claratenebris

[claratenebris]

Stevie and Robin ✨🩷

platonic soulmates in every AU

[claratenebris]

Steve had been through a fair bit of pain in his life, particularly since 83. Between getting beaten up and getting mangled by Upside Down bats, he was very familiar with the sting of pain always thrumming in the back of his brain, never letting him truly forget it was there. But goddammit, burns sucked. This persistent, impossible to ignore pain that made Steve feel like he was still on fire. And still, he pushed that aside as he got closer to Chrissy to check on her. "... Chris-" Steve didn't get to even finish calling her name before Chrissy was on him. He breathed out a little huff at the impact and felt a little lost on how to proceed for a brief second, but finally he hugged Chrissy back.

Steve let her cry. He quietly held Chrissy and rubbed her upper back in what he hoped was a soothing manner. "You're okay. You're out of there. You're safe." Was she? Was anyone in this town? The short answer was NO, but it was still safer here than it was there. "Sorry you've been stuck in there. We would have gotten you out sooner if we knew," Steve continued explaining, keeping all the heavy stuff about where Chrissy had been for later. Right now the priority was making sure that Chrissy was okay. Or as okay as she could be. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Just like that, she was back home. She could INSTANTLY tell the difference - for one, there was no vines snaking across EVERY surface. There was no ASH wafting in the sky, clouding up her LUNGS with each deep breath she took. And the air ... it smelled CLEANER somehow. More refreshing for sure. The blonde was QUICK to intake in a lungful just as she DROPPED on the other side. But she was far from calm. Her head WHIPPED around to the slimy GATE behind her and blue eyes grew large with fear as she didn't see STEVE instantly follow her. Had something happened? Did THEY get him? Was he hurt? Should she go BACK and try to rescue him like he had just done for her? All of these questions swirled, but JUST as she began to push herself up and move towards the gate in question, she spotted movement.

❝S..Steve?❞ It was a TIMID shout, hoping that it was him and NOTHING else. Prayers seemed to be answered after a moment as he came TUMBLING through and the gate somehow seemed to begin closing up behind him. Her breathing was ragged as she just KNELT there watching his jacket burn. Everything was happening so fast! She couldn't even process what was going on, until his jacket was ALREADY on the ground and the flame was stomped out. Eyes then flickered up at him as he voiced his question, asking if SHE were okay - as if he wasn't just on fire and she then BURST into tears. It had been a while since she last CRIED, but now every raw emotion was bubbling to the surface. Without being ABLE to answer his question, the girl merely FLUNG herself into his arms and collapsed into heart wrenching cries.

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Steve hummed, crossing his arms. Hawkins, in the grand scheme of things, was quite... Conservative. There were good eggs, of course there were. But there were also a lot of people who were hardheaded and too set in their own ways, to put it nicely. Steve's own parents included (not that Steve had thought about that before, since there was nothing to tell them). "Sounds like a solid plan." Steve looked at Robin for a bit. "Scared of the outcome? What happens if they're not cool with out made up friend?"

"I honestly have no idea what they would react like." Robin told him with a small sigh. "I mean they're hippies so, you'd think that they'd be cool with it. But, I want to like test the waters or something. Maybe mention something about some made up girl liking girls?" She suggested.

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Tony scoffed, no harshness behind it - a release of air that could be argued to be a soft chuckle. "I'm pretty sure they call that victim blaming. You should be ashamed," He accused with a deadpan tone, his raised brow and soft eyes being the clues to the playfulness behind the statement. "Besides, my thoughts are good company." That was a lie. It was almost like a curse, being so absorbed in his own thoughts when so often all they did was cause him pain.

This time, Tony's chuckle doesn't sound as much like a scoff. "He runs his mouth while he works," He explained just for the sake of it; it was not a complaint. Peter liked to talk and Tony liked to listen. Silence was not Tony's favorite. He looked from Scarlett back to the work he'd abandoned when his thoughts started consuming him. "Some updates for your mom, actually." With his left hand, Tony brought up the blueprints in holographic form. "You can flip through them, Nat hasn't seen this yet. I'll let you steal a couple. Flattery does get you somewhere."

