her, Steve and Dustin never would’ve cracked that Russian code, and for all we know, we could all be dead. They probably wouldn't have gotten out of there without her and Erica," I said. "Sure, sometimes she rambles and it’s a little hard to understand, but passion makes people sound incoherent sometimes. I think it’s kind of cute how riled up she gets about the weirdest shit,” I trailed off, catching sight of Nancy’s lopsided smile. “Shit, was I doing it again?”

“Yeah,” Nancy grinned. “It’s cute though. I’ve never seen you have heart eyes over anything. Except for Jennifer Beals and Irene Cara, or anything Flashdance related.”

“Hey!” I argued. “If you can have your Tom Cruise obsession, I can have mine.”

Nancy snorted. “Okay, okay. You’re right. I’m not judging, I just think it’s sweet."

She cast a glance out of her window toward Steve’s car. Robin was still seated inside and when Nancy looked over, both Robin and Steve’s heads quickly averted from our direction. Nancy shook her head, eyes finding mine. 

“Yeah,” she sighed. “You’re gonna need some help.”

“Is my only option Steve? Because that doesn’t seem to be going very well.”

Nancy rolled her eyes, climbing out of the car. I followed suit and the two of us met where the hood of her car came to a point. I looked toward Steve’s car, waving at him and Robin. Steve enthusiastically returned my wave and with some goading from Steve, Robin gave me one of her own. Instead of the smile one would hope to have paired with a wave, Robin wore an expression that almost looked like she was going to vomit.

“I think she hates me,” I told Nancy, who only shook her head and laughed.

What I didn’t know was that Robin’s morning hadn’t started much different than mine. Steve spent most of the morning droning on and on about his unsuccessful dating life before turning to focus on Robin’s. When they pulled into the school parking lot, Steve spotted Nancy’s car and the girl that sat beside his ex-girlfriend at the front of the car.

“Have you talked to her yet?” he asked.

Robin scoffed, looking toward the two girls inside Nancy’s car. “Are you kidding? My limbs turn to mush every time she talks to me.”

“Your limbs turn to mush all the time. You’re very uncoordinated.”

Robin rolled her eyes. “Thank you for the profound observation, Steve. She just make me–”

“Nervous. I get it,” Steve said. “But if you keep looking like you’re going to vomit whenever she talks to you, she’s going to think you hate her.”

“I couldn’t hate her,” Robin scoffed with wide eyes. Steve knew that as a sign that she was about to start rambling. “She’s the epitome of perfection. Her smile is so bright that I swear I can’t see anything within a ten-foot radius. When she looks at me, I feel like I’m on fire. You know, like that song by The Doors? I only know that because she wore that t-shirt of the band one day and I did like a deep dive into their discography–”

“Robin,” Steve cut in. “You need to talk to her. At the very least, stay still when she talks to you. All you need to do is listen and speak. You’re good at that.”

“Stay still? Listen and speak? That’s your advice?”

Steve nodded, his eyes still focused on Nancy’s car. “I bet Nancy’s telling her the same thing.”

Robin’s eyes went wide. “You think they’re talking about me?” She looked toward the car and after noticing the two were already looking in her and Steve’s direction, she quickly looked toward the school. “Shit. Do you think they saw that?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Do you want to die alone?”

Robin smacked his arm. “Getting girls to go on dates might be easy for you, but some of us are socially awkward. I mean getting along with you at the mall was purely coincidental.”

“You’re not that socially awkward. You’re just nervous around the girl you like. That’s totally normal.”

“Not for you.”

“Not true. Nancy made me nervous. I was shitting bricks before I asked her out.” Steve’s eyes were on the two girls who had now exited the car, walking right past his car. The subject of their conversation waved at them, which he happily returned. He glanced over at Robin, who looked mortified. “Robin. Wave back. It’s rude.”

“I’m trying,” Robin reasoned, despite being motionless. “I’m thinking it in my head but my arms are refusing to move.”

Steve rolled his eyes, lifting the girl’s elbow. Robin wiggled her fingers as much as she could, but she knew the look on her face gave away her discomfort.

“Yeah,” Steve sighed. “You need help.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

By the time the pep rally rolled around that afternoon, I’d done everything in my power not to think about Robin. All things considered, I’d done pretty well, but that came to an end when the band was forced onto the court to play the music for the athletes to run out to.

Nancy nudged me sharply the moment they began walking toward the bleachers, and not even I had managed to spot Robin yet. Nancy had even gotten there late and somehow managed to find her with ease.

One of the guys in the second row ducked their head to tune their instrument one final time, giving me plenty of time to spot Robin bouncing on her heels behind them. I smiled to myself, noting how miraculous it was that she managed to pull off that horrid band costume. The green of her hat brought out the lightness of her eyes, even from way back here.

A third of the way through, Nancy had to excuse herself to finish the layout for the paper. I decided to stay long enough to see Lucas jog out with the rest of the basketball team and the band to disperse before I got up to go to the bathroom.

Whoever had the idea to have the pep rally right after lunch was an idiot.

After managing to make it off the bleachers without tripping, I practically ran toward the nearest bathroom to relieve my bladder. As I was washing my hands in the sink, I heard someone muttering under their breath in the large stall at the end. It wasn’t until the sink turned off that I could begin to hear what they were saying.

“Even with a shit budget, the least they could have done was gotten a costume with a working zipper.”

I stifled a laugh at the complaint. It came from a voice I knew all too well.

“Robin?”

There was a soft thud from inside the stall. “Uh, hi.”

“Everything okay in there?”

“Yeah,” she said shakily. “These band costumes are just the gift that keeps on giving.”

“I’d say so,” I said with a smile I knew she couldn’t see. “That green really brings out the color of your eyes.”

Another thud. “Uh, thanks.”

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?”

“Yeah,” Robin squeaked out. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” I fumbled around my words. “I can help. If you want me to.”

I waited to hear another thud but it didn’t come.

After a moment, the latch of the stall door squeaked open and Robin’s back was unveiled to me. She had gotten the coat off but the shirt she’d worn underneath had a zipper along the back that was caught in the strap of what I thought was a tank top. My eyes went wide at the sight and I swallowed deeply as I waited for her instruction.

“The uh zipper is caught in my–”

“I see,” I said quickly, Too quickly. “I mean, I can see the zipper stuck to the strap.”

Robin released a giggle that sent my heart into a short game of hopscotch. “I’ve never heard you get so flustered around me,” she said. “Normally that’s me.”

“There’s still time,” I said with a teasing smile. “As long as you don’t run away from me this time.”

Robin groaned. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be. It happens.”

I raised my hands, clasping and unclasping my fingers as I tried to work up the courage to bring them toward her back. “So you want me to–”

“Yeah,” Robin stumbled. “Could you just untangle it? If you’re comfortable.”

I released a shaky breath. “Yeah. I can try.”

My fingers wrapped around the soft black fabric of her shirt, while the fingers of my other hand touched the nude strap of what lay beneath it. In fumbling to grasp the silky strap, my fingertips brushed the skin of her back. Small goosebumps peppered her skin just as I got ready to tug the fabric apart, wary of any potential tears.

“You know,” I began, lightly tugging on the two pieces of fabric. “This isn’t how I imagined seeing your bra for the first time.”

Robin turned her head over her shoulder slightly, but not enough to meet my eyes.

“You’ve thought about this a lot?”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

Robin stifled a laugh. “For the record,” she began slowly. “I do like you. I mean, Steve’s been riding my ass about it every day for the past three months. He kept telling me I was going to scare you off.”

“Gave Nancy some good entertainment,” I smiled. “She kept telling me to hang in there but I wasn’t planning on going anywhere. Not unless you actually managed to tell me to.”