She lets out a loud laugh, something completely different from the stealth posture she was in seconds before. In her defense, Scarlett didn't want to sneak up on him, it was just a force of habit. Something she had trouble turning off, even when she didn't need to make use of that skill. “You're not the first one to tell me this, so I think someone should. Although I could also argue that you shouldn't be so lost in your thoughts, or you’d have listened to me.” She points out, in a playful tone.

Scarlett sits next to him, and shakes her head. “Is there anything he won’t tell you?” Not that it bothers her, of course not. She loves Spidey. “ Yeah, I was really busy, with the Academy and stuff, but I made time to come see my favorite uncle. What are you doing?"

[claratenebris]

hi, i live

i am attempting a few replies today. i have drafts that are 3+ months old, so if you get a reply and you're no longer interested in continuing, i totally understand.

i'll have more muse for some things than others, but i'll try to do them from oldest to newest as much as i can

♥

[claratenebris]

What are these feelings…

An oh shit moment for our Stevie boy

[claratenebris]

She wants to scoff, to roll her eyes.

"A few years back that deal might have worked on me. Not anymore."

Maybe Natasha has softened too much for her own good. She's slow and careful as she approaches, respectful and fearful all the same. Vulnerability comes in different shapes and forms and Natasha would like to avoid a repeat of some of their past encounters.

"We need to go."

He trips into déjà vu, but in this edition, he refuses to teach her where she’s wrong.

“ I didn’t see you, you didn’t see me. ”

Not here, not on an operating table getting disassembled ——physically or mentally. Hard to say when he doesn’t want to.

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Tony tilted his his head and kissed his teeth. "Ah, well. Money bags were a big part of my whole... Thing. You know, flying superhero aside." He gave her a smile, a trained one with little humor behind it. Tony had nothing against her - Abby, it seemed - he was just frustrated with, well, everything. He grabbed the file with his left hand and handed it to her, nodding at her introduction but not offering one of his own. It would be futile, anyway.

"I'm gonna choose not to ignore the office, actually," Tony said, looking around the space. "You settled in already?" He crouched to level with some sort of knick-knack on Abby's desk. Could be hers, could be whoever's office this was previously. "So, what, are you some sort of glorified accountant for the world's mightiest heroes?"

Abby looked up at the sound of a familiar voice. There stood Tony Stark in front of her. She wondered if their paths were going to cross. Though, there seemed to already be a misunderstanding about her role in things. "Not taking your place." She stood from her desk, and she knew what it looked like with her having her own office now. "Ignore the office. My official role is the money bags."

Her attention turned toward the file under his arm. "Which means that, yes, I should probably take a look at those. I'm Abby by the way."

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Natasha rolled her eyes. She remained playful, ever the master of hiding her true emotions, though the way her hand refused to leave Bucky's arm was a dead giveaway that she was not looking forward to letting go. The moment they separated, things would get real - and dangerous. "Hm, as long as YOU can handle it. You know she'll be a brat about it and call you every name in the book." Jokingly, of course. Natasha hoped. She smiled a bit wider and refused to let it fall when Bucky put space between them, nodding at his words. "Yeah, grandpa, you go do that and I'll land this bird," Natasha teased.

Bucky was right, regardless of whether Natasha liked it or not. Soon they had landed and Natasha was gathering everything she needed - the antidote, her weapons, focusing on the mission ahead and trying not to let her feelings get in her way. "If you die, the mission is failure. So don't you dare." Her tone was more assertive, now. Bucky dying was not an option.

Bucky wondered if after this was done they could sit back and relax for a while, but could they ever do that? They had to get through this first of all, he knew he wouldn't be coming out unscathed. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he tried to shut out. "Oh she'll live with it, but we both knew how vocal she will be about much she's not enjoying it." Bucky pointed out and looked in to her eyes for a moment, trying to hide the nerves. "It's already pretty hard to keep you away from me. Not that I'm complaining." He pointed out and pulled away for a moment. "Come on, we'll be there soon. Better get ready to go, maybe stretch a little, these old joints can't take a fight as well as they used to."

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Steve shrugged, not upset in the least. "I mean, I wasn't lying. I'd like to have kids, someday. Gotta wait for my current kids to grow up, first," He joked. The rest of it? No, he didn't think he had a future with Nancy. She was great and she was Steve's ex, so while knocking on hell's door Steve found himself wondering what if things had been different, that was all. After surviving certain death, however, Steve had a different perspective. And there was, well... Anyway. Steve frowned a little. "Why not? You, um. Could, right?" What exactly was the etiquette for asking your male friend if he could get pregnant?

"...Oh." Steve's response was not exactly dramatic. It was a little reminiscent of when Robin came out to him on a public bathroom floor, a revelation that was intimate and Steve had to find the words to react with. Maybe twenty four hours ago he would have teased Eddie about it and go on a rant about girls lining up to get with the bad boy who plays the guitar, but that would be before being aware of how- Vulnerable Eddie must feel about the whole ordeal. Instead of giving that bit too much thought, Steve made a face. "The only time I've been choked was by a bat," He said with a laugh at the preposterous response. "I don't know if- I guess I never really gave that kind of stuff much thought. It's all been pretty... Standard."

A thought crossed his mind as he realised he'd said that out loud rather than in his head, had he gone too far? Steve didn't seem upset with him so he hoped he hadn't. "Yeah...sorry, it's not a bad thing, I mean, I'd love a family but accepted years ago it would never happen," of course he was referring to perceiving being trans as a reason it wouldn't happen.

Telling himself to change the topic he circled back to the prior question, "rewinding a bit, I think I'd be into being hit, in theory at least, think I'd have to actually fuck in order to find out but that hasn't happened yet so," he shrugged as he brought a foot up onto the seat, his knee resting against the door window. "Wouldn't be opposed to trying out being choked either, but again, kind of need to lose my virginity first," he tacked the clear reference to still being a virgin as a way of offering up something for Steve to mock him for if he was in fact upset with him.

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Steve frowned at Eddie, let out a small scoff and then shook his head. If he wanted to be weird about it, let him. Steve could always ask Dustin later what was so important that Eddie Munson had to give to him. Steve hardly thought it was drugs, despite Eddie's reputation. Whenever the kids talked about him, it was like they didn't even know about Eddie's business; and the thought of Dustin actually trying to buy drugs was hilarious. Steve breathed out a soft chuckle about it and went to the energy drinks - he couldn't really remember the last time he had a proper night's sleep, to be honest.

"Could say the same to you," Steve fired back. It wasn't as if he could explain to Eddie how he'd gotten dragged into this position. He couldn't explain to Eddie that he was far too protective over those little shits because of what lurked in Hawkins. "I'm more of a babysitter, anyway." Steve rolled his eyes at the title; he wasn't sure it was better or worse than chauffer. "Trying to keep them safe from bad influences and such," He tacked on at the end there, giving Eddie a pointed look.

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"Yeah, gotta hand some thing over to Henderson." Eddie made it sound cryptic. It was a book, a Dungeons and Dragons game play book. Eddie knew the reputation he had, so saying it in a certain way would make anyone think he was talking about drugs. He'd never give Henderson drugs, that was a child for fuck's sake! But he was okay with Steve thinking that, if only to bug him.

Eddie had way too much crap in his hands so he set it down for a second then moved to entrance to grab a basket, then started tossing everything in it. "You know it's a little weird that you're hanging out with kids, right?" Ironic, considering Eddie and Steve were about the same age. If anything, Eddie was a little bit older than Steve. Eddie justified it in his head by saying he was still in high school, as if that somehow made it less weird. "Don't you have friends your own age?"

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Tony understood some conversational Russian. To a brain like his, the cure to boredom was to learn a new skill - and Natasha had been right there, grumbling in Russian, which annoyed Tony when he couldn't understand her. So he learned some of it, never put it to much and grew rusty, but he could understand the gist of what was being said. It made him smile a little, and when Kid addressed Tony again he nodded and crouched down to his daughter's level.