Robin snorted. “Even if I could’ve talked to you before without wanting to vomit, I wouldn’t have said that.” She laughed to herself. “Who would’ve thought that being half-naked in a bathroom stall would make my shyness go away?”

I joined in with her laughter, exhaling a slight sigh of relief when the two pieces of fabric snapped back to their own spaces. 

“Well, since you’re not running away from me this time and we’re in the perfect place if you need to puke,” I began. “Do you want to go out this weekend? We could go see a movie? Unless you’re sick of that from the video store.”

“No!” Robin said quickly, spinning around with her shirt clutched against her chest. “I love movies. I’d like to go. I don’t work on Sunday but I work Saturday afternoon. Or we could go Friday night–”

“Robin,” I laughed. “Why don’t I come by Saturday when your shift is over? Even if it’s late, we can make a night out of it. Plus, I want to see the expression on Steve’s face when we leave together.”

“Okay,” Robin grinned. “Thanks for helping me. Really glad you had to pee.”

I returned her grin. “Thanks for not running away this time.”

What neither of us knew was that Fred had stopped Robin in the hallway, talking to her about some paper for their history class. Their conversation had made her late for the pep rally, meaning she had to rush to get on her costume. Nancy had coincidentally run into Robin in the bathroom and zipped up her back, making sure that one piece of fabric was caught in the zipper of another.

Nancy was right. I guess I needed a bit of help after all.

#robin buckley imagine #robin buckley x reader #stranger things imagine #stranger things x reader #robin buckley

[writersuffertwice]

freakin' bats

stranger things

eddie munson x reader

The plan had been set and it was no surprise that none of us wanted to see it through. There were countless holes in our plan that had a chance of going drastically wrong. The place with the most to go wrong was at the Creel House, where Max, Lucas, and Erica, planned on luring Vecna. It was phase one of the plan and the pressure of that didn’t make any of us more comfortable with commencing the plan.

While they got in place, Nancy, Robin, Steve, Dustin, Eddie, and I were all set to voyage back into the Upside Down. Nancy, Robin, and Steve were tasked with tracking Vecna down at the Upside Down’s version of the Creel House and killing him while he was busy with Max. Eddie, Dustin, and I were meant to distract the bats guarding Creel House, giving Nancy, Robin, and Steve a safer, unguarded entry into the home.

Max and Nancy were the only ones that had seen Vecna face to face, leaving the rest of us to work off of their cryptic descriptions. Steve had been attacked by the bats Dustin, Eddie, and I were supposed to distract this time around, and we had some idea on how to do that. We knew what to expect from them. Nancy, Steve, and Robin had the more difficult task of not falling into Vecna’s trap once they were able to find him in the Upside Down.

“You guys ready?” Steve asked. The question was meant for all of us, but his gaze was focused on Dustin.

“Yeah,” Eddie answered, clasping a hand on Dustin’s shoulder. “We’re gonna be alright.”

Steve looked unconvinced. “Just don’t try to be heroes, alright? Get in, distract the bats, and get out. Anything starts to go wrong and you abort.”

“This isn’t our first time doing this, Steve,” I chimed in. “Even Eddie knows what we’re up against.”

“Hey,” Eddie protested. “Just because I’m new doesn’t mean I’m the least informed. I know Vecna and his curse better than anyone here.”

“It’s true,” Dustin agreed. “He’s a genius.”

“Yeah, okay,” Steve said with a roll of his eyes. 

Robin tugged me into a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around her, feeling the shaky breath she exhaled. Even if she wasn’t the most nervous, she was certainly showing it more than the rest of us. Each of our chins rested on the other’s shoulder. “I’ll see you on the other side,” she mumbled shakily.

“Hey,” I said softly. I pulled back, looking her in the eye. “We’re gonna get through this.”

Robin nodded her head unconvincingly. “You’re right. Everything’s gonna work out. We’ll be fine.”

Nancy gave us each a curt wave, eager to put an end to the creature that had been the cause of many recent sleepless nights in Hawkins. Steve was next. He ruffled Dustin’s hair and gave Eddie and I a look that was easy to transcribe: take care of Dustin. Nancy, Robin, and Steve marched off toward the woods, leaving Eddie, Dustin, and I to get in place for our stage of the plan.

Eddie held the door open to his trailer, letting Dustin and I wander inside. Dustin was overly happy to be back in Eddie’s trailer, even if it was the grim, Upside Down version of the older boy’s home. Eddie shut and locked the door behind us, his chest brushing my back as he turned.

“This place was made for this,” he muttered under his breath, appreciating the aesthetic the deathly vines added to the room. 

I watched Dustin trample through the room, careful not to step on any of the lethal vines. I had spent way too much time with Robin and could hear her concerns of tripping over her own two feet in my head. In trying to follow Dustin’s lead through Eddie’s trailer, the memory of Robin’s words proved to be too powerful, and I lost my footing. 

I yelped, bracing myself for the impact of the floor and the harsh grip of the vines around my neck that were set to come my way. Instead, an arm had caught me around my waist, mere inches above the floor. Instinctively, I spun around to see what had saved me, despite already knowing.

Eddie’s concerned brown eyes were already trained on me, instantly making me self-conscious when I turned.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I breathed out. “Just been spending too much time with Robin.”

Eddie laughed. “Not the most coordinated, I take it?”

I shook my head, matching his laugh. “It took her longer to walk than most babies. I think she’s still learning how to properly use all her limbs.”

“Apparently so are you.”

“Ahem,” Dustin shouted unnecessarily loud. I saw Eddie resist the urge to roll his eyes as he tore his gaze from mine to look at the young boy behind us. “Save the end of the world smooch for after we’ve defeated this son of a bitch.”

Unlike Eddie, I wasn’t able to hide my annoyance and rolled my eyes. I turned his grasp, noticing that his arm was still locked around my waist. As I began to follow Dustin through the trailer once more, Eddie’s hand shifted to my hip. Without wanting to attract the stern attention of Dustin again, I looked at Eddie over my shoulder with a raised brow.

“I like to be prepared,” he shrugged. “You know, in case you fall again. I’m not tryna cop a feel.” 

I turned forward again, shaking my head at his words. Just as we were about to cross the threshold into his bedroom, his arm snaked back around my waist, pulling me against his body. He pressed his chest against my back, and brought his lips to my ear. 

“Maybe just a little.”

I rolled my eyes, pushing myself out of his grasp. Dustin was impatiently watching us, spear clutched in hand. 

“Are you two done?”

“Relax,” Eddie sighed, stepping around me toward his dresser. “We got what we came for.” His eyes were settled on his guitar and a small smile found his face as he gripped the instrument in his hands. I watched him through the dusty mirror and he caught my eye, giving me a playful wink.

“What’s the plan, exactly?” I asked.

“I’m just the newbie, remember?” Eddie said. “You’re the ones that have been through this shit before. So you tell me.”

Dustin and I looked at each other and then blankly back at Eddie. Eddie looked between Dustin and I, annoyance etched on his face. 

“Seriously?”

“If we’re going to hide in here from the bats, we’re going to have to enhance our defenses,” I said. “They’ll crash through the windows and if a swarm gets in, we’re dead.”

“Hey,” Dustin cut in. “No using the ‘d’ word. Steve forbid it.”

“Since when do you listen to Steve?” I asked.

“Considering he’s trying not to get us killed, even I’m listening to Harrington,” Eddie said.

The three of us began whizzing around the trailer, pulling the various pieces of scrap metal littered around Eddie’s Upside Down backyard to secure any places the bats could get inside. Dustin was pulling more than his fair share, but neither Eddie nor myself wanted him doing too much. This mission of ours was dangerous enough without inserting the normal worries.