"Look," Tony said in Russian and lifted up his sleeve to look at his own arm. He smiled as he moved it, showing off the full functionality of his fingers. "She'll be sore for a while after the surgery. Her nerve endings will still need some time to get used to the new appendage, but we'll also take care of her recovery time. Dr. Cho is brilliant and will make sure the recovery process is as smooth as it can be."

Sophia returned his smile with one of her own with an additional blush, Kid thought it was adorable as he wasn't used to seeing her being shy. He nodded, "we understand," he began to respond to Tony's words when his daughter pulled at his arm.

"What is anaesthesia papa?" she asked in Russian, looking a little worried about the unfamiliar word, saying 'anaesthesia' in English as she didn't know the Russian word of course.

"It's where the doctor makes you have a nap so you don't feel the surgery," he explained also in Russian, he had of course assumed Tony didn't know Russian as he had only met one American that spoke the language. "She is nervous of course, her prior caregivers had her operated on while awake with nothing for the pain." He said to Tony, her birth family hadn't deserved a child let alone one born with medical issues, he was thankful she was now under his care.

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"No, no. It's good. I mean, I'm sure there are good Russians out there, don't get me wrong, but- I mean, why would good Russians be in Hawkins, you know? It's not like we're known for being a good, like, vacation spot." Steve clears his throat and sort of straightens himself, which doesn't do anything to make his ramble sound any more coherent. Still, he smiles. A tentative and awkward smile, trying to seem normal.

There is absolutely nothing normal about this conversation, but he tries.

Steve takes in Ren's explanation and pauses. It's so extremely vague it makes him want to pull his hair out. It takes a few tries - he opens his mouth, breathes in, closes it again when he realizes he doesn't know what to say to that. Rinse, repeat. Finally, he settles on something.

"We can't talk about this out in the open. We need to go somewhere quiet, which means you'll have to trust I'm not crazy or a creep."

steve does not seem convinced. which is like, yeah sure, fine whatever. that's fair enough. give and take, but like. one of them's gotta give, or they're never gonna get anywhere.

ren can give like. something. be the first to fold. that's... that's fine, right? it's fine.

❝ yeah, not russian. sorry? maybe. ❞ she's still not sure like, why that matters. ( why would she be russian? ) ❝ california born-and-bred. ❞

she gives him another once-over. it's a little bit of info, and now he's asking... well, the answer to that is definitely not just a little bit of info. who she is, why she's here... talk about one fuck of a long story.

❝ i've sort of... dealt with it, before. ❞ vague, non-identifiable. it's a good start, she thinks. ❝ something, uh, led me here? like. i think i'm meant to, i dunno, help? or something. maybe ❞

jesus christ, ren, could you be any more unsure of yourself?

[claratenebris]

→ hi👋

i have finally decided i wanna try to return to this blog. i will be replying to everything that i owe, but please don't feel obligated to reply back. you can drop the threads and talk to me to start something new, or just drop them if you're not feeling our interaction anymore. either way, i've slowed down the queue to give me less stress and i'll be slowly returning to somewhat regular activity

[claratenebris]

Fun at Family Video featuring Steve, Dustin, Max & Robin Part 1 Stranger Things 4

[claratenebris]

"It is not self-induced. That would be, like... If I had a lot of coffee before bed. I don't." No, Steve just got stuck thinking about things and people he shouldn't. During the day he distracted himself well enough with work (or movies at work) and finding something to do around the house. When he lied down to sleep, all his thoughts came rushing back.

"Well, you did. I'll forgive you for a candy bar," Steve bargained, taking the candy bar from the stand that faced the other side of the counter and giving Robin a grin while he proceeded to open it. "Can't back out now, can't put it back," He added after the first bite, with a mouth full of chocolate and nougat, while he watched Robin putting on the movie.

Steve leaned on the counter beside her, rather than sitting up on it, chewing on the candy bar. Predictably, the plot was lost to him since he didn't pay attention to the last installment of the series, so his thoughts wandered. Maybe if Steve let them wander now, he would actually get some sleep tonight.

He zoned out and got a bit startled by Robin's voice when he asked the question Steve knew was coming, sooner or later. "Just... Thinking. About things." He was silent for a while after that, eyes on the screen but unseeing. "When- How did you know that you- Y'know." Steve cleared his throat. "Did you always know or did you have a lightbulb moment?"

" SELF INDUCED SLEEPING TROUBELS DON'T COUNT. " she's mostly teasing, she knows that he's had even worse luck with dating now than he did turning their Scoops Ahoy days. it was sort of amusing to her. but only on the surface. she knew that he was also filling a void that she would never understand. her eyes roll at him as he pulls out the worst of the worst insults. " oh yes, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your delicate sensibilities. "

of course they were bored. there was no one in the store and they would really only be lucky if there was some lame little rush in an hour or two. so picking the movies for the rest of the shift was imparitaive to their survival. arms drop to her sides before bringing her hands to her hips

a roll of her eyes is all that she answers with before slapping the tape into the player. it was a shallow win at this point. but she was still going to call it a win. propping herself back up on the counter, she watches him for a long moment.

" alright, spill. what's keeping the great Steve Harrington from his beauty sleep? "

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As the creatures grew closer, Steve's heart beat faster. He urged Chrissy with his hand to just go through the gate; Steve understood there was a lot to process, a lot to take in, and that none of this made any sense to her. But all the same, they had no time to go through all that right now. When she finally started to go through the gate, Steve took the bat back. "You won't need this on the other side." Steve, however, needed to make sure no creatures got through.

By the time Chrissy fully disappeared into the real world out there, Steve was swinging his bat high over his head and hitting a demogorgon with a loud crunch sound. He stuck around for a few more hits, for good measure, standing in front of the gate to keep them from following, just waiting for the right time, for a short break. With the machete he cut into the neck of the ugly motherfucker who tried to get to Chrissy; it didn't go all the way through, but the creature stumbled with the machete sticking out of its neck and Steve knew this was it. His CHANCE.

Steve reached into his pocket to grab his lighter. He'd made a ring of gasoline at the base of the tree, the empty jug certainly laying on the floor right next to where Chrissy landed. Steve had to be fast and sure, he'd only have one shot at this. He backed into the gate, his lower half pushing through the slime and decay, then flicked the lighter open, lit it, and dropped it while pushing through the rest of the way.

Steve landed in Hawkins on his back, a groan leaving him when he fell to the ground with the sleeve of his jacket on fire. "Shit!" He quickly sat up and scrambled to get his jacket off, then stepped on the sleeve to kill the flame. His hand and forearm were burned, but when Steve looked at the tree he saw the gate closing. "Oh, thank fuck." He looked at Chrissy, finally, and swallowed. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

She didn't even GRACE herself a moment to think. To think would have been to WORRY, and she couldn't afford that right now. Steve said he had a way out of here, and she just had to TRUST him. Blind as it may have been, the blonde put EVERYTHING into that basket and RAN after him as he SHOT down the street. Her hands GRIPPED the baseball bat that she had been given and she desperately PRAYED that she wouldn't have to use it, but after all the time being down here - unfortunately it wouldn't be the FIRST time. She may have been small, but the girl had been FORCED to defend herself on more than one occasion. She'd rather go a LIFETIME now without any more violence.

In a WHIRL of panting, screeching in the distance, and FEET thudding down upon the pavement, Chrissy didn't know up from down. Everything felt rushed, and scary, and still altogether not REAL. But Steve was there, and he had ASSURED her that he WAS real - so she clung to that fact and just continued to follow until he SKIDDED to a halt. Go through? Go through WHAT? All that was there was some old and rotting TREE, what EXACTLY did he want her to DO here? She was about to question it, but then she SAW it. The tree pulsated. As if ALIVE, and suddenly it clicked into place.

Chrissy wasn't entirely sure HOW it did, but she understood. The tree was the gate and he wanted her to SQUEEZE through it until she made it out onto the OTHER side. Eyes grew WIDE and the girl was ABOUT to protest, but the SCREAM of something behind them made her shut up. They didn't have the TIME to argue. And so, all she could do was NOD and rush towards the slime, hoping that he would be quick to follow. ❝E..ew ew ew! Oh my GOD!❞ She wasn't happy about it, but soon enough she FELL safely onto the other side with a THUD.