Dustin put each of his hands on either side of a piece of scrap metal and began lifting it. It was way bigger than he was, but Dustin was never one to ask for help, especially at the end of the world. Before I could utter a word of protest, Eddie beat me to it.

“Relax, Henderson. I’ll get it,” Eddie said. “Don’t need you hurting yourself before we actually need you to put in some real work.” Eddie took the large piece of metal from Dustin effortlessly, ruffling the younger boy’s curly hair in the process.

While Eddie began drilling the metal to the trailer, Dustin and I moved inside to set up the first phase of Eddie’s plan to distract the bats. I climbed to the top of the trailer, taking the amp from Dustin’s hands and getting it positioned safely to the top of the trailer. It was a simple task only made difficult by Eddie’s threatening comments should anything have happened to his precious amp.

“If there is so much as a dent in that amp, not even this freaky ass place will be enough to keep you from me,” he warned. 

Dustin rolled his eyes playfully. “We can put your guitar–”

“Don’t even think about touching my guitar!” he shouted from around the trailer’s back. Without any prompting, he pulled himself up on the trailer’s roof and took in the makeshift concert venue Dustin and I had set up.

“Pretty sweet layout, huh?”

Eddie’s eyes drifted from surface to surface, simultaneously taking in Dustin and I’s work, the repairs he’d made to the trailer, and anything he may have forgotten. 

“Not too shabby,” he hummed absentmindedly.

He was nervous. Understandably so. Though I had to admit he was handling all this better than I had when Lucas, Dustin, and Mike had frantically showed up on my doorstep several years ago hoping to hide a stowaway no older than they were. 

Eddie was right to say that Dustin and I had gone through this before, but the Demogorgon, its devilish dogs, and the Mind Flayer weren’t even close to being as horrifying as what Vecna could do to one of us. Honestly, I hadn’t figured out if it was worse to be one of his victims or the one watching their bones crack. 

As many times as Dustin and I had gone through this, none of us had managed to go through this with a murder charge hanging over our heads. At the end of this, we hoped to go home. Even if we made it, Eddie didn’t have that luxury. 

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Eddie’s eyes flicked toward mine only for a moment before searching for Dustin, who was on the floor below us, bustling around his trailer. He’d said he was putting some final touches on Eddie’s handiwork, but we could both see it was just an excuse for him to rifle through Eddie’s stuff.

“Peachy,” he answered. “I mean, at least I can check this off the bucket list, right? Not everyone can say they’ve actually lived through their favorite game. Maybe use it to help me get into college.”

“College,” I scoffed. “All that seems stupid to think about right now, doesn’t it?”

Eddie shrugged, lifting his gaze to mine. “I don’t know. It helps to have something to look forward to, doesn’t it? Why does it matter if we manage to make it out of this if we don’t have something to celebrate?”

“Making it out of this alive isn’t enough?”

“You tell me,” he said, taking a step in my direction. “You’re the one that’s been through this before. Was that what got you through it?”

“Not exactly,” I answered, my voice faltering as he got closer. “I knew that I wanted to see certain people again,” I said suggestively. “I didn’t wanna let them down or risk them getting hurt if I failed.”

“I get that. After Chrissy, I can’t stop thinking about what I could’ve done to save her. I mean, I just left her there. Maybe if I–”

“Eddie,” I cut in, placing the palms of my hands on each of his cheeks. “I need you to hear me, now more than ever.” His eyes were reluctant to find mine, but I followed his eyes with my own, using my hands to force his head to look at me. “You couldn’t have saved her. We didn’t know what was killing people or why. We didn’t know music could bring them back. You didn’t know about any of this,” I reminded him. “There’s nothing you could’ve done. There’s nothing anyone could’ve done. Without you, without her, we wouldn’t be where we are now. Because of you guys, we have a chance at killing him.”

Eddie didn’t say anything for several moments. I knew better than to force someone to talk in moments like these, especially given everything the rest of us had been through with far less riding on us. Not wanting to pressure him, I began to back away, but was stopped by his arms tightening around my waist. His eyes drifted from mine, to Dustin, and I read his mind.

“We won’t let anything happen to him,” I muttered to him. “We can’t. Steve would kill us.”

“If anything happened to him, I’d kill us,” Eddie said with a slight laugh. “He’s a good kid. He doesn’t deserve all this shit.”

“Neither do you,” I reminded him. “People might think you’re a lot of things, Eddie, but you’re not a killer. Even they should know that.”

Eddie scoffed. “Me? The long-haired, tattooed, metalhead? Slightly nerdy, leading a supposed cult, all while driving a creepy ass van and living in a shitty trailer park,” Eddie listed. “I don’t think the drug dealing helps either.”

I laughed. “Probably not, but I thought you weren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover?”

“That’s bullshit. “It’s the only way I do my English homework. It’s also how I knew you had a crush on me,” he grinned, causing me to roll my eyes.

“Okay, now that’s bullshit,” I laughed, allowing him to tug me further into his embrace. “Dustin, Lucas, or Mike let it slip. I still haven’t figured out which one.”

Eddie smiled. We stood there for a few moments, neither of us quite sure how much longer we had to enjoy the moment before we’d have to carry out our part. As much as I hated to admit it, Eddie had a point. We didn’t know how long we had to enjoy each other’s presence either. 

After a few moments, Eddie dropped his forehead to mine. “I won’t make that mistake twice,” he said.

I shook my head, knowing what he was referring to. “You won’t have to. You’re not alone this time, Eddie.”

Eddie nodded his head slightly, pressing a tender kiss to my forehead. I tilted my chin up, ready to meet his next one halfway, but we were interrupted by the sound of clattering metal. Our heads turned sharply, only to find Dustin scrambling to the top of the trailer.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, his eyes shifting between Eddie and I.

“I would say I’m sorry to interrupt but that’s a lie,” Dustin said. “There’s time for all that later. We need to get ready for the bats.”

I didn’t have to be looking at Eddie to know that he rolled his eyes. 

“Ready to play the concert of your life?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Eddie muttered, releasing me from his grasp to grab his guitar. “Playing the set of my life for a bunch of freakin’ bats.”

#eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson #stranger things imagine #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things #gender neutral reader

[writersuffertwice]

power of words

vikings: valhalla

harald sigurdsson x reader

The Great Hall was filled with warriors and notable rulers who had come to aid King Canute in his quest for vengeance. Everyone wanted their chance at claiming glory and earning a reputation that would outlive most men. I was seated on the left side of Jarl Haakon and Canute was seated to her right. Olaf sat next to Canute, who was more than happy to be rubbing elbows with another king. His brother, Harald, had been seated beside me, with their men stationed on either end of the table. Every now and then, I could feel Harald flick his eyes to look at me, though no words ever passed his lips.

"Are you enjoying yourself, princess?" Jarl Haakon asked.

"Of course," I feigned a smile. My words were intended for those seated around me, but my eyes were scanning the crowd for the familiar furs I had come to associate with the Greenlanders. "Kattegat holds a special place in my heart."

"Yes," Jarl Haakon agreed. "I know how important it is to your family."

I hummed at her words, spotting Leif Eriksson at the back of the Great Hall. He was leaning against one of the pillars, his eyes scanning over the growing crowd.

"Forgive me, princess," Harald began slowly. I gave him my attention, unwilling to draw attention to Leif or his friends that would get them into trouble. "But I wasn't aware your family had any connections to Kattegat."

"Of course, you didn't, Prince Harald. It's not something I often tell. Especially not to a man whose family stole it from mine."

Harald's brows knit together. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

"I heard your words the other night," I began, ignoring his comment. "You're quite a speaker."

"Did I impress you? Clearly, my fighting skills did not."

I laughed, recalling the mockery I'd made of his sparring session a few hours ago. "You're not a bad fighter. Leif Eriksson is simply better than you," I argued. "But I've never heard someone diffuse a crowd so quickly. Not with tensions so high. You should consider diffusing all of the world's problems. We'd be grateful to you for it."

"Didn't realize you thought so highly of me, princess," Harald gloated.

"You would have no way of knowing, Prince Harald," I smiled. "I wouldn't expect to hear positive comments from me again. They are few and far between."

Harald scoffed. "Noted."

I caught Leif's body moving through the crowd and nodded my head to him subtly. To cover whatever act he and the other Greenlanders were about to do, I averted my attention back to Harald.

"Do you know much about me, Prince Harald?"

My question piqued his interest and he adjusted his posture accordingly. He turned to face me, a curious but intrigued look on his face.

"I do not know nearly as much as I wish I did," Harald admitted with a sly smile. "What would I have to do to change that?"

Harald Sigurdsson had a reputation of being a massive flirt. It wasn't hard to capture his attention and at the moment, I was grateful for it. When the Greenlanders came to Kiev and asked for help finding a man that had done one of their own wrong, I was hesitant to lend a hand. They weren't forthcoming with many details about what had happened or who they were looking for, only that he would turn up to help King Canute's army.

Leif eventually told me who his father was and that they needed a cover to get into Kattegat. The only reason I had agreed to their plan was because of the information Freydís had given me.

Freydís showed me the scarred cross on her back, marking her assailant as a Christian. My own distaste for the Christians was no secret, given what they had done to my great-grandfather ages ago. On our voyage to Kattegat, Freydís painted the entire picture of what had happened to her several years ago. She said that a man had come into their village while her father and brother were away, assaulting her, and leaving a horrible scar to remember him by.

When we arrived in Kattegat, Freydís had no trouble pointing out her attacker as one of the trusted men under the servitude of King Olaf, the Christian Saint. He'd terrorized my cousin before and any chance to make him suffer, even the slightest bit, was well worth it. I knew he and Harald didn't get along as well as they wanted everyone to believe, and I knew I could use that to distract them both long enough for Freydís and Leif to strike.

Phase one was grabbing Harald's attention during his and Leif's sparring session, and the second was during the feist, where I'd boost his ego.

Over Harald's shoulder, I noticed that the target, and Olaf's henchman Gunnar, had become interested in Harald and I's conversation. Over his shoulder was Freydís, biding her time to carry out her justice.

I eyed the cross around Harald’s neck and lightly tugged it between my fingers. Harald’s body gave into the action, his eyes focused only on my face.

“What does your Christian God say about your chances?”

“I don’t think it works that way, Princess.”

“Hm, forgive me, Prince Harald. The ways of your Christian God are still lost on me.”

“Isn’t your father a Christian?” Gunner asked, inserting himself in our conversation.

“He is,” I nodded, keeping my gaze on Harald. “But I’m not. So I don’t know the ways. I don’t understand them.”

“Why ask me and not him?” Harald asked, his voice low. He didn’t seem to appreciate Gunnar’s intrusion anymore than I did. 

“Because I know you’ll tell me the truth. You have no reason to lie. Besides, I’m not sure I’ll like what I find.”

“Fear is never a good reason to avoid things. It’s all the more reason to explore.”

Harald’s words didn’t linger in the air for more than a few seconds before Freydís crept up behind Gunnar and slit his throat. The action was so fast that had Olaf not sprung up from the table, I wouldn’t have been sure that it actually happened. I thought that maybe I had somehow lept forward in time, watching his death happening before it actually had. The clamoring of the Great Hall and Olaf’s booming voice was the only realizations that revealed that what I had seen was real.

“Grab her!” Olaf shouted, anger clinging to each syllable. “Don’t let her leave.”

Canute and Jarl Haakon were on their feet, eyes trained on the woman in front of them. Harald remained seated, his arm outstretched in front of me as if I were the one in any danger. I rolled my eyes at his heroic willingness to protect me, and shifted in my seat rather than standing.

Leif quickly came to his sister’s side and my eyes locked on him. What no one at this table understood was that there was a just reason for Gunnar’s death. No matter what Leif, Freydís, or the other Greenlanders said, they’d never listen to them. It was I they needed to advocate for them. 

“She must be held accountable for her crimes,” Olaf yelled, earning several cries in agreement.

“I will decide the judgment in my Hall,” Jarl Haakon argued.

“If I may, Jarl Haakon,” I began slowly, rising from my chair. She offered a nod to grant her permission. “Do not punish her. He was a cruel man who took advantage of what he thought were vulnerable women unable to defend themselves. He had to pay for his crimes the hard way. I ask that you not punish her for his mistakes.”

“What do you know of this?” she asked.

“Enough.”

“That’s not enough,” Olaf insisted. “There is no proof of whatever it is you speak of.”

“Olaf is right,” Jarl Haakon agreed. “We need more than that before we decide what to do with her.”

“It is not my story to tell,” I reasoned. “But a lot of people in this hall are women. All of you men have a mother. Many of you have sisters. Some of you have wives and daughters. What would you do to protect her honor? To ensure that justice is achieved?”

Many people in the hall began murmuring amongst themselves. Leif and Freydís gazed at me curiously, but Leif wasn’t nearly as confused as his sister. 

“Tell me, King Olaf. What would you do if a man rode into your home and harmed your wife while you were away? Would you tell her to forget? Try to convince her that it didn’t happen? Or would you travel to the ends of the world to make sure he paid for his crimes?”

Olaf gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles growing pale.

“She can prove it,” one of the other Greenlanders had offered, hoping it would prove the point I was trying to make on their behalf. “Show them, Freydís.”

She hesitated, eyes cutting the room coldly. I knew how she could prove her story to be true but I also knew there would be someone that would try to excuse it. Her skeptical gaze crossed mine and I did the best I could to comfort her. I nodded softly in her direction, hoping that if my actions hadn’t already proved it, that she would understand I was still on her side.

She took a few steps forward, tugging at the furs that clad the upper half of her body. Once they gave way, she peeled at the hem of her shirt and hoisted the back of it to her shoulders. The skin of her back was exposed to every set of eyes in the Great Hall and no one dared to question what the Greenlander could have been referring to when he said Freydís could prove it. Etched into her skin was the flesh-colored cross she’d shown me days prior.

“That’s enough,” I reasoned, goading her to put her shirt back the way it was. “A Chrisitan did this.”

“How do we know it wasn’t a Pagan wanting to frame someone else?” Olaf bit back. “Extinction is what you people want, isn’t it? Eradicating our beliefs?”

“I think you have us confused, King Olaf. That is what you seek.”

“We will hold them until we’ve made up our minds on their punishment,” Jarl Haakon announced. “I’ll announce my ruling in the morning. Take them away.”

Before I could turn to her, Harald’s palm clasped around my wrist. His fingers were gentle despite the warning undertones of the gesture. His shoulder brushed my back as he rose to his feet behind me. “You’ve got a way with words yourself, Princess,” he muttered. “Take it from me. You might not want to poke the bear just yet. Tomorrow, you’ll speak your piece.”

“And if I don’t want to wait until tomorrow?” I asked, watching as Leif and Freydís were dragged through the crowd and out of sight. 

“Trust me, Princess. Your pleas will fall on deaf ears here. In private, people are much more willing to listen. There, they can change their mind without their men thinking less of them. Here, they’ll forever be remembered as a coward who didn’t stand his ground.”

I turned over my shoulder, facing Harald entirely. “Did you just use your power of words on me?”

Harald smiled softly. “Depends,” he answered smugly. “Did it work?”

#harald sigurdsson imagine #harald sigurdsson #vikings valhalla #vikings valhalla imagine